Thursday, February 03, 2005
Migration Issue back in forefront of Bush Agenda?
Thoughts of heavyweight immigration reform, in the forefront of the new administration's policy initiatives, were brought to a full stop as a result of 9/11. It now appears safe to broach the subject again, even though there is active opposition among the restrictionist camp and a split among advocates on what shape reform should take. One has to wonder how much political capital the administration will have to push its reform initiative into law.
In his State of the Union speech on February 2nd, the President reiterated remarks he made one year earlier when he first revived the idea of the guest worker program as a way of dealing with a disfunctional system that has designated a class of over 1 million individuals in the U.S. "America's immigration system is also outdated, unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border. It is time for an immigration policy that permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take, that rejects amnesty, that tells us who is entering and leaving our country, and that closes the border to drug dealers and terrorists. "
This brief statement was quickly overshadowed by Social Security reform (which promises to be the monumental battle of this four year administration,) national security, Iraq, etc, pretty much everything else. Virtually none of the issues he addressed (except perhaps support for the U.S. troops in Iraq,) will result in quick, general agreement. When it does come time to pick his battles, it is still up in the air how much energy the President will have to fight the one for immigration reform, where the individuals who would be most affected are not part of the politically included in the U.S.
gcf
In his State of the Union speech on February 2nd, the President reiterated remarks he made one year earlier when he first revived the idea of the guest worker program as a way of dealing with a disfunctional system that has designated a class of over 1 million individuals in the U.S. "America's immigration system is also outdated, unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border. It is time for an immigration policy that permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take, that rejects amnesty, that tells us who is entering and leaving our country, and that closes the border to drug dealers and terrorists. "
This brief statement was quickly overshadowed by Social Security reform (which promises to be the monumental battle of this four year administration,) national security, Iraq, etc, pretty much everything else. Virtually none of the issues he addressed (except perhaps support for the U.S. troops in Iraq,) will result in quick, general agreement. When it does come time to pick his battles, it is still up in the air how much energy the President will have to fight the one for immigration reform, where the individuals who would be most affected are not part of the politically included in the U.S.
gcf
