Edward Daley
Don't push me Mr. Bush
By Edward Daley
If you visit the White House's official web-site, click on the "National Security" link and then the "Immigration" link therein, you will find the following statement written near the top of the page. "The Administration is committed to building and maintaining an immigration service system that ensures integrity, provides timely and accurate services, and emphasizes a culture of respect." Sounds good doesn't it? Ensuring of integrity... timely, accurate and respectful... committed. All fine words to be sure, but unfortunately they are ONLY words. In my estimation none of them have any real meaning at all when applied to our current immigration system.
Predictably, nowhere on this or any other related White House web-page could I find even an allusion to the President's recently announced immigration plan to afford "limited" legal status to illegal aliens currently working in the United States. You'd think it would be plastered all over the thing... that is, if it were something the President was really committed to. I guess when it comes to publicizing this particular "temporary worker program" though, George W. Bush is somewhat less than enthusiastic. Still, I imagine his handlers will begin spinning his intentions under the most flattering of lights in any number of venues soon enough.
The President's proposal, by the way, would also allow a certain amount of foreign workers to enter the country legally if jobs await them, yet does not address the issue of all the other aliens who will try to come here with no intention of working, or the ones already here who are either gang-bangers, racist rabble-rousers, drug dealers or terrorists. Will they get legal status too?
This should come as no surprise to anyone, however, since he, like so many of his governmental ilk, has apparently decided to completely ignore the will of the vast majority of Americans and reward millions of illegals with a shot at citizenship instead of preserving the integrity our laws and holding these people to account for their misdeeds. And, of course, no one in his administration is willing to call this new plan "amnesty for illegal aliens," which is precisely what it amounts to. No, they prefer more politically correct terms like "legitimacy assistance for undocumented workers" and other such tripe.
Still, this shameful attempt to pander to potential hispanic voters (and make no mistake about it, that's exactly what this is) will amount to nothing short of full amnesty in time, and everyone in our government, both Republican and Democrat alike, knows it. You can dress it up anyway you like Mr. President, but the fact remains that you're selling out your honor and your country for a few cheap votes, and don't go thinking this little stunt is going unnoticed by conservatives everywhere. No politician can exhibit such clear disregard for the wishes of his constituency without paying a price at the polls. You may wish to keep that in mind as the year 2004 progresses.
How anyone can seriously claim to be concerned with the security of this nation, while simultaneously encouraging illegal immigration and rewarding those involved in it, is beyond me. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not so naive as to believe that we can simply hunt down ten million or more illegal aliens overnight and start loading them onto buses, but understanding our limitations in this respect doesn't mean that I also think we should just throw up our hands and embrace those people who have shown contempt for our laws.
Before we can even consider dealing with the current glut of illegals in our country, we first need to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging Mexican border, but few of our leaders are even considering that fact. Giving illegal aliens incentives to play by the rules after they've already broken those rules by crossing our borders in the dead of night is preposterous, as well as a slap in the face to everyone who has ever endeavored to become an American citizen legally. Such a scheme will also encourage others to follow in the footsteps of previous lawbreakers for years to come. After all, why should anyone waste their time untangling the web of bureaucratic red tape necessary to gain citizenship status in this country if they can avoid doing so and still become a citizen?
Mr. Bush has argued that the country will be safer if his plan is enacted because it will give officials a better idea of who is crossing the border. This is a ludicrous assertion, since the sort of people we want to keep an eye on aren't coming here to work in the first place. Most of the people who would be given legal status are already here anyway, and giving newcomers legal status won't help us in any way to ascertain the identities of people who will be trying to illegally enter our country in the future and do harm to our society in any number of ways. Affording some foreign workers legal status won't stop all of the people who want to come here from sneaking in, and to even suggest that it might is ridiculous.
The President also mentioned that our economy would be helped by his plan because employers' needs will be met. What he failed to mention was that those are the needs of employers who have been illegally exploiting desperate Mexican workers for decades, and are as deserving of punishment for their own wrongdoings as any illegal alien is. If we're so concerned with filling those fruit picking and dish washing positions in this country, I suggest that we give every homeless person in every major city a choice... either get to work or go to jail. The ones who are too emotionally unstable or mentally incompetent to work for a living should be escorted to some nice, warm, rubber room somewhere. But I digress.
If you want my vote in November, Mr. President, I strongly urge you to reevaluate your stand on immigration and divest yourself of the political interests to which you are currently committed. I have no intention whatsoever of voting for a Democrat in the coming election, but if push should come to shove, I will have no qualms about voting for myself. At least I know where I stand, and I'm not about to betray my principles to get anyone else's vote.
© Edward Daley
If you visit the White House's official web-site, click on the "National Security" link and then the "Immigration" link therein, you will find the following statement written near the top of the page. "The Administration is committed to building and maintaining an immigration service system that ensures integrity, provides timely and accurate services, and emphasizes a culture of respect." Sounds good doesn't it? Ensuring of integrity... timely, accurate and respectful... committed. All fine words to be sure, but unfortunately they are ONLY words. In my estimation none of them have any real meaning at all when applied to our current immigration system.
Predictably, nowhere on this or any other related White House web-page could I find even an allusion to the President's recently announced immigration plan to afford "limited" legal status to illegal aliens currently working in the United States. You'd think it would be plastered all over the thing... that is, if it were something the President was really committed to. I guess when it comes to publicizing this particular "temporary worker program" though, George W. Bush is somewhat less than enthusiastic. Still, I imagine his handlers will begin spinning his intentions under the most flattering of lights in any number of venues soon enough.
The President's proposal, by the way, would also allow a certain amount of foreign workers to enter the country legally if jobs await them, yet does not address the issue of all the other aliens who will try to come here with no intention of working, or the ones already here who are either gang-bangers, racist rabble-rousers, drug dealers or terrorists. Will they get legal status too?
This should come as no surprise to anyone, however, since he, like so many of his governmental ilk, has apparently decided to completely ignore the will of the vast majority of Americans and reward millions of illegals with a shot at citizenship instead of preserving the integrity our laws and holding these people to account for their misdeeds. And, of course, no one in his administration is willing to call this new plan "amnesty for illegal aliens," which is precisely what it amounts to. No, they prefer more politically correct terms like "legitimacy assistance for undocumented workers" and other such tripe.
Still, this shameful attempt to pander to potential hispanic voters (and make no mistake about it, that's exactly what this is) will amount to nothing short of full amnesty in time, and everyone in our government, both Republican and Democrat alike, knows it. You can dress it up anyway you like Mr. President, but the fact remains that you're selling out your honor and your country for a few cheap votes, and don't go thinking this little stunt is going unnoticed by conservatives everywhere. No politician can exhibit such clear disregard for the wishes of his constituency without paying a price at the polls. You may wish to keep that in mind as the year 2004 progresses.
How anyone can seriously claim to be concerned with the security of this nation, while simultaneously encouraging illegal immigration and rewarding those involved in it, is beyond me. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not so naive as to believe that we can simply hunt down ten million or more illegal aliens overnight and start loading them onto buses, but understanding our limitations in this respect doesn't mean that I also think we should just throw up our hands and embrace those people who have shown contempt for our laws.
Before we can even consider dealing with the current glut of illegals in our country, we first need to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging Mexican border, but few of our leaders are even considering that fact. Giving illegal aliens incentives to play by the rules after they've already broken those rules by crossing our borders in the dead of night is preposterous, as well as a slap in the face to everyone who has ever endeavored to become an American citizen legally. Such a scheme will also encourage others to follow in the footsteps of previous lawbreakers for years to come. After all, why should anyone waste their time untangling the web of bureaucratic red tape necessary to gain citizenship status in this country if they can avoid doing so and still become a citizen?
Mr. Bush has argued that the country will be safer if his plan is enacted because it will give officials a better idea of who is crossing the border. This is a ludicrous assertion, since the sort of people we want to keep an eye on aren't coming here to work in the first place. Most of the people who would be given legal status are already here anyway, and giving newcomers legal status won't help us in any way to ascertain the identities of people who will be trying to illegally enter our country in the future and do harm to our society in any number of ways. Affording some foreign workers legal status won't stop all of the people who want to come here from sneaking in, and to even suggest that it might is ridiculous.
The President also mentioned that our economy would be helped by his plan because employers' needs will be met. What he failed to mention was that those are the needs of employers who have been illegally exploiting desperate Mexican workers for decades, and are as deserving of punishment for their own wrongdoings as any illegal alien is. If we're so concerned with filling those fruit picking and dish washing positions in this country, I suggest that we give every homeless person in every major city a choice... either get to work or go to jail. The ones who are too emotionally unstable or mentally incompetent to work for a living should be escorted to some nice, warm, rubber room somewhere. But I digress.
If you want my vote in November, Mr. President, I strongly urge you to reevaluate your stand on immigration and divest yourself of the political interests to which you are currently committed. I have no intention whatsoever of voting for a Democrat in the coming election, but if push should come to shove, I will have no qualms about voting for myself. At least I know where I stand, and I'm not about to betray my principles to get anyone else's vote.
© Edward Daley
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