Thread: Immigration bill draws fire at Hastings' town meeting

Even the Representatives aren't insolated from the citizen's wrath over the illegal immigration debacle. Dixie


Immigration bill draws fire at Hastings' town meeting
By PAT MUIR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


Photos by SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic

Montie Wofford of Selah addresses Congressman Doc Hastings to express his frustration at immigration enforcement during a town hall meeting that largely focused on immigration issues at the Selah Civic Center on Wednesday.

SELAH -- In front of a sometimes hostile crowd, U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings defended President Bush's immigration proposal, arguing that it's not an amnesty bill during a town hall meeting here Thursday.

The comprehensive immigration proposal, which would give undocumented people already in the country a path to citizenship, was the object of scorn among a vocal segment of the 100 or so people at the meeting. Hastings, a Pasco Republican who likes the bill's inclusion of a guest-worker program and emphasis on stronger borders, said it does not provide the sort of "blanket amnesty" Congress gave immigrants in 1986. He acknowledged, though, that the word "amnesty" means different things to different people.

"Everybody has a different definition," Hastings told the crowd in Selah. "And my definition would be modeled after the '86 act where those that were here, after registering, became citizens. That is not the case at all with what is being suggested."

That notwithstanding, he would not commit to supporting the proposal.

The Senate bill, as proposed, would give immigrants already in the country a chance to come forward and receive "Z visas" allowing them to stay if they pay a $5,000 fine. They also could eventually apply for citizenship. Hastings said he has been working with the White House on a House version of the bill.

"I don't know that everything was put into the Senate bill," Hastings said in the parking lot of the Selah Civic Center after Thursday's event. "They just made a determination that's where it's going to start. É*If the Senate passes the bill, then the House will develop their own bill. And I've been in conversations and working with people on both sides of the aisle on this. I don't know if it's going to be the same as the Senate is or not.



Congressman Doc Hastings listens to a question from Lindsey Buckner of Yakima at the Selah Civic Center, where he held an hourlong town meeting Wednesday.

"My focus, however, is going to be on a guest-worker provision, and obviously a strong border-security component."

He would not say definitely, however, whether he is willing to support a path-to-citizenship component in exchange for border security and a viable guest-worker program.

"What I really want to do is see what the Senate (passes), and then I'll respond to that," he said.

Hastings was in Central Washington during a Memorial Day break from Congress. He stopped Tuesday in Wenatchee and Connell before visiting Grandview and Selah on Wednesday. Immigration, the primary topic at the Selah town hall, was one of several issues Hastings discussed during his stop in Grandview for a Rotary luncheon. The Iraq war was another.

A supporter of Bush's policies including the recent troop surge in Iraq, Hastings emphasized the need for American victory in Iraq.

"If we don't win in Iraq there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the jihadists will follow us here," he said.

The war was a topic in his opening remarks in Selah, too. But after a brief mention, it gave way to the heated discussion of immigration reform.

Shouts from the audience frequently interrupted Hastings' response to questions, something he said was not unexpected given the emotional nature of the immigration debate. The issue, though, has to be dealt with, he said.

"Our biggest industry here, namely agriculture, has always been worked by a migrant labor force," Hastings said. "And whatever solution we have in immigration reform -- recognizing that labor force has evolved into an alien labor force -- that issue needs to be addressed or our industry, the agriculture industry, is in serious jeopardy.

"We need to recognize that and be forthright about it."


* Pat Muir can be reached at 837-6111 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/289011442914821

Sounds like Hasting is a sell out to illegal aliens and the Senate bill. Hopefully most Representatives remember that they were elected to protect American citizens from foreign invasion instead of supporting it.

NEWS FLASH you manipulative idiot!

"If we don't win in Iraq there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the jihadists will follow us here," he said.

They're ALREADY HERE - thanx to YOUR refusal to ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS & SECURE THE BORDER!!!

Your assinine definition of SECURE BORDER & AMNESTY isn't flying!

What a nincompoop