Ridge: Give illegal entrants 'status'

[Desertdog]

Posted on Wed, Dec. 10, 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7458271.htm

IMMIGRATION
Ridge: Give illegal entrants 'status'
A top Bush administration official suggests at a town hall meeting in Miami that illegal immigrants should be granted limited legal status.
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
[email protected]

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday that he believes the vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States are not a threat to national security and should be given ``some kind of legal status.''

Ridge's comments came during a town hall meeting at Miami Dade College in response to a question from the audience about whether offering amnesty to illegal immigrants might make them easier to track and make the country safer.

While saying any changes in immigration laws would have to be approved by Congress, Ridge said he believed there was growing momentum to change the way the nation dealt with illegal immigrants.

''I'm not saying make them citizens,'' Ridge said. ``They violated our laws to get here. You don't reward that kind of conduct.'' (Round them up and send them back home. dd)

Ridge provided no further explanation about how granting illegal immigrants limited legal status would work and what rights such a status would carry. A telephone call to a spokesperson for Ridge seeking further comment was not returned.

But the remarks by a key member of President Bush's cabinet suggests a shift in tone toward illegal immigrants.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration placed greater emphasis on protecting the nation's borders, enacting measures to thwart terrorists.

Efforts in Washington at reforming immigration policy essentially were put on hold. And immigrant advocates have said they perceive many of the Bush administration's national security measures to be anti-immigrant.

As a result, Ridge's comments caught some immigrant advocates off guard.

''I had no idea the [Bush administration] was seriously considering it,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

Little said most antiterrorist initiatives adopted by the Bush administration jeopardize national security by making illegal immigrants distrustful of authorities.

Those supporting stricter U.S. immigration policy criticized Ridge's comments. Dan Stein, executive director of the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, said granting illegal immigrants additional rights would encourage more to head for U.S. borders.

''What security objective is accomplished by encouraging further lawbreaking?'' Stein asked. `

Stein said he believed that some illegal immigrants given limited legal status would provide authorities false biographical information.

The issue of granting illegal immigrants certain rights has proven volatile. Former California Gov. Gray Davis, citing post-Sept. 11 security concerns, vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses. A year later, facing a tough recall campaign, Davis signed a bill with fewer security safeguards. Some voters viewed Davis's turnabout as a political ploy to please the Democratic Party's Latino wing and the controversy contributed to Davis' defeat.:

 

[Azrael256]

Well, "felon" is a "legal status," isn't it?

 

[foghornl]

I vote for the 'legal status' of 'deported, not allowed to return'

 

[Henry]

Foghornl is correct. The only "legal" status that should apply is that of "deportee".

 

[seeker_two]

Well, "felon" is a "legal status," isn't it?

So is "Shot while in the commission of a crime" (trespassing)...

Does Ridge just not get what the term "HOMELAND SECURITY" means? :banghead:

!!!THANK YOU, MR. BUSH!!!

 

[Waitone]

With Ridge's comment Bush is announcing his support to address illegal immigration. It will now be part of the public debate.

Bush has really had a run here of late and perhaps he feels now is the time to legalize illegal lawbreaking immigrants.

This one will get noisy. Illegal immigration is a gut issue with lots of people and if Bush pulls what I think he will pull, he will be on the wrong side of the issue.

We will shortly see in graphic detail how big the perception gap is between taxpayers and the ruling class.

 

[longeyes]

The master plan is open borders. The master plan is integration of Social Security with Mexico. After all, this is fairness in action, is it not? And, we've been told, good business. Let the middle class, what's left of it, pay for the fun. That's what they are good for, isn't it? Bush will pull The Great Amnesty, by whatever name, out of the hat for the '04 Election. Virtually no one in Government, whether legislative, judicial, or executive, wants to stop illegal immigration. Polls say about two-thirds or more of the American people do, but who gives a fig what THEY think, right?

Well, as long as the American people keep playing the game, keep playing along, and demanding nothing except a place to park at their favorite shopping mall, this is what they will get. They are being drawn in for the ambush.

 

[Jeff White]

Bush has really had a run here of late and perhaps he feels now is the time to legalize illegal lawbreaking immigrants.

This one will get noisy. Illegal immigration is a gut issue with lots of people and if Bush pulls what I think he will pull, he will be on the wrong side of the issue.

I'm starting to wonder what issue Bush is on the right side of? Not that there was an alternative.

If you really want to be depressed, think how much more freedom we had in December of 1988. 8 years of Clinton and 7 years of Bush I and II have cost us more freedom then all of the previous administrations combined. Now they are ready to sacrifice the soverenty of the nation on the altar of political expediency.

Jeff

 

[longeyes]

Quasi-legal status sums up where much of the country is these days. And quasi- is just a short step from crazy.

 

[Moparmike]

If the republicans start preaching the (liberal) idea of opening the borders and continuing the welfare system at status quo, I see lots of people joining 3rd parties. At least I would hope.

 

[Bruce H]

Tom Ridge needs an enema with a flamethrower. Just another worthless political hack in an administration full of them.

 

[Pilgrim]

What the heck, Tom (Ridge), why not legalize illegal drugs and child pornography while we are at it? Let's legalize everything big government has proven incapable or unwilling to control or regulate.

Pilgrim

 

[GhostCat]

What a Cluster F&$K.......The Southeastern US already has millions of Illegal Mexicans. I guess the bush administration is getting ready to lay down the welcome mat for them.....or maybe he already has....I mean, they are hear, aren't they??....

 

[Coltdriver]

You can help by calling Mr Ridge and letting him know how you feel:


*************************
Secretary Ridge, Secretary Tom
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20500
(202-282-8000)

*************************
President Bush, President George W.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500
(202-456-1414)

 

[Waitone]

I have a real hard time believing in coincidence when it comes to some issues. Here is one such issue


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1210mexbenefits10.html

Social Security checks could go south of border
Sergio Bustos
Gannett News Service
Dec. 10, 2003 12:01 AM




Related link
• Special report: Border security >>

WASHINGTON - U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing an agreement that would allow millions of Mexicans to return home and still collect U.S. Social Security benefits.

The controversial proposal that could transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security payments south of the border has riled some Republican lawmakers. They worry that it could reward scores of undocumented Mexican immigrants with a U.S. pension, draining the country's Social Security trust fund at a time when its future solvency is in doubt.

"Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration," said GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. "How many more would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government paychecks for life?"

Supporters of the proposal argue that Mexican immigrants, documented and undocumented, pay millions, if not billions, of dollars in payroll taxes and have the right to claim Social Security benefits.

"Let's be honest, there are millions of Mexican immigrants contributing to the Social Security system and the U.S. economy," said Katherine Culliton, an attorney with the Washington, D.C., office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "It's only fair they get back a benefit they deserve that will keep them from dying in poverty."

Final approval of any U.S.-Mexican "totalization" agreement is up to the Republican-controlled Congress. The Bush administration supports such an accord as a way to improve U.S.-Mexican relations.

And Mexico is prepared to administer an agreement, Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart told lawmakers at a congressional hearing earlier this year. U.S. officials said they are satisfied that the two countries could exchange information easily on potential Social Security recipients. Details of how to put the agreement into effect still need to be worked out.

Under a totalization agreement between two countries, workers could accumulate enough credits to qualify for Social Security benefits in either country.


20 other accords


The federal government began pursuing such agreements in 1977 to help make Americans sent abroad by their employers eligible for Social Security benefits. Today, the United States has pacts with 20 countries, mostly in Europe. Congress has never rejected an agreement.

In 2001, the federal government paid out $173 million in Social Security benefits to about 89,000 foreigners living abroad, a fraction of the $408 billion distributed the same year to 45 million U.S. residents.

But a U.S.-Mexican agreement would dwarf the accords with other countries, critics of the proposal say. They point out that the combined number of recipients from those 20 countries is tiny compared with the potentially vast number of Mexican citizens who could become eligible for Social Security.

"None of those countries have public policies that encourage illegal immigration to the United States," said Republican Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.

Social Security Administration officials estimate that about 50,000 Mexicans would collect $78 million in the first year of a U.S.-Mexican agreement. They predict that by 2050, 300,000 Mexicans would collect $650 million in benefits a year.

But a recent General Accounting Office report said those numbers failed to account for the presence of many potentially eligible, undocumented Mexican immigrants and their families.

Census figures show that the United States is home to 9 million Mexican citizens. More than half, about 5 million, reportedly are in the United States illegally, according to federal estimates.

Barnhart assured lawmakers that undocumented immigrants do not get Social Security benefits.

"That's a myth," she said. "As is the case with our existing agreements, a totalization agreement with Mexico would not alter current law on this issue."


Proof of eligibility


That's true, but a provision in the Social Security Act allows undocumented immigrants to get Social Security benefits if the United States and another country have a totalization agreement. Those immigrants would have to prove they had paid into the U.S. system.

Former undocumented immigrants also could become eligible if they later become legal residents. A recent investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the Social Security Administration found two such cases.

In one, a Mexican man who used his father's Social Security number for nine years in the 1970s claimed after becoming a legal resident in 1989 that he was owed benefits. He began collecting benefits in 1999.

And a Mexican woman who worked illegally under an invalid Social Security number for six years in the 1990s later petitioned for credit. She began receiving disability benefits in 1999.

"(The agency) does not consider the work-authorization status of the individual when they earned the wages," the inspector general's report said. "It only considers whether the individual can prove he or she paid Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes as part of this work."

To qualify for Social Security benefits, Mexicans must prove they worked in the United States at least 18 months. Payments are made on a prorated basis, depending on years worked in the United States. Those who work at least 10 years automatically would qualify for full benefits. Those who also worked in Mexico for a specific period of time could collect benefits in their home country, too.

U.S. companies and their American employees working in Mexico also would benefit under the agreement. By not having to pay Social Security taxes to the Mexican government, Social Security Administration officials estimate American workers and their employers would save $134 million each year.

David John, a Social Security expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation said he's disappointed the proposed agreement with Mexico has been twisted into an emotional debate over U.S. immigration policy.

"Sadly, this whole thing has been hijacked by people on both sides of an issue that must be resolved in a totally different arena," he said. "It shouldn't be part of the discussion in putting together a boring technical agreement between two countries."

"Sadly, this whole thing has been hijacked by people on both sides of an issue that must be resolved in a totally different arena," he said. "It shouldn't be part of the discussion in putting together a boring technical agreement between two countries."

Sad, indeed. But only because we serfs can not trust the ruling class. It sounds noble but I'll wager there is fraud afoot. Entirely too many elitists want integration and they can not make any case in its support.

Just another example of how taxpayers and the ruling class are on diverging paths.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Illegal aliens are a cancer in our nation. We're long overdue for radical surgery.

 

[Stealth101]

Standing Wolf

AMEN !!!!!

 

[Bill Hook]

Well, UBL should get busy learning Spanish and buy a plane ticket to Tiajuana, since we'd give him "status" if his name were "Juan" bin Laden.

 

[mrapathy2000]

south america is a good breeding ground for terrorism. if they havent gotten into south america they should. thick jungle canopy and plenty of land to make drugs. oh wait columbia already exist. this ???? can only end badly.

 

[Bob Locke]

I'm feeling better and better each passing day that I did NOT vote for GWB.

What a joke this administration is.

 

[moa]

Sounds like the Bush Administration has given up (assuming they ever tried) to round up the estimated 12 million illegals in this country. Read the other day in the Washington Times, which ran a three days series on our 4,000 mile long porous Canadian border, that there are only 2,000 INS agents to look for the 12 million illegals including 300,000 who are under deportation orders, but cannot be found.

By the way, Canada has very generous and lax immigration laws. Per capita they admit three times the number of legal immigrants than the USA.

 

[moa]

Read the Washinton Times and Post this morning. The Times had Ridge's remarks on the front page. I found no mention of it in the Post. Typical.

 

[striker3]

If they are now going to start giving my money to criminals, then I think that we need to work to get legislation passed saying that we have a one time choice to opt out of Social Security and recive any monies that we have already paid into it. Why shouldn't I be allowed to plan for my own retierment and risk my own money and future well being. Its not like I will ever see a drop of it at the rate that it is now getting spent!

I know that this is unrealistic, but dang it I am tired of seeing at least $150 of my hard earned money disappear each month, just to reward some illegal who does not deserve to be here in the first place!

 

[stevelyn]

Perhaps we should change Ridge's legal status to that of traitor or collaborator.