Immigration laws and/or amnesty

President Bush lost support of his party in droves for proposing amnesty for illegals--I'm sure he didn't call his temporary worker program that--but that's what it was. His plan, during a booming economy, was intended to benefit employers, and I think his motives (political) were quite transparent.

"Yet even with all these steps [more border patrols and law enforcement], we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border--and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result, they won’t have to try to sneak in. We will enforce our immigration laws at the work site, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers--so there is no excuse left for violating the law. We need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country--without animosity and without amnesty." (2008 State of the Union address)

BTW, we already have a temporary worker program--I have a friend in the landscape business and she's employed the same Mexicans for 15 years and they go home after the season. Those families and her family benefit from this, and Mexico certain benefits because it doesn't need to improve its route to opportunity within its own borders and the same wealthy class can maintain power.

President Obama is also using immigration as a political club. Without reading SB1070 he and his AG declared it racist profiling and illegal. Arizona wouldn't need this law if the federal government were able to handle the problem. In his case, it is to buy votes of minorities, not to help employers. Right now, we certainly don't need more cheap labor, but he needs more labor union members and needs to find uninformed new voters to replace the liberals and moderates he has driven away.

"Several Senators have learned of a possible plan by the Obama Administration that would provide a mass Amnesty for the nation's 11-18 million illegal aliens. Led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), eight Senators addressed a letter to the President asking for answers to questions about a plan that would allow DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to provide an amnesty if they can't secure enough votes for a bill in the Senate." (Numbers USA)