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  1. #1
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    Linder bill targets immigration clash

    Linder bill targets immigration clash

    By TOM BAXTER
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Published on: 06/08/06

    If the buzz in Washington this week has been over the proposed gay marriage ban, a bill introduced Tuesday by Rep. John Linder reflects more closely the earful that Georgia's Republican legislators got when they were home last week for the Memorial Day recess.

    Linder's bill would put this country's immigration policy in line with what he says are the much more restrictive laws Mexico enforces by, among other things, requiring full registration of all foreign nationals and increasing fines and other penalties for those in the country illegally, including prison sentences for repeat offenders.

    The bill is intended to spotlight what the Duluth lawmaker sees as a glaring double standard, and spur a debate that, to the frustration of Republican voters, appears to be at a standoff.

    The Senate last month passed an immigration reform bill that would increase enforcement along the Mexican border but would also establish a guest worker program and provide a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who are already in the United States.

    It deeply conflicts with the House version of the bill, passed last year, that focuses solely on fortifying the border and cracking down on illegal immigrants, including making unauthorized presence in the United States a felony.

    The House and Senate were expected this week to begin the difficult process of reconciling the bills. But the House has yet to appoint its representatives to the conference committee that will carry out the negotiations.

    Many members of the GOP majority there, including Georgia's, adamantly oppose the Senate bill. Georgia members said their constituents last week made it clear the issue remains a top priority.

    "It's all about illegal immigration, there's no doubt about it," Rep. Tom Price of Roswell said as he wound up a string of appearances in his district last week.

    The news from a closely watched special congressional election in California on Tuesday is likely to reinforce the hard-line stance they have taken in the debate. Illegal immigration opponent Brian Bilbray's victory kept the seat held by former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned in a bribery scandal, in Republican hands. Bilbray told CNN on Wednesday that it was only after he distanced himself from the Senate proposal, and President Bush's support for it, "that we really saw the polls start supporting me strongly."

    Georgia's Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, also opposed the bipartisan Senate bill. During the debate, Isakson tried unsuccessfully to win passage of an amendment that would require that the nation's borders be made secure before the other provisions of the Senate bill could be enacted.

    But Isakson said this week that Republicans — and Democrats — seeking to break the House-Senate logjam are giving the proposal a second look as a potential compromise that would allow passage of immigration reform legislation, which will die unless the conference committee can meet and agree upon an approach.

    "I ran into Ron Wyden, the Democratic senator from Oregon, at the Senate elevator. He told me he spoke at 75 events over the break, and the first words out of his mouth at every one was, 'I supported the Isakson amendment,' " Isakson said.

    An unscientific Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey of metro Atlanta residents reflected the same sentiments opposing the Senate bill that lawmakers said they encountered in constituent meetings.

    But in interviews, several said they found Isakson's idea — which he promoted in recent speeches to local business groups like the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Rotary Club — more appealing than a stalemate.

    " 'Border being secure' is a large statement. But yes, I could go along with that," said Beverly Merlin of Atlanta, who said she leans toward the House position in the current standoff.

    "I would find that acceptable," Charles Parker, an environment and safety consultant from Buford, said of Isakson's amendment, though he complained that "it seems like every congressman and senator is out there with a bill to do something about immigration, and every bill is a little different from the other and nobody gives in. And they all go home and say, 'I tried.' "

    Dick Hughes, a retiree living in Stone Mountain, said he "absolutely" supported the Isakson amendment "because we know we can't trust the Senate and the Congress to do it any other way."

    Hughes said he feared that unless strict requirements were put in the bill, Congress won't provide adequate money to protect the borders, and the outcome will be "nothing but amnesty."

    http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... immig.html

  2. #2
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    Bills, Bills, Bills, and more Bills, and not one is signed into a law!

    The Sensenbrenner Bill is the only one we need right now

  3. #3
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    THIS is what COUNTS...
    Many members of the GOP majority there, including Georgia's, adamantly oppose the Senate bill. Georgia members said their constituents last week made it clear the issue remains a top priority.

    "It's all about illegal immigration, there's no doubt about it," Rep. Tom Price of Roswell said as he wound up a string of appearances in his district last week.
    Get on HASTERT & PENCE......the entire LEADERSHIP for the HOUSE.
    Don't give them a chance to breathe!! Window of opportunity
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  4. #4
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com

    Linder's bill modeled after Mexican law
    06/08/2006

    By Dave Williams
    Staff Writer
    dave.williams@gwinnettdailypost.com

    ATLANTA - For months, advocates for a tougher stand against illegal immigration have argued that the U.S. should treat illegals who come here the same way Mexico treats people entering that country illegally.

    Now, that philosophy is encompassed in legislation introduced in the House this week by U.S. Rep. John Linder, R-Duluth.

    "They're very tough on the border. We're not," Linder said Wednesday. "To me, it's important to make sure people know the distinction between the two."

    The bill would give the federal Department of Homeland Security added responsibilities, including creating and maintaining a registry of every foreign person in the United States.

    It also would require all ground, sea and air carriers to verify that all passengers they bring into the country are entering legally.

    While employers would be prohibited from hiring illegal immigrants, those who enter the U.S. legally could become permanent residents after five years.

    A backlog in applications by legal immigrants for permanent resident status is frequently cited as contributing to the growth of illegal immigration into this country.

    Linder's measure also carries stiff penalties and lengthy prison sentences for violators, especially repeat offenders and criminals engaged in human trafficking, in keeping with Mexican law governing illegal immigration.

    Phil Kent, the Atlanta-based national spokesman for Americans for Immigration Control, said the mirroring of Mexican law by the tough provisions in Linder's bill stands in sharp contrast to the relatively lax immigration laws now in effect on this side of the border.

    "You cannot work illegally at all in Mexico," he said. "It's difficult to be a guest worker. ... I think it's a very useful exercise for Congressman Linder to do this because it points out the hypocrisy of Mexico."

    But Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, said Linder's bill contains the same flaws found in an immigration-reform bill passed by the House last December. The House measure focuses on border security and internal enforcement.

    "It's not providing a real solution," Gonzalez said. "It's political grandstanding."

    Worse still, said Gonzalez, is the bill's timing. He said no immigration legislation introduced this late in the debate stands a chance of passing.

    The House bill and a much different version of immigration reform approved by the Senate last month are headed for a conference committee. The Senate bill would provide an avenue for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. to become citizens.

    "This was introduced as a stand-alone bill," Kent said of Linder's legislation. "It isn't part of the mix of the House-Senate conference."

    But Linder said he has received assurances from Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Committee and author of the House bill, that he will insert Linder's bill into the conference-committee negotiations.
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  5. #5

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    Go to Linder's Website.

    He has a POLL - lets get the numbers UP!
    I'm "Dot" and I am LEGAL!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Here's the link.

    http://linder.house.gov/


    How important is stopping illegal immigration to you?

    Highest importance:72%
    Very important: 19%
    Somewhat important: 4%
    Not important: 4%
    Don't know: 0%
    Other position: 1%


    1187 total votes
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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