and they just keep coming

[Guest R2D2]

Congressional Legislation

 

Mass Immigration Reduction Act of 2003

Bill # H.R.946

 

Original Sponsor:

Thomas Tancredo (R-CO 6th)

 

Cosponsor Total: 10

(last sponsor added 05/06/2003)

10 Republicans

 

 

 

 

 

 

About This Legislation:

 

2/26/2003--Introduced.

Mass Immigration Reduction Act of 2003 - Provides that during a specified immigration moratorium period: (1) employment-based immigrant visas shall be reduced, and family-sponsored and diversity immigrant visas shall be eliminated; (2) immigrant status shall be granted only to children and spouses of U.S. citizens or priority workers; (3) refugee admissions and asylee adjustments shall be limited to 25,000 per year; and (4) an alien shall be required to renounce citizenship or nationality of any other country in order to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

[tparrent]

As disturbing as these bills are, we should all remember that immigrant exclusion proposals have been around as long as immigrants. Most don't go anywhere but that's no reason to let down your guard.

 

New lyrics to one of our favorite songs:"America, land of the whoever we feel good about this week. We prefer white Europeans with easy to pronounce names."

 

There will always be reactionaries on both sides of the political spectrum. Thank (insert favorite deity) that our country actually does show tolerance most of the time. It's the extremists you have to look out for.

[Mick]

Yes, this is disturbing, just like the bill someone posted last week. The good news is that, like Tom says, they rarely get passed. Yet the climate of opinion in this country these days is a bit troubling to me. I think we should all heed the words of Buffalo Springfield, first uttered in 1969. For What Its Worth:

 

THINK ITS TIME WE STOP

HEY

WHAT'S THAT SOUND

EVERYBODY LOOK WHATS GOIN DOWN.

[robhon]

Yeah, if they'd just passed such a bill a few hundred years ago this would be a GREAT country!

 

Oh, but wait....

 

 

B)

[chinadave2001]

R2D2,

I find this bill upsetting not because I think it will become reality, but because of the scapegoating and ill-conceived logic behind it. A quick look at some of the web sites that support this kind of immigration act reveal that they believe that immigrants are the source of most of our nations ills. Moreover, all of them insist that passing this bill will help with the issue of illegal immigration. These ideas are presented as absolute facts and nobody disputes them. There is obviously no connection between restricting legal immigration and stopping the flow of illegals.

In many ways the motivations of the bill are similar to some of the anti-immigrant stuff that was around and the end of the 19th century in the USA - from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the KNow-Nothings/Nativists Parties...it's strange that most of the sponsors of the bill are Mid-Western Republicans. Is immigration really an issue in Wyoming?

Dave

[Mick]

R2D2,

I find this bill upsetting not because I think it will become reality, but because of the scapegoating and ill-conceived logic behind it. A quick look at some of the web sites that support this kind of immigration act reveal that they believe that immigrants are the source of most of our nations ills. Moreover, all of them insist that passing this bill will help with the issue of illegal immigration. These ideas are presented as absolute facts and nobody disputes them. There is obviously no connection between restricting legal immigration and stopping the flow of illegals.

In many ways the motivations of the bill are similar to some of the anti-immigrant stuff that was around and the end of the 19th century in the USA - from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the KNow-Nothings/Nativists Parties...it's strange that most of the sponsors of the bill are Mid-Western Republicans. Is immigration really an issue in Wyoming?

Dave

Well-said Dave and you are so right. As a long-time resident of Miami (I lived there from 1983-1998), I can assure you that legislation never did and never will have any impact on illegal immigration. I see this as more of a flag-waving, vote-getting tactic. Obviously, those who proposed this legislation have done little thinking about the actual facts of the situation. Yet as to the midwest, my understanding is that there are quite a few illegals in this general area. Owen has posted in the past about the number of illegals in Kansas and, if I am not mistaken, Ski recently posted that his wife was one of the few attending an English class that had a SSN. So it would appear that illegal immigration is a big issue in the midwest. However, as I stated earlier, I doubt seriously that either of the proposed bills would do anything to curb the tide. Unfortunately, the ones who will suffer are those who try to immigrate legally.

[owenkrout]

Actually, I was speaking in terms of the West (Kansas and Colorado) not the Mid-West, but I think the situation is similar there also. One of the aspects of the bill that made sense was providing payment for expenses incured when local police departments arrested illegal aliens. I know from speaking to my brother that one reason his department has told the officers not to arrest illegals is that they can't afford it and there wouldn't be enough jail spaces to house them.

 

Out on the high plains, the attitude was that as long as they were good neighbors, nobody cared about their nationality.

[warpedbored]

Here is another. An emergency workload reduction act.

HR 2235IH freezes all non essential imigration including children of US citizens and resident aliens.

[Mick]

Here is another. An emergency workload reduction act. 

HR 2235IH freezes all non essential imigration including children of US citizens and resident aliens.

B)

 

I personally think it would be better if our law makers began to scrutinize the internal workings of DOS, DOJ, and BCIS rather than propose these outlandish pieces of legislation. Why not make the system more efficient before you try to make it more restrictive? B)

[rocksplit]

I personally think it would be better if our law makers began to scrutinize the internal workings of DOS, DOJ, and BCIS rather than propose these outlandish pieces of legislation. Why not make the system more efficient before you try to make it more restrictive? B)  

Mick,

 

Yes, so true.

 

The big question therefor is: What is the most effective strategy to affect scrutiny and heaven forbid improvements?

 

Public awareness of the outrages mess is minimal. But it is the stepping stone, the platform from which to excercise the necessary leverage to force responsible public service from our government. Our leaders do after all have almost nothing aside from our interest at heart.B)

 

What to do?

If we pool our frustrations in a concerted public display not ignorable by the media/politicians we do have the required power to do something.

 

What can I do?

 

Daniel