Thread: Charlotte Observer - Pro Immigration Reform Editorial

Want another head explosion??? Yeah, like we need more. Read this recent editorial prominently located as the lead on the editorial page with Bush gets it in huge, bold type. This editorial needs attacked and I ask for ALIPAC members to not let this go unheeded. I have writen a response, please, if anyone has time, fire off an e-mail in opposition. See the website for a response at the bottom of this article. Basically, they think this immigration reform is a great idea except for one flaw and I quote:
"The Bush plan also has drawbacks. The most glaring: There is no path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of guest workers who could be living in the United States for years." So, they do't think this already huge giveway that puts up American Citizenship for sale as a right of entitlement to illegals doesn't go FAR ENOUGH!!!

Read...and don't weep...but get angry.........

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Newspaper EDITORIAL - Friday, June 1

Bush gets it
Immigration reforms not perfect, but a workable start

President George W. Bush spoke with authority recently when he explained why he has proposed immigration reforms that have infuriated conservatives in his party.

"Our ability to welcome newcomers and the system's capacity to assimilate them has been one of the most powerful traditions of America," he said. "It works, and it will work this time."

He's right. The package of reforms proposed by his administration and a group of U.S. senators is not perfect. But it is balanced, practical and a worthy starting place for fixing the nation's broken immigration system.

The debate about reform ought to begin by acknowledging three facts.

1. Low unemployment and the retirement of 77 million baby boomers will mean a critical worker shortage.

2. It's not practical to deport some 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to live in the United States.

3. America needs secure borders, but it also needs policies that welcome newcomers instead of rejecting them -- and provide a reasonable path to citizenship.

There's plenty of room for honest disagreement about how to accomplish those things. But the plan offered by the Bush administration has many strengths. Among them:

• The southern border would be secured using vehicle barriers, radar and cameras, unmanned aerial surveillance and a minimum of fencing. That's an intelligent approach that will be far more effective than erecting a costly 700-mile fence that won't keep people out.

• Current illegal immigrants could come forward immediately and receive a probationary legal status, then a conditional path to citizenship. It serves no one's interest for this country to create a class of permanent residents who have no responsibilities or rights.

• A temporary guest-worker program would allow as many as 400,000 people to enter the United States each year, depending on annual job need estimates.

• The U.S. would issue 380,000 visas a year, compared to 50,000 now.

The Bush plan also has drawbacks. The most glaring: There is no path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of guest workers who could be living in the United States for years.

Yet this plan could be the basis for a much-needed first step. President Bush deserves credit for the leadership he has shown on a polarizing issue. In particular, he has demonstrated an unusual understanding of the urgent need for change, and confronted the fear that has derailed every effort so far.

"If you want to kill the bill, if you don't want to do what's right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people," he said, firing back at vocal, conservative critics who have refused to compromise or support any reform that provides a path to citizenship.

"Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all," he said.

Let's be clear. This plan will not solve the nation's immigration woes. But it is a solid, workable start on a complex problem. It deserves an open-minded hearing from lawmakers.

Tell Us What You Think

To comment on this editorial online, go to www.charlotte.com/opinion, then click on this editorial.

link to the editorial please

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

link to the editorial please

Here it is

http://www.charlotte.com/opinion/story/143257.html

The Bush plan also has drawbacks. The most glaring: There is no path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of guest workers who could be living in the United States for years.

That's a ridiculous assertion. Of course there's a path: just drop an anchor baby while you're here, and you'll never have to leave. Who needs citizenship when the little anchor of joy gets all the benefits for you? They can vote (illegally, but who cares?) and everything else will be given to them via the magic Z-visa.