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| Bush Acknowledges Doubts About Immigration Bill |
| 2007-05-19 |
| President George W. Bush on Saturday acknowledged lawmakers' doubts about a U.S. immigration proposal, but argued it will help resolve the status of 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. With the proposal taking fire from Republicans and Democrats, the Senate was expected to start debate on immigration on Monday. Bush used his weekly radio address to open what is likely to be an intense effort to persuade Americans to support a comprehensive approach to long-simmering U.S. immigration problems. "It will help us resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants who are here already, without animosity and without amnesty," said Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch. The president, in need of a victory to brighten a second term dominated by the chaos in Iraq, wants to resolve the immigration battle before it gets swept up by the presidential campaign to replace him next year. The immigration deal was reached on Thursday between senators from both political parties and backed by Bush. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada has called it a first step, but has also raised concerns about it. The legislation will have to navigate some perilous shoals if it is to become law. Even if it gets through the Senate, the outlook is also unclear in the House of Representatives. Conservative Republicans fear it would lead to an amnesty for illegal immigrants whom they say are already weighing heavily on America's social fabric. At the same time, many Democrats think the elements of the worker program are too tough on immigrants. Labor unions fear the deal will drive down wages. "I realize that many hold strong convictions on this issue, and reaching an agreement was not easy," Bush said. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) got in a shouting match with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record) in talks that led to the deal. The Post, citing unnamed Republican and Democratic sources, said words were exchanged when Cornyn voiced concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, and that it got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy running for president to take part in the immigration negotiations. "Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain, according to The Post. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain was said to have used an expletive and shouted at Cornyn, "I know more about this than anyone else in the room." McCain's presidential campaign spokesman Brian Jones denied his boss claimed to know more about the bill, but acknowledged to the Post that "there was a spirited exchange" in the talks. Bush has come under pressure from Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who says he has relatives working in the United States, to convince Congress to ease U.S. immigration laws. In his radio address, the Republican president sought to reassure conservatives who stymied an immigration push last year by fighting for tougher border security measures. He said the immigration proposal would require that strong border security and enforcement benchmarks -- such as doubling the number of Border Patrol agents on the U.S.-Mexico border -- be met before a temporary worker program and other pieces of the legislation would be implemented. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #9 Screw Calderon. Find his relatives and JAIL THEM. Tell Felipe if he wants them, come get them. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-05-19 23:05 |
| #8 Bush used his weekly radio address to open what is likely to be an intense effort to persuade Americans to support a comprehensive approach to long-simmering U.S. immigration problems. Harriet Myers. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-05-19 22:28 |
| #7 If he doesn't understand the concept of a border - how the hell does he think he can wage a war? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-05-19 22:25 |
| #6 Who'd thought the day would come when the US government was as credible as the N.Korean government? Heh. Trunk or Donk, if their mouths are moving they're lying. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-05-19 22:11 |
| #5 I'd rather "resolve the status of millions of illegal Americans will do the jobs people claim they won't do - if the illegals aren't here to work illegally for less money. And if you can't find enough Americans to harvest crops (and maybe you can't, I don't know), legally bring in registered, accounted-for crews of Mexicans or whoever for specific jobs (and yes, crews can be moved from one job to another as the season progresses north) and then send them back home at the end of the harvest season. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-05-19 21:17 |
| #4 "It will help us resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants who are here already, without animosity and without amnesty," said Bush It might resolve it, but just not in our favor. Fuck these self-serving assholes. From doc's link: CIS [Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services] has indicated it would need to bring in private contractor personnel to help deal with the monumental workload increase from reform legislation. Such contractors will invariably be quickly hired, poorly trained, probably low-bid, barely vetted and far more subject to bribery and corruption than permanent Government employees.The more I learn about this the less happy I am. This is a sellout of the American public on a massive scale. Washington D.C. is betraying its electorate wholesale. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-19 20:29 |
| #3 Bill West, posting on the Counterterrorism Blog, doesn't have any doubts at all. This so-called Immigration Reform will be a National Security Nightmare. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-05-19 19:39 |
| #2 First, I don't care if they sextuple the number of Border Patrol agents; since the USG has neutered them by conclusively showing them they will not be supported in enforcing the law, they're not going to do so. Second, he wants to solve this "without animosity and without amnesty." Well, there damned well should be some animosity. The illegals have treated our sovereignty and our laws with contempt, placed a great economic burden on our society, and committed crimes in disproportionate amounts to their numbers. What's more, a sovereign government, Mexico, has deliberately aided and abetted its populace in breaking our laws in a way the same government rejects with deadly force on its southern border. Animosity? Oh yeah! Unfortunately for America, there WILL be amnesty. The government as currently constituted doesn't have the balls to stop these criminals from crossing our borders, and anyone who thinks they do simply needs to look at the results of the Simpson-Mazzoli bill of 1986. That too was supposed to be amnesty with enforcement. We got the amnesty; we're still waiting for the enforcement. Don't hold your breath. There is a simple solution to this problem: make it a law that anyone hiring or providing benefits to illegal immigrants faces a $1000 fine per person per day and ten years in jail, enforceable six months from today. Then stand back from the borders; you'd get crushed by all the people streaming out. Unfortunately for Americans, that's too simple, and too straightforward for the coalition of business interests and Dem race panderers that have led us to this problem in the first place. Bastards. |
| Posted by: Graiting Pelosi5237 2007-05-19 19:21 |
| #1 Does it mean we can expect doubts about two state solution to "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict soon? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-05-19 18:48 |