Posted on 09/26/2002 11:22:30 PM PDT by hoosierskypilot
SAN DIEGO — The question of amnesty for illegal aliens is a hot topic not only for politicians in Washington, but also among the thin green line of U.S. Border Patrol agents here and elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"What the hell are we doing out here?" asked one veteran agent. "Why don't we just pack it in? Amnesty? It's just an open invitation for more illegal aliens to come into the country, stay low for a while and, eventually, get their citizenship papers.
"Who's in charge here?" the agent asked, staring at a group of 11 Mexican nationals preparing to vault a border fence and head north.
It's a common theme among Border Patrol field agents from Texas to California, calling into question pending proposals by both Republicans and Democrats to grant amnesty or residency status to a growing number of illegal aliens.
Further undercutting their efforts, the agents complain, is the failure of the politicians in Washington to support a strategy for dealing with the illegal immigrants who get past the agents on the border and into the interior of the United States.
President Bush; Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat; House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, Missouri Democrat; and the House Republican leadership all have proposed now-pending amnesty programs that would grant permanent residency status to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in the United States.
The proposals would allow certain illegal aliens to remain in the United States to apply for legal residency, under various conditions. The most popular proposal seeks to grant amnesty to immigrants who have been in this country since December 2000, have a qualifying relationship with a family member or employer and are willing to pay a $1,000 fine.
Sorry, can't compare then and now.
Back then, the journey to the US took months, not hours.
That is true and when many decided to stay on after their time was up the federal government showed them the door. But that's when we took illegal immigration seriously.
Yeah right, the non-performers.
You mean the guys that get tired of doing all of your work, because you spend all day on the internet?
LOL!
The only agenda we're going to see in the coming years is who can be more liberal, who has more goodies at taxpayer expense to hand out?
We deport them.
LOL!
I think because he turned to his own government he does deserve deportation and he proved where his allegience lies. I'm not in favor of door-to-door searches or dragging farm workers out of fields but this kid is an adult who is capable of following the rules himself now even if his parents made the choice not to do so. This kid thinks because of his ethnicity or something that he is entitled to taxpayer provided benefits, I'd like to see if his family can produce a single IRS tax filing or if they've ever paid tax on any of their income. I have a feeling they've broken plenty of laws.
Failing that, third party would be the only way left to go.
The irony is killing me!
Ireland is a European state that shares many of the customs and values of other European nations. To compare the LEGAL immigration of the Irish of years past with today’s massive ILLEGAL immigration flood from 3rd world nations is pure foolishness on your part. But I am convinced that you, along with the administration, will not understand this until the socialism that has already griped CA spreads to other previous GOP strongholds in the SW and elsewhere making any return of conservatism in America virtually impossible.
Liberals always use hysterical adjectives in their 'circular arguments' and then you wonder how anyone could consider you a RINO.
Yes, and I think Mr. Bush is giving us a pretty good preview of this right now.
Gosh. That wans't the view of them 100 years ago.
Every wonder why the large police vans used to hold rioters are called "paddy wagons?"
Are you sure they were wrong? I don't think we can find all that much evidence massive amounts of immigration changed the course of this country for the better ---ever. Socialism was brought in after the Civil War by European immigrants, the labor union movement was mainly immigrants, real Americans weren't all that inclined toward all that.
How many people do we have room for?
We're on track for 500 million by 2050. How many is too many, Mr. We-Are-The-World?
If you are really that concerned about overpopulation, then show it with your deeds and set up a consult with Dr. Kevorkian.
Gosh, this is fun! You've shown yourself to be a socialist in favor of "living wages," and now you're a watermelon ecofascist!
"The Dems don't have to try and divide, Bush already did that."
Not really ---look at all of it closer. Thanks to the Irish we have people like the Kennedys. The idea of an aristocracy was not a true American value but you'll see the Irish in that part of the country vote for these clowns simply because they're Irish. That's not exactly beneficial. The Catholic Church has introduced "liberation theology" to the world which is a form of marxism versus the "protestant work ethic" which led to much of what made the US great. I'm a Catholic and descended from Irish but I can see things apart from that.
My great-grandfather who liked a nip every now and then was probably in one of them, lol, so what? We're talking about 2002, not 1892.
Immigration policy of today should not be based on a more simplistic, less populated past. Even during the Great Wave of 1894 - 1924 the average annual immigration rate was still only 500,000 or less compared to today's 1,000,000. It's way too high and anecdotes about past Irish or German immigrants have no relevance to today's situation.
You grossly overstate your point. A good part of my family originated in Ireland and they had few problems assimilating into America, as was the case with "most" Irish. But yes, they were not welcomed with open arms by Americans then and had to earn their respect, which only forced quicker assimilation into the American culture. With our present day out of control immigration from nations generally hostile to the U.S. layered on top of today's multicultural society where is the incentive for any new immigrant group to assimilate?
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