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Senate Panel Approves Immigration Bill
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent1 hour, 18 minutes ago
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for immigrants.
With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5 million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry.
"All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C. said he hoped President Bush would participate in efforts to fashion consensus legislation. "The only thing that's off the table is inaction," said Graham, who voted for the committee bill.
The 12-6 vote broke down along unusual lines, with a majority of the panel's Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls the Senate.
Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., seeking re-election this fall in his border state, said the bill offered amnesty to illegal immigrants, and sought unsuccessfully to insert tougher provisions. He told fellow committee members that the economy would turn sour some day and Americans workers would want the jobs that now go to illegal immigrants. They will ask, "how could you have let this happen," he added.
Committee chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania was one of four Republicans to support the bill, but he signaled strongly that some of the more controversial provisions could well be changed when the measure reaches the Senate floor. That is "very frequently" the case when efforts to reach a broad bipartisan compromise falter, he noted.
In general, the bill is designed to strengthen enforcement of U.S. borders, regulate the flow into the country of so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.
The bill would double the Border Patrol and authorizes a "virtual wall" of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.
It also allows more visas for nurses and agriculture workers, and shelters humanitarian organizations from prosecution if they provide non-emergency assistance to illegal residents.
The most controversial provision would permit illegal aliens currently in the country to apply for citizenship without first having to return home, a process that would take at least six years or more. They would have to pay a fine, learn English, study American civics, demonstrate they had paid their taxes and take their place behind other applicants for citizenship, according to aides to Kennedy.
"Well over 60 percent of Americans in all the polls I see think it's OK to have temporary workers, but you do not have to make them citizens," said Kyl.
"We have a fundamental difference between the way you look at them and the way I look at them," Kennedy observed later.
Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a potential presidential contender who worked with Kennedy on the issue, told reporters the street demonstrations had made an impact. "All those people who were demonstrating are not here illegally. They are the children and grandchildren" of those who may have been, he said.
The committee met as several thousand demonstrators rallied at the foot of the Capitol. Many were members of the clergy who donned handcuffs and sang "We Shall Overcome," the unofficial anthem of the civil rights era.
After a weekend of enormous rallies a crowd of as many as 500,000 demonstrators in Los Angeles thousands of students walked out of class in California and Texas to protest proposals to crack down on illegal immigrants.
"Do you see the community? Do you see how many people didn't go to work today," asked Janet Padron, attending a rally in Michigan.
Her remark underscored one of the issue's complexities.
Senators on all sides of the issue agreed that illegal workers hold thousands of jobs that otherwise would go unfilled at the wages offered.
The agriculture industry is "almost entirely dependent on undocumented workers," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.
In purely political terms, the issue threatened to fracture Republicans as they head into the midterm election campaign one group eager to make labor readily available for low-wage jobs in industries such as agriculture, construction and meatpacking, the other determined to place a higher emphasis on law enforcement.
That was a split Bush was hoping to avoid after a political career spent building support for himself and his party from the fast-growing Hispanic population.
"America should not have to choose between being a welcoming society and being a lawful society," Bush said at a naturalization ceremony for new citizens. "We can be both at the same time."
Bush has said he favors a guest worker program, but it is unclear whether the administration would insist on a provision to require illegal immigrants already in the country to return home before they are allowed to apply for citizenship.
At several critical points, committee Democrats showed unity while Republicans splintered. In general, Graham, Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas and Sen. Mike DeWine (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio, who is seeking re-election this fall, voted with the Democrats. That created a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to their liking.
Feinstein won approval for the five-year program to permit as many as 1.5 million agriculture workers into the country. "It will provide the agriculture industry with a legal work force and offer agriculture workers a path to citizenship," she said. The vote was 11-5, with Republicans casting all the votes in opposition.
Kennedy prevailed on a proposal to allow an additional 400,000 green cards for future immigrants, regardless of the industry where they find jobs.
theim said:Honestly those protests probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if I saw 500,000 illegal immigrants happy and proud to be in America. Instead it was a scene eerily reminiscent of Muslims in Europe. Frankly it was worrisome.
theim said:Honestly those protests probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if I saw 500,000 illegal immigrants happy and proud to be in America. Instead it was a scene eerily reminiscent of Muslims in Europe. Frankly it was worrisome.
OCA said:It saddens me to say this......but I was right.
Just for the record I agree with the overall sentiment that if these bastards want to be in America they should be waving the stars and stripes and not the Mexican flag, they should be assimilating.
Now with that said I believe from what I saw is that these protesters were made up of mostly high school and college age protesters, probably brainwashed what with the advent of latino studies in California now, but there is no denying that purely historically speaking that yes in fact the southwest was at one point Mexico.
dilloduck said:Racial separatists --and they want the land to come with them.
http://www.voicesmag.com/Archives/kouri/March2006/illegal_immigration_reform_scam_032606.htmOCA said:And the oscar goes to Dildo for best actor in a drama scene. Can you please be realistic? Your hysteria is appalling.
dilloduck said:http://www.voicesmag.com/Archives/kouri/March2006/illegal_immigration_reform_scam_032606.htm
The Illegal Immigration Reform Scam
By Jim Kouri
26 March 2006
| Voices Magazine | This weekend, thousands of activists and illegal aliens have been rallying in Los Angeles to protest against plans to further criminalize so-called undocumented workers. The protest's main organizer Javier Rodriguez has ties to the radical left group MEchA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), which believes Mexicans have a right to repopulate lands stolen from them by the United States.
The mainstream news media put a happy-face on the protest, which is part of a series of such events throughout the nation. While the news reporters talked about illegal workers who perform jobs Americans refuse to perform, they continue to avoid mentioning the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who prey on men, women and children -- U.S. citizens. It is these innocent Americans who are murdered, raped and robbed because of an insane immigration policy. Criminal aliens are entering the U.S. in the tens of thousands and remaining here as they join violent gangs such as MS-13, or they choose to commit their mayhem solo.
Kathianne said:I hope the public responds to this the way I think they will. I believe the 'protests' awakened the public to the inherent dangers of this path.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060328/ap_on_go_co/immigration
OCA said:So there are whackos amongst them. The only time they are recognized is when you give them attention. Its not like they are the majority of latinos in the U.S., please tell you me you are not that gullible.
Hell there are whackos amongst Whites here, should I be afraid of them also? Take a valium and calm down.
Immigration is yet another issue which we seem unable to discuss rationally -- in part because words have been twisted beyond recognition in political rhetoric.
We can't even call illegal immigrants "illegal immigrants." The politically correct evasion is "undocumented workers."
Do American citizens go around carrying documents with them when they work or apply for work? Most Americans are undocumented workers but they are not illegal immigrants. There is a difference.
The Bush administration is pushing a program to legalize "guest workers." But what is a guest? Someone you have invited. People who force their way into your home without your permission are called gate crashers.
If truth-in-packaging laws applied to politics, the Bush guest worker program would have to be called a "gate-crasher worker" program. The President's proposal would solve the problem of illegal immigration by legalizing it after the fact.
We could solve the problem of all illegal activity anywhere by legalizing it. Why use this approach only with immigration? Why should any of us pay a speeding ticket if immigration scofflaws are legalized after the fact for committing a federal crime?
Most of the arguments for not enforcing our immigration laws are exercises in frivolous rhetoric and slippery sophistry, rather than serious arguments that will stand up under scrutiny.
How often have we heard that illegal immigrants "take jobs that Americans will not do"? What is missing in this argument is what is crucial in any economic argument: price.
Americans will not take many jobs at their current pay levels -- and those pay levels will not rise so long as poverty-stricken immigrants are willing to take those jobs.
If Mexican journalists were flooding into the United States and taking jobs as reporters and editors at half the pay being earned by American reporters and editors, maybe people in the media would understand why the argument about "taking jobs that Americans don't want" is such nonsense.
Another variation on the same theme is that we "need" the millions of illegal aliens already in the United States. "Need" is another word that blithely ignores prices.
If jet planes were on sale for a thousand dollars each, I would probably "need" a couple of them -- an extra one to fly when the first one needed repair or maintenance. But since these planes cost millions of dollars, I don't even "need" one.
There is no fixed amount of "need," independently of prices, whether with planes or workers.
None of the rhetoric and sophistry that we hear about immigration deals with the plain and ugly reality: Politicians are afraid of losing the Hispanic vote and businesses want cheap labor.
What millions of other Americans want has been brushed aside, as if they don't count, and they have been soothed with pious words. But now the voters are getting fed up, which is why there are immigration bills in Congress.
The old inevitability ploy is often trotted out in immigration debates: It is not possible to either keep out illegal immigrants or to expel the ones already here.
If you mean stopping every single illegal immigrant from getting in or expelling every single illegal immigrant who is already here, that may well be true. But does the fact that we cannot prevent every single murder cause us to stop enforcing the laws against murder?
Since existing immigration laws are not being enforced, how can anyone say that it would not do any good to try? People who get caught illegally crossing the border into the United States pay no penalty whatever. They are sent back home and can try again.
What if bank robbers who were caught were simply told to give the money back and not do it again? What if murderers who were caught were turned loose and warned not to kill again? Would that be proof that it is futile to take action, when no action was taken?
Let's hope the immigration bills before Congress can at least get an honest debate, instead of the word games we have been hearing for too long.
Bonnie said:
dilloduck said:When you see a bunch of congressmen "dealing" with illegal immigration without even shutting down the border, you're watching a dog and pony show.
William Joyce said:If the Senate votes this through, a very small group of very shortsighted people will have signed the death warrant for America.
OCA said:It saddens me to say this......but I was right.
Just for the record I agree with the overall sentiment that if these bastards want to be in America they should be waving the stars and stripes and not the Mexican flag, they should be assimilating.
Now with that said I believe from what I saw is that these protesters were made up of mostly high school and college age protesters, probably brainwashed what with the advent of latino studies in California now, but there is no denying that purely historically speaking that yes in fact the southwest was at one point Mexico.
This is the freedom of being young and sort of care-free to test your ideas, values and make yourself "heard". Most people grow up sooner or later. The age for voting (The right to make a real difference) should somehow reflect that. Politicians schouldn't be able to count on votes from them.Bonnie said:Yes many were stupid idealistic college lefties that have no comprehension of what they are actually protesting for and what the ramifications are...
dilloduck said:ahhhhh pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! No valium needed here. I know the illegals have won. I say appease them by giving them California.
