Per the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON - Key senators in both parties and the White House announced agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.
The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S and a separate program to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education-level would for the first time be weighted over family connections in deciding whether future immigrants should get permanent legal status. New high-tech employment verification measures also would be instituted to ensure that workers are here legally.
The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.
Painstaking compromise? I'm quite sure the only discomfort was derived from the delay to Mr. Kennedy's "Happy Hour." So, let's read on and see what ole Georgie-boy had to say about the consensus:
Bush praises deal
Bush called it "a much-needed solution to the problem of illegal immigration in this country" and said, if approved, the proposal "delivers an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair."
"With this bipartisan agreement, I am confident leaders in Washington can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate so I can sign comprehensive reform into law this year," he said in a written statement Thursday.
I may be a bit slow at times, but where exactly is the "much-needed solution?" From my perspective it appears as though the United States government has examined its options and decided that the best possible solution to this "immigration problem" is simply to turn its collective head. The ostrich-style of government has reared its ugly head once again in DC.
So, the only Kennedy brother who wasn't shot, and perhaps should have been, says:
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his party's lead negotiator on the deal, hailed it as "the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America."
"Sunshine into America?" Pull your head out of your ass, Mr. Kennedy, and you may realize that it's not nearly as dark as you perceive it.
Screw you:
1.) Arnold Schwarzenegger for all of your belly-aching and whining about the "illegal immigrant problem." California is the American equivalent of Quebec. "We can't fix it on our own. We're too weak and stupid. Please bail us out so we can screw over the rest of the country." By the way, can you provide documentation that you are, in fact, a legal resident of this country?
2.) Wealthy people who can afford to pay a decent wage to the LEGAL immigrants, residents and citizens of this country. You contribute to this problem more than any other identifiable group. You encourage illegal immigration and contribute to the strain on health care, education and other social programs for the betterment of your own bottom line. Once again, the good of the few outweighs the benefit of the many. But, please, for the sake of my own sanity, don't misrepresent yourself on national TV, claiming to be a part of the solution. Your efforts to protect our borders with the installation of an eight foot chain link fence, with occasional patrols of your property with your trusty 12-gauge, are futile. An immigrant without climbing skills is still residing in Mexico.
3.) Washington for proposing the most impotent of legislation to address this situation. Exactly how will this be implemented? The Department of Homeland Security has been completely ineffectual at border protection. New laws will only bog down the bureaucracy even further. Illegal immigrants have no respect for U.S. law. That's why they're called "illegals." Where is the rationale that there will be any obedience to new immigration regulation?
4.) Mexicans for your complete and utter disrespect of the law-abiding U.S. citizens and residents. Screw you for thinking that you are above the laws of this country. I am a legal resident of this country. I paid my dues and, when it was all said and done, it ultimately cost me $5000. I pay an outrageous amount of my income to the U.S. government in the form of taxation which only results in asinine legislation like this. I'm subsidizing your lazy asses and I am bitter. If you'd just stop sending your money back to your homeland, you might have enough to file the appropriate documents and stop sucking this country dry.
5.) Mexico for maintaining such deplorable living conditions that your citizens have no alternative but to flee north. You have benefited immensely from NAFTA, and yet have done nothing to improve the standard of living in your country. Get your shit together, clean up your act, take responsibility for your own citizens so the rest of North America doesn't have to.
I think it may be time to return to the Great White North.
