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Pandering to the xenophobes, Rodolfo Giuliani* demonstrates that Hispanic is the "new black" for GOP politics:

Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that if elected president he would end illegal immigration in as few as three years by employing the same police tactics he used to reduce the crime rate as New York mayor.

Stopping illegal immigration "is not impossible," presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday.

"It can be done. It is not impossible," Giuliani told his audience at a town hall-style meeting. "You can do this, you can stop them at the border."

Giuliani said he would boost the number of border security agents to 18,000 from the current 12,000, and build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border with technological monitoring to reduce illegal immigration.

Maybe he can simply arm the blind and send them to la maquiladora.

"I believe in America. America has made my fortune." - Mario Puzo, in the voice of Amerigo Bonasera

* Even for the irony-impaired, this one's a gimme.

Mostly black Republican professionals blog here. Link...
It's always good to get all viewpoints though. The topic is immigration. I'm sure the questions will be tough ones. These guys are not big Obama fans. The event will take place Tuesday at 11 a.m. EST.

This is a interesting map that shows how & when people migrated around the globe to arrive in the Americas.

Click here: JOURNEY OF MANKIND - The Peopling of the World

Link...

Are you for or against a national id? And why? The Senate votes tomorrow!

BoingBoing has some details as well as a link to a site which will fax your senator (if you oppose).

Personally I do not feel strongly one way or another about this one but that is probably because I have not followed the news on it. 17 states oppose it so there must be something bad about the proposal. I look forward to seeing comments here.

The Senate yesterday rejected two separate amendments to the immigration bill that would eliminate the Z Visa legalization program and limit the Y Visa guest worker program by phasing it out after five years.

The vote against sunsetting the Y Visa guest worker program was close at 49-48. (Earlier in the week, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have eliminated the Y Visa immigration program altogether by a vote of 64-31.)

The vote against eliminating the Z Visa legalization program was 66-29. 26 Republicans joined 38 Democrats and two independents to vote for the legalization program. Nine Democrats voted against it. They are: Pryor (D-AR), Landrieu (D-LA), McCaskill (D-MO), Baucus (D-MT), Tester (D-MT), Nelson (D-NE), Dorgan (D-ND), Byrd (D-WV), and Rockefeller (D-WV).

Sens. Alexander and Corker both voted to eliminate the Z Visa legalization program. Sen. Corker, a co-sponsor of the Y Visa amendment, voted for sunsetting the guest worker program. Sen. Alexander voted against it*.

The Senate has delayed a vote on the full immigration bill until June.

See here for more info on the immigration bill including the Y Visa guest worker program and the Z Visa legalization program.

*UPDATE: Looks like Sen. Alexander may have been the swing vote against the Y Visa sunset? ACK has more observations and speculation.

The Senate began debate this week on a new "compromise" immigration bill (S.1348). This is a complicated bill and it's hard to find objective info.

In addition, many of the amendments are not incorporated in their final form into the version currently published at Thomas.loc.gov.

Read more for a roundup of information and commentary on the bill...

Tom Humphrey has this legislative roundup.

The lede is about a stupid and illegal bill that would require drug testing of anyone receiving public assistance. Even though he knows it is prohibited by federal law, the sponsor (Knoxville Sen. Tim Burchett) wants to send a message that people should be getting a job instead of laying around smoking pot on the taxpayer's dime. It's hard to argue with that, and I'm sure it will have wide appeal among the folks back home even if it is illegal (and how much would it cost and who would pay for it and how prevalent is the problem?), so I don't have much to say about that.

But the second item is about a measure that would require driver's license testing in English only. According to the article, the bill's sponsor (Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro) says it's "the first step in protecting the sovereignty of our country." Say what? But I guess that will play well back home, too.

Have these folks considered that there are lots of legal immigrants right here in Tennessee? Yes, it's true! They're among us! Some of them are Japanese who work for Denso right here in Blount County. There are Iraqi expats in Nashville. Oh, yeah, there are some Mexicans, too. Some of them here illegally, but plenty here legally. And some of these people don't speak English!

The article notes that the tests are currently given in Spanish, Korean and Japanese. What exactly is this bill supposed to accomplish besides "protecting the sovereignty of our country"? I guess it will help ensure more unlicensed and uninsured motorists on Tennessee roads.

Stacey X has introduced a bill that would charge a 25% tax (PDF format) on money orders, cashier's checks, traveler's checks, and the like purchased by non-citizens.

It's pretty obvious what this is all about, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons for a non-citizen to be buying money orders and cashier's checks. Why should they be penalized and discriminated against?

It should also be noted that immigrants, legal and otherwise, have typically higher numbers of "unbanked" and are therefore dependent on these services to pay their bills.

A number of pundits have predicted that the Bush administration's stance toward illegal immigration may hurt Republicans in the mid-term elections.

I wonder -- does Mexico have nuclear weapons, which it is successfully using to blackmail our border policy?

This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants.

A son of Italian immigrants, Vento, at Geno's Steaks in South Philadelphia requires the patron to say cheesesteak when ordering, not bistec con queso, or whatever.

Of course, it's not as if native Philadelphians speak the King's English either. A Philadelphian might order a cheesesteak by saying something like, "Yo, gimme a cheesesteak wit, will youse?" ("Wit," or "with," means with fried onions.) To which the counterman might reply: "Youse want fries widdat?"

I wonder if Vento would accept the southern vernacular chee-eese stee-eak (four syllables instead of two)?

The Senate just passed an immigration bill that includes "amnesty", and bonus, requires consultation with Mexico before building any fences or walls. Lou Dobbs is freaking out. Developing...

A study in headlines:

"Bush opposes English as national language: Gonzales"

"The president has never supported making English the national language," Gonzales said after meeting with state and local officials in Texas to discuss cooperation on enforcement of immigration laws.

. . .

"I don't see the need to have laws or legislation that says English is the national language."

"Bush Wants Newcomers to Learn English" 

The White House took both sides in a dispute over English being the national language Friday as a broad immigration bill moved toward a final Senate vote next week with one conservative predicting it will never become law.

What has become of El Decidero Grande?

That esteemed voice of the American people, the United States Senate, has spoken:

"Senate Votes Twice for English Language"

Consequently, I request that all posts here at KnoxViews be made in English only.  We need to help unify the country.

This too, if we don't get control of our borders, American will soon be flooded by 500 million of the invaders.  If that happens, you won't be able to recognize this website, or anything else.  Act accordingly.

No speech George W. Bush has ever given has reversed his political fortunes.

(God love 'im, he keeps trying. Heh.)

Last night was no exception. Bush is still flopping like a gut-hooked carp (h/t SKB).

Looks like these bold new policy initiatives of this administration are going to get challenged from within. Via Salon (day pass or membership req'd):

President Bush drew fresh criticism from House Republicans Tuesday for endorsing eventual citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

Republicans expressed support for new attempts to secure America's porous borders, but they rebelled against another element of what Bush calls a comprehensive plan to alter immigration laws.

"Thinly veiled attempts to promote amnesty cannot be tolerated,' said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. "While America is a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws, and rewarding those who break our laws not only dishonors the hard work of those who came here legally but does nothing to fix our current situation."

[snicker] 29%. Oh what a feeling.

(Read more on the flip...)

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060516-125016-4401r.htm 

Bill permits 193 million more aliens by 2026

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 16, 2006

The Senate immigration reform bill would allow for up to 193 million new legal immigrants -- a number greater than 60 percent of the current U.S. population -- in the next 20 years, according to a study released yesterday...

...One of the most alarming aspects of the bill, opponents say, is that it eliminates a long-standing policy of U.S. immigration law that prohibits anyone from gaining permanent status here who is considered "likely to become a public charge," meaning welfare or other government subsidy.
    This change is particularly troublesome because the bill also slants legal immigration away from highly skilled and highly educated workers to the unskilled and uneducated, who are far more likely to require public assistance. In addition, adult immigrants will be permitted to bring along their parents, who would eventually be eligible for Social Security even though they had never paid into it.
    Mr. Rector estimated that the eventual cost of the bill to the American taxpayer would be about $50 billion per year.

World Net Daily strikes again. Getting all those freeloading Mexicans is easy when you use the Final Solution as your blueprint:

Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.

Godwin's Law on a huge scale. Huge. 

Looks like the Atwater-esque "divide & conquer" strategy is starting to run into a brick wall. Or, at the very least, it's running into problems at the border.

In the latest show of force act of deep desperation to shore up his floundering support, pResident Bush appears ready to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border to "enforce" immigration policy. (edit: crossposted with R. Neal)

I can see it now. We're going to take stop-lossed troops, battle-weary from their 2nd, 3rd, 4th tours in the deserts of Iraq and send them to Desert America as law enforcement officers. Good idea. That's a way to win back the admiration of military families. (Whatever happened to the drunken redneck posse known as The Minutemen? You send them an adequate supply of lawnchairs and beer, and they'll do the job for free.)

Just goes to show you -- you can only divide so many times before your margins start to erode. Now you have the economic conservatives in the American business community advocating a ready supply of cheap labor pitted against the xenophobic law & order social conservatives among the 30% 29% dead-enders. Starved for yet another wedge issue to feed upon, it appears that the conservative wing of the GOP is once again eating its own. It is eating its own in a way not seen since Bill Frist convened a quorum of three (Sen. Frist, Sen. Martinez, Sen. Warner) to rush through a sop to the "life" lobby.

I see a significant downside here... maybe someone else does, too.

Bush, desperate to hold on to the 30% dead enders, is sending National Guard troops to guard the Mexican border and keep out illegal immigrants. If we've got so much manpower available, why doesn't he sent more National Guard to help people get back to their homes and communities in New Orleans?

UPDATE: The White House says the Guard isn't spread too thin. Think Progress has the facts.

As a follow up to Brian's post yesterday about Sen. Lamar! Alexander's "English only" National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance proposal, Faiz at Think Progress e-mails this 1995 AP report from Alexander's failed run for president:

September 13, 1995; Wednesday 21:04 Eastern Time

Alexander Says Dole Shows "No Respect" For Hispanics, By Javier Maymi

(SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) GOP Presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander lambasted Sen. Robert Dole Wednesday night saying that the senator "showed no respect" for Hispanics when Dole hinted that the U.S. should move towards an "English only" policy.

..."My dream is that every child in America grows up learning two languages," the former governor of Tennessee said. "I can't remember talking to any Hispanic parent who didn't want his or her child to learn English or Spanish."

...Alexander said that the Kansas senator showed little knowledge of the reality of Hispanics in the U.S.

"It was indeed a show of lack of respect for Hispanics and minorities in general," Alexander said. "You have no idea how proud I felt when I saw students in east Los Angeles taking advanced placement tests in Spanish."

We would never accuse a Republican of "flip-flopping" on an issue such as this. Clearly he's had time to think about it, assess new facts, and update his current thinking on it. Yeah, that must be it.

I've got some commentary over at Facing South on yesterday's "Day Without Immigrants". (Thanks, Brian, for that Lamar! link.) Scroll on down for some other excellent roundups by Chris, and some interesting debate about how this issue is playing (or not) in the liberal blogosphere.

(My take is that Democrats are worried about being sucked in to yet another divisive class war engineered by Republicans desperate to stay in power by any means necessary.)

Anyway, there may be more later today, but right now I'm off to vote. See you at the polls!

And he and our other leaders in Congress are there to protect it:

That’s why we should always sing it ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] in our common language, English. And that’s why today I am introducing a resolution that affirms that statements of national unity, especially the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, ought to be recited or sung in English.

“We wouldn’t recite the Pledge in French, or German, or Russian, or Hindi, or even Chinese (which, after Spanish, is the second most spoken foreign language in the United States). And we shouldn’t sing the national anthem in Spanish, or any other foreign language.

“So, in this land of immigrants, let’s all sing it together, as one American nation, in our common language: English."

Priorities, people--that's why we trust these guys with power.

But why stop with a wimpy congressional resolution?  Isn't there election on the horizon?  Methinks a proposed constitutional amendment is in order.

UPDATE:  Think Progress notes that the U.S. Bureau of Education commissioned a Spanish version of the song in 1919.  Perhaps Lamar should be fighting instead for tougher history standards in Tennessee schools.

Rep. Tommy Dubois, R-Columbia and Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro have introduced legislation (again) requiring Tennessee driver's license exams to be administered in English and English only.

As far as I know, there's no legal requirement that permanent legal residents (a/k/a "green card" holders) are required to speak English. They must learn English and demonstrate basic proficiency if they want to become naturalized citizens, but until then I don't believe it's a requirement. Further, the State of Tennessee issues driver's licenses to anyone with proof of legal permanent residence such as a "green card".

So, on its face, this legislation seems discriminatory. And according to the article, legal experts agree and say that you can expect lawsuits if the legislation is passed.

But what it really amounts to is bad political theater, similar to flag-burning and Ten Commandment amendments. What these conservative yahoos ought to be proposing is legislation that requires all us natural born Tennesseans to learn proper English our own selves. That would be a good start.

There are massive demonstrations taking place around the U.S. today seeking a voice at the table for civil rights and fairness as Congress and America debate immigration reforms.

One thing that has been puzzling me for the past couple of weeks is, why immigration and why now? Why is this issue suddenly in the national spotlight?

Being the cynical old guy that I am, I have a theory.

The cheap labor exploiters keep saying immigrants are doing jobs that Americans won't do.

Really? So how come Canadians aren't sneaking across the border? Why hasn't anyone dispatched vigilantes or surveillance drones, or proposed building a fence between the U.S. and Canada?

There appears to be a racist element to the "guest worker" proposal, not to mention a worker exploitation angle.

By way of KAG over at the Blab, here's an outrageous and disappointing newspaper column. And here's a sad story from the same community, just three days later.

Tenn. Halts Immigrant Driving Certificates:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants Friday after investigations found they were being shuttled from other states, using fake residency papers and sometimes bribing state workers to get the cards.

Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely said the program was being suspended while authorities reassess it "to ensure we're doing what's best for Tennesseans."

"This program was a good idea in theory, but there have been issues with implementation," Nicely said.

No kidding? We've only known about it for about a year or so. Hasn't somebody already been tried and convicted for shuttling workers from other states?

Study Gives Snapshot of Day Laborers:

Based on their interviews and counts at each hiring site, the researchers estimate there are about 117,600 day laborers nationwide, but say that number is probably low. They said it would be impossible to count the number of hiring sites nationwide, since some spring up spontaneously.

Among the other findings based on the interviews conducted in July and August 2004:

Three-fourths were illegal immigrants and most were Hispanic: 59 percent were from Mexico and 28 percent from other Central American countries.

Just over half said they attended church regularly, 22 percent reported being involved in sports clubs and 26 percent said they participated in community centers.

Nearly two-thirds had children, 36 percent were married and seven percent lived with a partner.

More than 80 percent rely on day labor as their sole source of income, earning close to the 2005 federal poverty guideline of $12,830 for a family of two.

Of the 20 percent who reported on-the-job injuries, more than half said they received no medical care because they couldn't afford it or their employer refused to cover them.

The New York Times has more. One of the study's authors is quoted as saying "This is a labor market that thrives on cheap wages and the fact that most of these workers are undocumented. They're in a situation where they're extremely vulnerable, and employers know that and take advantage of them."