Thread: 74 House Members and 5 Senators to File Court Brief in AZ.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.)

Aderholt is a good guy.
I am dissapointed that Sessions and Shelby are absent.

WHERE IS JEFF SESSIIONS HE IS USUALLY OUT IN THE FRAY AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. ITS REALLY ODD THAT HE IS NOT LISTED HERE.

From: Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS)

If your Congressional representative or Senator(s) has not signed this amicus brief, you can go to the link given below to send them a FREE FAX or email asking them to:

Alert! Ask your Members of Congress to join the amicus brief in support of Arizona!

Seventy-nine Members of Congress plan to file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Arizona's immigration law. They oppose the federal lawsuit filed against the state by Obama's Justice Department.

The five Senators and 74 Representatives will argue that historically Congress has encouraged states to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws, and, hence, Arizona's new law does not preempt federal authority.


Click here to learn more and to take action!
http://capwiz.com/caps/issues/alert/?alertid=15263421

Received by email
Date: 7/21/2010 12:19:09 P.M. Central Daylight Time

Also MIA are John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson.


You can bet by now both have gotten letters about why their names are not on this list.

Originally Posted by bigtex

Also MIA are John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson.


You can bet by now both have gotten letters about why their names are not on this list.

And lots of phone calls, too

Well, I talked to McCain's office in Phoenix today and the secretary/ receptionist(?) politely took the message and said "Have a nice day."

Why do I get the feeling this is as far as it will go? I'm not holding my breath on my emails either.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

I am dissapointed that Sessions and Shelby are absent.

Yeah! Where is Jeff Sessions? Where is Shelby?

I know where Maryland's are--attending a support rally for La Casa and dreaming up ways to give more of my money to illegals.

Well, I was shocked not to see my local representative, Kenny Marchant (R-TX), on the list so I called his office to ask why.

I pointed his aide to the Numbers USA site, where he saw the article and mentioned that Kenny has an A+ rating on Numbers USA regarding immigration issues. He said he would bring this to Kenny's attention, and he perhaps might join the list.

I hope I see him join, as I've always been very fond of him (and I say that about VERY FEW politicians)! He's a true American and patriot who looks out for Americans!

TexasGal

RELATED

81 Congress members back Ariz. on SB 1070

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1093060.html#1093060

I got this email from Ted Poe:

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Dear Neighbors,

Next week, a federal judge in Arizona will hear arguments in the federal government’s challenge to the Arizona immigration enforcement law.

In my continued support for Arizona’s right to enforce the law, I have signed onto a legal brief to the court that opposses the government’s challenge and asserts that states have a role in enforcing immigration laws and a duty to protect its citizens when the federal government refuses to do so.

The legal brief, called an amicus brief, states that my colleagues and I are committed to the constituional principles of federalism and to the seperation of powers, both of which are jeopardized by the federal government’s lawsuit against the state of Arizona. I have joined over 80 Members of Congress on this brief.

The Department of Justice argues the law would undermine U.S. foreign policy and violate the U.S. Constitution. I could not disagree more. It is illegal to be in our country without permission, whether that’s in Arizona, Alaska or Texas.


Unlike many in this adminstration, I have read the bill. As a former prosecutor and judge, I strongly disagree with the arguments in this case. The Arizona law mirrors the existing federal law, but goes a step further explicitly prohibiting racial-profiling four separate times and including punishment for the misuse of the law.

The government argues that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government the authority to regulate immigration laws so the Arizona law must be struck down. Arizona acts because Washington doesn’t.

They are well within the law to do so, as Congress has long encouraged states to have a role in immigration enforcement. Both state and federal governments have the authority to enforce immigration laws.

Just like many of you, I was mad over the scolding Mexican President Calderon gave us over our immigration laws when he spoke before Congress earlier this summer. Eight countries that have illegals in the United States, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru, have joined the ACLU in a sepearte lawsuit against the state of Arizona. I believe these countries would be better suited taking care of their own immigration issues before critcizing ours.

The state of Texas has also joined eight other states in filing an amicus brief with the court as well.

I appreciate hearing from many of you on this issue and I will continue to support the state of Arizona in this legal challenge and others.

I look forward to seeing you back in Texas during the August work period. Please be sure to log on to my website, friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and check out my latest floor speeches on YouTube.

God and Texas,



Ted Poe
Member of Congress
TEXAS

And I received this email from my representative, Michael Burgess.

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for contacting me regarding Arizona's recently passed immigration law (SB1070) and the subsequent lawsuit filed against the state of Arizona by President Obama's Department of Justice. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue

I wholeheartedly believe that the federal government has not done its job to secure the border and prevent illegal immigrants. Clearly Arizona's new law is a cry for help that the federal government has yet to provide. This law should be a call to action at the federal level to secure our borders and enforce the law. I do not fault Arizona for passing this law because the simple fact is that the federal government must enforce the laws that are already on the books and secure the border. In the absence of federal action, states have felt compelled to act.

Instead of quickly moving to fix these problems, the Democrat's have decided to ridicule Arizona and claim that checking individuals for proper identification is wrong. It is even more disheartening that from the very beginning, the Democrat's have said they were going to fight the law and yet the person who is charged with leading the legal battle against the law, Attorney General Eric Holder, admitted weeks later that he had never read the law.

On July 6, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice, with support from President Obama, sued Arizona over the state's recently passed immigration law. The DOJ lawsuit seeks an injunction to block the Arizona state law from going into effect, which is scheduled to occur on July 29, 2010. The Obama Administration is attempting to argue that the law violates the Constitution because it pre-empts federal authority, however, the reason for the lawsuit if quite ironic. If the federal government would act upon the authority given to it by the Constitution, the State of Arizona would not have been forced to pass the law.

As you may know, I along with other members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus recently filed an Amicus Curiae, or Friend of the Court Brief, with the United States District Court in Arizona opposing the Obama administration's lawsuit against the state of Arizona. The Amicus brief states the Administration's claim that the Arizona law pre-empts federal law is meritless because Congress has plenary power over immigration issues. I believe that the Administration's decision to sue the state of Arizona is strictly political, and serves no purpose in working toward true immigration reform and enforcement of our current laws. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars to sue the state of Arizona over a law that mirrors existing federal law, the President's Administration should be working with lawmakers to fix the problems with our current immigration laws. I will continue to support measures such as the Congressional Amicus Curiae that show Congressional solidarity for the Arizona law (SB1070).

Now more than ever, with violence continuing to increase along the 2,000 mile border the United States shares with Mexico, instead of ridiculing Arizona for its actions, the federal government needs to use these same efforts to secure our nation's border and stop the influx of illegal immigrants. As a member of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, I have been working with my colleagues to address the problems in our current national immigration policy. Current border security policies have been unsuccessful. According to the "American Community Survey," published by the U.S. Census Bureau, 70% of the immigrants living in Texas are here illegally. When Congress considers immigration and border security reform, my highest priority will be to ensure the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the resources and capacity to prevent and deter illegal immigrants from entering the United States. Our policies must also focus on improving employment verification and to end the availability of jobs for illegal immigrants. Of course, the economic impact of illegal immigration, however, is not the only reason to have a secure border. In addition to curbing the entry of illegal immigrants, we need to prevent drug cartels in Mexico from trafficking illegal drugs to the United States and to prevent them from trafficking back illegal firearms. This all creates a major national security risk that Congress needs to address immediately.

While progress has been made since the first physical barriers were built along the southwest border in 1990, our work is far from complete. In 2006, the Secure Fence Act, which I supported, authorized the construction of 850 miles of additional border fencing, and surveillance technology, along the California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas borders. Congress took a step backward by passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, which passed without my support, to modify the Secure Fence Act. This Consolidated Appropriations Act permitted the Secretary of Homeland Security to choose the areas requiring physical barriers, cameras and sensors, and reduced the area for required fencing from 850 miles to 700 miles of border lands. The most egregious error of the bill required the Secretary of Homeland Security to consult with the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to minimize the environmental impact on the areas near the fence construction.

National security continues to be jeopardized across the 20.7 million acres managed by the Department of Interior (DOI) where the U.S. Border Patrol has been denied access to federal border lands. DOI cites environmental concerns as the reason for blocking entry into federal land areas, but the lands they seek to protect are already being damaged and overrun by those coming across the border illegally. Several Congressional Committees including the Senate Homeland Security Committee are currently looking into the efficacy of "virtual" electronic fencing. Reason suggests that should any "virtual" barriers be used, they must only be used in areas where physical barriers are impractical due to the landscape. I will closely follow these hearings and await their findings.

I also applaud Governor Rick Perry for sending Texas Rangers to the border to reinforce border patrols already in place. As you may know, on May 25, 2010, over 15 months since Governor Perry's initial request, President Obama announced that he plans to send 1,200 National Guard troops to help reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border and will be requesting $500 million in funding for border enforcement. Although I believe this decision took far too long, I'm encouraged by this request, and I hope it occurs expeditiously. I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure adequate resources continue to be given to the border communities on the front lines of this issue.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. You can be certain that I will keep your comments in mind when we discuss immigration policy in the Congress. I appreciate having the opportunity to represent you in the U.S. House of Representatives. Please feel free to visit my website (www.house.gov/burgess) or contact me with any future concerns.


Sincerely,

Michael C. Burgess, M.D.
Member of Congress

Subject: From Congressman Burgess
Date: 7/26/2010 5:13:10 P.M.