Bush “pledges” to Mexicans: I’ll work hard to keep the borders open
posted at 3:38 pm on March 13, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Update: Army Lawyer thinks I should note that the headline here isn’t an exact quote. Duly noted. But it is a fair representation, as those who follow this issue and know the code words can attest.
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How about, “What else is new?”.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 3:41 PM
Me neither. (sigh)
KelliD on March 13, 2007 at 3:42 PM
Best U.S. president Mexico ever had.
thirteen28 on March 13, 2007 at 3:43 PM
Um, do his best to change “American immigration policies that are hated south of the border”? Why the hell do we care what Mexicans think?
Here’s a clue Chimpy: you’re president of the United States… not Mexico. You enforce policy that makes us happy.
Perhaps the “Impeach Bush” moonbats are on to something after all.
Lehosh on March 13, 2007 at 3:43 PM
That statement requires everyone to email, call or write their Senators and Representatives and tell them we don’t want any of whatever Bush is thinking concerning the borders.
Man … now I’m really depressed.
darwin on March 13, 2007 at 3:45 PM
He must go. I have had it with this RINO
Wade on March 13, 2007 at 3:45 PM
You guys are such drama queens. Ronald Reagan was the worst immigration president and you treat him as a god. This president is the best thing going so you had better support him. You won’t get better…but you can get worse.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 3:45 PM
This is really going to hurt him in 2008.
Slublog on March 13, 2007 at 3:46 PM
Yeah, and you know what he called it when he tried amnesty? Amnesty. He was at least honest with us, not calling it “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, whatever the hell that’s supposed to be.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 3:48 PM
It’s already been said.
Kid from Brooklyn on March 13, 2007 at 3:49 PM
Fox must have handed Calderon the Burro Show pictures during the transition.
Kid from Brooklyn on March 13, 2007 at 3:50 PM
Bush is apparently trying to outdo the Gipper… Reagan only gave amnesty to 3.5 million… Bush boy is working on 20 Million… and then their families… some estimates say the “plan” could bring as many as 60 million total in (those there now, sending for their families…).
Romeo13 on March 13, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Nothing makes me angrier about Bush than his feelings on our immigration issue.
ballz2wallz on March 13, 2007 at 3:53 PM
It’s just the same crap he’s always said over here, what’s the difference if he says it to a Mexican audience? He’s pledged to ensure this country’s decline a hundred times before; one more time shouldn’t hurt.
BTW, Rudy and McCain will be grabbing their ankles in front of Mexico if they are elected, so it can only get worse. Cheers!
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 3:53 PM
RW Wacko,
19 months out, we can change their views, and put in Congress anti-amnesty Congressmen/women. Bush is in a position with open borders Democrats and Republicans, to make it happen.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 3:56 PM
The bill Reagan signed actually coupled enforcement, both at the border and in the interior, with the aforementioned amnesty.
Guess which part wasn’t followed up on in the subsequent 20 years?
thirteen28 on March 13, 2007 at 3:56 PM
What darwin said.
Lobbying Congress is the only way to stop this.
Write your representatives.
Write your senators.
If nothing else, it should be made clear that making legislative promises to citizens of another country is inappropriate.
Slublog on March 13, 2007 at 3:56 PM
I’m going with Slublog here, it time to write.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Ya might wanna give a little more thought to the validity of the fears of the Meximeracanada theory. Tancredo for president!
BirdEye on March 13, 2007 at 4:03 PM
What Bush is saying in Mexico mirrors what is said on the Statue of Liberty.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
“The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus
You might not like to hear the President saying these things in Mexico, expecially now that we suffer from illegal aliens and immigration reform, but they are distinctly American things to say based on our democratic history.
Sorry… I support the president here…
IntheNet on March 13, 2007 at 4:03 PM
Funny, I don’t see anything about sending them illegally.
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on March 13, 2007 at 4:05 PM
I also don’t see the part where those huddled masses send billions of taxless dollars into Mexico.
Lehosh on March 13, 2007 at 4:07 PM
Actually, if Tancredo really is the immigration reform warrior he claims to be (and I believe he is sincere on the issue), then he’ll take a break from his presidential campaign and get himself back to Congress and work the phones on this.
Slublog on March 13, 2007 at 4:07 PM
Ditto. Back when those words were put on the Statue of Liberty, immigrants were expected to follow our laws and assimilate.
Supporting the president on this means you support immigrants not following the laws and not assmilating.
thirteen28 on March 13, 2007 at 4:08 PM
No where did it say to give me your citizens who will enter the country illegally, abuse our medical services, steal Americans’ identities, not pay taxes, commit violent crimes, have 12 kids, and protest in the streets for more rights.
My relatives on one side came during the time of mass migration to the states. They sold everything they had to get here, then waited on Ellis Island, hoping and dreaming to get in legally, work hard, pay taxes, and live the American dream.
Jorge can walk across the border with his 5 kids and wife, demanding rights, free medical care, free schooling, and the whole shabang? I think not. He can wait, like mine did.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Hmmmm, I’m beginning to understand why people hate this Bush fellow so easily. It’s because he’s a dishonest jackass.
Enrique on March 13, 2007 at 4:09 PM
This makes me so mad. Words are meaninless now.
Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 4:10 PM
In relative fairness, Bush didn’t say he’ll work hard to keep borders open. Here’s his quote:
If you think “comprehensive immigration reform” means “open border.” Then yeah, it’s a plausible reading.
But Bush certainly doesn’t think it means open borders and it’s a little unfair to ascribe to him such a statement (acknowledging that the headline is not in quotes).
armylawyer on March 13, 2007 at 4:10 PM
Lehosh, exactly. The immigrants of the old days, sent money back to their countries, so their relatives could come here, work hard and live the American dream, legally and law abiding. One of the biggest money makers for Mexico, is the American dollars being sent back to support the illegal’s family in Mexico, as they sit there doing nada.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:11 PM
I’ll add an update, but yeah, I think comprehensive immigration reform is equivalent to open borders.
Allahpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:12 PM
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 3:56 PM
I guess I’ve become too cynical, but I don’t see it happening. Bush had a historic opportunity for 6 years, and he did nothing to further the conservative cause. I don’t know if we will ever get that chance again; frankly the ever-changing demographics of the electorate scare the you-know-what out of me. I don’t know the kind of country my daughter will find herself in thirty years from now, but I don’t think it will be the America I love.
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 4:12 PM
armylawyer, if someone else had said what he did, you’d be 100% right. However, his track record doesn’t allow him the benefit of the doubt on immigration.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:13 PM
That’s what scares me. Terrifying, isn’t it?
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:14 PM
Chances are Bush isn’t going to be able to get anything passed in the next two years. It’s going to be the Dem Congress acting like children and Bush vetoing bill after bill after bill.
He can try to pass something all he wants, but nothing is going to happen.
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on March 13, 2007 at 4:15 PM
Yeah, this is my biggest area of disagreement with our president. He’s a great guy and I agree with him on a lot of issues, but not this one.
Sigh.
Bob's Kid on March 13, 2007 at 4:16 PM
Sniper One,
Its not so much the fear of him doing it that bothers me, its more that he wants to.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:17 PM
Necesitamos aprender español, rápidamente.
Pero tenemos otra opción.
Viene un hombre…
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Geezalou, this could push me over the edge to change my screen name.
fogw on March 13, 2007 at 4:19 PM
You guys are such drama queens. Ronald Reagan was the worst immigration president and you treat him as a god. This president is the best thing going so you had better support him. You won’t get better…but you can get worse.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 3:45 PM
————————————————
Yep, and I recall being totally disgusted then but we were told this would “fix the problem once and for all”. That is why we’re fighting it so hard. All the things we worried about happened and I refuse to believe this is good for the country.
stenwin77 on March 13, 2007 at 4:19 PM
Bush is a doofus.
Hilts on March 13, 2007 at 4:21 PM
Gee, and we Americans will work hard to keep our Emergency Rooms, Labor Rooms, Clinics and schools open, too.
bloggless on March 13, 2007 at 4:21 PM
I sense a bit of hypocrisy. Why did you all wait until Bush was president to sound off. And no the calls weren’t so loud until he became president. Like most people you wait until it is too late to have anything other than a comprehensive (cough) plan.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 4:22 PM
I hope you’re right. Passing nothing on this issue would be much better than passing what he proposes.
thirteen28 on March 13, 2007 at 4:23 PM
Americans now face more than an open border threat. We face a demographic one. Those coming from Mexico could care less about America, and they’re having babies faster than us.
Slightly OT,
Allah, did you hear they’re cleaning house at teh DOJ? Maybe Johnny Sutton will get the axe. It seems he has more victims that just Ramos and Campean.
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 4:23 PM
tomas, what are you talking about?
bloggless on March 13, 2007 at 4:23 PM
Gee, I didn’t know you were keeping tabs on all of us seven years back. Maybe we weren’t screaming b/c no one was promising to legalize tens of millions of Mexicans. That tends to get conservatives in a bit of a tizzy.
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 4:24 PM
Why aren’t those wussie Dems impeaching this guy? We need Cheney fast.
Kevin M on March 13, 2007 at 4:25 PM
Wacko, apparently he is a clairvoyant. With a bad cough, too.
bloggless on March 13, 2007 at 4:26 PM
This where Newt comes in.
bloggless on March 13, 2007 at 4:26 PM
I whole-heartedly agree.
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 4:27 PM
What can you say that hasn’t already been said. He thinks it’s pro-business to have immigration reform, and he’s right. There are a lot of industries that rely on immigrants (legal and illegal) to help power this economy.
Flip the coin over, and I see our schools, hospitals, and judicial system absolutely crumbling under the weight (I’m in Texas). I see no assimilation. I see Mexican nationalism/Anti-Americanism openly and proudly flaunted. We have a radio station called La Raza down here (translation: the race). We need to keep the economy humming, but we need to get a grip on illegal immigration.
It’s a tough one, but a big, wide, tall, fence is a good start.
Matticus Finch on March 13, 2007 at 4:28 PM
would someone please come up with a web site where honest americans can list themselves for jobs in - picking vegges, picking fruit, picking tabacco, washing dishes, digging ditches, building houses at a rate never seen in this countries history, sloppin hogs. Look this problem has been going on for ever. If these people were paying their fair share of taxes and not getting goverment assistance half of you blow hards would not say a thing. Our form of commerce needs this class of workers. Some Americans will do it, the others that would be in this class, will either miss work ever other day or get caught smoking pot or drinking on the job. I own a restaurant. I PAY WELL in my kitchen. I have tried not to hire hispanics, but I can’t get anyone to come to work and just work and leave the bull shit at home. Americans on average that work in these jobs can be some of the laziest people in the world. 99% of these people want families and want to live in peace and make money. We need reform. But we don’t need the Holy Than Thow reform some of you are talking about. Now is the time to find away to fix the problem and not come up with ideas that would have fixed it 15 years ago.
We need to change the tax code to the Fair Tax. Than they would be paying their way.
No never mind your right, round them up and ship them back home. Kids and all. Oh and lets in force that by making it a small business problem. Like we are problem. I get documents and they are the right ones, if the goverment would give me a system to check them out I would. But if a hispanic comes in and hands me the right documents what am I surpose to do, web site hosters, political pundits, how do you serve customers then. Oh and don’t give me the old servival of the fit arguement. All that means is your next pizza will cost you about $75. Support whats best for the country not whats best for your little computer world.
kara26 on March 13, 2007 at 4:29 PM
Chances are Bush isn’t going to be able to get anything passed in the next two years. It’s going to be the Dem Congress acting like children and Bush vetoing bill after bill after bill.
The very first thing that the White House announced after the Republicans lost the House and Senate was that they were eager to work with democrats on “comprehensive immigration reform” also known as amnesty.
Link
I cant wait until this idiot is out of office and we can (hopefully) get somebody in the White House who doesnt want to sell us out to Mexico.
amish on March 13, 2007 at 4:30 PM
George W. Bush: America’s First Female President
Labamigo on March 13, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Good one, dude. I’m with you on that one. Bring out Darth Vader.
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 4:30 PM
wow
kara26 on March 13, 2007 at 4:33 PM
I’m telling you he is just biding his time. America is ready for Newt: it has to be for survival. We will be seeing a lot of Newt in the future. He seems to be the only one out there who is pro- America and has a plan.
http://www.newt.org/backpage.asp?art=2647
Newt is one smart cookie.
bloggless on March 13, 2007 at 4:33 PM
Why in the world are we not pressing for Mexican economic reform? And a fence!?!
CP on March 13, 2007 at 4:33 PM
i have been censored!
kara26 on March 13, 2007 at 4:33 PM
My God! What the hell have you been smoking?
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 4:35 PM
Thompson/Gingrich in 08!!!
Romeo13 on March 13, 2007 at 4:35 PM
He bought a couple ounces of that good sh!t OAD was smuggling across the border!
thirteen28 on March 13, 2007 at 4:36 PM
either the system is messed up or i just got censored. which one is it allpha!
kara26 on March 13, 2007 at 4:36 PM
either the system is messed up or i just got censored. which one is it allpha!
Damn You Bush!!
When will you stop tormenting your base?!
amish on March 13, 2007 at 4:38 PM
Come on guys… don’t lie…I no idiot. I know there wasn’t this huge uproar there is now. You chose not to notice it until it is too late?
The voting bloc is stronger than the law. I bet the most conservative guy in the world couldn’t turn this thing around if he were president.
I think criminalizing employment would be the best option. Hit home and home will push back. You think that is going to happen. You all didn’t get out to vote, because you were mad at too many pork bills…well look what that got you.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 4:38 PM
Get a grip. Refresh the page.
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Who is this new troll?
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Not really. Your calls and demands will simply be ignored, as they have been all along. Saying what I’ve said all along … if you want to change it, you’re all going to have to get up off your a$$es and do something about it, and phone calls are not what I’m talking about.
Look for events in your area and stop waiting for someone else to defend your country for you.
Become members of the various groups and get involved.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 4:41 PM
Probably this guy again. He’s been trolling HotAir for a while now.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Ahhh…my friend has felt the truth. I’m not new (smile)
I will run to the border with you my friend and we will end up in jail for our efforts.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 4:44 PM
I hate to say this but I think the dhimocrats are waiting, hoping that Cheney will buy it, so they can then impeach W and put Nancy in office. Wishful thinking of course but all the more reason to keep praying for good health for Cheney!
LonelyMassRepublican on March 13, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Huh?
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 4:50 PM
What does this say about your country when a foreign leader comes in and says (on your soil no less) “I’ll get you out of this mess” and you (and your leaders) are all for it?
- The Cat
MirCat on March 13, 2007 at 4:52 PM
Okay, to be honest, for a long time this is a subject I was ambivalent about - but not now. First of all there are all of the obvious reasons as to why this is absurd. But second, who is he trying to score points with? The Mexicans? Because he opens the borders to Mexico and offers them a guest worker program and yet they STILL protest when he comes for a visit - so why bother?
foxforce91 on March 13, 2007 at 4:53 PM
The thing with the impeachment issue, is poll after poll shows around 70%+ of Americans don’t support it, despite Bush’s low approval ratings.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 4:54 PM
I think Tomas is saying the same thing I wrote in my comment above. Stop whining and do something.
Look for events in your area and stop waiting for someone else to defend your country for you.
Become members of the various groups and get involved.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 4:55 PM
yes, thank you
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 4:56 PM
I’m with you on that one!
CP on March 13, 2007 at 4:57 PM
How about “Aaaah Crap”!
Lawrence on March 13, 2007 at 4:58 PM
I don’t know where you live but here in Texas (as well as Arizona and California) we have recognized the problem and have been speaking up for a very long time. Then the problem spread to the rest of the country due to the shear number of illegal immigrants coming in the country.
Bush may have grown up in Texas but his family is from the northeast. My father was very wary of HW Bush when he ran for congress in Texas for that very reason. I think his concerns have been proven to be valid.
Bush is no Teddy Roosevelt.
“In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile…We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
brtex on March 13, 2007 at 5:03 PM
Thanks for the easy hot link Slugbog. That was my first email to Sen. Enzi in a while, and boy did he get an “earful”!
Roark on March 13, 2007 at 5:09 PM
He may have been. In Florida, we’ve got Mel “Amnesty” Martinez as Senator.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 5:13 PM
I mean your father’s caution about Bush.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 5:14 PM
May have proven to be right.
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 5:14 PM
the problem Brtex is that we haven’t followed the law…I think we are too wimpy to criminalize the illegals. We need to bring the problem home. It sounds harsh, but the problem won’t be alleviated (?) unless there is urgency involved. Money, is the way to do that. Sorry, you can’t run you small business in an unlawful manor…change your ways or pay the price.
tomas on March 13, 2007 at 5:15 PM
It’s true that some of us have been “speaking up” for a long time, but that doesn’t go for the majority of people in either of those States. I’m in California and yes, there are many people hitting the streets each weekend, but relative to the amount of people who are pissed … it’s a tiny percentage. 99% of the people are too lazy to give up a single vacation day or round of golf to do what it’s going to take.
Your email will not be read. You’re wasting your time. If you want to do something, get with a few friends and spend a few hours in front of his office speaking through a bullhorn. Anything less is worthless.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 5:17 PM
The laws are already on the books to punish those who employ illegals. They are just not enforced… why??? ACLU, left leaning congress, Bush, an attorney General named Gonzales?
Romeo13 on March 13, 2007 at 5:20 PM
True. I have a friend in construction managment who agrees. But if the drug wars south of the border get any worse, we’re going to have to do something. It’s getting to be Somalia down there. The government doesn’t have control over the country.
PRCalDude on March 13, 2007 at 5:22 PM
between the “top picks” and the “the blog” sections, there’s some very suggestive composition going on here. i almost believe you set it up this way.
jummy on March 13, 2007 at 5:23 PM
really, all the way down: bush-rudy thumbs up, tancredo-leonidas heroes, ried-edwards nutroots pissboys. it’s almost creepy.
jummy on March 13, 2007 at 5:27 PM
All I can say is this IS an impeachable offense. He is neither protecting nor defending the Constitution of the United States. He is taking a shotgun and shooting a giant gaping hole right through the middle of it. The United States Constitution is now officially on life support.
Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 5:28 PM
Clear!
amerpundit on March 13, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Hey Kara26, I don’t want to send them all back, and despite the rhetoric I doubt most people here are for that. But I am against open borders as long as the people of Mexico continue to illegally cross the border and flout our laws.
If we build a fence I’d support a guest worker program. I’m not for sending anyone back, but citizenship…no way.
I also don’t think a child born to an illegal should automatically become a citizen, and yes I know what it would take to change that. Anti-illegal-immigration does nnot mean anti-immigrant, or anti-immigration
RW Wacko on March 13, 2007 at 5:30 PM
I don’t really care about the liberal’s reasons, but I would join them in going for impeachment, and I know many conservatives feel the same way.
If I said what I think of Bush on this thread, I’d be banned immediately. Calling the man an incredible loser and dufus just doesn’t do justice to his level of incompetence.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Who would that be a picture of if I might ask?
Maxx on March 13, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Why are the immigration laws there? Why do they say what they say? Because the American voters want them there. Because the laws say what the American voters want them to say. Bush’s stance on illegal immigration here is the most current and blatant form of fascism (in the true definition of the word) I have ever seen. He is doing what he wants contrary to the laws on the books and contrary to what the American voters want. We don’t have a F’ING King. Our Nation’s forefathers are rolling in their graves over this. He is giving each and every one of them the finger. He is saying, “that which you created is unimportant. I will do what I want despite my Constitutional obligations.” If there is ever an impeacheable offense more obvious then this I hope I don’t have to live through it because it will be too sad to watch.
Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 5:38 PM
That would be THIS clown.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 5:39 PM
Extremely well said. Thank you.
Gregor on March 13, 2007 at 5:40 PM
I just finished sending an email to Rep. Ron Paul and talking to someone in John Cornyn’s office.
I feel sick. Bush is a sell out. I feel really, really sick.
silenced majority on March 13, 2007 at 5:52 PM
NumbersUSA.com is a site I use to stay informed on illegal immigration issues. They also provide a fax service on topical issues for what that is worth. Putting the fear of losing office in congress’ mind is the only way we will make progress.
Unfortunately, as others have posted, the majority are sitting on their silk pillow in glorious oblivion.
brtex on March 13, 2007 at 5:57 PM
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