http://lonestartimes.com/2006/03/22/ill ... continues/

Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Illegal Immigration: The Farce Continues
by Jeremy Weidenhof | 03/22/2006 12:32 pm
jweidenhof@lonestartimes.com

President Bush has taken considerable flak from his own party faithful over his immigration “reform” proposals, and justifiably so. His guest worker program, which would ostensibly legalize and monitor the flow of migrants from Mexico, is touted as being an alternative to amnesty. Unfortunately, this claim seems rather dubious in the face of millions of illegals already in the country who would suddenly become legal “guest workers” overnight. Regardless, the President continues to deny the amnesty label.

"In my judgment, amnesty would be the wrong course of action," Bush told a news conference.

"The best way to do something about it is to say that if an American won’t do a job and you can find somebody who will do the job, they ought to be allowed to do it legally on a temporary basis," Bush said.

Mr. President, how can an American be expected to do a job that has had the wage undercut by cheap illegal labor from Mexico? How will legalizing this cheap labor change that situation? Of course, it will not. In fact, it will only encourage more border crossing, which will result in more Mexican citizens and others living in the United States and having children who are U.S. citizens, and who are thus harder to deport when their “temporary” guest worker visas expire. Given the fraud, incompetence, and bureaucratic lethargy that mark most government programs, how can the public have any faith that such a plan would work even remotely as advertised? We have few answers to these questions, but the President does attempt to address the issue of long-term illegal residents.

Asked about those undocumented workers who have lived in the US for more than a decade, Bush said: "One of the issues is going to be to deal with somebody whose family has been here for a while, raised a family, and that’ll be an interesting debate. My answer is: That person shouldn’t get automatic citizenship."

Presumably these people will simply become “permanent temporary” guest workers, since deporting illegals with children who are U.S. citizens will not be a viable option. This also assumes that the U.S. government knows where these people are after years of “temporary” work. The only obvious conclusion is that the President’s plan simply amounts to legalizing the status quo. Sadly, there is no desire in the halls of power from either party to enforce the borders of the country, one of the most basic duties of elected representatives. In fact, the President even suggested that those opposed to illegal immigration and open borders might be racists.

Bush warned that illegal immigration was "an emotional issue" and if the debate was "not conducted properly," it would "send signals that I don’t think will befit the nation’s history and traditions."

With absurdities like this it is little wonder that the Minutemen have been so successful drawing both attention to the border and scorn from the President.