Thread: Eye of the Tiger Obama girds for battle on immigration refor

Eye of the Tiger Obama girds for battle on immigration reform

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
November 18, 2009

The Obama administration deserves credit for tenacity. Like Rocky Balboa after being battered and bloodied by successive bouts on Capitol Hill over health care and the economy, the administration keeps coming back for more. Now comes Barocky III: Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday that the administration will seek to overhaul the immigration system early next year. She wants a tighter law to punish illegal immigrants and the employers who hire them, improved measures to encourage migrants to choose the legal route, and a "tough but fair" pathway for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country to legalize their status.

The last time such a feat was attempted, in 2007, President George W. Bush was abandoned by his party and suffered a crushing defeat in the Senate. There's no assurance President Barack Obama will fare any better, despite his party's Capitol Hill majority. Bipartisan cooperation in writing the new bill also is no guarantee of success.

To fend off conservative attacks that this measure would amount to nothing more than amnesty, Obama must put strong emphasis on the toughness of his proposed legalization procedures. Napolitano says that the legalization process could take years to complete and would involve rigorous procedures to verify that an applicant has no criminal background, has learned English and has fully paid back taxes and substantial fines for entering the country illegally.

Since illegal immigrants come here looking for work, she says, the bill will seek stiffer punishments for employers who hire them. Napolitano also promises tighter border enforcement, even though illegal crossings already have dropped significantly. The Border Patrol has grown by 20,000 officers, and more than 600 miles of border fencing has been installed, fulfilling two key benchmarks set by Congress in 2007.

Having supported the Bush plan, this newspaper believes that the Obama administration is on the right track, particularly with its decision to press the issue sooner rather than wait until after next November's elections. The timing here shows admirable political guts.

There are upsides. Approval could generate support from an increasingly important Hispanic electorate. By drawing illegal immigrants out of the shadows, the new law promises to add workers to the tax rolls and increase American blue-collar labor's competitiveness by ensuring that they won't be undercut by cheaper illegal workers. If illegal immigrants don't want to comply, their room to maneuver in the job market would diminish while their incentives to go home would jump dramatically.

The nation's immigration system has limped along, broken for far too long, and there should be no illusions that fixing it will be easy. As Capitol Hill bouts go, this fight looks to be a bruiser.

Key elements we seek

-An expanded guest-worker program

-Easier employer verification of applicants' status

-Tougher sanctions for employers of illegal immigration

-Improved border security

-A tough but clear route for illegal immigrants to gain documented status

Attitudes toward reform

58% strongly support measures similar to the administration's package

28% somewhat support

14% oppose

72% favor congressional action sooner, not later

27% oppose

Among Latino voters in 12 states:

82% say the immigration issue is somewhat or very important

87% say they would not vote for a candidate who favors forced deportation

75% say they are very likely to vote in the 2010 election

SOURCE: America's Voice surveys in May; margin of error: 3.1-3.5 percentage points

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 37&start=9

Among Latino voters in 12 states:

82% say the immigration issue is somewhat or very important

87% say they would not vote for a candidate who favors forced deportation

75% say they are very likely to vote in the 2010 election

SOURCE: America's Voice surveys in May; margin of error: 3.1-3.5 percentage points

They should quit racial profiling and take a survey of US citizens of all races and ethnicities. Latino only surveys do not speak for "We The People"!

Quote:
"Key Elements We Seek

Easier employer verification of applicants' status"

What possibly could be "easier" than E-Verify? If is free and takes less than 3 minues to electronically confirm a worker's legal status! What the DMN means is that it wants any laws requiring checks on legalization of workers' status abolished!

Originally Posted by Mayday

Among Latino voters in 12 states:

82% say the immigration issue is somewhat or very important

87% say they would not vote for a candidate who favors forced deportation

75% say they are very likely to vote in the 2010 election

SOURCE: America's Voice surveys in May; margin of error: 3.1-3.5 percentage points

They should quit racial profiling and take a survey of US citizens of all races and ethnicities. Latino only surveys do not speak for "We The People"!

I agree . We have immigrants from many nations who have over stayed visas ,pass ports and permits .

Middle East , Irish , Pakastan , Russians, Balkans , Africa ,Korea , Thialand and many more .

I always mention this .

Originally Posted by Texas2step

Quote:
"Key Elements We Seek

Easier employer verification of applicants' status"

What possibly could be "easier" than E-Verify? If is free and takes less than 3 minues to electronically confirm a worker's legal status! What the DMN means is that it wants any laws requiring checks on legalization of workers' status abolished!

They will fix it to where there are no illegals so E verify won't be nessesary .

This is just a lie and attempt to make it look like the traitors are getting tough on immigration !