Why is this Osama baiting at the border not infuriating? Ah, because you’re white? San Diego IndyMedia calls for disruption at Imperial Beach. Meanwhile in Philly, the Senate side of Congress campaigns for “comprehensive” reform. Bloomberg says migrant workers form foundation of economy. Finally, commander in chief of the November election is now leaning toward “enforcement first”!–gm
House Subcommittee Makes Run For Border
Hearings Take Place In Border Patrol Station
UPDATED: 11:44 am EDT July 5, 2006
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Congressional Republicans considering an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws are leaving Washington to examine labor needs and the vulnerabilities of the nation’s borders.
In San Diego on Wednesday, a House subcommittee meets at a San Diego Border Patrol station to examine security lapses that could make the United States more exposed to terrorism.
The hearing is likely to be filled with references to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
Democrats in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus plan to attend. They want the House GOP answer for what they call a “failed record” on immigration.
Also on Wednesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairs a hearing in Philadelphia that deals with U.S. needs for foreign workers. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to attend.
On Friday, the House subcommittee moves from San Diego to Lardeo, Texas, for another hearing.
House Republican leaders scheduled the hearings last month, putting off compromise negotiations between a House bill limited almost exclusively to security concerns and a Senate bill that included a guest worker program and path to citizenship favored by President George W. Bush.
Democrats initially considered boycotting the hearings. Instead they’ll treat them as a platform to assail the enforcement-only approach to immigration.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.
Bloomberg: Economy would fail if illegal immigrants were deported
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer, The Associated Press
07/05/2006
The economy of the country’s largest city and the entire nation would collapse if illegal immigrants were deported en masse, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday.
Testifying before the panel in Philadelphia, Bloomberg said New York City is home to more than 3 million immigrants and that a half-million of them came to country illegally.
“Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders … our city’s economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse of they were deported,” Bloomberg said. “The same holds true for the nation.”
The hearing, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., was one of several being held nationwide as Congressional Republicans take to the road to discuss overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.
Specter and fellow senators are trying to build support for a Senate bill that would allow a majority of the illegal immigrants in the country to eventually become legal permanent residents and citizens after paying at least $3,250 in fines, fees and back taxes and learning English.
A competing bill passed by the House focuses on enforcement and has no provision for illegal immigrants or future guest workers.
Bloomberg encouraged Congress to offer those in country illegally an opportunity to earn permanent status.
“Members of the House of Representatives want to control the borders. So do all of us here,” Bloomberg said. “But believing that increasing border patrols alone will achieve that goal is either naive and shortsighted or cynical and duplicitous. No wall or army can stop hundreds of thousands of people each year.”
The House and Senate have passed differing legislation on immigration and must negotiate a final bill to be sent to President Bush, who supports a guest-worker program and path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Republicans in Congress plan several hearings around the country on immigration.
On Wednesday, a House subcommittee was meeting at a San Diego Border Patrol station to examine security lapses that could make the U.S. more exposed to terrorism. The same panel planned another hearing Friday in Laredo, Texas.
Republican-led House committees also will hold hearings outside Washington in mid-July on making English the nation’s official language, and on how enforcement of immigration laws affects American workers.
A mid-August hearing in Arizona will focus on costs to local and state governments.
Bush may cut deal on immigration
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times
Republicans both inside and outside the White House say Bush, who has long insisted on comprehensive reform, is now open to a so-called “enforcement-first” approach that would put new border security programs in place before creating a guest worker program or path to citizenship for people living in the United States illegally.
MoPress 
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