Of course the debate is never over, this is politics after all. From the Minnesota Public Radio News Website, Supporters fall 14 votes short of keeping immigration bill alive in Senate:
The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.
The bill's supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.
A surprise? Nah. But this being a vote that affects us all in a million visible and unpredictable ways, I have to wonder what you're thinking.
- How does this vote affect you?
- Do you agree with the results?
- Armchair politicians, tell us how you would have voted on this and why.
________________________
Julia Schrenkler
Minnesota Public Radio Interactive Producer
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 16
The next bill or bills must deal with the border security issue and not the issue of how to make those that live here illegally citizens in the long run. Those that are here illegally will need to get a work Visa that allows them to work here, without any path to citizenship at all.
This bill had some acceptable Visa and work Visa's processes that will probably just move forward into the next bill.
The border security in my opinion was lacking and the path to citizenship for illegal's that are currently here is an insult.
However, as I've said before, I am an open border person in the future. However, we can't get there from where we are at now. Border ports of entry are mandatory as well as many different types of Visas, and identification info that is also incorruptible.
The border security... didn't that include adding 18,000 border patrol agents as well as vehicle barriers & fencing? You found that lacking? I'm not challenging you - I'm curious.
I mean mothers and fathers who are separated form their children because they are illegal and couldn't afford or were misinformed or simply failed to comply. Where is our ability to tolerate and work with immigrants?
Dave, does this affect your personal life or are you speaking to the impact on our society?
No new laws on immigration can be passed until we build the fence and enforce it. When the fence is done, then sit down and see if a new bill is required.
The real story here is that this bill was being shoved down our throat by the leadership in both parties and the people fought back. People on both sides of the aisle caused a groundswell of anger towards the Prez and the Legislative branches. It makes me really damn nervous when Chappiquiddick Ted teams up George Bush on the same legislation. Damn nervous.
I think Congress and Bush are both out of touch with America. Of course, the mainstream media, who favors the Democrats, likes to spew numbers of how low Bush's approval rating are but fails to report the Congress rates even lower! THEY BOTH SUCK.
BUILD THE FENCE FIRST!
Do you feel this vote is a direct result of public feedback?
How this vote affects me personally is this:
Uncontrolled illegal immigration places downward pressure on wages, increases taxes, and places upward pressure on healthcare costs and housing. Illegal immigration contributes to urban sprawl and disregard for the law and the legal system. However, the most pressing reason for me to take the stand I have is my five grandsons for the this issue will affect the country they inherit more than any other. It touches national security and that alone makes granting amnesty wrong. Unless we get a handle on who we allow in we will be over 1,000,000,000,000 by the end of this century.
I would have voted to quash this legislation because there is no such thing as work Americans won't do. There are wages we cannot accept. I would have voted against this legislation because it would grant amnesty with out border security just like 1986. I would have voted against cloture because this legislation promised amnesty while doing nothing to promote workplace enforcement. Bush has had nearly 6 years since those terrorists mursered 3,000 Americans and has not secured our borders. How many of our soldiers have died trying to contol Iraq's borders while ours remain wide open for God knows who to waltz right in and do God knows what.
but when. It was 100 years ago, during the Great Wave of immigration (1890-1920).
After that, the country took a big breather and restricted immigration tightly with
the moratorium of 1924. That was CORRECT action in response to what became an
overload on our population /resource ratio.
In 1965, in response to the civil rights mentality of that era, immigration started
being looked at in racial and nationalistic terms. It became improper, if not racist, to
deny people the "right" to come here. This was a huge mistake. We now have 36
million immigrants here (many more coming in illegally), together with a 300 million+
popualtion which is WAY TOO MUCH for what our resource base can handle.
Examples are numerous. We're losing jobs to cheap labor, wages are being reduced, so are tax bases and just about everything is bursted at the seams with
overpopulation/overcrowding (schools, hospitals, prisons, highways, etc).
Pollution is among the worst in the world and getting worse, diseases are brought in without being checked, and we're having to import over 60% of our oil
from countries very unfriendly to us like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and worst of all,
Mexico.
As for families being seperated, that also happens when our own citizens break the law and go to jail. We as a society have always accepted that, and we live with it, even rich people like Paris Hilton do time. It is the lawbreakers (illegal aliens) who bring it on themselves. If they want to avoid the cosequences of disrespecting our laws (and therefore, us), then they should avoid breaking our laws.
"However, the most pressing reason for me to take the stand I have is my five grandsons for the this issue will affect the country they inherit more than any other." - duane c. duane, do you factor your grandchildren into all your decisions? I'm just curious how people arrive at their values when they hit the voting point. Glad to hear as a citizen you contact your Senators. It sounds like you're concerned with economic sustainability.
Robert F. do you think the next wave of immigration bills will address your concerns?
The arguments that it puts pressure on various other areas doesn't make it right. Our gas hogging vehicles put pressure on roads, price of gas, heating oil, envirnoment, health care system and I suppose taxes as well.
If we are going to have closed access to living her then we are isolationists. Of course I would dare to say, we would only wnt certain parts of isolation, the ones that suit us or fit for us personally.
My concern is when we turn into a society or a large group, that does not tolerate looking for solutions to honest, contributing members to belong. So, it's okay that because my parents were born here that I have an access card while yours only work here and now have to leave?
C'mon, there has to be better soultions/options and we need to pressure that.
That's going to be a hard sell, but a necessarry one. We are a planet of nation into which individuals are grouped. That's the reality. Your country your rules. What Illegal labor as is a way to profit from and get someone else to pay the costs of your choice. I think that's bad.
Maybe oranges should cost 4 times as much as they do now, maybe there aren't enough resources to support a mickeyd's on every other corner. People talk in terms of what it would cost the economy if these illegal laborers and employes we're allowed o continue their crimes. It's currently costing the economy and individual taxpayers, they've just shifted their costs to all of us. That's not right, it's not responsible.
We need to regulate our own society and if we set standards for inclusion and rights, we need to enforce them while mercilessly punishing transgressors to eliminate the problems. If we don't we get a free for all where the rule of club and fang superceeds the rule of law.
Personally I can't believe the arrogance and self gloryfying positions taken by party representatives pushing for amnesty on this issue against both the will of the amercian citizenry and their responsibilities to the constitution to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. This is a war, whether native or foreign born we are talking about economic terrorists here. Treason perhaps is not too strong a word for the amnesty peddlers in this situation.