The Senate decided to put off any final action on the proposed immigration bill until June, instead of trying to shove it through by Memorial Day.
"It would be to the best interests of the Senate ... that we not try to finish this bill this week," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as the chamber began debate on the bill. "I think we could, but I'm afraid the conclusion wouldn't be anything that anyone wanted."
The bill has severe problems that prevented it from being pushed through the Senate quite as rapidly as its proponents and President Bush wanted, to say the least.
Many people objected to what amounts to amnesty combined with unworkable enforcement procedures, the ridiculous "Z" visa provisions, and the mammoth guest worker program.
Illegal immigrant activists claim the bill doesn't go far enough, and dislike any suggestion of curtailing family unification in terms of a `point system.'
While some of the politicians involved in this nonsense are justifiably feeling the heat ( GOP Senators Lindsay Graham and Mel Martinez got booed at gatherings of Republicans yesterday), there is still going to be a lot of pressure to shove this bill through, and the Bush White House is lobbying feverishly for it, especially among Republicans who voted against last year's ridiculous attempt.
Here the crux of the matter in a nutshell - in a post 9/11 world, ingress and egress into the US ought to be treated as a security issue, rather than an economic or social one.
When the US government shows that it can enforce our borders, track down the over 600,000 illegal aliens that have already been ordered deported and can't be found and make a dent finding out who's here and who shouldn't be, then we can talk about legalizing people here who want to assimilate and become citizens and bringing more people in as our needs dictate.
Stay tuned...and keep on your representatives like the plague. Just tell them plainly that if they vote for amnesty, they can count on you supporting their opponent.
"Here the crux of the matter in a nutshell - in a post 9/11 world, ingress and egress into the US ought to be treated as a security issue, rather than an economic or social one."
ReplyDeleteBINGO! And, it could be added, immigration and border security are mutually exclusive issues. Why we tie the two together is incomprehensible to me.
Why we tie the two together is incomprehensible to me.
ReplyDeleteBillT, can you explain this in a little more detail to me so that i may better understand your comment?
as i see it border security is, well, border security and is applied in the vast nothingness between, say, san diego and nogales. border security would be an enforcement organization while immigration is a bureaucratic process. to be specific, why can the two not be tied together? most companies have sales, marketing, puchasing, & manufacturing depts. in locations of port of entry would it not be advantageous to have the two under the same mantle? simply put, why are you so opposed to their being tied together?