Thread: FL News-Press Editorial: Martinez and Nelson

Immigration reform can't stop now
Originally posted on July 05, 2007

Our U.S. senators, Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, showed great courage when they chose principle over popularity on the now-failed immigration reform bill.

They may suffer greatly for their unwavering support of doing something about curbing and addressing illegal immigration in a compassionate, realistic and holistic way.

Martinez's critics have already started efforts in opinion pieces and Web sites expressing their desire to recall him or defeat him come 2010 when he is up for re-election.

The senator, who also chairs the Republican National Committee, helped craft the bill, supported by President Bush, and which died last Thursday.

Senators decided 53-46 in a procedural vote that the bill would not reach the Senate floor for a final vote.

The bill would have created an earned citizenship program for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country — creating carrots and sticks to integrate them into our culture.

The biggest carrot: eventual citizenship, after learning English, working an honest job, staying out of criminal mischief and paying thousands of dollars in fines.

The bill, if made law, would have dedicated more money and resources to secure the border and cracked down harder on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

The bill's opponents — on both the left and right — not only succeeded in derailing comprehensive immigration reform for now, but also in allowing for nothing to happen.

The status quo prevails.

One anti-Martinez site, recallmartinez.org, calls for, among other things: "No Amnesty," "Close our southern border," "Punish businesses that hire illegals" and "No taxpayer services for illegals (except in life or death situations)."

His detractors have accused him of flip-flopping his position on strong national security in favor of amnesty.

Yet the bill lacked any provision for amnesty of illegal immigrants — that is, giving them a free pass without any penalty — and those who said it for political gain or disinformation should be ashamed.

In a statement following the bill's defeat, Martinez clearly felt deflated: "What I would say is that going forward, I will do what I can, on this topic, but I do think, the burden has shifted to others to see what proposals, what solutions they will offer and they will have."

We encourage him and the 45 others who wanted reform to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start over again.

What will help is to make this process open, addressing critics' legitimate concerns about lax border security but separating that from xenophobic hype.

We will have to deal with this issue at some point — and what's called for is courageous action now.

Martinez may indeed destroy his political career by fighting for immigration reform, but this is not about him, and we hope he knows it.

It's about taking care of this nation's needs — security, workers and healthy growth and development, among them.

That's what a senator is supposed to be about.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 50340/1015

Our U.S. senators, Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, showed great courage when they chose principle over popularity on the now-failed immigration reform bill.

They may suffer greatly for their unwavering support of doing something about curbing and addressing illegal immigration in a compassionate, realistic and holistic way.

Until last summer, I lived most of my 62 years in Miami, Fl. I know both these men's history very well.

They "chose principle". Oh really? IMO, they were choosing popularity in Fl. with the huge Cuban population and other folks from Hispanic countries, those here legally plus illegal aliens.

They chose to vote, IMO, in a traitorous fashion for a bill which would have further bankrupt our country, that encourages disrespect for and breaking our nation's laws. They chose putting illegal aliens over AMERICANS and LEGAL immigrants. They chose destroying our sovereignty by endorsing the SPP/NAU. They chose...and Mel...helped fashion in backrooms, totally ignoring usual transparency, with La Raza, the Chamber of Commerce (big business), etc, such a flawed bill, which they had ever intent on shoving down the throats of AMERICANS and LEGAL immigrants demonstrated by the attempted rapidity with which they tried to move this bill. They voted for a bill, which Sen. Sessions gave a 'Sneaky Lawyer Tricks' speech about...in which he ran out of time and couldn't cover everything...

The legislation has an incredible number of problems with it. Some, as I will point out tonight, can only be considered deliberate. Whereas on the one hand it has nice words with good sounding phrases in it to do good things, on the second hand it completely eviscerates that, oftentimes in a way that only the most careful reading by a good lawyer would discover

As for

The status quo prevails.

It doesn't need to. ENFORCE CURRENT LAWS ON THE BOOK. SECURE THE BORDERS AND PORTS. Hello, out there, ...9/11, the London Subway Bombings, other terrorist activities around the world, Fort Dix 6, something recent, hmmmmmm, oh yes, wasn't there just something from Glascow and the UK? With an arrest in Australia, concerning the same? Hmmmmm. Not even mentioning the huge amount of crime, done by illegal aliens.

No. The Senators from Fl. showed their true colors when they voted for this bill.

They will try again.

The only reason that we are in a mess with illegals is that our presidents have not enforced immigration laws and our congress has not excerised the oversight needed. They have decided that worrying about baseball players taking drugs is more improtant than securing our borders against criminals and terrorists.

Originally Posted by Beckyal

The only reason that we are in a mess with illegals is that our presidents have not enforced immigration laws and our congress has not excerised the oversight needed. They have decided that worrying about baseball players taking drugs is more improtant than securing our borders against criminals and terrorists.

Hi Beckyal,

IMO, most of the congressfolk are globalists ,or minimally, are in the pockets of big business, whose only interest is cheap labor.

As for Quote:
The status quo prevails.
It doesn't need to. ENFORCE CURRENT LAWS ON THE BOOK. SECURE THE BORDERS AND PORTS.

I agree. The president and his lieutenants state summarily that 'the present laws can't be enforced' without any explanation of WHY they can't be enforced. With no sarcasm intended, I truly think that they so underestimate the intelligence of Americans that they think it will just go over our heads.

How typical. South Florida journalism. Always trying to spoon feed the people with what they should or shouldn't think or believe. And it's always the SAME.......liberal, politically correct views and opinions!

It's almost humorous, South Florida is SO PREDICTABLE.

Undoubtedly, when your population is well over 60% Hispanic, then they are going to want to appease the majority.

Who do they think they're fooling?

Recall Mel Martinez petition.

http://www.recallmel.com

I live in Southwest Florida where we get the News Press paper! I know for a fact, from an employee at the newspaper, that the News Press sales are poor and getting worse everyday! They are so far left and liberal its sickening! AM 1240 radio is my source of information down here! And yes, we are being over run by illegals down here! In the past five years, we went from practically no crime to astronomical crime! Murder, grow houses, human smuggling, rapes, you name it! Its sickening and what's worse is how our newspaper keep portraiting illegals as helpless "immigrants" that just want to work and have a better life!

They "chose principle". Oh really? IMO, they were choosing popularity in Fl. with the huge Cuban population and other folks from Hispanic countries, those here legally plus illegal aliens.

That might have been what they were thinking and what most of you seem to think, but as a Miamian of Cuban ancestry I have yet to meet ONE Cuban-American with voting rights who is for legalization of illegal aliens. If we are going to be honest, we all know exactly what they were thinking: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Anyone who even skims through this site knows very well the media lies and skews news reports to make things appear a certain way. If you trust the media when they tell you most Hispanics are for amnesty, you must then trust them when they say most Americans are for amnesty.

I read this article today in the News Press and right beside it is a cartoon of President Boosh holding an american citizens mouth open and stuffing an Illegal down their throat while the Donkey (Dems) look on with a "I don't know what to do" look on the donkeys face.Really funny seeing them side by side !

I agree it is getting bad here.Crime by Illegals is soaring,wife beatings,wife shootings,stabbings.drunk Illegals killing people in cars,sex slaves,drugs,house break ins .......I simply do not understand our government......