pudge's Journal: Re: Felonies and Misdemeanors

Any time someone complains about the House immigration bill, H.R. 4437, makes illegal immigrants felons, tell them to blame the Democrats.

Tony Blankley mentioned on The McLaughlin Group last week that the Democrats blocked an amendment to the bill to reduce the sentence for illegal entry or unlawful presence from one year (the change that made it into a felony), to six months (a misdemeanor, which is currently the actual maximum jail time for illegal entry).

Intrigued, I looked it up, and it's true. House Amendment 656, introduced by Rep. Sensenbrenner himself, was opposed by 191 of the 202 Democrats, and lost 164-257. Granted, if all the Republicans had voted for it, it would have passed without the Democrats, but that's beside the point: the Democrats voted against this because they wanted to be able to say the Republicans are trying to make all illegal immigrants into felons.

So when Democrats blame the Republicans for this, or say that they opposed the Sensenbrenner bill because it makes illegal aliens into felons, they are lying.

Now Playing: The Police - The Bed's Too Big Without You (Mono)

How I would 'adjust' this bill.

[SiliconJesus]

Establish a baseline price for transportation to countries of Origin of the most common offenders (Mexico, Canada etc). Anyone arrested will be put to work, stamping license plates, breaking rock, whatever at a wage of $2.00 per hour. They will recieve 3 - 4 meals per day and housing, but not be allowed off of the site until they have contributed enough to cover their expenses back home. They can buy their way back by having family members forward the money for a one way ticket to US Authorities.

Re:How I would 'adjust' this bill.

[FroMan]

Entertaining... but I don't know how effective it'd be. There's only 1 mountain range out west to reduce to sand before we'd have to consider the shipping costs to the appilation's out east.

A potentially better, but completely off the cuff, way might be to put a tarrif on goods coming from Mexico to cover the cost of sending illegals back. That might be a little bit too protectionist for my taste though.

Never mind the contribution by our immigrants

[Dark Coder]

WHOA... I have to retract my earlier posting about illegal immigrants wonderfully contributing somewhere around 1.2 billion dollars to our Social Security coffers.

What I just read in the paper today, is that immigrants COST us 2.6 billion dollars worth of criminal incarcerations.... prisoners that is.

That is, immediate cost of 2.6 B per years... versus a time-delayed 20-year investments to Social Security.

Holy Shit! Ship them illegals back fast, prisoners first.

You need to be told

[jamie]

You need to be told that persisting in a charge which one does not know to be true, is simply malicious slander.

Re:You need to be told

[pudge]

As this clearly does not relate to anything I posted about here, it is off-topic, and as per the rules of this journal, if you persist, you will be Foe'd.