Posted on 05/30/2007 8:28:36 AM PDT by ER_in_OC,CA
Angry Utahns by the hundreds are calling, e-mailing and faxing Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, demanding he oppose an immigration bill that would provide legal status to an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.
Those voters generally receive a coy answer.
"My public position is that I'm reviewing the amendments," Bennett said Tuesday.
It's a ploy meant to defuse emotion. But here's what Bennett's staffers are not saying: he plans to vote for it.
And he points to St. George as part of the reason why.
St. George is the fastest-growing metro area in the nation, mostly because people from California and Las Vegas continue to relocate there. In many ways this Washington County economic powerhouse is fueled by workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries.
"One of the realities is our economy is dependent on labor that is coming from illegal immigrants and that is true of St. George," Bennett said.
Washington County Commissioner Jim Eardley has visited with Bennett and Sen. Orrin Hatch urging them to help create some kind of guest worker program.
He estimates 12,000 undocumented immigrants work in the area, many of them constructing new homes.
If they left, there would be no one to replace them.
The county has 2 percent unemployment, Eardley said, which already places a strain on businesses looking for workers.
Bennett uses St. George as an example of a nationwide issue. He says if the government forcibly removed undocumented workers "you would throw the United States into a serious economic recession," he said.
Eardley backs the senator on this one, but he also agrees with many of the Utahns who are asking Bennett to vote against the immigration bill.
He says the proposal makes it too easy for an undocumented worker to stay in the country indefinitely.
Bennett said he would have written the bill differently but he is enamored with the way the proposal came together.
Senate leaders drafted an influential team to create a bipartisan plan that has also earned the approval of President Bush.
It starts with beefed up border security and enforcement of immigration employment laws. Then it morphs into a guest worker program and special visas for those who arrived in the country before Jan. 1, 2007. To get the visas, the undocumented immigrants would have to pay a $5,000 fine.
Bennett calls the tenuous agreement "a sight to behold."
He also says: "If you are a betting man, you bet this thing falls apart."
Senators expect to pick it up again when they return from their Memorial Day break next week. The proposal is under attack from both sides, with conservatives claiming the bill is "amnesty," while unions say it creates a permanent cheap labor force that will drive down wages.
Bennett understands his support for the measure will have political repercussions, especially in the Republican Party, which remains fractured on this issue.
"I can almost guarantee myself a primary opponent if I run again in 2010," Bennett said. "But it is the right thing to do."
In the past week, Bennett staffers have answered about 1,000 phone calls, and 95 percent of them denounce the fragile bipartisan immigration bill.
Hatch hasn't said how he will vote, but his office has been hit by a similar deluge of voters arguing against the immigration compromise.
"The intensity of the callers is tremendous," said spokeswoman Heather Barney. "Many are very very angry."
The only issues that has resulted in similar responses was the debate over same sex marriage and President Clinton's impeachment, she said.
And apparently Sen. Bennett thinks affordable home construction is more important than the rule of law. So many people here LEGALLY are in jobs like construction, and their wages are being pushed down by ILLEGAL competition.
Personally, I expect Utah to go 0-for-2 on this bill. Bennett is for it. Hatch will probably roll over on it too because of these "business leaders" in Utah. This is what happens when politicans are in safe states. Bennett and Hatch don't worry about being re-elected.
I'm tracking votes here: http://votecount.blogspot.com/
What part of “SECURE OUR BORDERS FIRST” don’t these Rino’s get?
Expose every weasel.
I can hear it now:
How about all the millions of people who are on welfare?
He’s not only giving you the finger... he’s kissing it first.
C’mon Utahns!
These “northern” states with 2 Republicans that are rolling over on this bill are turning my stomach!
UTAH!!!
ALASKA!!!
MAINE!!!
That’s SIX Republicans right there. All weak on this issue.
Enjoy your Faustian bargain, folks. You get cheaper homebuilding, cheaper tech employees, and cheaper vegetables today, hooray! 10 Years from now you’ll be wondering why your local ER is packed with uninsured with minor medical issues. Wondering why people with blue collar jobs need a 2-income family to make it. Wondering why people with blue collar jobs have to commute so far for their work. Wondering why the quality of education is dropping because of teachers coping with more students w/languages from around the world.
Just wait, Maine! You think illegal immigrants can’t work on the sea? Not all illegal immigrants are migrant farmworkers from the South, you know.
And Alaska! I’ll bet you already have plenty of Candians and Russians there. This bill isn’t just to allow latinos to work in the Southwest, you know. Z-Visas are going to go to all those folks and many more who slip in to work in AK. How will your state deal with Z-Visa holders who reside there? How soon ‘til they get a share of the oil money or other benefits from living there year-round? What happens to those native Alaskans trying to bootstrap themselves up by starting at entry-level jobs?
I’m tracking votes here: http://votecount.blogspot.com/
Hatch will roll over because he is weak and a handwringing fool.
In the House, Chris Cannon will support any and all amnesties.
I come from another era. In my day young United States Of America guys used to jump at a construction job..What happened? Bennett has a point when he says manpower will be depleted if the Mexicans leave, however I don’t care!! “Real” legal Americans will fill those jobs in time .
Guys like Bennett are selling their country out(and poor saps like me that put my trust in the Republican party) and it means guys like me (and there are plenty of us, believe me) ain’t gonna vote anymore for anybody....If that happens it means that Hellary is gonna win and it will be the end of the Republican party, and in time the end of our country.....
How dense is Bennett? No one will have to leave if Congress just does nothing.
http://bennett.senate.gov/contact/email_opinion.cfm
Senator Robert F. Bennett (R- UT) 202-224-5444 202-228-1168
Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R- UT) 202-224-5251 202-224-6331 http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact
Add this old fool to the list of Senators who need a strong primary opponent next time around.
By the way, he is one of the senators on the Banking Committee who have absolutetely blocked any attemtp to tax those money transfers to Mexico and elsewhere.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the local economy is going to suffer if all the illegals leave, which seems like a very questionable premise to me. But if that were true, how in hell does he think rejecting amnesty is going to cause them to leave?
... and I (Secretary Chertoff) used to have summer jobs growing lettuce and onions, out in the hot, hot sun.
Maybe prices would rise to balance out the actual labor cost (not the artificially suppressed labor cost, as is the case now). And maybe that would be a good thing to have the market reflect actual costs.
>>Bennett said he would have written the bill differently but he is enamored with the way the proposal came together.<<
It’s OK to betray our country and Bennett’s constituents, as long as it’s “bipartisan.”
These things won't matter to the Elites who can well afford their Gated Communities.
sw
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