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| Promoting awareness of problems and solutions in U.S. immigration policies |
 AMNESTY TRUTH SHEET
The Truth About Amnesty
U.S. Senate
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration
GAO Testimony
Prospects For Biometric US-VISIT Exit Capability Remain Unclear
CBO Testimony
Budgetary Impact of Current and
Proposed Border Security and Immigration Policies |
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Why I believe Governor Mitt Romney is Best on the Immigration Issue He is the Only Real Choice  February 3, 2008 -- The presidential campaign is grinding on and this Tuesday is so-called "Super Tuesday." I have had the opportunity to consider the positions that have ben taken by the candidates for the Presidency especially where the critical issue of immigration is concerned and have come to the conclusion that the only real choice is Mitt Romney. As many of you know, I am a life-long Democrat and still adhere to the principles that caused me to register as a Democrat many years ago when I first voted. Of course, to an extent, political party affiliation can be a bit like religion, it is often passed down to us from our parents. Indeed, my parents were registered Democrats, but back then, in the 1960's when I cast my first vote, the Democratic Party had been the party of the union member and blue-collar American workers. I have no idea where most of the real Democrats have gone! If you consider the immigration issue, the Democrats with very few exceptions, have become advocates for open borders. This is, in my judgement, the absolute antithesis of what the Democratic Party used to stand for. Before you wonder why I have placed so much emphasis on immigration you must first realize that immigration is not a single issue but should be thought of as being a major factor in so many of the most important issues confronting our nation today. As I have often written, immigration heavily impacts everything from national security and criminal justice to the economy, the environment, health care and education. The huge number of illegal aliens who have entered our country have hammered wages and also created a nightmare for law enforcement. It has been estimated that some 25% of the inmate population across our nation are deportable aliens. It is estimated that there are now more violent gang members in the United States than there are police officers and a significant percentage of these violent gang members are illegal aliens. Hospitals have had to close their doors in many communities because illegal aliens have come to use the emergency rooms as their primary health care provider. Last year, it is estimated that some 45 billion dollars were wired from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean by illegal aliens who were working in our country in violation of law. Additional billions of dollars flowed from the United States to other countries in both the Western Hemisphere and other parts of the world by being smuggled out of this country or otherwise sent out of the United States. These dollars are dollars that should have been earned by American citizens and resident aliens but these hard working folks were priced out of the labor market by illegal aliens who are willing to work for wages that were too low for them to support their families on. Years ago, the meat packing industry paid roughly $19.00 per hour. Today, the jobs in that dirty, dangerous and back breaking industry only pay an average of $9.00 per hour! While much is made of the unemployment rate, you never hear about the underemployment rate! Additionally, if it weren't for those billions of dollars being sent out of our country, the "economic stimulus package" being touted by the White House might not have been necessary because our citizens would have been earning more money and that money would not have been summarily shipped out of our country but would have continued to circulate within our economy creating still more jobs. Globalization may help corporation make a financial killing, but in the end, it is the American Dream that, for all too many Americans, is also being killed. I have been listening to the candidates from both parties and have arrived at my decision that Mitt Romney would be best on the immigration issue and consequently on these issues for a number of reasons. Several weeks ago, Senator Obama chanted "Si se puede!" with the members of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas prior to the caucus held in Nevada. That phrase, when translated means, "Yes I can!" I have read estimates that some 50% of the members of that union are illegal aliens. That chant was also the chant that was shouted by the hundreds of thousands of protesting illegal aliens who stood on street corners across this nation nearly 2 years ago demanding their rights in our country, notwithstanding the fact that they had violated our nation's borders and immigration laws and may well have committed violations of other laws in their quest for illegal employment and the menu of benefits that are doled out to illegal alien in our country today. As I watched the news coverage of that spectacle, I became convinced that Senator Obama would attempt to legalize the millions of illegal aliens who are in our country. and thus create a national security nightmare for our country and also encourage still more illegal immigration because there is no door that can be shut. Our government would be mandated to provide the 20 million, or more, illegal aliens who are present in our country today with official identity documents even though there is no verifiable way to know their names, their identities or the date, manner or place they entered the United States. That is precisely what the term "undocumented" means! They have no official or reliable documentation to establish these critical facts. I expect that Senator Clinton would do no better on the critical immigration issue. I cannot forget that it was Senator McCain who had concocted the first of the immigration bills that would have provided amnesty to millions of illegal and undocumented aliens whose identities are unknown and unknowable. The "Comprehensive Reform Bill" that I came to refer to as being the Terrorist Assistance and Facilitation Act of 2007" was, in large measure, based on the McCain-Kennedy Bill and it was my concerns about the huge national security implications aspects of that bill that caused me to so brand the newest iteration of that bill for the reasons I have noted above. It is important to realize that a study conducted of 94 terrorists who had been identified as operating in our country in the decade leading up to the attacks of September 11, 2001, 59 had used immigration fraud to enter our country and/or embed themselves in our country. The 19 terrorists who attacked our nation on 9/11 had used a total of 360 plus identities and variations of identities in order to hide in plain sight among us as they prepared their deadly attacks on our citizens. I have testified at a number of hearings concerning immigration reform. On September 1, 2006 I testified at a field hearing conducted by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives on the topic: "IS THE REID-KENNEDY BILL A REPEAT OF THE FAILED AMNESTY OF 1986?" You can read the transcript of that entire hearing. You can also read the individually prepared testimony of the witnesses to this hearing and even view of video of that hearing. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill that was based on the immigration bill that had been previously drafted by Senators Kennedy and McCain in 2005, that in my judgement, failed to address the majority of the issues especially where national security and the deterrence of future illegal immigration is concerned. The follow-on bill failed to make meaningful changes to address the national security nightmares that this bill would have created. The comments I made at the hearing as noted above, would certainly apply to the McCain-Kennedy Bill as well. I would also ask you read the following article and read the highlighted sentences attributed to Senator McCain. As you read his statement about securing the "border first" several questions need to come to mind. First of all, at what point will he claim the borders are secure? It is currently estimated that 40 per cent of the illegal aliens in the United States did not run our nation's borders but entered the United States by undergoing the inspections process and then, either by deceiving the inspectors at ports of entry or by violating the terms of their admission into the United States, went on to violate our nation's immigration laws and became illegal aliens as a consequence of this. It is essential to recall that the 19 terrorists who attacked our nation on 9/11 all entered the United States in this fashion. Therefore it is absolutely vital to understand that we cannot control the border at the border alone but must remove the incentives for aliens to enter our country either by running our borders or by entering the United States via the inspections process with the intentions of violating our immigration laws once they succeed in entering the United States. Moreover, any program to "legalize" illegal aliens is destined to simply attract many more aliens to, in one way or another, gain entry into our country to violate our laws. Local governments are increasingly filling the void created by the federal government' failure to not only secure our nation's borders but to create an immigration system that possesses true integrity. When John McCain says he will "First secure the border" my concern is what will follow! I believe it is his intention to create a massive program to legalize the millions of aliens who are already present in our country and, in the process, attract millions more who would falsely claim to have been present in the United States for the requisite period of time to qualify for McCain's program. This would enable John McCain to complete the efforts initiated by George W. Bush and endorsed by the Democratic Party's candidates to legalize God knows how many millions of illegal aliens. If you like what George W. Bush stands for on immigration, then you have to be absolutely ecstatic about what John McCain would do on this critical issue! Democracy is not a spectator sport! Lead, follow or get out of the way!
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