B2 favors amnesty. I think he might be French. ;)

You mean you expect this particular federal bureaucracy to do their jobs effectively and with enthusiasm?

And because they don't, it must be Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

don't blame the gubmint workers. they do what they're told to do, and their boss is B2. that's how things really work around here.

If someone is in this country illegally, they are not an "immigrant".

Tabs, Sorry if I was a bit obtuse, but this is another area where I agree with you!

I was not aware that this was a "political" discussion. IMHO this is a legal issue that will continue to divide our coutry until it is approached head on. Both the Repubs and the Dems have sidestepped this issue for, oh, a hundred plus years. This is not GWB's fault, this is not Mr Hillary's fault. Are you mad at the situation? Get in touch with your representative. Better yet, let's get some of our people from this board to run for office! 95% of the regular posters here are smarter than what we send to office anyway... (even if we can't spell ;-)

David, if B2 / white house issues a directive to the agencies involved that he wants to actively pursue / deport illegal aliens and prosecute the companies that hire them, the agencies will do this to the extent that their manpower and budget allow. Congress can help with funding. I don't see the political will here in DC to tackle this problem. They're worried about votes, not the impact of illegals.

I understand Republican fear. The Democrats and media have joined forces to cultivate Democrats out of the illegals. If this reality was dismantled, there would be much greater will to stop illegal immigrants. As it stands Democrats are taking credit for Bush's amnesty, the media are ignoring Bush agreeing with the illegal demonstrators, and those uber-socialists in charge of the demonstrations are painting the picture that Bush and Republicans are racist and against them...Even with Bush and moderate Republican caving to illegals, they are getting labeled by the left as racist and anti-immigrant--could you imagine if they did something effective about it?...The Democrats and the media would be yelling "racism" for weeks, months, even years.

edit: corrected to read "...moderate Republican..."

Republican "fear?" whassat? ;)

Cali was bought & paid for from the french, part of the Louisiana Purchase

All quite true. Sad.

Oh, yesterday I traveled and ate out as many times as I could. Now have to exercise

Jim,

I'll attempt to address your points: The last round of legislation (Clinton Pres/Rebuplican House/Senate) was supposed to give teeth to the INS for deporting illegals and fining businesses that hire illegal workers. Both of our last two Pres' have had the same tools, neither has given the go ahead to the INS.

Both Pres' have stripped the INS budget to pay for other "pet" projects. Through inaction and policy, the legislation has been de-clawed.

Both parties have gone to a no-debate, closed door, party line form of government. We no longer have open dissent and only the "party line" is publically presented.

The biggest concern amongst average Americans (as evidenced here) and the main parties is what party has the biggest amount of control and how can we blame the other party for what is wrong. We are fed and gladly eat the pablum of talking in issues while nothing really gets done to correct basic infrastructure deficiencies.

Immigration issues are more than 100 years old and both parties have had ample time to address tough questions. Instead of correcting basic structural issues we fight over whether someone should be impeached or whether someone should be censored or how much time will be taken off for spring break.

Politicians care about themselves and who bought/paid their way into office. The status quo is what is protected in the end. Very few people of integrity (IMHO an example would be Dr. Ron Paul R-Texas) are currently sitting in Washington at any level.

I can't argue re: the lack of integrity in both parties and their leadership. I think our gov't could've enforced border security a long, long time ago, but chose not to. National shame.