Reform debate updates !!! - Page 2

steam · 01-20-2007, 01:27 AM

i don't believe the Dems will allow the Reps to have 'their' bill come true so i will still hold faith...even if so, it will undergo many modifications.

Ianus · 01-21-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOW125

when will they vote for this? If this happens what is next wait another 2 years?

The most likely scenario for this bill is that it would be dead in its tracks but some of the security provisions could be amended to an overall bill to get some of the more conservative members of congress to vote for a comprehensive bill.

On the latest immigration news:

1.It seems that the the Senate Judiciary hearing dubbed,"US-VISIT: Challenges and Strategies for Securing the U.S. Border" has been delayed until Jan. 31st or next week wednesday.

2.An Immigration Task force recently released a report with the primary focus that employment not family unification should be the drive for an immigration reform bill.Some of the more notable members of the task force was Lee Hamilton of the Baker commission,McCain,Jeff flake & Edward Kennedy.

Quote:

Lee Hamilton says he has more faith now, after seeing moves by both parties in Congress to cooperate with one another.

He said, "I'm a little more optimistic than I would have been a few weeks or months back. I think the president is clearly interested in comprehensive reform and he was forced away from that really by the Republicans."

"Now I also believe that immigration is a question where the president and leaders of Congress really think there's an opportunity to make some progress," he added.

Congress is currently discussing more than a dozen proposals to alter or overhaul U.S. immigration policy.

3.A.Durbin,our former & probably future Dream act sponsor,finally puts in his two words for immigration prospects

Quote:

But supporters say chances are good that the new, Democratic-led Congress will pass some form of immigration bill. President George W. Bush is likely to renew his call for broad immigration legislation, including a guest worker program, in his State of the Union address this week.

"I think prospects are good," said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin of Illinois.

B.In the last part of the article,it mentions there is a flurry of negotiations happening behind the scenes but more importantly,a part of the House Republican leadership believes broad-based immigration legislation can pass.I believe this is why Tancredo announced his bid for Presidency so early because not only are the votes there in the House & Senate,but from both parties as well.

Quote:

But Rep. Thomas Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who led the fight against the Senate bill last year and who is exploring his chances as a potential presidential candidate, says he will push to block any similar comprehensive bill this year.

House Republican leaders, mindful of the deep split in their party over immigration, say they see a chance for broad legislation, but it will need to put tough border enforcement measures in place before any guest worker program or other plans for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

"There is a path to a bipartisan solution and I think that there are a lot of informal bipartisan discussions going on to try to strike that balance," said Florida Rep. Adam Putnam, a member of the House Republican leadership.

Proponents of a comprehensive bill, though confident of passage, still expect new battles, including whether illegal immigrants should have the chance to earn citizenship.

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said he would not support a bill that offered citizenship for those who entered the country illegally. But Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who is heading the House Judiciary panel on immigration, believes differences can be worked out.

"If we stop yelling at each other and just calmly and methodically work through the issues... we'll come up with a practical bill that will work and will last," Lofgren said.

hayire · 01-21-2007, 08:56 PM

Awesome Ianus. Every time I log in, I always hope you have posted something.

Ianus · 01-23-2007, 04:43 PM

Thanks Hayire,Here's some more.

It seems that both sides of the debate are preparing for what could be a long Spring.

In one article dubbed,"GOP hard-liners prepare to protest president’s guest-worker program ",immigration restrictionists are preparing for the fight of their lives against what they call "amnesty".This article also seems to be more of the former.

Quote:

Originally Posted by First article

Carlos Espinosa — a spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who favors tough immigration restrictions — said his boss will have “harsh words” for the president.

“He is going to do everything is his power to stop [expanded immigration],” Espinosa said. “For [Bush] to take out of any election [that] this is what the American people want — that is a mistake and shows he is more out of touch than most people thought.”

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), said that while the congressman does not want to prejudge Bush’s address, he hoped the president would avoid supporting a plan that would legalize some illegal immigrants. Bardella said a guest-worker program, such as the one previously supported by the president, underestimates the impact economically.

“We’ve been down that road before,” Bardella said, adding that the legalization of a group of illegal immigrants creates more violations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Second article

Royce and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said they will rely on public opinion to counter what they expect to be an effort by Democrats to pass an immigration bill the two Republicans consider amnesty.

"The American people had better gird themselves for a shock – that their government is now controlled both in the legislative branch and the executive branch by people committed to an open-border, pro-immigration position," said Rohrabacher, referring to President Bush's support of a broad immigration bill.

While on the pro-immigrant side........

Quote:

Immigrant communities have learned to appreciate the speeches, but we
have become sorely disappointed in the follow-through. Immigrants and their
families who tune-in tonight might feel as though they've heard it before.
The trust that the President once had with immigrant communities is largely
gone and Congress fares no better.
"For immigrant communities, actions speak louder than words: humane and
comprehensive immigration reform can begin to heal the breach.
"The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) is the united voice and
meeting place of the historic grassroots movement which derailed the
inhumane and unworkable immigration laws pushed by last year's
Congressional leadership. Next week, nearly 200 grassroots leaders will
gather in Washington, DC to finalize our immigration campaign plan for the
year.
"Millions stand ready to mobilize for justice. While President Bush and
Congressional leaders have expressed sincere intentions this year,
immigrant communities are taking nothing for granted. We are preparing to
work harder than ever to ensure that President Bush lives up to his promise
and that the new Congress performs differently from the old one."

Regardless of which side you're on,It seems that the concensus is that this year has the strongest possibility for legalization of the undocumented.

Quote:

The majority of lawmakers agree to address these areas in the comprehensive reform bill. However, there most certainly will be intense debate, as occurred in the last Congress, regarding its details. While the debate last year focused mostly on whether and how to legalize the undocumented, the debate this year--because of the new majority--may shift its focus to whether and how many new guest workers to admit in light of concerns raised by organized labor.

max · 01-24-2007, 09:06 PM

I guess that the people pushing for an immigration reform this year are the agriculture companies, and the Hispanic organizations.
We should try even harder this year to get DREAM out there ourselves.
We don't have any big companies speaking out for us, and those Hispanic organizations are asking for to much and our opponents see that as amnesty.
So what are we going to do this year?
These are my ideas; get connected with other DREAMies internet sites, recruit more people (like friends, teachers, etc. not only DREAMies), and write letters to our representative.
I really think if we get connected with other DREAMies organizations we can do more. Maybe we can have a national DREAM day. And all of us DREAMies and supporters can do something on that day. Like marching in the white house, or for those scary cats they can write letters or not go to school, anything for the cause.
Maybe I'm thinking to big, but I don't know. What do you guys think?

Abaddon · 01-24-2007, 10:58 PM

The letters can be done! Check out the NEW database system with all the contact info of legislators who support DREAM.

rock steady · 01-24-2007, 11:42 PM

Creating a National DREAM day sounds like a great idea. Any ideas of who we could contact? I could volunteer to draft a letter on our organization's behalf it no one else wants to.

Ianus · 01-25-2007, 06:42 PM

I believe there was a national call-in day last year,but I'm not sure if anyone made an effort to do so since the co-sponsor count remained pretty much the same in the 109th.

Since the President speech there has been quite a bit of articles with interesting information,with good & bads news.I'll start the latter first.

The House GOP members who were instrumental in stopping the Senates comprehensive bill will continue there defiant attitudes toward comprehensive legislation according to the article dubbed 'GOP renews 'amnesty' defiance' by the Washington times.I mentioned on Cosa that the House Republicans will be courting conservative Democrats such as the Blue dogs in order to stop an immigration bill from getting to the President & it doesn't seem to have changed one bit except that two of them will now be running for President & this could make the issue an even more explosive topic.

Quote:

He said House Republicans have "lost a lot of momentum" since pushing through a bill last year to construct about 800 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"It's back to playing defense, I suppose, but that's a role I've played for six or seven years," he said.
Mr. Tancredo has announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, which he considers a good vehicle to continue his crusade while in the minority party.
He hopes to pull off a surprise victory on the presidential campaign trail and perhaps with an amnesty bill in the House.
"There are enough [conservative Democrats] to create a pretty significant problem for the new majority," he said with a broad smile. "A lot of them campaigned on our side of this issue and would have a lot of explaining to do back home."

In another article by the Wall street Journal called,"Immigration Proposals
Reverse Party Loyalties" there is quite a bit of information in this article but I will try to highlight the more contentious parts for reform,which would be the guest-worker program.

Quote:

Mr. Bush and congressional Democrats agree on the outlines of a bill, but they are far apart on details. Both agree on helping employers fill jobs with temporary workers. Without that, they say, the U.S. economy will remain a magnet for illegals. But the president insists those workers must eventually leave, a key demand of conservatives who fear the growing Hispanic population is undermining American culture. Generally, Democrats want to let them stay and eventually become citizens.

The issue cuts across party lines, which will make compromise difficult. Business groups, which generally are friendlier to Republicans, say making workers go home would be disruptive to employers and create a permanent underclass with no loyalty to the U.S. Mr. Bush's insistence that workers go home "would be the death knell for bipartisan agreement," Mr. Sharry said.

Chairman of Democratic House Caucus,Rahm Emanuel mentions House Democrats will be meeting with Bush next week to discuss various issues,including Immigration.

Quote:

Emanuel told MSNBC that the President's planned speech at the House Democratic retreat in Virginia is a recognition that we're going to meet the challenges of the country together. We'll deal with energy, immigration crisis, healthcare � "he'll make the effort and we'll make the effort."

Immigration can be a divisive debate,can we wait ?It seems we might have no choice since this latest article mentions bill passage by ~summer,at the earliest.

Quote:

Bush called for upholding "the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals" by resolving "the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country, without animosity and without amnesty."

High-ranking Democrats say they are likely to pass a comprehensive immigration-reform package that Bush can sign, one that will provide a way for undocumented foreigners to eventually "earn" their citizenship.

But don't expect anything along those lines until summer, at the earliest.

The GOP, one insider said, simply passed too many bad bills during their 12-year rule that affect too many people. Only after the worst of these are undone will they get to Bush's proposals — immigration among them.

Ianus · 01-25-2007, 06:49 PM

I forgot to the final article which dabbles on the voting dynamics for a CIR bill in the House.I think this is probably one of the more important articles that EVERYONE here should read,& it simply cannot be paraphrased.

hayire · 01-25-2007, 06:58 PM

I'm sure there are over 40 republicans in the house that support immigration reform.
What have you guys heard?

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Reform debate updates !!! - Page 2