Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez gave a speech yesterday at the Latino Leaders Luncheon, which included comments on the Bush Administration's Secure Borders Initiative (SBI) against illegal aliens.

In that context, as I did yesterday for Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff's SBI speech, I've excerpted some of Gonzalez' remarks for commentary:

I am Hispanic. I am Latino. I love my family; I believe in God; and I am grateful for my country, the United States of America, which has allowed me to live the American dream.

-snip-

That American dream is the reason so many immigrants - millions every year - come to this country in search of a better life for their families.
Millions of immigrants come to this country every year to pursue the American dream? Not according to the DHS, not even close.

According to the DHS September 2005 pdf, Mapping trends in U.S. Legal Immigration, 1980 to 2003, the this country issued 6,246,921 green cards from 1980 to 1989, 9,315,744 from 1990 to 1999, and 3,667,847 from 2000 to 2003. Green cards indicate Lawful Permanent Residence (LPR) status. Only LPRs can be considered immigrants. That's a total of 19,230,512 immigrants over a 24 year period, for an average of just over 800,000 per year. Even the most recent four years, 2000 to 2003, amount to an average of about 917,000 immigrants per year.

The DHS figures affirm America's tradition of welcoming new immigrants to our great nation, but there are simply not millions of immigrants coming to this country every year, unless Attorney General Gonzalez is counting illegal aliens. To do so, however, belies the idea promoted by the Bush Administration that illegals entering any "temporary worker" amnesty would be temporary; immigrants (LPRs) are permanent by definition.

(more, with lotsa links...)
http://thetarpit.blogspot.com/2005/11/d ... zalez.html