From CNN.com:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Opponents effectively killed President Bush's long-fought and emotion-laden Senate immigration bill Thursday when members voted against advancing the controversial legislation.
The tally was 46 to 53, 14 votes shy of the 60 needed to end debate.
My answer: GOOD.
This legislation was a nightmare all the way around.
1. It didn't have anything close to what could be called Border Security.
2. Nothing about securing our Ports.
3. It would have hurt workers on the low end of the socio-economic spectrum.
4. And, it would have hurt workers, due to the High End Visa SCAM, on the higher end of the socio-economic spectrum.
The only ones this would help were the illegals and Corporations who wanted endless supply of cheap labor, all the way around.
Despite being called bigots, and other names (yeah, I've gotten the names thrown at me), we either are a nation of laws, or we are not. And since laws seem to always find their way when it comes to Black folk, I'll be frank - others should have to follow them too.
You want 'immigration reform'?
How about take away a HUGE lobbying point of the opposition:
1. Secure the Border
2. Fully fund the Border Patrol while you expand it.
3. Secure the Ports
4. Take care of the backlog of applicants already in the system. Do you know how ludicrous it was to watch folks talk about granting amnesty to 12 million folks in one hand, and in the next news report, having anchors tell us that the Government has suspended the passport requirements for Canada and Mexico, BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY COULDN'T FILL THE PASSPORT APPLICATIONS IN TIME? They can't fill PASSPORT APPLICATIONS in a timely fashion, and have a backlog of over 600,000 LEGAL immigrant applications that have been on hold -SOME FOR YEARS - but we're supposed to believe that this agency is ready for 12 million new applicants for citizenship? Come on!!
IF these 4 things are done, then guess what, you take away a huge platform of the opposition.
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3 comments:
This Bill was so poorly thought out and so poorly put together... that it makes me wonder if it was designed to fail.
The Republicans really didn't want this Bill in the first place..., if they were really interested in immigration reform, they would have dealt with the issue when they were in the majority.
They didn't want the Bill because they believe that it would hurt corporate business interests (their major supporters) who rely on the cheap, illegal labor from Latin America.
So much for Homeland Security.
I wonder what the Border agents think about this craziness & this failure of their government to do something about this mess. These folks risk their lives daily (and don't get paid much) just to chase migrants around in circles. They don't have a government that supports what they are doing.
I agree with most of your observations... There needs to be more enforcement...,at the borders and with the employers.
But in the long run, I do think that we would be better off with a revamped system. Deporting 12-20 million people is out of the question. So something has to be done... I would probably make the path to citizenship a little more interesting. But it would be better to have these folks on the books...paying taxes, etc.
But the politicians have to decide when to stop window dressing and get serious about this issue. Most of what I have seen so far has been window dressing.
I will know they are serious when they allocate billions more to the effort, and hire several thousand more border agents, build better barriers, use the national guard (permanently) and enforce tougher laws against the employers who use illegal aliens as a way to exploit the cheap labor, cut corners, avoid taxes, etc. At the same time, we could increase existing legitimate work visa programs to compensate for the loss in illegal labor. But I don't see any indication that we are even getting close to doing any of what I mentioned. The speeches sound interesting...but it's all empty rhetoric. I want to actually see a plan to enforce the current laws... and to see the government carry that plan out. We already have guest worker programs that could be used to supply employers with legitimate labor.
There was a raid in Portland a couple of weeks ago... dozens of workers were picked up... but I heard nothing about charges against the company that hired these workers. The employers rarely even get a slap on the wrist.
Rikyrah wonderful entry! AI, I also loved your comments.
I wish I could add to this, but both of you have hit it on the nail.
Angie
There was a raid in Portland a couple of weeks ago... dozens of workers were picked up... but I heard nothing about charges against the company that hired these workers. The employers rarely even get a slap on the wrist.
I agree with you. There is an easy way to deal with it. Quintuple the existing fines for employers, and make it PER EMPLOYEE.
Haul them off to jail along with the illegals.
Case solved.
We already have rules that could be enforced. We don't need those rules.
What we need is real and serious border and port security. THAT should be what the Congress takes up to tackle.
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