Posted on 12/24/2009 6:39:02 AM PST by americanophile
-snip- For the first time in two years, a measure billed as "comprehensive immigration reform" has been introduced in Congress.
The bill — HR 4321 — filed Tuesday by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., incorporates most of the provisions of a measure introduced in June by Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell.
At last count Tuesday night, it had 89 co-sponsors.
Honda's bill focused on legal immigration issues such as eliminating visa backlogs and giving green-card holders the same rights as citizens to bring their spouses and children to the U.S. But Gutierrez's bill is much more sweeping. It includes a provision that would allow the country's 12 million illegal immigrants to legalize by paying a $500 fine, learning English and passing a criminal-background check.
It would also require employers to check a federal database to verify the immigration status of job applicants.
In 2007, the last time Congress grappled with the issue, a bipartisan Senate bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., failed when Republicans blocked votes over the amnesty issue.
But Democrats think immigration reform has a better shot this time around.
"Now, we have the White House," Honda said Tuesday. "And now we have leadership in both houses that want to see it happen."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, says she will let the Senate take up the issue first after Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., files his version of the immigration reform bill after the holiday break.
Groups that favor decreased immigration were quick to pounce on the legislation.
"It certainly has everything in there for every special-interest group — from amnesty for illegal aliens at the bargain-basement price of 500 bucks, to increased family-based immigration, to increased employment-based immigration," said Ira Mehlman
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
“It includes a provision that would allow the country’s 12 million illegal immigrants to legalize...”....
no matter the means...it will be very interesting to see how many of OUR congresscritters and prospective presidential candidates support this.
Obummer cannot stay in office forever unless he proclaims himself king or president for life and disbands Congress altogether.
Unfortunately, someone else has been not paying attention for the past 20+ years. I am only too aware of how futile the efforts of previous administrations have been to repeal large Dem mandates.
And yes, to answer your question, yes, a Repub House/Senate and a Repub President will not change something. To understand why, just see how hard it has been for us over the years to push back even modest increases in the Federal government. To understand history, go back approximately 29 years to the 1980 campaign when Reagan made the rollback and dissolution of the Dept. of Education (established by the Carter administration) a center piece of his campaign, similar to the current situation. Despite a Republican Senate, he could not accomplish this. Of course, the House was still Democratic, but later Presidents found it (and will find it) increasingly harder as the entitlements and federal programs became more entrenched. This is an important lesson - even the most significant conservative takeover of the Government of the past generation, led by Reagan and the Senate sweep of 1980 was not enough to overturn the Dept. Of Education. This bill is much more pervasive and long-reaching in its scope.
My point is that history teaches us that large federal programs, once enacted, are almost impossible to roll back and end. That is the lesson of history. How I wish it were otherwise. To believe somehow this is going to change at some future date is ignoring strong and overwhelming historical evidence.
the first week of us being in power I want to see everything this Marxist has done undone.
I want to see him on TV seeing everything being thrown away in front of his eyes.
I want this health care bill overturned, interpol gets told to piss off etc.
The likes of Jennings will be gone and so will all they have done to our schools.
I also want those who have been ignoring the constitution and passing bills illegally up on charges and then the black panthers will have charges again put against them as they should have done.
Then the likes of ACORN I want to see investigated and those jailed, cut of funding forever and SOROS the main target should be sent to Russia where he will face the charges there and never be allowed to come back to this country ever again.
What they have done to this country is disgusting.
What ever grates me is how dumb the Dem voters are.
Blacks have got no where under a Dem party
we need to figure out what to do with illegals.
homosexuals should be told tom sort their lives out.
Schools should now be told to get a grip and start teaching kids on education not brainwashing.
SEIU investigated into their actions with this president and I want to see obama’s records revealed, even hsi schools records I bet showing F’s should be revealed.
No more nicey nice, this is our country and they should be working for us not forcing their radical view onto us or our kids.
Cuts in many programmes like the NEA should be cut, no more pork for them and everyone who is on office Dem or GOP should be held to a higher standard
But it is possible to repeal something that has not yet been rolled out such as healthcare which does not really go into affect for years. The taxes go into effect now but the program itself doesn’t and therefore it is ripe for repeal. But before that happens it should be fought in the courts over constitutional grounds and authority.
I would rather not risk it. I would rather we defeat it now.
>The worst thing is that personally I don’t have a quick solution to all this.
>
>All I can think of is next year’s elections.
Have you ever thought that maybe, like a magician focusing your attention on the other hand, that this is what they want you to be thinking about?
It seems to me that zer0 is purposely insulting the American people and our closest allies to weaken the USA abroad and cause civil strife at home.
What else could it be?
They know we aren’t stupid. They also know there isn’t anything we can do about it.
Nobody hates illegals more than the good honest people of all nationalities that are legal immigrants. I worked with some a few years ago and asked about the process. It is quite extensive but they all felt it worth it.
Of course the illegals can pass background checks. When you use a fake social security number it’s easy to pass one.
I totally agree. It could be simple. Put the SSN in a database and it shoots back the birthdate and sex and possibly initials of the true owner and whether it’s even a ssn at that.
Documents can be faked. I worked in HR for a long time. Someone can bring in a ss card printed on a piece of toilet paper and if you question it you can be sued.
I have no allusions as to what is going on in the background and I know all about midnight legislation and that they are creating madness and mayhem in the background 24/7 especially with all their czars. That’s why we are here to expose it all. i just feel like there is not a lot we can do other than suing their asses off until 08. I you have a plan please let me know.
Madness and mayhem along with the near total destruction of Free Market Capitalism just as fast as they can.
If we get the right legislators and hopefully a Sarah or Saraesque President there is a lot we can do.
Thanks!
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-- Ben Franklin
Who is the unseen hand promoting the destruction of language, borders and culture?
What is the gain to do so?.
These questions have to be asked.
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