“The Bush-Senate Z-Amnesty plan is 100 percent amnesty”
by Susan Jones
Reaction to the “Bush-Kennedy” immigration reform bill is drawing strong condemnation from many conservatives.
Some liberals also criticized the compromise bill, saying it doesn’t go far enough to protect a new “underclass” of workers.
Even as the deal was announced on Thursday afternoon, few people had seen the text. But some of the details are leaking out, and a number of grassroots groups are mobilizing voters to complain to their elected representatives before Memorial Day, anticipating that the Senate may rush to vote on the bill in a matter of days.
“We are outraged that our leaders would attempt to silence the voice of the people by rushing this bill, and we are taking action by mobilizing 200,000 additional petition signers to reach 750,000 for a May 21 presentation to Senate leadership,” said Grassfire.org.
Although backers of the immigration bill insist it does not grant amnesty to millions of people who sneaked into the country illegally, Grassfire and other conservative groups insist that it most certainly does.For one thing, the bill would create a special Z visa for millions of illegal aliens already in the country, giving them immediate, temporary legal status.
To gain permanent residency, illegal aliens would have to pay fees, a $5,000 fine, and heads of households (only) would have to return to their home countries first, press reports said.
“The Bush-Senate Z-Amnesty plan is 100 percent amnesty,” said Grassfire.org President Steve Elliott. “It immediately offers legal status to every illegal alien in this country, which by definition is amnesty. It creates a clear path to citizenship and illegals do not even have to ‘touch back’ to their home countries to stay in the U.S. indefinitely.”
Elliott expressed personal outrage and said he is hearing from grassroots Americans who feel betrayed by President Bush (who supports the bill) and the Senate.
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/5/18/114037.shtml?s=lh