Crikey, what an awful day!

After hours and hours of Senate debate, a little immigration reform made its way out of the Judiciary Committee.

For some strange reason, I thought Members convened for the purpose of strengthening our immigration laws but I must have mis-read that somewhere. As it turns out, their idea of “reform” was to make the process easier if by no other means that not punishing those who break the law.

Then I made the big mistake of reading the rest of the news from the day in which I stumbled upon some of the most ridiculous and/or infuriating comments from the other side…the dark side.

Just to share a few, let’s start with one that appears to be the soundbite du jour for the MSM:

“This is not about legislation any more,” said Jorge Medina, an immigrant from Honduras now living in Charlotte, N.C. “This is about feelings now. We are Americans, too. We are not from Mars and we are not from the moon.“

Senate Cuts Part of House Immigration Bill By Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press, March 27, 2006

The MSM has splashed this quote all over the place and I have yet to see its significance so just to make myself feel better, I have a response:

No Jorge…you’re not from Mars, you’re from Honduras but if even if you were from Mars you’d still be an illegal immigrant and we would still want you to get back in your space ship and go home…just like E.T.

On to those pesky students…MECHA (that’s the give America to the Chicanos movement) clubs in the Phoenix Arizona area staged a student walkout to protest tougher immigration laws. This is what one student (an illegal alien) had to say:

High school students march to Capitol over immigration bills by Mel Meléndez,The Arizona Republic 3/27/06

“I’m not a criminal. I’m a good person and I deserve a quality education,” she said. “That’s why I’m here. To show that I’m willing to work toward that goal and that I’ve earned that right.”

She’s earned it? How exactly did this person earn anything? And by the way, yes you are a criminal!

Just once I would love to hear an illegal immigrant say something like this:

I know I’ve broken the law and I’m sorry.

Like that will ever happen.

In Los Angeles, roughly 14,000 students seized yet another opportunity to cut class.

At least 14,000 LA students walk out in immigration law protest AFP 3/27/06

“…pupils pursued the protest Monday by walking out of class in at least 21 schools across the city and its surrounding areas, prompting education officials to lock down some campuses to keep the angry students inside.”

But that wasn’t the end of it!

“But they leaped fences and marched through streets brandishing US and Mexican flags and chanting slogans against the immigration bill.”

Now that’s funny! Illegal aliens just climbed the fence…yeah, who could have seen that one coming?

Hmm…according to an independent study by Dr. Julie Mendoza of the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (UC/ACCORD) which is summarized in a Harvard study (here):

“…in the state’s largest district, Los Angeles, only 48% of Black and Latino students who start 9th grade complete grade 12 four years later.”

Indeed, as long as they continue to skip class for stupid stuff like this, that number will only get smaller while the White and Asian students who choose to attend class will only see their numbers soar.

Now that’s the real problem here…not that they will ever see it.

In case you missed the March 27 carnival where the Senate Judiciary Committee jumped through Corporate America’s cheap labor hoops, Sen. Feinstein said she opposed “criminalizing” illegals working here, but she wanted to drop the hammer on those pesky “visa overstayers.” Whew! One tough lady, eh?

“Visas are supposed to mean something,” said Feinstein, who says we need more H-1B visas.

Time out! Diane. Working here illegally means nothing?

Here’s another amendment from Senator Durbin (D-Illinois) that just passed:

An illegal immigrant who entered the country under the age of 16 and upon graduation from high school either (a) completes an associates degree within 6 years or (b) enters the military now qualifies for citizenship.

Here’s a question: who doesn’t qualify for citizenship at this point?

Wow…this will come as no surprise to Juan Mann but there are roughly a zillion different types of Visas available to immigrants!

Yeah, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is hoping to increase the cap on all of them.

For example, there is what I call the Snitch Visa:

This is an S-type (sounds like a Jaguar) Visa for those who are willing to provide evidence that their home country is developing or currently has weapons of mass destruction. Under current law, the information must lead to the prosecution of someone in order for the applicant to qualify.

An amendment introduced by Senator Brownback (R-KS) would not only increase the number available but also change the qualifications. The Senate voted in favor of granting the Visa to applicants even if the information provided leads to nothing.

Yep, just make a claim of terrorism against the government of your native land and you are in!

On to the BIG issue: Guest Worker Plans/Amnesty

The afternoon debate has been devoted almost exclusively to guest worker language and Members are scrambling to get their issues heard before the committee-imposed deadline of midnight tonight. Committee Chairman Arlen Specter has already said that the committee will put out an immigration reform bill by tomorrow morning even if they have to work all night to finish.

So far not a single committee member has opposed a guest worker plan–not one.

Everyone seems to be operating under a forgone conclusion:

The debate is not whether we should have a guest worker plan but rather, what type of plan will work best.

Anything the Senate produces will have to go back to the House for approval but still, this is madness! A guest worker/amnesty plan does not seem to be a possiblity anymore…it appears to be a certainty.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) introduced an amendment that would make illegal presence in the U.S. a misdemeanor infraction at the very most but not a felony as stated in the Sensenbrenner bill.

Yep…and the amendment just passed.

The debate in the Senate over immigration reform is heated and contentious…and going absolutely nowhere.

As I mentioned earlier, I got up early and clicked on C-SPAN just to watch the festivities and so far they have managed to agree on one thing: lunch time!

Well, that’s not entirely accurate. They also managed to strip a key amendment from the legislation…

One of the key elements to the Sensenbrenner bill was an amendment which would make aiding and abetting illegal aliens a felony.

Yeah…groups such as Humane Borders that provide food, water and even shelter to those illegally crossing the desert or bigger organizations such as the Catholic Church would be held accountable for their lawlessness.

Without Republican Senators Brownback of Kansas and DeWine of Ohio joining the 8 Democrats on the committee with an “aye” vote, the amendment would not have passed.

An amendment proposed by Senator Feinstein (D-CA) to increase the number of border patrol agents was also approved.

The score stands thus:

Illegal Immigrants 2

Americans 0

Tune in to Fox News…or any news source with the guts to report this side of the story.

As we speak, a group of people brandishing Mexican flags are protesting proposed immigration legislation that would make illegal presence in the U.S. a felony. Looking at the live footage from FOX News, they are attempting to break-in to some sort of gated complex.

…and more grade school students are skipping school.

Gee…I really want these people living in my community, don’t you?

[Michelle Malkin has many photos of the demonstrators, and check out this report of violence in Indiana. ]

A day without Americans - April 17, 2006!

In response to the recent mass national rallies fearlessly staged by the illegal alien lobby, The Dustin Inman Society is suggesting that Americans nationwide stay home from work and not spend any money on April 17. 2006 - income tax day.

The country and its governmnet needs to witness a day without Americans.

It is not an overstatement to observe that the federal government has abandoned the American people and we teeter on the brink of national suicide.

The well-funded illegal alien lobby has been successful in galvanizing the millions of illegal aliens in the nation to march in American streets demanding no less than open borders, continued selective law enforcement and amnesty for people who should be in fear of apprehension and deportation.

It has also galvanized many Americans who are seeing for the first time the true nature and result of our intentionally unsecured borders.

Enough!

The message to the U. S. government and the world is that another amnesty for illegals is tantamount to erasing any pretense of a nation of secure borders, rule of law and a common language. Amnesty - by any name - does not stop illegal immigration.

We have reached the point in our national history at which we as a nation must choose whether to resist …or to wave the white flag of surrender.

We are suggesting that Americans who do not work in medical, law enforcement or emergency capacities stay home from work on April 17 and that we, as a united people, reply to the government that has refused to protect us by refraining from spending any money. Those who have nothing to fear from violating any law that is not beneficial to them are not the only group with power in these United States.

We are demanding that the American government offer the same protection in the United States that the Mexican government provides its people.

This is our country. We dishonor our grandfathers if we do not try to protect the republic that was lovingly passed on to us.

A national day of public opposition to illegal immigration April 17, 2006 !

[Crossposted at The Dustin Inman Society Blog]

After a week long recess, the Senate resumes debate today on immigration reform in the Judiciary Committee. (I will be blogging throughout the day with progress reports…or futility reports as it were.)

Living on the west coast, I had to get up extra early to watch the live coverage on C-SPAN so forgive me if I am unusually cranky…I’ve had so much coffee at this point that I can’t blink.

Come to think of it, I’m always cranky, so nevermind.

Not surprisingly, I found Bush II conducting his own immigration sermon live on nearly every channel so I paused to watch for a moment…and then I started to gag.

The President was not saying anything new–he stuck with his illegal immigrant love-fest stump speech–but he chose to deliver it at a naturalization ceremony for a gaggle of new voters…I mean citizens.

Full text (here).

It was so nauseating I just had to watch!

Remember when you went to the County Fair with your parents and each time a farm animal did something disgusting (by our standards, not theirs) you would point it out and then rush over to watch only to have your mother say something asinine like “if you don’t stop staring you’ll get a stye?” Yeah…and in spite of the potential consequence involving facial disfigurement, you went on staring?

That kind of “had to watch”.

In his comments, the President said:

“America is a nation of immigrants, and we’re also a nation of laws. All of you are here because you followed the rules and you waited your turn in the citizenship line.”

Wow…he gets it…oh wait, no he doesn’t.

“And so, to keep the promise of America, we must enforce the laws of America. We must also reform those laws.”

Bryanna translation: Current law says you have to wait in line but a little reform will fix that pesky impediment.

Later on, the President gave a shout out to his chosen people–umm, that would be Mexicans–when he boasted this enforcement statistic:

“And since last summer, we’ve cut the number of non-Mexican illegal immigrants released in society by more than a third.”

VDARE.com readers know the game: Mexican illegal aliens are not deported but everybody else is.

This is the ultimate Bush Betrayal for me, my friends:

President Bush is not discriminating against foreign nationals by desiging an immigration policy that so blatantly favors Mexicans–and yet I am somehow a racist or “anti-Mexican” when I cry “foul” and dare to demand change.

His closing remarks were sickly sweet in the most revolting way…careful, this is going to hurt a bit:

“When you came here this morning, I was the president of another country. Now I’m the president of your country.”

I wonder if any of our citizens started to re-think their decision at that point…