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Bush Does About-Face on Immigration

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Mon Nov 28, 2005 at 06:31:00 PM EST
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Think Progress exposes Bush's U-Turn on Immigration. Undocumented residents are no longer "hard working citizens" in his eyes. They have morphed into "terrorists, drug dealers, and criminals."

CNN has more on Bush's new immigration plan.

Update: Digby, as usual, makes tremendous sense on the issue.

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    Bush Does About-Face on Immigration | 20 comments (20 topical)
    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    There's no U-turn, this is just the same old BS. Here's an interesting fact for moderate Dems and independents to consider: if John Kerry had come out against illegal immigration - not just BS, but actually pledging to reduce illegal immigration - he would have won Ohio and Arizona. Think about that, Dems: President Kerry. And, all you would have had to do was do the American thing.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    No, this is the American thing: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    "...if John Kerry had come out against illegal immigration..."
    He would have lost one vote in Tampa that would have been reluctantly cast for an inarticulate Green party buffoon with a laundry list of trivial issues highlighted as if they were of equal importance as the War in Iraq. But Kerry would have lost my vote out of principle in that case. I will never vote alongside Social Conservatives that want to close our borders in one breath and then want to turn around and let Neoliberalism both suck jobs away from Middle America and then suck Second and Third World Capital right back into overflowing elitist Western Coffers.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#4)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    Even the Statue of Liberty had to go through customs. (warning: no fact-checking attempted)

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#5)
    by glanton on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    BMB throws a hanging curve, TL hits a triple, and Tampa knocks her in with a two run homer over the Green Monster. Looks like BMG's headed for the showers. God I love baseball.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#6)
    by glanton on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    That's "BMB"--not that it matters.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    I will never vote alongside Social Conservatives that want to close our borders in one breath and then want to turn around and let Neoliberalism both suck jobs away from Middle America and then suck Second and Third World Capital right back into overflowing elitist Western Coffers.
    Amen.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    Glanton, Tampa: I am sure you mistakenly overlooked that the article was about illegal immigrants. As far as I read, legal immigrants are good to go. As they should be. So the border would not be closed. TL: Correct me if I am wrong, but the immigration laws were different when great words were put on the Statue of Liberty. Maybe the next democratic pres. candidate will make changing the immigration laws part of their platform.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    All this means is that Bush and the Republicans have finally noticed how irritated most Americans are about illegal immigration. As usual, the "illegal" part of that confuses TL no end. Whether Republicans plan to do more than lip service on this is an open question.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    All this means is that Bush and the Republicans have finally noticed how irritated most Americans are about illegal immigration.
    All this means is Bush is desperate to get his sagging support amongst conservatives up. Xenophobia is pretty rampant right now, Bush is throwing red meat to the commoner base, and a wink and a nod to big business on the sly. I think it's lip service and nothing more.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    Wile E.... Correct me if I am wrong, but the immigration laws were different when great words were put on the Statue of Liberty. Actually, I don't think the laws have changed. When people came through Ellis Island, they were documented. The words are still great... nothing wrong with immigration.... just do it legally so we can keep track of who's here.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    I've noticed a few uses of Emma Lazarus' poem recently. When asked to support their open borders positions, all the far-left can supply is poetry, lies, mischaracterizations, misuse of the language, and name-calling. For every vote from a "Tampa Student" that Kerry would have lost, he would have gained ten from Ohio blue-collar workers who would have had their wages reduced by the "temporary" worker programs that both Bush and "liberals" support. I also responded to yet another TL use of poetry here, and once again, if you want to find out what's really going on about this issue, click here.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    "For every vote from a "Tampa Student" that Kerry would have lost, he would have gained ten from Ohio blue-collar workers who would have had their wages reduced by the "temporary" worker programs that both Bush and "liberals" support."
    Only because those workers would be myopic enough not to recognize the difference between a liberal and a Democrat. Further, because those workers don't understand Neoliberalization and Globalization outside the context of their own paychecks. It may suck to be a victim of downsizing and outsourcing, but it sucks worse to not understand that watching CNN's evening news isn't enough to understand all of the the economic factors affecting one's life. Those workers should direct that sourness towards U.S. politicians and U.S. policy instead of directing hatred toward impoverished persons from other lands just trying to find decent work and a decent life for themselves. If they choose to just "blame the Mexicans" (or whichever group they despise), then it says something pretty despicable about their personal values. Lots of red staters are blue collar...worker's outrage isn't the only thing that factors into their personal values or ideology... No Liberal I know would support breaking a justified picket line...

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#14)
    by glanton on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    "If they choose to just "blame the Mexicans" (or whichever group they despise), then it says something pretty despicable about their personal values." Here, here Tampa. I get this schtick all the time from people I encounter when I travel home to North Carolina. In the mountain towns especially "them Mexicans" has amazing currency. Those who spew these ideas wouldn't be surprised to be called out as bigots (pretty proud of their perceived superiority to them there Mexicans, after all), but boy would they be in for a shock if for one second they grasped that their own voting behavior and, indeed to a slightly lesser extent, their cultural backwardness has a lot more to do with their economic struggles than any "furrenner." Trogolydytes, Marx called these people. It's one of the tings I agree with him on.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    Actually, bush just talked about reform, this is his policy:
    Mr Bush barely mentioned in Tucson the central component of his plans — the establishment of a guest worker programme that critics have called in effect an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants already working in the US.
    So not only does bushco EXPORT our jobs overseas, but he IMPORTS illegal workers to take American jobs in America.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#16)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    I think it's lip service and nothing more.
    That's what I read, too. A diversion from his failures in other areas.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#17)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:" Since we're speaking generally of Mexicans, let's look at these words. "Tired" probably no more than the rest of us. "Poor" kinda depends on what the definition of "poor" is, but by general US standards yes, by general Mexican standards, well, in general they have homes, food, clothes, and enough work to buy those things, etc. For example, it seems that the price for a "coyote" to get illegal Mexicans across the border is around $1000. Each. $1000 could be considered a small fortune in Mexico. Although I would characterize many of the Native Mexicans (Indians) as poor, even by Mexican standards. "Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," I assuem this is referring to a despotic gvt., so probably not really the case here. "The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:" "wretched refuse, homeless" again, in general, Mexicans have homes, food, clothes, etc. and by "tempest" I assume it means significant social upheaval, so this doesn't really apply either. In general Mexicans come here illegally for economic opportunity - to be able to get more stuff. I don't hold that against them, but in general they're not the poor souls described in the poem.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    "I am sure you mistakenly overlooked that the article was about illegal immigrants. As far as I read, legal immigrants are good to go."
    Except that the whole debate over legal and illegal immigrants is framed in the debate over closing the Mexican border (and always discussed in a vacuum, erroneously - and purposefully - never discussed in the context of the debate over Globalization). Perhaps there is something wrong with our current immigration and naturalization standards...gee, you think? Nevertheless, it's not the exploitation of cheap labor that I'm a proponent of, it's the humane treatment of those who are trying to improve their lives in an America that is hell bent on lining the pockets of the wealthiest Americans by ensuring that the needs of any viable American middle class must be provided through the exploitation of the world's poor (i.e. U.S. Corporate interests, oil).

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#19)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    I guess my argument is with the title of the post; bush DID NOT do an about face, he said some pretty lines and he still supports "guest workers" AKA illegal immigrants.

    Re: Bush Does About-Face on Immigration (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:32 PM EST
    Tampa:
    Except that the whole debate over legal and illegal immigrants is framed in the debate over closing the Mexican border
    Can you show a link where anyone wants to completely close the border to any immigrants?
    (and always discussed in a vacuum, erroneously - and purposefully - never discussed in the context of the debate over Globalization)
    Seems to be like progressives purposely blurring the lines between legal and illegal immigrants- "undocumented workers", "undocumented residents", "no longer hard working citizens" (they were not citizens to begin with), etc. My last flight overseas, when I was hanging out in the bar after landing, I could have been considered all of those.
    Perhaps there is something wrong with our current immigration and naturalization standards...gee, you think?
    Yup, see my above post (6th down) on these comments.

    Bush Does About-Face on Immigration | 20 comments (20 topical)