Nov 25 2008
Extreme Positions Create Extreme Backlashes
Illegal immigration is an issue I find myself just disgusted with. On the far right we have the “deport them now” crowd who call anything less ‘amnesty’. Whether its deportation by rounding up illegals and dumping all 20+ million over the border or it is through economic blackmail, these folks took the only sane option of positive and conservative immigration reform and tanked it twice: once under the GOP led Congress and once under the Dem led Congress.
Their promise was we didn’t need any new laws to fix the problem. It was a out and out lie of course. The far right zealots just did not want to deal with those long term illegals who had set up roots here over many years to get off with hefty fines and paying back taxes with interest (which was a more than reasonable punishment for a misdemeanor paper filing crime). They claimed there were problems at the border, but of course the border has nothing to do with ‘amnesty’. They claimed all sorts of irrelevant imperfections (like Congress ever produces perfection??). So they tanked the reasonable compromise and destroyed the GOP in the process. It was at this time, on this subject, the nativist went crazy and started to really attack moderate conservatives in viscous ways. It was, as I said, disgusting.
But the far left is no better, and in fact probably worse. They want to just give everyone here US Citizenship so they can refill their base with new voters. They don’t care how big a drain these non-tax paying people drain our government and limit services that should be going to tax paying residents (including legal immigrants). They want to break laws so they can control the legislature. It would have been a huge defeat for the left if the comprehensive immigration bill had passed. It would be the end of real ‘amnesty’, where people get short cuts to US Citizenship for illegal acts.
As a reminder here is what would have been in place if the far right had not gone crazy in their extremism:
- All illegal aliens would have to register with the government, use a tamper proof ID (not some drivers license) and be limited to 2 three-year stints as a migrant worker.
- The borders would be strengthened (they have been).
- No one caught entering illegally would be allowed in, they would be turned back (Bush instituted this policy which made last year the last year any illegal entrant who was caught at the border could still enter).
- Stiff fines and clear responsibilities on companies and individuals who hired migrant workers to play by the rules and collect taxes.
- A ‘start over’ period for illegal immigrants here for more than 2-3 years (no new arrivals would qualify) who had to pass a criminal background check, pay a fine and all back taxes, use the immigrant worker ID and tracking process before they were allowed to stay and begin their time towards US citizenship if they so desired. EIther that or they had the same 6 years before they would have to leave.
- One strike and your out rule: any immigrant (legal or illegal – this is very important) who committed a felony or violent crime would be banned from this country forever. Where they would serve time was being debated, but the fact is anyone who violated our trust in such a manner would be booted, never to come back.Â
Of course none of these common sense steps forward are reality today. None. Instead, as I predicted, the chance for real immigration reform is slipping farther and farther away as the extreme backlash from the far left starts to build – a backlash that was a response to extreme positions from the far right in the first place. Here in my home state of Virginia we are rapidly losing ground on immigration to this liberal backlash:
Virginia, known for some of the nation’s toughest policies on illegal immigration, appears to be abandoning its hard-line approach as state officials consider proposals to help foreign-born residents assimilate, including increasing the number of English classes.
In the coming weeks, the Virginia Commission on Immigration will send Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) two dozen recommendations, most of which would help immigrants instead of penalizing them.
Those on both sides of the issue say interest in immigration has waned because of the growing economic crisis, a clearer understanding of the state’s limitations on a largely federal issue and backlash at the voting booth.
“I think some reality set in,” said state Sen. John C. Watkins (R-Chesterfield), the group’s chairman.
Recommendations include shortening the Medicaid residency requirements for certain qualified immigrants, offering in-state tuition to immigrants who meet specific criteria and creating an immigration assistance office.
Remember when the far right called the immigration bill a ‘shamnesty’? Well, this is the product of their efforts. They gleefully cheered the demise of the comprehensive immigration bill claiming it would be much better without it. How may conservatives feel like thanking the far right for this result? Not me.
People don’t see the subtleties of history while they are living through it. They react to the ‘now’ – it’s the way our brains our naturally wired. We sample a variety of signals and respond. Our intellect provides us options to step back from this input/react wiring, but at times we forget to switch it full on. The far right became obsessed with silly buzz words like ‘amnesty’ and ‘breaking the law’, as if the government should be allowed to kick you out of house, job and the country for not licensing your vehicle, or keeping it insured.
And in response to their historic failure, we now have the far left in charge and they are trying to find ways to assimilate more aliens. They are trying to find ways to spend more tax payer dollars on people who do not pay taxes! It is a circus of the absurd, clowns to the left and clowns to the right.
I will seriously miss President George Bush, who appears to be the last good leader we will see for sometime. He led on national progress, not for ideology, fame or votes. He found compromises that would move the nation one more step to the right – which is how you do it in democracies. You don’t play dictator and force everyone to conform. I will miss his wisdom, which will be all the more painful given all the reminders of less sane heads that now surround us and lead the national debates.
Crosspatch….Our country certainly does have laws that determine who can enter our country, under what circumstances, and how long they can stay. Sometimes they even require health exams and quarantines.
If it weren’t against our laws to enter the US and stay as long as you like……then why do they have to “sneak” across the border…..why not just walk across the main borde bridge in the light of day?
—-
U.S. Code as of: 01/03/05
Section 1325. Improper entry by alien
(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
Ok, so you get a tourist visa and don’t leave.
But this is interesting because the last time I looked, when apprehended a person was entitled to a hearing and could be allowed to stay. It’s too late for me to look into it right now. You can not deport anyone without a hearing. Maybe you can make them pay a fine and/or put them in jail for 6 months, but it says nothing about deportation in that part of the code.
There was a recent case, within the past year or two where a woman here “illegally” was to be deported. Turns out her son was in the military and had been wounded in Iraq. She was allowed to stay.
I am telling you guys, most of you don’t know what you are talking about. Most of the people who come here are hard working, church going people. The thing is that a good education has been something only the rich can afford in their home countries. Most drop out of school and work to support their family in their home country and many continue that pattern here. It isn’t until about the 3rd generation here that their kids get a shot at college. The second generation usually ends up supporting themselves and the first generation and helps put the third generation through school.
They have strong families and strong communities.
I have a close friend whose father owned a ranch in coastal Northern California. It was in apples and had been long before he bought it. He was the fourth owner of that land since the Spanish Rancho land grants. The labor that worked those orchards had been coming from the same town in Mexico for nearly a hundred years. He treated them right. He made sure the kids got a teacher and a doctor. He made sure the kids got to church to be baptized and for catechism. When the women were pregnant, he made sure they saw the doctor.
He is dead now and his wife is in her 90’s and they no longer work that ranch. But to this day people from that town in Mexico will stop in to pay their respects and ask if there is anything they can do to be of service to her. There is honor and there is in many cases mutual respect and people have been going back and forth across that border for generations and generations. That is one reason why when you get closer to the border you find more sympathy for some kind of reasonable settlement. Many of the young laborers working for contractors in California and Arizona are the grandchildren of laborers who worked for the contractors grandfathers.
Things are different in much of the rest of the country. But here in California, many of the people caught up in all of this are people whose families have been existing like this for literally a hundred years or more.
And there’s more:
These “illegal immigrants” often make an investment in our country more valuable than their money or their labor … often their sons and daughters are investments in our future. I have absolutely no problem with citizens like that.
Redteam:
Oh please, I am not saying we are troglodytes, I am repeating what someone else said anda lot of people think there is some truth to it.
And I am not saying I want blanket amnesty, I am saying that even Reagan was not as far right on this issue as the right has been and they have taken themselves out of the mainstream here..the result is that someone who actually does a far more liberal immigration policy than either Bush or McCain has won the election. So how has that helped?
crosspatch:
Yes, Rush is smarter than that. I think he is playing to his audience for the market share. It is all business for Rush.
crosspatch:
Illegal entry is a misdemeanor, not a felony. That is why the hearings are held in a civil court and not a criminal proceeding. People do not really understand the difference I don’t think. Law enforcement is for crimes like rape and murder and robbery…not chasing down nannies. That would just overwhelm the system.
Who cares?
The point is you are being taken over.
We on the Right sort of get it.
I say to the two trolls for the Left, that are new on this site,
Squawk all you want Guy, but you’ve been had too.
This whole thing isn’t about redistributing the wealth, it isn’t about
getting another twenty million illegal Mexicans registered to vote for the
Democratic Party. None of the above. Mexican gangs? Amnesty?
Little topics to keep the proletariat amused and distracted.
By the time you guys figure it out it will be well past too late.
Now y’all might want to call me “paranoid”.
I’m thinking of a new news network to replace the now utterly
worthless Fox News.
I’m going to call it PBC. Kind of rolls of the tongue, non?
Paranoid Bitter Clingers.
Terrye, your argument is a little like the argument:
‘if rape is inevitable, you may as well enjoy it’
well, rape is a crime(felony) and entering the US illegally is a crime(misdemeanor). certainly rape is much more serious, but neither is desired.
If crossing the border illegally is not something to be enforced, why should it be illegal?
Imagine this conversation between a southern border guard and someone wanting to enter without papers.
Guard: why don’t you have papers?
someone: I didn’t know I had to have them just to get a job.
Guard: yes it’s required for everyone.
someone: what if I promise to be good and only take a job that Americans won’t do?
Guard: well that would be nice, but would you sign up for welfare or social security or free health care.
someone: why certainly, that’s my right once I get across the border, isn’t it?
Guard: well obviously you’ve studied the situation well and seem to be very well qualified, now I’m going to look the other way and while I’m doing so, go right on in. Once you get across, there’s no penalty, we’ll all just keep looking the other way. Bye now, have a nice day.
CHANGE we can believe in.
we need all the amusement we can find.
The notion that principled conservatism lost this election is laughable. Conservative ideals failed to show themselves in the political discourse as McCain ran against “Hope” and never really stood for anything substantive.
People chose the young, black, very well-funded, media-backed, new face over the old, patriotic, middle-of-the-road political mainstay in the face of a very gloomy economy. They did so even with the knowledge that Obama is a far-left Socialist.
Even now, headlines read that Obama has unveiled his bold plan to save the economy, yet I challenge anyone to tell me the details of this “unveiled” plan. It’s all perception and no substance.
Republicans have lost their credibility by abandoning their principles and becoming Democrat-lite. Big government programs, spending increases, cap and trade environmental hoakem, and an ambivalence toward borders and social issues make many say, “There’s really not much difference. I’ll vote for the new guy.” And for those so eager to abandon social conservativism, take a look at the 52% of California that stood for traditional marriage.
A party who embraces a Giuliani-esque social agenda will become increasingly irrelevant, causing people of faith (up to 52% of liberal California) to withdraw.
I am still waiting for all you folks to tell me how much fraud there was.
I personallyknow of 4 College Children who voted in other states.
We are at war and you folk keep blaming the conservatives.
A minority probably always will be a minority but not necessarily a bad thing.
Common sense has died and so we have Obama, Treason is the swing of things with the media and so we have obama.
Any time some scumbag can go on national tv and Declare the Declaration to be a stained document and not one Republican gets up and tells him he is full of it you will understand why they lost.
They ara a bunch of Lowly COWARDS who failed to lead and followed themselves to obscurity.
Let me know when it is time to let GOD sort them out.
Cross,
Re unborn life:
I agree with the federalist approach, leaving it up to the states instead of the courts. And letting each side work to persuade the other of the reasonableness of its position.
But, tax money shouldn’t be involved in the taking of innocent life. Let’s get the present “mullahs” out. Comparing the protection of human life to Islamic barbarism is a stretch.
Crosspatch, the last that I heard you can’t be an illegal alien and join our military…..you hve to have a greencard. And, I am all in favor of putting these guys at the front of the line for citizenship.
Most who come here illegally are good people. However, they should wait in line and come here legally to be fully appreciated. I am not opposed to an eventual path to citizenship. I just want the borders secured and the problem to be controlled before we have these talks that encompass the comprehensive aspects of what to do with those who are here.
There is also a lot of terrible things going on in our border towns. Mexican druglords and foreign gangs are also dangerously seeping into our society. And, the cost of illegal immigration on taxpayers is almost at the breaking point. I, like most Americans, have simply reached that “enough is enough” point. It is time to do something real, meaningful, and lasting to address this issue. The first step is to secure the border and quit encouraging people to come here and stay illegally. I welcome legal immigration with open arms. I love to see people new to our lands with an appreciation for true American values to take the oath of citizenship. It brings tears to my eyes every time I see it because these new citizens are at the heart of the American spirit. However, it has to be done under the rule of law…..or we are a nation lost.