According to reports:
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has chosen White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, a Texas confidant and one of the most prominent Hispanics in the administration, to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft, sources close to the White House said Wednesday.Ashcroft announced his resignation on Tuesday, along with Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a Texas friend of the president's.
After a National Security Council meeting, Bush was sitting down Wednesday with Secretary of State Colin Powell, another figure being closely watched for signs of whether he will stay or go. Powell has been largely noncommital when asked about his plans.
Will the appointment of a Latino a tougher US border policy easier to swallow, or does it signal something else. Colin Powell recently spoke on the record about changes, but his words are pretty ambiguous:
"With the new Congress, and the president re-elected, we think the environment has improved significantly for this kind of reform," Powell said at the 21st annual meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission. Cabinet officials and agency chiefs from both countries met in working groups at the Foreign Ministry.In comments echoed by Bush administration officials in Washington, Powell said the president plans to work closely with the new Congress to change the nation's immigration laws, although he cautioned that "we don't want to overpromise."
love it or hate it, there's more of it at Pacetown.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
very interesting, thanks Jeremy, the administration looks a whole lot better all of a sudden, and it would be great to see movement on immigration
2 - Jeremy Chrysler
Immigration is a tough issue. One of the biggest contributors to this issue, in my opinion, is the length of time that it takes for a potential immigrant worker, or for that matter, would-be citizen, to achieve his or her actual objectives.
In many cases, these objectives are not in conflict with American interests, and in some, are synergistic with our interests. Still, it can take 1-2 years to go through the process of immigrating to the US legally.
As long as such time barriers exist, it's hard to imagine that people won't attempt to work illegally.
I read a statistic somewhere (give me a second to find it, never mind) that indicated something like 1100 individuals from terror-sponsoring states had been caught attempting to gain entry into the US. How many weren't caught?
Our borders, particularly our Northern border, are incredibly porous. One can cross between CA and the US on a fishing boat 20 times a day and never be bothered, or for that matter, seen, by anyone.
Given Canada's generous refugee policies, it's not hard to imagine that being a pathway for people who want to harm the United States.
If I had an answer, I would give it to you here. Unfortunately, I do not.
Perhaps Hal would lend his expertise to this discussion...