Thread: Sen.Feinstein Increasingly Willing to Consider Guest Workers

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/14145469.htm

Feinstein supports some immigration reformBy Phil YostMercury NewsU.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she is increasingly willing to consider a guest worker program as a way of curbing unregulated immigration into the United States. But, she added, ``I'm not entirely there yet'' in finding a specific proposal to support.

After a wide-ranging luncheon speech to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in San Jose, the veteran Democrat said her main concern was that the program not ``become a magnet'' that would attract undocumented immigrants who would not return to their home country. Guest worker programs usually permit workers into the U.S. only for a limited time.

On another immigration issue, Feinstein allied herself with Silicon Valley companies in supporting an increase in the number of H1-B visas, which permit companies to bring highly skilled immigrants from overseas to work in the United States.

During her hour-long appearance before an audience of 350 at the San Jose Hyatt, Feinstein also encouraged the effort to bring BART to San Jose. The leadership group is a strong supporter of an additional half-cent sales tax that will appear on the June 6 ballot. The ballot language says money raised from the tax could be spent on a variety of projects, from trauma and emergency services to health insurance for uninsured children to ``transportation improvements.'' But BART presumably would get a share. The willingness of local governments to finance transportation projects increases chances of federal assistance, Feinstein said.

Commenting on the war in Iraq, Feinstein bluntly called for President Bush to rethink his approach, including finding a new secretary of defense to replace Donald Rumsfeld. ``I think the president should put in a new team'' she said.

``What I would support is a kind of strategic downsizing and redeployment,'' the senator said. U.S. troops in Iraq should be reduced from 130,000 now to 80,000 by year's end. That would allow the military to attack terrorists more effectively in other countries, such as Afghanistan.

Feinstein concluded her speech with a warning that ``the clock is ticking on global warming.'' She said she will be introducing legislation to cap emissions at current levels, and then to begin reducing them in 2011.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Phil Yost at pyost@mercurynews.com or (40 920-5636.

her main concern was that the program not ``become a magnet'' that would attract undocumented immigrants who would not return to their home country.

And of course this should be a primary concern because we all know "there is nothing more permanent than a temporary worker." It's why guest worker programs NEVER WORK. Guest worker programs are just a political strawman for politicians to say "look! I've done something to fix the problem." In the real world (I know not a place most politicians are familiar with) though, guest worker programs only exacerbate the problems--maybe pushing the hard decisions off for a few more years--if the politicians are really lucky, past their own retirement.

The real Senator Feinstein just stepped forward.

LaRaza and other hispanic groups are hitting her hard to agree to both a guest-worker and the DREAM act. We need to go after her!