Bush to propose immigration law changes to allow Mexican workers in U.S.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

WASHINGTON – President Bush will propose immigration law changes to allow workers from Mexico to enter the United States if they have jobs waiting for them, officials said Monday in previewing an election-year measure intended to bolster support among Hispanic voters.

Advocacy groups were invited to the White House on Wednesday to hear details of the program.

"The president has long talked about the importance of having an immigration policy that matches willing workers with willing employers," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "It's important for America to be a welcoming society. We are a nation of immigrants, and we're better for it."

Immigration advocacy groups characterized Bush's move as a politically drawn effort to curry favor with Hispanics, a potent political force, particularly in key states like Florida, California and border states. Two sources speaking on condition of anonymity said Bush would outline a set of principles rather than a detailed piece of legislation, and that the policy statement would draw on bills already pending in Congress.

more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20040105-1654-bush-immigration.html

[stevebreeze]

1. His * so dense as to not notice the willing workers who are already here?

Sorry stupid question.
:kick:

[BenFranklinUSA]

29. Show me a non-hispanic american who works as hard...

...and I'll hire 'm

!Viva America!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

30. Ouch! Truth hurts...

I worked for Rust Engineering in Northern Ala. and had a large number of Hispanic workers that outperformed the local hires by a large margin.

[stevebreeze]

2. the second last paragraph is also very interesting.

It reads to me at first glance as a sop to Social Security privitizers. At least one step more down the slippery slope.

:kick:

[GRClarkesq]

7. Article does not say what happens to the $ held for workers?

the money is not going to FICA etc., will it earn interest?

I am not sure this will encourage people to leave since many choose to stay knowing they may never benefit from payroll taxes they have paid.

[GRClarkesq]

3. Part of the package will allow "illegal" workers here legal status

which can later become a "green card", a permanent resident.

[madrchsod]

4. well there`s going to be one

hell of alot of of pissed off people when this happens. the extreme right-wing will be screaming about this,just another reason they have to hate bush

[GRClarkesq]

5. This is a wedge issue for the right if the Dem presidential candidate

takes a harder line.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. I guess * just lost The Savage Nation crowd....

As well as a lot of unemployed Americans...

[GRClarkesq]

8. As a practitioner in this area I have one practical concerm

USCIS (formerly INS) cannot handle the work load it has now. This will create a crush of new applications which all must be filed withing a 12 month period for those here illegally.

Processing will take forever and draw resources from the rest of USCIS, slowing everything down.

[solinvictus]

9. And...

That'll open the possibility for more Al Qaeda operatives to sneak in. Mighty damned convenient.

[GRClarkesq]

10. Thats more of a State Department problem

they hand out the visas.

[solinvictus]

13. The borders

We need to close them, period. We're having a recession and we don't need any illegals or H1B's to take any more jobs than they've already got.

[GRClarkesq]

14. You are right

if you are going to do an amnesty you need to stop the flow at the border. The amnesty should be a one time fix for the people already here and then close the borders.

However there seems to be no politcal will in either party to stop the flow at the border. Thus, we do this amnesty thing every 20 years or so and encourage another wave of illegal immigration.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. Conjecture:

Since Hispanics now represent the largest minority in America, Reve, et. al. sees them as a single voting block that could be won by such a move. I have no idea what the math is, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that Bushco has done the mathy and feel that the hispanic block would outweigh any loss from the Savage crowd because the dittoheads and freepers would vote for Bush even if he were running against Christ.

[GRClarkesq]

24. All the math I have seen

suuggests that Hispanic voters are only slightly less suspicious of an open immigration policy than the rest of the electorate.

I am sure they have done the math and have convinved themselves this will pay off in some matter, but everything I have read about the topic suggests it will only help the Democratic party in the long haul.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

28. I agree. The Repugs are suffering from a serious case of hubris

with their logic.

[amazona]

26. whoa how does that work?

There is no way to close the border between U.S. and Mexico. We share a common history and ideals, common family in many cases. It is not just Mexicans that benefit from working here, U.S. citizens especially retirees benefit by traveling there for affordable medicines and medical treatments they can't get in the U.S.

I suspect the Bush plan is of evil intent like everything else he does -- to buy Hispanic votes from the conservative Catholics and to keep wages down for everyone. But "closing the border" is not the answer. My personal feeling is that we need to have tough new rules enforced on businesses to make sure they are paying Mexicans the same wages and benefits as U.S. citizens. Such a law would in itself create jobs because of the huge staff needed for enforcement. But as Bush is sold to business and business wants Mexicans so they can pay them an unfair wage, I don't see this happening. :-(

Keep in mind when borders are closed...if people can't get in...WE can't get out. Think Soviet Russia when only the rich and those willing to sleep with fat, drunken Communist party members could travel.

My opinions are not fully formed -- some might even call them half baked -- so I'm going to read further here and elsewhere to educate myself.

[emc]

35. theres no way--

theres no way you could even physically close the borders---I live 15 miles from the border and its impossible----if you had a 100,000 agents , you still couldn't close the borders----On top of it, border patrol agents are so damn lazy ---they couldn't with a 100000 agents catch anymore then they do now----they spend half their time drinking coffee in some restaurant---or hiding from their superiors---and the superiors hide from their superiors...its a viscious cycle---

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

11. I'm sure you're right, but if Carl Rove thinks it will get Dubya the

Hispanic vote, they will try to push it through with no regard for anything except the potential votes.

[GRClarkesq]

12. and why just Mexicans?

n/t

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

15. That, I believe is the $64.00 question. n/t

[bain_sidhe]

17. They work cheapest?

:shrug:

[havocmom]

22. and their kin in the US comprise a big voting block

This is also good for all the rich white folk who like to hire on the cheap. The shrub can act like a humanitarian, allowing all those poor people to come here and work hard to get a chance at the American dream when in reality he is kicking poor people of all color in the teeth.

I also see this as just one more instance of changing laws to suit business. What once was illegal would become legal. They can have their cheap labor without fear of someone actually enforcing the laws we have that punish those who hire (currently) illegal workers. Just another in a long line of changing the laws to include the lawless behaviors of his cronies.

edit:typos

[leesa]

38. Don't worry. It's just voter bait. It's like the increased benefits

promised the military. It will never happen.

[jpgray]

18. THIS sounds like the politically STUPIDEST thing he's ever done!

I'm not doing Skittles here, but... BWAHAHAH! How is this going to sit with conservatives and those who are unemployed?

edit: Clearly this is geared towards cheap labor for at-home factories... but isn't it *very* stupid to do such a thing when 9% of the country is unemployed?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

19. And that says quite a lot. n/t

[Occulus]

25. Not if you want to push the working poor there, too.

I see this as the first step to the abolishment of the federal minmum wage. Just wait and watch.

[jpgray]

32. There is a line, I believe, where Bush becomes politically ruined

And a move such as you describe would be dangerously near that line. Sadly, unions have falled into the "who needs 'em?" category over the years with little debate, so maybe I'm wrong.

[Occulus]

39. unions have lost their power

as a direct result of Reagan's actions against the air traffice control workers unions. Exactly that is why my union- the APWU- cannot strike. At all. Effectively, we've had out teeth pulled.

[dusty64]

20. This story as well

as the "Labor" Department advising companies how to screw workers ought to wake blue collar workers up as to our regime's true agenda. You'd also think the extreme right would be upset about this and the huge spending binge of our regime. I'm not holding my breath on this of course, you need more than one brain cell to figure this all out.

[velocity]

21. Hey Gropinator,,, All Illegals are legal give them their

drivers license and find the big bucks to school their kids and provide medical for them.

[abelenkpe]

23. hmmmm

I find it interesting that Ahnold was elected for his stance against illegal workers, and for refusing them licenses. Ahnold called Gray Davis' efforts to allow illegal worker any kind of legal status a cynical ploy to curry favor and votes from the Latino community. Of course, Ahnold was only kidding when he said that, considering that he has every intention of reinstating illegal worker's ability to receive licenses later this year, as if it was his own plan all along. Apparently Ahnold feels its OK to lie to those angry white voters (so coveted by the right) as long as it suits his purposes. Funny that those same angry white voters don't seem to be angry about that. Yet here is Bush doing the same thing and no one in the mainstream media comments on Bush's attempt at 'buying' or manipulating voters. Such amazing hypocrisy. Whatever, we are a nation of immigrants. In the end this legalization is clearly an effort to please big business who want a stamp of approval at hiring these workers for pennies. My big question is: with their new legal working status will they be eligible to receive minimum wage, social security, health care? Because if you're gonna make them legal they had better be allowed to have all the perks as well, because I am definitely against allowing businesses to hire laborers for less than minimum wage in our own country. What will that mean for the rest of us? Where will the exceptions to labor standards end? I think that is the tact Democrats should take: if you're gonna give illegal workers benefits (which is a good thing) and legal status give them everything. Whaddya think?

[Ramsey]

27. Can you say pander?

CNN had a Dobbs poll on last night, and 95% polled said they believed this policy was politically motivated solely to win more Hispanic votes.

Not his won't go down too well with Bubba and his buddies on the unemployment line.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

31. Lester Holt Tells It Like It Is, Perhaps Unintentionally

Today on MSNBC's "Lester Holt Live," he reported on this, and closed with a statement (completely lacking any irony, sarcasm, etc) that this was being done to win Hispanic votes. Remember Vincente Fox's pre-9/11 assertion to Bush that amnesty for illegals must happen "sooner, not later?" Life's what happens when you're making other plans, eh? Once this passes, look for Bush, Rove and Fox to follow the India outsourcing model and set up their own "Tata Consultancy" body shop right here in the good old USA, with plenty of Haliburton-style kickbacks built into the business model. The articles are already mentioning plans to create a Web Site / database to match the "willing" with the "willing." Then the eyes will go to the next prize...the exported-to-India USA jobs...so that Bush will score two points. First, he "brings the lost jobs back to America" by...as an example...bidding 8 cents to the dollar against Tata's 10 cents. If the jobs are held by illegals in America, they are still AMERICAN jobs, not "American jobs that went to India"...right, Boy Genius? Second, Vincente will no longer say bad things about him. It's a win-win scenario. Four More Years! Four More Years!

:beer: :beer: :beer: :toast: :toast: :toast: :beer: :beer: :beer:

[Gin]

33. The legal Hispanics are pissed off because the illegals are working

for peanuts...and thats lowering pay for eveyone else. It's the Walmart business plan. What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine!

[drb]

34. This will tie in nicely...

...with the plan, previously mentioned, to lower the minimum wage.

"Why should I pay you $6.50 an hour when I can pay this guy $5.00?"

[abelenkpe]

36. you mean

"Why should I pay you $6.50 an hour when I can pay this guy $.50?"

[LoZoccolo]

37. Cheap labor agenda.

If this seems out of character, it isn't.

[tritsofme]

40. Look at this poll in freakerdom

This is going to cause a greater backlash from the cons than Rove could have ever anticipated.

Do you approve of the plan to let some of the eight million illegal aliens in the United States move toward legal status without penalty -- but with social security benefits?

Yes
52 votes - 6%

No
744 votes - 87%

Undecided
59 votes - 6%

http://freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=35

[GoBlue]

41. Sounds like a RNC scam to me

Bush proposes reforms to win Hispanic vote in 2004 election. Congress delays passage of anything before the election.
Bush is re-elected.
New congress does nothing more.
Issue forgotten.