Thread: Bush Makes Desperate Attempt to Save Unpopular Plan

Bush Makes Desperate Attempt to Save Unpopular Plan
Granting Amnesty to Illegal Aliens
November 28, 2005

President Bush spoke this afternoon in Arizona, trying, once again, to sell the idea of a massive illegal alien amnesty and the admission of millions of additional foreign “guest� workers as “immigration reform.� While the president’s address includes tougher-than-usual talk on border security and immigration enforcement, the administration’s continuing actions over the past several months reveal he has no intention of carrying through on his promises to the American public. Immigration reform organizations are calling on the White House to follow the lead of members of Congress who have shown they are serious about getting immigration laws enforced, pointing in particular to the Hunter-Goode immigration reform bill introduced last week.

Under the Bush proposal, the estimated 11 million illegal aliens currently in the U.S. would be reclassified as “temporary workers,� and be allowed to remain here for up to six years. In addition, the president and top members of his administration have repeatedly called for the unlimited admission of additional foreign workers in an effort to “match willing workers in other countries with willing employers in this country,� at whatever wages the employer wishes to pay.

“This administration has a sustained track record of ignoring reality when it conflicts with what the corporate interests want it to do,� charged Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). “The president’s plan is nothing more than a massive illegal alien amnesty on a six year time delay, while his temporary worker program which will be anything but temporary is the death knell for America’s middle class.�

Bowing to massive public pressure, the Bush administration is now talking about coupling amnesty and guest workers with a weak enforcement plan. The president and top administration officials have pledged enforcement at the border, the interior of the country and at the work site. “Don’t read their lips, watch what they do,� Stein responded. “The Department of Labor is actively working with the Mexican government to protect illegal alien workers in this country. Peter Accolla, a DOL spokesman told the Associated Press earlier this month, ‘It’s not the policy of the DOL to penalize and expose workers’ irrespective of their legal status in this country.

“Moreover, the administration’s idea of workplace enforcement is based on voluntary self-enforcement by employers,� Stein continued. “A recent Department of Homeland Security fact sheet states, ‘DHS will implement an employer self-compliance program that will link government and business in a united effort to reduce the employment of unauthorized aliens in specific industries.’ Translation: The administration is placing the foxes in charge of the henhouse.

“Unless the president throws his support behind genuine immigration enforcement, such as H.R. 4313, Duncan Hunter and Virgil Goode’s TRUE Enforcement Act, there is no reason to believe he is leveling with the American public,� said Stein. “The White House may have read some polls and reworked the president’s rhetoric, but the bottom line is that Mr. Bush is touting a plan that will be full of rewards for illegal aliens and employers, and full of empty promises for the American public.�

FAIR said the following three items should be administration priorities:

1. Require employers to verify work eligibility and penalize non-compliance
2. Integrate state-federal immigration law enforcement
3. Cut overall levels of immigration

“Unless the American people see real, tangible immigration law enforcement in the interior, no one will believe there is a serious commitment from this president,� said Stein.