crossposted from right truth:

Immigrants not renewing their temporary work permits – holding out for amnesty

It is being reported today that some immigrants are not renewing their temporary work permits because some have the mistaken belief that they will soon be on the path to becoming U.S. citizens, via the Senate’s amnesty program.

Tens of thousands of Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants nationwide risk losing their legal status in the United States today because they have not renewed their temporary work permits …

With the deadline approaching by the end of today, about half the eligible applicants have yet to apply for renewal. They could lose their jobs and face deportation, jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands of relatives here and in their homelands who depend on their salaries. …

About 75,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans got the permits, issued under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Program, after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The permits, if renewed, would allow them to live and work legally in the United States for another year. …

In recent weeks, senior Honduran and Nicaraguan diplomats have traveled to cities with large populations from their countries, giving radio, television and newspaper interviews urging people to renew. In Honduras, the government has called upon citizens, through commercials and posters, to urge their relatives in the United States to renew their permits… source

Thank you Senators for allowing thes people and others to “think they will soon benefit from immigration reforms, including a guest worker program and other measures that could pave the way for citizenship”.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

***NOTE: this is just more evidence that the senate bill needs to be shot down in the house. if this is what is happening before there is an official bill that expands a temporary worker program, i don’t even want to think about what would happen after such a bill was approved. hopefully we won’t have to find out.

you know the rest. amnesty doesn’t work. we tried this already in 1986. the INS(immigration and naturalization service) released a study on this back in 2000. guess what they found out? here are a few highlights (courtesy of the center for immigration studies).

Amnesties clearly do not solve the problem of illegal immigration. About 2.7 million people received lawful permanent residence (“green cards”) in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of the amnesties contained in the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. But these new INS figures show that by the beginning of 1997 those former illegal aliens had been entirely replaced by new illegal aliens, and that the unauthorized population again stood at more than 5 million, just as before the amnesty.

In fact, the new INS estimates show that the 1986 amnesty almost certainly increased illegal immigration, as the relatives of newly legalized illegals came to the United States to join their family members. The flow of illegals grew dramatically during the years of the amnesty to more than 800,000 a year, before dropping back down to around 500,000 a year.

shouldn’t we take this into consideration when thinking about the consequences of a second amnesty for even more illegals? we shouldn’t reward them or the employers that hire them for breaking the law. we should care more about protecting the rights and the jobs of american citizens than we do about taking care of those unfortunate souls who are citizens of a corrupt socialist government. border enforcement should be a priority, but we also need to destroy incentives for employers and illegals to break the law. that’s the only way to significantly reduce illegal immigration. that’s where the senate bill fails to deliver the goods.

here are some important facts to know(from the heritage study):

• 85% of the current illegal immigrant population will be granted amnesty under the senate bill…which adds up to 10 MILLION PEOPLE.
• there are NO numeric limits on the number of illegal immigrants, spouses, and dependents receiving LPR(legal permanent resident) status.

you can dispute heritage’s actual numbers(and the white house already has). however, even if those numbers are wildly overestimated, it’s alarming that there are no caps on the number of illegals that would be able to come in to our country under provisions of that senate bill.

here’s what i would like to see:

• enforcement with teeth

• fines for employers that would take a significant bite out of their bottom line, which will increase on each violation knowingly committed
• deportation for those who commit crimes in addition to the one committed when sneaking into the country
• frequent periodic checks on employers suspected of hiring illegals, and especially those who have already been caught doing so.
• strengthen existing laws where necessary to decrease the possibility that there will be repeat offenders
• increased funding for border security so that those charged with enforcing our borders will have the resources they need
• no citizenship for felons, drug smugglers, or those with 3+ minor infractions

these are some common sense suggestions that i think could be starting points for an immigration bill that would actually begin to deal with the problem. i do think that there should be some exceptions for those seeking political asylum for legitimate reasons, and those cases should be fully vetted.

there are many more questions to answer before we can accept a final immigration bill from this congress, and i hope that they will figure out the right answers to those questions.

related:

Immigration Bill Is Worse Than You Think-human events online
House Negotiator Calls Senate Immigration Bill ‘Amnesty’ and Rejects It –NYT
Senate Immigration Bill Would Allow 100 Million New Legal Immigrants over the Next Twenty Years–heritage
Immigration Deal at Risk as House GOP Looks to Voters–washington post

tags: illegal immigration

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration(CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

occasionally i will be cross-posting posts on illegal immigration from other bloggers as part of the coalition against illegal immigration. feel free to comment as usual, but for responses from the original author, i suggest visiting the linked blog. otherwise, read and enjoy.

crossposted from CommonSenseAmerica :

One of the biggest divides in the immigration debate is whether or not to freely gift U.S. citizenship to over 12 million illegal immigrants already in this nation and their family members.

Did all of these people really come to America to become citizens? Or did they come merely to earn a better living and then return home?

We hear from one side of the debate that these people are just here to work and they should be treated with dignity and respect. That’s fine with me. But out of the same mouths we hear that we should allow them to become citizens and thus have access to all of our Federal, State, and local benefits.

If the majority of these people simply come here to work, to send money back home, and to retire in the country of their origin, why is our Senate hell-bent on handing them guaranteed retirement benefits equal to that of American citizens.

The average wage in Mexico is approximately $70 to $100 per week. Our Social Security benefits are near $1,000 per month for even a modest workers income. So, these workers could retire quite nicely in Mexico courtesy of America.

The way I see it is that an illegal immigrant who had no intention of ever becoming an American citizen but wanted to work here for a time and then go home, would be an absolute fool to pass up this offer.

And don’t think that the Mexican government hasn’t thought about this one, folks.

The Washington Post

SALT LAKE CITY, May 24 — Adding a voice from south of the border to the national debate on immigration, Mexican President Vicente Fox is barnstorming the western United States this week, arguing against fencing off the U.S.-Mexico border and asking Americans for “decent treatment of our people.” But the Mexican leader’s most rapturous reception in Utah came in meetings with immigrants from Mexico and other Latin countries. Each time he met with groups of his countrymen, Fox told them that their long-term ties to Mexico will continue while they live and work in the United States.”Even though you are far from Mexico, you are an integral part of Mexico,” Fox said at the rally here on Tuesday. “Over there, we wait for you with open arms.”

There are a couple of fantastic benefits to the Mexican government in this bogus “earned citizenship”, amnesty program. First, of course, is the fact that Mexico now depends on the monies sent home by its citizens as their remittances have become the nations largest source of income for Mexico.Second, Mexico allows its citizens to obtain dual citizenship and calls on their citizens to vote in the interest of Mexico at the polls in America.

Third, Mexico will welcome home, “with open arms”, all of its citizens who wish to bring their Social Security payments from America.

Yes, this amnesty bill is great news and offers fantastic economic and political perks for Mexico and its citizens.

Would someone please remind our Senators that they were elected to protect the economic and political needs of America?

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**

Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, mexico