Published: 10.13.2007
Anti-illegal immigration leader, 86, steps down
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
For the past 21 years, Tucsonan Wes Bramhall has been an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration.
On Friday, he stepped down as the president and voice of Arizonans for Immigration Control.
The retired Tucson Electric Power supervisor is just as riled about illegal immigration as he was in 1993, when he wrote a guest opinion for the Tucson Citizen. He urged the United States to use the military to control illegal immigration, especially along the Arizona-Mexico border.
On Friday, Bramhall, 86, turned over leadership of his group to Tucsonan Lee Ewing in a ceremony at the HimmelPark Branch Library, 1035 N .Treat Ave. He said he will continue to be active in the group..
Bramhall was presented with a wooden plaque cut in the shape of the state of Arizona and heralded with loud cheers of "heae, hear" from the 15 attendees, who included anti-immigration compadres Joseph Sweeney and Roy Warden.
The plaque thanked him for "21 years of devoted service fighting illegal aliens and upholding the U.S. Constitution."
Bramhall said he was sorry to see no young people in the group and said he believed they either didn't care or didn't know how harmful illegal immigration is to America.
"The way I see it, young folks don't seem to care what's going on," he said.
Bramhall said he doesn't blame Mexicans "as individuals" for crossing the border illegally into Arizona in search of work.
He blames the United States and Mexico.
"The Mexican government is assisting illegal immigration. There's no question about that," he said.
He noted a story in Friday's Tucson Citizen about Mexican airlines offering cheap flights to Mexican border towns.
"By taking them up there, they are assisting an illegal act," Bramhall said.
He said illegal immigrants are "taking the work from our people," and "are depressing wages here" because they're willing to work for less than what American workers demand for the same job.
If the immigrants did not compete for agricultural, construction and service industry jobs here and "if the money is there," Americans would take those jobs, he said.
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