Congress critters might have actually been reading mail from their constituents — I think they are waking up to the fact that any immigration bill could be the radioactive kryptonite that kills even super-incumbents. There are firm passions on all sides of the debate, and there are complexities to making an effective bill. Denny Hastert put the bill on ice today.
You can’t just put up a fence, although that would help a great deal and send the right message, so it does merit a single bill by itself; however we know that fence-only wouldn’t pass the senate and would endanger Republicans.
As pointed out in previous articles, there are ways to deal with illegal immigrants in-country now as long as we are willing to work process to enable and encourage local governments to enforce the Federal immigration laws.
Strenthening local enforcement provisions through local ballot initiatives and propositions would make for a very strong turn-out of Republican voters, so maybe Congress is stalling to let that happen, you be the judge.
From Breitbart:
Hopes for a quick compromise on immigration were dealt a blow Tuesday after House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he wanted to take a “long look” at a Senate bill offering possible citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants. Hastert said hearings on the Senate bill should be held before appointing anyone to a House-Senate committee to negotiate a compromise immigration bill. Later, he said he was unsure what the House’s next move would be. “We’re going to take a long look at it,” Hastert said late Tuesday. House Majority Leader John Boehner agreed. “I think we should know clearly what’s in the Senate bill,” Boehner said. But he added there are lots of ways to understand its contents. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also scheduled a hearing for Monday to review provisions in the bill requiring employers to verify that their workers are legal. Cornyn said he opposes a provision allowing workers to use up to 20 documents to verify they are legal workers. Also, the Department of Homeland Security has raised concerns about how quickly it must have in place an electronic system that employers will use to verify their workers legal status, Cornyn’s spokesman Don Stewart said.
To be effective the bill passed must have power to take care of “Sanctuary Cities”, or as Newt Gingrich’s blog calls them “Lawless Cities” From Newt:
Last Monday I recorded a radio commentary spot on so-called sanctuary cities that will air this week. “Sanctuary cities†is the term used by cities that have decided not to enforce our immigration laws. Los Angeles and New York are the two largest, but there are at least two dozen in total. As you’ll hear, I denounce the practice and call on Congress to deny these cities federal funding. As I started reading the script, I remembered the words of a colleague who said that “sanctuary cities†is way too positive a term to use. They are offering sanctuary, yes, but it is sanctuary from the law. So “lawless cities†is a much better way to describe them. I recorded the piece using the term “lawless cities†instead. I think it better communicates the subversive nature of what these cities are doing to our system of law and order. Â
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