Thread: McCain Says Senate Immigration Bill Does Not Amount to Amnes

http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=16711



McCain Says Senate Immigration Bill Does Not Amount to Amnesty
Written for the web by Elizabeth Bishop, Internet News Producer

Sen. John McCain is making the rounds defending sweeping immigration legislation passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday night. He insists the bill would not amount to granting amnesty to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States.

"The only way you solve the problem is to punish those who have come here illegally — and it is a severe punishment — but at the same time give them an opportunity for citizenship if they fulfill very serious obligations," said McCain, R-Arizona.

The Senate committee members voted 12-6 to approve the bill that includes the following provisions:

Immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally before 2004 could become permanent residents if they pay a $2,000 fine, pass a background check, learn English and work for six years. They could apply for citizenship five years after becoming a permanent resident.


The bill also creates a special guest worker program for the estimated 1.5 million immigrant farmworkers that allows them to get "blue cards" if they can prove they worked in agriculture for 150 days between 2003 and 2005.

Up to 14,000 new border patrol agents would be added by 2011. A "virtual wall" of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors would be added to the U.S. border with Mexico.

The construction of tunnels between Mexico and the U.S. would be criminalized.

The deportation of illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico would be expedited.

Some senators denounced the bill as amnesty for immigrants who have broken the law. "If we do not enforce the law we are simply going to get more and more illegal immigrants flooding our hospitals, flooding our schools, and causing a breakdown of our social services," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin.

The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote. If it passes there, it would have to be reconciled with a much harsher immigration reform bill passed in the House last December.

McCain believes the Senate version has a better chance of becoming law because it contains the guest worker provision, a plan President Bush has said he supports.

If the Senate version becomes law, it would be the most sweeping immigration reform since 1986 when 2.7 million illegal immigrants were made eligible for green cards.

Quote:
McCain believes the Senate version has a better chance of becoming law because it contains the guest worker provision, a plan President Bush has said he supports.

Phuck what President Bush wants. Of course he wants amnesty. His large business interests demand cheap labor.