"Gingrich urges action against illegals"

WashTimes:

Newt Gingrich is demanding that the Bush administration get serious about stopping illegal immigration.

The former House speaker wants the United States to completely seal off its border along Mexico and Canada, deport illegal aliens within 72 hours of their arrest and exclude U.S. courts from reviewing such deportations.

"Let's be serious about sealing off our borders or [else] have open borders," Mr. Gingrich told more than 1,000 cheering conservatives on Saturday...

...Some skeptical conservative leaders interviewed after his speech noted that Mr. Gingrich did not explain how the "open green-card" program would work, or what more the administration should do to seal thousands of miles of border to the south and north.

Nor did Mr. Gingrich say whether he backed some form of President Bush's guest-worker program to allow illegal aliens holding jobs in the United States to remain - or whether such aliens eventually could apply for citizenship.

Many in the audience booed and hissed Manhattan Institute analyst Tamar Jacoby's defense of the guest-worker proposal. In a panel titled "Immigration Reform: Recognizing Reality or Surrendering Principles?" she clashed with Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly...

Immigration2005a · Mon, 02/21/2005 - 11:41 · · Importance: 1