Looks like Sen. Tom Daschle and Minority Leader Richard 'Little Dick' Gephardt are trying to make open immigration a campaign issue in next Fall's general elections.

[size=4]Mexico, Daschle, Gephardt Give Support to Open Borders, Immigration Reform[/size=4]

MEXICO CITY  — Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said Saturday that they would forge ahead with immigration reform early next year, including some kind of legal residency for Mexican migrants already living in the United States.

Such reforms "are very consistent with fighting against terrorism," Gephardt, D-Mo., told a news conference after meeting with President Vicente Fox during the congressmen's three-day trip to Mexico.

"If you are regularizing status, you are also understanding the people you are dealing with are not terrorists," Gephardt said, noting that those who would benefit are "people who have been in the United States for a long time, paid taxes, obeyed the laws and been very good citizens."

Daschle said discussion on the reforms could be held during the next congressional session early next year. He said legalization would not be equivalent to a broad amnesty, and would require a background check and investigation.

"The opportunity for us to investigate and expel those who ought not be there is something we want to deal with, too," he added.

The two lawmakers also said they were interested in a European Union-style program of public investments and a more open border.

"I think that it ought to be our goal that we have a free pass border at some point in the future," Daschle said.

Daschle's office later said he was not endorsing any particular program, but rather supported having the same freedoms on the Mexican border as those that exist on the Canadian border. Canadians do not need visas to enter the United States, but Mexicans do.

"I think it's unlikely that we will obtain that goal anytime in the short term," Daschle said. "(But) if the United States and Canada have a border like that, we ought to have the opportunity to have that kind of border with Mexico as well."

Fox, facing trouble at home on both economic and political fronts, desperately needs to make some headway on gaining better treatment for Mexican migrants to the United States, a central policy goal of his administration.

Daschle and Gephardt said Mexico's concerns hadn't fallen from the U.S. agenda in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Our commitment (to bilateral issues) is every bit as strong as what it was on Sept. 10," Daschle said, noting that Congress is expected to vote in the next few days to suspend "for at least one year" an anti-drug certification program that has angered Mexicans.

The certification procedure required the State Department to judge other countries' anti-drug efforts and threatened the loss of financial aid for nations that failed the test.

Mexicans, and many other Latin Americans, considered that an affront to their sovereignty.

See article at:[url]http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,39027,00.html[/url]

Eric The(ChooseSidesNow!)Hun[>]:)]

They were talking about "middle easterners" sneaking across the US border from Mexico last night on America's Most Wanted. One guy made the point that if they can't stop illegals from smuggling drugs across the border, how are they going to stop a terrorist from smuggling a NBC weapon. Or at least from getting into the country.

Sounds like a ready made club for the republicans to hit the dems with during the campaign. After 9/11, the american people need secure borders,not open ones. They keep this up Dubya might have a securely republican congress to work with.

For someone in the legislative body to suggest this, is incredibly ludicrous.

Those bastards have sold us out, and are in a hurry to close the deals they have made at our expense.

Someone needs to have a look at their financial portfolios, don't be surpried if you find heavy investing in central america.

Damn NWO at work.

Waterdog

... I see this as an absolutely brilliant political ploy by the Democrats. They know that the majority of the population in the USA is poor immigrants mostly from Mexico and Asia.
The Rats also know that their constituents will vote on any measure that allows for their cousins and friends to leak through the sieve-like-borders more freely.
This is how they’re going to regain the Executive branch and Congress.

They are geniuses, albeit they need to be tried for treason and hung.

If they aren't careful, they're going to shoot themselves in the foot.

At a time when the country is swinging towards ensuring it's security, and closing and locking the doors of this great house we call the U.S. is becoming more of an understood necessity, tehse guys will be seen for what they really are - but only if the Republicans can articulate their message clearly.

I don't think we want to shut down immigration completely, but we do need to get control of it - in the last 10 years it's been a free-for-all.  Now we need to come up with a coherant policy that includes securing the border(s) and processing [b]legal[/b] requests for immigrant status. (among other things)

I hope they do try to use this, people will wake up to the fact that terrorism is alive and well because of stooopid fvcks like these two.
I think these two ought to be brought up on treason charges and publicly hung, WITH tv news coverage and mandatory watching by all Americans, after what happened Sept 11, 2001.
Borg
(Charter member of the vast Right Wing Conspiracy)