http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cs ... ong31.html

Group: GOP mailer likens immigrants to 'disease'

August 31, 2006
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Reporter

A pro-immigrant group Wednesday called on Republican congressional hopeful Peter Roskam "to publicly denounce and repudiate" a GOP mailer that the group charges treats immigrants as "some type of disease."

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights dispatched a letter to Roskam criticizing the independent mailings sent out by the National Republican Congressional Committee in the west suburban 6th Congressional District.

"These mailings attack your Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth -- but more importantly they also attack immigrants and are extremely misleading," the letter reads.

The GOP pieces accuse Duckworth of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"The last thing we need from Congress are immigration policies that would reward illegal aliens for sneaking across our borders -- and the plan Duckworth supports will only encourage another wave of immigrants," the GOP mailer states.

It's that last phrase that the coalition leaders wrote that reads "as if immigrants were some type of disease." They also argue that Duckworth opposes amnesty.

Duckworth spokeswoman Christine Glunz said that instead she supports a Senate bill that provides "a path to citizenship" to illegal immigrants who pass criminal background checks, pay taxes owed, learn English, take American culture courses and are "gainfully employed."

NRCC spokesman Carl Forti stood by the mailing, saying that "articles from every major newspaper in the country" equate the bill's "pathway to citizenship" with amnesty.

'Out of touch'

"They are trying to play politics by mischaracterizing what the mail piece actually says," Forti said.

Roskam campaign manager Ryan McLaughlin declined to repudiate the mailer, saying it's an NRCC effort.

But he said "the fact that Tammy Duckworth supports legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal aliens, require the United States to consult with Mexico before constructing a border, guarantee Social Security benefits for illegal aliens and cost taxpayers $126 billion shows how out of touch she is with suburban voters."