CNN.com - Bush pushes guest worker program for noncitizens - Mar 27, 2006

CNN.com - Bush pushes guest worker program for noncitizens - Mar 27, 2006: "'We need to maintain our perspective on this debate,' Bush said during a Washington swearing-in ceremony for new citizens. 'Some violate our immigration laws and enter the nation illegally and that undermines the system for all of us. America should not have to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful society. We can be both at the same time.' "

Couple of thoughts here to go with pending "immigration" legislation.

One from James Sensenbrenner calls to "fence off 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border and make crossing the border illegally a felony" and "require employers to verify the immigration status of workers before hiring them, with increased fines for employers who fail to comply."

The fence idea has gotten alot of people off of the fence so to speak which has lead to protests across the country.
Bush's plan, calling for a guest worker program which, according to critic Tom Tancredo amounts to amnesty - "enforcing existing laws would discourage illegal immigration because employers would be unable to hire undocumented workers"

Tancredo often has extreme views that don't lead to a pleasant reputation, however, "enforcement" doesn't sound like a horrible idea, otherwise why pass laws.

Arlen Specter called the Tancredo concept "wishful thinking," and touted his own "wishful thinking" plan, to "require a criminal background check and a six-year employment record to qualify for legal status. "They're going to be checked out very, very carefully, they're not going to go ahead of people who have been waiting in line for citizenship. They're going to go to the end of the line for people who have stayed at home and gone through the normal channels."

Specter calling the Tancredo remarks "wishful thinking" is fairly accurate when you consider that it is sadly appropriate when actually enforcing something is considered "wishful." To then outline something more ludicrously "wishful" makes you wonder where this guys head is and/or has been. Time for a new conditioner?

John McCain and Edward "Tedward" Kennedy, "would create a program that would allow guest workers to work in the country for three years with a visa that could eventually earn them permanent residency. It would also create a legal process that could be used by people already in the country illegally to eventually gain legal status." According to Kennedy on Sunday, "what we have seen, across this country is that just enforcement, border enforcement, in and of itself does not solve the problem."

As usual, Tedward Kennedy has something to say and what he said is true yet untried. It is true that you cannot just have border enforcement, yet saying "what we have seen across this country" implying that we have enforced our borders is inaccurate. Part of why we are at the crossroad that we are at is because enforcement has only been applied half-heartedly.

"John Cornyn and John Kyl have introduced another measure, closer to what Bush has proposed, that would create a guest-worker program -- but would not include a legalization process for those now in the United States illegally. Illegal immigrants in the U.S. could go back home and then apply to return as temporary workers."

Above is much like the presidents plan.

All in all these plans work off an assumption and none of them are possible without that assumption, which means we will be back to this crossroad when we need to decide what to do with the new set of 10-plus million illegal immigrants.

Specter calls enforcement "wishful," Kennedy says enforcement alone doesn't work, and everyone has a plan to deal with the "workers." The most difficult task for any of these "WISHFUL" plans is whats missing; and that is border enforcement. How does one go about background checks, setting up a "guest-worker" program, or a three year "visa" program if no one is at the back door? Isn't it odd that the most difficult question is not seriously spoken of, excepting the 700 mile wall, but that isn't the stand alone answer.

How to do it is a big question for which I don't have an answer, besides what would the point of having a plan be if the difficulty of any accepted plan will not be followed through anyway?

Stopping the flow over the border(s) is "wishful" thinking too, but without it we have no accountability for any program/plan that we go forward with. Before any plan can work the holes have to be plugged, which of course still does not address those in the country already, which leads to dealing with 10plus million again some other time down the road, which means.....