Lawmakers pushing for immigration reform say job losses and a sluggish economy should not deter legislation legalizing illegal immigrants.

A coalition of Democrats say fixing the immigration system can help American workers as well.

OBAMA, SEIU, ACORN Different names, same substance

Black, Hispanic, Asian, progressive and other Democrats unveiled the kind of immigration reform they want at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday.

They are proposing that illegal immigrants register with the government, pay a $500 fine for each adult, learn English, pass background checks and meet other requirements. They then are eligible for a six-year visa and when that is done a green card.

In reference to the bad economy, “It certainly will confuse the debate a lot more, but at the end of the day what we have to understand is fixing this system will be good for

American workers,” said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, (ACORN) which is one of the major advocates for legalizing illegal immigrant workers.  They are also on the books for having spent more time in the White House with the Obama Administration than any other group.

Conservative lawmakers are not buying into the propaganda being pushed by the liberals, ACORN and other leftist advocacy groups.  “With 15 million Americans out of work, it’s hard to believe that anyone would give amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrants,” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. “Even the open-borders crowd agrees that illegal immigrants take jobs from American workers, particularly poor and disadvantaged citizens and legal immigrants. This is exactly why we need to oppose amnesty.”

Immigration agents arrested 280 people in Texas during a six-month national roundup of gang members and criminals.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Thursday that agents working with state and local officials made the arrests as part of Operation Community Shield. The sweep ended Sept. 30. and focused on gangs with foreign-born members.

ICE says 127 were arrested in North Texas and 113 in the Houston-Galveston area. Those included members or associates of such international gangs as MS-13, Surenos and Laotian Oriental Killer Boyz.

Officials say the 89-city operation led to 1,785 arrests nationwide of people suspected of gang and criminal activity or immigration violations.

ICE says 35 percent of those arrested in the nationwide operation have violent criminal histories and more than 1,400 are suspected gang members. About 905 people face criminal charges.

Face Fwd Comments:

It would be nice if we could just ship them back to their own countries and let them take care of the problem.  However, we know if we send them back they will just show back up across our border.

Sadly, we are now going to be forced to deal with the problem and once more our our prisons will gow as well as the debt it takes to keep them open.  It still seems to me that if we build a wall, close the borders and deport every illegal in the country that our crimes rates would go down.  I am even in favor of shipping all of the illegals that are in our prisons right now back to their native country……if our borders were stronger.

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won’t cover illegal immigrants, but argued that’s all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered – a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

“Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don’t simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday evening in a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “That’s why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else.

Mr. Obama added, “If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all.”

Republicans said that amounts to an amnesty, calling it a backdoor effort to make sure current illegal immigrants get health care.

For the rest of the article please go here:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/18/obama-ties-immigration-to-health-care-battle/?feat=home_cube_position1

Face Fwd Comments:

Didn’t someone get in trouble for saying that Obama was lying about giving health care to illegal aliens?  However, I suppose that if you make all of the illegals in the country, legal citizens, then technically he is not giving helath care to illegals and therefore, did not lie.

The illegal’s in this counry are breaking the bank already.  Adding them to our social services will do nothing to help balance the huge debt that we have already incured.  As I have said countless times, I would love to feed everyone in the world and make sure they have adequate medical care.  In fact, I would pay for it myself………, if I had the money. 

When will the liberal elite get it.  The anger at Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of the congressional big spenders is not about race, it’s not about hating people from other countries, and it’s not about being an “evil capitalist”.  It’s about being unable to afford  what is being forced on the “tax paying” public.