Obama's border plan looks similar to Bush's

[ixion]

Source: AP

By JACQUES BILLEAUD (AP) – 2 hours ago

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama's plan to send as many as 1,200 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border appears to be a scaled-down version of the border security approach championed by his predecessor.

The 6,000 troops who were sent by President George W. Bush to the border from June 2006 to July 2008 were generally credited within law enforcement circles as having helped improve border security, but restrictions placed on the soldiers were denounced by advocates for tougher enforcement who are now leveling similar objections at Obama's plan.

Some law enforcement officials along the border said they worry that Obama will repeat Bush's mistake by limiting the troops to support roles, such as conducting surveillance and installing lighting, rather than letting them make arrests and confront smugglers. They also believe the scale of the force — one-fifth of the size of the one sent by Bush — is too small to make a difference along the length of the 2,000-mile border.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gygRG8QRe1aX8WFv7tuDXHc0K_TgD9FUDKJO1

---

1) Why is Obama (once again) using tactics from the Bush-era?

2) Caving in to psychotic fascists only makes them hunger for more, as this article brings out.

[xchrom]

1. Quelle shock and awe. And why?

Because to the extent that he is sending
1200 troops he doesn't disagree with
conservatives.

[FrenchieCat]

2. So this article is suggesting that Obama should send the military in to fight on the border?

Great!

[ixion]

8. Actually, I think it shows what happens when you cave to the Right

they just demand more caving.

[JDPriestly]

3. It looks more and more as though Obama is just a figurehead for

the same folks that Bush represented. Slightly different style, but the substance is pretty much the same. Same wars. Same military expenditures. Same economic policy.

Same Guantanamo. Same Patriot Act. Same everything.

Our votes did not count. Our work did not count.

I wish I could vote for Bernie Sanders. He is the only one who is being honest with the American people and representing the American people right now. The only one.

[saigon68]

4. "Bring Em On" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

SURE LOOKS LIKE IT TO ME

[dgibby]

6. Your shadow govt. in action. n/t

[ixion]

10. Yep, sadly, I have to agree

Meet the new 'change', same as the old 'change'

[Unvanguard]

5. Is that really the only available standard for evaluating policy?

Bush wasn't terrible at immigration (though Obama is better).

[ixion]

7. Bush was terrible. PERIOD.

And following ANY of his ideas will lead to no good.

[Unvanguard]

9. I like pretzels. n/t

[Beacool]

11. Do you pass out when you eat them?

:D

[happygoluckytoyou]

12. TO THOSE WHO COMMENT HERE..... PLEASE i would like to hear solutions suggested to the "illegals" -->

i know it is easy to pick on obama's response----- and i have some issues with it as well-----

BUT..... there are 2 issues opened here....

1) the 10 million living in america
2) NEW and RECROSSING into the USA
3) cheap labor (if not-->wages go up prices go up. mexican lettuce farmers undercut american prices and put the american farmer out of business)

WHAT I AM ASKING HERE.... LIST WHAT YOU THINK WOULD BE A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE.... (IT IS NOT ONE DIMENSIONAL)

[ixion]

15. My solution: Open the Border, and stop calling them "illegals"

that would take care of it.

[bighart]

23. What "it" would that take care of exactly?

How do we bring all of the undocumented immigrants in the shadows out into the day light? Do they suddenly all get a pay raise because now we know who they are and where they are? Do you run background checks on all of them and send any criminals wanted for offenses other than being here illegally to wherever they are wanted? How do you handle underage individuals working in jobs that they legally can't do?

Lots of questions on how to do this in my mind.

[ixion]

24. Certainly there are issues. However, ceasing to treat it as a crime is a good place to start

IMO.

[bighart]

27. So what is the "it" that is taken care by removing the criminallity from

this and opening the border?

[pampango]

18. Here are a couple of comprehensive proposals from AFL-CIO/Change-to-Win and the Progressive Caucus.

Change to Win And AFL-CIO Unveil Unified Immigration Reform Framework

Joseph T. Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and chair of the Change to Win Immigration Task Force, and John Sweeney, International President of the AFL-CIO, today unveiled a unified framework for comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

The joint announcement and proposal is a critical sign of support for the Administration and Congress to address immigration reform -- and to ensure that it remains a priority on the legislative calendar. It is also an important sign that immigration reform is an important part of economic recovery.

"We need an immigration system that works for America's workers," said President Hansen. "For too long, our nation's immigration system has fueled discrimination and exploitation of workers. It has driven down wages and working conditions. And it has failed to live up to our nation's values. We now have an opportunity to change course. This framework is a roadmap toward real reform -- reform that addresses the needs of our nation's workers, families and communities. This framework is about moving America forward. We are a nation that respects hard work, family and the pursuit of the American Dream. Our immigration system must hold true to these principles."

"Our nation's broken immigration system isn't working for anybody --not immigrant workers who are routinely exploited by companies and not U.S. born workers whose living standards are being undermined by the creation of a new "underclass." As a part of broad-based economic recovery, we need a comprehensive solution -- and soon. The development of a unified labor position, a position centered on workers' rights, puts us on the path to a legislative solution," said President Sweeney. "The labor movement will speak in one voice to address this pressing issue with Congress and the White House to create a system that protects all workers -- those who work in our shadow economy and those who have full rights."

Sweeney and Hansen also were joined by Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Arturo Rodriquez, President of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in making the announcement. Both Medina and Rodriguez have been national leaders on immigration reform and played a key role in the formation of the immigration framework.

"As we face the most serious recession since the Great Depression -- as healthcare costs skyrocket, income disparity grows, and the middle class continues to shrink -- the American public wants fundamental reform of economic and social policies that have benefited the few at the expense of the working majority," said Medina. "Immigration reform is no exception. Today's unified agreement is a major step forward that will, combined with the continued leadership of President Obama, Vice President Biden and bipartisan leadership in Congress, profoundly improve the future of all workers and build a stronger American economy for our children and grandchildren."

"Today's unity statement is a recognition of the dire need to have immigration laws that work and work for all workers," said President Rodriguez. "Too many workers, both U.S. and immigrant, are exploited by the current system and that needs to change. The United Farm Workers, Change to Win and the AFL-CIO came together because we can no longer be delayed."

President Obama recently reiterated his support for immigration reform and stated that real reform cannot be completed in a piecemeal fashion.

The Unity Framework, which was developed in consultation with Former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall and the Economic Policy Institute, provides a comprehensive plan for addressing immigration reform.

The plan adheres to the Administration's goals by creating a framework that deals with the critical components of reform and does it through interconnected initiatives. The proposal calls for: (1) an independent commission to assess and manage future flows, based on labor market shortages that are determined on the basis of actual need; (2) a secure and effective worker authorization mechanism; (3) rational operational control of the border; (4) adjustment of status for the current undocumented population; and (5) improvement, not expansion, of temporary worker programs, limited to temporary or seasonal, not permanent, jobs.

In the coming weeks, representatives from labor will be meeting with key Congressional and Administration staff to discuss the framework and how best to move the issue forward. The groups have also briefed key activists and advocates about the framework and will be working closely with these vital allies in the coming months.

http://www.changetowin.org/for-the-media/press-releases-and-statements/change-to-win-and-afl-cio-unveil-unified-immigration-reform-framework.html



On Immigration Reform

http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=205&ParentID=0&SectionID=93&SectionTree=93&lnk=b&ItemID=203

Labor
• Include strong labor protections for all workers in the United States, regardless of immigration status.
• Ensure verification of a labor shortage by the Department of Labor through a labor certification process before seeking non-citizens.
• Provide a visa program that is transparent, tightly managed, and ensures there is a regularized flow across our national borders.
• Admit non-citizen workers through our immigration system with enforceable guarantees of internationally recognized worker rights payment of remittance, and a pathway to legalization.
• Include Ag Jobs or legislation that would provide agricultural employers with a stable, legal labor force while protecting farm workers form exploitative working conditions.

Earned Citizenship
• Enable the millions of hard-working, responsible undocumented workers already in the U.S., and their immediate families, to follow a well-defined, time-bound path to lawful permanent residence and citizenship.
• Ensure that any proposal to legalization be workable, consistent with economic needs and family unification and attainable fines.
• Support the DREAM Act or legislation that would restores states’ rights to offer in-state tuition to non-citizen students residing in their state and that would provide a path to citizenship for hardworking non-citizen youth who want to contribute fully to our society.

Family Reunification
• Support a comprehensive immigration reform effort that espouses family values fundamental to our national ideals and reunites families to strengthen our communities.
• Reduce immigration backlogs to assist with family reunification and oppose eliminating any of the current family categories.
• Recognizing the importance of both employment-based and family based immigration ensure that any legalization and expansion of employment-based immigration does not come at the expense of our long-standing tradition of family-based immigration.
• Provide spouses and children of current and future workers with work visas and a pathway to legalization.
• Support immigration equality for permanent partners (UAFA/PPIA) or legislation that would remove the HIV bar.

Due process
• Provide due process protections to non-citizens.
• Eliminate retroactivity of deportation laws.
• Restore prosecutorial discretion, proportionality, and judicial review to our immigration system.
• Eliminate mandatory and indefinite detention of non-citizens.
• Provide standards for humane treatment of detainees and the conditions of detention, including a mechanism for an independent oversight of detention facilities.
• Eliminate the harsh bars to admission, particularly the 3 and 10-year bars for those who have been in the U.S. unlawfully.
• Modify the definition of “aggravated felonies” to include only felonies and violent or particularly serious crimes and be an equitable application and consistent with federal felony laws.
• Provide discretion to the immigration court to adjust the status of an individual granted deferred action

Refugees/Asylees
• Eliminate the one-year deadline to apply for asylum.
• Protect the U.S. refugee program from the unintended consequences of overbroad “material support” related bars on admission. Legislation should prevent groups that have supported the US or that the US itself supports from inadvertently being labeled “terrorist organizations” but should not affect the classification of current designated terrorist organizations whose members will continue to be barred from the United States.
• Ensure protection of victims of terrorism who were forced under threat of death or serious bodily injury into providing goods or services to armed rebels from being defined as “material support” of terrorism.

Border Security and Law Enforcement
• Uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in immigration laws.
• Minimize the militarization of our border communities and respects local residents that live along the border.
• Oppose the use of state and local police for immigration law enforcement.
• Ensure immigration enforcement is humane and does not violate the human rights of our communities or tear families apart.
• Oppose ICE raids that unfairly target particular ethnic groups, violate basic due process principles, and negatively impact U.S. citizen children.

Employers
• Employers should not become immigration officers.
• Employers should be held responsible for hiring undocumented workers.
• Employers should show a good-faith effort to first hire citizens before hiring new or foreign workers.
• Employers will follow labors laws for all employees they have, including the National Labor Relations Act, ensuring both non-citizens and citizens alike have full ability to organize.

Trade
• Improve trade, investment, aid agreements and enforcement of applicable international and national laws to enable more people to live, work, and raise their families and living standards in their home countries.
• Ensure foreign aid, military, and trade agreements are sensitive to the impacts of potential immigration on the United States, and enhance the ability of nations to foster social and economic development within their borders.

Administration
• Ensure a fair and accessible naturalization process with an affordable fee schedule.
• Provide sufficient federal manpower, training, and resources to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to eliminate our current unreasonable backlogs and achieve accurate and timely processing of all applications for immigration and related appeals, while increasing the number of available visas.
• Provide appropriate resources to the agencies involved (FBI, Department of State, USCIS, etc) and training and recruitment of immigration officers to adjudicate applications in a timely manner.
• Reduce the backlog on background checks by providing appropriate resources and prioritizing those applications

Native Americans
• Any legislation related to border security should enhance cooperation between the Department of Homeland Security and those sovereign Native American Nations that are divided by political international borders.
• Immigration reform legislation must take into consideration the unity of these border Tribes and communities.
• Legislation should allow tribal members and families to enter the U.S. to participate in cultural, religious, familial and tribal events, to work for their own tribal governments, and other tribal activities.

[JDPriestly]

28. Undocumented people are being placed in detention and

processed through the prison and court system.

Each person's case has to be considered. It takes time and money to process each case. Those completely without any claim to the in the U.S. are placed on planes and deported. But a fair number of these so-called illegals are found to be legal when given the chance to present their case to a judge. Some are political or religious refugees. Some have family in the U.S. We don't want to separate families. Remember the fuss we made when the USSR refused to allow families to reunite here and in other countries. If children were born here and are citizens, it is very difficult to deport the parents. That is not an uncommon case.

The whole process costs a lot of money. Obama is probably doing the right thing by increasing the border patrol.

We have the right to control immigration into this country. We have no obligation to permit limitless immigration. Just try simply moving to some other country and getting a job after you get there without visas or permits. You can do it for a very short time, but then you have to either get a work visa or go home.

We don't have the right to deport people without due process. That is a fundamental right for every person in the world, not just American citizens. And due process costs a lot of money.

We could increase fines and punishment for employers who regularly employ illegals, but that will not solve the problem. We need to do a lot of things. But I doubt that we want to spend the money on stopping illegals. If Arizonans want to pay to keep illegals out, they should pay for it out of their taxes. It is not the top priority in California. Arizonans, don't make us pay for your obsession with illegal aliens.

[PSPS]

13. Take out the word "border" and this headline could have been used dozens of times in the past year.

[ixion]

16. Yep. And that causes me great grief

Because now I voted for it. :argh:

[lonestarnot]

14. What bullshit. What are we doing going along to get along? What bullshit.

[ixion]

17. It would be wonderful to see some enlightenment creep into our society

but I'm not holding my breath.

[Romulox]

19. Obama's TRADE policy is identical to Bush's, and MANY applaud that, so...

:hi:

[ixion]

20. Gee, I never knew there were so many supporters of Bush policies here on DU

Go figure. :hi:

I guess that plays into my thesis that there is really only ONE party.

[Romulox]

22. It's disgusting, isn't it?

It kinda reminds me of my favorite Michael Jackson tune. How about you?

[Echo In Light]

25. +1

[Name removed]

21. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherina]

26. The song remains the same n/t

[TransitJohn]

29. Chess Move® n/t

n/t