Thread: Grijalva, Bush find accord on entrants

Published: 04.26.2007
Grijalva, Bush find accord on entrants

By Josh Brodesky
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
In Arizona's congressional delegation, probably no one has been a bigger critic of President Bush than Rep. Raúl Grijalva.
But politics is the art of compromise, as they say, and Wednesday, Grijalva sat down for an hour with the president to talk about the one issue where the two share some common ground: comprehensive immigration reform.
"As much as I malign the president, I thought he was receptive," Grijalva said. "He was engaged in the conversation, asked questions and continued to make a commitment to comprehensive reform."
For the first time in his six years as president, Bush met with the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which Grijalva is the vice chairman.
Grijalva said the caucus, which has 20 Democratic members, mostly spoke to the president about the pending immigration legislation known as the Strive Act, which stands for Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy. The proposed House legislation calls for increased border enforcement, while also offering a path to citizenship and temporary-worker provisions.
"We support that very strongly, and we support the fact that this has to get done this year," he said.
Grijalva, one of the most liberal members of Congress, is a co-sponsor of the act and said he thinks it represents Congress' best chance at passing immigration legislation.
But despite his support, the proposed legislation has taken heat from immigrant-rights advocates who are largely concerned about the bill's enforcement measures.
"It may be the best shot at passing something, but it's one of the worst shots for our community," said Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, which works to protect the rights of immigrants.
That criticism, among others, has put the squeeze on Grijalva, who is a close friend of Garcia's and is supported by groups like Derechos Humanos.
When he talked about the legislation Wednesday, it was clear he was not thrilled about it but rather embraced it as a point of pragmatism.
He said he supported the bill because it would provide a path to citizenship and keep families together and includes two other pieces of legislation, the Dream Act and Agjobs.
The Dream Act would provide citizenship to illegal entrants who were raised in the U.S. and finish college here. Agjobs would provide visas specifically for agricultural work.
But Grijalva also said he is concerned about the bill's lack of due process for illegal entrants, and he said he wants more judicial review as well as "an independent commission to lend transparency to Border Patrol activities and homeland security."
"In a perfect world, we could have written a perfect bill," he said.
But he said he isn't going to push legislation for opening the borders or providing "blanket amnesty" that he knows will not pass and may not even have support in his district, which covers Southwestern Arizona.
"The fact of the matter is there is nothing better out there," he said.
And that, Garcia said, is the very problem.
"I think there is an incredible amount of pressure for Demo-crats and Republicans to push this issue away so they can begin the run for presidency in September," she said.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/180179

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He said he supported the bill because it would provide a path to citizenship and keep families together and includes two other pieces of legislation, the Dream Act and Agjobs.

In a perfect world, we could have written a perfect bill," he said.
You're a horses ass if you think this tripe will fly!

You wrote nothing but the SALE OF AMERICA and THIS WILL NOT STAND

So, you all had better get out your bandaids and ace bandages because we're going to smack the crap out of you in the next few weeks!

You people think you're going to treat American citizens like so much trash AND get away with it? Something tells me that you're ALL in for a rude awakening.

You screwed with the wrong people..............the AMERICAN PEOPLE.