| Immigration Bill: Deader Than Texas Roadkill |
|
|
|
| by Carolyn Barta | Thu, Jun 28, 2007, 12:21 PM |
|
The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections, the AP reports. The bill's supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The issue is so volatile that Congress is highly unlikely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will increasingly dominate American politics.
Texas' senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn voted against the decision to proceed to the legislation without adequate opportunity to amend it. Sen. Hutchison said that "the Senate chose to rush a deeply flawed bill in a closed process, which I cannot support. Now, I believe we must start fresh." Cornyn said there needs to be "a full and fair debate conducted in the light of day." 
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (16)
...
written by Sam Merten , June 28, 2007 Thank goodness. Bush was dead wrong on this one. Our senators, along with others who helped put a stop to this bill, deserve credit for not pushing this through.
...
written by Adam , June 28, 2007 I agree. I guess citizens still have the power in this country. Or at least they do until the likes of Lott, Kennedy, and Graham shut it down.
...
written by Sharon Boyd , June 28, 2007 Now, maybe the Feds can focus on ENFORCING our EXISTING IMMIGRATION LAWS. If they would just enforce the laws we have, Farmers Branch, et al, would not have to deal with the matter locally.
...
written by Dale Edison , June 28, 2007 Guys and Ladies; This liberal is with you 100 percent on this one. One of the issues I never heard addressed was the health and auto insurance. A girl friend of mine works at Parkland Hospital and some of the statistics she shares are amazing. I feel illegal immigrants abuse our health care system thus causing the rest of us to pay higher prices and a lower standard of care. I don't understand why we have the money for a war but don't have the money to enforce the law here that deals with illegals. Imogene
...
written by Dallas Perfect Voter , June 28, 2007 There seem to be no good answers on this one. Yet it will be the defining issue of our generation, given current demographics. The ugly inconvenient truth is that our immigration system is irrevocably broken...and 12 million illegal folks are here thanks to such system failure. Wealthy countries will always be migration destinations for cheaper labor - that's labor economics 101 folks - and illegals will always be willing to work in undesirable jobs such as day laborers, short order cooks, busboys, gardeners, maids. What's interesting is to look at the sheer magnitude of the US migration numbers and the total volume of those taking root illegally here multiplied by their household dependents (many of whom are born here and are our citizens). That is a political force to be reckoned with. No matter how they spin it, it is a CRIME to be in the US illegally. The US has not meaningfully enforced these laws, so where is the disincentive or deterrent for those who would venture to break these laws? Is it any wonder millions more have come here illegally, and continue to do so consistently long after "once and for all" one time amnesty was bestowed on the 3 million in the 80's? Our biggest challange is that we not have a process to deal with illegals. For those who would advocate getting 12 million people to just leave - whether by force or otherwise - how exactly does our government do that without getting sued or find that we have turned into a police state (something our constitution was rightfully fearful of)? The paradox of the US illegals is that they are underground and at the same time they are well integrated into the fabric of our society and doing just fine as they are. So what makes one think these folks would leave voluntarily or be willing to come out into the open to register to be guest workers and/or willingly go back to the native countries that they abandoned long ago? The US border states are political powder kegs. Just look at the recent groundswell anger in Farmers Branch. When the legislature tried to have a meaningful conversation about requiring picture Voter ID's that turned ugly and personal. If you cannot explore possibilities, then there will never be a solution. It appears that that type of stalemate serves some folks political and economic interests just fine. But it is wrong. The US cannot seem to secure our borders with any integrity nor do we adequately or consistently keep track of who is here, whether they are legal or not, whether we track folks on federal, state or local basis. One thing that no one seems to get real around is the issue of how can we differentiate between who is here legally and who is not, when we are so quick to defend the right to privacy? As it is, getting the public sector to keep track of 300 million is daunting enough...Even the IRS does not have a foolproof way to know who are the legals and illegals among us. That is scary enough. Kudos to Senators Hutchinson and Cornyn to stand down and to prevent new, bad legislation. But as for finding solutions to our 12 million illegals problem, it's damned if we do, damned if we don't.
...
written by Farinata X , June 28, 2007 You guys are destroying the Republican party for the next fifty years. Please continue.
...
written by Byron George , June 28, 2007 Farinata, I don't think Republicans being against ILLEGAL immigration is hurting our party. What is hurting it is the nuts in the party that will not listen when we say we are AGAINST amnesty for illegals.
...
written by Lee , June 28, 2007 The only longterm solution to stopping immigration is to develop an economy in Mexico that will support its people. Money spent on a wall could be better spent in a "Marshall Plan" for Mexico. The flattened economies of Europe were rebuilt. In Mexico there is at least a base upon which to build.
...
written by asmith , June 28, 2007 I admit that Hutchison and Cornyn voted the right way on this bill. It needed to be killed with a dull axe. What ever happend to Cornyn and his Cornyn-Kyl bill he has been working on since 2002? Can anyone name anything he's done in the Senate except grandstand?
...
written by Right Wing Republican Volunteer , June 29, 2007 Once again, Byron says it well! BTW, when 80% of the public opposes the bill, it ain't all Republicans! But, of course the libs will try to convince Hispanics that the evil Republicans are all out to get them.
...
written by Joe , June 29, 2007 Thank goodness the bill is dead. The Feds could stop border crossings if they really wanted to. They could stop the huge flow of drugs also. But that would slow down all that money that's made through trade. It's no good
...
written by Disillusioned Republican , June 29, 2007 US taxpayers cannot continue to pay for illegal aliens who are in this country taking advantage of government giveaway programs. Not only do we have laws that should be enforced with respect to illegal aliens, but we should also be securing our border and making an excellent effort to find out exactly who is here in this country (and their status). In addition, the concept of chain immigration and anchor babies should be halted immediately due to the outrageous abuse of the system which amounts to theft of public funds. Parkland Hospital is the case in point. In the post 9-11 world, not to have a secure border from the Pacific to the Gulf and on the Northern border and not to have an ID program is not acceptable. The U.S. must be a nation that abides by laws and enforces laws for the benefit of the taxpaying, law-abiding citizens of this country. We must protect our borders and elect a President who remembers that the United States is still a Sovereign nation. I'm a Republican & Illigration is my #1 Presidential issue which will determine who I vote for in the next Presidential election. And... it may not be a Republican. It depends on who is willing to enforce our laws and secure our border. I'd like to see what Mexico can do to help it's own people, for a change. If we get beyond this, maybe we can help MEXICO HELP MEXICANS HAVE GOOD PAYING JOBS IN THIER OWN COUNTRY, so U.S. citizens are not displaced from jobs in our country. There are lots of other solutions, if we get past the basics of law enforcement.
...
written by Gehrig M. Saldaña , June 29, 2007 I commend both of our senators for voting against proceeding with this legislation by limiting debate or opportunity to amend it.
...
written by Libby Shaw , June 29, 2007 I am a liberal but I will admit I have been on the fence about this bill. I support some of it and I am against some of it, particularly the lack of hard promises to secure the southern borders and granting an automatic “amnesty” to businesses for years of knowingly flaunting and breaking the law. The issue of immigration is extraordinarily complex and for me the issue requires much thought and reflection, after one rids oneself of the political rhetoric, positioning, the racial overtones and the fear mongering spin machine against a so-called amnesty that may have not been amnesty at all. It seems to me that powerful business interests have played a heavy hand in controlling the conversation about this immigration bill. In voting against the immigration bill our esteemed U.S. Senators also voted against controlling the influx of migrants into Texas/U.S. No one need bother to go back home and get in line behind those legally in line; no one need bother to learn English either; no one needs to pay any fines, contribute toward social security or pay back taxes. No one needs to obtain a biometric ID card. Nope, continue to fish in the trash bins throughout the border states and eventually find or steal an identity, or go to a document shark and get a fake or stolen social security card, green card or work visa. It’s all there for the buying. Continue to get access to education and healthcare without having to pay a dime into the system. It’s OK, our Senators just said we legal Americans, permanent residents and those here on legitimate work visas will happily continue to pay the tab. Hopefully we have not allowed ourselves to be manipulated by the loyalists for corporate interests over what may have been an opportunity for us to finally stem the flow of illegal migration. It seems to me that the initial winners of the defeat are the businesses that will continue unchecked to hire illegal workers and to whom they can pay slave wages at the expense of the American worker. The businesses will not be slapped down for their crimes either. Maybe because our politicians owe their political offices to them? I don’t believe the ag people when they say fruit and veggies will rot in the fields if they cannot hire illegal workers. There are plenty of legal Americans, permanent residents, and workers here on work visas, including teenagers who need to save money for higher education, who would do the work if the ag people paid a decent, sustainable wage. I don’t believe it when the politicians tell me American born Americans are too good to do certain kinds of work. Since when have the vast majority of us shirked hard work and long hours? So, now that our esteemed U.S. Senators have beaten down the bill and thereby support an open border, what are they going to do to secure the southern borders for our national security? What are they going to do to the businesses that continue to hire illegal migrants? Are we going to remain in the same state of openness and do-nothingness?
...
written by Sharon Boyd , June 30, 2007 First time I've agreed w/Senator Hutchison in a long time. We have immigration laws now. Let's just enforce them. If you are here illegally, you need to go home before we catch you and send you home. Granting a free pass to law breakers is never a good thing. If you rob a bank, you don't get to pay a fine but keep the money you stole.
...
written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , July 25, 2007 Sharon you were not so anti immigrant when you ran for city council in a predominant latino ward, where you got trounced.Now you are a anti immigrant, disappointed in you. Carlos Quintanilla Write comment
|
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
