Thread: This Democrat Opposes Illegal Immigration

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This Democrat Opposes Illegal Immigration
by ROBERT FRIEDLANDER
Apr 6, 2006


I am a Democrat and I am strongly opposed to illegal immigration.

Perhaps that makes me a conservative Democrat, but the fact is that the Democrats don't have much chance of gaining seats in Congress or winning the Presidency without people like me. I believe that conservative Democrats stand shoulder-to-shoulder in alliance with principled Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration.

According to the respected Quinnipiac University Polling Institute (March 3), 52% of Democrats oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become legal workers and 55% of Democrats oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens. Yet the Kennedy-McCain bill that has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee does just that. Apparently, the only Democratic Senator who opposes the bill is Byron Dorgan of South Dakota.

Below is an open letter to Senator Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin:

Dear Senator Feingold,

As a fellow Democrat, I am going to be blunt with you.

If you are supporting the Judiciary Committee bill (the Kennedy-McCain bill) on immigration, you are a hypocrite.

You said on Fox News Sunday (April 2): "So this is one of the greatest challenges in our history, to Congress to stand up and make sure we still have the rule of law and checks and balances. Chris, where I come from here in Wisconsin, if you break the law and you go tell people you're breaking the law, that doesn't make it OK. If you're breaking the law, you're breaking the law."

You said that in regard to the presidential wiretapping, and it applies perfectly to immigration. Senator Feingold, you are exactly right and that is why we must insist that illegal immigrants follow our laws.

Al Gore expressed a similar thought: "It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored. ... Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows." [January 16, 2006 Consitution Hall speech on the subject of the presidential wiretapping].

So I am talking about ideas that are firmly in the mainstream of the Democratic Party.

Illegal immigrants have broken our laws, they have disrespected our laws, and now they expect us to legalize them. They expect us to change our laws to suit them.

1) They cross the border illegally.

2) They remain in the country illegally.

3) If caught crossing the border and released on their honor to show up at a court hearing, they do not show up at the hearing.

4) They work illegally.

5) Many obtain fraudulent documents purporting to show that they are legally present

6) Some get driver's licenses illegally.

7) If they don't have a driver's license and they drive, they are driving illegally.

8) Some even register to vote while they are getting their driver's license! (Motor Voter)

U.S. employers who give jobs to illegal immigrants are also lawbreakers, with the only mitigating factor being that fraudulent documents can deceive a person into thinking somebody is legal.

The Kennedy-McCain legislation amounts to a pardon. According to Black's Law Dictionary, a pardon is an action that mitigates or sets aside punishment for a crime. In essence, all Kennedy-McCain requires is for an illegal immigrant to pay $2,000 and wait an additional 6 years to become a citizen. Yet, if a person is caught speeding, they are fined and they are not allowed to speed again.

So we will let illegal immigrants pay a fine and then stay in the U.S. (continue to speed). It is analogous to a license to speed, and so is a charade. Also, Kennedy-McCain will not deter continued illegal entry. It will send the message that if they come here and stay here, eventually they will be legalized, so more will come.

It goes to the very core of the United States. If we ratify clearly illegal behavior, it is a dangerous precedent that will start us down a well-trodden path; a path that could eventually lead to a dictator seizing the Presidency and then, once in power, changing the law to make the seizure legal. The logic is precisely the same. "I will give $2 billion to charity and I will not declare myself President until six years have passed. Until then, I will be "Maximum Leader."

The New York Times on April 4 wrote that Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) "wanted to remind his fellow Republicans that the sons and daughters of this century's illegal immigrants could end up in the Senate one day, too."

Once in the Senate, they will be within striking distance of the most powerful office in the land. And if they have learned the wrong lessons in their youth about the rule of law, what sort of Senators will they be?

Senator, I urge you to take a principled stand against the Judiciary Committee bill. We welcome over 1 million legal immigrants per year, but we cannot allow illegal immigrants to become legal without first returning to their countries of origin and then applying to enter the United States legally.

As an alternative, we should institute a mandatory internet-based social security number verification system. Any employer who hires a person whose identity is not matched to their valid social security number is going to suffer strictly enforced legal penalties. This way the illegals can be gradually weeded out of the labor force and they will have to return to their homelands because there will be no work for them here. We should offer them free airplane tickets back home. That will be good for our airline industry and cheaper than educating their children and providing them with health care at taxpayer expense!

While I am not calling for deportation, one final point is in order. Many people are quick to point out that deportation of all illegal immigrants could cost as much as $230 billion. However, educating the children of illegal immigrants could cost over $800 billion. There are over 11 million illegal immigrants. If they have 10 million children, and it costs $80 thousand to educate a person in the United States, that works out to a cost of $800 billion.

It's about damn time a Democrat spoke up and how well this one did.

Thank you!

It's time more Democrats joined their Republican citizens like me and many other Republicans who want this nonsense stopped and our country back.

SPEAK UP DEMOCRATS!!

SPEAK UP REPUBLICANS!!

The fight to save our nation for future generations of American Citizens is on, friends. The time to stand tall is N O W!!

This isn't about "politics". This is about the United States of America and the future of 250,000,000 American Citizens.

They are out there, but just too spineless to speak up. Just a bunch of fence sitters waiting to see what the "best" political posture should be. They don't give a damn about what's RIGHT, as long as they protect their political career. What a SURPRISE, many will have in November!!