Thread: Washington must act on immigration

Washington must act on immigration



New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez waves to her supporters upon her arrival to the victory party on election night in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. Republican Susana Martinez was re-elected beating Democratic challenger Gary King. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton) more >


By Susana Martinez - - Tuesday, November 18, 2014

We live in a country whose very foundation was built by immigrants — families from all around the world who, despite their differences in culture and language, had one common thread: They wanted freedom and opportunity that could be found only in America. This sentiment has endured for more than 200 years.

We are a country enriched through our diversity: diversity of culture, background and, yes, even a diversity of opinion that comes with a free society. We want to remain a beacon of hope and opportunity for the world and a country that welcomes those with open arms who choose to come here legally seeking better lives. For this reason, and because of our nation’s history, we cannot continue to neglect the issue of immigration. For far too long, our elected officials in the nation’s capital have been unwilling to come together to solve our immigration problem. It takes courage, tenacity and determination to solve complex issues that have caused such intense emotions, human tragedy and fear for the security of our nation. Instead, in Washington, they would rather play politics than address one of the core issues that defines us as a nation.

Until our representatives in Washington stop acting like politicians and start leading, the immigration issue will continue to go unaddressed. As a result of inaction, we have a dysfunctional system. Our border is porous and insecure and, as each day passes, the problem grows larger and the cost of inaction higher. What we need in Washington are public servants who are willing to come together in a bipartisan way and tackle the issue head-on.

Until they act, our immigration problem will continue to severely impact the states, leaving border governors like me to deal with anotherWashington failure.

For most of my life, I’ve lived along the border. In fact, I was a prosecutor for 25 years in a county that is less than an hour from one of the most violent cities in the world, Juarez, Mexico. As a border prosecutor, I’ve put criminals behind bars who worked for some of the most violent cartels in the world. I know firsthand the consequences of an unsecured border, and I understand how it impacts lives and families.
Now, as the governor of a border state, it is my responsibility to do whatever it takes to protect the people of New Mexico. That is why I have worked to repeal laws that jeopardize public safety, because my state will never be a sanctuary for criminals.

That wasn’t the case before I took office. Illegal immigrants who committed crimes used to flock to New Mexico to seek sanctuary. One of my first actions as governor was putting an end to the “Sanctuary State” policy, and now our state police can inquire about the immigration status of anyone arrested for committing a crime. Today, our state is safer because we put an end to this dangerous policy.

We have also cracked down on fraud, busting elaborate operations that provided hundreds of driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants from around the globe. As a result of our action, we have seen a 31 percent drop in illegal immigrants obtaining licenses.

However, problems remain. My predecessor allowed driver’s licenses to be given to illegal immigrants — an unsafe practice that I am working to repeal. Every year since I’ve been in office, I have worked across the aisle to craft a bipartisan compromise to repeal this dangerous law, but partisans in the Legislature continue to stall efforts, even though 75 percent of New Mexico voters support repealing the law.

But what we do in the states is not enough. We need Washington to take action and address immigration in a genuine and serious manner. Until Washington passes comprehensive immigration reform that starts with securing the border, members of Congress cannot claim with a straight face that they are putting the best interests of their constituents first. Instead, they are merely acting like politicians, not the leaders they are expected to be.

Solutions do not rest with rewards for lawbreaking, but neither do they lie in shutting America’s doors and rolling up the welcome mat. The problems will continue to mount, and the challenges will only grow until we find some common ground.

Reforming our immigration system will not be easy, but I believe that by working together, we can rise to the challenge. If we succeed, our country will have more economic growth, a richer culture and greater security for everyone. That should be something, regardless of party, everyone can agree upon.

• Susana Martinez is the governor of New Mexico and the first Hispanic woman elected governor in American history.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...n-immigration/

Martinez on Immigration Reform



ublished on Nov 22, 2014
Many aren't happy about President Obama's executive order on immigration reform, including Governor Susana Martinez. She says the president's move goes too far. Subscribe to KOAT on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1jocB9r

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm2ZPjT9d60

We live in a country whose very foundation was built by immigrants

Yes we do and they were LEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!!

Actually that's just not accurate. An explorer, a settler, a pioneer, a developer, a warrior, a revolutionary, a conqueror, a slave coming to America to settle, discover, conquer, work and establish a new country from one that doesn't exist is not an "immigrant". An "immigrant" is someone who migrates to a sovereign nation and until recently, we had very few immigrants in the United States. In fact, during the hey day of immigration from 1890 to 1910, there were only 12.5 million during that period, less than the number of illegal aliens we have in the country today, and 1/4 of the total number of immigrants here now.

In fact, the problem with immigration numbers during 1900 to 1910 were the reason for the much needed tighter restrictions on immigration passed in the 1920's. So by the facts based on the numbers, we are a nation of citizens and their posterity, not immigrants, so citizens are the foundation of our nation, not immigrants, and I will no longer support any politician who refers to US otherwise, even Republicans I might like except for that misuse of our language to distort the facts about who we the people of the United States actually are.

Of the 40 million immigrants in the nation today, it really doesn't matter whether 20 million are legal and 20 million are illegal, does it? Isn't the problem that almost 60% of them are on welfare and those who are working are stealing jobs from Americans who need them? The problem is we have long passed the level of and style of immigration that US citizens can afford to sustain, as evidenced by the massive numbers on Medicaid, Food Stamps, Free School Lunch, WIC, TANF, and so forth, which all result in major portions of our now $18 Trillion national debt.

No one especially this out-of-control bunch of Clueless in DC has the right to demand that every 5 American citizen families siphon off their lives and means and share it to support 1 immigrant family, legal or illegal. That's 20% per American family. No one has that to siphon off to benefit immigrants. That's why the cost just all accrues to the national debt or lost jobs and deflated wages for Americans.

It seems clear to me that overall Susan Martinez supports Congressional Amnesty, and if she doesn't, then she better make it clear that she opposes amnesty of any kind on any level for any reason.

Reforming our immigration system will not be easy, but I believe that by working together, we can rise to the challenge.

We don't need to reform our immigration system! What we need to do is enforce our immigration laws as written. There is nothing in our immigration system that can't be fixed with a handful of individual bills. For example, ending the visa lottery, birthright citizenship, and enacting a national E-Verify program would be a beginning.