Posted on 05/31/2007 4:41:30 AM PDT by IrishMike
A recent survey we conducted for a private group revealed that most Americans believe in an "Ellis Island" approach as a realistic way to deal with illegal aliens living in the United States. Policymakers might want to listen up.
It's now dawned on Republicans in the U.S. Senate that their embrace of President Bush's policy solution for illegal immigration has put those senators running for re-election next year in a precarious spot.
Too many people see the bill before Congress as a convoluted way of offering "amnesty for sale" to illegals in the United States. And the more senators in support of the bill study its details, the more they come to realize that it has so many requirements and penalties for immigrants that no one in a practical bent of mind should probably reject it.
Regardless, many Americans see two problems with the legislation. First, many resentfully recall that their own ancestors or relatives who immigrated here from places like Ireland in times of great economic hardship did so through one designated place — Ellis Island in New York City. That portal into America served to process those immigrants and put them on the road to becoming part of the fabric of this nation.
Second, the proposed new federal legislation fails to provide an immigration process that's guaranteed against bureaucratic loopholes.
Plenty of Americans, particularly plenty of the Republican Party's conservative voting base, are skeptical that immigrants subject to the bill's provisions will ever do more than simply pay a series of ongoing fees to keep them in the country.
Our InsiderAdvantage survey showed that a majority of Americans believe the most practical approach is to establish certain processing locations. There, illegals already living here would "surrender" to authorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
Would this plan present logistical headaches? Absolutely. But probably no more, if as many, than those brought about by a plan to build a gargantuan fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
So, building a nationwide complex of housing, processing, educational and medical facilities will "present a few headaches." But building a simple fence is a "gargantuan" impossibility.
World Class Moron.
IIRC, Bush's first plan, a year ago, put a lot of emphasis on assimilation requirements and aid to assimilation. This was something immigrants had 100 years ago (although from the private sector, mostly settlement houses and the Catholic Church, through its school system). They weren't encouraged to remain separate, although now in our "multicultural" society, everybody is encouraged to remain separate and build their own little ethnic strongholds. Bush did withdraw a lot of the "bilingual education" funding, although in many cases, the states and cities simply replaced it. So it would be necessary to ensure that the states and municipalities couldn't make an end-run around federal policy once again (as they did by refusing to check ID or citizenship status, for example).
I thought this was a good point:
But our poll respondents believe America has spent so much money rebuilding and otherwise supporting foreign countries that redirecting some funds to deal head-on with this pressing domestic problem suddenly seems smart.
A fence does nothing to solve the problem we already have.
Unless it’s around the ones here, before they are sent ‘home’.
Control the border via fence, then when you send someone back they stay instead of walking across the border the next day.
controlling the border is essential to ever controlling the problem.
But it WILL stop those problems from increasing. So it's worth doing. If the pols aren't going to secure our borders, what good are they???
You can't toss an illegal alien through a gate if you don't have a fence.
BWAAAAAAAAWAAAAAAAAWAAAAA
Y’OK got that out...
Who was the “private group” and who particicipated in the “survey”
I dont think many illegal aliens would come forward to this...why should they? The query might be What is in this for me? The illegal aliens are not interested being assets to the US or obeying our laws...
While questions and comments and memories of the millions of REAL immigrants who came through Ellis Island are important, were the immigrants of 2007 consdered?
What about questions like...
Did you know this AMNESTY Bill does not consider the REAL immigrants? Do you think that is fair?
Did you know that there are millions of REAL immigrants who are waiting in line to enter the US? Do you think that they should be allowed to stay at the front of the line, or should the illegal aliens cut in line?
Did you know that the REAL immigrants have to do everything the right way to enter the US? Should the illegal aliens have to do it the right way too?
Did you know that the Green Card and immigration processing fees have just been increased more than 100% to pay for the AMNESTY processing for the illegal aliens, while the illegal aliens themselves pay very little? Do you think the illegal aliens should have to pay themselves?
But like a tourniquet, it stops the problem from getting worse.
Actually, most Irish immigrants came though Castle Garden, NOT Ellis Island. Many also came trough Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans.
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!
Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti illegal immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them. This is a bipartisan issue not a Conservative or Liberal issue BUT AN AMERICAN issue.
Don’t know much about what % came through the various ports of entry, my dad came with three brothers through Ellis Island, late 40’s early 50’s. My dad in 1951.
A few months later, subway to One Whitehall Street, Manhattan - Korean War.
The main immigration processing station in New York prior to 1892 was Castle Garden, which was near where the Staten Island Ferry terminal stands today.
Now, of course, we harass Colombian bankers and Filipino nurses, while just looking the other way at the dishwashers and gangsters coming from (usually southern) Mexico. If that's not discrimination (or stupidity) I don't know what is.
The lamestream media wants to discuss the terms of our surrender to the problem of unlimited immigration. This idea is just nonsense.
It’s not a solution unless it focusses on getting America to a point where we have only the people we want immigrating, no more and no less, and we have a way of ensuring our citizens area assimilated Americans.
“This was something immigrants had 100 years ago (although from the private sector, mostly settlement houses and the Catholic Church, through its school system). They weren’t encouraged to remain separate, although now in our “multicultural” society, everybody is encouraged to remain separate and build their own little ethnic strongholds.”
The amensty will destroy the assimilation concept for a simple reason: 60+% of them will be from Mexico. This never happened before in American immigration.
Assimilation happens when you have a lot of different groups coming together. No one group can hold on to their language and have members function discretely. But if LA is 70% Mexican, the de facto language will be Spanish. Hola, Mexico Norte!
Add to that bilingual education and multi-culturalism and you have a recipe for cultivating perpetual enclaves of another culture.
“A fence does nothing to solve the problem we already have.”
The problem we have today is over 1 million illegal border crossings each year, including drugs and human trafficking.
The problem we have today is an uncontrolled border that makes uncontrolled illegal immigration inevitable.
What problem are *you* talking about?
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I’d lean towards utter stupidity.
Brought my cousins son here for the summer two years ago.
He had completed third year and was going back to Scotland to finish his civil engineering degree (which he did complete at the University of Albertay - Dundee)
Cost I believe close to $2K for the student visa, not counting the flight, plus even with a summer job waiting, he needed $500 minimum cash on hand, - 1st night mandatory stay somewhere in Manhattan for indoctrination.
He loved the Summer had a great vacation and enjoyed working here.
But he just barely recovered the costs to come legally while five students fellow from the same university (I met them once or twice) came on tourist visas and just worked illegally.
When I hear about the increase in TB and Hansons disease (leprosy ) in the USA I have thought about the fact that my ancestors came through Ellis Island where their health and identity were certified .
I think anyone with a visa for more than 30 days should have to have that kind of screening Period.
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