From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Tuesday 22SEP09 10:30 am EDT
Border crisis -- vote Wednesday

House vote tomorrow could stop much border enforcement in Arizona

DEAR FRIENDS OF BORDER SECURITY,

We need your immediate phone calls to prevent a radical threat on Arizona border security in a vote on the U.S. House floor expected on Wednesday.

CALL YOUR REP AT 202-224-3121

Also, find a phone note for this with talking points on your Action Buffet.

HERE'S THE SCOOP
FROM OUR CAPITOL HILL TEAM

THE BILL: Rep. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has a bill that is supposed to come up for a vote on Wednesday: H.R. 324 - the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Act.

This would cover a gigantic area of Arizona, including much of the illegal entry area that reporter Leo Banks chronicled in his article "Following the Amnesty Trail".


THE AMENDMENT WE NEED: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) is trying to offer an amendment to preserve border enforcment in the huge new park area.

The amendment simply says that nothing in the bill shall prevent the Border Patrol from performing their duties to secure the border in this newly designated area.


THE DANGER: The Border Patrol is increasingly being limited in its enforcement on various park lands. Promoters of illegal immigration inside the federal government seem to be on a trend of turning parks into sanctuaries for illegal alien traffic.

The fear is that the H.R. 324 designation will be used to prevent the Border Patrol from setting up communication towers, cameras, sensors and so on, on the massive land included under the bill.

The land included under the bill covers some of the primary smuggling corridors in Arizona.

It also covers Highway 19, where the Border Patrol has a temporary checkpoint that is scheduled to become a permanent checkpoint--at which the BP seizes huge amounts of drugs and apprehends large numbers of illegal aliens each year--within the next year. It is entirely possible that the designation could be used to reverse that decision, especially since Rep. Grijalva is a vocal opponent of checkpoints (or any other activities that deter illegal immigration).

In addition, the private group that is designated to help administer the designation is led by a person who has been very active in opposing the building of the fence.

For the most part, Rep. Grijalva has opposed efforts to stop illegal traffic across the southern border and is a huge supporter of amnesties and other rewards for illegal immigration. His Immigration-Reduction Grade is F-minus!


GRIJALVA'S OPPOSITION TO THE AMENDMENT: Rep. Grijalva opposed Bishop's amendment at the committee level on the grounds that "the designation doesn't carry any restrictions that would affect the Border Patrol, so the amendment is unnecessary."

We have to assume that his assurances can't be trusted, given Grijalva's track record. And even if he is telling the truth, why would it hurt to confirm in the bill that no border control activity will be restricted?


ANOTHER VERIFICATION ISSUE: Remember our motto?

TRUST IS EARNED THROUGH VERIFICATION

The only way we can trust that Grijalva's bill will allow all border security activity is for there to be language guaranteeing it in the bill.

The way we verify that Grijalva is telling the truth is to insist on the Bishop amendment.


YOUR MESSAGE: If you are from the same state as the Rules Committee Members listed below, please call them and insist that they allow a vote on the amendment.

There is some possibility that the amendment will also be offered by Rep. Roskam (R-Ill.)

So, just ask for a vote on the "Bishop/Roskam amendments to ensure that the H.R. 324 Santa Cruz Valley bill does NOT restrict the full operations of the Border Patrol and immigration enforcement."

Another even quicker statement might be: "Make sure there is an amendment to H.R. 324 that guarantees full border security operations on the Arizona border."


RULES COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

CALIF: Dennis Cardoza (D), David Dreier (R), Doris Matsui (D)
COLO: Ed Permutter (D), Jared Polis (D)
FLORIDA: Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), Alcee Hastings (D)
MAINE: Chellie Pingree (D)
MASS: James McGovern (D)
NEW YORK: Michael Arcuri (D), Louise Slaughter (D)
NORTH CAROLINA: Virginia Foxx (R)
TEXAS: Pete Sessions (R)

Also important to contact are chief Party Leaders:

CALIF: Nancy Pelosi (D)
CONN: John B. Larson (D)
INDIANA: Mike Pence (R)
MARYLAND: Steny Hoyer (D), Chris Van Hollen (D)
MICHIGAN: Thaddeus McCotter (R)
OHIO: John Boehner (R)
VIRGINIA: Eric Cantor (R)
SOUTH CAROLINA: James Clyburn (D)

CALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AT 202-224-3121


THWARTING THE CONTINUING DRIVE FOR AN AMNESTY: See my blog today on the Home page about why we are thanking Pres. Obama for backing down on health plan coverage for illegal aliens even as we continue to prepare for his amnesty push.

The pro-amnesty forces know that a blanket amnesty is going to be very, very difficult to pass.

So, they are trying to provide the amnesty in a hundred pieces. First, the idea was to include the illegal aliens under the federal health plan. We/you rose up in rage and apparently have blocked it.

Now, it appears that Grijalva's bill would provide a kind of amnesty by severely weakening enforcement along Arizona's border.

We must rise up today and stop it.

We must cause every leader in Washington to understand that unless their bills guarantee no benefit to illegal immigration, the public will rise up against them.

It is most important that we try to focus our energies in one place to have the impact we need. Today and tomorrow, it is the Bishop/Roskam amendments that will verify in this bill that no border enforcement efforts in Arizona will be curtailed.

THANKS,



received by e-mail from
Roy Beck NumbersUSA immigrationinfo@numbersusa.com
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 12:52 pm