Sunday, February 17, 2013

Right Wing Pressures Rubio to Backtrack Away from Path to Citizenship! Pushes Blame on President

During the 2012 Presidential Campaign, our President talked about the need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. After the election, he met with several groups to gain input for a bill. At the same time, Marco Rubio announced he would be doing the same thing.
On January 18, I wrote about their high level views and provided a comparison.
On January 28, I wrote about the Group of Eight's high level proposal for a bill.
On January 29, I wrote about the President's Immigration Reform talking points during his visit to Las Vegas.
As we all know, the President and his staff have been gathering input from several groups in order to put together their recommendations and both the President's staff and the Group of Eight's staff have been working together to provide input to the final bill.
Both the Group of Eight (and staff) and the President (and staff) were working together fine.

Then, something happened
The Editors at the National Review -- the Republican Bible -- wrote a very nasty op-ed attacking Latinos, especially those crossing the Mexican border. I wrote about it on January 31. In part they wrote: "More than half of Hispanic births are out of wedlock. Take away the Spanish surname and Latino voters look a great deal like many other Democratic constituencies. Low-income households headed by single mothers and dependent upon some form of welfare are not looking for an excuse to join forces with Paul Ryan and Pat Toomey. Given the growing size of the Hispanic vote, it would help Republicans significantly to lose it by smaller margins than they have recently. But the idea that an amnesty is going to put Latinos squarely in the GOP tent is a fantasy."
Then, after the State of the Union, Marco Rubio's Immigration Proposal CHANGED. As I reported on February 12, Rubio went BACK to his Piecemeal approach saying Immigration Reform had to START with SECURING the Border and a fast track for Legal Immigrants with advanced degrees, and the bill would NOT INCLUDE a Pathway to Legalization UNTIL a Commission comprised of Republican Governors said the Southern Border was secure.

Now, yesterday, USAToday reported that there was some sort of leak of the President's proposal. As we all know, and as I've previously reported, the Administration has been passing their high level views to many different audiences and has been working with the Group of Eight's staff to provide recommendations for the final bill. Apparently, one of the groups asked to provide feedback LEAKED the high level recommendations to USAToday.

Nothing was really different about the recommendations except for:
1. may allow some illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within 8 years.
2. Four year transition for employers to implement systems to verify legal status for new hires.

When USAToday asked Rubio about the so called leak, Rubio angrily responded, "It fails to follow through on previously broken promises to secure our borders, (and) creates a special pathway that puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally," Rubio said. "It would actually make our immigration problems worse... If proposed in Congress, it's DEAD ON ARRIVAL."
It is clear that Rubio has been listening to the Far Right, breaking his Pathway to Citizenship promise to the American people and looking for a reason to Blame the President for his Failure! Rubio's plan will NOT allow a pathway to legalization until the following occurs -- and this could take years:
. Republican Governor Commission to oversee SECURING the Mexican Border. The Commission will include Jan Brewer and Rick Perry. Before ANY path to legalization is considered, the Border Governors MUST say the Border is Secure.
Additionally, his plan insists on speeding up the Legal Immigration process for "Highly Skilled (advanced degreed) NEW Immigrants." This is another favorite of the far right.
BTW, I wrote about views Ted Cruz provided about his version of Immigration Reform on January 20, 2012.
Here is a Summary of their THREE Recommendations:
OBAMA Plan: One Bill
Rubio/Gang of Eight: 6 Separate Bills
TED CRUZ / Tea Party
Enhanced Border Security
FIRST: Bill 1: Enhanced Border Security
. more border patrol on Mexican border
. surveillance technology, Drones
. Create border commission comprised of Border Governors, Attorney Generals, and Community Leaders along the southern border to monitor progress of securing border.
. Boots on the ground, plus a WALL           . Triple the size of the Border Patrol .Give police more power to ask about immigration status (Racial Profiling) and supports sb1070                                . Strengthen border security and increase enforcement; Detention; Deportation
Improving legal immigration: grants a green card to foreign students who earn advanced science and technology degrees in the U.S
BILL 2: Increase the number of visas for "highly-skilled" workers
 
E-Verify: Enhanced enforcement on businesses that employ undocumented immigrants
BILL 3: E-Verify: Enhanced enforcement on businesses that employ undocumented immigrants
. Develop tough, fair, effective and mandatory employment verification system.
Guest Worker Program
BILL 4: Guest Worker Program, especially for guest farm workers. Electronically track all guest/temporary Visas to make sure they don’t overstay
Pass the Dream Act: pathway to citizenship to undocumented youth seeking a higher education or military service
BILL 5: Pathway to Dream Legal Status
No Dream Act
PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP, may be within 8 years: PAY BACK TAXES, criminal background checks, learn English and paying a processing fee.
BILL6: PATHWAY TO Legal Status: PAY BACK TAXES, criminal background checks, learn English and paying a processing fee. Then go to the back of the line, apply for Green Card & Potential Legal Status.
. Non-Citizens and ALL those in process will NOT have access to ANY Federal Public Benefits.
No path to citizenship for the 11M here
Improve Immigration Processing/Reduce Backlogs from Entering Countries and Backlogged Court Proceedings
 
 

No comments:

Page Hits