Thread: Sen. Tom Carper's (D-DE) response letter

This senator has put a lot of time into crafting incredible spin to hide the fact that he was ardently in support of S.1638 and totally pro-amnesty. Maybe that's why it took him so long to get out a response...He had his spin doctors working and re-working his response. he's not fooling anyone.

Dear ----------:

Thank you for contacting me about our nation's immigration policies. I appreciate hearing your views on this issue.

Let me say from the outset, our immigration system is broken. We have some 12 million immigrants in our country illegally, with more arriving each day. While the numbers have slowed, last summer as many as 10,000 people came across our borders without permission every week, mostly seeking work. This is an unacceptable fact which fosters a black market in fake documents and criminal smuggling that one day may be exploited by those seeking to do harm to our nation. America needs to have control of her borders and, in recent years, we have not.

The majority of the 12 million here today entered our country unlawfully; however, some 40 percent of them did enter our country legally and then overstayed their visas. The burden they place on public hospitals, schools, and other systems is costly and, in many cases, unfair to legal residents and citizens.

Let me take a moment to share with you how I believe we should address these problems. It is clear to me what we must do first is secure our borders. Our border patrol personnel need to be better trained and provided the resources to succeed. We also need to improve our technological capabilities to better use unmanned aircrafts as well as sophisticated land-based surveillance systems that are effective 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to deter and catch immigrants crossing into U.S. territory.

I also agree we need to construct a combination of fences and walls along significant portions of the U.S.-Mexico border. In the past, I've supported legislation to authorize, fund and build hundreds of miles of fences and/or walls along our southern border where the Department of Homeland Security believes barriers of that nature would be cost-effective.

Another major problem we need to address is the lack of enforcement of our nation's laws against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. We saw the number of employers prosecuted under immigrant-employment law in the last six years drop by some 30 percent compared to the previous decade, while the number of immigrants coming here illegally continued to increase.

Under current law, employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants are to be prosecuted. And yet, one recent study found it was more likely for someone to get bitten by an alligator in recent years than for an employer to be sanctioned for hiring ineligible workers.

We must make sure employers have the resources to determine whether they are hiring ineligible workers and ensure that those employers who knowingly hire ineligible immigrant workers are prosecuted. One of the best ways to deter those who would come into America illegally is to make sure employers know that if they hire illegal workers, they are likely to get caught, and they are going to pay a severe price. Another excellent way is for us to develop and distribute, as appropriate, tamper-proof ID's incorporating bio-metrics and other similar technologies.

As you know, the Senate recently considered legislation to address our nation's immigration crisis. Immigration reform was a major domestic priority of President Bush. This summer, after weeks of contentious debate, on June 28, 2007, the Senate rejected, by a vote of 46-53, a motion to invoke cloture and effectively end debate on the immigration bill. Effectively, the bill is now dead in the water. I believe it has little chance of being revived.

The Senate bill would have provided an additional $4.4 billion in mandatory spending for border security and enforcement, including doubling the funding for hiring, training and deploying border patrol agents. Moreover, the measure would have authorized the construction of 370 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and the dramatic expansion of detention facilities where those entering the country illegally could be held until their deportation hearings, rather than simply releasing them on their own recognizance, never to be seen again.

The bill also would have strengthened worksite enforcement by improving systems through which employers verify a worker’s immigration status as well as increasing penalties against employers for non-compliance.

That immigration bill was not perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. It started to tackle serious immigration problems and represented a good-faith compromise. However, passage of a Senate bill would have only been the first step in drafting final comprehensive immigration reform.

In addition to significantly improving border security and work-site enforcement, we must also be realistic about how we address the 12 million illegal immigrants who are in the United States today. I can understand the views of many in our state who suggest that we simply deport people who are here in an undocumented status. Scarce funds and space at many publicly-funded hospitals and schools in Delaware and other states are badly stretched in many places to accommodate these men, women, and children. However, I don’t know how realistic it would be to deport some 12 million people to their native lands in a timely fashion. Such an effort may actually have the unintended consequence of driving some deeper into the shadows and make a workable solution even harder to eventually implement.

We need a sensible, practical solution that allows these 12 million to come forward without granting them amnesty. Amnesty is not the answer. It wasn’t the answer in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan and the Congress offered amnesty then, and it is not the answer now. Amnesty sends the wrong message to those people who have waited patiently for years to come into the United States legally. It says to them: “You are foolish for playing by the rules.â€

so much spin I am dizzy from reading

I'm glad I had my boots on when I read that.

Another yo-yo who has made the mistake of thinking we are idiots. Hope he is up for re-election in 08.

I know you're p.o.'d but is it not the Executive Branch responsibility to enforce the laws? At least that is what I have been hearing through all of this discussion. If Congress could enact enforcement then it should--but can it? It may enact provisons for enforcement but if there is a breakdown of will somewhere---well, it wouldn't be the first time. I admit I am not knowledgeable enough about political science to know who can do what to enforce existing federal law.

But if the laws are not presently being enforced could not somene such as this Senator say their proposal was a step ahead? We know it was entirely full of loopholes and more giveaways, and all in all a poor piece of legislation. I guess what I am saying is that I would accept the Senator saying that our current situation is "an unacceptable fact" and take it forward from there.

For example, "If you are agreed that the present system is dangerously flawed, as you apparently are, let's not enact more legislation which is also seriously flawed but lets prevent repeated and growing abuses of the American system of generosity. This should be done through enforcing current law and passing stricter standards which close up loopholes, not by passing a deeply flawed bill which in reality accomplishes little. Please consider working with the House Immigration Caucus for the correct measures which must be taken. Thank you for your concern."


"Otherwise we will vote your stupid ass out!"

Originally Posted by Tanstaafl

I'm glad I had my boots on when I read that.

Another yo-yo who has made the mistake of thinking we are idiots. Hope he is up for re-election in 08.

I hope they were high topped.

This is such a bunch of spin and outright lies.

When you hear them say it is 12 million, you know already they are lying.
Then he says that 40% of them came here under visas.

So all those hanging out at 7-11 and Home Depot came here on a visa? All those gang members, rapists, murderers came here on a visa.

Who is he kidding.