The Voice of Reason: Finally, a Politician Gets Something Right

So the president has finally decided to do something about illegal immigration. I'm amazed to find I actually wholeheartedly agree with a politician on something, but this is what Georgia senator Johnny Isakson had to say about Bush's speech on illegal immigration and reform:

“I’m grateful that the President is focusing on border security, but it is clear that any placement of National Guard troops on the border will be merely temporary. We must have a more permanent solution for securing our borders, and that is why I will seek a vote this week on my amendment to require that strong border security measures be funded and fully operational before we begin any guest worker program.”

What I quote below I found at this site: http://isakson.senate.gov/press/2006/051206immigration.htm.
I haven’t found any credible opposition to these ideas yet, and I like them very much. This goes right along with my very first post, which was about illegal immigration. I hope this amendment passes. Temporary solutions are all well and good, but sometimes they create more problems later; this amendment would go a long way towards eliminating that potentiality in this case.

So this is Isakson's stand, and until someone can manage to convince me otherwise, my stand as well:
 

“ 'The people of this country are looking to us to secure our borders for the homeland and for immigration. We must secure them first before we do anything else,” Isakson. “Those reforms that involve guest workers must only be implemented after the certification by the Secretary of Homeland Security that our borders are secure.'

"Isakson’s amendment would prohibit the implementation of any guest worker program until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies in writing to the President and to Congress that border security investments included in the immigration legislation have been implemented. The Senate is expected to resume the immigration debate next week.

"Isakson cited the 1986 amnesty program created by President Ronald Reagan that granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants but failed to appropriate the funds necessary to secure the border. The result, Isakson said, was that millions more immigrants flooded into the United States illegally and now are straining our schools, our hospitals and our local jails.

“ 'I will fight as hard as I can to see to it that whatever passes this United States Senate requires first and foremost the securing of our border before the extension of any guest workers or creation of any new guest worker program,” Isakson said. “If we don’t, we’ll have recreated the problem we created in 1986. We will deal not with just 3 million illegals coming, but millions and millions and millions more – all because we looked the other way.'

"The text of Isakson's amendment is below:  

“ 'Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall not implement the new conditional nonimmigrant work authorization or authorizations provided for in this Act that grant legal status or adjust the current status of any individual who illegally enters or entered the United States until the Secretary provides written certification to the President and the Congress that the authorized levels provided for within each section contained in Title I of this Act, and within Section 233 in Title II, are fully met, in place, and fully operational.' ” 

Is there anybody else out there who agrees with the Senator and me?

Even if you don’t, please comment; I’d like to find out why. To be perfectly honest there isn’t anyone in my area I can really discuss this with (nobody seems interested; rural Missouri seems too far from the border for immigration issues to spark much discussion, I guess) so any feedback I get will probably come from this site.

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