Friday, February 11, 2005

Does this mean that Abu Mazen will be barred from accepting President Bush's invitation to the White House this spring?

House Passes Immigrant ID Bill.
All the major papers cover the story of the House passage of a bill that, as the Los Angeles Times (2/11, Curtius) puts it, “would virtually bar states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, tighten the rules for asylum and close a hole in the border fence between California and Mexico.” Of the major networks, only CBS Nightly News(2/10, story 10, 0:20, Rather) covered the House action, saying “the House voted today to beef up homeland security by requiring all states to verify that any applicant for a driver license is a US citizen or legal immigrant. Many states say they don't have the money to do it. In any case, prospects for final passage in the Senate are uncertain. And driver's licenses remain very easy to get with little, if any, checking.” CNN also reported the story throughout the day yesterday, noting that state officials worry the measure “will force states to become immigration officers.”
One provision in this bill would ban PLO terrorists from entering the United States, which would effectively prevent Abu Mazen or any other PA official from ever visiting the United States so long as this bill is on the books. I wonder how the Executive Branch will get around this one (unless it was taken out of the final bill?).

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home