ABC News Answers Your Questions About Immigration

May 15, 2006 — -- ABC News' Jake Tapper answers your questions on President Bush's speech about his immigration reform plan.

Question: Is it reasonable to expect a class-action lawsuit to be filed by all those who entered the country legally? I am one who went through the system, spent time and money to achieve citizenship and I feel mighty upset that illegral immigrants are demanding rights and that they should be permitted to become citizens. If someone doesn't file a class-action lawsuit then I will. Thanks. -- Thomas Webster, Galveston, Texas

Answer: Hi, Thomas. I don't understand why you'd file a lawsuit. But heck, this is a fairly litigious society, so you probably wouldn't be the only one.

Q: I am 16 and in high school civics and my debate position for tomorrow is that I do NOT support amnesty. Can you provide any helpful hints as to why amnesty would not be "good." Thanks a lot. -- Alli, Norwalk, CT

A: Alli, "amnesty" means essentially a "get out of jail free" card -- no punsishment, all is forgiven. And as President Bush said tonight, we are a nation of laws. The president would argue that allowing illegal immigrants to earn their citizenship through a rigorous and lengthy process is the way to deal with this issue, but just clapping your hands and saying everyone in the U.S. illegally is now officially a citizen is unfair, unjust, and would only encourage future lawbreaking.

Q: How can a president of the U.S. compare immigrants to fish? Catch and release is a term all good fisherfolk know well. It is degrading for a president to be so unschooled as to talk about catch and release and also to use the word, sneak. Is there a way that the people of the U.S. can educate this president? -- Agnes, St. Paul, Minn.

A: You are too quick to judge, my friend! President Bush, though he may be an avid outdoorsman, is not inappropriately borrowing fisherman's lingo. "Catch and release" is what those in the Immigration Biz refer to when they're talking about a specific policy for the deportation (and not jailing) of illegal immigrants otherwise known as "Voluntary Departure."

To quote one definition, from underneath the headline "Catch and Release" on a the website of the Center for Immigration Studies:

"Intended as a cost-saving measure to streamline the deportation process, voluntary departure allows aliens to enter into an agreement to leave the United States on their own volition and to avoid the consequences of a formal order of removal (such as being barred from re-entering the country for 10 years). This frees the alien to leave and attempt to re-enter legally, leave and enter illegally, or violate the agreement and continue to stay here illegally."

Q: Does this 'amnesty' only apply to Mexicans? How about all the Africans living here illegally who have been working and paying taxes for the last 10 years. Are they all now eligible to apply for citizenship? --Cetecil

A: Hello Cetecil. This program is not only for Mexicans. Thanks for writing.

Q: I'm a 23-year-old college student and I have been keeping up fairly well with the country's immigration issue. I think Bush's proposal is a really solid plan but I fail to understand why this plan is just now being devised. We have known about the immigration issue for years now, yet only now is something actually being done about it?

A: You are smart beyond your years, Rob. But get used to it. You'll be able to say the same thing about the Social Security mess, the national debt, health care, and national security (among other issues) for the rest of your life. Good luck on finals.

Q: How did the Marine that the president spoke of get into the Marine Corps when he is not a citizen? -- Mary Weismantel, Winfield Park

A: Hi Mary. One doesn't need to be a full-fledged U.S. citizen to enter into the armed forces of the United States. One can be on a path to citizenship -- a lawful resident though not a citizen.

Q: Since when has another country dictated our laws? I don't care what Mr. Bush wants to call allowing 12-14 million ILLEGAL ALIENS in this country, they entered ILLEGALLY! What part of that word doesn't he and Congress understand? -- Sandra, Wonder Lake

A: Hi Sandra. The president seems to disagree with you. He said tonight that "it is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently -- and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record." Thanks for writing.

Q: How is all of this going to be paid for? The deficit continues to rise, but there always seems to be another program to pay for. -- Jay Melton, San Diego, Calif.

A: Hi Jay. The president did not say how he would pay for this other than through even more deficit spending.

Q: What kind of fine would illegal immigrants have to pay? So if illegal immigrants turn themselves in and can prove they have been working for a certain number of years they will be enrolled into this plan? --Alexis, Vero Beach, Fla.

A: Hello, Alexis. I believe the president is proposing that illegal immigrants who do not enter into the new guest worker program would be deported.

Q: How can Bush send more National Guardsmen to patrol the border when there is not nearly enough support for our soldiers in Iraq? -- Sarah, Virginia

A: Good evening, Sarah. The president hopes to deploy some 6,000 National Guardsmen and -women to the U.S.-Mexico border in shifts. The White House says that number represents about 2 percent of the overall strength of the National Guard.

In the Democratic response, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., just asked the question you're asking, though, Sarah -- whether the president's plan would stretch the Guard too thin. Durbin says that the president's proposal would deploy around 150,000 National Guardsmen and -women over the next two years.

"How much more are we going ask of our National Guard?" Durbin asked. "They have shown that they will do everything asked of them to protect and defend this nation. They have demonstrated that in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the Gulf Coast after Katrina. But our Guard and Reserves are stretched dangerously thin, and now we're moving into hurricane and fire season."

Q: If the war on drugs is any indication, any attempt to stop the supply of illegal labor into this country is futile as long as there is a demand for it, and neither a wall nor stationing the National Guard at the border can stop illegal immigration. Why not use a forgery-proof national ID card to hold accountable employers who hire illegal immigrants? In this approach, there will be no need to roundup and deport millions of illegal immigrants. -- Adrien Yeganeh, Lawrence, Kan.

A: Hi Adrien. President Bush will call tonight for tamper-proof ID cards for those in any temporary worker program. But as for a tamper-proof national ID card, there are many citizens who have privacy concerns about such a plan. The New Hampshire House of Representatives, for example, recently voted to prohibit the Granite State from participating in any such system.

Q: Why is everyone picking on Mexicans and the border?. There are other people coming in that are not Hispanics. Why is nothing said about them? -- Rhoda, Kansas City, Mo.

A: Hi Rhoda. I agree, no one should be "picking on" anyone, in a perfect world. That said, more than half of those estimated to be in the U.S. illegally are Mexican. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 5.9 million of the 10.3 million unauthorized people in the U.S. in March 2004 were Mexican -- that's 57 percent. (And it doesn't include the 24 percent, or 2.5 million, from other parts of Latin America, mostly Central America.)

Again, to quote Pew: "Overall, about half of Mexicans in the U.S. are unauthorized."

(Incidentally, if you want to get a taste of a Latin American comedian's take on all this, check out my profile of Comedy Central's Carlos Menica on "Nightline" this evening.)

Q: How are undocumented workers supposed to provide proof of...five years residence in the U.S.? Most of them are using someone else's Social Security card, they may not have check stubs even in an assumed name, if they work for cash. What will the INS accept as proof? -- Thanks, Joan Murray, Alameda, Calif.

A: Hello Joan. Excellent question. The Bush administration would agree that law enforcement often puts businesses in an untenable position since many unauthorized migrants present forged documents to "prove" their legal status. Tonight the president will suggest those workers who want to "get in line" and become citizens through a specific process will need to obtain new tamper-proof cards in order to enter a temporary worker program.

Question: What exactly is the president gonna talk on that will benefit the immigrants, and what is the conclusion of his plans? -- Natty, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Answer: The president will be talking about border enforcement as a key provision of his immigration reform plan. Part of his plan could benefit illegal immigrants by laying out a way for them to earn citizenship. But the enforcement provision he'll underline tonight -- more guards at the U.S.-Mexico border, more detention centers -- will be part of the plan that minimizes if not eliminates illegal immigration.

Q: Why can't the people crossing the border be sent back? Why are they given a court date and simply set free? -- Jim Rivard, Edgartown, Mass.

A: Some of the people crossing the border can be and are sent back. In fact, I believe in his speech tonight President Bush will claim that since he became president something like 6 million illegal immigrants have been forcibly returned to Mexico or stopped at the border. Many who are caught are, as you pointed out, given a court date and not jailed. That's because the nature of the crime as it stands in U.S. law right now is not to treat illegal immigrants necessarily as seriously as one might treat other law breakers. Many conservatives argue that needs to change.

Q: Why should Mexicans get a "golden ticket" to amnesty/immigration over people from other countries? I know a Canadian and a person from Holland who had to jump through more hoops than a circus dog to get citizenship. Why a golden ticket for some but not others? --Colleen

A: You get at a touchy subject for many legal immigrants to the U.S., who hate the demonization one sometimes sees of illegal immigrants but also respect the notion of playing by the rules.

The president would say, Colleen, that you misunderstand his plan. A White House "fact sheet" says that workers "would be able to register for legal status on a temporary basis. If workers decided to apply for citizenship, they would have to get in line." So I suppose that means there is no "golden ticket" OVER anyone else.

From Jake: OK, everyone, I have a couple stories I have to work on for Nightline and Good Morning America, so I will unfortunately have to bid you farewell.

Thanks for all the excellent questions -- I'm so sorry to those whose I didn't have time to answer. Next time?