Bush Hails Deal on Immigration Reform
The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S and a separate program to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education-level would for the first time be weighted over family connections in deciding whether future immigrants should get permanent legal status. New high-tech employment verification measures also would be instituted to ensure that workers are here legally.
The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.
Bush called it "a much-needed solution to the problem of illegal immigration in this country" and said, if approved, the proposal "delivers an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair."
"With this bipartisan agreement, I am confident leaders in Washington can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate so I can sign comprehensive reform into law this year," he said in a written statement. Bush planned to make remarks about the bill later Thursday at the White House.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his party's lead negotiator on the deal, hailed it as "the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America."
Anticipating criticism from conservatives, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said, "It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law."
The accord sets the stage for what promises to be a bruising battle next week in the Senate on one of Bush's top non-war priorities.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the proposal a "starting point" for that debate, but added that it needs improvement.
"I have serious concerns about some aspects of this proposal, including the structure of the temporary worker program and undue limitations on family immigration," Reid said in a statement.
The key breakthrough came when negotiators struck a bargain on a so-called "point system" that prioritizes immigrants' education and skill level over family connections in deciding how to award green cards.
The immigration issue also divides both parties in the House, which isn't expected to act unless the Senate passes a bill first.
The proposed agreement would allow illegal immigrants to come forward and obtain a "Z visa" and - after paying fees and a $5,000 fine - ultimately get on track for permanent residency, which could take between eight and 13 years. Heads of household would have to return to their home countries first.
They could come forward right away to claim a probationary card that would let them live and work legally in the U.S., but could not begin the path to permanent residency or citizenship until border security improvements and the high-tech worker identification program were completed.
A new temporary guest worker program would also have to wait until those so-called "triggers" had been activated.
Those workers would have to return home after work stints of two years, with little opportunity to gain permanent legal status or ever become U.S. citizens. They could renew their guest worker visas twice, but would be required to leave for a year in between each time.
Democrats had pressed instead for guest workers to be permitted to stay and work indefinitely in the U.S.
In perhaps the most hotly debated change, the proposed plan would shift from an immigration system primarily weighted toward family ties toward one with preferences for people with advanced degrees and sophisticated skills. Republicans have long sought such revisions, which they say are needed to end "chain migration" that harms the economy, while some Democrats and liberal groups say it's an unfair system that rips families apart.
Family connections alone would no longer be enough to qualify for a green card - except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.
New limits would apply to U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country.
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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

disturbing, to say the least.

"out of the shadows"

oh, thank goodness all the law breaking illegals no longer have to fear justice....

this bill better get shit-caned or i'm gonna get mad.




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"But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race."

- Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, Hero to the servants of big government, Racist War Monger

agreed. make sure to call your senators and congressmen

And if you speak out about it, you will be classified as a racist.

Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

yeah, i'm surprised we haven't heard more from the PC goons about this. so far they're just keeping it on the "out of the shadows" spin... they shouldn't even be in the shadows to begin with.



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"But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race."

- Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, Hero to the servants of big government, Racist War Monger

not to spark a huge debate but what would you guys do?i mean really cuz i would have no clue where to start..theres so many illegals what do you do??take them into custody and ship them home?then what about the economy,all the jobs that would suddenly be vacant who would fill them?

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"I know you smoke holding chronic when you rollin give a fuck about the cops pass the weeds till its dust..."

deny them credit, jobs, bank accounts and housing. severely fine people who hire them, and i mean severely.

the jobs would be filled.

maybe college kids could learn something about work ethic and cut grass or help build houses like they did a couple decades ago...

maybe all the laborers who are unemployed would be employed if they weren't underbid by $6/hr illegals.

maybe the citizens who are having a rough time getting a job won't have a rough time any more.

round them up and put them on the bus.



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"But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race."

- Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, Hero to the servants of big government, Racist War Monger

Maybe the corporations would have to pay living wages so Americans could do them. Maybe a few fat milionaires would have to mow their own lawn and their rich bitch wives do their own housework, who knows, maybe obesity would become a thing of the past. Yes ship them back and make them apply for green cards based on the availability of jobs, Jobs not filled by Americans after the wages were adjusted. We'll always need field hands and yardwork people, but the construction industry that has been taken over by illegals allowing the general contractors and the home builders to reap greater and greater profits could be handed back to the Americans who dropped out of school and need jobs. I was a Carpenter in the '70's, Pay was 17.50 Per Hr. + benefits. Carpenters and all trades now work for 7-10 bucks an hr. and no benefits. This is directly due to the illegals willingness to work for less. Why should someone from a foriegn country be allowed to come here illegally and depress the labor Market, then demand citizenship? It's fucking insane, and the politicians are allowing it. If these jobs the illegals are doing were made to have a living wage, 15.00+ an HR., you'd have the Americans lined up around the block. This lowering of wages abounds in most all fields that illegals are dominant. This is a direct tact by the corporations to maximize profit and cut expenditures so the top brass can make more. This is Greed personified.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

i agree with both of you but were talking about millions of jobs suddenly vacant...people who are in the process of getting a house built all the sudden now have to wait for the jobs to be filled so they have a place to live??you think theres that many college kids that are willing to do the work?whos suppose to go out a round up all these people..how do you proove whos legal and whos not with all the identity theft..fake ss cards fake green cards..this would be a huge process..the idea would have been to stop them at the border but that time has come and gone...its impossible to send them all home.

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"I know you smoke holding chronic when you rollin give a fuck about the cops pass the weeds till its dust..."

I agree with med on this, Think about it most Americans are layz as shit and those are the ones leting illegals do jobs for them just so they don't have to do it. Maybe theres alot more problems with America then the soc. problems we see everyday. Like with the kids shoting up schools now, maybe its just layz ass parents not doing something for the kid growing up. like the VT shoting maybe it was his parent didn't teach him social skills, so he locked himself in his room til he final cracked.

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And I hope Nile Young will remember,
A Southern Man don't need him around any how!