Thread: WA: Group holds rally to protest amnesty for illegal immig.

POSTED ON Saturday, November 14, 2009 AT 04:38PM
Group holds rally to protest amnesty for illegal immigrants
Ross A. Courtney
Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Stop the Invasion," and applauding to exhortations such as "take back our country," opponents of amnesty for illegal immigrants gathered today at a Grange hall in Yakima.

About 65 people attended the event, dubbed "Tea Party Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration," at the Gardner Grange to hear a former U.S. Border Patrol agent speak and to write quick letters to government officials.

"We can deal with it (illegal immigration)," Kent Lundgren, founder and past chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, told the audience.

The event was one of 53 similar rallies held across the country Saturday to speak out against immigration reforms proposed by President Obama's administration. The suggestions include a form of amnesty for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, as well as a promise for tougher enforcement and a streamlined system for legal immigration.

The attendees, some who came from Seattle and Prosser, shared coffee and homemade cookies with a backdrop of patriotic music, including "Ragged Old Flag" by Johnny Cash, coming from speakers hooked to a laptop. Afterward, about 10 or so waved flags and protest signs on the corner of Summitview and 40th avenues.

-- Ross Courtney

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/20 ... mnestrally

kndo.com
Tea Party tackles immigration issues
Posted: Nov 14, 2009 06:44 PM PST
Updated: Nov 14, 2009 06:44 PM PST

YAKIMA--About 75 people gathered in Yakima today to talk about illegal immigration and it's effects on our country.

The lead speaker was Kent Lundgren, a former U.S. border patrol agent who also worked locally as an immigrant officer.

He believes American businesses are a big reason illegal aliens have become a big issue.

"We have two generations now of employers who have grown accustomed to the idea that they can do this," Lundgren said, snapping his fingers. "And then workers will come running out of the brush that'll work for just about anything they want to pay."

Lundgren thinks growers should hire American-born employees, before looking to foreign-born or migrant workers

http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=11507005