I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time writing something about the President’s speech to the nation on illegal immigration that he made last night. I actually didn’t get to hear or watch it, and had to read it this AM. From listening to some of the after-speech backlash on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, I knew that the base was livid — guess they were expecting him to announce that illegals were already packed in trucks that were immediately heading to the border. Or, that a million-man-fence-building-march would start in the am, or maybe we would dump a quarter-mile swath of nuclear waste all along the most desolate stretches of the border to kill any-living-thing that tried to cross? PLEASE! What can we expect from someone with poll numbers in the 30s?

Well, maybe what we got last night — rational, reasoned, responsible options that have a decent possibility of passing Congress and actually working — is that too much to ask?

First, the United States must secure its borders. This is a basic responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent requirement of our national security. Our objective is straightforward: The border should be open to trade and lawful immigration and shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals, drug dealers and terrorists.

One could say, “nothing like stating the obvious”, but, this problem of massive illegal immigration didn’t just appear out-of-whole-cloth on Bush’s watch, so maybe the obvious needs to be stated so that we all can get on the same page.

(…) Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border. By the end of 2008, we will increase the number of Border Patrol officers by an additional 6,000. When these new agents are deployed, we will have more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol during my presidency.

At the same time, we are launching the most technologically advanced border security initiative in American history. We will construct high-tech fences in urban corridors, and build new patrol roads and barriers in rural areas. We will employ motion sensors infrared cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles to prevent illegal crossings. America has the best technology in the world and we will ensure that the Border Patrol has the technology they need to do their job and secure our border.

There’s the fence that sane folks want to see built! Although there was some concern by a few just after the speech, it looks like the fence will be a go — Congress willing.

(…) So in coordination with governors, up to 6,000 Guard members will be deployed to our southern border. The Border Patrol will remain in the lead. The Guard will assist the Border Patrol by operating surveillance systems analyzing intelligence installing fences and vehicle barriers building patrol roads and providing training. (…)

That will get things started off post haste.

“[C]atch and release,” is unacceptable and we will end it.

About damn time!

Therefore, I support a temporary worker program that would create a legal path for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way, for a limited period of time. This program would match willing foreign workers with willing American employers for jobs Americans are not doing. Every worker who applies for the program would be required to pass criminal background checks. And temporary workers must return to their home country at the conclusion of their stay.

Without this provision, the other efforts would lessen the numbers of illegals coming into the U.S., but not enough. Providing a way to enter and work legally would end the dilemna of those that must come here to work or live in squalid poverty and starvation at home. As soon as we get a handle on our southern border, we need to pressure Mexico to reform itself, stop rampant corruption, and put in place a governing/financial system that would allow the Mexican people to share in the great wealth of resources and potential that exists there — my two cents!

Third, we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire. It is against the law to hire someone who is in this country illegally. Yet businesses often cannot verify the legal status of their employees, because of the widespread problem of document fraud. Therefore, comprehensive immigration reform must include a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility. A key part of that system should be a new identification card for every legal foreign worker. This card should use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to make it tamper-proof. A tamper-proof card would help us enforce the law and leave employers with no excuse for violating it. And by making it harder for illegal immigrants to find work in our country, we would discourage people from crossing the border illegally in the first place.

Actually the most easily accomplished and most important proposal in the speech as far as I’m concerned. Dry up the work opportunities and they will stop coming in here illegally. It’s far too easy for someone to get false documents — the local LA news often has filmed street vendors selling fake CA ids and drivers licenses, and use of fradulent Social Security numbers is a big problem. Not that I find much comfort in even more govermental data collection of private information, but that will be required to solve this problem, and more than economic in nature, solving this issue is vital to our national security in the post-9/11 world in which we live.

Fourth, we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship.

What he proposes as a solution to this one is what chaps the butt of the base the most. The hard-liners actually want all illegals rounded up and bussed out-of-here! That would take a lot of damn busses, uproot a lot of lives, and just doesn’t sound like the America that I’ve known for 5-decades, sounds more like our treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. I know, I know, these aren’t citizens, they’re illegals — but with a constant pattern of granting amnesty over the last 30 years, suddenly calling for the round up and expulsion of 12-15 million people sounds a bit desperate and xenophobic.

Fifth, we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one Nation out of many peoples. The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language.

This is so very important that it bears repeating: “an ability to speak and write the English language” is a must! I believe that bi-lingual education / voting materials / signage / or anything else has no place in the United States of America. We are not a dual-language country like Canada, and we cannot afford the schitzophrenia of trying to function in a multi-language environment. We are the “melting-pot” because we can all communicate via a common language. Bilingualism, multi-culturalism, hyphenated Americans and other attempts to isolate and individualize the great American experience can do nothing but destroy the great American experience!

Tonight, I want to speak directly to members of the House and the Senate: An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together or none of them will be solved at all. The House has passed an immigration bill. The Senate should act by the end of this month so we can work out the differences between the two bills, and Congress can pass a comprehensive bill for me to sign into law.

Here’s the big rub — Bush now has to rely on a particularly impotent GOP controlled Congress to actually accomplish any of his plan. This same group, that has had control for over a decade, that has not acted to allow swift confirmation of judges, that failed to reform Social Security, that seems far apart on their individual versions of the immigration reform bills. Bush is trying to bring together some form of compromise that can actually get passed, and that has a chance of being implemented!

America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a reasoned and respectful tone. Feelings run deep on this issue and as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in mind. We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.
(…)
We honor the heritage of all who come here, no matter where they are from, because we trust in our country’s genius for making us all Americans, one nation under God.

“[H]onor the heritage of all who come here” — Some do, some don’t.

Was the plan presented in the Bush speech all that it could be? No — or maybe we should ask ourselves, was it all that it could be expected to pass through the Congress? The answer to that one is a definite maybe. Michelle Malkin is already calling today’s defeat in the Senate of a proposal that would have demanded border security measures to be in place “before” any guest worker program was begun. More B.S. and blather from our Senators as far as I’m concerned. Bush asked for a “comprehensive” bill, not a bunch of piece-meal-bits of legislation. These folks get paid a lot of money to hang up there on the hill and bloviate all over the place. Maybe it’s time they actually got to work and give Bush his bill! If it works, it works — if not, then we can all begin to piss and moan — and vote accordingly. Until then I say, be constructive, or just shut up! (db)

Technorati Tags: Bush Immigration Speech, Illegal Immigration, Border Security

[Update] Hedgehog and 79% of those that “watched” the speech seem to agree with me –

Oh, and by the way, Bush’s speech is polling well. “Staggeringly” well, it turns out:

79 percent of those who watched had a very favorable or favorable view of the speech, and those who support the president’s policies rose in number from 42 to 67 percent.

Hey, you guys in the vaunted Republican “base:” Remember the old Irish saying: When everyone else in the room is telling you you’re drunk, it’s time to sit down.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Congress, P.O.T.U.S.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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