Obama's immigration overhaul
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Independent Minds
Opening a debate he admits is both "controversial" and "emotional", Barack Obama signalled his intention to overhaul America's immigration system yesterday, finally creating a means for the nation's millions of illegal residents to become fully-fledged citizens.
The President plans to take on the issue next month, confounding predictions that it would be kicked into the long grass as a result of the current gloomy economic climate.
Under proposals floated by the White House, undocumented workers who admit that they violated the law will be given a "path to citizenship", provided they agree to pay fines or undergo other sanctions.
Mr Obama will portray the change as a necessary "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system", Cecilia Munoz, the President's deputy assistant and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House, told The New York Times.
Between 12 and 15 million mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants are thought to live in the US, settling there decades ago. Opponents, mostly on the Republican side, are concerned that immigrants who are granted full citizenship would take jobs that would otherwise go to US citizens.
The President will attempt to deflect critics by strengthening border law enforcement and penalising employers who hire undocumented workers.
"It doesn't seem rational that any political leader would say 'let's give millions of foreign workers permanent access to US jobs'," said Roy Beck, an executive director of NumbersUSA, a group wanting to reduce immigration.
When he was a senator, Mr Obama voted in favour of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill in 2007, a move that helped him to secure 66 per cent of Hispanic votes last year. However, widespread public opposition eventually forced that bill, which was backed by George Bush, to be scrapped.
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Comments
they work their tails off in schools but cant apply for financial aids or scholarships,because theyre not citizens
it hurts!!
http://tinyurl.com/refinanceobama
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
Once all of the illegal aliens are taken out of the entitlement programs the country can see how much it has been costing us.
HE ALWAYS DOES THE RIGHT THING
Over the decades the corporate handlers of our 'representatives' found it handy to have a steady pool of essentially slave labor to keep labor costs down. The perfect storm arrived with the Dems in power because most of the proposed recipients of Amnesty II are likely to side with them. So let's evaluate the morality of the situation. From an adult perspective, parents came here and / or stayed here knowing that it was illegal to do so. They had children here, knowing that they were engaged in illegal activity that put them, and their children, in jeopardy if they were found out and deported. But it was easier to take that chance than correct the problems in their country of origin. Or they stayed due to outright greed.
Even though the illegal alien parents were '... subject to a foreign jurisdiction ...', that is, their countries of origin, the Executive branch of our federal government has declared their children born here as 'U.S. citizens', and therefore entitled to, well, entitlements that benefit the parents as well. This presents motive, opportunity, and resources to entice more members of their family to invade and take advantage of our generous nature. In time the ersatz children become 'citizens' in their own right and turn around and 'sponsor' their illicit parents. And grandparents. And aunts and uncles. ....
The American culture contains a strong sense of fairness based on the principles of equality and freedom of choice and action. So to be fair to the 800M Indians, 1.2T Chinese, and nearly a trillion Africans, why shouldn't they have the exact same opportunity to invade our lands and claim U.S. citizenship as well? After all they '... just want a better life for their families ...'.
Sometimes being a parent means making hard decisions. Sometimes it is better to let a child learn a hard lesson for themselves than to overly protect them from the consequences of their actions. Sometimes it is better not to get into the business of other families at all.
So if Congress is ready to act as responsible parents, they will make all of the following a part of their 'comprehensive immigration reform', aka amnesty.
1. No person granted amnesty for immigration violations may ever sponsor another immigrant.
2. No child of parents granted amnesty may ever sponsor another immigrant.
3. The 14th Amendment will be clearly defined in law that children born in this country of parents who are aliens will not be granted a U.S. birth certificate.
4. No amnesty will be granted until it is demonstrated that our borders are secure, and that any illegal aliens apprehended will be immediately deported.
5. Because this will increase the population of the United States by 10%, a 10-year moratorium on all work visas and immigration applications will go into effect immediately. All work visas will terminate at the end of the year the act is signed into law.
Maybe we should all mull this over a nice cup of tea.
Obama has said that he does not believe that the 12 million illegal immigrants should be deported. He said "It's not going to happen. We're not going to go round them up ... We should give them a pathway to citizenship."
In September 2006, Obama voted for the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of 700 miles (1,100 km) of fencing along the United States–Mexico border.
Obama has supported granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants travel insurance.
In June 2007, Obama voted against declaring English as the official language of the federal government.
In November 2007, Obama stated that, "We can … go a long way toward meeting industry’s need for skilled workers with Americans. Until we have achieved that, I will support a temporary increase in the H-1B visa program as a stopgap measure until we can reform our immigration system comprehensively.