W threatens employers

[jefhatfield]

as we all know the president is on his soapbox about illegal immigration and the american employers who hire them

he wants to put thousands of national guard on the southern border...or he could just be rattling his sword

he wants to stop the "catch and release" problem with illegal immigrants

yet he wants to, and needs to keep a good relationship with mexico, a major trading partner...this is something both conservatives and liberals can agree on

will he, as some conservative pundits say, go after employers who hire illegal immigrants and make it a felony and start going after people? (it is already against the law to hire illegals but is but largely unenforced)

should employers be charged with said federal felony and get up to seven years in federal prison? is it enforceable?...and most importantly, would W resort to such draconian tactics against americans who employ illegal immigration, sometimes forced to in order to stay in business?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[iGary]

1. Better secure the borders, but be realistic and understand people will get through.

2. I don't care if they are here illegally as long as they don't suck up government services. If they pay taxes, do their part and are good citizens, I could care less if they are from Pluto.

3. There should be an amnesty program for existing immigrants to become citizens, and that requires learning English.

[FFTT]

Oh the double speak of it all!

He's saying that corporate America needs to support this bill so they can take advantage of the temporary worker program.

This gives them a virtually endless source of cheap underskilled and underpaid workers.

[crdean1]

If we make Mexico the 51st state, our problems would be solved, Ha.

[zimv20]

will he, as some conservative pundits say, go after employers who hire illegal immigrants
no. he'd be going after industries which support the GOP. bush and the GOP really want two things:
1. to score political points for the midterms
2. to create an exploitable, non-voting worker class

[jefhatfield]

no. he'd be going after industries which support the GOP. bush and the GOP really want two things:
1. to score political points for the midterms
2. to create an exploitable, non-voting worker class

i can definitely say, with 99 percent assuredness, at least from what i have seen, that your first point is what this is all about...with W at less than 30% percent approval rating, he doesn't want to take the rest of the party down with him...if he gains ten percent, let's say, before the midterms, then maybe the gop can retain the house and the senate

but no matter what, it looks bleak right now for the republicans

i am so split on this immigration issue...people in my industry (landscaping) would be wiped out if W went after them and fined and/or jailed employers...restaurants and some retail stores would also suffer...but there is no doubt in my head it is primarily industries that work under the table that bring promise to illegal immigrants...and that is why them come over...i don't see people crossing the border on friday so they could land a software developer job on monday

so if you do an inquisition against employers, me included, if i hired illegal immigrants, that would stop the flow of people across the border...but not having soldiers on the border which could potentially turn very ugly

morally, it may be wrong for a landscaper to hire illegal immigrants, and thus deny american citizens jobs, but on the other hand, if we all hired only american citizens, then our rates would double overnight or at least go up by half...and most people simply would not hire us

practically speaking, the landscaping industry here in california absolutely needs illegal immigrants and if W went after us, the restauranteurs, and small retail operations, most of us would have to shut down and find something else to do for a living...we could tempt fate and continue on, but W would have no issue with fining/jailing us since he had no problem with speeding along executions while he was governor in texas

as a law student, one of the first things i learned was the constitution, and early on it became apparent that it does not always, some say rarely, protect us

in theory, it's like this:

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS >>>>> vs <<<<<FED and STATE RIGHTS

with W, it looks like this with a power shift against individuals:

individual rights >> vs <<<<<<<<FED and STATE RIGHTS

the president is not supposed to have the powers he is throwing around these days, but even if he stayed within the limits of his job, he could still do a lot of damage to employers who hire illegal immigrants and to the immigrants themselves

some say bush is a lame duck, but others see him as a would be dictator on his way to shredding the constitution

[Desertrat]

Dubya's babble was no more than smoke and mirrors.

Separately, consider: If illegals are beating citizens out of jobs because they will work for lower pay, aren't we then in a position of importing our out-sourcing?

I vaguely recall some commentary here about the evils of outsourcing jobs to foreign countries, which of course means foreign laborers...

Doesn't seem it's just Dubya who wants to both eat and have that cake.

:), 'Rat

[Dont Hurt Me]

I think if we didnt have a election coming this administration would be doing what it has done for years. NOTHING. Its hard to hear anything he says without wondering about the spin that follows.

[tristan]

So a computer science PhD still can't immigrate to this country, but an unemployed janitor can. That's a forward-thinking policy.