Reaction To GWB's Speech Tonight
This will be a short post.
I am encouraged by the President's promise to secure our borders. A tougher stance, backed up by more personnel and added techniological tools sounds like a good start. I did not agree that an expanded guest worker program is a function of border protection, though it is true that easing the restrictions could encourage more announced visitation, and fewer people trying to sneak in makes border enforcement less complex. But, a guest worker program is an economic function, not border control.
I was disappointed by the explanation of how illegals would be treated. At one moment he was speaking of the repatriotation of apprehended illegals to their native land, at another point he spoke of allowing those who have been here illegally to pay a fine and stay and even get on track to become citizens; contradictory approaches.
Allowing those who have been here to stay is amnesty. And the fines they will be asked to pay will not even cover the expense to this nation to process them. Even sending them to the "back of the line' to gain citizenship is wrong, they will still be served ahead of the people who legally request entry and citizenship on the day after the illegal is placed in line.
Mostly, what bothers me about the President's plan is that there were no provisions to prevent this situation from recurring in another few years. A law which states that anyone who enters illegally is forever forbidden from achieving citizenship is one sensible approach which would halt people from entering our ranks through a break-in at the back door. The President did not propose such legislation. Another law, in this case it would require a Constitutional amendment, is to close the loophole which permits illegals to gain citizenship for their newborns by entering illegally and delivering the child within our borders. In those cases the 14th Amendment is interpreted to grant the newborn citizenship, and this needs to be changed to deny citizenship to any person born to parents who are in this country illegally.
So, to conclude. Better border enforcement good. Amnesty bad. Absence of prevention of repitition terrible.
Comments
"Mostly, what bothers me about the President's plan is that there were no provisions to prevent this situation from recurring in another few years."
It will repeat itself. The only solution that won't quit working as soon as pressure is off is a physical barrier.
Or repealing the 17th.
Posted by: jdavenport | May 15, 2006 09:17 PM