February 23, 2006

"Temporary" Protected Status extended; preview of "guest" worker schemes

The Bush administration has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Central Americans. They get yet another year in the U.S.

Some of them have been here since 1998, others since 2001.

Obviously, this is exactly how the various "guest" worker schemes proposed by Bush and others would work: at the start of the program we'd be promised that they'd have to leave after six years. Then, year after year it would be extended and extended.

Once again: anyone who claims "temporary" workers wouldn't be permanent residents is lying to you. And, this latest episode shows some of the people who'd support keeping our "guests" around:

But Central American leaders and several members of Congress have been pushing for a renewal. Immigrants and their advocates say allowing the special status to expire would devastate not only these individuals but also their families — and the Central American nations — who count on the billions of dollars the immigrants earn in the United States and send home.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca is scheduled to visit Washington Friday.

[Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen] said in a statement that without a renewal of the special residency, the Central Americans would "face deportation back to a country where they may encounter violence, civil unrest or a homeland still recuperating from natural disasters."

What country does Ros-Lehtinen really represent?

Posted to Immigration at February 23, 2006 02:38 AM

Comments

"face deportation back to a country where they may encounter violence, civil unrest or a homeland still recuperating from natural disasters."
Like the US is violence-free and never experiences civil unrest(remember the Rodney King riots?). And, of course, much of the country is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. In reality , these countries will never "recover" because what they really suffer from is plundering and mismanagement by their local elites. Also, there are some who seem to believe that the root problem of these countries is an overabundance of people with low IQ's.

Posted by: perroazul del norte at February 23, 2006 06:55 PM

Even as Bush is trying to pass a temporary guest that opponents have argued against by saying “there nothing so permanent as a temporary worker program,” Bush proves their point. If you even resist under these circumstances, then what chance is there when Bush is not trying to push through something widely unpopular with the electorate?

Posted by: Jeff at February 23, 2006 08:44 PM