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Another "I'll believe it when I see it" moment...
Posted on 08/10/2007 11:23:09 AM PDT by Ghayyour
WASHINGTON - A crackdown on illegal immigration will have to go forward without help from Congress, the Bush administration said Friday, asserting that an executive-branch-only approach is better than doing nothing.
Two Cabinet secretaries - Homeland Security's Michael Chertoff and Commerce's Carlos Gutierrez - said they had hoped to have new tools to combat illegal immigration before moving further to cope with the problem. But Congress could not agree on comprehensive legislation.
The officials said they'll rely instead on tools already in their arsenal, some of which are already under way, including a plan to administratively sanction employers who hire illegal immigrants.
At a joint news conference, Chertoff and Gutierrez put the onus on Congress for any consequences that may be suffered by employers as a result of the stepped-up enforcement effort.
"Our hope is that key elements of the Senate bill will see the light of day someday, but until Congress chooses to act we are going to be taking some energetic steps of our own," Chertoff said. The steps will "significantly strengthen our hand with respect to immigration enforcement."
The White House emphasized that its package of enforcement changes was all it could do under existing law - the same law that President Bush has repeatedly called unacceptable.
"Although the Congress has not addressed our broken immigration system by passing comprehensive reform legislation, my administration will continue to take every possible step to build upon the progress already made," Bush said as the changes were announced.
Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush has used his executive authority in the past to improve immigration enforcement, such as by strengthening border enforcement. She was pressed on why - if the new changes were such a good idea - Bush hadn't made them already.
Perino, talking to reporters at the Kennebunkport, Maine, seaside home of Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, said the president held off on sweeping administrative action while pushing Congress to pass better legislation to address the matter. With that effort now sidelined, she said "We're going as far as we possibly can without Congress acting."
The administration rolled out a proposed rule that will require employers to fire employees unable to clear up problems with their Social Security numbers 90 days after they've been notified of such discrepancies in so-called "no match letters." Employers who fail to comply will face possible criminal fines and sanctions.
"This regulation lays out a clear pattern for doing the right thing which will afford protection for employers," Chertoff said. The new rule will be effective in 30 days.
Recognizing that the crackdown could hurt some industries - particularly agriculture, where more than half of workers are believed to be undocumented - Gutierrez said the Labor Department will try to make existing temporary seasonal agriculture worker and non-agriculture worker programs easier to use and more efficient.
In addition, Chertoff said he will try to use the department's regulatory authority to raise fines on employers by about 25 percent. Current fines are so modest that some companies consider them a cost of doing business, the agency said in a summary of the new enforcement effort.
The administration also wants to expand the list of international gangs whose members are automatically denied admission to the U.S., reduce processing times for immigrant background checks, and install by the end of the year an exit system so the departure of foreigners from the country can be recorded at airports and seaports.
The Homeland Security Department will ask states to voluntarily share their driver's license photos and records with the agency for use in an employment verification system. The sharing is meant to help employers detect fraudulent licenses.
Some of the initiatives are similar to proposals contained in the recent immigration measure which failed to pass in the Senate, though they are not nearly as sweeping.
Bush suffered a major political defeat when Senate immigration legislation that he had backed and Chertoff and Gutierrez helped draft failed to pass this year.
Senate Republican Mitch McConnell offered a different view of Congress' work on immigration, saying the White House and the Capitol heard the call of "countless, well-informed Americans" who wanted improved enforcement of border security and immigration laws.
He said the billions of dollars that Congress added for immigration enforcement and the administration's "enhanced commitment" on immigration enforcement will secure borders.
But Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said the administration "can talk until they're blue in the face" but "I won't be happy until I see action that's more than just a press conference and words on a piece of paper."
The Senate legislation was opposed by many conservatives who complained that people don't trust their government to start new immigration programs since existing immigration laws are not enforced.
The Senate bill would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal status and eventually apply for legal residency. It also would have created a guest worker program and stepped up border security.
Some lawmakers have kept up efforts to tighten the border. Last month, the Senate added $3 billion to a homeland security bill and devoted the money to U.S.-Mexico border security.
Sadly, there will be those who ridicule these honest efforts.
Some people are fully invested in criticizing GWB no matter what.
Congress has already passed innumerable laws, there is no particular requirement for more at this time.
Or, if you are whining, you aren’t working.
I don't care who you are, that's funny!
Where were these so called honest efforts 7 years ago when they could have prevented 9-11?
You can say that again. If he walked on water, some would say its because he can’t swim....
“Sadly, there will be those who ridicule these honest efforts.”
They may, or may not, be honest. I will reserve judgment.
Bush’s shameless advocacy for what he knows to be illegal behavior has caused me to question his integrity.
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Another "I'll believe it when I see it" moment...
>>>>>>Where were these so called honest efforts 7 years ago when they could have prevented 9-11?<<<<<<<
Don’t you mean 10 years ago when the perps actually came to America??? Under Clinton????
DU is calling you, better run along.....
Illegals Deported By The Planeload Now
"The president cited a 66 percent increase in border-security funding since he took office, along with a 42 percent increase in interior-enforcement spending and a total of 6 million illegal aliens caught and returned home." http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060326-123457-5749r
DHS Announces CBP Border Patrol Agent Deployment Schedule
Washington, D.C. – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced today the fiscal year 2006 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agent deployment schedule. In a significant increase in personnel, an additional 1,700 CBP Border Patrol agents will be assigned to the southwest border.
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/press_releases/archives/2005_press_releases/0122005/12072005.xml
Imagine that! They have to enforce laws that already exist, because congress won’t make new laws. . .
I really, really hate big government.
not gonna do nuthin.
“”Sadly, there will be those who ridicule these honest efforts””
Well,
“A crackdown on illegal immigration will have to go forward without help from Congress, the Bush administration said Friday,””
Still lie lie lying. The comprhensive plan was a ruse. Congress HAS passed bills in the past which Bush intentionally refused to enforce and under enforce, and more enforcement bills are in the pipes.
Just as a practical matter I hope Bush will enforce the laws which he said didn’t exist now, but I just wish he and his admin had a modicum of a sense of shame to stop LYING about it, what they advocated in the past..0.
They just can’t stop lying...what is it about them, are they living in a fantasy?
I say, show me the results and quit the yapping. Enforce current laws and build a fence.
Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in New Jersey Students' Execution-Style Deaths
I’ll believe this when and if it happens.
On several accounts President Bush has lost me there pal.
I voted for him twice and argued with many defending him.
The Amnesty b.s. was the straw that turned me.
The lack of protecting our borders, the spending on Everything liberal dems pushed. Etc.
“fully invested in criticizing GWB no matter what”?
I don’t think so, just mad as hell after too many times kicking the conservatives around.
Aren’t you still living in your DDT patent fantasy?!
He’s already made his intentions clear. Both by his statements and lobbying for the failed reform bill and by his lack of enforcement activity.
No I mean 7 years ago when their visas had already expired and they should have been rounded up.
As for DU, it’d be better suited to you. I’ve been trashing Trolls here since 2000 and had I been an actual Troll I’d consider your effort poor at best.
“”Imagine that! They have to enforce laws that already exist, because congress won’t make new laws. . .””
But...but...Bush said, with his face on t.v. to all Americans that he needed new laws and worker programs and paths and etc to enforce the law...or what should have been the law...or...
No shame. Should just shut his deceitful, lying mouth and enofrce the law vigorously without blaming or excuse. He just doesn’t get it, with the internet his lies are not only exposed, but a topic of great discussion.
“Sadly, there will be those who ridicule these honest efforts.
Some people are fully invested in criticizing GWB no matter what.”
_________________________________________________________
They might very well be honest efforts...but we’ve been bul$hitted by GWB, Chertoff, Gonzales and crew for so long on this particular matter....that his words ring empty.
Let’s see a wall built. Let’s see a real reduction in the numbers of illegals crossing our borders. See? That’s the problem when you BS people for so long, they tend not to believe anything that comes out of your mouth.
Well, when he smears the bull feces around ONE MORE TIME with a trowel...
GWB quote:
“Although the Congress has not addressed our broken immigration system by passing comprehensive reform legislation, my administration will continue to take every possible step to build upon the progress already made”
“Comprehensive immigration reform”...which we all know did nothing to secure our borders, is AMNESTY.
The majority of American people abhor amnesty George, no matter how many more hundreds of times you blab it, it’s still amnesty.
Get over it.
...he deserves whatever criticism he gets.
Stuck on Stupid comes to mind. All he has to do is barf out “doing the jobs that Americans are unwilling to do” one more time and we’re right back where we were 6 months ago.
Can’t someone at least write a new script for him to memorize? Something a bit less insulting to the average American?
It’s time to shut up. It’s time to get the job done.
This is not breaking news.
Is the Bush Administration finally admitting that they could have enforced border security and immigration control all along, but are just no getting around to it following their b*tch slap from 85% of the citizenry a few months ago?
There will be no border enforcement and no immigration control, because none of this is in the NWO master plan. That should be more than clear to even the casual observer. There is more BS here than at a cattle ranch. This article needs a barf alert.
ROFLOL,
It takes a lot of gall to blame Congress for this. If the executive branch had been enforcing immigration laws (starting in say 1986) we wouldn't be in this mess.
... Michael Chertoff and Commerce's Carlos Gutierrez - said they had hoped to have new tools to combat illegal immigration before moving further to cope with the problem. The officials said they'll rely instead on tools already in their arsenal...
"Our hope is that key elements of the Senate bill will see the light of day someday, but until Congress chooses to act we are going to be taking some energetic steps of our own," Chertoff said.
The White House emphasized that its package of enforcement changes was all it could do under existing law - the same law that President Bush has repeatedly called unacceptable.
It's just one excuse after another with these comprehensive jerks. JUST START DOING YOUR JOB.
“Aren’t you still living in your DDT patent fantasy?!”
You got me, you really, really got me. I admit it. Saying “patent” instead of “producer” totally destroyed my argument. Your pickiness was not a dodge of a smack of fear you belonged to the FReeper DDT minions, but a comprehensive obliteration of my argument.
I now will join your Bush-botic DDT producer pr campaign dupe minions. Any other positions I should take? I fear we may be lonely, about zilch people believe Bush is not a bald faced liar on illegal immigration, but hey, there’s always hope!
Thanks for setting me straight,
And for good reason. Recall Chertoff saying a couple of months ago that improved enforcement wasn't viable unless immigration reform passed? It shows he was lying. And IMO this is being done because politically, Bush no longer has an option to be lapsidaisical about enforcement.
Just imagine if all this had been underway for the last few years. We might now be in a position to undertake actual immigration reform with a possibility that it could work.
They’re just going to use the existing laws to “crack down” - showing that they didn’t need a new package of laws to do it anyway.
Yes add 1700 CBP and remove 2000 national guard for a net gain of................Wait that's a loss_______
Anyway tell it to the parents of the black kids slaughtered in Newark.
Oh come now...This is nothing but CYA and everyone knows it.
It's been reported, and a new report just released *Monday* that has further documented the fact that Mexican gangs and Mexican drug cartels are assisting terrorist.
These honest efforts you speak of are nothing but CYA on the governments part.
How long ago was 9/11/01? How many thousands of TONS of drugs have been smuggled in, how many truckloads of human cargo have been smuggled in....And God knows what else has been smuggled in, in the past 6 years? And this is not to mention the millions of unknowns that have entered during Bush's watch.
All this during wartime?
Lets get real here.
and the fence is how many miles built?
The only question that I have is what happens if after 60 or so days the employee quites a job and goes to another place for employment? Does the 90 day clock start all over again?
Chertoff and Gutierrez put the onus on Congress for any consequences that may be suffered by employers as a result of the stepped-up enforcement effort.
This statement tells me all I need to know about this "NEW" effort to enforce existing laws, laws that have been in place but not enforced.
They did not get their amnesty so now, like a child throwing a tantrum, they are screaming and stomping their feet and threatening, "just watch what we can do ... we will do exactly what you want and you will see ... you will see how absurd your demand, that we enforce the law, is when we actually enforce the laws. You are going to regret forcing us to do this."
And as a good citizen I will turn away from them with a smile and just hope they succeed with their threat. It may hurt me a bit to watch them actually grow up a little. Sometimes a good citizen needs to apply some sound "tough love" parenting to bring an unruly Administration and Congress in line.
“Another “I’ll believe it when I see it” moment...”
After years of:
“just doing jobs Americans won’t do”
” we need to match willing employees with willing employers”
no fence built
shamnesty............
I will only believe it when it is done!!
B U M P
When headline reads
The proof is in the pudding. Deport, deny benefits off of taxpayers, build the fence, go after employers.
Talk turkey in several years. It took so long to see any kind of effort, now why would anyone believe or take any measure seriously, until we see results. That could take quite awhile.
As of this time, they have done nothing!
What tools are needed? The laws are already on the books and have been for the longest time.All they have to do is enforce current law and its a done deal.
Pardon me for being cynical, but I find this highly suspicious.
President Bush has had almost eight years to do something about this (like, enforce existing laws; hey there’s an idea!) and he’s done nada.
Why, all of a sudden is this so all fired important to him?
Sadly, I and many others see through your preemptive critique just as easily as we see through GWB's Orwellian PR effort.
This Administration is now going to "crack down" on those same 15 to 20 million illegal aliens to whom it was going to provide Z Visa amnesties only two months ago, without any identification requirement whatsoever.
I cannot understand, Southack, why you would approve of any President or Homeland Security Secretary who would permit such a huge influx of unverified, unknown, and unidentified people to obtain official United States identity credentials, to live in our country, and to reap the benefits of our culture, even though we have no idea who they are or where they came from or what they might have done in their home countries.
It was an incomprehensible breach of the law and of national security, and IMO it completely destroyed any credibilty George Bush might once have had.
The reason you want to give illegals federal documents is to get them on the grid.
With criminals, it is easier to track down those who have jumped bail than to track ones who have never had an arrest or conviction. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to track down those criminals who live off of the grid.
Who killed Jimmy Hoffa?
Well, tracking down criminals who are off of the grid takes enormous resources.
In contrast, tracking down bail jumpers can be routinely done by ordinary civilians.
The difference is that the criminals who live on the grid (e.g. use credit cards, drive a car, rent an appartment, pay an electric bill, use a telephone or internet) are reasonably easy to track down compared to the guy who can live with gypsies or fellow illegals or back in the deep woods.
So you’ve got some 15+ million illegals in this country. To make it easier to track down numbers that large, you want to convince them to volunteer to live on the grid rather than off of the grid.
Oh sure, you can pick up lots of them just by hanging out at “hiring points” or posting fake jobs...but to really get all 15+ million (which is a number larger than was rounded up by Germans into concentration camps during all of WW2) you should try to outsmart them rather than use brute force.
So you offer them a carrot. A pass. A federal document. You give them something.
And when they take it, they are forever more on the grid. Game over.
Some people are fully invested in criticizing GWB no matter what.
I don't trust the Administration at all when it comes to border security.
Only if the authorities effectively control the border. Otherwise game doesn't end - it goes on until nothing is left.
How did the Senate/GWB's 'comprehensive reform' propose to control the border again?
Nope. Just us unamerican bigots who:
Don't want to do what's right for America.
Don't believe that Islam is a religion of peace.
Don't believe that illegals are doing the jobs Americans won't do.
He deserves everything that's getting heaped on him.
That's just silly.
There is no benefit to putting thousands or millions of bogus identities "on the grid".
The Z Visa was an open invitation to getting a fake US identity, which for many people (criminals, intelligence agents, terrorists) would be a nice thing to have.
And illegals are not so gullible as you might think. There would be many with no desire to be on America's "grid" once they return to their native country. For them the easiest and smartest course would be to use a fake identity.
You are incorrect.
It takes more police to find/capture a criminal with no record who is living off of the grid (think, detectives, possies, etc.) than it does to bring in a felon with a record who is living on the grid such as a bail jumper (think: 1 bail bondsman).
When faced with 15+ million such felons, brute force methods such as detectives and arresting officers required...point to resources not easily mustered.
Thus, one must be clever rather than rely on mere brute force.
Get them on the grid. Use your wits.
No one (sane) switches gears that fast and no one honest, Democrat or Republican, flip flops like that.
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