There are two immigration reform bills working their way through Congress: the get-tough House bill co-authored by Congressman Miller and the amnesty-first Senate version, which is currently being drafted.  Consider the differences:

 

Amnesty

HOUSE: No path to legal residency or citizenship for illegal immigrants.

SENATE: Allows illegal immigrants who have been in the country five years or more to remain, continue working and eventually become legal permanent residents or citizens.

 

Border Fence

HOUSE: Requires 700 miles of high-security fencing along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

SENATE: Authorizes 370 miles of fencing plus 500 miles of "vehicle barriers."

 

Employment/Guest Worker Program

HOUSE: Doesn't offer illegal immigrants a guest worker program. 

SENATE: Creates a special guest worker program for an estimated 1.5 million immigrant farm workers, who could also earn legal permanent residency, and provides 200,000 new temporary "guest worker" visas a year.

 

Detention Facilities

HOUSE: Requires mandatory detention for all illegal immigrants arrested.

SENATE: Authorizes additional detention facilities for apprehended illegal immigrants.

 

Both bills require hiring of additional border patrol agents.  If the final bill looks like the Senate-version, Mr. Miller told the president he will vote against it.  Stay tuned. 

Hello Citizens of the USA. . .

Take heed of the Passport issue that will require EVERYONE entering the USA to have a Passport. . .sounds good but. . .that means every US citizen who leaves the USA will need a Passport to get back in!!! I live in Canada just 30 minutes from the US border and have always used my Canadian Passport as ID so it doesn't effect me in my cross-border travels. However, I foresee a massive economic impact if everyone in the US who wants to vacation either in Mexico or Canada, even for just a day trip will need a Passport to get back home!!

Have fun planning your Memorial Day Weekend. . .

Doug

I'll put up with inconveience of carrying a passport if it means secure borders.

We also live about 25 miles from the border and travel into Canada very often, especially the Montreal area.  Currently we use NEXUS to pass through the border without stopping.  However, the requirement of a passport is going over the edge, at least at the Canadian border.  There needs to be something better and cheaper that can be done.  Visiting relatives and friends is going to be real pain with the passport requirement.  The sometimes 2+ hour wait at the Champlain NY crossing will get worse exponentially.  For those who don't live near the border, or only cross it on that rare occasion then passports may work.  In fact it probably will just stop you from crossing all together (why pay almost $100 bucks X every member of your family for a passport for that once a year ride). Do I hear some vacations to Canada being cancelled now.

Will it hinder cross border trade, definitly, especially with the towns and cities along the border.  Most are small and rely on the cross border trade.  There is also the cross border worker.  I know of some folks who live in the US and work in Canada, what do they do?  Any one who lives in the Detroit, Buffalo areas should also be concerned about this. 

Hopefully someone in the Congress or Senate will wake up and smell the roses, and some up with some type of provision, with out jepordizing security.  Right now this whole deal smells of McCarthism.

 

[QUOTE=Tumarr]I'll put up with inconveience of carrying a passport if it means secure borders.[/QUOTE] Same here! I live about an hour from the British Columbia,Canada border,& although I dont make the trip as much as I used to,I would put up with more hassle if it saves lifes.We cannot allow another incident like 9/11,and if we stop the flow of our Southern borders,they will come across up North.We already stopped one terrorist with explosives in his car,right here on a  Washington State Ferry,who came in thru Canada

Remember that this new passport requirement will do nothing for ensuring, or even increasing the security of this country.  This new passport requirement is for US citizens to re-enter the country from Canada.  How does that increase security?  Remember, any US citizen may obtain a passport legally, unless they have some .  What needs to happen is find a way to prevent foriegn terrorist from entering the country, through better screening at the borders, or some other method.  Making you and I carry a passport to come home will not accomplish anything, we already live here.  The following is what the new law states.

The following was copied from the United States Deparment of State's Web Site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

New Requirements for Travelers

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires that by January 1, 2008, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States.

(Currently this is a valid Birth or Batismal Certificate and or a Valid Drivers License or Military ID.)  

In order to facilitate the implementation of this requirement, the Administration is proposing to complete it in phases following a proposed timeline, which will be published in the Federal Register in the near future.

In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed timeline will be as follows:

• December 31, 2006 - Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
• December 31, 2007 - Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.

This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all United States citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports.   This new requirement will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States.  Most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and to a lesser degree, Mexican citizens will be affected by the implementation of this requirement.   

Is it just me, or does anyone else see the problem with this law as it is currently written?  It does little to nothing for security, it just targets Legal US citizens.  If a US citizen wants to become a terrorist, whats to stop him/her, they already live here.  Any one remember McViegh and the Oklahoma City Bombing?  I'm sorry, but this new law targets the wrong group.  It essentally says that all US citizens are terrorist until they prove otherwise.  Does anyone remember McCarthyism of the 50's and 60's? How this law enhances national security and safety is a mystery.  This new law needs to target foriegn nationals, not US citizens.   

Don't get me wrong, something needs to be done, but this law was not well thought out and is just a shot from the hip to say, look here we are doing something. 

In a lot of this, there is still a lot of good being done, the doubling of Border Patrol Agents, the upgrading of ports of entry, these two items alone will do far more to ensure national security than requiring all of us to obtain a passport just to come home.

 

Jay Leno: The highest gas prices in the nation are in San Diego at an average of $3.40 a gallon. This is especially tough on illegal immigrants. Do you know how hard it is to hide in the trunk of a hybrid car? ... Mexican President Vicente Fox was in the United States last week. He says he came here so he could speak directly to the Mexican people, one on one. ... He's in the U.S. for four days. Well, that's how it always starts. Four days, then three weeks, then four months. C3RVETTE38868.3437384259