Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The White House--
transcripts of last night speech

President Bush tonight discussed his vision for comprehensive immigration Reform.
#1 United States must secure its borders
#2 to secure borders, we must create a temporary worker program
#3 we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire
#4 we must deal with the millions of illegal immigrants already here
#5 we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot

"President Bush believes the illegal immigrants who want to stay here should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law, pay their taxes, learn English, and work in a job for a number of years."

" Comprehensive Immigration Reform Must Include A Tamper-Resistant Identification Card For Every Legal Foreign Worker So Businesses Can Verify The Legal Status Of Their Employees. This card should use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to make it tamper-proof. This would leave employers with no excuse for violating the law, and it would help us enforce the law. "

while I will admit that I am not up on biometric technology, but what this sounds like is just like what happened when we changed the look of our currency to prevent counterfeiting, and within a 24-hour period, new counterfeit bills were on the market.

" America Needs To Conduct This Debate In A Reasoned And Respectful Tone. Feelings run deep on this issue and as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in mind. We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone's fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say. "

on the surface, it sounds like the president is on the right track, however, as he explained his guest worker program, he did not discuss the penalties of the immigrants who do not leave at the end of their guest worker program.

I am glad to hear however that he is insisting that they learn English, which I think is only right considering the country that they choose to live in.

I disagree with Mr. Bush's comments about, "we cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, playing on everyone's fears..."
while I agree that getting angry does not solve anything, however, sometimes to be heard that is exactly what you have to do.

one other question that I have to ask is why is the president pushing for this reform at this particular time?

Could it be because the Mexican presidential election is weeks away?