McCain, Obama, Election Year Politics, Illegal Immigration: BUSH SAYS BORDER SOLUTION INCLUDES AMNESTY

BUSH SAYS BORDER SOLUTION INCLUDES AMNESTY

Tell Congress to Oppose Amnesty and Support the SAVE (Secure America through Verification and Enforcement) Act.

Alert: The solution to security issues on the U.S. border with Mexico will need to include some sort of swinging door so that workers can come and go as they want, according to the White House press secretary.

Correspondents at the White House, Les Kinsolving, asked spokeswoman Dana Perino:

"Reuters reports that our Customs and Border Protection Commissioner admits that the U.S. may not meet the goal of essentially stopping illegal immigration from Mexico by 2011. And my question: What does the president believe would help most in this effort, more border security personnel, more miles of border fence, or more enforcement of immigration regulations nationwide?"

"The president thinks that all of those issues are important, but he would add another measure, which is a temporary worker program so that we could have a legal mechanism for people who want to cross the border and work in America, but also want to go back home," she said.

The Reuters report cited an admission from Ralph Basham, commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who said in 2005 the government projected having "operational control" of the border within five years.

However, in testimony before Congress, he said the Secure Border Initiative included several assumptions, and some of those underlying events have not happened.

"We're going to be pushing to meet those goals ... but I cannot with any assurance tell you right now that we'll meet them," Reuters reported he told a meeting of the House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security.

One congressman, Kentucky Republication Hal Rogers, said the bottom line has to be, "We are going to secure our borders and end illegal immigration."

But Basham said one of the factors on which the protection was based was the assumption about a comprehensive immigration reform package, dubbed an amnesty program by opponents, which failed in Congress.

Officials also said the "virtual fence" that has been built along a 28-mile section of the border in Arizona has been delayed by technical problems, and opposition from landowners along the border also is delaying plans for 670 miles of fencing.

Already Senate Republicans announced the hardest-hitting package of immigration enforcement measures seen yet -- one that would require jail time for illegal immigrants caught crossing the border, make it harder for them to open bank accounts and compel them to communicate in English when dealing with federal agencies.

The Save Act would:

Block federal funding to cities that bar their police from asking about immigration status.

Give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use information from the Social Security Administration to target illegal immigrants.

Require construction of 700 miles of fencing along the southern border, not including vehicle barriers.

Impose sanctions on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.

Deport any immigrant, legal or illegal, for one drunk-driving conviction.

Enable local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws.

The SAVE (Secure America through Verification and Enforcement) Act has drawn 140 cosponsors, 48 of whom are Democrats. (Source: WND.com)

DO NOT BE SILENCED BY ANYONE STAND UP! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Cross posted from our friends at FAXDC.com

Until Next Time,
Recoil