Apr 11 2006
GOP Surrenders On Felony Immigration
The GOP has seen the writing on the wall, and it says don’t listen to the nutcases like Michael Savage:
The two top Republicans in Congress, confronted with internal party divisions as well as large public demonstrations, said Tuesday they intend to pass immigration legislation that does not subject illegal aliens to prosecution as felons.
A written statement by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, did not say whether they would seek legislation subjecting illegal immigrants to misdemeanor prosecution or possibly a civil penalty such as a fine.
Stick a fork in the mass deportation movement. They lost before they started. America is still a reasonable and great nation. Can you believe some of these people think the constitution only applies to Americans and not all the people in this great country? If conservatives are smart, they will back off and let Democrats hang themselves:
Who killed immigration reform? The autopsy shows it was Senate Democrats.
It’s tempting to put a pox on both parties. But it wouldn’t be fair. Republicans were tireless in search of comprehensive, and bipartisan, reform. Sen. John McCain of Arizona joined with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to draft the guest-worker legislation, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter made that legislation central to what his committee sent to the full Senate. Sens. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Sam Brownback of Kansas were vocal in their support. Sens. Mel Martinez of Florida and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska offered a helpful compromise. And Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist showed leadership by reaching out to the other side.
Too bad you can’t say the same for Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who was the villain in this drama.
…
Baloney. The hard-liners had — by all accounts — no more than 30 votes, including those of conservative Democrats. On the other side, you had — according to McCain — as many as 70 votes.
A deal was at hand that would have offered legal status to some illegal immigrants. It would have made the GOP seem more Latino-friendly, but it would also have infuriated organized labor, which opposes something that was in the mix: guest workers.
After the Senate Judiciary Committee put out a guest-worker bill, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued a statement saying: “Guest-workers programs are a bad idea and harm all workers.”
That did it. Senate Democrats sided with labor, and sold out Latinos.
Let Savage and Reid become the poster children of xenophobia.
You know AJ you call Savage a NUT>
Have you seen all the Mexican Laws on immigration?
Why don’t we just copy them.
We are finished and all the cowards can do is just finish us off.
I hate to say it but you folks are just going to help them at it.
Wish you well.
Borders, Language, Culture.
Doesn’t get any simpler then that.
Why aren’t the current immigration laws being enforced?
Just what we need, the Pussies in Congress rewriting the laws enacted by the law abiding citizens of Amerca, to suit Illegals.
Brilliant.
Keep up the fight for mass amnesty, and like Mark Steyn writes:
“”We’re now expected to believe that this system will be able to stop hassling 68-year-old cello players long enough to process an extra 10 million-plus immigration applications, and that furthermore an agency that keeps no reliable records of legal entry into the United States will somehow be able to determine on the basis of utility bills whether this or that undocumented alien falls into amnesty-eligibility category. Sure, believe that if you want to. It’ll be good practice for swallowing the amnesty for the next 40 million circa 2025.”
I don’t consider this a s complicated as everyone makes it out to be. Obviously we need to enforce the laws currently on the books. We cannot reward criminal behavior – yet, we need to show some compassion for long time residents (illegal) that own property and have families here.
First we need to “lock down” the southern border. The most effective way is to build the wall.
Secondly we need to simultaneously fastrack legal immigration to those illegals that have been in this country for a long period of time and announce that “if you want to come into the country legally, you must return to your country of origin and apply.” We should give priority & expedite the following:
a) Those that own homes in this country
b) Those that own commercial/agri property in this country
c) Those that have children that are US citizens
d) Those married to US Citizens
e) Those not in any class above that have lived here for 10 years or more
f) All others
All should be made aware that if they do not return to their home country and apply through normal channels for legal residency, and if they are caught in this country illegally, they will then be forever barred from entering the US.
All local law enforcement will be authorized to ask for documentation in the normal course of their duties and be required to call Immigration when encountering illegal aliens. Those captured will be immediately deported.
The key to making this work is opening legal entry to more Mexican citizens, expediting paperwork (including background checks) and locking down the border. Then we just have to let time and attrition do its work.
Any plan that includes amnesty is a bad plan.