Thread: Senators unhappy with immigration plan

Senators unhappy with immigration plan

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

By Adam Sichko
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
05/29/2007

WASHINGTON — The small group of senators who unveiled ambitious immigration reforms expected to vote on the legislation before Memorial Day.

Instead, many of their Senate colleagues have sounded sharp notes of discord during grueling debates that will continue when lawmakers return to Washington this week. And Sen. Claire McCaskill, for one, isn't convinced the plan can survive.

"I feel like Goldilocks," said McCaskill, D-Mo. "Either it's too hot or too cold as far as I'm concerned, and I don't think we've found the 'just right' yet.

"And we may not," she added. "I'd be a 'no' vote at this point."
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Many senators, including those from Missouri and Illinois, have been quick to voice their complaints. The intense debate has frequently pitted party members against one another and cast doubt on whether the sweeping plan can outlast a seemingly endless stream of proposed changes.

As Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said, "The devil's in the details." But it's more than the details causing senatorial angst. The bill's major initiatives are also proving to be stumbling blocks, including:

— Creating a temporary guest worker program.

— Beefing up border security with a fence, technologies and thousands more border control agents.

— Providing a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

"We all understand this is a work in progress," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., one of the bill's creators.

Senators aren't the only people concerned about the immigration issues. McCaskill's office workers, as well as those in the office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said constituents have inundated them with telephone calls.

"It would be unfair to characterize the response we've had as anything other than adamantly opposed," McCaskill said. "It's the nature of the beast that there really hasn't been anybody who's called that's been happy with it."

Durbin and McCaskill expressed varying concerns about the guest worker program, which would allow immigrants to work in the U.S. for two to six years.

Bond offered an amendment curbing the path-to-citizenship plan, which he labeled as "amnesty" that "rewards illegal immigrants." Bond and McCaskill voted Thursday to support a different amendment that eliminated the path to citizenship. The majority of senators, including Durbin and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., voted against that idea.

BASED ON POINTS

On the Senate floor, Obama spoke out against a proposed points-based immigrant application process giving education and workplace skills higher value than family ties.

He called the idea a "radical experiment in social engineering" and said he plans to offer amendments to get rid of it.

"How many of our forefathers would have measured up under this point system? How many would have been turned back at Ellis Island?" Obama asked.

Obama's stance on immigration will get special scrutiny as his presidential campaign proceeds; he has said he hopes "to be able to support" the final bill.

Durbin projected that the bill would get through the Senate and the House, and said the true test would come when the two chambers try to craft a final bill in conference.

"I just think doing nothing is not an option," Durbin said. "We can't walk away from our responsibility. We have to make some serious changes, even though they'll be controversial — and some will be painful."

Immigrant advocacy groups are lobbying senators to push ahead, said Frank Sharry, head of the National Immigration Forum.

"The debate has been quite a roller-coaster ride," he said. "We're both fighting like hell and biting our fingernails."

National Immigration Forum
50 F Street NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 347-0040
Fax: (202) 347-0058

http://immigrationforum.org/DesktopDefa ... ?tabid=105

These people are lying so badly it is unreal. Go to their site and look at the polls they have quioted which shows the "vast" majority of Americans support a "path to citizenship."

PLEASE......call these people and let them know they are full of crap! They need to know about the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PHONE CALLS SENATORS ARE RECEIVING EVERY DAY!!!!!

(Actually, they DO know, as I said, they are liars. Lets reinforce the calls!!!!)

I just think doing nothing is not an option," Durbin said. "We can't walk away from our responsibility. We have to make some serious changes, even though they'll be controversial — and some will be painful."

Why? Senators.........YOU'VE WALKED AWAY FROM DOING YOUR DUTY, ENFORCING THE LAWS - that YOU created - FOR 21 YEARS!!

One thing wrong with poles these days is it depends on where the pole is taken, there are alot of area's that are completely Hispanic now take a pole in that area and what are you going to get.

Also the question asked or the way they are asked can cause different results, so its all a crock anymore. You don't even know on a phone poll if the person you are speaking to is legal.

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HOLIDAYS OVER FOLKS LETS GET BACK TO WORK, TIME TO CRACK DOWN!!!! HIT THEM IN THEIR HOME TOWN, LETS SAVE AMERICA!!!!
GO GET EM ALIPACER'S/ RALLY THE TROOPS

TRAVELING BULLETIN BOARD

To everybody out there hanging in the backround yes you!! we invite you to...
let your voices be heard, Its time to get involved, calls, faxes, and e-mails, post at the links below to let everyone know what you are hearing, it helps our leaders to make decisions on what steps to take next. Lets all let congress know what real Americans Want!!

Instructions here to help you !! "MEMORIAL WEEK CRACKDOWN"
post results at either link
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... sc&start=0
LETS RALLY TO "MEMORIAL WEEK OPERATION BRING IT HOME"
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=63301

If anyone can't find information for contacting senators or not sure what to do, just ask, we have lots of nice people to help you

HINT: EASY WAY TO HELP OUT.....When you post on another site with good non-racist patriotic Americans leave behind a Momentous message, the link to ALIPAC ( http://www.alipac.us/index.php ).
Any donations to help keep ALIPAC afloat will be much appreciated

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

I just think doing nothing is not an option," Durbin said. "We can't walk away from our responsibility. We have to make some serious changes, even though they'll be controversial — and some will be painful."

Why? Senators.........YOU'VE WALKED AWAY FROM DOING YOUR DUTY, ENFORCING THE LAWS - that YOU created - FOR 21 YEARS!!

You're dang right it will be 'painful' !!!

Originally Posted by girlygirl369

National Immigration Forum
50 F Street NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 347-0040
Fax: (202) 347-0058

The Chairman of the National Immigration Forum is John Day, who also happens to be President of the National Restraunt Association. The NIF is simply a front group for cheap labor businesses.