Border control is day to day. Amnesty is forever.
It could be that the White House is slowly coming to realize that many, many Republican voters don’t accept the porous borders of today. They want border enforcement as well as interior enforcement of immigration laws. Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News quoted Senator Cornyn (R-TX), who says that the Bush administration is beginning to understand that any kind immigration reform and/or amnesty for illegal aliens currently in our country must be accompanied by tougher enforcement. That’s encouraging, but remember that an amnesty can’t be taken back, while enforcement can evaporate overnight. The 1986 amnesty was supposed to be accompanied by stricter enforcement, but that aspect of the deal quickly fell by the wayside.
With that in mind, Congress should not pass an amnesty bill, nor a guest-worker plan, until we’ve seen several years of serious, effective enforcement of existing immigration laws. Also, immigration reform must include laws that greatly expedite deportation of illegal aliens. In fact, such deportations should be handled by low-level agents without judicial or administrative interference. Deportees would instead have to press their cases from their home countries, where they should have initiated their immigration effort to begin with.
June 26th, 2005 at 8:53 am
Maybe if we allocated resources for protecting our homeland instead of having thousands of troops in Iraq at an enormous cost we would be in a better position than we are today. Of course Bush has spent nearly 180 billion dollars (www.costofwar.com) on a failed war in Iraq while that money could have been spent on securing our country with hardly anything to show for it. One positive that has been argued by conservatives is that Iraqis energy demand has risen. Unfortunately energy production has declined in the last year and waves of deadly violence are increasing even as the government has been formed and elections occurred months ago.
So much for our progress over there, and obviously conditions are grossly inadequate over here. I just don’t understand why a Republican dominated government can not get these matters resolved when they talk so tough during election time. Republican counter-arguments that whine about Democrats holding up right-wing judicial nominees is irrelevant. Instead of focusing on judges maybe they should focus on the real priorities of Americans. When will the majority of people wake up and realize they are being duped by the President? Only time will tell.
June 26th, 2005 at 11:22 am
Joshin,
I think there a lot of positives in Iraq, along with a long list of obvious negatives. I don’t think it’s accurate at all to suggest that the war can’t be won, or has already been lost.
Surely Congress and Administration should tackle “real priorities,” but I think judges are defnitely a real priority for most Americans. The Republicans are right to be on the offensive on that issue, and to harshly criticize obstructionist Democrats.
Having said all that, yes, both Congress and the President HAVE to get serious about border control and interior enforcement. There’s no excuse for their “it’s-not-so-bad”-approach. It is bad. It’s really bad and they need to get on it. President Bush’s attitude in particular has been disappointing, he’s shown himself to be almost completely out of touch with reality in regards to immigration.
July 1st, 2005 at 8:00 pm
I believe we are protecting our homeland the last time I checked Joshin? We are protecting the homeland and humanity from the threat that terrosim poses daily on our lives and the lives of every child born in the future! We are not only fighting in Iraq, but fighting on the frontline in Afghanistan as well. The reason you do not hear about the operations in Afghanistan as much as you do about our troops in Iraq is that it is “confidential”, have you ever heard of that word? Special-ops continuosly work on a day-to-day basis to ensure that terrorists do not escape their country and reach ours to do hell knows what. The fact is we happen to have it pretty well over here in the United States, and if you think otherwise then move to France! Maybe if the Democrats would just shut up about the judicial nominees we could actually get something done, and move on to other priorities! These men and women President Bush has nominated for these offices are more than prepared to get to work and do what every other American does everyday, work, and make a living. Democrats like Ted Kennedy, who think they are so mainstream, really should think about retiring before he goes around and asks Don Rumsfeld when he might consider resigning! I can tell you one thing the Democratic party today is not the party of John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt, they would honestly roll over in their graves if they knew how Democrats go about business today! How can you say we have failed in Iraq? The United States has captured Dictator Saddam Hussein and many other terrorist leaders from Al-Queda and more than likely prevented another attack on any of our major U.S. cities. We have implemented school systems so that Iraqi children can get an education, work a more quality job because that education, and make a living for themselves and their families. They are on their way to democracy and a republic that they will benefit from in years to come! Shame on you for degrading our operations over there by saying we failed, men and women are dying for a better cause, and they know it and are willing to continue as a matter of fact!