McCain, Kennedy to Propose Fining Illegals

[Kadie]

McCain, Kennedy to Propose Fining Illegals
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, April 21, 2005



(04-21) 18:22 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --


Sens. John McCain and Edward M. Kennedy are putting together an immigration bill that would subject illegal immigrants to fines, but allow them to remain in the United States and earn a chance to apply for permanent residency.


The measure is an alternative to President Bush's guest worker proposal sought by employers but opposed by many conservatives.


Speaking Thursday at the Naval Academy, McCain, R-Ariz., said he and Kennedy, D-Mass., hoped to introduce their legislation next week.


Under their proposal, illegal immigrants would get three-year visas that could be renewed once. After completing six years of work, the immigrants would be eligible to "get in the back of the line" to apply for permanent legal residency, McCain said.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/21/national/w152706D54.DTL

[gaia_gardener]

1. Eh.

I would prefer that they fine the people hiring them, but I do like that they will be given a chance to become legal.

[Mountainman]

2. The farm labor is still needed no matter what the law is.

The growers rely on the affordable labor. If it were gone then the growers would move to more mechanization to replace the hand labor. There needs to be a way that all parties can have a win win situation here but I don't know what it is.

It could be a good idea to grow our food in Mexico and import it and leave the people there and pay them a decent wage. We could buy oil from Mexico and if the government there wasn't so corrupt they could use the money to raise the standard of living of Mexicans in Mexico.

Either way we must be prepared to pay more for our food if we are to solve the problem of illegal immigration.

Quite possibly we could put a consumption tax on the food and use the money to support the social services now paid for by our state income tax.

This country is a people magnet since Mexico is so poor. Until that is changed nothing much will matter.

[gaia_gardener]

10. Oklahoma already has sales tax on food

and is one of the fastest growing immigrant populations (at least that's what they've said).

I already pay quite a bit for my food because I buy organic as much as possible. One of the fringe benefits of that is that I know the workers are more likely than not to be legal (there's so much gov't oversight for certified organic it would be pretty stupid to have illegal aliens).

I also buy as much as I can from farmers' markets (at least I did before I moved here where there are no farmers' markets, now I buy as much as possible from the farm stand). That keeps costs down and I have a decent idea of who they have hired (not always, but they are generally small).

[bushisanidiot]

3. That's bullshit. The cheap labor repuke companies who hire illegal aliens

are the ones who need to be fined.

it's a simple supply and demand scenario.. cut off the demand for illegal alien workers by paying AMERICANS a decent living wage and the illegal workers will stop coming in because there will be no jobs for them here.

but when was the last time a repuke gave a SHIT about either HIRING american or BUYING american?? all they care about is the bottom line and getting that extra $2 million bonus every Christmas.

assholes are destroying our great country.

[NewJeffCT]

5. agreed - and, real fines, too

I mean, to Wal-Mart, a $50,000 fine is like a quarter (25 cents) to the average person. What do they care about peanuts like that?

[LSdemocrat]

6. Damn straight. Fine the exploiters, not the exploited.

[Ysolde]

4. Oh, right.

Let's have another "War On..." where we keep tackling the wrong end of the equation. Instead of fining the employers so they'll stop hiring illegals (and pay Americans to do the work), we're going to fine the illegals? That's just as back asswards as the War On Drugs. That's gone real well for us hasn't it? So, just how is this going to go better?

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

:banghead:

[leesa]

7. What a stupid idea. They have no money so let's fine them.

If they want to stop this FINE the corporations that hire them. They don't in any way, shape or form want to stop their flow of cheap labor.

[MrTriumph]

8. How about assessing Mexico an employment tax?

If Mexico won't institute reform to create jobs, how about asking the Mexican gov't to pay for the services illegal labor uses here in the US. And an additional sum should be assessed for damages to the American workforce.

[DulceDecorum]

11. If Mexico keeps its workers home

the US economy will collapse later that same week.
Most of your food has been touched by the hands you want to be rid of.

What services are you talking about?
What damages to the American workforce?

Several immigrants said the Pentagon work was especially appealing because of the good wages, which could reach $19 an hour for asbestos removal, for example.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A58179-2002Apr3¬Found=true

If and when those guys get too sick to work, they will be deported.
End of story.

And this fine-the-worker idea is basically another way of re-instituting slavery. The guy will be forced to work for free to pay the fine and then he will find he has incurred fees and also security to-make-sure-he-doesn't-run-away bills as well.
Go look up the Fugitve Slave Laws and see what awaits these people.

[seriousstan]

9. McCain, Kennedy ...didn't they have other bills together?