Thread: Bush moves focus to immigration ahead of midterm election

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The World Today - Bush moves focus to immigration ahead of midterm election

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/conten ... 775320.htm]


The World Today - Friday, 27 October , 2006 12:34:00
Reporter: Kim Landers
ELEANOR HALL: In the United States the Republican Party is trying to focus the public's attention on illegal immigration before the midterm Congressional elections next month.

President George W Bush has just signed a new law authorising the construction of a fence along more than a thousand kilometres of the US-Mexico border.

But the Mexican Government has opposed the move and says it is politically motivated, as Washington Correspondent Kim Landers reports.

KIM LANDERS: At the White House today the President has signed a law authorising the construction of a fence along part of the US-Mexico border.

GEORGE BUSH: Unfortunately the United States has not been in control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise.

KIM LANDERS: Each year an estimated one million illegal immigrants cross the border from Mexico into the United States.

There are already fences in many Border States, particularly near towns and cities.

This new barrier will cross more remote areas, stretching from eastern border of California to Arizona.

Concern about illegal immigration is expected to be a major factor when voters go to the polls in the US on November the 7th.

Republican and Democrat candidates have both been touting their immigration credentials in campaign ads like these, which are being run in Tennessee.

ADVERTISEMENT: Harold Ford Junior will get control of our borders; get tough on illegals and employers who break the law.

ADVERTISEMENT TWO: Votes against border security and votes against putting troops on the border then says he wants to fight illegal immigration. What kind of man is Harold Ford?

KIM LANDERS: A CNN poll taken last weekend shows 53 per cent of voters oppose the fence and Democrats and Republicans are almost tied when it comes to the question of which party would do a better job handling illegal immigration.

A separate Newsweek poll has a different result.

It shows 40 percent of voters trust the Democrats more, while 34 percent trust the Republicans to do a better job.

Although he's signed the law authorising the new fence, President Bush didn't get exactly what he wanted.

He'd been pushing for a temporary guest worker program and the chance for illegal immigrants to get on the path to American citizenship.

But those plans couldn't get through the US Congress.

GEORGE W BUSH: We must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. That is amnesty?

I oppose amnesty. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation and I look forward to working with congress to find that middle ground.

KIM LANDERS: House Republican Tom Tancredo has led the fight to try to seal the US-Mexico border and he isn't satisfied.

TOM TANCREDO: We passed an authorisation bill that actually established where the fence should be built. But now the congress has got to go ahead and appropriate the money and do so on a continuing basis.

Now I cannot say just because we’ve passed this bill and the president has signed it you’re going to start seeing 700 miles of fencing.

KIM LANDERS: The town of Yuma in Arizona is on the route of the proposed fence.

Mayor Larry Nelson estimates 140,000 illegal immigrants cross the border this region each year.

LARRY NELSON: We've caught people in the backyard s of the houses of people trying to go through and we’re tired of it. You know they’ll come through, they’ll take their food, they’re right in the house and there's a threat there, all these people aren't real good people.

KIM LANDERS: And he says they're not all Mexicans.

LARRY NELSON: OTM that's a standard designation, and that's Other Than Mexican. There’s close to three thousand of those a year and they’re coming from Pakistan, from Iraq, from Iran, from China from all nations even in the mid east.

KIM LANDERS: In eastern Arizona the mayor of Douglas, Ray Borane, has a different view.

RAY BORANE: You know that's the first time I've heard of all those numbers and I’ve been involved in this situation for going on eight years now. There’s a great distinction between my community and his.

We are right on the border and he’s not, and we probably have a better feel for what actually comes through here.

Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderon says the fence won't resolve anything.

He says "humanity committed a grave mistake in building the Berlin wall," and that "the United States is committing a grave mistake in building this fence".

This is Kim Landers in Washington for The World Today.



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Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderon says the fence won't resolve anything.

Isn't it interesting that all of the open border lobbyists are saying the same thing: "Fences won't solve anything.." blah blah...

We all know the fence WILL work, otherwise they wouldn't be making such a big stink about it.

The only thing mexico cares about is not having as much of OUR money flood back into their corrup country so their elites can maintain "control of the peasants."

Its amazing how addicted big business and politicians have become to this dilema.

But the Mexican Government has opposed the move and says it is politically motivated, as Washington Correspondent Kim Landers reports.

There's no doubt about that, just as there's no doubt in my mind that the Mexican "opposition" to the fence is also politically motivated.

They know full well that Bush is never going to allow a fence to be built, so this is all window dressing to help him in the coming elections.

Too cynical, you say? Well, how about the claims that Al Qaeda is influencing the US election?

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 61,00.html

If Al-Qaeda can influence the election, then Mexico can as well.

You are so right. Bush was the most amnesty advocate in history of this nation.

Originally Posted by Cujo47

You are so right. Bush was the most amnesty advocate in history of this nation.

Hello ......... what about Obama?

This thread is from 2006. Closing thread to further comments