AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I admit that I hate to look, because every time I look at the proposed Immigration Reform Bill, it goes from worse to worse the closer it comes to a compromise in the Senate.
I received the WHITE HOUSE Fact Sheet: Fair and Secure Immigration Reform
The concept of “fairness” is relative. What may be fair to you could be unfair to me? Let’s not turn this illusion of “fairness” into a fact. Let’s look at the Whitehouse facts, and let’s judge if it’s fair or not.
In the life of a people, there is always a migration toward survival and human betterment. This is how I see the migration from poverty south of the border. It is a law of nature to migrate to higher ground, greener pastors, and fresher water. So, they migrate to the Land of Plenty- where there is plenty of work, plenty of food, and enough to spare.
President George said, “I cannot tell a lie”- that was George the First, this is George the Last. Guess what he said:
America is a welcoming nation, and the hard work and strength of our immigrants have made our Nation prosperous. Many immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants have joined the military to help safeguard the liberty of America. Illegal immigration, however, creates an underclass of workers, afraid and vulnerable to exploitation. Current immigration law can also hinder companies from finding willing workers. The visas now available do not allow employers to fill jobs in many key sectors of our economy. Workers risk their lives in dangerous and illegal border crossings and are consigned to live their lives in the shadows. Without harming the economic security of Americans, reform of our Nation's immigration laws will create a system that is fairer, more consistent, and more compassionate.
“America is a welcoming nation” is an unqualified statement, especially in President Bush home state of Texas, where recently the city of Farmers Branch voted overwhelmingly to deny residency to undocumented Hispanic and Latinos. No, America is not a welcoming nation if we look at Farmers Branch, Texas. Unwelcoming is an understatement. Obstinate in accommodating their neighbors is a more accurate discription. Of course, what else can you expect from Texas where the governor declared people should be allowed to carry their guns everywhere, even to church. [O Ye of little faith]
The Whitehouse statement announced:
Today, President Bush proposed a new temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. The program would be open to new foreign workers, and to the undocumented men and women currently employed in the U.S. This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of hiding and participate legally in America's economy while not encouraging further illegal behavior.
President Bush also asked Congress to work with him to achieve significant immigration reform that protects the homeland by controlling the borders; serves America's economy by matching a willing worker with a willing employer; promotes compassion for unprotected workers; provides incentives for temporary workers to return to their home countries and families; protects the rights of legal immigrants while not unfairly rewarding those who came here unlawfully or hope to do so. This legislation must also meet the Nation's economic needs and live up to the promise and values of America.
The statement goes on to say:
President Bush does not support amnesty because individuals who violate America's laws should not be rewarded for illegal behavior and because amnesty perpetuates illegal immigration. The President proposes that the Federal Government offer temporary worker status to undocumented men and women now employed in the United States and to those in foreign countries who have been offered employment here. The workers under temporary status must pay a one-time fee to register in the program, abide by the rules, and return home after their period of work expires. There would be an opportunity for renewal. In the future, only people outside the U.S. may join the temporary worker program, and there will be an orderly system in place to address the needs of workers and companies.
Promotes compassion for unprotected workers? What is compassion- come out of hiding, pay a hefty fine, go back home, pay a hefty application fee to return to the States (at the whims of the government), and fight and kill each other at the border over few jobs and drug trade?
Come on, Mr. President.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Eddie:
ReplyDeleteI used to practice immigration law and participate actively in the Immigration Lawyer's Association's national advocacy. I practiced when some of the other draconian laws were enacted in 1996 like IIRIRA and AEDPA. (I hope I remember the acronyms correctly.)
I think the price of this proposed "reform" is too high, and it would be better to wait for a new administration, where we can get a better deal, for the following reasons:
I was walking down the street yesterday and I briefly just imagined what it would be like to be working immigration policy again representing individual clients, and facing this proposed law. It sent shivers down my spine.
(1) Family immigration has been the basis of immigration theology for 45 years. Why would we want to abandon family ties as the foundation of immigration?
(2) The guest worker and knowledge-based worker provision (from what I've read without reading the actual legislation) are designed to help businesses, not immigrants;
(3) The agreement to spend billions of dollars policing the border with Mexico, installing unworkable fences, buying unproven cameras and hiring (private?) guards are all just a way to line the pockets of the "Friends of Bush." Those Friends of Bush have undoubtedly already written the contracts that the Government will sign to transfer money from the US Treasury to the pockets of those who have already stolen too much.
(4) This law, I've heard, would require poor people to go overseas for a year in order to take "advantage" of its purported amnesty benefits. When I practiced as an immigration lawyer, I did not advise immigrants who were already in the United States and were seeking to normalize their status to go overseas, because their rights would be diminished as soon as they left the United States and there would be little I could do on their behalf. The laws have only gotten more stringent since then, so I doubt that many immigrants would benefit from any provisions that require them to go overseas before normalizing their status here.
(5) If we instead eliminate all barriers to free travel into and out of the United States (requiring only that people come for lawful purposes), then we will be forced to find ways to make friends with the rest of the world, which might ultimately be a much less expensive and more successful way to assure the nation's safety.
For example, if we have a European Union-like arrangement with all of the countries of Latin America, then whites would more quickly cease to be the majority in the US, and relations would improve with Latin America. Maybe we'd even get some immigrants from Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua who know how to implement national health care, since we haven't been able to do so on our own.
When a country that is so powerful is so afraid of its neighbors, that ought to be cause for some real reflection about why. It seems a lot like anti-social personality, disorder, paranoia and obsessive compulsive disorder all rolled into one and all aroused particularly by perceiving the skin-color of the potential immigrants. (Isn't that why all of the countries that don't need visas to visit the US are primarily white-skinned people countries?) I think a lot of our national obsession with stopping immigration is symptomatic of Extreme Color-Aroused Antagonism. (ECA)
Sincerely,
Francis
I hadn't planned to wade into this debate, since I'm already trying to revolutionize the way we think about skin color and the "R" word. But, I just posted an article at my blog, based on my discussions with you.
ReplyDeleteI will wade in on the color ideation disorders and psycho-semantics in race concepts. Your contribution on the Immigration Debate shows the underlying prevalence of a mass psychosis of latent race-base fixations. I say "latent" because most racists do not realize that they are racists. Accusing them of being racist accomplishes nothing. But when we look behind the word abstraction "racism"- as defined by 1965 UN Convention (which definition was directly influence by Malcolm X's definition of "racism")- we find the phenomenon which gives rise to the word-symbol usage, we see a behavior of discriminatory practices. Therefore, we define the behavior as "racist". But race-base ideation goes back inside the head of the person who discriminates by power of position, and do not even realize that they are discriminating. A judge can give a black person 5 years more than a white person and feel no guilt, shame, or prejudice.
ReplyDeleteThere is no Justice ... JUST US . This system was not meant to work for us . You being a revolutionary knows this oh too well. A real revolution there ahs to be blood shed that's all White Americans know and respect . " Can you kick my ass ?" They whupped ass in 1776 and have not turned back in their philosophy since .
ReplyDeleteI believe the President could care less about anything that doesn't have to do with his loot and legacy . I mean the US is at war with an oil making country yet we are suffering as a people at the gas pumps ... Send more troops to Iraq for the insurgents my ass send them over there to hijack the oil barons and help me to fill up this SUV
thank you so much for the email updates.
ReplyDeletei took the liberty of adding you to my blog roll. I hope you don't mind.
please continue to keep em coming.