Illegal Immigration Watch: United States Senate Judiciary Committee Approves an Immigration Bill
Sen, Larry Craig, R-Idaho, left, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., confer as the Senate Judiciary Committee considers immigration legislation during a mark-up hearing on Capitol Hill Monday, March 27, 2006.
ASSociated Press: Senate Panel Approves Immigration Bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for immigrants.
With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5 million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry.
This bill is dead on arrival before the November mid-term elections. The House will NEVER reconcile these provisions in Conference Committee. But Republicans will remember those GOP Senators who broke ranks and voted for this bill. They are:
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina
Senator Arlen Spector, R-Pennsylvania
Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kansas
Senator Mike DeWine, R-Ohio
Senator John McCain, R-Arizona contributed to the debate by supporting the Democrats:
Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, a potential presidential contender who worked with Kennedy on the issue, told reporters the street demonstrations had made an impact. “All those people who were demonstrating are not here illegally. They are the children and grandchildren” of those who may have been, he said.
Other bill provisions include:
1. Approval for the five-year program to permit as many as 1.5 million agriculture workers into the country.
2. Allow an additional 400,000 green cards for future immigrants, regardless of the industry where they find jobs.
3. The bill would double the Border Patrol and authorizes a “virtual wall” of unmanned vehicles, cameras and censors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.
4. Aallows more visas for nurses and agriculture workers, and shelters humanitarian organizations from prosecution if they provide non-emergency assistance to illegal residents.
5. Permit illegal aliens currently in the country to apply for citizenship without first having to return home, a process that would take at least six years or more. They would have to pay a fine, learn English, study American civics, demonstrate they had paid their taxes and take their place behind other applicants for citizenship
This bill is AMNESTY for illegal aliens and a dissservice to America.
Flap handicaps a conservative Republican filibuster if President Bush indicates he will sign this legislation.
Stay tuned……
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