Thread: Bush urges senators to try again on immigration

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/09/ ... index.html

• Bush calls the immigration situation in the United States unacceptable
• President says new laws will not be perfect but are best option available
• White House and bipartisan group of senators drafted compromise bill
Adjust font size:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, calling the nation's current immigration situation unacceptable, urged senators to try again to pass legislation that he described as imperfect but the best option available.

In his weekly Saturday radio address, Bush said the bill would not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, that they would have to pay fines and take other steps to get on a path to legal status and possibly citizenship.

"Securing the border and upholding family values are not partisan concerns," the president said. "They must be addressed, and this bill is the best way to do it."

Bush recorded his address Friday in Germany where he was attending a summit with other world leaders.

The White House and a bipartisan group of senators drafted the wide-ranging bill, but they could not overcome steady attacks from the left and right during weeks of Senate wrangling. When the Senate failed Thursday to end debate and schedule a vote, Democratic leaders set the bill aside with no promise of reviving it. (Watch how the bill's failure prompted a blame game )

Bush plans to lunch with Republican senators in the Capitol on Tuesday, part of a more hands-on approach to persuading party conservatives that the compromise bill is much better than the status quo.

In his radio address, Bush acknowledged mistakes in handling immigration and pledged to improve the bill as it moves through Congress.

"Today, illegal immigration is supported by criminal enterprises dedicated to document forgery, human trafficking, and labor exploitation," he said. "This is unacceptable, and we need to fix it in a way that honors our finest traditions."

He said the bill "puts border security first, establishes a temporary worker program to meet the legitimate needs of our growing economy, sets up a mandatory system for verifying employment eligibility, and resolves the status of the estimated 12 million people who are here illegally."

Conceding that a 1986 immigration overhaul largely failed, the president said his administration "is determined to learn from the mistakes of the past decades." The bill would double the number of Border Patrol agents, he said, build more border fences and employ infrared sensors and unmanned aircraft to detect illegal border-crossers.

"Unlike the 1986 law, this bill gives honest employers the tools they need to ensure that they are hiring legal workers," Bush said, including "a tamper-resistant identity card." Businesses that "knowingly hire illegal aliens will be punished," he said.

Addressing the word that has rallied the bill's opponents, the president said: "Amnesty is forgiveness with no penalty for people who have broken our laws to get here." The bill, he said, "requires illegal workers to pay a fine, register with the government, undergo background checks, pay their back taxes, and hold a steady job."

If those immigrants eventually want a green card for permanent residence, he said, they will have to pay another fine, learn English "and return to their home country so they can apply from there."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

"requires illegal workers to pay a fine, register with the government, undergo background checks, pay their back taxes, and hold a steady job."

Bush is such a friggin' liar. His treasonous amnesty bill does not require illegals to pay ANY back taxes. He knows this for a fact, because this provision in the bill was removed at his own request. So he is lying, again. How can this clown get away with so many lies?

Bush removes provision requiring back taxes from illegal immigrants

May 19, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration insisted on a little-noticed change in the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that would enable 12 million undocumented residents to avoid paying back taxes or associated fines to the Internal Revenue Service, officials said.

An independent analyst estimated the decision could cost the IRS tens of billions of dollars.

A provision requiring payment of back taxes had been in the initial version of a bill proposed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. But the administration called for the provision to be removed due to concern that it would be too difficult to figure out which illegal immigrants owed back taxes.

The dropping of the back-tax provision was not made clear in the announcement of the immigration reform proposal on Thursday.. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, speaking in reference to illegal immigrants seeking legal status, said, "You've got to pay your taxes." He did not state whether he was referring to back taxes, future taxes, or both.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, asked in a telephone interview yesterday to clarify Chertoff's remark, said it referred only to future taxes.

"It is important that the reformed immigration system is workable and cost efficient," Stanzel said. "Determining the past tax liability would have been very difficult and costly and extremely time consuming."

Stanzel stressed that immigrants would be required to pay a fine of up to $5,000 if they want to apply for a green card to become a legal resident, although that fine is not for failure to pay taxes.

Laura Capps, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, said a provision for requiring back taxes was in Kennedy's original bill and that Chertoff called for it to be removed. "Chertoff thought it would be too challenging to accurately determine the amount of an applicant's back taxes," she said.

Administration officials said many illegal immigrants do not get paychecks that can be audited, making it difficult to determine tax liability.

But Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, which says it has 362,000 members, was stunned that the provision was removed. While saying it would be difficult to come up with a precise estimate of the amount of back taxes owed by undocumented residents, he said it would be in the tens of billions of dollars, with a similar amount in fines for failure to pay the taxes.

"I can tell you, most law-abiding taxpayers would find that provision totally distasteful," Sepp said about the decision not to seek back taxes. "I doubt that many citizens are willing to swallow that special treatment."

Sepp said he understands that it would difficult to determine back taxes owed by illegal immigrants, and he said that many illegal immigrants would have earned too little to pay taxes. But he suggested that the administration could have come up with a plan requiring at least some tax-related payment from immigrants who are seeking to become legal residents.

There he is using that conservative hot button word family values for chain migration. He does not give a rats behind for illegals families.

Im so sick of that family reunification crap.

I'm confused. Are they or are they not going to continue working on this bill? I thought this bill was dead.

The Senate Bill is NOT dead. Harry Reid merely put the bill on the back burner for awhile during which time the Senate will pursue other business. I suspect they will drag the bill out again, after they have made some deals among themselves, and behind closed doors. Regardless, we haven't heard the last of this bill by a long shot.

Bush is a liar--anything that does not require enforcement of existing law is amnesty. The law in place when the law was broken is the only one that applies! You cannot substitute a fine for deportation and not call it amnesty!

Disillusioned, you can bet the "Grand Compromise" will be resurrected ASAP! It is an integral part of the Bush North American Union agenda and failure to punch it through will derail the 2010 deadline for implementation of the Security & Prosperity Partnership agreement. The architects of our demise are only in the locker room for their half-time pep rally! They'll be back next week trying to paste a fresh face on the monster or to lull the public to sleep with bedtime stories. Get ready to smack 'em down again!

Mr. President, You are overdosing on tacos and refried beans!! We do not want your stinking immigration bill so forget it!!!!