Top Republicans to present immigration plan

Idaho Statesman ^ | 1/28/14 | FRANCO ORDONEZ

[jimbo123]

House GOP leaders are expected to push for legalizing millions of undocumented workers

The controversial proposal is reigniting another identity crisis over the future of the GOP. Some on the right have begun to mobilize against House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, with hopes of quashing plans to introduce a series of bills.

Leaders of the House of Representatives are expected to release the principles at their annual retreat later this week in Cambridge, Md. Those principles are likely to include tighter border security, an expanded guest-worker program, additional visas for high-tech workers and legalization for many of those people in the country illegally.

It’s the latest signal that the House leadership is taking immigration seriously. Boehner also hired a new aide last month, Rebecca Tallent, who’s considered a proponent of legalization. She was the director of immigration policy at the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center and also worked for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the proponents of a comprehensive immigration proposal that included a path to citizenship.

[Daveinyork]

You have that privilege, your wife has that privilege. I have that privilege. You deny that privilege to others on what basis?

[kabar]

You have that privilege, your wife has that privilege. I have that privilege. You deny that privilege to others on what basis?

We have limits, by law, on the number LEGAL IMMIGRANTS that can be admitted annually. There are various categories with numerical limits on them. Since the 1965 Immigration Act (pushed by Ted Kennedy and the Dems to make America look more like the rest of the world) we have increased our intake of legal immigrants dramatically from the 250,000 to 300,000 that used to enter annually during the period 1924-65. We also broadened our intake globally so that now 87% of the 1.2 million legal immigrants are minorities as defined by the USG. It has had demographic and electoral consequences.

The 1965 Immigration Act: Anatomy of a Disaster

In 1970 one in 21 in this country was foreign-born; today it is one in 8, the highest it has been in 90 years; and within a decade it will be one in 7, the highest in our history. We have just had the two highest decades in American history, yet the number of jobs has decreased. There is no correlation between the job numbers and our intake of immigrants.

And immigrants, legal and illegal, use our welfare system to a greater extent than the native born.

You deny that privilege to others on what basis?

There are literally billions who would like to have that privilege. We can't allow them all to come. No nation in the world has unlimited immigration. The people who should be extended that privilege should be those we deem can contribute best to the country. Currently, we don't have a merit based immigration system, but rather, a kinship system that brings in mostly unskilled and uneducated people.

We are taking in far too many immigrants. They are taking American jobs and depressing wages. They are also overburdening the social safety net. And they favor Big Government and the Democrats.

Immigration drives 75% of our population growth. The U.S. adds one international migrant (net) every 40 seconds. This has a demographic and electoral impact.

The U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043. While the non-Hispanic white population will remain the largest single group, no group will make up a majority.

All in all, minorities, now 37 percent of the U.S. population, are projected to comprise 57 percent of the population in 2060. (Minorities consist of all but the single-race, non-Hispanic white population.) The total minority population would more than double, from 116.2 million to 241.3 million over the period.

[Daveinyork]

But, you would change those limitations ‘cause, “I got mine, screw you.”

[kabar]

But, you would change those limitations ‘cause, “I got mine, screw you.”

You just don't get it. It has nothing to do with me but what is best for the country. I gave you some data on what immigration is doing to the country.

You seem to believe that taking in 1.2 million immigrants a year can't be changed. And then you make it a personal issue having to do with me when I am discussing a public policy issue. We need to be more concerned about the welfare of our own citizens than we do about those wanting to come here.

You don't offer anything except personal attacks. What is so sacrosanct about the number 1.2 million? Why can't we reduce legal immigration when over 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed?

What is the purpose of an immigration policy?

[Daveinyork]

“You don’t offer anything except personal attacks. What is so sacrosanct about the number 1.2 million? Why can’t we reduce legal immigration when over 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed?”

Those people are unemployed because of big government policies that drove them overseas. They’re not going to get jobs just because you make the government bigger so that it can restrict immigration.

[kabar]

Those people are unemployed because of big government policies that drove them overseas. They’re not going to get jobs just because you make the government bigger so that it can restrict immigration.

Drove who overseas? Businesses?

Who wants to make government bigger? And what connection does reducing legal immigration have to do with making government bigger? What the hell are you talking about?

[Daveinyork]

If you can’t see it, I can’t splain it to you. It requires a big government to keep out all the immigrants. It’s an already too big government that drove the jobs overseas.

Besides, there are jobs. I have had a devil of a time filling jobs in my accounting practice last year. It took three months and four agencies just to find a qualified bookkeeper.

[kabar]

We need to create 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. We bring in 120,000 legal permanent immigrants a month (two thirds of them are workers) and 60,000 guest workers a month. We have 20 million Americans unemployed or underemployed and over 90 million Americans of working age (16-64) are not working.

Yes, a better business atmosphere would prevent some jobs from going overseas. However, the multinationals want to go to places that have cheap, educated competent workers. Globalism and free trade have shifted many jobs to the developing world. I have toured overseas multinational business facilities in China. The workforce is just as capable as ours and the factories have the latest technology. Labor costs are far less as are regulatory controls especially environmental concerns. Labor unions are not a concern. Hard for US workers to compete.

Ann Coulter has written the following article that sums up what I have been saying about the electoral consequences of mass immigration. It should be a must read for every Rep in Congress.

GOP CRAFTS PLAN TO WRECK THE COUNTRY, LOSE VOTERS

[dragnet2]

House GOP leaders are expected to push for legalizing millions

One can not be conservative patriot and support the GOP.

Some out here have known the GOP sold out years ago...Others were hoodwinked and conned, the rest of their supporters are likely in on the con-job.

[dragnet2]

Are you the descendant of immigrants?

WTF has that to do with the past 40 years of totally uncontrolled, reckless, country killing legal and illegal immigration?

[dragnet2]

The goal should be to make it easier to immigrate legally, and to make it impossible to immigrate here illegally.

No, what we have needed for decades now is a 10+ year moratorium on ALL legal immigration.

And if the greedy well dressed corrupt mobsters in D.C. had one ounce of honor, they would have took care of our lawless violent borders at the same time.

[Daveinyork]

Stopping immigration won’t help the jobs picture. some of them will create businesses and hire people. Stopping big government is what we need. If you don’t believe that, you might be a union thug.

[kabar]

Stopping immigration won’t help the jobs picture. some of them will create businesses and hire people.

And far more of them will go on our welfare rolls. Our current pro-population growth immigration policies are fueling bigger and bigger government as we approach a population of half a billion within the next 50 years. Milton Friedman said that, “You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.” We have both.

Two thirds of the federal budget is on autopilot. Entitlement spending will continue to consume more and more of the federal budget. We just added another huge entitlement program, Obamacare. Big government is a product of the welfare state. Government at all levels controls over 40% of GDP. The result is crony capitalism and a greater dependence on government.

57 percent of immigrant headed households with children use at least one major welfare program. We are importing poverty and hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts every year through our kinship system of immigration. 20 percent of the adult legal immigrants who enter each year lack even a high school degree. And 50% of the current 11 to 20 million illegal aliens lack a high school degree.

The status quo is not an option because the demographic changes wrought by immigration will slowly strangle the Republican Party and an amnesty will just hasten the process putting the final nail in the coffin of this country and the GOP. Americans should have an opportunity to decide whether our immigration policies are to serve the long-term interests of all Americans or the short-term interests of corporate and special (often political, religious and ethnic) interest groups. Legal immigration is a controllable variable that can be adjusted in the national interest if we have the political will to do so. And illegal immigration can be stopped and reversed if we as a nation make a resolute commitment to secure our borders and enforce our existing laws.

History is replete with the carcasses of empires, nations, and city-states that failed to “get it right” on the issue of immigration. After five decades of grossly misguided immigration policy, this may be our nation’s last chance to “get it right.” We owe it to our children and future generations.

American jobs for American workers.

[Daveinyork]

Then the answer is to make the welfare available only to citizens, or better yet, scrap the whole thing. What? no chance of that? What are the chances of cutting off all immigration? about the same.

[kabar]

Then the answer is to make the welfare available only to citizens, or better yet, scrap the whole thing. What? no chance of that?

There are laws that prevent illegal aliens from receiving welfare payments. Most get there assistance thru their American born children. 300,000 to 400,000 anchor babies are born to illegal aliens each year. They are citizens thru birthright citizenship. Most of the immigrants receiving welfare payments are citizens or green card holders. Take a look at the chart I provided at post #22.

The welfare state is unsustainable. We can't afford it. SS has been running in the red since 2010 and Medicare has been in deficit since 2008. The SS DI Trust Fund is exhausted in 2016 and will require immediate Congressional action. Dependency on government is growing exponentially. What do you think happens to those Americans who have their jobs taken by immigrants or their wages depressed to the point that they qualify for welfare payments like food stamps?

And federal welfare payments are only part of the costs of immigration. For example, here in Fairfax County, VA there are 31,000 ESOL students out of 180,000 students in the system. The costs of just the ESOL instruction amounts to $104 million a year and that doesn't include the $13,000 per capita costs for a student. The county pays 87% of the school costs, which amount to $2.4 billion a year. The school budget is 56% of the total county budget. Our property taxes continue to go up to support the growing school population fueled by immigration. 30% of the county is foreign-born compared to 15% in 1990. This also has electoral consequences as VA is now purple trending solid blue in a decade. CA is the model of how immigration can transform a state electorally and economically.

What are the chances of cutting off all immigration? about the same.

Whoever said to cut off all immigration? I am advocating a drastic reduction from 1.2 million a year to about 300,000 a year. Our immigrant intake should be linked to our job needs.

[Daveinyork]

It’ll get corrupted. Whenever you give the government that much power, officials will yield to superior influence and bribery. Human nature indicates that those 300,000 will NOT be the sort that we would want.

[kabar]

We need a merit based system rather than the kinship system we have now with chain migration, i.e., family reunification. The kinship system is far more subject to corruption than the former.

The point is that we are taking in far too many immigrants, unskilled or otherwise. 300,000 of any stripe would be better than the 1.2 million we have now and that doesn't include the 700,000 guest workers. At any one time there are about 2 million people here on temporary work permits. And add to that the 900,000 foreign students in our universities.

[Daveinyork]

Any system will be corrupted. The fewer immigrants you permit, the more corrupt the system, and the immigrants.

[kabar]

LOL. How do you argue with logic like that? I guess we should bring in 5 million immigrants a year to make it less corrupt.

[Daveinyork]

Power corrupts. You can laugh at it all you want. It does not change that fact. Power over immigration can be power over life and death in some situations. Tell me that kind of power won’t corrupt some key officials.