Lone Protester- Is There Any Hope? 04/04/08

Most of you know that I am in construction and live in the former great state of South Carolina. From reading my stories you found out that my state is over run with about half a million illegal aliens and that they are here because they are aided and abetted by the most of our politicians and the people that employ them. Can any of you imagine how someone in my position feels? I will try to explain it to you. Yesterday, I pull up to a job, and the first thing I notice is that there are six brick masons hard at work and every one of them probably illegal. Before you start calling me a racist remember one thing, I talked to the wife of a Mexican coyote once and she told me that 99% of the Hispanics in the construction industry are illegal aliens. So, if your response to me is to call me a racist then I will tell you to shove it where the sun don’t shine. Before you call me a racist, I remember that about five years ago there were hardly any Hispanics in construction in South Carolina.

The politicians of my state have stabbed the citizens in their backs. The only time that they want to interact with the citizens is when it comes re-election time. You don’t believe me? Read the following letter, it was sent to me in response to one of my articles, South Carolina’s Workers Are Being Replaced. It is a form letter, from one on my state senators, Jim Ritchie. And I had problems with it. Mainly because I do not believe anything he says. So I decided to forward it to a friend of mine, Roan Quintana-Garcia. Roan is an amazing man, his family came from Cuba in the early 1960’s. He is executive director of www.americanshavehadenough.com. Roan probably spends more time in the SC statehouse that anybody else does. He knows more about the illegal immigration problems of South Carolina than any politician here. He certainly knows more about it than Senator Ritchie does. Here is Senator Ritchie’s form letter, Roan Garcia’s interpretation is outlined in red after every paragraph.

SEN. JIM RITCHIE'S FORM LETTER CHALLENGED!
Dear


Thank you very much for your email regarding illegal immigration in South Carolina. I want you to know that I am doing everything in my power to answer your call for reform.

When an amendment to take out the I-9 provisions was offered Jim Ritchie did not even bother to call for a roll call nor add his name to those who claimed to oppose the I-9 provision. Jim has been ineffective on this one! He could have called out those Republicans who wanted the I-9 to stay . He could have shown courage! Now, he can show us that he means what he says, by getting four votes out of conference and putting it out on the floor of both chambers for a roll-call vote; nothing short of that will do.

Due to the sheer size and complexity of the Illegal Immigration Reform Act that I authored, and the often heated and impassioned nature of this issue, there has recently been a lot of misinformation circulating regarding my efforts and the provisions of this initiative. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts so I may now take the opportunity to provide you with further information and background.

Before I begin, let me say that if you have any additional questions or concerns after reading my email, please call me so we may discuss this matter further. You may reach me in my Senate office at (803) 212-6032 or in Spartanburg at (864) 594-5300.

It is imperative that we continue an open dialogue to ensure that South Carolina enacts the best law possible to address the negative effects of illegal immigration on our state, our workforce and our communities.

That being said, let me provide you with some background on this issue.

You likely know by now that the Senate began working to address illegal immigration nearly two years ago - in the summer of 2006.

I was appointed to chair the Senate’s Illegal Immigration Reform Study Committee that summer and led the effort to find how illegal immigration affects our state and what we can do to minimize those effects.

According to two senators on the original committee, Jim drafted a bill that was terribly weak. Chip Campsen gave him the language of the Georgia bill that was inserted into what became S392. Since I was not there, I don’t know who did what when, but why would the other senator make this up. Remember, Jim Ritchie was the Chamber of Commerce’s “legislator of the yearâ€