Bush seeks unity on immigration: Reaches out to Democrats to craft new bill

[ECH1969]

The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats on the issue of overhauling immigration, hoping to build a bipartisan coalition to support a "guest worker" program and provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants, lawmakers and administration officials said.

President Bush has expressed an eagerness to work with Democrats on the issue in private meetings with lawmakers and in public statements, as he seeks to strike a new tone with Democrats who will be in control of Congress for the final two years of his presidency.

The president's interest in the issue is getting a warm reception from members of both parties in Congress, particularly in the Senate, where a bill reflecting the president's priorities passed this year only to die in negotiations with the House.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is set to take the chairmanship of the subcommittee that oversees immigration issues, has already met with leading Republicans -- including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Judiciary Committee's top Republican -- to begin crafting a new bill early next year. "The dynamics are right," said Kennedy, who worked closely with McCain and others on the immigration bill that passed the Senate earlier this year. "With a new Congress, we have an opportunity to pass our plan to secure our borders, uphold our laws, and strengthen our economy."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/11/27/bush_seeks_unity_on_immigration/

[bluestateguy]

1. Let's give him a bill

Because it will be very divisive for the Republican Party, and we want them fighting with each other going into the 2008 campaign. It will alienate the base of their party, and if Bush wants to do that, then by all means, we should help him.

[warrens]

6. Let's help them out a bit

Instead of a guest worker plan, let's call it Mi Casa es Su Casa 07. Send the wingnuts right through the ceiling.

[judaspriestess]

2. hopefully we can get this resolved

"The Senate bill paired new border enforcement provisions with an expanded guest-worker program for temporary employment and a path to legalization that would allow about 80 percent of undocumented immigrants now in the country to eventually become citizens if they pay fines and back taxes, learn English, and maintain steady work histories."

This sounds reasonable. How about holding the Mexican government accountable for its oppressiveness along with it, they are the main culprit.

[bullimiami]

3. more like 'reaching out to spread the blame'

[political_outcast]

4. business wants more cheap labor; politicians want more business $$

as private gomer pyle would say, "SUH-PRIZE! SUH-PRIZE! SUH-PRIZE!"

[Lerkfish]

5. this is an artificial priority.

there are like, 80 million other things much more important.

[BlueManDude]

7. Send them home. Fine and/or imprison their employers.

Protect our standard of living.

It's the Dems that will be blamed for this not Bush.

So much for populism.

Dobbs and Tancredo are right on this one.

[bjb]

8. Blame game

This Democrat agrees with you BlueManDude!

[denverbill]

9. Oh great. Problem temporarily solved, sort of.

Just like the 80's. Reagan and the Democratic Congress pass an amnesty for illegal aliens, with a promise of 'tough' new enforcement against new illegal aliens.

And enforcement was actually tough for a few years. Then gradually, funding for enforcement disappeared, through benign neglect or deliberate policy, and 20 years later the problem is worse than it was in the 80's.

I'm sure the new cure will be every bit as ineffective as the last one. They'll spend $10 billion building an 'electronic fence' between Mexico and the US, then have one border guard monitor 500 miles of fence, so that even if he did see someone sneaking across, he'd have no chance to get there in time to apprehend them.

I can't wait for 2020 when we start discussing the problem with illegal aliens yet again.

If Democrats do pass a bill, it better have some teeth, and it better have a mechanism to ensure EVERY YEAR that it's still working and is still being properly funded.