Thursday, May 24, 2007
Immigration - Wait and See?
Almost everything I'm reading has little good to say about the pending Immigration Bill.
Then I saw this...
Then I saw this...
Bob Barr writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"Actually, what caused the disfavor was the fact that he had expressed support earlier in the week for a compromise, bipartisan immigration reform bill that, among other things, would:
• Add 18,000 full-time agents to the U.S. Border Patrol.
• Dramatically increase the number of beds at detention centers, to reduce the likelihood that illegal aliens will continue to be released pending judicial review of their status.
• Install more fences and detection devices along our southern border.
• Deploy a squadron of unmanned drones to monitor key areas of the U.S.-Mexican border.
• Establish a high-tech verification system by which employers would determine if applicants were in fact illegally in the country.
• Enhance penalties for immigration-related offenses.
Every one of these border-strengthening measures normally would receive strong applause from Republicans. But the fact that they would be followed by a reformed immigration process that includes a mechanism whereby people now in the United States in violation of our immigration laws would be able eventually to secure a "green card" (Permanent Resident Alien or "PRA" card) and thereafter possibly citizenship, has rendered the compromise legislation anathema to many Republicans."
