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Immigration hot topic at Biden-Wharton forum
Business leaders hear from candidates
By CRIS BARRISH, The News Journal
Posted Wednesday, September 20, 2006
WILMINGTON — Attorney General candidate Ferris Wharton suggested Tuesday that Delaware pass laws that increase penalties for crimes committed by illegal immigrants and the people who knowingly hire them.

“We need to make Delaware less attractive to illegal aliens,” Wharton said during a forum with opponent Beau Biden. “We can talk about legislation that might enhance the penalties for crimes committed by those people if they are here illegally. The penalty for some here legally is X; the penalty for someone here illegally is X plus some number.”

By sanctioning employers who hire undocumented immigrants, Wharton said, Delaware could send a message that the state will not tolerate such actions.

During the question-and-answer session before the Committee of 100, a group of business leaders, Biden agreed that immigration was a “hot issue” but told the audience that the federal government deals with immigration laws. The attorney general’s role, Biden said, is to prosecute undocumented immigrants if they break existing laws.

“That’s not enough of an answer,” Wharton said before floating his ideas.

Beyond the differing views on how the attorney general should deal with immigration, the polite 40-minute forum broke little ground beyond what could be found on the candidate’s Web sites.

Tuesday’s appearance at the tony University and Whist Club was the fourth such get-together of what political observers consider the “hot race” in Delaware’s election season. It pits Republican Wharton, a 26-year prosecutor at the state and federal levels, against Democrat Biden, 17 years his junior, a former federal prosecutor whose father, Joe, is Delaware’s senior U.S. senator.

Beverly V. Baxter, executive director of the Committee of 100, called Wharton versus Biden simply “the campaign.”

Wharton had criticized Biden for not agreeing to debate before the Sept. 12 primary election, but the two will meet at least 10 more times before the Nov. 7 general election, including four debates sponsored by media organizations, including The News Journal.

The Committee of 100, founded in 1967, is a nonpartisan group of 280 employers that promotes economic prosperity, which fosters community and protects the environment.

The group’s board and officers include top executives of leading companies such as Wilmington Trust, DuPont, Artesian Water, AstraZeneca, Bank of America, Christiana Care, Delmarva Power, the Saul Ewing law firm, and Ryan Homes.

The crowd of about 150 on Tuesday was decidedly Republican and pro-Wharton. Accountant Bill Parks captured those sentiments when he said Wharton had “the experience” needed to run the office. While the 37-year-old Biden has enthusiasm and a promising future, Parks said, his candidacy “is premature.”

But Biden, with an engaging speaking voice reminiscent of his voluble father, clearly had the audience’s attention while laying out his ideas to revamp the office responsible for enforcing criminal and civil laws in Delaware.

Biden has proposed several initiatives, including creating a special unit to investigate Internet child predators, and pairing prosecutors with beat cops in high-crime areas. He wants special units to target identity theft and crimes against senior citizens.

“The world has fundamentally changed,” Biden said. “We must be able to adapt to face the new enemy. That’s what the Department of Justice has to do. We need to change.

“So folks, business as usual is simply not good enough for me. If you like it the way it’s been done the last 20 years, I might not be your guy.”

While Biden stressed that the attorney general’s job is to “articulate a vision” – not to go into court to prosecute individual cases – Wharton countered that his more than two decades of sending rapists, killers and child molesters to jail has been perfect training for the post.

“Both of us want to lead the Department of Justice,” Wharton said. “Only one of us has spent a career preparing to do that.”