Thread: Tom DeLay wants safe borders first

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DeLay wants safe borders first
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published July 21, 2005

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House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that the House will produce another immigration and border security bill this Congress and will have to pass that bill before turning to a guest-worker program.

The Texas Republican also said he will act as traffic cop on the issue, coordinating competing bills that have been introduced in the House and working with the White House and the Senate to plan strategy.

"This office is working with the Senate and the administration, trying to fashion the policy now," Mr. DeLay said during his weekly briefing with reporters.

He said the House has received the message that immigration is "an incredibly important issue to the American people."

Congress this year passed the Real ID Act, which sets federal standards for driver's licenses, allows completion of a section of border fence near San Diego and tightens restrictions on asylum seekers.

But Mr. DeLay said more security measures are needed and that the government has to prove it can enforce immigration laws before voters will be willing to accept a guest-worker program. He said the House will act on the issues in that order.

"We'll probably have a law-enforcement-type bill, working with the Senate and the administration," he said. "Once we convince the American people we can secure the borders and enforce the law, we can discuss what is also important in this mix -- and that is how to accommodate people from other parts of the [world] that want to come here, work temporarily and go back home. Some people call that a guest-worker program."

His comments came a day after fellow Texan Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, and Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, introduced a bill that combines enforcement measures with a temporary worker program.

Although they agree that the government must prove it can enforce immigration laws, the senators said that move must go hand in hand with a worker program.

"Ours is not a step one, step three kind of thing," Mr. Kyl said. "We begin implementing the enforcement at the border, the interior and the work site immediately. Also immediately, we begin a temporary worker program."

The senators' bill allows foreigners to work two years before returning home for a third year, when they can apply again. It gives current illegal aliens five years to leave the United States, but they could apply for the work program from their home countries.

Two other senators -- John McCain, Arizona Republican, and Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat -- have a bill that would allow those here illegally to join a worker program and eventually be on a path to U.S. citizenship. It also would open up an avenue for 400,000 new workers a year to come from overseas and be put on a path to citizenship.

Mr. DeLay said he supports an eventual guest-worker plan and said a consensus is developing in Congress on the need for one.

"Even Tom Tancredo has said we need a guest-worker program," Mr. DeLay said of the Colorado Republican who is a leader in the immigration control movement.

But Mr. DeLay has said such a program should apply only to workers who register from their home countries, not to illegal aliens already in the United States.

We don't need a guest worker program. That's an absolute sham. Why don't you guys find work for the 14 mil unemployed Americans first before you talk about foreign guest workers? Stop compromising our jobs to foreign interest. I'm so sick of this pandering to foreign interest garbage.

Originally Posted by dman1200

Why don't you guys find work for the 14 mil unemployed Americans first before you talk about foreign guest workers?

I might be reaching here just a bit, but if there are 20 million illegals here, and we have 14 million Americans who are unemployed, is it possible there really *is* a need for at least *some* guest workers? Use nurses as an example.

My numbers are off the top of my head, but help me out with this. If there are 1,000,000 jobs for nurses out there, and of the 14 million unemployed Americans, only 900,000 are trained to be nurses, do we simply do without the remaining 100,000 nurses?

Legal immigration is the answer, is it not? Immigrate for work or for residency in a LEGAL manner. Just like the law is established. Isn't that why we're here?

Again, I'm just wondering if there is some agenda of which I'm unaware.

But Mr. DeLay said more security measures are needed and that the government has to prove it can enforce immigration laws before voters will be willing to accept a guest-worker program. He said the House will act on the issues in that order.

Mr Delay, how about the government PROVING to its citizens that it can enforce immigration laws BEFORE letting the G word fall from any lawmaker lips? Just so you're clear, American citzens (your bosses) want ALL immigrations laws enforced!

Though the proposed immigration reform bills differ, ALL of them (some more than others) turn a blind eye to many laws already on the books and choose to abide by only those the SPONSER(s) personally deem necessary. HELLO!?!

We want SECURE borders first, of course. That done we insist upon aggressive deportation of ALL illegal aliens, penalties for businesses that hire illegals severe enough to bring the guilty to their knees, and thorough sceening of those seeking taxpayer funded benefits. Oh, and we also insist that someone actually READ the 14th ammendment and put an end to anchor babies.

Washington claims that some of the latter actions would be impossible to tackle at this point (namely deportation), to which Americans say BULLSHIP! Yes, it will takes oodles of tax dollars to accomplish some of these initiatives but, more than likely, LESS than the tax dollars we are already bleeding to support these ungrateful invaders.



"We just come here to work and put food on the table". Translation: We just come here to steal your jobs and obtain flood stamps (medicaid, section 8, ect.) via forged documents.

No, Mr. Delay, we do NOT need a guest worker program.

I might be reaching here just a bit, but if there are 20 million illegals here, and we have 14 million Americans who are unemployed, is it possible there really *is* a need for at least *some* guest workers? Use nurses as an example.

Your assuming that all 20 million illegals actually have jobs and that they aren't just merely here living off of welfare and food stamps. You'd probably be surprised at the number of illegals that actually don't work, but just are merely here to work the system and cause America harm. All I'm saying is, lets find work for our unemployed citizens first before we bring in more guest workers.

Are you buying into the big lie that we actually have a labor shortage in this country? The way I see it, we have way too many foreigners both legal and illegal that are overflowing the labor market and that's why the wages are so low for alot of these jobs. It's simple economics. If the demand is high, but the supply is low then the wages go up, but if the demand is low and the supply is high then the wages go down. Why do you think these businesses keep clamoring for more illegals, more worker visas, etc? It's because they want to keep flooding the labor market so they can drive down the wages.

Legal immigration is the answer, is it not? Immigrate for work or for residency in a LEGAL manner. Just like the law is established. Isn't that why we're here?

I don't know about you, but I was born here. Anyway yes I think immigration should be legal, but it should also be controlled. We have way too many coming into this country, even the ones who are obeying the laws are coming in too many too fast. I can tell you now that some of those legal immigrants being brought into this country, these refugees from Somalia, Hmong, Latin America for example aren't coming here for work. They are coming here for welfare and social benefits. Because a welfare check is still way more money then what they see in their own countries of origin. They too are sucking us dry. Seriously how does flooding our country with tons of non-english speaking refugees who come here to merely live off of welfare and other tax payer benefits actually benefit America? I don't see it. This immigration mess is a disaster on both legal and illegal fronts.

What this country has to do is to stop importing poverty and failure into our homelands? We need to find out if these immigrants are going to come here legally or illegally first. If they are illegal then they get the boot. If they are legal then we need to find out why they are here. Are they here to work, contribute and assimulate into our society for the betterment of themselves and their new found country (in other words, are they here to become loyal Americans)? If yes then they can stay. Are they here to just merely collect a welfare check and become a leech on the government utter? If yes then they get the boot. Are they here to take advantage of our hospitality only to stab us in the back like Al Qaeda or MS-13. If yes then they get the boot. It's that simple.