Thread: Democrats MUST Push Immigration Reform

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Democrats must push immigration reform
Gerardo Sandoval

Friday, November 17, 2006

So the Democrats have taken over Congress. The confetti has fallen, been swept up and recycled. Now the question is: Can Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and the rest of the Democrats deliver? Will the 110th Congress really be able to break free from the past six years?

For the 44 million Latinos living in the United States, and for those Americans who appreciate them cleaning our offices, picking our fruit and caring for our children, the measure of success is very clear: immigration reform.
There must be an amnesty that offers a chance for those who entered illegally to apply for legal status. Guest-worker programs are fine and increased funding for the U.S. Border Patrol may be unavoidable. But the Democrats today must do what even President Ronald Reagan did in 1986: Pass an amnesty law. It's the only benchmark of success that counts, pure and simple. The problem is that the immigration debate will likely play out on a very narrow field. At one end, liberal Democrats will remain cautious, lest an amnesty law turn into a political lightning rod. The Democrats' pre-election plan, "A New Direction for America," was embarrassingly silent on immigration. At the other end, the Republican Party just selected a Latino, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., as its new national chairman. Republicans will try to stoke Latino conservatism while ignoring amnesty, essentially a divide-and-conquer strategy.

In the middle, there are those freshly elected "red" Democrats, from places such as Indiana and Virginia, who are anti-abortion, anti-government and anti-immigrant. In this political spectrum, even Ronald Reagan would be an extremist.

When Democrats fail to challenge Republican extremism head on, the vacuum allows Republicans to move the entire country to the right. When Republicans call undocumented immigrants a national security risk, Democrats parse their words for fear of alienating moderates, independents or some other imagined constituency. And, like a child testing to see how much he or she can get away with, Republicans will just keep hammering away: immigrants usurp taxpayers' spending, spread crime, take American jobs, threaten the English language, ruin neighborhoods, etc.

Democrats need to go on the offensive, if they are to move us toward the middle on immigration and other issues. A good place to start is by drawing a line in the sand: We will not tolerate anyone who continues to equate immigrants with terrorism. That kind of rhetoric has poisoned more than the political climate. It has poisoned America.

Second, Democrats need to be clear that the $6 billion border fence now under construction is not just a wasteful boondoggle, but an affront to all Latinos. Finally, we need to educate middle America about the contributions of undocumented workers. Their hard work at low wages makes America more productive. Their commitment to family values is not a cliché, but a wake-up call for America to care for its elderly, its sick and to spend quality time with its children instead of forgetting them at the door of some fancy private school.

The 2008 presidential race is going to make all of this very difficult. Now that the country has put the Democratic Party into power, so the argument goes, Democrats can easily win the White House in two years if they "just don't blow it." This is a recipe for a do-nothing Congress. It reflects a basic tendency in the Democratic Party: Sacrificing the present for the promise of the future and the greater good. "When we control the White House, then we will end the war in Iraq, fight global warming, and re-balance the Supreme Court." In the meantime, the Republicans will be saying what they mean, pushing the country to the right, and moving their xenophobic agenda forward.

Gerardo Sandoval is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Their hard work at low wages makes America more productive..........for those Americans who appreciate them cleaning our offices, picking our fruit and caring for our children,....

Only an arrogant elitist could make such an asinine statement. That is an affront to any Hispanic but what do you expect from the a wacko jerk from the Rice-A-Roni city of anti-Americanism.

When Democrats fail to challenge Republican extremism head on, the vacuum allows Republicans to move the entire country to the right.

Spending his life breathing the Leftist air in New Sodom, sometimes also known as San Francisco, as he does, Sandoval would not comprehend this fact, but the GOP doesn't move the country anywhere. The "entire country" is considerably further to the right than either the Dems or the GOP. Since the total percentage of voting-age Americans that vote is generally well under 50%, it is a fact that whatever party is elected as a majority wins that position with the support of a minority of American adults. The minority that faithfully supports the Dems is smaller than the minority that faithfully supports the GOP, but the GOP is far more likely to be abandoned by its voters when it fails to uphold their ideals. In other words, the Dems won because the GOP was too far to the Lleft, not too far to the right.

For the 44 million Latinos living in the United States, and for those Americans who appreciate them cleaning our offices, picking our fruit and caring for our children, the measure of success is very clear: immigration reform.

Hmmm......sure use the word "our" freely. No illegal immigrant is caring for my children, cleaning my office, mowing my lawn, etc., etc.

Furthermore, when did the national debate on illegal immigration turn into a debate on "Latinos living in the United States?"

for those Americans who appreciate them cleaning our offices, picking our fruit and caring for our children,

No latino ever cleaned my home or office, picked my garden or EVER cared for my children. I hired AMERICANS to clean my home and office and care for my children.

There must be an amnesty that offers a chance for those who entered illegally to apply for legal status. Guest-worker programs are fine and increased funding for the U.S. Border Patrol may be unavoidable. But the Democrats today must do what even President Ronald Reagan did in 1986: Pass an amnesty law.

President Reagan REGRETED ever giving AMNESTY! One of his only regrets of his presidency.

Finally, we need to educate middle America about the contributions of undocumented workers. Their hard work at low wages makes America more productive.

You're going to educate me? Really?
Let me educate YOU. I don't purchase or eat any food that to my knowledge comes from fields or slaughter houses that use ILLEGAL LABOR. I purchase nothing other than American and nothing from California. My choices are getting slim, but then, what the hell do I care.
I can raise it myself or purchase from a grower who is reputable or simply DO WITHOUT. It's not that difficult when one gets used to it.

You dipwad moron.

.

If we pass a bill to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, then we also need to pass a bill to give amnesty to all the American citizens who are locked up in federal prisons for welfare fraud, forgery, identity theft and tax evasion? What is the difference between convicted felons who commit these crimes and illegal immigrants who commit these crimes? Isn't a crime a crime no matter who committs it, or are illegal immigrants now above the law in this country?

These illegal immigrants are nothing but out right felons and criminals and should be treated as such, and not treated as heroes and given the reward of citizenship or any other form of legal status in this country. If you ask pro immigration people about this, they just say that "all these illegal immigrants are trying to do is make a living and feed their families, is that so bad". I would just like to see an American citizen say that to judge when he is getting charged for fraud and identity theft!

I ask you what kind of country do we have here when people who knowingly and willfully break and abuse our laws on a regular day to day basis, as illegal immigrants do, and then we want to reward them with the gift of citizenship and we treat like heroes. What to hell kind of country is this?

It is a known and proven fact that 75% of illegal immigrants knowingly, willfully and regularly buy or forge documents like driver's licenses, social security cards, birth certificates and other forms of legal documents to benefit their own self interests. They knowingly and willfully steal and use the identities of American citizens for their own selfish gains, and they knowingly and willfully use these forged documents and stolen identities to fraud city, state and federal agencies out of social services. And last but not least, they knowingly and willfully evade paying taxes.

Now if you or I or any American citizen were caught with forged documents and stolen identities, and if we knowingly evaded paying our taxes, and we lied to government agencies in order to obtain social services, I ask you, what do you think would happen to us? You know very well what would happen to us, we would be prosecuted as felons and would be end up spending time in federal prison.

Now what will happen to all these illegal immigrants who do this fraudulent activity on a regular day to day basis, if the democrats get this bill to pass? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! All these people will be given a slap on the hand and a token fine and the reward of citizenship for their crimes. What kind of mockery is this to all the law abiding people in this country. I ask you , are illegal immigrants above the law in thsi country? ARE THEY?

If a bill is passed to give them amnesty, then why not give amnesty to all the felons serving time in federal prisons for welfare fraud, forgery, indentity theft and tax evasion. Is there any difference between common felons who commit these crimes and illegal immigrants who commit these crimes. Isn't a crime a crime, no matter who commits it, or now in this country do illegal immigrants have more rights than citizens now?