Live Blogging George Bush's Immigration Speech

7:40 Everyone brings their own personal bias to political issues and I thought I'd be upfront and tell you mine before the speech begins. My parents immigrated to this country from Ireland - legally. I root for people who come to this country to make a better life for themselves and their families. To me that's the real backbone of this great nation. At the same time - I want newcomers to this country to obey the rules just as my parents did.

As far as my politics - I'm first-generation Irish-American, both my parents had union jobs and I'm from Massachusetts. In short - you would expect me to fit the model profile of a Democrat. That's not the case though - I'm registered as an Independent and even though I've voted Republican in the last five presidential elections - I still don't consider myself a Republican. Maybe the label that fits me best is Reagan-Democrat.

7:46 Good thing Bush's poll numbers are already down because interrupting sweeps week TV season finale's may really tick off segments of the population more than the immigration issue itself. As for me - I'll be greatly tempted to flip over to the Red Sox / Orioles game. With all the rain in New England - I haven't gotten a Sox fix since Friday. Currently 2-1 Boston.

7:54 Fox owns MySpace.com? I did not know that.

8:00 Sorry I couldn't type and watch at the same time. This was an excellent speech. A home run! The speech basically spoke to five specific issues and maybe it would be best if I took them one at a time.

8:20 First the border must be secured. Currently there are 9,000-12,000 border security personnel. If I recall correctly - both Governor Swartzenegger of California (R) and Governor Bill Richardson (D) of New Mexico have both said what is really needed are just the border patrol personnel that have long been promised. Bush now promises not just the promised border guards but also an additional 6,000 new border guards. To me this is a very wise investment because it is much cheaper to hire a border guard than to hire a prison guard (and many people feel that a large number of the "illegals" crossing the border will end up as criminals).

To bridge the time gap between when the additional border guards come on line - the President will deploy 6,000 members of the National Guard to do logistical and non-police related duties.

Two quick semantic points (1) I love the idea that Bush described people as "sneaking" across the border - that's probably the best way to put it; (2) I'm glad that he used the phrase "illegal immigrants" instead of the heinous "undocumented workers" but I still prefer the traditional "illegal aliens" - however the X-Files probably has forever taken that phrase out of the immigration debate.

8:33 Second - put an end to "catch and release". The awareness of the catch and release immigration policies has grown exponentially these past few months and this is a big part of the frustration which caused the President to have this speech in the first place. Something tells me that this may be the hardest of the five points touched on in the speech to actually implement.

8:37 Third - employer sanctions. Many people think that along with more border guards - this is the most important solution to the illegal immigration problem. Simply enforce the laws on the books!

Let's give credit for our current law where credit is due - according to the interview of Annelise Anderson by the Miller Center of Public Affairs - it is William French Smith who is the force behind getting our current law on the books:

William French Smith [the first Attorney General under Reagan] was dealing with the problem of illegal immigration and there had been a lot of studies of this and that, how many illegal aliens have been coming in. None of these studies were really that good, but Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming, and somebody in the House wanted to have employer sanctions so that it became illegal to hire an illegal alien... William French Smith continued to support the employer sanctions and it passed in 1986. Didn't pass until then. Of course Smith was no longer Attorney General, I think Ed Meese had become Attorney General. He was confirmed in 1985.

As part of Bush's new plan the prospective immigrants would be required to obtain a new Immigrant ID card which would utilize the latest technology. This is better than the idea of a National ID cards which former Interior Secretary James Watt once described as "the mark of the beast". I'm not sure if Watt was kidding but I can no longer hear a discussion of National ID cards without chuckling and thinking of Watt's words.

8:47 Fourth - no amnesty but a realistic answer to those illegals already here. This is the real can of worms and to my thinking the potential minefield for the Democratic Party. Making the illegals who are already here citizens will probably increase the roles of the Democratic Party but these folks are competing for jobs against the very people who make up the core of the votership for Democrats. It wil be interesting to watch how this sticky wicket is resolved.

8:52 Fifth and final - make sure we continue to embrace the idea of the American melting pot which is just an important ideal as the "City on a Hill" ideal. Bush made sure that he made clear that part of the melting pot is learning and speaking English.

8:55 One final thought; this is not an economic issue. This is a security issue. Take a look at the unemployment rates among the border states.

US Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Texas at 5.0% unemployment in March 2006. At 5.3% average for 2005 and 6.0% average for 2004.
- New Mexico at 3.9% unemployment in March 2006. At 5.3% average for 2005 and 5.7% average for 2004.
- Arizona at 4.0% unemployment in March 2006. At 4.7% average for 2005 and 5.0% average for 2004.
- California at 5.0% unemployment in March 2006. At 5.4% average for 2005 and 6.2% average for 2004.

At a 5.0% unemployment rate there will be competition among employers for the scarce labor pool. This is a good problem to have but it doesn't mean we turn a blind-eye to people who hire undocumented workers and break the law or worse exploit people based upon their economic and legal status.

The Red Sox are winning 8-1 in the 7th. Everyone have a nice night.