Re: I don't think the average person in LA thinks of illegals as terrorists. To me in life we find a reason to justify our own inability, in this case it is the bigot who feels the illegal is why they have a problem getting a job.
Do you mean the US Congress is squatted by bigots? (see below) BTW, what's the schedule for deploying a high-tech, anti-terrorist fence along the Canadian border?
Friday, January 13, 2006 - Last Updated: 6:53 AM
Botched immigration reform
The House immigration bill with a grandiloquent title, the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, which was passed by the House last month, already has exacerbated the problem posed by illegal immigration. And it has yet to go to the Senate, where it will be taken up next month.
That was made abundantly clear by the outcry this week from the foreign ministers of our southern neighbors, Mexico and the Central American countries, who issued a joint statement drawing attention to the bill's failure to address the issue in its totality. "Partial measures that only seek to toughen immigration policy don't represent a solution," the Mexican and Central American ministers said.
The House bill, which calls for the construction of a 700-mile high-tech fence along parts of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, adding to the existing fence between San Diego and Tijuana, would also make illegal immigration a felony. Additionally, any U.S. citizen who might unwittingly give an illegal immigrant a car ride or a church volunteer who helps migrant workers also could be subject to arrest for "smuggling" aliens.
In Mexico, the fence has been compared to the Berlin Wall and prompted Mexico's pro-American conservative President Vicente Fox, to call it "shameful." President Fox added, "It's not possible that in the 21st century we're building walls between two nations that are neighbors, between two nations that are brothers. When we look at their roots, the immense majority of [Americans] are migrants that have arrived from all over the world." But President Fox is on shaky ground in his criticism of U.S. treatment of illegal immigrants. Migrants entering Mexico fare worse if they are caught.
The botched bill's worst aspect is that it fails to take into consideration President George W. Bush's sensible proposal for a "guest worker" program that would address the 10 million immigrants who are already in the country illegally. Without measures that recognize the contribution that migrants make to the U.S. economy, and provide them a chance to earn residence, it will be impossible to secure the cooperation of Mexico and other hemisphere countries in bringing immigration under control.
The House, seeking political cover in an election year, voted 239-182 to pass the legislation. The Senate will have its work cut out for it. The 257-page bill focuses on enforcement, and it is questionable whether it can be adjusted enough to result in effective immigration reform.
President Bush should remind Congress of his pledge to work with both chambers "to create a program that can provide for our economy's labor needs without harming American workers and improve our ability to control our borders."
charleston.net |
