The President's Speech

I've now heard President Bush described as conservative, liberal, and moderate in regard to his speech on illegal immigration. Seems that few people are happy but most still agree that something needs to be done. For clarity's sake, here's the outline of President Bush's speech Monday.

• First, the United States must secure its borders.
• Second, to secure our border, we must create a temporary worker program.
• Third, we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire.
• Fourth, we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here.
• Fifth, we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one nation out of many peoples.

I thought the best paragraph in the speech was the following:

I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law, to pay their taxes, to learn English, and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship, but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I have just described is not amnesty. It is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.

I thought the worst part was about worker programs – it smacks of an endorsement for a permanent underclass. Instead of a worker program, why not increase the number of legal immigrants? If they want to be here, welcome them in to stay. But if they want to take one of our job opportunities but they're going to send that money away to another country… uh, I'm not so sure about that.

We'll see.