Thread: Few Straddling the Fence on Immigration

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/dulut ... 229819.htm

Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2005
Few straddling the fence on immigration

BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The problem is clear: There are at least 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States - a figure that swells by about 450,000 a year - and employers' demand for more workers suggests that the flow won't abate any time soon.

The solution is far from clear-cut, as was laid bare Tuesday in a Capitol Hill hearing room crowded with activists from across the immigration policy divide.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which intends to tackle an immigration overhaul this year, convened to hear the merits of rival plans that propose a mix of increased border enforcement along with a guest worker program.

While both plans would allow illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows and work legally, they illustrate the debate's philosophical gulf.

One plan would set illegal immigrants on a path to permanent residence and ultimately citizenship, if they so desire, at the end of their guest worker stint - sparking cries of amnesty by critics.

The other would give employed illegal immigrants legal status for a period of years before requiring them to return permanently to their homeland - drawing complaints that the plan is unworkable and unpalatable to immigrants.

"Regardless where you are on the political spectrum, the fact that 11 million or more people are living and working in this country without proper documentation would be a concern to all of us," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

The Bush administration may be leery of embracing one approach over the other. It abruptly pulled two witnesses from Tuesday's hearing: Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has urged Congress to swiftly adopt a temporary-worker program to enhance border security.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, who said he intends to craft an immigration bill this year, suggested that the administration was unprepared to weigh in on the merits of the competing bills - or offer its own blueprint.

"I want to know what the president would like to accomplish," the Pennsylvania Republican said after the hearing, calling the administration's silence disappointing.

"The time to have an input is when we consider and go to markup, not after we pass a bill and look at a veto message," Specter added.

President Bush in January 2004 issued a broad outline, calling for a temporary-worker program that would match "a willing worker with a willing employer." The plan was short on details, and Bush has rarely broached the topic since then.

Some in Congress, meanwhile, are forging ahead, though it remains unclear whether Congress will address immigration this year.

McCain has teamed with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to craft what's viewed as the more expansive alternative, providing what they called "earned" legalization. They insist the plan is not an amnesty, and it doesn't reward lawbreakers because applicants would pay fines and could get on the path to citizenship only if they clear criminal background checks, pay back taxes and meet English and civics requirements.

GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona have fashioned a more restrictive plan, which would allow workers to remain here for two years before returning to their country for a year. They could renew their visa twice, with the same one-year break in between - leading to complaints that the plan would be disruptive to employers and workers.

"To think that they're going to come out of the shadows and say, `Send me back to Guatemala; I've been living in Phoenix for 50 years,' borders on fantasy," McCain said.

Amid the legislative jockeying over the competing plans, couched in polite language, there appeared room to find some common ground - perhaps by stiffening the McCain-Kennedy approach with the more stringent border enforcement measures favored in the Cornyn-Kyl plan. Cornyn indicated willingness to reconsider his measure's insistence that temporary workers take a one-year break between visas, after witnesses Tuesday called that aspect unworkable.

"It's certainly not our goal to create a disruption of the work force or family life or to separate families," Cornyn said.

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"It's certainly not our goal to create a disruption of the work force or family life or to separate families," Cornyn said.

Well then what exactly IS your goal?

You have disrupted the American Work Force, you have robbed the American Work Force putting extreme stress on families, and are breaking up American Families as a result!! Moms are at their second job, when they should be home. Dads are at their second job, when they should be home. How long do you Morons think the American Public can withstand the economic loss of $200 Billion a year lost primarily by middle and low income families?

You DUTY Cornyn is to protect American Citizens, the American Work Force, and American Families.

You are a Fake and a Phoney. We already know who John McCain is.

In all the testimony were the rights and best interests of Americans ever even MENTIONED?

These people make me sick!!