Archive for May 17th, 2007
Progress?
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
Key senators in both parties and the White House announced agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.
The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S and a separate program to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education-level would for the first time be weighted over family connections in deciding whether future immigrants should get permanent legal status. New high-tech employment verification measures also would be instituted to ensure that workers are here legally.
The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush’s Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.
The only signifigant thing this new government has accomplished since they all went back to work in January. Of course, it’s not law yet, we’ll have to see. The bad news if it passes? The whole mess will be managed by the Department of Homeland Security.
