Star Man
02-07-2013, 03:50 PM
Raul Labrador: Immigration Reform With Pathway To Citizenship Won't Get House GOP Support
The Huffington Post | By Elise Foley (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elise-foley) Posted: 02/07/2013 12:03 pm EST | Updated: 02/07/2013 12:28 pm EST
Downloaded February 7, 2013 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/raul-labrador-immigration-reform_n_2638484.html
Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) warned on Thursday that he won't vote for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and neither will his fellow House Republicans, a bad sign from someone who is considered one of the more pro-reform Republicans in the chamber.
"The people that came here illegally knowingly --- I don't think they should have a path to citizenship," he said on NPR, according to Talking Points Memo (https://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/raul-labrador-pathway-citizenship-immigration.php). "If you knowingly violated our law, you violated our sovereignty, I think we should normalize your status but we should not give you a pathway to citizenship."
Whether the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States should be given a pathway to become citizens is shaping up to be the most contentious issue in the immigration reform debate. Democrats and some Republicans insist such a provision must be a part of any reform bill, and a bipartisan Senate group dubbed the "gang of eight" released a framework that includes one.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday found that 56 percent of voters think undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States (https://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-centers/polling-institute/national/release-detail/?ReleaseID=1847) and eventually apply for citizenship, while only 10 percent say they should be able to stay but not become citizens. Thirty percent say undocumented immigrants should be forced to leave the country.
But Republicans control the House, and many of them are opposed (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/house-republicans-immigration_n_2625107.html) to such a pathway. Labrador, a former immigration lawyer, said he thinks undocumented immigrants should receive legal status but not the ability to become a legal permanent resident or citizen.
He said if Democrats push for a full pathway to citizenship, they will tank immigration reform and it will be for political reasons. "If they want a political victory they’re going to draw a fine red line and they’re going to say, either a pathway to citizenship or nothing else," he told NPR. "They know that the Republicans in the House are not going to be able to vote for that, and then they’re going to be able to beat us over the head in 2014, and say, look, the Republicans don’t like immigrants. Which is not true."
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee that handles immigration reform, expressed similar concerns to USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/04/house-immigration-hearing/1890171/) earlier this week. "When [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] says there has to be a path to citizenship, I wonder whether he's serious about doing immigration reform," he said. "You have to come at this with a willingness to look at all the options and find the common ground."
Some Republicans ave embraced the idea of giving undocumented immigrants a special road to citizenship. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday that he supports the "gang of eight" framework.
"We have to remember the 11 million people who are here are people," he told reporters, according to U.S. News (https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/06/issa-embraces-path-to-citizenship-for-illegal-immigrants).
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Overpopulation of the planet is the driving force behind illegal and legal immigration, whether from Mexico and Central and South America, or from Asia. Resources and food supplies are depleted in countries people are leaving, and they come here because we still have a surplus. Jobs and health care are limited in the countries of origin, so people come here.
Overpopulation of the planet is the issue no one wants to talk about. Also, no one will talk about birth control. Will we wait until we become like China and are forced to limit the number of children people can have? Will we take in even more immigrants and not consider the depletion of our own food supplies?
Giving citizenship to 11 million more people will result in adding an additional 11 to 44 million people to the population as the 11 million reproduce or as they bring their extended families to join them. That amounts to as much as a 10% increase in U.S. population. Our medical services are already overwhelmed. Our schools are overwhelmed. Housing is limited. Transportation is limited. More people means more pollution, more global warming, more drain on water supplies, more garbage for already overextended dumps, more demand for power, cars, and gasoline.
Of course the prison industry (Big Prisons, a component of the corporatocracy) favors the addition of 11 million more citizens, because many of them will end up incarcerated. Big Ag, another component of the corporatocracy, apparently also supports the addition of 11 million more citizens, because that assures a workforce willing to labor for substandard wages. Big Politics (Republican and Democratic parties) are jostling for political advantage on the issue, thinking only of the short term, whether it will help or hinder their re-election chances.
As citizens we need to separate the issue of overpopulation from discussions of racism, bigotry, and discrimination. Overpopulation is a survival issue. Mexico, Central and South America, and Asia need to address their own reproductive choices and policies. America cannot be the dumping ground for the excess population they create. We should note that as the planetary population nears 7.5 billion and global warming results in drought and famine, we can expect mass die-offs. If we humans address overpopulation now, we can minimize the damage. As a species, we will have to deal with overpopulation soon. The consequences will be far less traumatic if we take action now.
Star Man
The Huffington Post | By Elise Foley (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elise-foley) Posted: 02/07/2013 12:03 pm EST | Updated: 02/07/2013 12:28 pm EST
Downloaded February 7, 2013 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/raul-labrador-immigration-reform_n_2638484.html
Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) warned on Thursday that he won't vote for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and neither will his fellow House Republicans, a bad sign from someone who is considered one of the more pro-reform Republicans in the chamber.
"The people that came here illegally knowingly --- I don't think they should have a path to citizenship," he said on NPR, according to Talking Points Memo (https://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/raul-labrador-pathway-citizenship-immigration.php). "If you knowingly violated our law, you violated our sovereignty, I think we should normalize your status but we should not give you a pathway to citizenship."
Whether the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States should be given a pathway to become citizens is shaping up to be the most contentious issue in the immigration reform debate. Democrats and some Republicans insist such a provision must be a part of any reform bill, and a bipartisan Senate group dubbed the "gang of eight" released a framework that includes one.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday found that 56 percent of voters think undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States (https://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-centers/polling-institute/national/release-detail/?ReleaseID=1847) and eventually apply for citizenship, while only 10 percent say they should be able to stay but not become citizens. Thirty percent say undocumented immigrants should be forced to leave the country.
But Republicans control the House, and many of them are opposed (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/house-republicans-immigration_n_2625107.html) to such a pathway. Labrador, a former immigration lawyer, said he thinks undocumented immigrants should receive legal status but not the ability to become a legal permanent resident or citizen.
He said if Democrats push for a full pathway to citizenship, they will tank immigration reform and it will be for political reasons. "If they want a political victory they’re going to draw a fine red line and they’re going to say, either a pathway to citizenship or nothing else," he told NPR. "They know that the Republicans in the House are not going to be able to vote for that, and then they’re going to be able to beat us over the head in 2014, and say, look, the Republicans don’t like immigrants. Which is not true."
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee that handles immigration reform, expressed similar concerns to USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/04/house-immigration-hearing/1890171/) earlier this week. "When [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] says there has to be a path to citizenship, I wonder whether he's serious about doing immigration reform," he said. "You have to come at this with a willingness to look at all the options and find the common ground."
Some Republicans ave embraced the idea of giving undocumented immigrants a special road to citizenship. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday that he supports the "gang of eight" framework.
"We have to remember the 11 million people who are here are people," he told reporters, according to U.S. News (https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/06/issa-embraces-path-to-citizenship-for-illegal-immigrants).
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Overpopulation of the planet is the driving force behind illegal and legal immigration, whether from Mexico and Central and South America, or from Asia. Resources and food supplies are depleted in countries people are leaving, and they come here because we still have a surplus. Jobs and health care are limited in the countries of origin, so people come here.
Overpopulation of the planet is the issue no one wants to talk about. Also, no one will talk about birth control. Will we wait until we become like China and are forced to limit the number of children people can have? Will we take in even more immigrants and not consider the depletion of our own food supplies?
Giving citizenship to 11 million more people will result in adding an additional 11 to 44 million people to the population as the 11 million reproduce or as they bring their extended families to join them. That amounts to as much as a 10% increase in U.S. population. Our medical services are already overwhelmed. Our schools are overwhelmed. Housing is limited. Transportation is limited. More people means more pollution, more global warming, more drain on water supplies, more garbage for already overextended dumps, more demand for power, cars, and gasoline.
Of course the prison industry (Big Prisons, a component of the corporatocracy) favors the addition of 11 million more citizens, because many of them will end up incarcerated. Big Ag, another component of the corporatocracy, apparently also supports the addition of 11 million more citizens, because that assures a workforce willing to labor for substandard wages. Big Politics (Republican and Democratic parties) are jostling for political advantage on the issue, thinking only of the short term, whether it will help or hinder their re-election chances.
As citizens we need to separate the issue of overpopulation from discussions of racism, bigotry, and discrimination. Overpopulation is a survival issue. Mexico, Central and South America, and Asia need to address their own reproductive choices and policies. America cannot be the dumping ground for the excess population they create. We should note that as the planetary population nears 7.5 billion and global warming results in drought and famine, we can expect mass die-offs. If we humans address overpopulation now, we can minimize the damage. As a species, we will have to deal with overpopulation soon. The consequences will be far less traumatic if we take action now.
Star Man