Thread: Where is this administration headed in regards to illegal im

www.muskogeephoenix.com

Where is this administration headed in regards to illegal immigration?
Richard Benedetto
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - President Bush ends his Thanksgiving respite at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Monday with stops along the Mexican border in Texas and Arizona to highlight the politically sticky issues of security and immigration.

Bush came to office in 2001 vowing to ease the problem of illegal immigration into this country, especially from Mexico. But the Sept. 11 attacks intervened.

Given the heightened concern about border security and terrorist infiltration, more people, post-9/11 polls showed, were in favor of tightening, not easing, immigration rules.

There was a time when Bush and others believed one key to stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States was the North American Free Trade Agreement, which made the United States, Canada and Mexico a free-trade zone.

In theory, the act was supposed to help create jobs in Mexico, thus making it less likely that Mexicans would stream across the border illegally to find work in America.

It didn't happen. Employment opportunities were created in Mexico, much to the anger of U.S. workers who saw their jobs streaming south of the border. But illegals continued to stream in.

Today, there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in this country, most from Mexico. And despite a four-year effort to shore up border security, few believe the steps taken are providing the anti-terrorism or anti-illegal protections needed.

Bush, who has long tried to project a friendly face to immigrants, nearly two years ago called for creation of a guest-worker program that would grant temporary work visas to undocumented immigrants already in the country. It also would make it easier for residents of other countries to come here for a limited time to work at jobs U.S. employers are having trouble filling.

At the time, Bush also called for tougher border security. But the guest-worker program received the most attention.

On Capitol Hill, the Bush proposals received mixed reviews. Many conservative Republicans wanted greater emphasis on security and less on guest workers. But business interests looking to fill labor shortages liked the guest-workers aspect.

Legislatively, nothing happened.

Then, last month, Bush revived the issue when he signed the $30.8 billion Homeland Security appropriations bill. At the signing ceremony, he noted that the measure contained $7.5 billion for the fight against illegal immigration, a signal many read as a higher emphasis on border security and less on guest workers. He backed that up by reeling off a string of statistics about how many potential terrorists, smugglers and illegals had been apprehended in the past year.

U.S. businesses, major Bush supporters, were uneasy with what they read as a shift. GOP "immigration hawks" who want more crackdown on illegals, were not.

Now, Bush is raising the issue anew. With his job approval numbers at or near the lowest levels of his presidency, in the high 30s, many will be interested to see where his latest emphasis lies.

He'll just keep talking tough and letting them in the backdoor.

I think that figure of 11 million is grossly underestimated. The true numbers run closer to 20 million

The man is a HOT AIR BALLOON!

Don't forget--this is the man who called the Minutemen "VIGILANTES"! Does he honestly think that anything he says this week is going to be believable??? A leopard cannot change his spots and this leopard wants a BORDERLESS North America. He will NOT fool us with his rhetoric. Anyone out there who buys into any REAL IMMIGRATION REFORM put forth by him will be in for a HUGE disappointment. The man has a significant problem with the TRUTH and that should be patently obvious from past experience.

This latest campaign is for one thing and one thing only--he THINKS he has found the issue that will raise his plummeting approval ratings. He is in for a RUDE AWAKENING. We are just no longer a nation of SHEEP.