by Robert Andersson
Oct 16, 2012
Medill Reports

Both Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Chicago) and his Republican opponent, Richard Grabowski, take a hard line stance on illegal immigration, despite their district having one of the largest Hispanic contingents in the state.

According to the 2010 census, more than 200,000 Hispanics lived in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District, accounting for more than 30 percent of the population. After 2011's redistricting, that percentage is estimated to have fallen to the mid-20s, but still represents the third highest Hispanic population of any district in the state, according to information from the Illinois Senate Redistricting Committee's website.

Regardless of his district's demographics, Lipinski has voted consistently during his tenure to strengthen illegal immigration countermeasures. 



In 2005, Rep. Lipinski voted in favor of HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, one of only 49 House Democrats to do so. The bill, which would have strengthened security measures at the southern border and erected miles of new fencing, was passed by the House with a large Republican majority. It later died in the Senate.


In a letter he released months after the vote, Lipinski argued for higher security measures, saying that the current state of border protection was "a grave national security threat to America."



He favored the bill because it would "require the construction of security fences, lighting, and cameras along certain portions of the U.S. border, and would authorizes [sic] and reimburses [sic] local sheriffs in the counties along the southern border to enforce the immigration laws and transfer illegal aliens to federal custody."

His opponent took an even harder stance in an interview last week.



Grabowski said he wants "a 40-foot high, 20-foot deep, 2-foot thick concrete and steel wall" built to separate the U.S. and Mexico, this despite multiple polls showing a majority of Americans favor a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants over deportation and other preventative measures.



"If we can build an entire expressway in a summer and spend millions of taxpayer dollars," he said, "why not send all the Midwestern construction workers who are out of work down to the border and let's start building the wall."



Grabowski also said he's against taxpayer-funded programs assisting illegal immigrants, opposes legislation similar to the DREAM Act, and would favor a 2-year waiting period for new citizens requesting federal aid. 



Rep. Lipinski has a history of supporting measures to prevent illegal immigration -- he voted in favor of an amendment supporting the Minuteman Project and against the DREAM Act. He has won his district comfortably since he was first elected in 2004, garnering almost 70 percent of the vote in 2010.



"Building a wall isn't going to have an impact on the numbers of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S.," said Ambrosio Martinez, the project coordinator for a Chicago-based educational center that assists Hispanic immigrants. "Any politician who doesn't support measures to help immigrants probably doesn't have a nuanced understanding of the impact immigrants have on this country."

3rd District immigration debate belies its Hispanic constituents