The Hill offers up some potentially good news
The DREAM Act — a priority of Democrats in both Congress and the White House — faces a difficult future in the lame duck.
Even as Democrats in both chambers prepare to consider the measure this week, Republicans and centrist Democrats are already lining up to shoot it down.
The climb is particularly steep in the Senate, where Republicans will filibuster the hot-button bill, and even former sponsors now stand in opposition.
Some previous Republican supporters, such as Orrin Hatch and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, are now against the Act, because of its expansive nature, and, oh, yeah, those pesky 2012 elections
“The current legislation would include green cards and citizenship, which under present law would follow with amnesty for those who came here illegally as adults,” the e-mail read. “[Hutchison] has and continues to support allowing for student and temporary, renewable visas for qualified students and graduates who have grown up and been educated in the United States. But she will not support legislation now being put forward as the DREAM Act because it goes far beyond dealing with these affected young people.”
And some Democrats are against it, such as John Tester and
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who voted in favor of the measure in 2007, says he won’t do the same this time around. His opposition, according to spokesman Jake Thompson, is twofold. First, the Senate should be focusing on jobs and the economy before it does anything else, Thompson said. And second, the provisions of the DREAM Act should be included as part of comprehensive immigration reform — an effort, he said, that shouldn’t proceed “until the borders have been secured.”
How about we combine securing the border with certain parts of the DREAM Act, instead of going all comprehensive-ee? Here’s the big issue: as a conservative, I would like to see all illegals gone, regardless of the age they were brought (and not all who came while under 16 came with their parents, mind you). They are a drain on our society, they are filling up our prisons – and quite a few are really nasty people – they’re over-running our hospitals, damaging our social services, and harming American citizens.
As a realist, though, can we seriously believe that we can get rid of all the illegals? Well, yes, if we passed tough laws that penalized employers harshly, not to mention ones which kept a better eye on those who came legally and could overstay their visas. Remember, approximately 1/3rd of all illegals did not leave when they were supposed to. Unfortunately, the borders are still open to those who come here and have anchor babies, and will continue to do that. Oh, and then there is the matter of Really Bad People crossing the border illegally, like Islamic jihadis, gun runners, drug runners, and criminals from Mexico and Latin America.
We are spending quite a bit of time, money, and resources dealing with many of these non Really Bad People illegals, so, is there any that Conservatives could support some sort of DREAM Act? Captainfish (snapped shot) offered up these terms
- Serve in active military in a war area for 5 years. Must be in a gun-wielding form of duty. Not kitchen staff or paper-pusher.
- Enroll, pay full tuition without any federal or state assistance, and complete a degree in Science, Mathematics or Engineering field.
- Spend 5 years building the southern border fence as a registered guest worker. Any mishaps with the law will mean immediate disqualification.
I could live with that. My own list would be
- Must read and write literate English. Period.
- No criminal incidents. Must keep a clean record for 10 years after entering the program
- May not receive public support from any government level
- May either join one of the 5 service branches (must serve in operations, not back office), or attend a four year college, and pay for the college themselves. They may get loans, but, not from the government
- Must pay the same citizenship fees, and fulfill all the same terms as those who came legally and applied
- No public support after they become citizens
- Any breach of these terms will mean immediate deportation, as laid out in some sort of contract. No hearings, no stays, just bye bye.
- Any illegal, regardless of age, who enters the USA after the day the ACT is signed in to law would be inelligble, and would be deported toot sweet. No hearings, just, see ya!
What are your ideas? Would you be willing to accept a tough Act?
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. sit back and Relax. we’ll dRive!
I certainly hope so, and I can only pray they have a “Do not resuscitate” order as well! With our economy in the crapper, the last f’n thing we need is to give amnesty to- and pay for the education of- illegal aliens/their children to become citizens, and then take advantage of all of the social benefits we would then be so happy to offer them.
It is BS- let’s get OUR house in order before we begin inviting to dinner, the bastards of the world…our economy cannot support US, let alone anyone else.
Let’s finish securing the border, before we say to everyone who sneaks across it like thieves in the night, “bienvenida y disfrutar de su estancia”.
Let’s resolve our national security issues, before we allow undocumented folks to share in the benefits of our great country.
I fear it’s nearly too late to correct all of the mistakes that have been made, but if we start having some sort of all inclusive party for illegals, you can bet the end is definitely near.
“the border fence” ?? teach 2/3 of it has already been built they just climb over it or dig underneath it one of the problems with the fence is that it also prevents them from easily returning to their homes, once they cross they stay.
teach 2/3 of it has already been built they just climb over it
The current fence is over 600 miles of the 2000 mile border.
By any stretch of the imagination, that is not “2/3’s.”
LAST CHANCE TO TABLE THE DREAM ACT
President Obama is reaching out to fence-sitting Republican Senators trying to earn their vote on the DREAM Act. A new report from the National Journal says that members of the President’s cabinet are targeting Sens. Collins and Snowe from Maine, Sen. LeMieux of Florida, and Sen. Hutchison of Texas. These politicians will be carefully scrutinized how they vote when this issue comes to the table this week. Call the Capitol Switchboard NOW and urge these Senators and your Members of Congress to oppose the DREAM Act Amnesty — 202-224-3121 NumbersUSA for details.
Its not the processed students that are the major problem, but the–CHAIN MIGRATION–that follows. The immediate family will be sponsored, then the parents will come, with brothers and sisters, grandparents and the whole mass of people will snowball–into the millions–and inevitably a huge cost to taxpayers.
Americans is now aware that hundreds of billions of dollars in their taxes are being absorbed by the illegal immigrants, as they are no longer susceptible to the Liberal propaganda or open border zealots The State of Arizona learned this years back, as they saw their public welfare services being exhausted by illegal foreigners. Now other states including California are following suite as they realize they can no longer afford supporting illegal aliens as well citizens and legal residents.
Those Americans opposed to the DREAM ACT or slyly undisclosed as an incremental Amnesty, better take a minute to bombard your three Representatives in Washington and stop this financial insanity. Children of citizens and legal residents can no longer get a decent seasonal job and 15 million Americans are laboring for lower wages or seeking jobs that are almost non-existent. Yet the extremist Liberals want to extend an open hand to students of illegal aliens and ignore this deep recession this country is in. No matter what Sen. Harry Reid and his administration say, there will be a cost with the passage of the Dream Act. There has always been a direct cost for enactment of any Amnesty, such as the 1986 Immigration and Reform Control Act and the 6 Amnesties that followed. The Dream Act will be no different–whether disclosed or not, to the general public. Incidentally–any illegal alien can be recruited for the armed services, in times of war? This is yet another lie passed onto us by the lame duck government that students cannot join the military in time of war.
If you feel different, I still have that Brooklyn Bridge to sell you? Be honest—have you known our government to tell us the truth? Annually billions of dollars are spent catering to the invasion of people not welcomed into this nation. Rewarding yet another immigration policy as this, will only be a very large magnet to foreign workers and their families. The annexation of illegal nationals will never end, without the American people demanding a stop to this immigration travesty and throw the outlaws in Congress out who applaud this free movement of people. Just look around our nation over the past thirty years of horrendous infrastructure deterioration, unmanageable influx of at least a million legal immigrants a year. Border state schools overcrowded with illegal alien children, exhausted medical staff in emergency rooms and our growing taxing of the people to pay for anybody who slips through our border or flies in on a one-way ticket.
gitarcarver, that’s just more of that funny math liberals love to use. If it feels good, then it must be correct.
Teach, hmmmm, those suggestions sure do look a bit familiar! hahaha. kewl beans.
Though, I am a bit reticent to ban gov’t assistance once they become citizens. At that point, they are free to do whatever and whomever they want. We have current USA-born citizens that live their whole lives under gov’t funding. I think we might ought to put a stop to that first.
No sense in us ending up like UK!!