Bush also wants to do this so he can use it as a bargaining chip to
silence potential Mexican opposition to his planned "Southern
Offensive", taking over Venezuela, deeper secret war involvement in
Columbia, invading Cuba, and strategic base positoning in northern
Argentina to use a big stick against potential rival Brazil and as a
spring board of secret war intervention in conflicts throughout
central South America in the name of countering narcottics trade and
terrorism.
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Bush Wants to Allow Illegal Aliens Who Have Jobs
NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004
WASHINGTON – President Bush is proposing to let foreign workers who
have U.S. jobs waiting for them enter America, a move designed to help
repair relations with Mexico and capture Latino voters in this year's
election.
The president has been silent on the immigration issue for two years,
but advocacy groups are being invited to the White House on Wednesday
to hear details of a proposal to match willing foreign workers, mostly
from Mexico, with receptive U.S. employers.
There are an estimated 10 million illegal aliens in the United States,
as many as half of them from Mexico.
"The president has long talked about the importance of having an
immigration policy that matches willing workers with willing
employers," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday.
"It's important for America to be a welcoming society. We are a nation
of immigrants, and we're better for it."
The announcement comes just before Bush's scheduled meeting with
Mexico's President Vicente Fox next week at the Summit of the Americas
in Monterey, Mexico. Mexican officials have complained bitterly at
times that while the Bush administration has sought their help with
border security and combatting drug trafficking, they have not acted
on their desire for favorable changes in U.S. immigration policy.
How Dare the U.S. Protect Itself?
Mexican officials have complained that the Bush administration has
used post-Sept. 11 security concerns as an excuse to better protect,
rather than allow freer movement over the U.S.-Mexican border. Tense
relations were further aggravated by Mexico's decision not to support
the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and when Bush refused to stop the execution
of a Mexican in Texas.
Details of Bush's proposal have been sketchy, yet immigration policy
groups already are suspicious that it is an election-year ploy to
curry favor with Hispanics, an important voting bloc for Bush,
especially in Florida and in border states such as California and
Texas, which are flush with electoral votes.
"A proposal that is serious, comprehensive and worthy of bipartisan
support will be warmly welcomed by those who follow these issues
closely, including Latino and immigrant voters," according to a
statement issued by National Immigration Forum, which advocates
immigration policies that welcome immigrants and refugees. "Proposals
that are more posture than substance will be dismissed as
election-year antics."
Two sources speaking on condition of anonymity said Bush would outline
a set of principles rather than a detailed piece of legislation, and
that the policy statement would draw on bills already pending in
Congress.
Abetters of Illegal Aliens Still Not Satisfied
"It looks very much like a political effort, and what they do with
these 'principles' is going to determine whether this is really a
policy initiative or not," said Cecilia Mono, vice president for
policy at National Council of La Razz. "The Latino community knows the
difference between political posturing and a real policy debate."
She said the initiative was crafted by Bush's political strategist,
Karl Rove, and that the "immigration policy community" was excluded
from the deliberations.
"We have been asking the White House to get back to this debate for
two years," she said. "It's a good thing that they're moving forward,
but it needs to be action, not just talk."
The administration began foreshadowing a possible change in U.S.
immigration policy late last year.
In November, Secretary of State Colin Powell met in Washington with
Mexican officials on the issue of cross-border migration, and raised
the possibility that changes could be approved this year. In December,
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in Miami that the United
States needed to "come to grips" with the millions of illegal aliens
and give them some kind of "legal status." Bush followed up at a
year-end news conference where he said he was getting ready to send a
recommendation to Congress.
Two guest-worker bills have been proposed in Congress: One from
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and two of his Republican House
colleagues, Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake; and a second from Sen. John
Cornyn, R-Texas.
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