80+ House Members tell President Bush to

[__Kratos__]

Today more than 80 House Members let the Bush Administration know of their opposition to guestworker programs until current immigration laws are better enforced.

Their views were made known through a letter authored by Congressmen John Hostettler (R−IN), Tom Tancredo (R−CO), and Lamar Smith (R−TX).

In the letter, the large coalition of House Members state that while guestworker and amnesty provisions have a history of being implemented, enforcement provisions have been consistently ignored and underfunded by the government. The Members believe that this has resulted in large increases in illegal immigration, and has decreased faith in the government’s ability to secure the nation’s borders.

“The American people need to see that the current laws against illegal immigration are being enforced before any guestworker program can be considered,” the Members state in the letter.

The letter cites several examples of the government’s reluctance to enforce immigration laws, including the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act in which amnesties for farm workers and other illegal aliens were carried out, but employer sanctions and other enforcement provisions were not.

Rep. Smith’s 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act is also provided as an example of the federal government’s unwillingness to enforce laws against illegal immigration. The Act mandated the implementation of a national exit-entry tracking system for all aliens. However, nine years later, the exit-entry system is still not near completion.

“Today an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal aliens are in the United States. They know that if they successfully enter the country and find a job, they will likely be able to stay for the rest of their lives because the government has shown little interest in enforcing its own laws.

“Employers also know that once they hire an illegal alien, it is unlikely that they will ever be investigated or prosecuted for doing so. Enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration and employing illegal aliens is necessary,” the Members conclude in the letter.

Rep. Hostettler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration added, “The enforcement of our current immigration laws--especially worksite compliance--is essential to restoring the confidence of the American people in the rule of law. Given that the Basic Pilot Program is available to every employer in the United States, the Administration should place the elimination of the 'jobs magnet' at the top of the priority list."

Rep. Tancredo, the chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus added,” The days of bait-and-switch are over. This letter—signed by a large portion of the Republican conference—shows that the political momentum has changed in our favor. No guestworker plan will pass Congress without first securing the borders and enforcing current laws.”

Rep. Smith, a former chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, concluded, “We have lost control of our borders and endangered the lives of Americans by not enforcing immigration laws. For example, the current “catch and release” policy enables 85 percent of illegal immigrants who are apprehended to go free. It is unlawful to hire illegal immigrants but not a single employer was fined for doing so last year.

"Only a fraction of the vehicles crossing our borders are checked for illegal immigrants or illegal cargo. We have no system at our land borders to determine whether people whose short−term visas have expired have left the country. Finally, many illegal immigrants who have been convicted of aggravated felonies are released rather than deported.”

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The letter was signed by the following 82 House Members: Hostettler (IN), Smith (TX), Tancredo (CO), Hayworth (AZ), Paul (TX), King (IA), Sullivan (OK), Rohrabacher (CA), Norwood (GA), Goode (VA), Marchant (TX), Culberson (TX), Weldon (FL), Coble (NC), Brown-Waite (FL), Duncan (TN), Sessions (TX), Bilirakis (FL), Jones (NC), Garrett (NJ), Gutknecht (MN), Barrett (SC), McCotter (MI), Deal (GA), Royce (CA), Sodrel (IN), Bradley (NH), Wamp (TN), Blackburn (TN), Ney (OH), Jenkins (TN), McKeon (CA), Poe (TX), Jo Ann Davis (VA), Burton (IN), Hunter (CA), Capito (WV), Hefley (CO), Cunningham (CA), Carter (TX), Istook (OK), Burgess (TX), Cubin (WY), Gary Miller (CA), Platts (PA), Stearns (FL), McHenry (NC), Akin (MO), Johnson (TX), Rogers (MI), Issa (CA), McCaul (TX), Myrick (NC), Weldon (PA), Hayes (NC) , Bishop (UT), Westmoreland (GA), Aderholt (AL), Bachus (AL), Manzullo (IL), Foxx (NC), Bartlett (MD), Boozman (AR), Ryun (KN), Gingrey (GA), Miller (FL), Brady (TX), Gordon (TN), Everett (AL), Calvert (CA), Pickering (MS), Buyer (IN), Drake (VA), Graves (MO), Ramstad (MN), Pearce (NM), Kelly (NY), Lewis (KY), Shuster (PA), Forbes (VA), Hoekstra (MI), Neugebauer (TX).

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Need to jump into this hard... do what it takes, whatever it takes to get that filth out of the country!

[Celumnaz]

Only 80!? At least the Texas guys are there. Good on them. Can't believe we're still stuck debating liberals on whether we Should do something about the border, instead of What we should do about the border already.

[bboy]

Bush needs to get into gear on this....ENFORCE THE LAW!

[StalingradK]

Flaming river of death... MWAHAHAHAH

[JayRob303]

*wipes brow*

Thank God Ohio is in there...

[SilverCougar]

Mmm.. I.. don't see... WA there. Hmm. Odd... considering we had people build a tunnel to get from Canada to US... and vice versa.. though that was a drug running thing. *shrugs*

But yep... them laws needs to be enforced..

[AztecInca]

Geez down here we are unbelievably tough when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws, sometimes too tough. It a whole lot easier for us though as we are surrounded by water. Bush should really be getting his act together on this!

[XNavyGunner]

This is one of the times i think Bush is a true dumbass. He thinks rewarding illegals by giving them amnesty will fix the situation, but all it will do is encourage others. I'm glad Colorado was getting on him about this too.

[riotboy555]

I love how they call illegal immigrants "undocumented workers".

[mike^_^]

i doubt any administration is going to listen to any of this "enforce our border" crap, as if america is a sovereign nation. this is about bringing wages down, and fomenting a race war. it can also be a handy card to play when they decide we all need to take microchips.

"5. Massive invasion and attack into North America, China and Russia storming the West Coast while China and a united Moslem host march into the Southeast Coast, known as “the Bible belt”, using the Bahamas and Cuba as staging bases. Our Jesuit-controlled leaders carrying out the nation’s immigration policies, in establishing a huge resident “fifth column” of Chinese, Moslem, Hindu and Hispanic aliens within our borders, have betrayed us Americans. The heart-breaking result will be the subjugation of the last apostate bastion of the Protestant Reformation and will compel Europe to unite reviving the old Holy Roman Empire – under the Papal Caesar."

http://www.thewatcherfiles.com/blackpope.htm

you misunderstand me kratos. what I mean by "fomenting" a race war is, literally that. they are allowing all of these illegals to come in, so they(feds) then can provactuer and cause riots in our major cities. look at all the racist groups in america. it's about bringing this country into a 3rd world nation, if not completely destroying it. there is no need for america in this new world, we were a useful tool while we lasted though.

Edited October 12, 2005 by mike^_^

[__Kratos__]

i doubt any administration is going to listen to any of this "enforce our border" crap

They will have to once crime rises and the problems spread because of the filth.

fomenting a race war.

This isn't a race war. This is ALL illegal immigrants. Nobody here is saying "Mexicans suck so they can't come up here!" Seriously... open your eyes.

[twpdyp]

Sounds very good to me. After all we hold any other criminals accountable for their actions why not illegal immigrants. The factory I workin has a majority of foriegn workers and a minority of United States citizens. Most of these folks are here legally but a sizable portion are not legal. How do I know this you may ask? Everytime the company starts a crack down and double checks everyones Identification we lose about a fourth of the work force because they are illegal aliens working with false I.D.'s. Boot out the illegals, enforce our laws, and protect our country.

Edited October 12, 2005 by twpdyp