If the guest worker program is only allowed to go on for 5 years, there’s really no point in passing this legislation. From Washington Post: The plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration system survived its most serious challenges yesterday, when the Senate defeated amendments to disqualify hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from legalization and [...]

On immigration, Bill O’Reilly asks John McCain…”But do you understand what the New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you’re a part, and so am I, and they want to bring in millions of foreign nationals to basically break down the structure [...]

A majority of Americans support the key provisions in the bill. Is there a disconnect here? From NY Times: Taking a pragmatic view on a divisive issue, a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest worker program to [...]

I’ve yet to comment on the recent immigration debate, though I have previously shared my thoughts on the topic at Thought Theater. Having recently spent some time ruminating on the relevant issues, along with today’s reading of George Will’s latest commentary, I’m ready to take another swipe at the subject. There seems to be a [...]

This doesn’t seem like it’s going to pass, and it’s because of objections on both sides.

There will be no true reform until we can confidently secure our borders. Whether that’s a fence or thousands more officers stationed along the border, all of this legislation may not matter a lick until we stem the flow of illegals. And yet, this is a bipartisan reform bill that Bush will most likely sign. [...]

They’ve always offered political asylum, so this is an interesting twist on that notion.

From NBC News: CIUDAD DEL ESTE, Paraguay – The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia has taken root in South America, fostering a well-financed force of Islamist radicals boiling with hatred for the United States and ready to die to prove it, according to militia members, U.S. officials and police agencies across the continent. From its Western base [...]

Wow. That number surprised me, but it’s not a surprising notion. Americans understand the want to lead a better life. Still, can we do this before we have better border security? From USA Today: WASHINGTON â€â€? While Congress and the White House remain divided over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants [...]

This quickly becomes a shouting match, but sadly… I think that’s kind of the point. Immigration could very well turn into an extremely ugly issue in the coming years unless we find some solution to unify us. Think it can happen?

I know, it sounds like a fairly odd proposal, but wait till you find out an interesting piece of trivia later on…as if that’s not a big giveway. From the New York Post: February 20, 2007 — Immigrant-rights activists yesterday renewed their push to allow legal noncitizens to vote in the Big Apple. A bill [...]

There are no words… A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company’s work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico. After an immigration check in 1999 [...]

In the spirit of “patriots” who want to criminalize flag-burning (thus missing the whole point of what the flag represents), I give you the small town of Pahrump, Nev. The elected town board in the remote Mojave Desert community voted 3-2 on Tuesday to enact an ordinance making it illegal to fly a foreign nation’s [...]

I’ve come up with a couple of out-there ideas — one on the minimum wage, the other on campaign contributions. I don’t pretend they’re realistic; mostly, they’re thought exercises. But I can’t really tell. I’d appreciate people’s thoughts, but I find I’m actually too embarassed to post them here. So they’re up over at Midtopia. [...]

America. Reports The Christian Science Monitor. [Y]oung Muslim-Americans today [are] educated, motivated, and integrated into society – and their voices help explain how the nation’s history of inclusion has helped to defuse sparks of Islamist extremism. “American society is more into the whole assimilation aspect of it,” says New York-born [Omar] Jaber [an AmeriCorps volunteer]. [...]

This one hit home because if our immigration problem is so acute, and we have few ways to solve it, these seems like one easy way to start fixing it. After all, why do we have a policy that actually rewards unlawful behavior? From Congressman Ron Paul: No other wealthy, western nations grant automatic citizenship [...]

The Democrats will be divided this fall — but so will the Republicans, according to David Broder in the Washington Post. What he calls “the Taft-Goldwater-Reagan wing of the GOP” is just as unhappy with the radical right as DLC centrists are with the Kossacks: That is why there was so much high-fiving on e-mails [...]

“We could also electrify this wire with the kind of current that would not kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for them to be fooling around with it. We do that with livestock all the time.” – Rep. Steve King (R-IA) talking about his border solution. (Watch the video)

From Seth Chalmer, also quoting Jared Lefevre of The Split Rail. Jared: 1. A strategy for Iraq, set in clear terms… 2. Securing ports and borders… 3. Initiatives to support the development of green technology. Governmental power (grants, tax breaks, etc.) should be used to support a growing industry that will not only protect us [...]