Bush blueprint found

It appears that the Obama administration has found some of the old George W Bush files on comprehensive immigration reform. And they are using them!

This from the AP today:
Mexico, U.S. form immigration working group
Associated Press
Published: 4/4/2009 12:01 AM Daily Herald
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico and the United States have formed a high-level, joint working group to make immigration safer and more orderly, Mexican officials announced Friday.

The working group will focus on making documented migration easier, protecting migrants' rights and improving procedures for repatriating migrants, the Mexican Foreign Relations Department said in a statement.

It also will focus on steps to inform the public about the dangers of trying to cross the border without documents.

The group was formed following meetings between U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa.

The two officials also want to create a long-term study group on border issues such as the environment, water and health.

While the outflow of Mexican migrants has fallen dramatically, immigration remains an important bilateral issue.

The net outflow of Mexicans -- both legal and illegal -- declined by more than 50 percent in the 12 months ending in August 2008, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the Mexican National Statistics, Geography and Information Institute.

The net outflow of Mexicans -- those leaving the country minus those returning from abroad -- dropped to 204,000 people between August 2007 and August 2008. That was down from 455,000 for the year ending in August 2007.

And now this from the SAME DATE in 2001.
Press Statement
Richard Boucher, Spokesman – Secretary of State
Washington, DC April 4, 2001
Joint Statement of the US-Mexico High Level Working Group on Migration
The US-Mexico High Level Working Group on Migration signed a joint statement on April 4 in Washington, D.C. Following is the text of that statement.

The governments of Mexico and the United States today began talks intended to achieve a framework for orderly, legal, safe and humane migration and for the protection of worker rights. As Presidents Vicente Fox and George W. Bush directed during their recent meeting in Guanajuato, the talks are chaired by the Secretaries of Government and Foreign Relations of Mexico and the Secretary of State and the Attorney General of the United States.

Other signs that "change" looks like same-old, same-old:
*Like Bush before 2006, Obama is scaling back interior enforcement efforts simply by changing operational directives.
*Like Bush, Obama is working closely with the Mexican President with visits focused on immigration.
*Like Bush, Obama is listening to special interests rather than the will of the people.

But Obama has a tougher task here. The Internet not only has a long memory but also is an effective tool for contacting people directly.

People know what to watch for. They know more about immigration.

Homeland Security didn't exist in the early days of the Bush Administration. The whole issue of terrorism is now on the front burner.

The border wars are a new twist.

More immigrants and amnesty are a hard sell in a country with 8%+ unemployment and social services stretched to the limit.

Obama is fast losing an immigration reform ally in the Catholic Church. Cardinal George doesn't seem to notice the hypocrisy, but the parishioners do!

Happy 8th anniversary to immigration rhetoric from Washington.