-Caveat Lector-
From Capitol Hill Blue
Capitol Hillbillies
Another GOP Congressman Questions Bush's Credibility
By BILL STRAUB
Jun 29, 2005, 01:35
A Colorado congressman is accusing the administration of trying to
hide documents showing that President Bush sparked a surge in illegal
immigration last year by proposing a guest-worker program.
The documents _ obtained by the public-interest group Judicial Watch
through Freedom of Information Act requests _ show that aliens crossing
America's southern border in the weeks after the president's Jan. 7, 2004,
announcement interpreted his proposal as a general amnesty, said Rep. Tom
Tancredo, a Republican and chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform
Caucus.
Some 45 percent of aliens who were stopped at the border said they
were trying to enter the United States because they would be afforded an
opportunity to stay under the president's plan, the documents showed.
The documents were obtained by Judicial Watch from the Department of
Homeland Security. After the president announced his policy, the department
ordered a survey of apprehended illegal immigrants to determine whether the
proposal influenced their decision to cross the border.
About 1,700 questionnaires were filled out, Judicial Watch said, and
the department thus far has handed over 850 in response to the group's
Freedom of Information Act request. The results establish that a significant
number of the captured aliens were crossing the border to take advantage of
what they understood to be the Bush program.
Once the outcome became apparent and could prove embarrassing,
according to Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, "the Bush
administration abruptly shut it down. The Border Patrol, at the behest of
the White House, instructed its agents not to provide the information about
the negative impact of the proposed amnesty program."
Agents were given a document from Homeland Security, marked "internal
use only," that was described as "White House approved talking points" on
Bush's temporary-worker program. Agents were told, "Do not talk about
amnesty, increase in apprehensions or give comparisons of past immigration
reform proposals" and "do not provide statistics on apprehension spikes or
past amnesty data."
"Unfortunately, at a time when the United States faces an
illegal-immigration crisis and a war on terrorism, Bush administration
officials directed Border Patrol agents to mislead the American people,"
Fitton said. "This administration improperly withheld information it knew
would be embarrassing."
Fitton said information obtained from the 850 survey responses
provided to his organization established that Bush's guest-worker program
was "broadly interpreted as an amnesty program by illegal immigrants from
Mexico" and that the proposal "lured greater numbers of illegal immigrants
to the U.S." When asked if they would accept amnesty if offered, 80 percent
said yes.
According to U.S. Border Patrol data, the number of illegal aliens
apprehended along the nation's southwestern border jumped 25 percent in the
first three months of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003.
Tancredo accused Homeland Security of issuing a "gag order" and then
"stonewalling" when Judicial Watch sought information.
The events, he said, "suggest that the administration is playing
politics with border-security data. I hope that this is not the case. It is
crucial that the American people know that their government is not letting
politics get in the way of national security."
The White House had no immediate response to the claims.
Immigration policy, which traditionally is an issue near the top of
the American public's list of concerns in polling, has dogged the
administration for months. While anti-immigration forces have called for
tightening border security and dispatching illegals back to their homelands,
the president has taken a softer approach, suggesting the creation of a
temporary-worker program for aliens and permitting those already in the
country to seek citizenship.
The president told the 2005 Latino Small Business Economic Conference
meeting in Washington in May that the United States must have "a rational
policy when it comes to immigrants coming to this country."
"I believe if somebody is willing to employ somebody and they can't
find an American worker, and somebody is willing to do the job, we ought to
make that connection a legal connection," Bush said. "People come here to
work."
The White House proposal, he said, would make U.S. borders more secure
"as opposed to people having to get in the back of 18-wheelers and sneaking
across, you know, Texas borders, or trying to walk across the desert to find
work."
Lawmakers have been signaling their intent for some time to crack down
on illegal immigration, saying the flow of undocumented aliens threatens
American security, deprives residents of jobs and places a strain on the
nation's social infrastructure.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank, estimates
that the population of illegal aliens reached 10 million as of November
2004. The Census Bureau maintains that this population increases by as many
as 500,000 every year, mostly from Mexico.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., have
introduced legislation that essentially would enact the Bush proposal. The
White House and the lawmakers maintain the worker program doesn't constitute
amnesty. Tancredo disagrees.
"But it is amnesty when you say people are not going to be punished
for violating the law," Tancredo said. "We're not stupid. We know it when we
see it. So can the people outside this country who know amnesty when they
see it."
(Contact Bill Straub at straubb(at)shns.com)
© Copyright 2005 Capitol Hill Blue
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
