Post by DEERTRACKS on Mar 28, 2007 6:07:18 GMT -5
Immigration reform group blasts amnesty-friendly STRIVE Act
Chad Groening and Jody Brown
OneNewsNow.com
March 27, 2007
An immigration reform organization says the latest immigration bill introduced in the House is nothing more than an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens already in the United States.
The STRIVE Act of 2007 (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy), introduced by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez (D - Illinois) and Jeff Flake (R - Arizona), is similar to the Senate bill put forward last year by Senator Ted Kennedy and John McCain. Kennedy even praised the Gutierrez-Flake bill, and said he was optimistic a new Senate bill will follow.
An overview of the Act promises to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, strengthen interior enforcement of immigration laws, bolster employment verification of immigrants, and provide what it calls "earned legalization for qualified, hardworking individuals." In Flake's words, it also creates a "temporary worker program that's enforceable and fair."
But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) takes issue with that assessment. Mehlman says despite promises of tougher enforcement, all the STRIVE Act does is give millions of illegal aliens what they want.
"Really what it does is it grants amnesty to just about everybody who's been in the country illegally before June 1, 2006," Mehlman explains; "so that encompasses just about everybody who's in the country illegally right now."
The FAIR spokesman says the legislation proposes what he describes as a "monumentally silly and pointless exercise" of requiring all illegal aliens to go the nearest border and "turn around and come right back -- as though that is going to solve the problem and make it okay with the American public." Mehlman says the sponsors must think the American people are completely stupid.
"So not only is it the same old amnesty bill that the American public rejected last year," he says, "but on top of that they're now going to try to insult the intelligence of the American people."
Mehlman says he is content for lawmakers to haggle over this latest legislation as long as they wish because Gutierrez has admitted that if the Senate and House do not get their bills passed by July, the approaching election cycle will make it much more difficult to get it through.
Chad Groening and Jody Brown
OneNewsNow.com
March 27, 2007
An immigration reform organization says the latest immigration bill introduced in the House is nothing more than an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens already in the United States.
The STRIVE Act of 2007 (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy), introduced by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez (D - Illinois) and Jeff Flake (R - Arizona), is similar to the Senate bill put forward last year by Senator Ted Kennedy and John McCain. Kennedy even praised the Gutierrez-Flake bill, and said he was optimistic a new Senate bill will follow.
An overview of the Act promises to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, strengthen interior enforcement of immigration laws, bolster employment verification of immigrants, and provide what it calls "earned legalization for qualified, hardworking individuals." In Flake's words, it also creates a "temporary worker program that's enforceable and fair."
But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) takes issue with that assessment. Mehlman says despite promises of tougher enforcement, all the STRIVE Act does is give millions of illegal aliens what they want.
"Really what it does is it grants amnesty to just about everybody who's been in the country illegally before June 1, 2006," Mehlman explains; "so that encompasses just about everybody who's in the country illegally right now."
The FAIR spokesman says the legislation proposes what he describes as a "monumentally silly and pointless exercise" of requiring all illegal aliens to go the nearest border and "turn around and come right back -- as though that is going to solve the problem and make it okay with the American public." Mehlman says the sponsors must think the American people are completely stupid.
"So not only is it the same old amnesty bill that the American public rejected last year," he says, "but on top of that they're now going to try to insult the intelligence of the American people."
Mehlman says he is content for lawmakers to haggle over this latest legislation as long as they wish because Gutierrez has admitted that if the Senate and House do not get their bills passed by July, the approaching election cycle will make it much more difficult to get it through.