I would have preferred my plan but at least he proposed a fence, over part of the border, and military, for at least at limited time. Maybe we can build on that.

His speech has some good points and some points that I really do not agree with, at least in the way it was presented.

Presidnt Bush's second point was that Border Security was tied to implementing a temporary worker program. As the President pointed out in the first of his five point program, Border Security is a NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE.. a Temporary Worker Program is a labor issue, and an immigration issue. The border security problem must be immediately addressed, the Temporary Worker Program can be discussed and debated at length once the border is secure. I recognize that there is a need for a Temporary Worker Program but it should not be tied to Border Security as a means to get it through congress and rapidly approved.

I suppose I can be placed in that group of folks who 'will never be happy'.

Personally, I will not be happy until the president stops pretending that his road to citizenship is not really anmesty.

I will not be happy while knowing that Bush is conferring with and attempting to please El Presidente Fox.

And I will not be happy until there is a wall - a real wall - built along the entire border, with military guarding it permanently!!

This is OUR country and it is worth protecting!

Oh Puleeze. What did he do? Let's take a brief, but critical look at his speech.

1. 6000 National Guardsmen WITH NO ARREST AUTHORITY. And they're only there for a year? Let's suppose they relieve 6000BP agents. There are 3 8 hour shifts in a single day. 1 man per shift = 2000 available bodies. 2000 men across 2000 miles = 1 man per mile. Now That's enforcement!

2. He reassured Mexico that we're not going to militarize the border. Guess he doesn't realize how many times the Mexican military has crossed ours.

3. Technology does not make arrests

4. He provided no method of making his Temporary Guest workers leave at the end of their employment.

5. He started the speech with "enforcement" measures, then backed off of them, then went into the whole "They're chasing the American dream just like our forefathers" BS. My forefathers came hear legally. There was not one mention of illegal in the entire second half of his speech.

He's a corporatist who no longer has the best interest of US citizens at heart. How else do you explain the constant "National Security" argument and then failing to do a damn thing about the border?

How about taking the 12 million mexicans that are here illegally and training them in democracy, how to organize etc.. and sending them back into Mexico with the support and means to overthrow the corrupt Mexican government. The only way Mexico will stop sending its poor across our borders is when there are not so many poor in Mexico and there are opportunities down there.

America should appose tyrany and injustice EVERYWHERE we find it.

This speach was just window dressing. Nothing will stop the invasion as long as the job market is open to them. Their supposed to have social security cards NOW to get employed. The IRS knows where the bogus SS #'s are. Yet Bush has only prosecuted 10 companies in his tenure.

If and illegal doesn't have one of these fancy smansy ID cards, SO WHAT! The contractor will just pay them half what he pays legals (if he needs any legals!).

We need a 50,000 man task force to ferret out the employers who hire illegals. Fine them. Jail them. In two years we could wipe out 75% of all the employers who hire illegals.

Then we need an illegal hotline. People know who is hiring these invaders. Put them all out of business. Make sure the employers know it is only a matter of time before they get caught and illegals will no longer have jobs.

This will work better than any fence or "virtual" bullsh@t fence.

Bush won't enforce the law on the books today. Why believe him about future promises of enforcement.

I am SO disappointed! I am a lifelong Republican but am ready to support Impeachment of this president for his arrogant and outrageous failure to enforce the laws of the US. Are we going to have a day when we open our jails and prisons and just release all the American criminals who have committed crimes??? crimes like tax evasion, welfare fraud, perjury, lying, contempt of court and a thousand others? Absolutely NOT!! then WHY would anyone suggest we give total AMNESTY to Illegal aliens?!It does not matter how you twist the words you cant hide the truth! they are here trespassing! stealing welfare benefits from AMERICANS..taking food stamps, housing subsidies, free medical and legal aid. They are wearing out our billions of dollars worth of hiways and clogging our trillion dollar educational system! Destroying our Medical and Health Services ! and burdening our Law enforcement agencies! We are paying for it every day! and it is only going to get worse.THey pop out five or ten kids each and collect more money for each one they have.Talk about a transfer of wealth... In ten or twenty years AMERICA will not even exist at this rate..Follow the rules! Obey the Laws! Respect America! Lawbreakers and abusers of our institutions are FELONS! They do not deserve Amnesty or Citizenship.They must be captured and sent home and if they return they must be prosecuted..GIVE BACK OUR COUNTRY!!NOW!!!any politician who does not see this and support this does not deserve your vote. they do not represent you!

Paolo, Paolo, Paolo...

1. The guardsmen will be there in a support capacity, freeing up INS agents to make the arrests.

2. You don't go out of your way to antagonize a neighbor whose cooperation you're going to need down the road, when a workable guest worker program is in place.

RA, the President answered your argument. They are going to keep coming illegally if there is no way for them to do so legally. The only way to make enforcement logistically possible is to reduce the number of people trying to sneak across the border by incentives for obeying the law as well as with disincentives for breaking it.

Red meat is emotionally satisfying- but it will give you a belly ache every time if you don't balance it with a little bit of common sense.

3.Technology is not intended to make arrests. It's intended to tell the people who make arrests where to find the people to arrest.

4.True, guest workers could just disappear- if nobody made an effort to keep track of them. But that's what the guest worker program is about doing!

5. We're talking about the fastest growing demographic group in the United States- one which will decide elections in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado, and are the Republican Party's one hope of some day being competitive in California. It's a group which President Bush has spent his political life courting for the Republican Party, with considerable success; one the Democrats carried by 30% in 2000 and only by 10%. And it's one which you red meat types are on the verge of driving permanently into the ranks of the Democrats, guaranteeing us Clintonism for the next generation.

I think it was a very successful speech. According to one poll I saw, he bumped up an amazing 25 points. He came out for a tighter border and stronger enforcement. He waffled on the amensty issue as he must at this point. No surprises there. Importantly, He said what a majority of Americans wanted to hear for a very long time. Now, maybe some of the Republican "base" can stop making asses of themselves and quit pretending that they know the very difficult issues and their solutions perfectly. We collectively have ignored the problems and now there is no cheap, easy way out. We will have to pay the price for not acting responsibly in the past.
Now, the stress is on the Dems. Their ideologs will pull the party further away from what a majority of Americans want. The realistic Dems will have the very difficult taks of trying to convince actual voters that they are the party that can secure our borders. But Bush grabbed that ground last night and now it's ours to lose. Having the lefty ideologues making lots of noise and capturing a lot of the media attention will make things even more difficult for them. Let's let the Democrats rip themselves asunder. Now is not the time for us to explode into fragments of our own ideologies. Cool heads on our side will be very powerful.

Bob Waters,

First, there is no INS. It' called ICE now and is run by the extremely unqualified Julie Meyers. Ms. Meyers is taking the lead in workplace enforcement. To date there have been 5 publicized raids under the Bush administration. 5!!! The latest involved the arrest of 1000 illegals, of which only 200 were actually detained. Additionally, the National Guard is supporting the Border Patrol, not ICE, and my equation still holds.
Second, I don't give a rat's ass about Vicente Fox or Mexico. You're talking about a country who has consistently interferred with our internal politics by threatening us with lawsuits if the NG does detian an illegal, by assisting in organizing illegal immigrant rallies, by publishing comic books for the illiterate to assist them in entering this country illegally, by demanding that the Border Patrol give the location of the Minutemen, and by refusing to stop the flow of drug and human trafficking into this country. They are NOT a friend of this country. They are a parasite that lives off the remittances of the poor they ship over here. It is not our responsibility or duty to kiss Mexico's ass. It is the responsibility of this adminisstration to defend its citizens. Something it clearly does not want to do.
Third, Why in the hell do we have to provide incentives for anyone to obey the law? WTF?? Here's your incentive. Obey the law or get the F*** out. We don't provide bank robbers with government pensions, why should we reward illegals with anything more than a bottle of water, a baloney sandwich, and a one way ticket home? Additionally, we already have ways for them to come here legally. They just choose to disregard them.
Fourth, technology. My point is that technology does nothing without the manpower to act on it. 1 man per mile isn't going to cut it.
Fifth, They may be the largest growing demographic, but they can't vote. And granting them amnesty will only boost the Democratic base. The people we are talking about are for the most part poor, unskilled, and uneducated. Which party tends to establish social programs to support those who can't (or won't) take care of themselves? It ain't the Republicans. So even if Bush grants them amnesty, the Republicans aren't getting those votes. The Republicans are the ones who wanted to free the slaves, and still to this day, Democrats garner a majority of the black vote.

You're ignorance will be your doom.