mexicans = work permits?

[Bootylicious!! 2]

There is a bill currently being debated, it's called the Kennedy McCain bill. They are trying to get together a bill that will let illegal aliens(not just Mexicans) get work permits to work temporarily. They can work for 3 years and then renew for another 3 years. They have to learn english and civics to renew after the first 3 years. It does not put them in line any faster to receive permanent residency. After the 6 years they would have to go back to their home country and apply for PR. It also has some things in it about border security but I am not sure what that entails. There is a lot of information on Immigrate2US, if anyone is interested in finding out what the bill is really about. Because it's not just about handing "Mexicans" a work permit as the title of this thread suggests.

[nina1 0]

it was just a quebec thing, not canadian i guess.. it came on TQS back in October-november

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

They have to learn english and civics...

I have no problem with this as long as they don't water down the learning English requirement.

[pax 0]

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/epb/lmd/fw/forms.shtml

Again, this doesn't look like it gives any kind of special benefit to Mexican workers.

Whether you agree with a guest-worker program or not (and I personally have misgivings about it), I think there's a lot of fearmongering and xenophobia involved in debates about such programs. Americans in particular, I'm afraid, start and perpetuate a lot of rumors out of fear.

Now I don't mean that I think a guest-worker program is an unmitigatedly good idea. I could see where it could be advantageous for both Americans and Mexicans. But illegal labor in general is already far too profitable for American businesses, and rubber-stamping the process of aliens taking jobs that businesses claim Americans "don't want" isn't going to solve the problem.

[Sister Fracas 5]

Take Your Kitten to Work Day

Ohhh, I'd go for that....

ok, going now... *gets coat*

[meauxna 15]

ok, this has been bothering me.

Moreso since I saw what the Illegal Irish Workers of America (or some such ridiculous name) got up to this past week, and Hillary (sorry chick, you're losing my vote every time you get on the news anymore) was there sucking up to them.

OK, what gets me is the politicos going ahead and making noise and capital out of this issue, and getting ready to pass a law.

Worthless waste of time! If they are not going to fund the agency and reform the actual paper-handling, what is USCIS going to look like one month after this thing is enacted?

You know what the wait times are like for *any* benefit out of the Service now. What is it going to be like if you dump another 1/2 million people into it in one day?

Wonder what the wait for an EAD might be like then?

This whole thing is some kind of crappy feel-good make-work that makes the average joe happy that his elected reps are doing something about the problem, while actually making the problem worse.

No, I still don't have the solution, but it's the first time I've felt moved to shake my reps and let them know that changing the law isn't the only fix---they have to address the agency as well. I have not read about this portion of the problem anywhere, and I suspect it's because they don't give a #######.

[cmartyn 0]

The solution is quite simple. Mine the border, and round em up and send em back. Done finito. Not too many people would go nuts if they did that :-)..

[sparkofcreation 0]

They have to learn english and civics...

I have no problem with this as long as they don't water down the learning English requirement.

You do realize the current test is something like "Repeat the following five sentences after me and read this paragraph aloud" right? How much more watered-down could it get?

For the record, my understanding is that the new law would require illegals to pay a $2000 fine, after which they'd get a work permit and be on probation for six years, after which they could apply to be LPRs.

Hey, it's better than having them pay the $2K to the coyotes to smuggle them in. At least maybe the extra income will allow the USCIS to hire more people and process all applications faster, plus there'd be less of an excuse for people to come here illegally.

Here's my take on it: there is no way to stop illegal immigration. None. Heck, I used to live in New Jersey, and people would sneak into the Port of Newark inside containers on container ships. There's illegal immigration everywhere—including huge problems with it in the UK and Spain, which are surrounded by water (well, Spain has water on four sides and a li'l bit of treacherous mountains, but that's not where immigrants sneak in). So seeing as how there is no way to stop these people from coming, we might as well regulate them and get some money into the federal government (especially if we can force it to be designated for something like USCIS instead of more wars).

[cmartyn 0]

Containers? Really? Perhaps we need to crank up the power on those X Ray machines.

[peejay 327]

The solution is quite simple. Mine the border, and round em up and send em back. Done finito. Not too many people would go nuts if they did that :-)..

Most would probably think that would be my solution, but it's not. It is way more complicated than that. But this big push by the Senate with the backing of the Big Business interests to grant yet another blanket amnesty is a huge mistake. That is Bush's answer too and it isn't because he loves immigrants or Hispanics. He doesn't have much love for the American worker either and has proved it repeatedly in his policies. Port deals, lopsided trade agreements...anything for his Big Business buddies.

I happened to be old enough to live through and remember the last "comprehensive" immigration reform and amnesty deceptively named the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Twenty years later we can see what it really solved...NOTHING!!! Except to kill the unions and erode real wages for most working American men and women. The problem of illegal immigration actually got worst as we all know.

The fact is that, as usual, Big Business wants us to buy its solution to the problem "up front" for its own benefit without proving that anything proposed is a solution. They want an amnesty to lock in the illegal workers they already have and enough loopholes to ensure a future surplus of exploitable workers with few or no controls.

I like the House's immigration reform bill better (HR4437). It is heavy on border enforcement, workplace enforcement, and no amnesty. The House has always been more receptive to the people than the Senate. The Senate is heavy with bills that focus only on amnesty and guest workers as their solution. Let the Congress and the President prove they will REALLY enforce the law and quit encouraging illegal immigration. Maybe after that the American people might consider a guest worker program. Until then...why believe their lies?

I don't see the House and Senate coming to a consenses enough to pass any immigration bill soon. There will be bills put on the Senate floor for a vote, but it takes both the House and the Senate to pass a bill into law. And the President has to sign off on it too.

I am very skeptical of the Congress to pass any REAL immigration reform. I don't trust the Senate at all. Spector / Kennedy-McCain legislations are not the answer. I put my faith in the House to stop this retarded amnesty. It didn't work in 1986 and it smells no better in 2006. In fact, it smells more rotten with age.

I would rather see no immigration reform instead of bad immigration reform.

That's my 2 cents.