This week President Bush used his weekly radio address to make one last push in support of the immigration reform bill which will be debated again in the Senate early next week. The president spent much of his address highlighting the enforcement portions of the bill. “As the Senate takes up this critical bill, I understand that many Americans have concerns about immigration reform — especially about the federal government’s ability to secure the border. So this bill puts the enforcement tools in place first. And it means more Border Patrol agents, more fencing, more infrared cameras and other technologies at the border. It also requires an employee-verification system based on government-issued, tamper-proof identification cards that will help employers ensure that the workers they hire are legal.â€
Bush continued, “The bill also addresses other problems with immigration enforcement. Right now, our laws are ineffective and insufficient. For example, crossing the border illegally carries weak penalties. In addition, participation in illegal gangs is not enough to bar admission into our country. And when we cannot get other countries to accept the return of their citizens who are dangerous criminals, in most cases our government can only detain these aliens for six months before releasing them into society. This is unacceptable.
The bill before the Senate addresses these problems. Under this bill, those caught crossing illegally will be permanently barred from returning to the United States on a work or tourist visa. Under this bill, anyone known to have taken part in illegal gang activity can be denied admission to our country. And under this bill, we will be able to detain aliens who are dangerous criminals until another country accepts their return.â€
He then stressed that his guest worker program won’t begin until border security is strengthened. “Once the border security and worksite enforcement benchmarks are met, the bill will resolve the status of 12 million people who are now in our country illegally. Under this bill, these workers will be given an opportunity to get right with the law. This is not amnesty. There will be penalties for those who come out of the shadows. If they pass a strict background check, pay a fine, hold a job, maintain a clean criminal record, and eventually learn English, they will qualify for and maintain a Z visa. If they want to get a green card, they have to do all these things — plus pay an additional fine, go to the back of the line, and return to their country to apply from there.â€
He concluded, “This bill provides an historic opportunity to uphold America’s tradition of welcoming and assimilating immigrants and honoring our heritage as a Nation built on the rule of law. We have an obligation to solve problems that have been piling up for decades. The status quo is unacceptable. We must summon the political courage to move forward with a comprehensive reform bill. By acting now, we can ensure that our laws are respected, that the needs of our economy are met, and that our Nation treats newcomers with dignity and helps them assimilate. I urge members of both parties to support comprehensive immigration reform. By working together, we can pass this good bill — and build an immigration system worthy of our great Nation.â€
You can say a lot of things about President Bush, but he certainly is persistent. It is going to be a close call as to whether or not supporters of this bill have the votes needed to end the Republican filibuster that is stopping it from coming up for a final vote. I think that the reform’s supporters still have not done enough to convince those who view the guest worker program as amnesty that they should vote for this bill. Last time they fell 15 votes short of ending debate, and while I think that they will get closer to passage this time, I don’t think they will get the 60 votes that they need. This is going to be tight vote, and the odds are really 50/50 that it could go either way, but if it doesn’t pass this time, I think this bill is officially dead.
Text of Bush’s radio address
 Jason Easley is the editor of the politics zone at 411mania.com.  His news column The Political Universe appears on Tuesdays and Fridays at www.411mania.com/politics
Jason can also be heard every Sunday at 6:30 pm (ET) as the host of The Political Universe Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse
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3 users commented in " Bush lobbies one last time for immigration reform bill "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe problem is that America can not afford now to take in even one more immigrant. Mexico now has more money than do we thanks to them nationalizing their oil and selling it at a great profit to much of the world. So, whether or not Americans are for or against letting illegal aliens obtain citizenship, at this critical time in our history, we simply can not afford that luxury. We have over 40 million Americans living in poverty at present here and so in order to be fair we must take care of them first as charity begins at home. The United Nations must force the wealthy Mexican government to take care of their poor. They are vastly more financially able to do so than are we at present.
Bush seems fixated on getting those 12?(20-30) million illegals into our system one way or another. Every time the bill changes, that part just seems to move around more so than undergo significant modification. The last time I saw him this obsessed with a mission was during the weapons of mass destruction campaign that legitimized the fake war that has taken over 3,000 loved ones from their families. He should give the money back to the Chamber of Commerce who wrote the bill because they’re never getting in this way, if at all.
Funny, I’ve always gotten along just fine with the Mexican people and probably will continue to after this is over. But this double-barrel trick from the Executive Office and the Senate, combined with a coup attempt by U.S. Hispanic citizens trying to kick the border down and let everyone come over leaves me feeling very insecure. For national security reasons alone, we need to seriously criminalize employment of illegals and start putting CEO’s and upper level management in jail, not the foreman or other low level boss who couldn’t avoid the crap as it rolled down hill from the executive suites.
Stopping the demand will cause the supply to dry up and induce those here now to leave. While doing this, we should seal the border in the most effective way, quick and financially prudent, but also with the assurance that it will be effective. Giving another multi billion contract to Halliburton to put up a chain link fence using illegal labor won’t fly anymore.
This bill should have never been packaged this way. It’s obvious by it’s design and the way it was rushed upon us that no one was proud of it. It was a dog they thought they could sneak by us. Unfortunately, Bush has removed some of our one hundred plus year old protections by inserting or removing key portions of Posse Commitatus and Insurrection Acts in Bills last year using stealth tactics. Amazing how only a few Senators notice a major modification to a bill and only one has the guts to say anything. We need some serious improvements in oversight of both the Executive and Legislative Branches. And since Gonzales has been stacking the benches with hand picks lenient on immmigration laws, it looks like we need oversight for the Judicial Branch as well. The Separation of Powers fell down to it’s knees this week. Bush seems intent on kicking it to the ground. If the Senators don’t have the guts to confront him, we could sustain a tremendous amount of additional damage to this country as he continues to treat our home (I hate the name Homeland, it sounds like Fatherland) like a spoiled child throwing a toy about until it breaks.
Despite the attempts at sham enforcement to strengthen this bad bill, it all comes down to the part that nobody wants and that is the mass legalization of unknown millions of illegal aliens or, in short, ITS THE AMNESTY, STUPID!! No matter what ths President or the Grand Bargainers do to change the lipstick on the pig, we don’t want the amnesty. That is the deal breaker. Our President is arrogant and defiant on this issue. That is why 4000 aliens per day are still flooding our Southern Border and why he has the lowest approval rating of any President in modern times. He is still singing kumbaya with Kennedy and La Raza and thumbing his nose at American voters. Hopefully, there will be enough no cloture votes to kill this bill on Tuesday. This President needs a a lesson for this legacy.
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