Makes Sense To Me

Really, I don't see why there is a debate. I am riled up about this immigration issue man. I am heated enough to cuss somebody out right now. We need to make changes immediately that really address the immigration problem. I started reading the following article "Bitter Debate..." then I start reading a few other articles in regards to the law that the House just passed. The more I read, the more upset I got. I know there's no easy solution that will solve illegal migration but the Mexican gov'ts attitude really sucks. How dare they point the finger at the US for actually thinking about it's citizens before it's illegal visitors?

Bitter Debate Over 'Birthright Citizenship'
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer Mon Dec 26, 1:21 PM ET

NEW YORK - A proposal to change long-standing federal policy and deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil ran aground this month in Congress, but it is sure to resurface — kindling bitter debate even if it fails to become law.

At issue is "birthright citizenship" — provided for since the Constitution's 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.

Section 1 of that amendment, drafted with freed slaves in mind, says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

Some conservatives in Congress, as well as advocacy groups seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, say the amendment has been misapplied over the years, that it was never intended to grant citizenship automatically to babies of illegal immigrants. Thus they contend that federal legislation, rather than a difficult-to-achieve constitutional amendment, would be sufficient to end birthright citizenship.

With more than 70 co-sponsors, Georgia Republican Rep. Nathan Deal tried to include a revocation of birthright citizenship in an immigration bill passed by the House in mid-December. GOP House leaders did not let the proposal come to a vote.

"Most Americans feel it doesn't make any sense for people to come into the country illegally, give birth and have a new U.S. citizen," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation of American

Immigration Reform, which backs Deal's proposal. "But the advocates for illegal immigrants will make a fuss; they'll claim you're punishing the children, and I suspect the leadership doesn't want to deal with that."

Deal has said he will continue pushing the issue, describing birthright citizenship as "a huge magnet" attracting illegal immigrants. He cited estimates — challenged by immigrant advocates — that roughly 10 percent of births in the United States, or close to 400,000 a year, are babies born to illegal immigrants.

"It's an issue that we are very concerned about," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization that opposes any effort to revoke birthright citizenship.

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Mexicans incensed by new US border fence plans
By Monica Medel and Kieran Murray

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Few things unite Mexicans more than perceived U.S. insults and plans to build a high-tech fence to stop migrants crossing the border have incensed people here, regardless of their social class or political stripes.

Mexicans are almost universally offended by the U.S. Congress' proposal to build the new fence with security cameras on parts of the border and make illegal immigration a felony offense

President Vicente Fox's top foreign policy goal when he took office five years ago was to win sweeping U.S. immigration reform in favor of millions of Mexicans living and working illegally in the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to work with him but they have so far failed to win reform and Fox said the new bill, approved last week in the House of Representatives, showed the United States was going backward on the issue.

He has called the proposal "shameful," opposition parties say it is racist, and most ordinary Mexicans interpret it as another insult to their country and to their relatives working in the United States.

Mexico's relationship with the United States has for long been contradictory. Thousands of people cross the border every day in search of a better life and the money they send home keeps their families and entire towns financially afloat.

But there is resentment at the way Mexicans are treated in the United States, and the new proposal for tighter security on the border is widely seen as further proof of U.S. racism.

Fox is trying to drum up support from other Latin American nations to increase pressure on the Senate, and he was given unexpected support from Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez, who recently assailed him for his close ties to the Bush administration.

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Fox Turns to Texas PR Firm to Shape Mexico's Image in U.S.
By Sam Enriquez, Times Staff Writer

MEXICO CITY — President Vicente Fox has rehired the Texas PR man and political consultant who quietly helped engineer his election victory in 2000. This time, though, he wants Rob Allyn & Co. to put the brakes on what many Mexicans see as growing anti-immigration, anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would add 700 miles of border fencing and make illegal immigration a felony.

Fox denounced the measure as shameful. His foreign minister called it stupid and underhanded.

"How many of us don't have a relative in the United States, working and trying to make a living?" said Rodrigo Ivan Cortes Jimenez, an elected deputy in Mexico's lower house and a member of its commission on foreign affairs.

"It's about image, and they have a distorted image," he said of U.S. lawmakers. "The contributions of Mexicans in the United States, who are making their best effort, generating lots of wealth, are not known.

"The immigration bill, which is expected to reach the Senate in February, has no provision for allowing temporary Mexican workers — a further slap, in Fox's view. He and President Bush agree on the need for a so-called guest worker program.

Fox cannot seek reelection next year, and his legacy may rest in part on his pledges to secure an agreement with the United States to grant legal status to the millions of Mexicans now living and working north of the border illegally.So last week he turned to the political operative who helped him topple Mexico's longtime ruling party to win the presidency.

Rob Allyn helped George W. Bush defeat Ann Richards for the governorship of Texas in 1994. Three years later, he saw another potential winner in Fox, then governor of Guanajuato state.

Allyn agreed to join Fox's fledgling presidential campaign, but only in secret.

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Fears over criminalisations of Irish immigrants in US

New anti-immigration legislation going through the US Congress could create criminals out of illegal Irish people, it was claimed tonight.

Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (2005) may have disastrous consequences for tens of thousands of undocumented Irish.

“The Bill has now passed through the House of Representatives and if it is passed by the Senate in its current form, its impact will be to criminalise the estimated tens of thousands of Irish people resident in the US without proper documentation,” Mr Rabbitte said.

Mr Rabbitte said there had been a long history of emigration from Ireland to the US but there have always been those who operated outside of the system.

“The US authorities were often prepared to turn a blind eye, but in the new post September 11 climate, hardworking, honest people now find themselves regarded as potential criminals. (<---lol...sorry but the wording makes me laugh. Illegal but honest...)

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I just want to pull my hair out.