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Dem Presidential Hopeful wants Border Fence taken down...
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| DevilDogUSMC |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...0601878_pf.html
Richardson Speaks Against Border Fence
By JENNIFER TALHELM
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 8:46 PM
WASHINGTON -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says a fence at the Mexican border authorized by Congress this fall "gets in the way" of U.S.-Mexico relations, and he wants the new Democratic Congress to reverse the legislation.
"The fence is very unpopular on the border in Texas and New Mexico, in Chihuahua," Richardson, a Democrat, said after meeting Wednesday with leaders from the Mexican state of Chihuahua. "So one of the most significant and constructive acts the U.S. Congress should take is to get rid of it."
Richardson said he will call on Congress not to build the fence during an address Thursday. He also will press lawmakers to approve a bill that secures the border and provides a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. While Congress and President Bush approved the 700-mile border fence, a widely debated bill overhauling immigration policy died in Congress this year.
Both statements ratchet up Richardson's national profile as he weighs whether he will run for president.
Technically, Richardson is in Washington this week for a Democratic governors' meeting. But his schedule also is packed with events that highlight his background as a former congressman, ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary.
Wednesday, he met with Chihuahua officials at an event billed as a model for how the U.S. and Mexico should work together. Thursday, he will give the immigration speech at Georgetown University, and Friday, he will talk about energy independence.
Richardson is coy about his potential presidential plans, saying he will make a decision before the New Mexico legislature convenes Jan. 17. Other possible candidates are already formally exploring whether to run.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...0601878_pf.html
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How bout no! |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by DevilDogUSMC
Wednesday, he met with Chihuahua officials |
:p
| quote: | Originally posted by DevilDogUSMC
How bout no! |
Why not? Won't immigrants always find a way in? Wouldn't it be better to spend this money with the integration of the individuals that are in American soil? Isn't the US a country of immigrants anyway? |
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| Moongoose |
| quote: | Originally posted by DevilDogUSMC
How bout no! |
What are you worried about? A mexican immigrant "stealing" your job? if you have a nice well paid upper level job you most likely have nothing to worry about. If you dont you should have paid more attention in school instead of fearing that an immigrant will take that lovely cashier job at McDonald's away from you. |
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| DJ Shibby |
The whole wall thing scares me...
Not because I give a one way or another about immigrants... that's what this country is based around.
It's the fact that walls serve a scary purpose: to keep people out...
Or to keep people in. |
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| Zild |
| Oh noes! They're going to shovel dirt for $1 less than I will per hour. Oh noes! |
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| BiG-_BoSS |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moongoose
What are you worried about? A mexican immigrant "stealing" your job? if you have a nice well paid upper level job you most likely have nothing to worry about. If you dont you should have paid more attention in school instead of fearing that an immigrant will take that lovely cashier job at McDonald's away from you. |
American's like Russian's are concerned about one thing about immigrants. That with current trends, immigrants having more children than naturalized citizens, the majority of the populace will not be the original kind. Rather they will be the descendants of the illegal immigrants, but who are naturalized citizens of that nation just are not white. |
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| MisterOpus1 |
This is another one of those issues I tend to be a fence-sitter for (bad pun, I know). On the one hand, we need better measures to take care of our borders for security purposes - most folks agree with this. But what really seems to be the issues are two-fold:
1. The effects of leaky borders on areas such as our economy, education infrastructure, jobs, etc. etc. I haven't paid close enough attention on this to truly form an opinion one way or another. I know there's arguments that demonstrate different effects, so if others wish to present those arguments here I'd like to read them. What I do not know from my lack of reading on this is this:
-with the advent of more fences, does this also call for a major increase in manpower as well?
-with the advent of more fences, does that also call for a major crackdown on businesses that hire illegals?
2. What this is doing politically. This is interesting to me as well as we've seen a bit of courting by the Republicans of the latinos over the last coupla years. It worked in 2004 as the number of latino votes increased for Bush. However since the border fence issue has come about over the past year, and since there was a pretty hard-line push by Republican folks like Tancredo (R-Co) to crack down on illegals, this has had a seemingly negative effect on the Republicans politically.
Yesterday's election in a Texas district that was once pretty Republican and had a very established Republican booted out by a Democrat is a very good case in point:
| quote: | Rep. Henry Bonilla’s (R-TX 23) loss last night confirms one of the Bush administration’s greatest fears: that a hard-line position on illegal immigration could cause Republicans long-term damage among the growing Latino vote.
Bonilla was a strong supporter of the tough-on-immigration measures sponsored by the Republicans. He voted for the construction of the 700-mile border fence, and supported Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s bill penalizing workers who hire illegal immigrants.
Based on the election results, it appears Latino voters – even among his previous supporters – turned on him and supported ex-Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D). In Maverick County (95% Hispanic), Bonilla won a miniscule 14% of the vote. By contrast, Bonilla carried the county in his comfortable 2004 win, and President Bush even performed respectably here in 2004 when he won 40%.
Val Verde County (76% Hispanic) has traditionally been a solidly pro-Bush, pro-Bonilla county. Bush carried it with 59% of the vote in 2004. But Bonilla barely carried it, only winning 51% there against Rodriguez.
By contrast, the majority-white counties in the district remained strongly pro-Bonilla. Medina County (45% Hispanic) overwhelmingly voted for Bonilla, giving him 68% of the vote. That’s not much of a dropoff from Bush’s 70% performance there in 2004.
On the day of the election Bonilla’s spokesman Phil Ricks expressed confidence that Hispanics were supportive of Bonilla’s stance on border security. “If you’re a legal citizen, you’re not in favor of illegal immigration. If you go through the process legally, illegal immigration insults you,” he said.
Hispanic voters didn’t see things the same way. And if Bonilla – the only Mexican-American Republican in Congress – takes this much of a hit among Latinos, Republicans have much to be concerned about looking ahead to 2008.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal....the_latino.html |
From the standpoint of this issue being "right" or "wrong" - that's where I need to do my homework a bit more. However, politics does not always necessarily fall in line with ethics, so regardless of whether or not this is the "right" or "wrong" stance on the issue, it's seemingly backfiring on Republicans politically. |
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| Zild |
| quote: | Originally posted by BiG-_BoSS
American's like Russian's are concerned about one thing about immigrants. That with current trends, immigrants having more children than naturalized citizens, the majority of the populace will not be the original kind. Rather they will be the descendants of the illegal immigrants, but who are naturalized citizens of that nation just are not white. |
But regarding America's populace there is no such thing as original kind. |
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| BiG-_BoSS |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
But regarding America's populace there is no such thing as original kind. |
Well sortof. I think there are at least three million who are natives of that land and the majority of Hispanic people are much more closely related to those three million than to European counterparts like the whites in America and Canada. So the original kind would most likly be those brown faced people that American's are so afraid of and want them out of the nation.
Here in Russia. We have always been a white majority but in decades to come we will be a muslim nation. With lots of brown people rather than a white people. |
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| DevilDogUSMC |
We don't mind immigrants. The LEGAL kind. Besides homeland
security concerns, the illegals stress our health care and
education systems.
We have NO problem people going the legal route. And we
already have millions of illegals doing the jobs we don't
want. I also wouldn't mind a way for them to get a path to
citizenship.
Most hispanics are for tighter border security. Most came here
legally and don't like having to support illegals too.
Us Americans have plenty of teens who can work McDonalds
and other crappy jobs along with the millions illegals
we already have. No one is afraid of losing their job
or whatever ignorant comments people made about that.
America has embaced immigrants since it's creation. No
one is scared of 'brown-people' and want them out...
If white canadians came streaming in from the north whites
would be like ' that' too. You want to come in do it
the legal way or bitch at your own country to improve your
way of life instead of taking the easy way out and running
across the border.
I say 20 foot walls on both borders with machine gun nests
every few hundred yards. And land-mine the ******. Get a
visa and fly over if you want to come here. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by DevilDogUSMC
America has embaced immigrants since it's creation. No
one is scared of 'brown-people' and want them out...
If white canadians came streaming in from the north whites
would be like ' that' too. You want to come in do it
the legal way or bitch at your own country to improve your
way of life instead of taking the easy way out and running
across the border.
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What if I'm a Cindy Sheehan lover and trying to dodge the draft?
Oh wait....:p ;) |
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| MrSquirrel |
France built a wall after WWI to keep German "immgrants" out. It was called the Maginot Line.
Those "immigrants" found a way around the wall that totally negated it.
Point being, if people feel a need to get somewhere, no wall will stop them. Especially when there are other ways in like Belgium or the ocean.
MrS |
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