Thread: Fair deal: The immigration compromise can't be put off

This is why I can't stand the Post Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07140/787290-192.stm


Sunday, May 20, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Plenty of issues in American political life can be put off until another day. With immigration reform, the nation does not have that luxury. Everyone needs to remember that, in considering the imperfect but necessary compromise worked out by Senate negotiators to get this thorniest of legislative initiatives moving at last.






At least 12 million illegal immigrants are already here, and for all the horror stories concerning their presence, their labor and talents have become indispensable to the economy, especially in low-level jobs that Americans themselves scorn. To leave them here as a permanent underclass, with uncertainty, fear and no opportunity to match their residency with the obligations of citizenship, is a certain prescription for social alienation and distress.

Even if it were possible to ship every one of them home, a logistical nightmare beyond imagining, the forced deportations would be as cruel as anything seen since the Nazis loaded up their trains to purify their fatherland.

There is no tomorrow, no manana, on this issue. The problem is now and it is only going to get worse if that truth is not faced squarely. The choice is very simple: to play the demagogue or to work out a solution. The Senate negotiators, with the support of President Bush, have made the responsible choice, fashioning a comprehensive bill that cannot please everyone, which is the sign of many a good compromise.

The framework of that solution has been known for months. In the first place, the borders must be made secure and employers must be required to check that only legal immigrants work for them. The other essential step is to permit immigrants to apply for legal status (provided they have no criminal record) and set them on the path of eventual citizenship.

In melding the concerns of Republicans and Democrats, the bill does all these things. It calls for the construction of 370 miles of fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border (and 200 miles of vehicle barriers plus 70 ground-based radar and camera towers). It would add 18,000 Border Patrol agents. And it would require employers to electronically verify new hires within 18 months and existing employees within three years.

The proposed law requires that these security benchmarks be reached before provisions opening the path to legalization and citizenship take effect. Illegal immigrants could then obtain a renewable "Z visa" allowing them to stay in the country indefinitely. After paying fees and fines totaling $5,000, they could eventually get on track for permanent residency, but it might take eight to 13 years. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries first. A temporary worker program also would allow up to 600,000 people to fill jobs that American employees can't fill.

Even so, there's something here for everyone to dislike. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, for example, has concerns about the temporary worker program and the limitations on family immigration (the bill would place more emphasis on job skills and education than family ties).

Conservatives are repelled by giving a group of foreigners who broke the law "amnesty," although many of the bill's supporters claim it is not that. These last objections, coming from those who normally support the president, threaten to be the most damaging. Their concerns will be amplified by broadcast blowhards who tap into the nativist sentiments in America that have never completely gone away.






Yes, obeying the law is important, but there are probably few adults in America who haven't broken the law at some stage of their lives. And there are far worse crimes than coming illegally to a country that is a beacon of hope and opportunity in order to pursue a better life for yourself and your family. Who among us who love America can say we would not have done that ourselves? In that context, amnesty -- for that is what it is -- is not perfect but it is reasonable, as long as Congress and the White House take steps to secure the borders, thus ensuring this is the last time it is ever granted.

Immigration reform has to be done, it has to succeed and it can't wait. If the demagogues succeed in derailing it, America will be the loser. To their credit, President Bush and some in the Senate are now bravely defying the naysayers.

Here is today's Pittsburgh Trib. Review editoral

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 08454.html

President George W. Bush and other apologists for the U.S. Senate's bipartisan immigration legislation say it's not an amnesty program. But if this proposed pathway to citizenship for the roughly 12 million illegal aliens in the United States is not amnesty, then nothing is amnesty.
The bill, which the Senate will take up on Monday, throws a bone to conservatives by promising improved border security. However, the meat of the scheme is all about the A-word.

There will be a new "Z visa" for illegals who were in this republic before Jan. 1. Immigrants will have to pay fees, a $5,000 fine, learn English and return to their countries for a while to become permanent residents. There also will be a project to legalize about 1.5 million farm workers and a temporary worker program for 400,000 illegals who could work here for up to six years before being required to return to their home countries for a while. The number of high-skill H-1B visas would increase from 65,000 to 115,000 per year.

But does Mr. Bush really care about defending America's flanks? His stunning admission -- "The agreement reached today is one that will help enforce our borders, but equally importantly, it will treat people with respect." -- confirms the worst suspicions about Dubya's real priorities.





America's borders and sovereignty must be defended. And this amnesty bill must be defeated.

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

Who among us who love America can say we would not have done that ourselves?

I hate this absurd, weak argument.

Yeah, and if I were a member of Santa Ana's army in 1836 I would have tried to kill Davy Crocket.

Let's get out of Lala land for a sec...... We are Americans. They are foreigners. We are pushing an American agenda. They are pushing Mexican nationalism.

Do they ever put themselves in our shoes? Until I hear that argument I wan the OBLs to STFU about this appeal to emotion, and escape from reality.

These morons who want this bill are traitors. Plain and simple. It will perpetuate the problem we have now, destroy our country and not do a thing to stop illegal immigration.

I'm so sick of reading these journalist stories and tales and whines and moans and butt kissing for foreign nationals to help foreign nations at the expense of the American People and the sovereignty of the United States that I just can't read it all any more. It literally ruins the digestion and causes that big rise in the throat.

The framework of that solution has been known for months. In the first place, the borders must be made secure and employers must be required to check that only legal immigrants work for them.

This is the only true statement in the whole story. If just these two things were done, our illegal alien problem would be solved.

No jobs, no social benefits and the illegals would have to leave or starve. This is a real no brainer.

All this wringing of the hands is really about trying to dupe the American people into accepting the cheap labor that businesses want.

Immigrants will have to pay fees, a $5,000 fine, learn English and return to their countries for a while to become permanent residents.

If the bill were to be approved, these requirements would eventually be changed or mostly ignored, much like Bush and Chertoff are attempting to ignore Duncan Hunter's 700+ mile fence that has already been signed into law.