Bush Still Not Serious On Immigration
Written by Sam on November 29th, 2005“We will not be able to effectively enforce our immigration laws until we create a temporary-worker program.”
That was all I needed to hear last night to know that we were being given another song and dance. Actually, Mr. President, there is a way to stop it. It’s called a wall. China built one a thousand years ago; we can do it now. Admitting that may even seem crude by today’s standards, the technology exists today to monitor the border effectively and stop the flow of illegal immigrants even without the Great Wall of Arizona. Perhaps a combination of both would be in order? There is no reason why four years after 9-11 our borders along Mexico remain as porous as they are. The Minute Men have proven that it can be done. Put the guards on the borders or build the wall or put up the military technology. Don’t blow smoke up our butt, Mr. President. We are all smart enough to know that this simply is about garnering the vote of the illegal Mexicans for the Republicans.
And what of the 11 million illegals that are already here? The ones that are forcing hospitals to close in California because they don’t pay. The ones whose kids get free education on the taxpayers’ dimes. The ones who give birth to their kids on US soil so they can collect welfare. Bush did not address these 11 million in his speech. Will they be allowed to sign up for this guest worker program after they have already shown that they have no respect for the laws of our country? Bush says he does not believe in amnesty, but if these 11 million can apply for this program then is this guest worker program not a euphemism for amnesty?
Earth to George! Drop the guest worker program. We have five percent of Americans currently unemployed. Take away their food stamps and their Section 8 housing and trust me. They’ll pick the lettuce. We should be concentrating on the job market and standard of living for our own people, not Vincente’s folks. Bush is leading the Republicans down a bottomless pit on this one. Some Democrats are already beginning to realize what a hot button issue this is and that they can make big gains by running to the right of the Right on this one.
If Bush were serious about putting a stop to illegal immigration he would have done something about it on September 12, 2001.
29
PM
“They’ll pick the lettuce.”
That was a classic line Sam, I loved it. You are right, it is hard to get excited about this program Bush talks about simply because I have so little confidence in the fine print.
29
PM
The guest worker program is so necessary. I’m sorry but illegal immigrants are here, and for the security of our country we need to monitor and know who is living and working here. While I certainly do not support breaking the law as illegal immigrants have done, the fact remains that they contribute to our economy through sales taxes and by working the jobs that Americans simply won’t take. 5% unemployment is not that high! In fact, it is considered a natural rate of unemployment. You may think that Americans will want jobs that illegal immigrants do everyday, but that is not necessarily the case, especially at such low wage levels. So the guest worker program accomplishes two things- it documents the people living here (security) and it gives people who are contributing to our economy a chance to do it legally.