The Senate immigration bill has been shelved:
The Senate sidetracked sweeping immigration legislation Friday, leaving in doubt prospects for passing a bill offering the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally. A carefully crafted compromise that supporters had claimed could win an overwhelming majority received only 38 of the 60 votes necessary to protect it from weakening amendments by opponents.Republicans were united in the 38-60 parliamentary vote but Democrats, who have insisted on no amendments, lost six votes from their members.Republicans were united in the 38-60 parliamentary vote but Democrats, who have insisted on no amendments, lost six votes from their members.Democrats and Republicans had been blaming each other Friday for problems stalling the progress of bill.
Republicans were united in the 38-60 parliamentary vote but Democrats, who have insisted on no amendments, lost six votes from their members.Democrats and Republicans had been blaming each other Friday for problems stalling the progress of bill.Scheduled votes to break the logjam failed and both supporters and opponents of the bill will have to wait until Congress returns from a two-week spring recess, if then.
“It’s not gone forward because there’s a political advantage for Democrats not to have an immigration bill,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
He said Democrats perceive a benefit in having only a GOP-written House bill that criminalizes being an illegal immigrant. That bill has prompted massive protests across the country, including a march by 500,000 people in Los Angeles last month.
Democrats blamed Republicans for insisting on amendments that would weaken a compromise that Senate leaders in both parties had celebrated Thursday.
“This opportunity is slipping through our hands like grains of sand,” said assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin of Illinois.
President Bush had applauded the Senate’s efforts to draft a comprehensive immigration bill. “I would encourage the members to work hard to get the bill done prior to the upcoming break,” he said Thursday.
See Right Wing News for more links and updates … think Senate Republicans are finally listening to their constituencies on this? Let’s hope so.
Fri PM Update: Michelle Malkin has some links of interest, including one that talks about the upcoming plans of the anti-borders crowd.
Related Toldjah So posts:
- High school baseball coach: “We gots 2 show the U.S. that they aint (expletive) with out us”
- Figures - Howard Dean accuses Republicans of “scapegoating” Hispanics
- Victor Davis Hanson on illegal immigration
- Clearing up the myths on the immigration reform bill
- Hanging our flag upside down, underneath the Mexican flag
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I don’t think anything comprehensive will go through any time soon.
This is too big of a problem that has been left undealt with by previous administrations.
My personal feel on this is, there will be a lot of grandstanding and making gestures to make the appearance of doing something to molify each parties base, but in the end, nothing will pass and it will return to status quo.
Unless significant pressure is applied and the public is frustrated enough, then I think something might be done. At this point I don’t think we hit that point yet, but wit hthe recent illegal immigrant solidarity marches and the burning and banning of American Flags, that may actually help pass through some sort of legislation on immigration.
Whether or not it something worth the time and energy will remain to be seen.
My opinion is, we take care of the border enforcement FIRST, you stop the flow before you try and figure out what to do with what is already inside. Once you have stopped illegals from coming in, then you can concentrate on what to do with the ones already here. But our main priority should be securing our borders FIRST.
Comment by sanity @ 4/7/2006 - 11:50 am
We don’t need any more legislation.
Close the dam borders now!
ILLEGAL imigrants are lawbreakers just by being here and many were criminals where they came from. We already have laws, enforce them!
Many say we can’t be the world’s police force. So why is it we have to be the world’s dumpster?
Comment by CZ @ 4/7/2006 - 2:29 pm
I’m glad it didn’t “fly”; it was crap, anyway…
Comment by camojack @ 4/7/2006 - 2:42 pm
It just gives them two more weeks to figure out how to disguise the amnesty.
Comment by CavalierX @ 4/7/2006 - 3:02 pm
If you arrest a few CEO’s or business owners, the problem of undocumented workers, working would be solved. Getting rid of NAFTA and CAFTA would also help American’s keep the jobs that they have. Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/7/2006 - 3:40 pm
You keep saying CEO’s (this time you added business owners - there is hope for you yet), like the CEO’s of major corporations are hiring illegals.
First off, CEO’s of companies very rarely ever know who is being hired, they normally have an HR dept for that.
Second, Big corporations rarely hire illegals. Now I say rarely because we have found out at least one big corporation, (INS) has hired illegal immigrant to head up one of thier offices. This has been pointed out by Michelle Malkin in her post of The Mess At DHS.
I think INS and DHS needs a shake up badly and get rid of the clueless and those with no experience and get people who know what to do in there.
pssssttt steve, it’s not undocumented workers, say it with me now…
I L L E G A L I M M I G R A N T S!
Illegal, meaning they did not come into the US by legal means.
Illegal as in they broke the Law.
Illegal as in NOT Undocumented.
I agree though, NAFTA and CAFTA does not seem to be a boon to the US. If it is not working, then get rid of it.
Comment by sanity @ 4/7/2006 - 4:09 pm
>If you arrest a few CEO’s or business
>owners
Remember when they tried that big crackdown on illegal immigrants in the Nebraska meat-packing industry a few years ago? They rounded up a few illegals, and then all of a sudden members of Congress started telling INS to back off. The only way to stop illegal immigration is to build a fence and patrol it with the National Guard. Then and only then can we gain the breathing room to figure out what to do with the illegals already here.
Comment by CavalierX @ 4/7/2006 - 4:26 pm
A fence is a silly idea. If the public demands that undocumented workers are not in their workplace they won’t be there. If the public demands that it’s politicians follow through on arresting anyone who hires an illegal worker, they won’t get hired. If the public goes on summer vacation, so will the politicians. “A clean sweep for a clean slate.” Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/7/2006 - 7:46 pm
Steve I actually agree with most of what you said except for the silly fence…
We need that fence along with actual bodies to enforce the border….
States like AZ and NM are getting raked over the coals financially because our government is failing them..Hence Governor Richardson declared a state of emergency…
What all of us need to do is put aside our partisan bickering and make sure that the elected officials on both sides of the aisle hear us clearly….
We do not accept amnesty.
We have no problem with immigrants entering our country through our front door.
We have the INS for a reason, do not hinder them from doing their jobs. They are to enforce the laws we have on the books.
We do not support slavery disguised as helping those poor illegals.
We want santuary cities cut off from federal funding. They snubbed their nose at the government and her laws, therefore we should withold funds to their cities.
Comment by Pam @ 4/7/2006 - 8:21 pm
A fence sure IS a silly idea.
The criminals would just tunnel under.
I want a moat filled with crocodiles and piranhas.
Watching the live web cams would be big fun.
Comment by CZ @ 4/7/2006 - 9:39 pm
Forget focusing on the illegals except to the extent that someone breaks the law by hiring them. If they get no work, and get no money or services, except emergency medical care or food pantry food, they will go back home. Leave the children alone they are innocents. Allow the social services organizations to do what they will with no penalty. If a fence needs to built in high density population areas, that is just being prudent. But, a fence like the Zionists are building in Israel, is a disgrace. Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/8/2006 - 10:45 am
CZ says The criminals would just tunnel under.
This is true, a tunnel has been found already. I will have to find the link. I just read about it the other day.
CZ says A fence sure IS a silly idea.
Not overly, it will at least cut down on illegals coming in. Where they did put a wall up in CA, they saw a significant decrease.
I do not think we will ever completely stop illegals from coming into this country, but we can make it extremely difficult to come in and stay.
steve says Forget focusing on the illegals except to the extent that someone breaks the law by hiring them. If they get no work, and get no money or services, except emergency medical care or food pantry food, they will go back home.
This portion is true, but if you only concentrate on those that hire illegals, then what you just said here will never work. There is much more you have to do and illegal immigration is a much bigger problem than just some farmers and such hiring illegals.
Take a look at the marches that are going on, they say it is THEIR land (I say give them CA *chuckles* (joke)), they want free health care, free schooling, ect. These are things that not even Americans have, AND IT’S OUR COUNRTY!
By the way, the fence in Israel has severly cut terrorist bombing in that country and was prudent. So if you think saving lives of Israelis is a disgrace, then your head isn’t screwed on tight. They did what they had to do to keep thier citizens safe.
Perhaps the US needs to take some advice from Israel on how to protect our borders and how to become more secure in the face of terrorists who want to kill Americans, and illegals that are flooding into the US and terrorists among them.
Mexico has a tougher immigration policy than we do here in the US. Why do people feel that we should just open our borders and just let anyone in?
What about those that do not make money the legal way? There are hundreds of thousands of criminals that do not work for any company, they make thier money robbing, killing, extorting and exporting drugs and selling them here in the US. You need ot unti the hands of hte Police and get these illegals who are criminals off the streets and deport thier butts.
Comment by sanity @ 4/8/2006 - 11:55 am
I guess Sanity didn’t get the joke.
Comment by CZ @ 4/8/2006 - 1:11 pm
The percentage of criminals amongst the illegal population is small. There are 1 million people in prisons throughout the US and the largest portion of that million are in on some drug charge of other. Violent criminals represent a very, very small group of people in the world. Those in power want to keep you freightened because that keeps them in power. Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/8/2006 - 3:55 pm
ROFL!!!! Steve, the humor in this sentence almost makes it worth putting up with your inane rants:
“The percentage of criminals amongst the illegal population is small.”
Heeheeheeheehee! The number of criminals among the criminals is small!
Comment by Severian @ 4/8/2006 - 4:09 pm
The first link on a search for “illegal immigration criminal percentage” was to a Winter 2004 article, in the City Journal, by Heather MacDonald. Ms. MacDonald researched her topic well. The piece is too long to post in its entirety, so go read it for yourself HERE. But here are a few examples she found:
In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide (which total 1,200 to 1,500) target illegal aliens. Up to two-thirds of all fugitive felony warrants (17,000) are for illegal aliens.
• A confidential California Department of Justice study reported in 1995 that 60 percent of the 20,000-strong 18th Street Gang in southern California is illegal; police officers say the proportion is actually much greater. The bloody gang collaborates with the Mexican Mafia, the dominant force in California prisons, on complex drug-distribution schemes, extortion, and drive-by assassinations, and commits an assault or robbery every day in L.A. County. The gang has grown dramatically over the last two decades by recruiting recently arrived youngsters, most of them illegal, from Central America and Mexico.
• The leadership of the Columbia Lil’ Cycos gang, which uses murder and racketeering to control the drug market around L.A.’s MacArthur Park, was about 60 percent illegal in 2002, says former assistant U.S. attorney Luis Li. Francisco Martinez, a Mexican Mafia member and an illegal alien, controlled the gang from prison, while serving time for felonious reentry following deportation.
Anyone who believes serious, violent crime due to illegal immigration in the USA is a minor problem is living in a fantasy world.
Comment by Bachbone @ 4/8/2006 - 4:47 pm
Dearest Steve, 20%, and I did not stutter with that statistic, of our prison population is comprized of illegal immigrants..and no they are not sitting there for being illegal!
Comment by Pam @ 4/8/2006 - 7:40 pm
The fantasy here Bachbone, is that you failed to mention that most of that violent crime was against each other, not against the larger community. Most of you do not live alongside illegals because our society is not only set up along racial lines it is also set up along economic lines. MacArthur Park has been owned by gangs since the cake was left out in the rain too long. Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/8/2006 - 7:43 pm
so steve your saying that its not a crime to kill someone …just as long as it is against each other as you say.
la la lala, la la lala, stevies world, la la lala, la la lala stevies world…you know the music, you know the words…thiiiiis is stevies song!
Comment by sanity @ 4/8/2006 - 8:07 pm
Steve- Would you use that arguement for black on black crime? They are killing each other after all…
Comment by Pam @ 4/9/2006 - 8:43 am
steve(FN), the statements you make are so stupid and ill informed that you must try to make them so. My old neighborhood in Green Bay is heavily Hispanic. Some are permanent, but many are transient, meaning they are more then likely illegals.
My brother who still lives there would like to invite you to the shooting gallery that the “Mexican gangs” have turned the area to. Bring your own body armor.
Comment by PCD @ 4/9/2006 - 11:46 am
If the Green Bay PD can’t control the violence in any area of the city of Green Bay, then the police aren’t doing their jobs. And if you, as a citizen, allow the police to not do their job, that is on you and your neighbors, not the “Mexican gang” or an Italian gang or a Polish gang. Sounds like the city of Green Bay has a police department problem, not a gang problem. Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/9/2006 - 12:13 pm
Ah yes, the wonderful liberal “blame the victim” approach instead of the criminal. Steve, you never fail to disappoint.
Comment by Severian @ 4/9/2006 - 12:47 pm
Severian,
steve(FN) has a criminal’s mentality. In another thread he looked for approval to confiscate anyone’s income over $150,000. He thought it would be ok with everyone since no one here made that much.
steve(FN) took silence as assent rather than disgust at his envy and class warfare mentality. steve(FN) is just a thief who is too chicken to do the robbing himself, so he tries to enlist the government in his crimes. He says to all here that he isn’t robbing from us so we should have no objection. steve(FN) is building one hell of a bill to pay in Hell.
Comment by PCD @ 4/9/2006 - 1:50 pm
steve(FN) if the illegal alien criminals weren’t in Green Bay in the first place, they couldn’t shoot up the neighborhoods, now could they?
Oops! Too much pure logic for steve(FN) to handle.
Comment by PCD @ 4/9/2006 - 2:13 pm
- Could be Steve(FN) is a sort of 21st century warped version of Pinnochio, except instead of his nose getting longer with each lefist lie it gets flatter. *snort*
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 4/9/2006 - 6:23 pm
- As far as the illegal immigrants, generally if you read some bleeding heart weenie post by a dictator loving leftard you can bet he doesn’t have to wake up every morning with his garbage cans strewn all over his yard or illegals sleeping behind his garage. Liberals are past famous for yammering about things they don’t personally have a shred of experience in, like children. To be seen, but not heard.
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 4/9/2006 - 6:28 pm
- Apparently between flagging sales and feeling a lot of public backlash, the NYTrash finally decided to print something favorable to the Conservative side of the aisle. According to the Trash, its the Dems fault that the immigration bill was stalled in Congress. Will wonders never cease. Mighty goodness.
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 4/9/2006 - 6:36 pm
500,000 in the streets of Dallas today. Hope you all aren’t looking for the illegal alien vote this November? Peace
Comment by steve @ 4/9/2006 - 7:10 pm
steve do you realize (probably not) that you just made, yet again, a very stupid comment?
Why would we look for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to vote?
They are not suppose to be able to vote, because THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALLY AND NOT CITIZENS!
Hello?!?!
The only ones wanting to give Illegal Immigrants the ability to vote would probably be the Democrats so they can try and get elected, adding to the vote of getting incarcerated criminals to vote for them also.
Comment by sanity @ 4/9/2006 - 7:24 pm
This is an 80% issue I believe. This whole timeframe is helping Republicans and not Democrats. Your words are helping Republicans. Keep it up.
4 Helicopters were flying near the office building I work in here in dowtwon Sacramento, CA. Why? Because of the protests/marches.
Traffic was snarled a bit. Why? Because of protests/marches.
But it’s working hours!!!
I thought they were here to work for low wages!!!
Looks like we survived (our workday) without them working?
Comment by Baklava @ 4/10/2006 - 6:06 pm
BTW, Illegal immigration is not allowed by most other countries. Actually during this whole debate I haven’t heard of any country that allows illegal immigration.
And I’ve been reading stuff on this issue for over a decade.
Comment by Baklava @ 4/10/2006 - 6:09 pm
Bak I did hear that lawns were not getting mowed
Comment by Pam @ 4/10/2006 - 6:38 pm
It was raining today that’s why.
The rain broke up their little lawbreakers anonymous parade…
Comment by Baklava @ 4/10/2006 - 8:24 pm
Comment by Pam @ 4/10/2006 - 9:24 pm