The "put them in prison" immigration bill

Here is one of the first articles that came out after the Republican Senators proposed the new immigration bill that would requiring mandatory prison sentences for immigrants.

Since the bill was introduced by Sen. Sessions of Alabama, I am wondering if he has been reading a few history books and wants to fill U.S. prisons with even more inmates so they can all be leased out at $10.00 per month like there were in 1900.
-----

Federal bill would jail illegal immigrants

By Doug Abrahms
March 6, 2008
Montgomery Advertiser
dabrahms@gannett.com




WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jeff Sessions introduced a bill Wednesday that would require mandatory prison sentences for immigrants convicted of illegally entering the country, one of several pieces of legislation offered by a group of Republican senators to draw attention to the issue.

"Doing so will discourage future attempts at illegal entry," said Sessions, R-Mobile. "It is important that we send the message to the world that America is enforcing the rule of law."

Sessions' measure was one of 15 bills unveiled Wednesday. Others included provisions for:

# Requiring 700 miles of fence along the Mexico border to be completed by the end of 2010.

# Expanding the law to allow governors to use the National Guard to build fences, conduct missions and help the Department of Homeland Security patrol the border.

# Making English the official language and clarifying that federal documents aren't required to be written in other languages unless required by statute.

But the bills face difficulty in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats who set the agenda. Many immigration bills are pending, but few expect major legislation to pass in an election year.

No one seriously believes the U.S. can round up and deport 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., much less put them all in prison, said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director for legislative affairs at the National Immigration Forum, which supports comprehensive immigration reform.

These bills also don't address the needs by employers that rely on immigrant labor, she said.

"These proposals are designed to look tough but don't have the meat behind them," Tramonte said. "They're just not a serious solution."

for link to MA click the title of this post