The Immigration Bill is Defeated Again
Put forth on June 28, 2007 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Immigration, Immigration Debate
Blow to Bush as immigration bill crashes down
Agence France Presse
In a stunning defeat for the bid to grant a path to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants, Senators voted 53 to 46 against keeping the bill alive, likely ending congressional action on the divisive issue before 2009.
Bipartisan backers of the measure fell well short of the 60 vote super-majority needed to move the bill, branded by opponents as an “amnesty,” towards a final vote, after an emotional weeks-long debate.
From the New York Times
The debate just before the vote today was intense, even personal.
“We know what they’re against - we don’t know what they’re for,” Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said of the bill’s opponents. Perhaps, Mr. Kennedy suggested, the bill’s opponents envision some kind of “gestapo” to round up illegal immigrants. “That’s their alternative?” Mr. Kennedy shouted. “That’s their alternative?”
Another supporter of the legislation, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, pleaded with her colleagues not to let the bill lapse. “If we miss this opportunity, there is not likely to be another in the next few years,” she said.
The debate became unusually testy, and senators tied themselves in procedural knots as they tried to work through a slate of 27 proposed amendments. Some senators obstructed normally routine requests by their colleagues — raising objections, for example, when senators asked to dispense with further proceedings under a quorum call, or to explain their reasons for opposing requests for unanimous consent.
“We are in trench warfare,” said Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, a strong supporter of the bill.
These are the organizations who were willing to denounce the immigration bill - League of United Latin American Citizens, Hispanic Federation, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the William C. Velasquez Institute.
It looks like the some Latino advocacy and immigration groups who supported the proposed bill were rattled when the legislation failed again. From the NY Times:
Influential labor and Hispanic groups had urged the Senate to pass the bill and send it to the House, where they said flaws could be corrected. The groups included the Service Employees International Union, the National Council of La Raza, the United Farm Workers and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
“The price of failure will be hundreds of more people dying in the desert,” said Eliseo Medina, an executive vice president of the service employees union. “The price of failure will be more workplace raids and families separated as breadwinners are arrested and deported. The price of failure will be more public anger at the broken immigration system. More states and cities will pass punitive laws that target immigrants.”
What do your so-called influential groups think about this? They are disappointed. Well I am disappointed that they were willing to sell out our own. How could the National Council of La Raza be against bill when it up the first time around and now be for it this time around. It is obvious their support comes from the belief that a bad bill is better than no bill. This is the same belief that was used to support Alberto Gonzalez.
As George Lopez would say - Fuck … that … puto!
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Tags: Immigration, immigration bill, Immigration Security Account, undocumented immigrants | 
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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Indeed I was one of those individuals that was for the bill, but now I am so glad it was defeated. I realize that for expediency’s sake I was willing to accept crumbs. I was born in the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico and have always felt vulnerable, although a “U.S. citizen”, as the object of the same racism that affects all my brothers and sisters from Latin America. I could very easily be picked in one of those ICE raids and jailed because I “look” Mexican, Salvadorean, etc. We will eventually prevail and a real humane immigration bill will eventually be approved without the punitive meeasures contained in the defeated bill.
I think that Mexico and Costa Rica and all those Latin American countries that allow American retirees to live in their countries illegaly should begin to raid their communities and send them packing up North. We can watch them trying to eke a living with $1,000.00 a month social security checks in New York, San Francisco, etc.
Most American stomachs turned sour watching illegals march with their Mexican flags and their banners “today we march, tomorrow we vote”. It was a travesty. Go have a revolution in Mexico, I thought. The bill was a sellout to American Citizens by their elected leaders.
“Most American stomachs turned sour watching illegals march with their Mexican flags and their banners “today we march, tomorrow we vote.’”
THIS is what turns American stomachs??? With all the war and death and oppression in the world. Americans, living in our privileged, wealthy, comfortable land of opportunity, sickened by the thought of non-residents, who pour their sweat (and $$$s) into our economy, marching for a few civil and human rights? Wow. Please, do not include me in your class of Americans. That is a travesty.
what turned their stomachs is the fact that hard working immigrants remind, a few people too much of where they came from. Half the Senators, didn’t even read the “grand bargain”..and “we” should know anything that is a bargain just isn’t good enough. We’ll just put CIR on “lay away”..if you know what I mean..and get Immigration Reform, piece by piece.
Victor - bienvenido my friend. I happy to hear you changed your view on this bill. I think we need to get US born Latinos to begin to realize that it does not matter if your skin is brown or you have a Spanish surname, we are one in the same to the anti-immigration crowd. When in-laws can turn you in because they do not agree with you at a whim, we have a serious problem. I am pretty sure Zoila Meyer never would have thought in a millions years that someone in her husband’s side of the family would actually turn her in.
I think we have been condition to accept the scraps that are thrown at us. We need to change that line of thinking and taking whatever, if not - we will always be living in fear.
Laura - Thanks!
And thank you for all the work in trying to educate people, the folks at immigrate2us. As you can tell, there is a lot of educating that needs to be done.
americanforliberty - Hi! You are correct about the “lay away” plan. They will just put an amendment here or there and each Act will be made separate. It is easier for them since most of us will not be aware of it and the only ones who will, will be the special interest groups.
Hehe. “Layaway.” I shouldn’t laugh, but that’s quite good.
It isn’t the Americans who need to be educated. It’s the illegals here who need to be educated on the way our Republic works. The legislators work for the people not the the people serve the legislators. The people have spoken.
I have heard of estimates as high as 30 billion dollars leaving the USA to Mexico. These hard earned dollars are not being pumped back in the US economy. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we are obligated to take in and provide human and civil rights to citizens of foreign countries. How many is enough to suit the amnesty supporters?
15 million, 50 million, 200 million? Perhaps their leaders should be providing the opportunities and human rights.
That is priceless…FTP
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