Deal struck on immigration bill (in the Senate, now over to the House for action)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/17/07 | Julie Hirschfeld Davis - ap

[Eric Blair 2084]

“We DO NOT enforce the current immigration laws...who’s going to enforce these?” N O B O D Y

I was watching Hannity and Colmes last night and that's what Alan kept hammering Tancredo about..."oh, geez, we're cracking down now, it's not amnesty, they have to do this, that..." What you said is basically what Tancredo said. Who is going to enforce this? We can't enforce the laws we have now.

[stephenjohnbanker]

This is by FAR the worst!!

[stephenjohnbanker]

“We can’t enforce the laws we have now”

Well, I would say we have deliberately and willfully ignored the law!

[patriciamary]

LOL, Fact are facts,Hispanics and Blacks vote the majority of the time for Democrats.

[patriciamary]

You’re right, for that matter the majority of Americans are not informed enough to vote period.

[patriciamary]

Our President at the time thought he was doing the right thing going into Iraq.Intelligence all over the world pointed that way.What a shame that the Democrats and media have turned this around and the Republicans let them.

[Dante3]

BUMP

[B. Chezwick]

Then we should be asking ourselves why that is and what we can do to get them to vote Republican.

[Lexi3130]

You’re right!! So when is this country going to say “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore”?? We can talk all we want while the politicians in DC turn a deaf ear to what the PEOPLE want. They have their own agenda. How do we mobilize this country with so many apathetic people? I work above a “transitional assistance” office and I have seen it all and this may make me a bit more critical of this AMNESTY Bill but I truly feel that ILLEGAL immigration and terrorism are the two most critical issues facing this country now.

[FredHunter08]

“Then we should be asking ourselves why that is and what we can do to get them to vote Republican.”

Out pander the Democrats and massively expand the welfare state. Why do you think they vote “D”?

I have no desire to vote for a party just like the Democrat Party. Do you?

[Theodore R.]

No, they are sticking with the “D” because “D” means poor but passing! No Republican could possibly explain to the downtrodden how he is “helping” them. Can’t be done. That old image of Mark Hanna in a suit with dollar bills pinned on remains the image of “Republican” to most of the people. And when they forgive Republicans for their past image and put them in office, the GOP digs up Nero’s fiddle. No wonder the downtrodden won’t buy the GOP appeal.

[Theodore R.]

It looks like this post has dried up. McLaughlin Group report from the weekend: Pat Buchanan and Tony Blankley both oppose GWB on immigration. Pat thinks the immigration plan will be killed, like the Dubai ports deal, but Blankley thinks it may go through if Pelosi can get 75 GOP House members from "moderate" districts aboard. The House vote will be in July. Clift and Zuckerman are elated over the likely passage. They say this is rewarding hard-working families and providing a way to import more skilled and technical workers. Pat said that the immigration boosters have declared war on the middle class. Blankley said that the GOP can survive a "civil war" over immigration but even he conceded that it cannot heal the scars immediately.

[Paleo Conservative]

With all due respect, as someone who has lived in Miami, Chicago, and (most of his life) in and around New York, the SECOND GENERATION ALWAYS PREFERS ENGLISH TO SPANISH! The problem is that we have a FLOOD of first generation folks, which is why you see all the signs in Spanish (or Portuguese or Chinese in certain other areas).

As if the first generation can read Spanish. Perhaps the Cuban immigrants are different, but lots of the Mexican immigrants in Texas are illiterate.

[floriduh voter]

Dictatorship alert. The Senate hasn't even met yet today but evidentally, Mel Martinez is in charge.

970 WFLA RADIO DIRECT QUOTE RNC CHAIR/FLA SENATOR MEL MARTINEZ... "We must... the deal is already done." MM

(a bloodless coup).

[PEACE ENFORCER]

Not a stretch at all. Not to mention the pause for peace in Fallujah....but do you remember when Bush came out in one of his speeches saying we have problems with Iran but it will be the job of future Presidents? Not sure what this means other than surrendering to the country that is currently responsible for killing our soldiers and the innocent in Iraq not to mention undermining the governing body we’re trying to set up so these people can have some type of life and THE U.S. to have a stable Ally in this “LONG WAR”. I’m not offended you called me a “Soros Plant” I personally donated over 10,000 dollars to Bushes Campaign for election & reelection and gave him many passes on his willingness to act like a Liberal Democrat.....for example the nomination of Harriet Myers, $$ No Child Left Behind $$, 9 trillion dollar prescription drug plan, the doubling of pork allowed to pass in bills since Slick Willie was in office, I could go on & on, but how much did you give. I come from a Conservative family my father was a sonar man in the Navy during the Vietnam War, I have a friend’s serving in Iraq and they all say the same thing.....we’re fighting this thing half assed. Sorry but leadership flows from the top my elected leader one who I helped put in office is not getting the job done at all. Sorry but I EXPECT more when our Country is involved in providing this type of leadership to the rest of the World. I do pray for Bush and our Troops every day, I write letters and send care packages to our soldiers in harms way, it just pisses me off when our elected leaders act like such PU$$YS.

[FredHunter08]

“I’m not offended you called me a “Soros Plant””

Don’t worry. Bray stated in another thread that he wasn’t a conservative anyway.

[wilyrascal]

My Immigration Proposal-Refined
The Bill currently moving its way through Congress is a disaster, I hope you agree.
I cannot believe they are actually going to grant legal status to those who have been here only a year! How do we know what their backgrounds are? How do we know they are not criminals? If a compromise must be made I think bottom line that anyone who entered the country illegally after 9/11 should automatically be disqualified from becoming legal.
I have a Multi-Point Proposal that I believe would solve the problem. At the very least it is better than the horrible Bill thats going around.
I hope you take the time to read the proposal. Feel free to use any of this as you see fit.

1. Legalize those who can prove they have had continuous employment for at least 6 years. Employer would have to come forward and verify employment and pay a fine of $2,000 per employee for every year they were employed, capped at $10,000. The fine would be paid to the State the company resides in not the Feds. They will have a waiting period of three years to make sure the border security plan is working, and the head of the household would not have to return to their home country(this would be unfair to irish immigrants and others from overseas.
2. In order to continue being eligible for citizenship in addition to the 6 years employment not one person in the family will have been convicted of any criminal offense and the children must not be registered as gang members. Any gang affiliation will lead to immediate deportation. Applicant must be able to read and write in English and the children must be doing well in school.
3. All border security proposals must be included in this bill and must be proven to be effective within 3 years or the amnesty provision is off the table.
4. A change in the law that states that a child born here is automatically an American citizen. That will no longer be the case, thus helping to prevent anchor babies from ever being an issue again.
5. A guest worker program for Farm workers only, not leading to citizenship and the Farm must provide housing.
6. For every Illegal made Legal there will be a concurrent reduction in the number of Legal Immigrants into this country. For instance if 10 Mexicans become Legal, 10 fewer Mexicans will be able to immigrate to the country under the Legal Immigration system. That goes for every nationality.
7. The number of Legal Immigrants is reduced from the current 1 Million to 300,000 per year to reduce overpopulation growth.
8. Skill sets will take precedence over family, and Chain migration will be ended in 1 year, not 8 like the current bill allows.
9. Nationalities that were heaviest represented in the last 30 years will be reduced and those countries underrepresented will be increased.
10. National IDs instituted that will enable employers to easily identify Legal Immigrants and American citizens. Heavy fines for employers who continue to hire Illegals.
11. Declare English the Official Language of the United States.
12. Put in writing a specific ban on any future mass illegal alien amnesty.

This proposal is tougher in many ways, but would not require the main income earner to leave the country first, and would shorten the waiting period to 3 years, and the fine would be borne by the employer, not the illegal who can barely afford it. If businesses balk at paying the fine then we have proof that they can readily find employees that are not illegal. If their employees are so valuable paying a fine should not be a problem vs. going out of business.
We need to limit the number of illegals given amnesty-a 6 year requirement is extremely reasonable.