Thread: FAIR Legislative Update

From: Federation for American Immigration Reform Date: 2006/05/02 Tue PM 06:42:28 EDT
Subject: FAIR Legislative Update 5-02-2006

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May 2, 2006

In this update:
What Economic Impact? Boycotts Show Little Impact on the Country's Economy
American Hispanics Say to the Protesters, "You Don't Speak for Me!"
Minority Leader Reid Takes Over the Senate Again?
Senate Votes to Add More Money to Border Security
Senate Hearing on Economic Impact of a Guest Worker Amnesty Program
*The Legislative Update for this week is published on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 so we could cover the May 1st protests.

What Economic Impact? Boycotts Show Little Impact on the Country's Economy
Yesterday's rallies and boycotts by Latino groups and supporters of illegal immigration did little to prove the supposition that illegal aliens are vital to the country's economy. In fact, it may just have proven the opposite. Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters took to the streets again in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles demanding "Amnistia!" But, for the hubbub, there was little bang for the buck. Oscar Mendez who is El Salvadoran and lives in Virginia stayed home from work yesterday told the Washington Post, "We want to show the government that all the work in this country is impossible without us."

Amnesty supporters asked the illegal aliens (who are "just here to make a living") to risk losing their jobs and to keep their children out of school to show the economic power of illegal aliens. The boycott simply put did not cripple the economy-in reality, it didn't even skin the knee of the American economy. When confronted with the fact that "the day without illegal aliens" was pretty much like any other day-only with less traffic-organizers of the lackluster boycotts attributed the minimal impact to "last minute" appeals not to boycott for fear of a backlash. Hmmm…sounds like a weak spin, but you decide.

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American Hispanics Say to the Protesters, "You Don't Speak for Me!"
An American-Hispanic group called "You Don't Speak for Me" held a press conference yesterday in response to the boycotts and rallies. The American-Hispanic members of this group wanted to let the media and America know that the people taking to the streets yesterday did not represent them or their views. Christian Chojnowski at the press conference stated, "These demonstrations are basically an insult and a slap in the face to every American, and to every American voter, to every hyphenated American and to every immigrant who is here legally."

Several members of "You Don't Speak for Me" were invited on cable networks like FOX News and CNN. Mariann Davies appeared on Lou Dobbs stating "…we do not share a monolithic view as the media and these organizations want to paint the Hispanic voice as being one -- one voice, and that is pro-illegal immigrant. Many of our families, they played by the rules, waited years in line to enter this country, honor what it is to become a citizen, speak English, assimilate, and are grateful for the opportunities of this country. We're not marching out in the streets making -- making demands."

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Minority Leader Reid Takes Over the Senate Again?
After meeting with the President last week, several Senators who support amnesty gave statements to the press about their optimism in passing a massive guest worker amnesty before the Memorial Day recess. Yet, the amendment process is still in the way of making these Senators' dreams come true. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) continues to pressure Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-TN) to not only name the Senate conferees to the bill that hasn't even passed the chamber yet, but also to cave in on how many and what kind of amendments will be offered to the Hagel-Martinez guest worker amnesty. Reid has insinuated that without knowing the conferees and which amendments will be taken up by the Senate, he will not cooperate with the Majority Leader and block debate once again. Reid has suggested that the Senate Judiciary Committee Members serve on the conference committee-the same Senators responsible for passing a guest worker amnesty out of the Judiciary Committee. One amendment that Reid opposes is an amendment that would make aliens who are guilty of a felony or three misdemeanors ineligible for the amnesty. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) stated, Reid "is afraid of losing amendments, I gather. Or else he'd be willing to let us have votes on our amendments."

Senate Votes to Add More Money to Border Security
The Senate last week voted 59-39 to increase border security funding in the FY06 supplemental appropriations package by $1.9 billion. This money will be directed to several different programs within the Department of Homeland Security to increase the country's border defenses. Some in the Senate have noted that this increase in funding is in part to silence the critics of the guest worker amnesty proposal currently awaiting Round 2 before the Senate.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) plans to shift the Senate's focus as they begin again the debate on immigration reform by bringing up the cost estimate of a guest worker amnesty like the Hagel-Martinez bill by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation. The current estimate for the Hagel-Martinez proposal is $8 billion for the first five years and $27 billion over 10 years.

Senate Hearing on Economic Impact of a Guest Worker Amnesty Program
Last Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing with several prominent economists regarding the economic impact of illegal and legal immigration. While their opinions of a guest worker amnesty program varied, the economists made several important statements. For example, most agreed that low-skilled immigration, including illegal immigration in general, has a negative effect on the economy. Others stated that "temporary" guest workers are never temporary and that the benefits of a guest worker program are limited. Finally, when asked whether these were jobs Americans won't do, one economist, Richard Freeman, replied that since the majority of workers in all of these industries were still native-born, it is obvious that Americans are doing these jobs.

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