← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Centinel
Thread ID: 10842 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2003-10-30
2003-10-30 19:46 | User Profile
Reuters: [url]http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=ourWorldNews&storyID=3722958[/url]
Congress May Legalize Millions of Immigrants
By Deborah Tedford October 30, 2003
EL CAMPO, Texas (Reuters) - Reeds sway tall and golden in the heart of the Texas rice belt, but weeks into autumn some fields are idle as growers struggle to find farmhands to help with the harvest.
But help could be on the way.
Several bills that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to live and work legally in the United States have been proposed in the U.S. Congress, two years after legalization efforts were derailed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. And analysts expect legislation to pass in the months ahead.
"It's impossible to get people to help with the planting, the harvesting and the weed control," said Steve Balis, who has weathered 60 harvests on his 1,200-acre family farm near Eagle Lake, Texas.
"The people who used to do this kind of work are too old, or they've moved on to more profitable things. Those of us left need help."
Backed by U.S. business and labor groups, a flurry of bills from both Republicans and Democrats would grant guest worker visas to many immigrants who want jobs in the United States and give legal status to most already living here.
Proponents say the legislation would also boost homeland security because officials would have a record of most of the estimated 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
"This common sense solution to our broken immigration system addresses the need for better border security and acknowledges the important contributions that immigrants make to our economy," Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said when he proposed his plan. The issue of undocumented workers was dramatically highlighted on Oct. 23 when hundreds of cleaning workers at Wal-Mart stores were arrested across the United States on immigration charges.
Before Sept. 11, President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox were working on an agreement that would have legalized millions of undocumented Mexican workers living in the United States and allowed even more to enter the country legally under an expanded guest worker program.
That planned accord was a wider attempt to sort out the immigration issue and would have given undocumented workers more permanent residency.
But the Mexico-U.S. talks fell off the agenda as border controls were tightened after the attacks.
Now, U.S. employers are eager to legalize migrant workers to guarantee cheap and plentiful labor. Proponents say registering foreign workers makes good sense in a post-Sept. 11 world.
FINDING FAVOR BEFORE ELECTIONS
And experts said they expect legislation to be passed in the coming months, as Democrats and Republicans try to curry favor with Hispanic voters in advance of the 2004 U.S. elections.
Now the administration is working on an immigration proposal of its own, Cornyn's aides were told when they met with Bush's staff in hopes of garnering support for their bill. Christian Ramirez with the American Friends Service Committee aid group in San Diego said economic and security issues have made the time right for passage of a guest worker bill.
"We are seeing a change in the way that legislators look at the issue of undocumented migrants, especially people who are already in the U.S. and are contributing to the economy," Ramirez said.
However, he said he is concerned the legislation will be accompanied by stricter enforcement policies to discourage illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border.
To satisfy security concerns, most of the plans provide for background checks and have a waiting period. But other key issues are legalization for undocumented migrants already living in the United States, expansion of a plan to allow workers to enter the country legally and legal permanent residency.
Cornyn's Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2003 would allow seasonal workers to stay in the United States for up to nine consecutive months and non-seasonal workers up to a year for a maximum of 36 months, but it is not a guaranteed route to permanent residency.
Legislation proposed by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, would give undocumented workers a means of obtaining permanent legal residency but levies a fine of $1,500 for those who have been here illegally.
The Unity, Security, Accountability and Family Act with 16 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives is the most comprehensive, giving legal residency to workers' spouses and children, including those who do not reside in the United States.
In Texas, Balis said he would welcome an influx of willing and able workers. Although Balis has been able to keep his fields from lying fallow, the money he makes depends upon the purity of the rice. And there just aren't enough hands to help him weed.
"Even with machines to do some of the work, you have to have someone who can recognize the weeds and pull them out. People now days don't want to pull weeds out of the rice fields when it's 100 degrees outside."
2003-10-30 23:01 | User Profile
Shortage of workers? There are plenty of workers who deserve menial labor. What about all these under performing high school kids ( including ghetto blacks and wiggers) and special needs kids who are reading at seventh grde level or below? They are not going to do any better so why not supply menial labor for them? If they are picking vegetables they will have little time to deal crack or go wilding. It used to be that one could get a work permit after 7th grade. Also what about all the welfare mothers and other welfare parasites? Stop welfare and there will be plenty of people to pick the harvests. Also what about all these prisoners who are overflowing the prisons? Bring back chain gangs to pick the harvest. We don't need illegals.
2003-10-30 23:51 | User Profile
[QUOTE]Even with machines to do some of the work, you have to have someone who can recognize the weeds and pull them out. People now days don't want to pull weeds out of the rice fields when it's 100 degrees outside.[/QUOTE]
These people must include the illegal aliens who were working for him in the past and found more pleasant, lucrative jobs (like selling drugs). So now we have to import more? With medical care, schooling and housing paid for at taxpayer expense?
2003-10-31 05:49 | User Profile
skemper
You are most Right!
[QUOTE]Shortage of workers? There are plenty of workers who deserve menial labor. What about all these under performing high school kids ( including ghetto blacks and wiggers) and special needs kids who are reading at seventh grde level or below? They are not going to do any better so why not supply menial labor for them? If they are picking vegetables they will have little time to deal crack or go wilding. It used to be that one could get a work permit after 7th grade. Also what about all the welfare mothers and other welfare parasites? Stop welfare and there will be plenty of people to pick the harvests. Also what about all these prisoners who are overflowing the prisons? Bring back chain gangs to pick the harvest. We don't need illegals.[/QUOTE]
2003-10-31 18:29 | User Profile
Go to this site:
[url]www.numbersusa.com[/url]
You can bombard your rep and senators with faxes.
2003-11-02 05:09 | User Profile
[QUOTE]Several bills that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to live and work legally in the United States have been proposed in the U.S. Congress, two years after legalization efforts were derailed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. And analysts expect legislation to pass in the months ahead.[/QUOTE]
Not to take the Lord's name in vain, but when I read this, my reaction was something like:
"Aw Jesus H Christ on a pogo stick... do they WANT us to square off so early? I thought I still had 10 years or so.."
I've told my wife that if things get really hinkey here in the US, I want her and our son to bail and go back to Germany. I'll follow later, if I can. She agreed, thank the Almighty.
[QUOTE]And experts said they expect legislation to be passed in the coming months, as Democrats and Republicans try to curry favor with Hispanic voters in advance of the 2004 U.S. elections.[/QUOTE]
This is going to boomerang on them like they're not going to believe... mark me, they're unleashing a potential crimestorm in the US that has never been seen before, and all the Government backlash that that implies.. good God, we got problems on the horizon.
Ausonius