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Did everybody miss me?

STEIN REPORT Friday, January 23 2004 13:50:12 ET

BUSH IMMIGRATION PLAN SETS OFF STAMPEDE TO THE BORDER


The Jan. 7 announcement by President Bush, reiterated in Tuesday’s State of the Union address, that he seeks to grant work visas to illegal aliens living in the U.S. has touched off a rush to get into the U.S. More than half the people attempting to enter the U.S. using fraudulent documents at the San Ysidro border checkpoint near San Diego told Border Patrol officers that they were doing so in response to the President’s proposal. The Border Patrol reports a 15 percent increase in such attempts since Jan. 7. The Bush announcement has been widely interpreted in Mexico and elsewhere as an amnesty and, according to local Border Patrol officers, there has been a marked increase in the people attempting to get to the U.S., including women and children and many who are described as “first-timers.”

P.S. You ever notice Bush always says NUCULAR instead of NUCLEAR?