22 Thoughts to “Obama & Immigration Reform at 100 Day Conference”

  1. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    No analysis? Sounds like a bunch of “blah, blah, blah” to me. I still think this will get stalled until it’s closer to mid-term elections, then that’ll be the excuse for not happening. Now I readily admit that is nothing more than a hunch and I wouldn’t put a nickel on it. Obama’s got some real heavy lifting in front of him (as do the Dems in Congress). If they get a 60 vote majority in the Senate, then they’ll have no political cover from Republicans (except maybe Juan McAmnesty, Lindsey Graham). CIR is gonna take a LOT of huevos and Obama’s going to want to put the utter destruction on our healthcare systems up first. It should be interesting!

  2. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    I would like to see what is being considered. Surely someone out there has a list of problems and potential solutions.

  3. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    I do, but you don’t want to hear it 🙂

  4. IVAN
    April 30, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    I beleive the corner stones of his policy proposal are increased border security and a stronger enforcement of workplace hiring practices(perhaps a national E-Verify system?).

  5. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    Slow, you are probably right. 😉

    Ivan, what is all this amnesty crap I keep hearing from people?

  6. Alanna
    April 30, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    Slowpoke,
    The way I see it, the Republicans had better put their mark on this legislation now and not wait until the 2010 election. The National Republican Party and for that matter the Virginia Republican Party are desperately searching for their identities. Will they be able to get one and then rebuild the base enough in order to win at the polls in November of next year? Based on what we are currently witnessing, my best guess would be — HELL NO. Republicans have an opportunity to leave their mark on this legislation and should avail themselves of it while it still remains.

  7. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    CIR is by far the most unpopular piece of legislative carp that will come up anytime soon. It would be political suicide for Republicans to touch it. I hope Republicans aren’t dumb enough to take the advice their enemies are only too glad to give them.

  8. WHWN
    April 30, 2009 at 8:17 pm

    I am with Alanna. Republicans cannot allow Obama to take 100 percent credit for immigration reform. Obama has the right approach, but everything he said last night has already been said by John McCain, and Obama will be the first to acnowledge that.

    Far from a partisan battle, CIR will be a showdown within the GOP … one through which centrists and extremist idealogues will decide if this party is big enough for the two of us. My sincere hope is that the centrists prevail. We have tried it with the inmates running the asylum for 9 years and have suffered the consequences in two consecutive elections. The centrists must provide the ideas. Let the extremists supply the energy, if they are willing. If not, they are free to form their own party.

  9. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 9:00 pm

    I am just tired of hearing people saying our immigration system is not broken. Of course it is.

  10. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 9:02 pm

    Sorry, MH, but the only thing “broken” about it is no enforcement and too much chain-migration.

  11. Alanna
    April 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    For Immediate Release

    DHS Announces Changes In Worksite Enforcement Policies
    Agency Takes First Step in Realigning Enforcement Priorities
    April 30, 2009

    Washington, D.C. – Today the Department of Homeland Security announced policy changes around worksite immigration enforcement. Senior Policy Analyst Michele Waslin of the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) issued the following statement:

    “IPC is encouraged by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to refocus its worksite enforcement on those employers who are exploiting the broken immigration system. This is a good first step in realigning enforcement priorities. However, DHS’s ability to truly focus on abusive employers is limited by the fact that our current immigration system doesn’t provide immigrants or legitimate employers the protections and tools they need to comply with the law. Rather than trimming around the edges, real reform must involve an overhaul of the entire system to ensure that enforcement of our immigration laws is effective, fair, and humane.

    The newly announced DHS guidelines will focus on criminal prosecutions of employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers. In 2008, large-scale raids resulted in more than 6,000 arrests, only 135 of whom were employers. Frequently DHS launched raids based on tips that an employer was hiring unauthorized workers rather than being the result of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigations of employers, making it difficult to secure adequate evidence to result in prosecution. The new guidelines emphasize investigating and criminally prosecuting abusive employers thereby honing in on one of the root causes of undocumented immigration. Currently, immigrants, families, and law-abiding employers are caught up in a dysfunctional immigration system which creates incentives to circumvent the law.

    DHS also announced that ICE headquarters will play a larger role in defining the objectives and strategies around worksite enforcement, supplanting the old model where local field offices wielded broad discretion and often focused on “low hanging fruit” rather than egregiously abusive employers.

    Despite these welcome changes, additional reform will be needed to target employers who violate labor laws, such as wage and hour laws, as well as immigration laws. DHS must send the message that hiring and exploiting unauthorized workers is not acceptable.

    Most critically, the Administration and Congress must reform our broken immigration system. Yesterday President Obama renewed his commitment to immigration reform, and today the U.S. Senate will hold a hearing on immigration, increasing the momentum toward reform. We must not let this historic opportunity to bring the nation’s legal immigration system into the 21st century slip by.”

    ###

    For press inquiries contact:
    Wendy Sefsaf, 202-507-7524 (office) or email [email protected]
    Andrea Nill, 202-507-7520 (office) or email [email protected]

  12. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 9:20 pm

    @Slowpoke Rodriguez
    Well, then its broken. Do you think legal immigration is functioning as it should? Did you read the thread about the nurses that cannot come here? How about our guest worker program? Does it satisfy the needs of the country?

    How come after 8 years Twinad’s husband cannot get status adjustment even though he has been legally married to an American?

    There are more components to the immigration issue than just the illegal issue.

  13. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    Ooops, Alanna sure added more to this conversation than I did.

  14. IVAN
    April 30, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    M-H, I think the amnesty crap is path way to citizenship. I don’t know the details, but Obama mentioned it in his remarks last night.

  15. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    Moon-howler :
    @Slowpoke Rodriguez
    Well, then its broken. Do you think legal immigration is functioning as it should? Did you read the thread about the nurses that cannot come here? How about our guest worker program? Does it satisfy the needs of the country?
    How come after 8 years Twinad’s husband cannot get status adjustment even though he has been legally married to an American?
    There are more components to the immigration issue than just the illegal issue.

    That’s a lot of questions. Let’s see…yes. Guest Worker Program? Someone remind me what the latest unemployment figures are?……Yes……Don’t know about Twinad’s husband, and remember the discussion. I know they’re legally married and think he ought to be in the clear, no problem. And finally, I agree, it’s more than just the illegal component. Problem is, they’re not going to fix the other aspects without granting amnesty to all illegal immigrants. I wish they could separate out the issues.

  16. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    @IVAN
    Probably most people would just be happy to have a way to get work papers and to be legal residents. I don’t think if you pay fines and jump through hoops that it is amnesty.

  17. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    @ Slowpoke,

    There are fields that have no Americans to fill the job. One of those jobs is nursing. Another area is the critical shortage areas of teaching that vary from area to area. Teachers are given a 3 year visa to come here and teach. They are not putting anyone else out of a job.

    ‘Amnesty’ should not be granted to all illegal aliens. I do think that there should be fines and a way to make things right. I think those convicted of violent crimes should be ineligible.

    And Twinad has been trying for 8 years. I think the system is broken, if for no other reason than that alone.

  18. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    @Moon-howler
    The nursing shortage is a bit of a wonderment to me. Americans (ones with firing neurons at least) have known for years that nursing is a super-growth area and that good jobs are there a-plenty, yet we still have a shortage, and unemployment at the same time. Somehow, our younglings are not paying attention.

  19. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    April 30, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    @Moon-howler

    Actually, there’s much more agreement here between you and I than I’ve addressed above. It all goes back to America focusing on letting in skilled laborers, Doctors, Scientists, and yes, highly trained Nurses. What we’re getting more than what we need is MS-13 members. Oh, the folks who built my house? They were most certainly NOT skilled. I love those “I built you house” signs they cart around. I wouldn’t brag about that! I got the pictures and inspector notes to prove it.

  20. Moon-howler
    April 30, 2009 at 10:53 pm

    There is actually a stigma attached to nursing, wrongly I might add. First off, it was seen for years as women’s work. Then there was also that notion that nurses were people who just couldn’t make it as doctors.

    Doctors also make huge amounts of money compared to nurses and generally speaking, the work is less all the way around.

  21. Mackie
    May 1, 2009 at 5:29 am

    If the democrats ram through immigration reform, I think they will cement a hold on the latino vote for a generation or two.

    Slowpoke, your position is untenable. It’s purely a question of numbers. Around 21-25% of voters out there consider themselves republican. People are fleeing a sinking ship. When that number drops into the teens, the long term survival of the republican party will be in serious doubt.

  22. Elena
    May 1, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    Clearly President Obama has not laid out the precise intiatives, but has shared the groundwork of why and what needs to happen as it pertains to CIR.

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