-=Deporter=- wrote:
> The Tan Klan and the Aztlanista's might go wild over this. Keep your
> powder dry........
>
> Economy May Force Obama to Abandon Plan to Overhaul Immigration
>
> By Nicholas Johnston
>
> April 24, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- The long campaign to overhaul U.S.
> immigration laws may be derailed for yet another year -- this time by
> the deteriorating economy.
>
> Lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates on both sides of the issue said the
> highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years would make it
> difficult for President Barack Obama to push legislation that would
> legalize millions of immigrants in the country illegally and create a
> new guest-worker program.
>
> "The debate has changed," said Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama
> Republican who opposed immigration legislation when it was last
> considered in 2007. "I don't think it's going to be a pleasant
> discussion because the American people won't be happy about it."
>
> This month, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama would soon
> introduce new plans for overhauling immigration, a legislative
> priority for companies such as chipmaker Intel Corp., hotel-chain
> Marriott International Inc. and Western Union Co., the world's biggest
> money-transfer business.
>
> In Mexico City last week, Obama, 47, said he remains "committed to
> fixing our broken immigration system," and a Senate committee has
> announced it will begin hearings on the issue next week. Still, David
> Axelrod, a senior White House adviser, said the president may not be
> able to make good on his promise to sign legislation within his first
> year in office.
>
> 'Committed' to It
>
> "We're committed to beginning that discussion this year," Axelrod said
> in an interview last week. "Whether we complete that this year is
> another question."
>
> Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush, abandoned a push for a
> comprehensive plan in his first term after the Sept. 11 attacks raised
> concerns over border security. A proposal he initiated in his second
> term was killed by Congress in 2007, even though it was supported by
> the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying
> organization. The group said it would support renewed efforts this year.
>
> "We are cautiously optimistic," said Angelo Amador, the chamber's
> director of immigration policy.
>
> Technology companies such as Santa Clara, California-based Intel are
> pressing for an increase in H1-B visas for highly skilled workers,
> such as computer engineers. Englewood, Colorado-based Western Union
> and Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott have joined a new advocacy
> group, ImmigrationWorks USA, to push for legislation.
>
> 'Going to Do It'
>
> "The president is talking about it and he's going to do it," said
> Tamar Jacoby, the Washington-based group's president.
>
> Yet Rogan Kersh, an associate dean at New York University's Wagner
> School of Public Service, said a new immigration proposal could be a
> particularly hard sell with the public and lawmakers of both parties
> after the jobless rate rose to 8.5 percent last month, the highest in
> more than 25 years.
>
> "Rising unemployment rates, coupled with continuing dismal economic
> news, are battering the public's inclination to back a change in
> illegal immigrants' status, which was never that strong to begin
> with," said Kersh.
>
> Jennifer Verdery, director of workforce policy for Intel, agreed that
> the economy may delay action.
>
> "It's clear that immigration reform is something that has been put on
> the back burner," she said.
>
> Opponents have seized on the unemployment numbers.
> Immigration-legislation proponents "are going to have to be faced with
> the argument that I and many others are making: Illegals are taking
> jobs Americans now want," said Representative Steve King, an Iowa
> Republican who opposed the previous immigration measure.
>
> Difficult Conditions
>
> Nonetheless, Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he was
> undeterred by "these difficult economic conditions" and would press
> ahead with hearings this month in the Senate's Subcommittee on
> Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, which he chairs.
>
> "There is a real chance of passing comprehensive reform this year,"
> said Schumer, 58.
>
> Two years ago, opposition focused on two parts of the measure that
> would likely be included in any new proposal: a path to legal
> citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants, and a new guest-worker
> program to allow hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the U.S.
> each year to fill low-paying jobs.
>
> Even supporters of the earlier immigration proposal said attempts by
> Congress to take up those provisions again will meet even greater
> resistance this time.
>
> Guest Workers
>
> "Obviously, anytime you have difficult economic times it's difficult
> to conjure up creating a guest-worker program," said Senator Mel
> Martinez, 62, a Florida Republican who backed the 2007 measure.
>
> The earlier legislative proposal would have granted visas to as many
> as 200,000 temporary workers each year. Instead of specific limits in
> new legislation, labor groups are pressing for the creation of a
> commission to decide how many temporary and foreign workers should be
> allowed in, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, which represent 17 million
> union members, announced April 14.
>
> "The labor movement will speak in one voice," AFL-CIO President John
> Sweeney said.
>
> Rising unemployment already has led Congress to curb immigration. The
> economic stimulus bill approved in February included a provision to
> restrict the hiring of immigrants under the H1-B skilled-worker visa
> program by companies that have received government bailout funds such
> as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.,
> all based in New York.
>
> In addition to seeking to limit inflows of foreign workers, King, 60,
> said opponents would try to block efforts to legalize the estimated 12
> million immigrants in the country illegally.
>
> The 2007 proposal required illegal immigrants to pay fines and back
> taxes and become proficient in English before applying for legal
> status. Opponents decried it as an "amnesty" for lawbreakers, and King
> said they would do so again.
>
> "To push an amnesty plan in the middle of this economic environment I
> would have said a year ago is the height of irresponsibility, but
> there have been so many irresponsible things since then I don't know
> how to actually describe it," King said.
>
> ###
>
> Watch The Obama Deception Here.... http://tinyurl.com/ObamaDeceptionHD
>
>
Yes but I fear it is just a scheme to put it off until Obama is close to
reelection or until the pig power is close in 2010. That would give them
the votes they need from " latinos " or maybe not. |