Janet Napolitano Defends 844-Page Immigration Reform Bill

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Reason 24/7

Hearings on the comprehensive immigration reform bill currently making its way through the Senate resumed today with more testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who defended the 844 page bill as a "first step."

From Politico:

Homeland Secretary Secretary Janet Napolitano mounted a vigorous defense of the Senate Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration plan Tuesday, calling the legislation an "important first step" to reforming the nation's immigration laws.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Napolitano said the 844-page bill would improve the current immigration system in several ways: it would improve border security, implement stricter accountability measures for employers, and modernize the current legal immigration system.

No matter how often lawmakers fail when they try to "go big," they keep trying.

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Comments

[jesse.in.mb]

844 pages is a lot to read. Once we pass it I'm sure we'll have a better understanding of what it's all about.

[Episiarch]

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how you can have an 844-page bill in the first place. I mean, that's like a George R. R. Martin book. And as we all know, it takes him years to write them. Of course, his aren't full of bullshit, so that probably has an effect.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

but with more character development.

[thom]

And rape.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

843 pages of generalities and meaningless phrases. 1 page of legislation, half of which is for something not even related to immigration.

[entropy]

What I wonder is who actually writes these damn things? If it was business regulation, I'd say the lobbyist's employer's lawyers, but this is immigration... so maybe still the same.

I sure as hell do not buy that the Senators wrote any of it. I wonder what the hell the ocho gang even negotiated amongst themselves, while the bill they weren't gonna read got written by some faceless wonks.

[Ryan60657]

How many taxpayer dollars will this bill waste?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Is there a taxpayer dollar that isn't somewhat wasted?

[Episiarch]

More than you can possibly imagine.

[Pro Libertate]

I was going to give the standard Han Solo reply, but the fact is that I can't imagine it.

[Episiarch]

I know, I was being serious.

[Pro Libertate]

How long before we can imagine a quadrillion dollars?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I sincerely doubt that anybody voting on this will read it in its entirety and analyze what they are reading to discover what the ultimate consequences are of the legislation. Its a fucking joke. I would like to see the senate tested on the contents of the bill to see how many of them know anything really about it.

[sarcasmic]

A lot of them just do what the party leaders tell them to do. That's how you get onto committees.

[Lord Humungus]

If JN is for it, then I'm against it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHash5takWU

[prolefeed]

it would improve border security

Bad.

implement stricter accountability measures for employers

modernize the current legal immigration system

I'm guessing what she means by "modernize" is the opposite of what I do.

[prolefeed]

Left out a "bad" under the "implement" line.

[T]

On the plus side, imagine what DHS would be like if someone competent were running it. So I suppose Janet Napolitano shouldn't annoy me nearly as much as she does.

[Mr. K From Carolina]

Okay, 844 page bills are stupid. But is it too much to ask for a little more substantive discussion of the contents?