大象传媒

What a wonderful thought. I wished that would be possible anywhere. not only the US. Unfortunately Power is usually concentrates with two big Parties.

Bush and his adm and his republican party force to pass the patriot act and the democrats didn't do anything to say unconstituational and goes againist the US policies and laws.
The democrats could have stand up to the Bush and his rep party, they
don't have the guts.

"By the way, the Secure Fence Act has been called the 'eggshell' law by some experts because they consider it hollow - it does not include a fence on the Canadian border or the appropriate money to build one." Why should it include a fence along the Canadian border? Illegal immigration from Canada is simply not a problem. Any "experts" who deride the act either do so with regard to the terrorism issue or are completely off their rocker. Why should Americans care about irrelevant details? They are right not to care that the act says nothing about plans for a fence along the Canadian border.

There are over 12 million people in the US who entered this country illegally and we debate over whether we should build a fence and protect our borders??? Amazing..

NO ONE who broke the laws of this nation should ever be allowed to stay legally in the US. I do not care if it does mean a shortage of people to clean hotel rooms.

My dear, we don't have 12 million Canadians working in the kitchen. As such, we don't need a fence to our north. The 'fence' seems to work extremely well in Israel, by the way. So much for the eggshell metaphor.

Why can't we kick out 12 million people? They have broken the law and entered the country illegally. This is like giving amnesty to criminals because they really really want and need to commit crimes. If you say no, you are labled a racist or a xenophobe or some such nonsense. If you don't like your country then fight and struggle to change it. Don't seek to better your life by dragging my country down. The poorest americans are the ones forced to give up jobs or work for less. In the future when this batch of illegals want a bigger piece of the pie, who will we import to do the dirty work then? What will these unskilled illegals do to get that bigger piece of the pie? Who will give up those jobs? Every where you look it's the same problem. England, France, and many european countries along with the USA are being overrun with unskilled illegal aliens with their hands out ready to take whatever they can get. Never mind that they have no interest in assimilation or bettering that country. Bush and his cronies are all for illegal immigration so that big business can reap the profits of cheap labor. Where is the benefit for the citizens that must give up jobs and pay higher taxes to cover the surge in welfare, medical expenses, and edjucation for these non taxpayers and their families.The price of goods and services hasn't dropped due to this cheap labor. Even if costs increased, that is one less american worker off welfare, earning, spending and paying taxes. It has got to stop. Now!

Fester

Speaking of not caring too much about the details, I hope people realize how ridiculous trying to build a fence along the US-Canadian border would be (look at a map sometime), and also mucho means "a lot," not "for a long time."

Bush is just counting on the 12 million (over 28 million in reallity) as voters in his cause or the to add to the GOP. But no one has told him what the mexicans have planned (openly) is to have thier own "hispanic" party that will outnumber the GOP and democratic parties at the polls.

As 'The Economist' stated in an article on immigration some time ago - you only need to have controls between poor countries and rich countries, there is no great incentive to move from one rich country to another. This is why you don't need a fence on the Canadian border.
On the topic of illegal immigration I think it is ridiculous that the President of Mexico says that it will harm relations between Mexico and the US if the US tries to stem the flow of illegal immigants. The US has the right to enforce it's own laws any way it wants, as does Mexico.

Lourdes Heredia's claim that
"...it does not include a fence on the Canadian border or appropriate the money to build one."

This is not true; the "fence"between Canada and the US, given that the border stretches over 8,000 km (compared with 3,200 km on the Mexican border), will be a "virtual" one using sensors, infra-red cameras and other hi-tech means. The contract has been funded (Boeing [I believe, from memory] being the major contractor) and will likely be underway in the New Year. Boeing gets $67 million to start, but the whole project will be over $2 billion. Also, the US will be hiring about 10,000 new border guards and mobilizing some elements of the National Guard for border duty; this assuredly includes the Canadian border.

has anybody stopped to consider that it is already against the law to hire undocumented aliens? if undocumented aliens are taking jobs from legal residents then it is because enforcment of existing law is ineffective at best and probably non-existent. i seem to recall that this law dates to the 'reagan amnesty' of 1986 or 87.

yes, i know the law tries to foist enforcement onto the employer (bad idea) but the law is already there and going unenforced, for whatever reason...

Canadian are not running the border or demanding citizenship besides they have $140 to buy an plane ticket. US should follow CANADIAN immigration policy for skill labor. I can't believe a person enters to a country trough carpet or running, rushing then demanding so called amnesty. Nobody here talking about the legal immigration where people all over the world waiting for many many years. Unfortunately they don't have border with US. If US permit illegal to legal then if anyone crosses the US embassy boundary in the overseas should get legal permission also.

Do the people who oppose this think that the illegals will leave willingly. More road-blocks are only going to make illegals go further underground not to mention the effect on the economy (20m will definitely hurt). The fact is that this people are already here and working therefore there are no new jobs that will be taken away from Hardworking Americans. They are here to stay and you can either integrate them to american society or let them stay in hiding. Lets find out who is here now and weed out the criminals and terrorists. Immigration will always be a problem as long as there are poor nations out there. People are looking for a better life. Improving the standards of living in neighbouring countries will also help in reducing the levels of immigration. Illegal immigration is a direct consequence of the rich countries policies towards the developing countries as well as incompetent leaders (same as here). BTW: Amnesty will pass once the elections are done.

This article would be hilarious if it weren't so freaking sad. Our Pres once again demonstrates his impeccable ability to MISS the note.

And to one of the posters above, just a hunch . . . I'm betting Ms Heredia is familiar with the literal translation of "mucho" and has also a passing familiarity with the nuances of translation.

Unfortunatly, there is something much more sinister going on. The American army is in desperate need of people. So desperate that it makes this offer: Anyone who joins the armed forces now can apply for a speedy request for citizenship. Their families, who in the mean time are fed, housed and clothed free of charge will also be granted citizenship. So illegals who suddenly don't have jobs can join up and be free from prosecution. America has resorted to hiring mercenaries.
But don't talk about this or any other unpleasent thing if you already are a citizen. Our right to free speech and habius corpus has been taken away. We no longer have a constitution that will protect our basic human rights. Anyone who speaks out against this regime can vanish. We are no longer free, for our own protection. Doesn't this sound like something that happened in several countries in Europe a while ago? What was the term used?
Communism? No, that can't be right. Who ever heard of an illegal immegrant problem in a communist state? Well, I guess there's a first time for everything!

Let's all get smart. Let's stop letting the Bush politicos and their spin machine determine the issues.
Remember: Their goal is to distract voters from the debacle in Iraq and the progressive undermining of the Constitution. Without a country to call our own, who cares about a fence??? If the Bushevik Dynasty remains in control of Congress, there won't be a democracy called the United States of America. If GOP corporate interests have their way, there won't be jobs for anyone in America. One could hope that media commentators might start that trend instead of just grabbing the lastest GOP spin for topics. Get real.

Bush and the GOP machine are up to their usual slimy election year tricks, seeking to distort debate by turning the furor of the American public on *the enemy*, some enemy, any enemy other than themselves. That's the only reason this issue is getting airtime. Can't anyone see through this bull? It's time to take off the blinders, people.