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Mexican Invasion Title: "Our border is a sieve. We are at war. We certainly need to act like we're at war. We need to close our borders," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters Republicans vow to pass immigration enforcement measures By EUNICE MOSCOSO Cox News Service Friday, September 08, 2006 WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders said Thursday they would pass several border enforcement measures in the next few weeks, essentially sidelining a broader bill to change the nation's immigration laws. "Our border is a sieve. We are at war. We certainly need to act like we're at war. We need to close our borders," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters. "The Congress cannot wait until next year to take on this issue." Hastert and other GOP leaders said they would move within the next few weeks on enforcement measures that could include voter identification cards and safer Social Security cards. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said this week that the measures could also include more money for the Border Patrol and additional fencing and surveillance along the Southern border with Mexico. GOP leaders said that discussions with the Senate on a comprehensive immigration bill are ongoing, but prospects for the measure are bleak. The Senate passed a bill in May that would create a new temporary worker program and give many of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants a path to legal residency and citizenship. The House took a harder line against illegal immigration, passing a bill in December that does not include a temporary worker program or a path to legal residency for illegal immigrants. It would make illegal presence in the United States a criminal felony instead of a civil offense. Lawmakers have been unable to reconcile the two bills. A few hours after the GOP press conference, several thousand immigrants and their supporters converged on the National Mall to pressure Congress to pass a legalization bill. Clad in white T-shirts and carrying signs that said "We Are America" and "Amnesty for All," the largely Latino crowd also protested against recent immigrant raids at workplaces and against the House-passed immigration measure, which has galvanized the Hispanic community. Jose Luis Aguilar, a 25-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras who paid a smuggler $2,000 to cross the Mexican border and works in construction, said immigrants are searching for a better life and should be allowed to become legal residents. "If we come here, it's for a positive objective. To work hard for our families," he said. "Maybe God will soften the hearts of the people in Congress." Earlier this year, more than 2 million legal and illegal immigrants and their supporters took to the streets to protest the House measure. Some angered conservatives by waving Mexican flags. Marches this week in Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego and a few other cities did not attract the same large crowds. The march in Washington Thursday was far smaller than the 1 million people promised by organizers. Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, said that the smaller marches do not mean that the movement has waned. "It's hard to have more than one march in a year that makes history," she said. At a stage near the U.S. Capitol, marchers heard from several lawmakers, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who authored the Senate bill with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Immigration is becoming a national theme heading into November's mid-term elections, with some Republicans attacking opponents for being soft on illegal immigrants. Hastert said that the House would hold a special hearing next week featuring committee chairmen testifying about field hearings they held across the country over the summer. The hearings were criticized by immigrant advocates and Democrats as being a political effort to exploit voter concerns about illegal immigration. After the hearing next week, lawmakers will determine what enforcement measures they will pursue, Hastert said. Republican House leaders said that security measures must come before any temporary worker program or legalization. "You have to stop the hemorrhaging before you heal the wound," said Rep. Deborah Pryce, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. But Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, who helped organize the Washington march, said that GOP lawmakers are making a "grave mistake." "It's campaign rhetoric," he said. "People want a solution. They don't want more partisan bickering."
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#1. To: TLBSHOW (#0)
They need to convince the Senate...anything else is pure posturing...MUD
Question Conventional Wisdom!!
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