First, a Clinton appointee judge (U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay) holds up a Farmers Branch, TX law that bars property owners from renting to illegal aliens, then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., proposes allowing more spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents to immigrate to the U.S., by exempting them from visa caps.
The Senate is also considering a bid by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to more than double, to 90,000 a year, the number of green cards available for parents of U.S. citizens.
For his part, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., plans an attempt to phase out the point system that gives little credit for family ties to a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
On Wednesday, May 30, 2007 former Senator, John Edwards said that it's a "hard one" to decide if an illegal working here for one year has a "right" to citizenship, but says "five years, definitely," meaning five years of ILLEGAL STATUS definitely transforms this into a right.
Sen. Harry Reid referred to the 12 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. as "12 million undocumented Americans."
As bad as the Moderate Republicans are on this issue (and they ARE bad), the Democrats are clearly the real pro-illegal immigrant Party.
Will this translate into votes?
Bill O’Reilly and others think, “Yes,” as poor immigrants will vote for the bigger government, more welfare Democrats.
Call me a cynic, but I’m thinking a sizable percentage of these new immigrants would be swayed by Conservative rhetoric on social issues, BUT why should any of that matter?
It shouldn’t!
The reality is that illegal immigration results in a flood of unskilled labor, driving down the “wage floor” in the U.S., which in turn pulls down other wages as well.
The Democrats can’t claim to be “the Party of the workingclass” when they support the devaluing of American labor.
At this point, ONLY the Conservatives of both Parties CAN.
The Senate is also considering a bid by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to more than double, to 90,000 a year, the number of green cards available for parents of U.S. citizens.
For his part, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., plans an attempt to phase out the point system that gives little credit for family ties to a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
On Wednesday, May 30, 2007 former Senator, John Edwards said that it's a "hard one" to decide if an illegal working here for one year has a "right" to citizenship, but says "five years, definitely," meaning five years of ILLEGAL STATUS definitely transforms this into a right.
Sen. Harry Reid referred to the 12 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. as "12 million undocumented Americans."
As bad as the Moderate Republicans are on this issue (and they ARE bad), the Democrats are clearly the real pro-illegal immigrant Party.
Will this translate into votes?
Bill O’Reilly and others think, “Yes,” as poor immigrants will vote for the bigger government, more welfare Democrats.
Call me a cynic, but I’m thinking a sizable percentage of these new immigrants would be swayed by Conservative rhetoric on social issues, BUT why should any of that matter?
It shouldn’t!
The reality is that illegal immigration results in a flood of unskilled labor, driving down the “wage floor” in the U.S., which in turn pulls down other wages as well.
The Democrats can’t claim to be “the Party of the workingclass” when they support the devaluing of American labor.
At this point, ONLY the Conservatives of both Parties CAN.
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UPDATE: "Immigration Deal Survives GOP Threat"
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According to Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the AP, "The proposed immigration overhaul narrowly survived a potentially fatal challenge Wednesday as the Senate turned back a Republican bid to limit the illegal immigrants who could gain lawful status.
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"The close vote on a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar felons — including those court-ordered to be deported — from legalization reflected the delicate position of the contentious immigration bill, which remains under threat from the right and the left.
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"The close vote on a proposal by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar felons — including those court-ordered to be deported — from legalization reflected the delicate position of the contentious immigration bill, which remains under threat from the right and the left.
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The vote was 51-46 against the amendment. Democrats succeeded in pulling support from Cornyn's proposal by winning adoption of a rival version that would bar a more limited set of criminals..."
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So, the Dems rebuffed a Republican measure that would thwart criminals and terrorists from automatically becoming U.S. citizens?
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I guess that sounds about right.
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UPDATE II: The Senate voted 50-45 today to BLOCK a Democratic attempt to "limit debate" and speed this flawed immigration Bill through Congress. That's 15 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate!
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Once again, Conservative Dems Jim Webb and Jon Tester sided with other Conservatives and voted AGAINST limiting debate. As a result the Bill was set aside and the Senate moved onto other business.
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As a result, this very flawed Bill may be DOA.
Not to mention the impact it would have down the road when all these low paid workers begin to collect Social Insecurity.
ReplyDeleteThe only chance we have against this is to flood our representatives with Hell No votes. Even then, I wonder, these days.
Yeah, it seems like a done deal Mick. See Ace of Spades HQ on the topic - a catastrophe for the GOP...I believe he's right.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, the Heritage Foundation calculates the cost of "legalizing " these 12 million law-breakers at a conservative $2.5 TRILLION over the next decade alone!
Worse yet, legalizing them defeats the entire reason Moderate Republicans give for tacitly support illegal immigration - cheap labor.
Once this bunch is "legalized," minimum wage laws, withholding tax rules, etc. all kick in, making them far less "CHEAP," and thus renewing support for even MORE illegal immigration down the line!
The BIG and desperate LIE is that "we can't afford to deport 12 million people."
Utter NONSENSE!
First off, we don't NEED to deport them.
FINE (for first offenses) then jail the employers of illegal aliens and those jobs will dry up.
Once all those illicit jobs dry up, the vast majority of the 12 million (those here to work at below market wages) will SELF-DEPORT.
The rest (those involved in criminal enterprises) will have to be caught by law-enforcement.
No need for mass deportations, not that they aren't a good idea, whenever the opportunity presents itself.
I don't know what to say since I'm pretty neutral on the immigration issue. However, since most of the hard right focus on the Hispanics to the point of calling the President "Jorge", they taint the issue as racist. We have illegal immigration of other groups, why don't they focus on those?
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to ask, how’s $19,000 Rachel – the cost (conservative estimate) illegal immigration costs every American over the course of each of our lives?
ReplyDeleteNo, the ONLY rationale for tacitly supporting illegal immigration is the CHEAP LABOR argument, the one touted by the Moderate “Country Club” Republicans.
My problem with that is if CHEAP LABOR is the reason to support illegal immigration, then “legalizing them” is exactly the wrong path.
I mean if that’s the rationale, then let’s keep that labor CHEAP and keep them illegal.
Sure, that in turn, lowers the “wage floor,” the wages paid for low and unskilled labor and lowering the wage floor, in turn, puts a downward pressure on all other wage rates.
The economics of illegal immigration are clear and the impact of that “economic bomb” impacts the black community more than most, again, that doesn’t seem to be much of a concern to most Moderate Republicans, nor Liberal Democrats either.
I’ll confess, it IS to me.
I think it’s wrong to devalue American labor.
The reason Mexico is the focus is because some 70& of the illegal immigrants are Mexican, the next largest group, I believe, are either the Philippinos or the Chinese.
Right now the porous southern border is THE problem in relation to illegal immigration.
It’s an economic problem (as explained) and it’s a massive security problem, as well.
I have family living in South America – they are all Europeans (Corsicans and Northern Italians) and as those who know South American culture might expect, they revile the Mestisos (those of Indian descent). Me, OK, while I’m none too fond of the Mestiso (I’ve heard the stories), if I ran across a politically Conservative Mestiso, we’d probably get along fine.
I can’t really know what motivates the majority of the over 70% of Americans vehemently opposed to any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants, but I do believe it’s far more than race. One thing I do know is that there are two HUGE problems with ALL Illegal Immigration, (1) it devalues American labor and (2) it creates a major security risk in the current environment.
I might add a few other points, at the risk of being considered racist: 1) They are breaking the law, 2) We have no way of knowing who they are, 3) They are already shredding the Social Security system with false documentation, 4) They are costing us a fortune already in the rampant use of Social Services, the rise in violent crime, jail terms, etc., 5) Diseases, like TB, are on the comeback - imported from Mexico, 6) Almost $20 billion a year is sent back to Mexico, deferring indefinitely any need for the government to solve its economic problems, 7) Many, if not most, illegal aliens from Mexico refuse to assimilate; they feel the southwest was stolen from them in 1848, so it is rightfully theirs, and finally, 8) It is an insult to those who follow the rule of law and do whatever is required to become a legal citizen of the US.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I got a bit carried away there. I live in California.
And Mick, it's not just Mexicans, it's just that they're by far the largest and most visible group, but fining employers a first large fine for hiring "undocumented workers," and a second large fine for hiring workers "off-the-books< would dry up ALL those illicit jobs and once those magnet jobs dried up, the vast majority of those here illegally would self-deport.
ReplyDeleteThat's a plan that would eradicate ALL illegal immigration, from any/every source.