Freedom Folks: Immigration proving a divisive issue for Republicans

Uh-Huh, just keep swinging that one guys. I have yet to talk to a single individual who doesn't find the idea of twenty million unassimilated illegal aliens traipsing around the country troubling. Not to mention the idea of people simply strolling over the border illegally to have their children become citizens. It is the height of arrogance and stupidity to act as if all is well while average Americans are hurting.

WASHINGTON - As the Senate gets ready to take up the thorny matter of immigration, a national gathering last week of conservative activists shows just how deeply the issue divides the Republican Party and separates President Bush from part of his political base.

Advocates for cracking down on illegal immigrants assailed corporate America for supporting "open borders" in its lust for "cheap labor."

"No matter how good (it is) for the restaurant industry, the ski resorts, the U.S. Chamber and Tyson Foods, cheap labor is cheap only for the employer, not for the taxpayer," U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

And that's why we love Tom Tancredo around here.

Of course there are always those willing to sell out their fellow citizens, I believe the term is quisling...

One business official shot back that shutting off the flow of foreign workers would destroy economic growth.

"If you're going to try to enforce your way out of the illegal immigration problem, what you're going to do is cripple the economy," said John Gay of the National Restaurant Association.

You know Mr Cappucino breathed weasel that argument didn't fly with slavery, or with child labor laws and it hasn't gained any altitude in the intervening decades. I think the economy will be just fine you anti-American bastard.

At the CPAC conference Thursday, several speakers disdainfully lumped Bush in with the likes of Senate Democrat Ted Kennedy in his approach to immigration reform.

"They think he's not listening," David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said of grass-roots sentiment on the issue.

Hmmm, why might people have that impression?

"I think that immigration is the most dangerous issue that's out there for Republicans and for the political society," Keene said. "I think it can get out of control, and you see that in some of the rhetoric. If mainline politicians don't talk about solving a problem, somebody (else) will. That's the nature of politics in the marketplace."

Yep, exactly right. If our needs are not being addressed, nay, if there being flat out ignored. I can tell you, I will seek out a third party and cheerfully waste my vote. It will be a vote of conscience.

Immigration's likely role in the 2006 elections is much debated, with the get-tough camp arguing that politicians ignore the border crisis at their peril, and those on the other side of the issue saying politicians bash immigrants at their peril.

You know what I like about the above passage? If all you've got are lies "and those on the other side of the issue saying politicians bash immigrants at their peril" it means you know you're wrong and you're getting ready to lose.

"If you increase the supply of cheap labor, you are going to depress the wages for everybody," said Schlafly, saying employers were creating a "serf class" of unassimilated immigrants.

Sing it sister!

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies said guest-worker plans treated immigrants as "labor inputs." And he told the crowd that immigration wasn't an argument between right and left but between the public and elites - "big business, big labor, big religion, big academia, big journalism" - that "don't see what the fuss is about defending America's borders."

It smells like chocolate chip cookies!

Gay, of the National Restaurant Association, complained that his members were small businesses, not big businesses. He told his listeners that if the Sensenbrenner bill became law, cutting off the flow of foreign workers without opening the door to more legal workers, there won't be enough bodies to keep up with job growth.

"Sell your stock now if the House bill passes as is, because the economy is not going to grow anymore," Gay said.

Randel Johnson of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce complained to the gathering that business "all of a sudden becomes the bad guy in this debate."

In an interview, he termed Krikorian and others "a very small vocal minority," disputing the notion that there is a large groundswell in the public for a purely restrictive approach to immigration. He called the attacks on business an "odd juxtaposition."

I'm just curious boys, how do you take your cappucino's?

Enjoy the smack down...Here!

H/T Federation For American Immigration Reform