Meet the New Wedge Issue : Immigration bill

[FreakinDJ]

Immigration bill: What it does

The draft bill would:

• Require law officers to verify the legal status of any person stopped, detained or arrested when there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is in the country illegally.

• Ban consideration of race, color or national origin in determining “reasonable suspicion.”

• Bar any state or local agency from limiting in any way the authority of law enforcement or other agencies from assisting federal officials in the enforcement of federal immigration law.

• Require verification of legal status upon application for public services, benefits or licenses. (This excludes emergency medical treatment, immunizations, short-term shelter, crisis counseling or soup kitchens.)

• Create a right of any legal resident to bring action against an agency that limits enforcement of federal immigration law, providing penalties of up to $5,000 per day for violation.

• Make it a state crime to willfully fail to complete required alien registration documents or to fail to carry an alien registration document required by federal law.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50106831-76/law-enforcement-federal-immigration.html.csp

[dkf]

1. I take it this is in Utah?

[FreakinDJ]

2. and Florida, and at the Federal Level

do I need to link ALL the bills working their way up for you?

My point is - this will be the issue come November.

Political Wisdom: Immigration Debate Mushrooms on the Right

By Gerald F. Seib

One of the most interesting twists of this election year has been the outbreak, somewhat unexpectedly, of a lively debate on immigration policy, a subject Washington has pretty much avoided for the last two years.

The debate is particularly hot on the right, a result of Arizona’s tough new immigration law pushed by a Republican governor there, and by GOP suggestions that the 14th amendment right to citizenship given to all born in the U.S. be reconsidered.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/08/13/political-wisdom-immigration-discussion-mushrooms-on-the-right/

[gulliver]

3. Republicans digging their own grave with this.

The politics of it ain't just "savin' those jobs for Americans and gettin' our country's borders under control." The Republicans wish. They are going to get their asses royally kicked. They are using the furniture for firewood without using the firewood first. Stupid. It's good for us that they aren't growing up and smelling the coffee.

[dkf]

4. Not enforcing the law shouldn't be about getting votes.

The cynicism behind that calculation is pretty disgusting.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Polling shows majority want tougher enforcement

I would hardly call that using the furniture

[gulliver]

7. That's the fire from the burning furniture.

Legal immigrant votes are the furniture.

Essentially, Republicans have shown their true face. They are willing to let legal Latino, Asian, and other immigrants face the burden of having to prove their citizenship on demand while achieving essentially nothing in the enforcement of the borders.

The law in the OP shows that Republicans know their peril. Utah? No mention of employer sanctions? (Wonder why.) You can sue the government? The cops can't use race or origin to determine reasonable suspicion?

Even if enforced to its utmost, the above law would remove a fraction of a fraction of the illegal aliens in the country. It's a show law.

If I were the Dems, I would emphasize that the Republicans are trying to make scapegoats of immigrants for the recession that the Republicans created in the first place. I would point out that the Republican approach takes a cleaver to individual freedom as well as to small and large businesses across the country, and all to achieve next to no results outside the realm of racist fantasy and wish fulfillment.

[FreakinDJ]

9. 60% in favor of Az law - this will be a Losing Issue for the Dems

"Pew Research Center shows that 59 percent of Americans approve of Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants while only 32 percent disapprove."

They are playing strictly to the numbers on this issue. I know many many Latinos who were utterly disgusted by the Immigration Reform Protest of 2008, even after having been an immigrant themselves

[gulliver]

10. Long and middle term it is a big loser. Short term, it is an opportunity.

We'll see how it plays out. Dems are not in favor of illegal immigration, of course. But Republicans are clearly in favor of ineffective laws that foul up law enforcement and encourage social and legal discrimination against legal immigrants. They made their laws for the wrong reasons, using an ineffective approach with destructive side effects. The jalopy may be getting 59% now, but wait until it hits highway speeds and runs a few thousand miles.

[ThomWV]

6. This will be an enduring issue and Democrats, for the most part, are on the winning side

However one should never underestimate Democrat's ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Catshrink]

8. Because abortion and the gay agenda don't work anymore

so they need to resort to racial hatred and threats of terror babies.

The GOP does NOT want to talk about the economy or what they would do if they were back in power.