Spitzer withdraws Licenses-for-Illegals plan

After weeks of combat for himself and weeks of derision for Hillary Clinton for seeming to support the plan, Elliot Spitzer has withdrawn his controversial bill to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He refuses to see this as a defeat, and still believes that some kind of program is essential to provide New York with safe roads. I find this particular quote most disingenuous.

"What we are trying to do, first of all, is address a problem that the federal government has created, which is that there are one million people here in New York state alone who are not here with proper documentation," he said.

"We want security. We want our roads to be safe, which is the initial impetus behind letting them get a license so we know who they are, where they are. They can get insurance, everybody is safer."

(Emphasis is mine.) Because it ignores the simple fact that for decades New York (along with most other large states) has refused to report illegal aliens to the Federal Government when they are discovered. This is like blaming your landlord for a mouse in the house, and then refusing to let them put down traps, poison, or get a cat.

Making Immigration Law Personal

Part of me does not want to post this story as I think it was only brought up by the media due to immigration reform being a hot topic. That being said, I'm curious what other Mod-Bloggers see as the solution to the following situation.

Alex Jiminez, a member of the U.S. Army, has been missing in Iraq for just over a month. His wife, Yaderlin, came here illegally. Alex then applied for a green card for her which has not come through. The problem is that since she is illegally here and has been for more than a year, the law says that she must be deported and cannot return to the U.S. for 10 years. At this point, it will take an act of Congress to keep her here.

Part of me says that she came here illegally and they should have known the risks. Their illegal actions should not be rewarded. On the other hand, I don't think I could be the judge that handed down that verdict. The fact that her husband is currently MIA just compounds the "human factor" part of the issue.

What is all this about an Immigration Bill?

The poll has been up since yesterday, so it is only fair that we actually post a story about this. The new "bipartisan immigration bill" has finally made its way out of negotiations, and it appears both sides are equally unhappy with it. Sometimes that is the sign of a good compromise. Sometimes that is the sign of a DOA bill. We shall see. What has been hard to find is a good summary of the thing without all of the commentary that is already being flung at it with words like "Amnesty" or "Discrimination" or "Criminalization". The White House has their own summary from their daily press briefings, which you are welcome to read. However, it was long, pedantic, and overly focussed assuming you already know a lot about immigration reform. This summary is a lot more clear to me.

Illegal aliens who "come out of the shadows" by applying for a Z visa would have to pass a background check, remain employed, and avoid criminal behavior, the White House said in a lengthy summary of the legislation released on Thursday.

A Z visa will allow people who sneaked into the country illegally before Jan. 1, 2007, to "live, work and travel freely." But to get a Z visa, illegal aliens will be required to pay a $1,000 fine, "meet accelerated English and civics requirements," stay employed, and renew their visa every four years...

The bill says future immigrants will be selected based on the "skills and attributes" they bring to the United States," including their educational background, their ability to speak English, their job skills, and family ties to the United States.

The bill also ends "chain migration," in which a majority of green cards go to relatives of U.S. citizens....

"To relieve pressure on the border and provide a lawful way to meet the needs of our economy, the proposal creates a temporary worker program to fill jobs Americans are not doing," the White House said.

"Guest workers" would be limited to three two-year terms, and they'd have to spend at least a year outside the United States between each term.

While I applaud Congress and the White House for giving this a try, I have a feeling the bil is DOA at this point in the election cycle. Quite clearly, this Congress is more interested in talking about what the White House does wrong than in making any progress before the 2008 elections. However, this bill may go down in history as the start of the grand debate among the American people - raising the visibility of the issue and forcing the NEXT Congress and President to act.