Posted on 03/29/2007 5:12:09 PM PDT by Dubya
A White House plan devised in weeks of closed-door meetings with Republican senators would grant work visas to undocumented immigrants but require them to return home and pay hefty fines to become legal U.S. residents.
The draft immigration legislation is the first stab by the White House and Republican senators to address the presence of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country and the reliance by employers on illegal workers.
The White House draft plan was circulating Thursday around Capitol Hill and among groups with an interest in immigration legislation after elements of it were leaked late Wednesday.
Under the plan, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which the plan dubs "Z" visas. They would be renewable indefinitely but renewal would cost $3,500 each time.
The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.
The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
The plan is far more conservative than the one the Senate approved last year with bipartisan backing and support from President Bush. That plan, whose principal architects were Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., work and apply to become legal residents after learning English, paying fines and back taxes and clearing a background check.
Critics dismissed that bill as an amnesty.
Supporters of immigration reform say the draft plan shows the White House is serious about getting a bill completed this year. But immigration advocates were disappointed with the product and see it as a step backward.
"For us it's a no go," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum.
A plan to make more green cards available to skilled workers by limiting visas for parents, children and siblings of U.S. citizens and one that would prohibit temporary workers from bringing family members is one of the plan's more controversial provisions.
"President Bush said family values don't stop at the Rio Grande. Evidently they do," said Kevin Appleby, director of Migration and Refugee Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Kennedy appeared at a news conference in support of immigration reform with evangelical leaders, including Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty. The leaders said they plan to exhort their congregations to push lawmakers and take other steps to get an immigration reform bill passed.
Family unification, said Kennedy, "has been an essential aspect of immigration policy since the history of this country" and letting immigrants work their way toward legalization is a framework for previous immigration bills that has received substantial support.
"You don't compromise on the morality of these issues," Kennedy said. "We're not going to."
But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he favored gearing immigration toward the higher skilled and educated who he said would help the country.
The immigration plan is the result of about a month of meetings among White House officials, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Republican senators.
Democrats recognize they need Republican support to get an immigration bill passed this year and have been counting on Bush to deliver Republican votes.
A House bill introduced last week by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also attempts to appeal to conservatives.
It provides six-year work visas to undocumented immigrants and requires them at some point during that period to exit the country and re-enter using their work visa.
Plug the the leak then mop up the water.
The current law isn't enforced. How are they going to enforce the new ones?
It's a floater.
"We'll get 'em this time, Ted."
| New amnesty push likely in 07 by Bush, Dems |
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| Posted by Mount Athos On 01/04/2007 7:32:40 AM CST · 14 replies · 209+ views Marietta Daily Journal ^ | Wednesday, January 3 | D.A. King Five years into the war on terror, most Americans desperately hoped 2006 would be "the year" for solutions to the long national nightmare of intentionally unsecured borders and the resulting illegal immigration crisis. For many, the dream was that at a minimum, we would begin to see border security and immigration law enforcement similar to what Mexicans still living in Mexico enjoy. It didn't happen. According to a report released in late 2006 by the House Committee of Homeland Security, up to 10 million people entered the United States illegally and un-inspected last year. Georgia watched as its population of... |
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Okay, go back and read this carefully. There is a lot in here that is good.
Let's look at some of it.
1) The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.
The word is FINE. A fine is a punishment for breaking the law. This is good. This shows awareness that they are ILLEGAL. And . . . this is a stiff punishment.
2) The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
This is pretty darn good. This is a direct address of the concern conservatives have been expressing that they can't believe anything until some evidence of serious awareness of the problem appears -- and a fence segment plus a jump in patrol totals does do that.
Overall, I would think this is a valid effort from the White House to move rightward and listen to conservatives. Maybe the most important reality here is . . . a Democrat president would never have done this.
In other words, Z-amnesty.
"Overall, I would think this is a valid effort from the White House to move rightward and listen to conservatives. Maybe the most important reality here is . . . a Democrat president would never have done this."
You're killing me Owen!
It's peanuts.
And beyond amnesty, he still wants to bring millions more in so his buddies can squeeze down and extra dollar or two an hour on wages.
Bush's ploy is "I didn't enforce the law, so now gimme what I want."
2) The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.
This is pretty darn good. This is a direct address of the concern conservatives have been expressing that they can't believe anything until some evidence of serious awareness of the problem appears -- and a fence segment plus a jump in patrol totals does do that.
Riiiiiight!!! They can't enforce the laws on the books now, so tell me HOW they can enforce ANY of the new laws. They are trying to pull the wool over the American voters eyes. Obviously, they have. It's smoke and mirrors.
Do you remember, there is NO funding approved for the fence they PREVIOUSLY agreed to build. They are trying to calm us down so they can pass this bill that will destroy our sovereignty!
2. Didn't some Minutmen claim to build a fence?
Apparently the Dems are correct, Bush is too stupid to run the country.
Why would any illegal pay $3,500 when Bush isn't enforcing the immigration laws now, and the federal government will have all they can do to keep track of even as few as 1 million who might sign up for this.
If folks take the position that no law is going to be enforced, then no proposal whatsoever made by anyone is going to be approved by people here.
They are proposing to build a fence and they are proposing addition of patrol people. If you don't believe anything will be enforced, then why should you care if this becomes law? You aren't believing anything anyway.
"Why would any illegal pay $3,500 when Bush isn't enforcing the immigration laws now, and the federal government will have all they can do to keep track of even as few as 1 million who might sign up for this."
You are absolutely correct, in my opinion.
The whole issue of amnesty makes the faulty assumption that illegals are somehow dissatisfied with how things work right now. They get paid under the table, law enforcement looks the other way 9 times out of 10, no car/medical insurance costs, their kids are educated gratis, they can change identities at will.....the list goes on.
Some may take advantage of it, but the vast majority are more free without amnesty than with it. Of those that do take advantage of it, nothing stops them from continuing to work under the table with an alternte identity.....
A free lunch is a free lunch, and illegal immigrants will feed at the trough until the trough is empty.
More likely is that W thinks we little people are stupid.
Why should all these illegals get preference over people trying to do it the legal way? And why should Mexicans get such priority?
I would like to see a lot more immigration from Eastern Europe. They know what communism is like, and they have strong moral values, generally.
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