What should be done about illegal immigration?

Okay, so every illegal is a homegrown terrorist.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Immigration Reform Bill Likely to Feature a Guest Worker Program

"Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it's a fact," Dobbs replies.

"You can't tell me that. You did report it," Stahl says.

"I just did," Dobbs says.

"How can you guarantee that to me?" Stahl asks.

Says Dobbs, "Because I'm the managing editor. And that's the way we do business. We don't make up numbers, Lesley."

EDITORIAL

Eyes on the road, please

May 9, 2007

Undocumented immigrant drivers are learning to steer clear of Waukegan, where a routine traffic stop can cost more than their cars are worth. If the driver doesn't have a license -- and those who are here illegally can't get one -- then the vehicle is impounded. To get it back, the owner pays $500, plus $170 for towing and $35 a day for storage.

It's a nice little moneymaker for the city, which has towed 8,000 vehicles since 2004. But city officials insist the goal is to ensure public safety. Unlicensed drivers are a danger to themselves and others. And they can't get insurance, so if they're involved in an accident, someone else ends up paying for the damage.

Tens of thousands of immigrants are believed to be driving without licenses in the state. They've never been tested to prove they know the rules of the road or how to operate a vehicle safely. They don't have insurance. But those obstacles haven't prevented them from getting behind the wheel, putting themselves and others at risk.

So let them drive legally. The Illinois House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow people who have no Social Security number to supply other documents and get a "driver's certificate" instead of a license. The certificate could not be used for boarding a plane or buying a firearm. It would simply allow them to drive legally. They would have to pass the usual tests and buy insurance. The certificate would be revoked if they didn't get insurance within 30 days.

The measure is running into trouble in the Senate, where some supporters have hit the brakes because of angry feedback from their constituents. "This issue has lit up my phones like no other issue in years," said Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont).

A South Elgin man who testified before a Senate committee said passing such a bill amounted to "aiding and abetting criminals." That echoed the words of Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. (R-Mundelein), who voted against the measure in the House: "I don't believe we should reward people for being here illegally," he said.

Don't think of it as rewarding illegal immigrants. Think of it as protecting them and everybody else. Some may still drive illegally, as do some citizens. But most of the immigrants will learn the rules of the road and get insurance so they can drive with a certificate. It works that way in tax law: Given the chance to operate on the right side of the law, 70 percent of illegal workers regularly pay taxes using a taxpayer identification number.

The immigration system needs an overhaul so that the workers we need don't have to come here illegally, and Congress is working on that.

The Illinois General Assembly, meanwhile, should keep its eyes on the road. It's in everyone's best interests for immigrants to be able to drive safely and legally. Even in Waukegan.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

From today's Albuquerque Journal (frontpage and page A2, online version)

Quote:

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Immigration Reform Bill Likely to Feature a Guest Worker Program

They were invited; by their hirings for jobs in the US, they were technically "invited." Americans hired them.

To be a guest, don't you have to be invited? Last time I check we didn't invite people who broke the law with their very presence in our country.

Baldimo wrote:

To be a guest, don't you have to be invited? Last time I check we didn't invite people who broke the law with their very presence in our country.

If you refer here to "guest" in the term 'guest worker program', I suggest that you get informed of that.

None of the illegals here are guests. Their criminals plain and simple. Once again guests are invited and they were not invited. A guest worker program which doesn't exist right now would still require us to offer jobs and invite the "guests" in to work the jobs. Just letting them into the country to find a job is silly and I hope it doesn't go that direction.

au wrote: CI
Who invited the 12 to 20 million who slipped across the border and never left?

The US government, by not enforcing laws they themselves made into law.

cicerone imposter wrote:

au wrote: CI
Who invited the 12 to 20 million who slipped across the border and never left?

The US government, by not enforcing laws they themselves made into law.

where in the constitution can I find the paragraph that allows laws to be broken if they are not enforced. I am having trouble finding it. CI can you help?