Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta issued a statement regarding President Barack Obama's call for immigration reform in Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Barletta has long been an advocate of tough immigration laws, which he advocated as Mayor of Hazleton and used to propel him into the national spotlight and election to Congress in 2010.
Barletta, the two term Republican Congressman from Northeastern Pennsylvania issued the following statement in form of a fundraising email. Barletta recently announced he will be seeking a third term.
"The amnesty lobby is starting to get active again.
Last night the President kicked off the debate from his podium at the State of the Union. He used a few minutes in his speech to put pressure on my colleagues in the US House to push through an amnesty bill. "Let's get immigration reform done this year” will once again be the rallying call for the amnesty lobby to force the House to pass the Gang of Eight’s bill this year.
Steve Urbanski examiner.com January 30, 2014
And it makes sense. The president and the pro-amnesty lobby have to push through their bill this year because it looks like they could lose control of the Senate next year. They’re getting desperate to push this law through before the American people have a chance to tell them what they think of the proposed amnesty, so they’ll be pushing all of their chips to the center of the table on this one. That’s why I need your help now more than ever.
In November two years ago, we weren’t talking amnesty. We were talking about fixing our broken immigration system. No one was insisting that American laws shouldn’t govern all people who came through our borders. We recognized the need for secure American border.
But last year, things changed. Instead of talking about a secure American border, we debated giving millions of illegal aliens amnesty. Washington started ignoring how they came into the US because of political expedience. Now we know what President Obama means by “fixing the broken immigration system” – another round of amnesty.
You and I both know that this isn’t the way we should be fixing the problems with our immigration system. Any solution should start at the border and shouldn’t be in another bill like Obamacare – we’ve seen how that has wreaked havoc on the health care system. We can’t let Washington do the same with the very sovereignty of our nation.
Since the last law to “fix” our immigration system, 11 million of illegal aliens have crossed our borders and overstayed visas – and that’s only the ones we know about. Like 1986, I’m sure that once the president announces an amnesty more illegal immigrants will come out of the shadows. These undocumented immigrants represent a terrible risk to the sovereignty of our nation. If our borders aren’t secure and we willfully encourage more and more illegal immigrations to enter into the shadows of our society, then the danger to the country will only become greater.
We have to start today. The amnesty lobby can’t be allowed to use last night to convince my colleagues to acquiesce through tales of potential political problems. When we act on the illegal immigration problem, we need to fix the system and not remedy a political inconvenience.
Are you ready to get back in this fight? Will you stand with me to support our nation’s sovereignty? I can guarantee that this will be fiercer than last year. I won’t bend to the demands of the pro-amnesty lobby and the president.
This is their last chance – so we’ll have to be prepared for anything. I’m ready, but I need your help. Will you stand with me today?"
The 11th Congressional District of Pennsylvania is comprised of all of Columbia, Montour, and Wyoming counties and parts of Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin, Luzerne, Northumberland, and Perry counties. Major locations in the district include Harrisburg, Sunbury, Carlisle, Tunkhannock, Hazleton, Bloomsburg, and Danville.
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