Bush's immigration nonsense

Generally I'm a supporter of President Bush, but when he talks about creating a 'guest worker' program and an amesty for illegals - I start fuming. Such a program is patently unfair, threatens national security, and encourages more illegal immigration.

I'm an immigrant to this great country, albeit not a permanent resident. I had to go through all the hoops and red tape, and what not just to get here. If I wanted to get permanent residency, I'd have even more hassles, which would take years going through the byzantine maze of INS regulations.

So, know what Bush is telling us is that if you're here illegally, you jump to the front of the line and get a green card, no questions asked. Gee, that makes me feel good. I should change my name to Miguel Sanchez, stay after my visa expires to become an illegal, and get in under the amnesty.

The worst part about this is that I think that this will have a negligible impact on the GOP's Hispanic vote. I would bet that a large number of Hispanic voters who came here though the proper channels would be ticked to find out that they're letting in the people who cheated first.

Finally, the GOP will suffer immeasurably as a result of this. Many conservatives and mainstream Americans have immigration and the need to control the borders near the top of their concerns, and the party ignores them at their peril.

What needs to be done before any of this guest worker nonsense is fourfold:

1. Beef up border security to prevent illegals from entering the country.
2. Bring in laws that severely punish companies for using illegal aliens as labour.
3. Have local law enforcement check the immigration status of all suspects arrested, if they are here illegally - the INS must deport them within 72 hours
4. Refom the process of immigration into the country. Clarify the criteria of who qualifies, and have an answer for them promptly - like 90 days. There is no reason for the confusion that is presently the INS where it can take years to determine whether one can immigrate into the U.S. or not.

The sad part is that neither political party has any stomach for this. As Pat Buchanan once said, "The Democats see illegals as potential Democratic voters. The Republicans see illegals as a source of cheap labor."