Everyone should support lenient immigration reform

The immigration bill is dead for now, thanks to infighting in the Republican Party. George Bush wants a guest worker program, opposed by the more conservative of Republicans. Democrats in the Senate were poised to accept a bill that appeared to be a compromise, which called for immigrants in the nation more than 5 years to pay a fine, learn English, and pay back taxes. This was considered a more moderate bill. Let me comment on this; isn’t forcing someone to learn English against American ideals? It would be an advantage to the immigrant, and no doubt the immigrant would strive to assimilate themselves, and therefore attempt to learn it on their own. Forcing them too is just another hurtle, and forces our culture on others. The fines I see as reasonable; you can’t let people break the law and go completely free, unless they are high ranking Republicans like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez, Donald Rumsfeld, Bill Frist, Bob Ney, Rick Santorum, Conrad Burns, etc. (Their crimes include Illegal wiretapping, lying about the war, Abramoff bribes, Frist’s charity scam/insider trading, and Santorum’s K street project). Back taxes are a little different though. Undocumented workers don’t have any way to prove their past income, let alone how long they were in the country. The only way that you can legalize illegal immigrants is to fine them to gain citizenship, and register them. This would get them paying taxes, registered for security purposes, able to buy health insurance, get loans, and participate fully in the economy.

Granting illegal aliens residency would also allow them to vote, which brings up complications. Each party wants to be open to these immigrants, and the large Hispanic population that is sensitive to the issue. Republicans balking at this one is hurting them with the growing Hispanic voting block. This article shows the power of the immigrants. Rarely are their huge marches like this, including 500,000 in Los Angeles today. May 1^st is a general strike for all immigrants, legal and illegal, including refraining from work, buying, or selling. This is the power of democracy in action, and I fully support them in this fight. It is the American way to accept immigrants, and helps to promote our culture and government, which I think is the best in the world (despite my criticisms). For moral, cultural, and political reasons, all politicians should be open to immigration reform, and make it much more lenient than the current proposals are.