Thread: Bloomberg: Immigrants Have ‘Kept Us Alive'

August 13, 2007 Edition
New York Sun
Bloomberg: Immigrants Have ‘Kept Us Alive'
BY JILL GARDINER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
August 13, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/60416

Defending New York City as a destination for immigrants, Mayor Bloomberg challenged presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and others who are calling for the federal government to slash funding for cities that don't strictly enforce immigration laws.

"Boy, let them come," Mr. Bloomberg said this morning when asked about Mr. Romney's recent remarks accusing New York of not enforcing illegal immigration laws.

While Mr. Bloomberg did not criticize Mr. Romney or anybody else directly, he said immigration has "kept us alive and thriving." He added, "I can't think of any laboratory that shows better why you need a stream of immigrants than New York City."

The mayor pointed to New York's low crime rate, its improving schools, and its thriving economy as evidence that the city is doing something right.

"If that isn't example enough as to why you need immigrants coming in, I don't know what to tell anybody," Mr. Bloomberg said this morning at a junior high school on the Upper West Side where he announced new initiatives to improve the city's ailing middle schools.

"If they don't believe that immigrants add a heck of a lot more than they cost they just aren't looking at the numbers," Mr. Bloomberg said.

With President Bush's immigration reform stalled in Washington, immigration has become a key issue in the presidential race, particularly in the Republican field.

Last week, Mr. Romney accused Mayor Giuliani of being too lax on illegal immigration during his tenure in City Hall and said funding should be cut for so-called cities that declare themselves "sanctuaries" and don't enforce immigration laws. New York is not an official sanctuary city.

Mr. Giuliani, who is unveiling his immigration platform tomorrow and announced the addition of seven new immigration advisors this morning, defended his record. He said New York had lowest number of per capita illegal immigrants of any major city in the country.

His campaign also sent out a memo today with excerpts of comments he made taking a hard stand against illegal immigration in the early 1980s when he was an associate attorney general.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has been named as a possible 2008 presidential candidate, has made national headlines for speaking out on immigration reform. He's said the idea of deporting the country's 12 million illegal immigrants is foolish and impossible and called the guest worker program "a joke."

Meanwhile, Mr. Bloomberg stood with the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, and others this morning to announce new initiatives to improve the city's ailing middle schools.

The initiatives, which stem from a report Ms. Quinn commissioned, include $5 million in funding that will target 50 of the worst performing middle schools. The money will go toward programs such as expanding Regents-level courses and making professional development more accessible to middle school teachers, who are hard to retain and recruit.

Noticeably absent was an agreement between the council and the Bloomberg administration on a mandatory reduction in class size — something the council and the teacher's union have been aggressively pushing for.

This is why he will not run for Office of the Presedency .....

Corruption from the Top down and this disease needs to be removed from any governmental Office

Another idiot! We're talking ILLEGAL, not legal immigrants Mr. BloomBug!

If anyone has a large list of the bios of many of the 25 Americans that are killed each day by illegals, please send it to Bloomberg!!!!

"If they don't believe that immigrants add a heck of a lot more than they cost they just aren't looking at the numbers," Mr. Bloomberg said.

I wonder which numbers he is referring to. The numbers of Americans maimed and killed at the hands of illegal alien thugs, murderers, gang bangers, car jackers, home invasion robbers, etc.? The numbers of molested children and raped women assaulted by illegals? The number of Americans dead and injured as a result of drunk driving and hit and run driving illegals?

Maybe he's talking about the numbers of illegal alien inmates in our jails and prisons? Or maybe the numbers of illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, free healthcare, Section 8 housing, free education, etc.? Or maybe he means the numbers of Americans stuck with depressed wages or who lost jobs thanks to the masses of illegal aliens?

Does he mean those numbers?

We can send him a couple of million illegals from California.

I can't even read this... the title was enough for me!!!! I am so sick of idiots like this...What we need is to have our laws ENFORCED!!!!!!!!!!!! All of them.... not the ones our governments pick and choose to enforce!!!!

The mayor pointed to New York's low crime rate, its improving schools, and its thriving economy as evidence that the city is doing something right.

The initiatives, which stem from a report Ms. Quinn commissioned, include $5 million in funding that will target 50 of the worst performing middle schools. The money will go toward programs such as expanding Regents-level courses and making professional development more accessible to middle school teachers, who are hard to retain and recruit.

Low crime rate compared to what or who's crime rate? Calif.
Its Improving schools, compared to who's schools?
"funding for the 50 worst performing", how many is in the middle of worst and well performing? You can not have it both ways, Mr. Bloomberg you are talking out both sides of your mouth!!

Noticeably absent was an agreement between the council and the Bloomberg administration on a mandatory reduction in class size — something the council and the teacher's union have been aggressively pushing for.

The overcrowding of class size mr. Bloomberg could that be due to illegal immigration or have you even checked, maybe you feel it's better not to know.

Mayor Bloomberg talks like the illegal alien problem has not affected NY at all and since it has almost destoryed hundreds of towns across this country it would be very nieve to believe it has not affected a city the size of NY.

Our country is in the grip of traitors.

Yes, the USA is in the grip of traitors--evil people who want to destroy us. The question is: Are we willing to participate in another revolution?