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US to crack down harder on illegal immigrants (Roundup)
Aug 10, 2007, 21:03 GMT
Washington - The US government plans to crack down harder on illegal immigrants, calling for a further boost in the number of border guards and increasing fines for employers who hire illegal workers, officials said Friday.
President George W Bush took action after US lawmakers this year failed to pass major immigration reforms he had backed, including ways to legalize an estimated 11-12 million illegal US residents. The debate centres on Mexicans who fill low-wage US jobs.
'These reforms represent steps my administration can take within the boundaries of existing law to better secure our borders, improve worksite enforcement, streamline existing temporary worker programmes, and help new immigrants assimilate into American society,' Bush said.
Last year, Bush ordered the US border patrol increased by 6,000 new agents, bringing the total to more than 18,000. Plans unveiled Friday call for a further 1,700 border guards in 2009.
Also, funding for detention centres will be increased so the US can hold up to 31,500 illegal aliens until they can be deported.
And the Bush administration will press 'recalcitrant countries' to repatriate citizens who are in the US illegally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
But visa rules for professionals from Mexico and Canada will ease. Their visa term is to be extended from one year to three years, reducing bureaucracy for some 65,000 workers coming to the US each year.
Bush is leaving office in January 2009, but illegal immigration is a hot-button issue for supporters of his Republican Party. Some Republican presidential candidates are focussing on immigration as the 2008 election campaign gathers pace.
Left-leaning critics accused Bush of relying too heavily on enforcement and pandering to conservative voters.
'President Bush appears to be attempting to scurry to the front of that sad, right-wing parade,' charged Daniel Restrepo of the Centre for American Progress, a Washington think tank.
Other steps announced Friday are designed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to appeal their deportation and increase pressure on US employers, partly by raising the maximum fine against those who knowingly and repeatedly hire illegal immigrants.
But Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democrat who has helped lead the fight for a broad overhaul of US immigration law, predicted that the new employer rules would cause 'even more confusion about who can be hired, resulting in the unjust firings of legal workers who look foreign.'
US officials are also preparing a rule change that will sharply reduce the number of documents that can be used to establish identity and work eligibility. The aim is to cut down on document fraud.
Meanwhile, the government will provide additional training for instructors and volunteers who lead immigrants through the citizenship process, DHS said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
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Idea why don't we just let Kennedy pay for their freeloading, Or better yet let him house them and pay their taxes for them on Martha's Vineyard.
Old Boy Teddy would stay In the (shadows) then.
It's about time this country starts enforcing its immigration laws. If we had done this from the beginning we wouldn't have these problems.
Why not just enforce all laws already in place ,we don't need more rules we need action
I am a native Seneca Indian and I completely agree with Chris Thiele's comment above. If only we native Americans had enforced tough immigration rules a few hundred years ago, then we wouldn't have George Bush or Kennedy in this nation or any of the current problems.
How long has Kennedy been a Senator anyway....
How can such a loser be in such an important position for so long.........
Finally, we are going to enforce our laws.
No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance.
See www.inteliOrg.com. Know whom you are voting for.
Aj,
I'm a native to, I was born here. What you are talking about is that you're an Aborigine.
I think Bush is giving people exactly what they want. When the economy starts to suffer more, he will lay the blame on the lack of immigration reform and on Americans who are living in denial. This will pave the way for the next President to ensure immigration reform or amnesty. Shepard Smith said it today on his program, 'Be careful for what you wish for'.
It sounds funny to say the US will crack down harder since everyone knows the gov did not ever crack down at all in the first place.
The last time Bush was going to fix the border he wanted to open it completely. Comprehensive was his slang for 'let them all be citizens'.
Look close at the details!
In the new crack down maybe he will have his buddy Johnny use an unfair trial to lock up some more border patrol guys for doing their job while giving a drug cartel guy free passes to smuggle more drugs.
Quote: 'US to crack down harder on illegal immigrants (Roundup)'
Haa Haa. Zero times a brazilian still equals zero.
This could be the next tactic of the Bush administration in getting an Amnesty Bill passed.
If they get a panic going in business and then get a panic going in the public, through the use of the media, they could appear to sway opinion in their favor.
I already see a sort of panic on the rise anyway. The economy appears to be correcting itself to all of the scams and lawlessness.
We’ve run up the price of our homes just like we did stock in the thirties. We were willing to out-borrow the next. It works okay on the way up. Not so great on the way down.
Then you’ve got the presses full speed to finance all of the wars.
I have seen this sort of article over and over recently.
If they do, do this I would expect a huge correction to follow their actions.
Ditto to RJ. But also , it clearly shows the decling work ethic of the American workers including the employers, border patrol, immigtration, legislators. All of them just lazed away and let it happen over the last 20 year or so. And they will probably keep arguing and do nothing until another do or die situation hits them.
quote from President Theodore Roosevelt in a letter to the American Defense Society in 1919, 10 years after his presidency.
'In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...
There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1919 -
Get yourself a History book and look It up.
First of all Americans are not living In denial, We cannot support people who break the Law, It wouldn't be so bad If we just had to pay for the Criminal that broke the law, Its the 20 dozen kids per House hold that we will not pay for any longer. Its the Freeloader that just takes and takes that we wont pay for anymore, The Senior Citizens In this Country have to pay School taxes and their Kids are already grown, So If they have to pay why shouldn't the Law breaker have to pay? We have to pay taxes why because It the law. I also hope that you watched the Lou Dobs and heard what he had to say.......................................................
SHERIFF JOE WHERE ARE YOU ??
Please call the sheriff Joe Arpaio Illegal tip hot line 602-876-4154 and let them know that alledgedly The Wigwam Golf Resort & spa 300 Wigwam Boulevard Litchfield Park, Arizona 85340 Are alledgedly hiring illegals with bogus or stolen SSI numbers. GOD BLESS AMERICA This jobs can be done by our hard working Legal people. Thank you very much Please do not flag my ad. GOD BLESS AMERICA
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Jerk..............................................Aug 10th, 2007 - 21:35:07
Their gos that Dumb ass Ted Kennedy again, There papers now have to match up correctly or Its Bye, Bye, They must come out of the (SHADOWS) legally now, Their going to have to send this Dumb, Dumb, to classes.
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