Opinion: From the Opinion Daily all-stars: Not sleazy

Ronald Brownstein’s analysis of the immigration bill presently before the Senate was terrible. Smells of intellectual dishonesty. He ignored the past history (1986 amnesty) that very little enforcement will be carried out by under funding or government excuses as to why they cannot enforce the law against employers. Business past and continuing history of corrupting the visa programs which they will do with guest worker programs by simply ignoring the requirements. And it the latter two problems are improved the illegal immigrants can be counted on to ignore the requirements because what reason does a person have to expend the time, energy and money to try to work here legally when lying and deceiving have been so easy in the past and will continue to be.

Dear Mr. Brownstein, I write for a blog, and the easiest way to explain what I’m hoping the Times will give a lot of attention to, is to refer you to part of my post. This is something that has eluded the press, for the most part, and is very alarming to many of us who do know about it. Can you, or someone at the L.A. Times write about this? Thank you! Here’s an excerpt from my post: President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.

The problem is the raw hypocrisy of folks like McCain arguing for ‘comprehensive’ reform on the absurd premise that everything needs to be fixed at once. First, we need a technofence to control the border. Second, we need serious penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens, thus drying up the demand. Then, 5 years from now, the U.S. could have a more rational discussion about whether to reward illegal immigrants for breaking various laws (such as identity theft) and whether they have to pay back taxes.

I chose to not read past Mr. Brownstein’s endorsement of the preposterous ‘triggers’ in the new immigration bill. The ‘sense of congress’ is that all triggers will be competed within eighteen months. No credible person actually believes that all the processes required to begin the work of the triggers will be in place in eighteen months, let alone have all of them completed. These so-called triggers are nothing more than brazen deceit. That Mr. Brownstein harbors such duplicity brings little honor to the Times. This legislation is no more than another attempt to fool the American people with promises that, historically, have shown themselves to be of no value; that is always watch what they do, not what they say. The immigration system of this country is not broken. Nobody knows whether or not it actually works, because it remains a system that those charged with enforcement have chosen to ignore. And most Americans are clamoring to know what will happen if the government will simply enforce the current laws--before we are again lined up to become suckers for more of the same. That’s what should be given a chance to work. Not this charade.

Regarding your editorial piece in the LA Times, May 25, 2007,You, and many others, have suggested over and over that this country cannot remove 12 million people who are here illegally and to continue to suggest such a thing is absurd. No one from the anti-illegal immigration side of the debate has ever suggested such a thing. The only ones who even mention the idea are the pro-illegal immigration side, who obviously bring it up to try and suggest that the other side is demented and has actually endorsed such a proposal, all for the purpose of scaring or confusing as many voters as they can to win their position. It is called politics. Of course, this country can round up and remove 12 million illegal immigrants if they really wanted to do so. If the voting public rose up in such numbers and ferocity that politicians felt they would all lose their jobs, they would lead the charge to do so. We don’t have to round them up to get rid of them anyway. If we secure the border in reality; eliminate jobs to people who cannot prove they are here legally; cut off all public benefits, including school, health care, welfare, citizenship for children born here of illegal immigrants, and the ability to wire money back to Mexico, most will leave and the rest will die out in a generation. Any solution that is an actual solution involves actually securing the border, so they can’t get back. We promised to do that in 1986 and nothing was done. They promised to do that this time and we all know that is all poppycock. They are suggesting, not promising, certainly not guaranteeing by force of legislation, that they will actually secure the border. Bush promised 6000 national guard troops to the border two years ago. He never made it much past 300. The media let it go as the media is all run from the left anyway.You have to remember that both parties don’t want to solve the immigration problem, but they know that the over whelming majority of the public wants something done. The Democrats want all the illegals granted citizenship under the assumption they will all vote democratic and that will keep them in power. The Republicans all want the illegals here to provided cheap labor for business and keep them in power. Neither cares about the country or what the people want, the politicians only care about incumbency, nothing else. What to do? They are doing what they always do, sell smoke and fog, until or unless their jobs depend on actually doing something useful. The Arizona Republicans are already mad at McCain and Kyle, they betrayed and sold them out on immigration to get what they want, not what their voters want. They are mad. The National Party already told them to shut up. A good sign that things may change shortly. Both parties are badly misreading the public. When Iraq settles after the 2008 elections, the issue will take center stage. The current bill is all just smoke and fog to get the issue off the table before the 2008 election cycle gets too close and it becomes an issue for the candidates. Both sides want to claim we already fixed that problem.What I rarely hear is why the issue is such a big one. The answer is: in the end illegal immigration from Mexico will destroy America as we know it. The land will be here, but the country will look and feel like a northern state of Mexico. Some corners already suggest the battle is over and the ‘browning’ of America is a done deal. The old whites should just get use to it. LA, where I retired after 27 years in government, already looks like TJ. Mexico has produced nothing beyond babies. Mexico City is now over 23 million and a huge sewer. Their culture and religion will, in the end, lead to massive starvation and health disasters as they continue to overpopulate their country. Mexico has contributed nothing to the world. Almost every technical achievement in last 150 years has come from this country. There are no space shuttles taking off from Mexico City. Their government is corrupt. The second biggest income for the country is money from this country. As time goes on the Hispanic population in Southern California will one day demand, by votes, that they become their own nation or join Mexico. There are already small city governments in Southern California that are passing laws in defiance of existing state law to help and support the illegals there now. Politicians take no action as they want the votes and are afraid of the Hispanic community, they may lose their votes and hence their jobs. It is always about incumbency. You would think that the immigration problems now facing France, England, Germany and the Netherlands would be a wake up call. The politicians know this, but incumbency first. The terrorists don’t bother me much as they can only irritate us, not change the culture of the country. Immigration can change the culture of the country and then the country itself. Do you really want to see a Mexican version of the USA in the future? All the money and military we supply to help the world, all the medical advances and scientific advances that came from this country disappear, health and population disasters take over. Why would you want that for our future? For the politicians we know what they want, their job, and always ahead of anyone or anything else, including their own futures. For many others in this country, including you, I think it is your inability to see ahead and connect the dots, your steadfast belief in yourself and your own intelligence, the refusal to believe that anything like that could happen in this day and age (like prior to 911), and finally that if this is true then you must be wrong, and we know that is impossible. It probably is over for the America I grew up in. Our democracy carries with it our own seeds of destruction, the problem of political incumbency.One last thought, the fence. We can secure our border if we want to do so. We don’t have a proper border fence anywhere on the border now. We have a small barrier that anyone, including pregnant women and small children, can easily climb over. With a few border guards it does stop a certain amount of illegal immigration, at least at that spot. It was put there as a sop to the voters from politicians who can claim they did something about it while not really doing anything, and keep their jobs. The issue continues to grow and they are being forced closer to actually doing something they don’t want to do, solve the problem to the satisfaction of their voters. We have the technology to build a border fence that will stop 99.9% of illegal immigration at the southern border. A 25 or 30 foot high fence of steel and concrete built to be hard to get over, followed by a middle fence that is alarmed, followed by another 25-30 foot steel and concrete fence, supported by cameras and guards. After a short while many will not even bother to try to get over it. If you look at San Quentin prison, it functions very well. It has a facility (buildings, walls, cells, etc.) and guards. As a result no one escapes. If we removed the facility, just put the convicts in an open field and surround them with guards, I suggest the prison would be a huge failure. You need both the facility and the guards. It would be the same for doctors and hospitals, the military and their forts, schools and children. It is the same on the border. You need a proper barrier AND the border guards. We have spent about 600 BILLION on Iraq, which in the end will all be wasted. It is like the power crisis in California a few years ago, at the end of the day the money is gone but the problem is still the same. Remember, in my opinion, the terrorists can’t change the culture or the country by attacking us, it only makes us mad. If we spend 2 billion to build a proper barrier at the border and take control of illegal immigration, we can save the country. Why is there still an argument about it? Politicians and their incumbency, the liberal media and their belief in their own infallible intelligence, and a sleeping and ignorant public, all combine to keep an actual solution at bay. You can’t hand a written iceberg warning to politicians or the liberal media, they want salt water up to their rearends before they face the fact that they may have to actually do something to solve the problem that the voters want solved. The media will typically support a protesting group of people until they break out the window at which the reporter is typing his story about how police overreacted, and then call the police. It is indeed a sad state of affairs. You help create it and maintain it with misguided and dangerous editorial articles like the one printed today. I hope you will be here and like the future that you have helped create for the rest of us to suffer through.

This ‘amnesty and reward’ program for illegal aliens has to be one of the worst ‘sellouts’ in American history. In most countries it would no doubt have already lead to street riots and perhaps revolution! Kennedy has been on a 40 year crusade to destroy this country. If this insidious cancer is adopted by what is laughlingly called a ‘senate’, it will fullfil Senador Kennedy’s aberrant dream! Let’s us hope that Jeff Sessions and a few others with working brains can save our country. It’s going to be close.

Dear Sir,It seems to me that you are arguing that the present bill before the Senate will go some way to dealing with the problem of illegal immigration in the United States and, at the same time, help provide a foundation for future legal immigration into this country. Unfortunately, the failure of this bill in its 300 odd pages to address key questions renders it useless. First, if one wants to build a road, a shopping center, or any other major project, they must first conduct an environmental survey. This bill totally ignores the impact the increased numbers will have on this nation’s environment. For example, large parts of this nation are beginning to run out of water. The cost of moving water from where it is plentiful to places that will require it will be astronomical and the damage to the environment is beyond calculation. Second, this proposal ignores the reality facing Mexico in the near future. Within five to ten years, this nation’s oil industry will begin its terminal decline. Furthermore, its manufacturing economy is also in serious trouble. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that Mexico’s economy will face even more difficulties than it currently does. In these circumstances, the numbers of Mexicans currently entering this country illegally now will seem quitte small compared to the numbers that may well come in the future. This bill ignores this chilling prospect. Simply put, this piece of legislation is an attempt by politicians to deceive the public into thinking that they are doing something.

I support a program to legalize illegal immigrants but to not allow them to get US Citizenship. Those who broke the law and came here should never be granted the ability to become citizens. However, their children will become citizens. Those who broke the law to come do need to have a path to stay permanently, as resident aliens, free to leave and re-enter the US at will, but I feel if citizenship itself were taken off the table, those who oppose allowing them to stay at all would be satisfied.

Our hospitals and clinics are closing or overburdened - our schools at the bottom of performance roads - cities crowded to the breaking point traffic impossible crime drugs drug smuggling growing in ever increasing numbers and yet all you can do is push for More low skilled people to come here ? Is Ronald Brownstein insane ? Only insanity or criminality or a rank attempt to gain more power can explain this position . Hospitals and Clinics are closing and turning away people. This isnt a figment of some right wing person’s imagination it is a fact . What about the low income people who have lost access to local health care ? Where is his concern for them ?? No - instead he saves his concern for people who came here illegally in the first place. Low income blacks and Hispanics don’t really matter. I can guarantee that Ronald Brownstein George Bush and all the other idiots who have failed to close our borders and who support this immigration bill - live no where near a barrio and have kids who attend private schools or schools in high performing districts.

Hello Ronald, Thank you for your continued excellent coverage of the proposed immigration bill. We are grateful for your unbiased reporting, but we would also like to bring to your attention some of the unfair clauses in the bill affecting the legal immigrants who have been waiting for years to get an employment-based green card. At this juncture all of us at Immigration Voice are trying to reach out to the Congress and the members of the media in hopes that our genuine concerns are also addressed. Thanks again, and please feel free to let me know if I can provide any further information. Also, I have included press release from Immigration voice Regards, Anil Nagavaramreachneel@gmail.comMember: http://immigrationvoice.org PRESS RELEASE :Immigration Reform unfair to the legal high-skilled, says ImmigrationVoice May 20th, 2007.ImmigrationVoice, an organization representing legal-skilled professionals, which has a membership of nearly 12000, has serious reservations with the proposed Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007. We are always told, ‘Break the law, and you will be in trouble’. But, the recent ‘Immigration Reform Grand bargain’ proposes to send a message that is precisely the opposite. We are being told that no undocumented immigrant will get ahead of those in backlog. While the backlog of Family-based petitions has been highly publicized, the petitions of individuals (engineers, scientists, doctors and other professionals) are being left in legal and bureaucratic limbo. About half-a-million highly qualified professionals and their families have put their faith in the legal immigration system and due process of the United States, while working to enhance the US economy. These people have pending petitions either with the Department of Labor, or with the CIS, the final adjudication of which will enable them to work with a US employer, with consequent ripple effect on the US economy. In the old system, employment-based petitions were limited to 140,000 per year, but the proposed system, ‘in order to reduce backlog’, reduces them to 90,000 per year only! On the contrary, Family-based cases used to be limited to similar numbers, but now have been increased to 567,000 per year! In addition, close to100,000 of these applicants with pending petitions are being asked to start from scratch in the new system. In effect, it is similar to changing the ‘rules’ or rather, the ‘Laws’ after the fact! Innocent high-skilled prospective immigrants are being penalized due to bureaucratic delay in the DOL. Highly skilled doctors, scientists, engineers, and computer professionals have been stuck in backlogs since the last 3-4 years. They had hoped to get relief from the ‘Immigration Reform’, but have been let down badly. They are being forced to renew their H-1Bs yearly now, while the old system allowed 3-yr incremental renewals while their Green Card petition was pending. Seems like a fitting reward for following the Laws, isn’t it? A Merit-based system which has been proposed by the US Senate has been widely criticized for allegedly favoring skilled individuals. A review actually reveals it being skewed the other way! As an example, an agriculture worker can earn 25 points for working 100 days a year for 5 years, while a skilled individual will get 10 points for working the same number of years! Economic contribution by the undocumented is recognized by awarding points for property ownership but not for people working legally! Individuals who have played by the rules, need to be treated fairly even though their actual numbers are much less when compared to the undocumented. There needs to be a timely process to resolve all pending employment-based petitions within a reasonable time frame. Immigration Reform is sorely needed. But, the present compromise is very unwieldy, and unworkable for high-skilled individuals. Give high-skilled legal immigrants a fair deal! That is all we are asking for! Immigration Voice (www.immigrationvoice.org) is a non-profit national grassroots organization committed to feasible solutions to a broken employment-based immigration process. Immigration Voice is advocating for technical changes that will improve the quality of life of several individuals that are stuck in the backlogs/delays, and help the system to work as it was intended. Contact:Immigration Voice850-294-3556email info@immigrationvoice.org# # #Contact InformationImmigration Voice850-294-3556

...“But the basic shift in emphasis surely makes sense at a time when an aging American population will need a steady infusion of productive young workers to pay the taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.” So now we know the real truth as to why there are Mexicans all over Kentucky. The political left in this country sets up a retirement ponzi scheme whereby two or three generations of Americans use their political power to force subsequent generations of Americans to finance their cozy retirements and pay for their health care. Two or three decades later, the same geniuses declare women and men to be identical and remake society by insisting a woman is not a woman unless she’s working nine to five. Women should focus on their careers, they said, and needn’t be unnecessarily burdened by the ennui she will surely experience if she merely focuses on raising children and taking care of a family. The geniuses then tell us that becoming pregnant is often an inconvenient thing for a woman with a career, and she must be allowed to exercise her right (which we are told is enshrined in the Constitution) to terminate the pregnancy, destroying a life in the process. And so, after 45 million abortions, the left’s answer to our population shortage is to be annexed by Mexico. The American Left has destroyed a once great nation.