Thread: Congressman backs town's bid to curb illegals

Congressman backs town's bid to curb illegals

September 10, 2006

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor is lending his support to an effort in Culpeper to crack down on illegal immigration.

Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, said he has been following the debate over the issue, which drew attention when Town Council member Steve Jenkins began an effort to target landlords and employers who house or hire illegal aliens.

Mr. Jenkins also is considering calling for an official designation of English as the town's primary language.

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to send a letter to Mr. Cantor requesting help.

The Town Council will on Tuesday consider sending a joint letter with the county supervisors.

"Illegal immigration is a national crisis that must be addressed at all levels of government," Mr. Cantor wrote in a letter to town and county leaders. "If you identify a need for federal legislation to help you, I stand ready to consider any and all ideas to help you solve this growing crisis."

The Senate and the House are at a stalemate on how best to address illegal immigration.

In his letter, Mr. Cantor said he doubts the Senate will take action on the issue until after the November elections.

Mr. Jenkins said he was pleased Mr. Cantor, in his third term representing the 3rd Congressional District, had responded.

"I believe right will prevail and [that federal officials] will step up," he said.

A meeting recently called by Mr. Jenkins on the topic drew more than 200 people and became contentious when some exchanged angry words.

At the same time, about 100 people sympathetic to immigrants marched downtown. Such supporters also have sent a letter to the Town Council urging its members to reject measures that target illegal aliens.

Mr. Jenkins has cited Hazelton, Pa., as a city that is taking local action to curb illegal immigration.

Hazelton has legislation targeting landlords and employers who house or hire illegal aliens. However, a federal court order has stopped the city from enforcing the measures, which were to take effect tomorrow.

They plan to rework the legislation as the city contends with a lawsuit by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union.

I think all these measures are good and I applaud all the cities that are doing it. It is at least bringing attention to the situation and it might make the illegals feel less welcome -

So far, though, do we know if any of them have moved out of the area or if any employers have fired any illegals?

Local entities - city, county and state, have a host of laws already on the books that could be enforced and would go a long way to solving the problem.

There are laws against:

Driving without a license

Driving on a fake license - I would think this is a felony or should be

Having more than one DL in your possession - $10K fine in Texas

Driving with liability insurance - cars can be impounded

Driving while under the influence - autos can be impounded

Driving without license plates

Driving without inspection sticker

Driving a vehicle that is not road worthy - although around here, most of them are diring new pickups and SUV's

I would think there is a law against possessing a fake SS card.

There are zoning laws. Some ciites have laws regarding number of occupants - single family occupancy - number of vehicles allowed at home - parking on the street - garbage on the street - operating businesses (auto mechanic, etc.) in residential neighorhoods. Some of these people are adding on plywood rooms, etc. There are zoing laws and permit requirements for this - enforce them.

These are all laws that can/should be enforced across the board - not targeting illegals - and won't end up in court.

So why are they ignoring the laws on the books that would do the job. These laws they are passing are going to be in court for quite some time and will cost the people of the cities a lot of money. The laws they have on the books would bring in some revenue as well as let the illegals know they will have to obey the laws. If their new pickups begin getting impounded, and they are no longer allowed to drive without licenses - they will leave.

As I said, I applaud the cities that are doing this - but why are they not enforcing their existing laws first, or at least simultaneously. If they would enforce the existing laws, many would leave and there would be less and less to bring lawsuits.