Pres. Bush Faces Resistance On Immigration Reform

[NATO AIR]

gonna be a hell of a fight... the dems may end up working together with him on this one against many republicans. this will be one to watch for sure.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754323/

The Associated Press
Updated: 1:26 p.m. ET Dec. 25, 2004WASHINGTON - President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship.

Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.

To get the guest-worker initiative through Congress, Bush will need to go against the wishes of many Republicans and forge bipartisan alliances. That’s what President Clinton did in 1993 to win approval for a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, over the objections of a large bloc of congressional Democrats.

The chance seems slim for finding common ground between those in favor of liberalized immigration laws — Bush, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example — and those who want fewer immigrants, tougher border controls and harsher penalties.

Opposition is strongest among House Republicans.

'Deep division'
“In our party, this is a deep division that is growing deeper every minute,” says Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. He heads a group of 70 lawmakers who are against easing immigration laws.

Tancredo said Bush’s guest-worker proposal is “a pig with lipstick” and will not pass.

Bush asserts that he won valuable “political capital” in the election and intends to spend it. It is not clear how much of that he is willing to spend on the immigration measure.

Higher on his list of priorities is overhauling the Social Security system, rewriting the tax laws, limiting lawsuit judgments and making his first-term tax cuts permanent.

An estimated 10 million immigrants live in the United States illegally; the vast majority are from Mexico, with an additional million arriving every year.

A hint of the trouble ahead for Bush on immigration came this month when proposals to tighten — not ease — border restrictions nearly undermined a bill to restructure U.S. intelligence agencies.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee wanted the measure to bar states from giving a driver’s license to illegal immigrants. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said some of the Sept. 11 hijackers gained access to U.S. aircraft by using a driver’s license as identification.

Sensenbrenner ultimately backed down, but only after House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, promised that the chairman’s proposal would be considered in separate legislation in 2005.

Hastert also indicated he would not move ahead on major legislation unless it was supported by a majority of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House — and that he would not rely on Democratic support to pass a bill.

'May never go anywhere'
Immigration overhaul is “an issue that splits both parties, and given the new Hastert rule, may never go anywhere,” said William A. Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute. Niskanen was a member of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The president’s plan would grant temporary-worker status, for three years to six years, to millions of undocumented workers. It also would it easier for those workers to get permanent U.S. citizenship.

As governor of Texas, Bush was committed to immigration changes. As president, he came close to making a deal with Mexican President Vicente Fox in the days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those plans were put on hold as tighter borders took on a higher priority for the United States.

As a presidential candidate, both in 2000 and 2004, Bush eagerly courted Hispanics, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the electorate.

“We will keep working to make this nation a welcoming place for Hispanic people, a land of opportunity para todos (for all) who live here in America,” Bush told the League of United Latin American Citizens last summer.

Bush claimed 35 percent of Hispanic voters in 2000 and at least 40 percent last Nov. 2, according to exit polls. That compares with the 21 percent won by Bob Dole in 1996 and the 25 percent that Bush’s father got in 1992.

Republican consultants suggest Bush will not make a big push for his immigration bill until he has achieved his goals on Social Security and the tax laws. They also say the president may jettison the immigration bill if it would jeopardize other parts of his agenda.

Inside the administration, nobody is suggesting that passing the immigration plan would be anything other than extremely difficult.

“We don’t want to overpromise,” Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a visit last month to Mexico City.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[no1tovote4]

This simply angers me. The whole idea of rewarding the illegal behavior of these people with documentation is simply wrong in my opinion.

There are millions that waited their turn and got here legally that simply will look like fools. Why should I bother with the laws if all we are going to do is allow them to be flaunted in this way?

Guest workers is fine with me. Let them register in their country and be invited in. Imagine having a flood if illegals going back to register instead of just letting them have it without regard to the legal actions of others.

This is like spitting in the face of those who did it legally.

 

[Bullypulpit]

The guest worker program has no purpose other than to create a population of second class citizens. These "guest workers" would not be protected under the auspices of OSHA, state wage and hour boards, etc. Their presence would also act to depress the wages and benefits of US workers, furhter depressing the American standard of living.

In short, its just another plan to support Dubbyuh's corporate pimps and johns. The rest of working America can go screw themselves for all he cares.

 

[dilloduck]

It's DOA

 

[no1tovote4]

The guest worker program has no purpose other than to create a population of second class citizens. These "guest workers" would not be protected under the auspices of OSHA, state wage and hour boards, etc. Their presence would also act to depress the wages and benefits of US workers, furhter depressing the American standard of living.

In short, its just another plan to support Dubbyuh's corporate pimps and johns. The rest of working America can go screw themselves for all he cares.

Even currently these illegal immigrants would be protected under OSHA. They can sue and have in places for better working conditions.

They then would be documented and taxed and therefore would fall under the correct wage structures, thus decreasing the positive aspect of hiring under-the-table illegal immigrants.

I have no problem allowing guest workers, just with allowing those that illegally entered the country this benefit.

 

[OCA]

Well I hate to tell y'all but these illegals you speak of are going to stay, whether has citizens or something else I don't know but stay they will. They are much much too important to many western state economies and nobody has the wherewithall or the money to undertake such a massive operation as massive deportation. The only sensible thing to do is amnesty.

 

[no1tovote4]

Well I hate to tell y'all but these illegals you speak of are going to stay, whether has citizens or something else I don't know but stay they will. They are much much too important to many western state economies and nobody has the wherewithall or the money to undertake such a massive operation as massive deportation. The only sensible thing to do is amnesty.

Only if in the future they actually do sanction companies that violate the laws by hiring illegal immigrants would this be the only thing to do. If all we do is give amnesty but continue in the same way we then have simply stated that immigration laws should just be removed entirely and that we will not enforce them if you simply move here and never go away.

 

[OCA]

Nobody is saying to just leave things as they are and let everybody and their brother in the country, the answer is to grant amnesty to illegals already here(provided they have not committed any crime while in country, and before anybody says it this excludes the "illegal entry into the country crime") and then to make those borders a friggin steel wall. The expense and manpower it would take to achieve a mass deportation of illegals is not what this economy needs at the moment not to mention the irrepairable harm it would cause economies such as California.

Also it is not really big companies who are hiring illegals, its your independent contractors and your farmers who do most of the hiring, they need these guys because lets face it, most natives here won't do that type of grunt work in those conditions.

 

[no1tovote4]

Nobody is saying to just leave things as they are and let everybody and their brother in the country, the answer is to grant amnesty to illegals already here(provided they have not committed any crime while in country, and before anybody says it this excludes the "illegal entry into the country crime") and then to make those borders a friggin steel wall. The expense and manpower it would take to achieve a mass deportation of illegals is not what this economy needs at the moment not to mention the irrepairable harm it would cause economies such as California.

Also it is not really big companies who are hiring illegals, its your independent contractors and your farmers who do most of the hiring, they need these guys because lets face it, most natives here won't do that type of grunt work in those conditions.

However Bush shows no signs of actually making the border a steel wall. It seems to me that he shows more signs of keeping the status quo. It is definitely one thing that irritates me about the guy.