Thread: Immigration issue calls for understanding, compassion

Immigration issue calls for understanding, compassion
David Clark
Article Last Updated: 02/22/2008 07:48:30 PM MST


By some estimates, there are now 12 million illegal immigrants in our country. Their presence in such great number cannot be ignored. They have exposed the failings of our border security and our legal immigration process.

The responsibility and power to address these failings, and to address the human crisis that has resulted from the failings, ultimately lies with the federal government. The doctrine of pre-emption in the Constitution bars the states from addressing the root of the problem.

At its heart, this issue deals with people and the desire of the human spirit to be free and prosper. Because we are a nation of immigrants, and pride ourselves on our entrepreneurial spirit, the illegal immigration issue must be handled with understanding and compassion. That is not to say we should ignore the rule of law, but it should be supplemented with an understanding of human nature.

Absent a federal solution to this crisis, the state must employ both the rule of law and a sense of humanity in addressing the issue. Though we cannot tackle the root causes of the crisis, there are powers reserved for the states that can be exercised to address some of the fallout surrounding illegal immigration.

Several bills toward that end have been proposed by Utah legislators this year. A number of them deal with the verification of an employee's legal status in order to either work for the state or to work for a company that receives a state contract, grant or funding. Other bills repeal certain perceived privileges given to illegal immigrants such as the non-resident tuition exemption for illegal immigrants who have completed high school in Utah.

As I consider the type of community in which I want to live, I find myself more concerned about the real criminals in our midst rather than the perceived criminals. I believe most of the illegal immigrants in our country came here hoping to participate in the American Dream. I recognize most of them are people of good will. Others, however, have come with nefarious purposes and we ignore them at our peril.

We must do more as a state to address these real criminals within the illegal immigrant population. I'm supportive of the bills that have been proposed to strengthen our document fraud laws and increase the penalties for using fraudulent documents to establish legal status.

In addition, we need to deal with the illegal aliens in our prisons who have committed felonies. These individuals have shown by their actions they aren't interested in making positive contributions to our communities or in pursuing the American Dream. These individuals should be deported once they have completed their sentences.

Often these individuals disappear while awaiting court dates or before deportation hearings can be completed. The state has proposed purchasing the Oxbow jail for use as a detention facility for illegal immigrants awaiting court dates or for convicted felons awaiting deportation. I believe this would allow us to remove the real criminal element from our society.

While I continue to hope for a federal solution to the immigration crisis, I believe we would be remiss in our duty to uphold and enforce the rule of law if we didn't act in the areas where the state has the power. We must act with wisdom in our intervention and respect for the common human spirit that has brought so many people to our nation.

I hope we will always be a community that embraces many different traditions and unites them under one rule of law.

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* REP. DAVID CLARK, R-SANTA CLARA, is majority leader of the Utah House.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_8338895

I have come to realize what a huge IA hugging, bleeding heart newspaper the Salt Lake Tribune is. Understanding and compassion are 3rd and 4th on my list:

Enforcement
Action
Understanding
Compassion

If you'd like to send Rep. David Clark a little message to let him know what we need is Action and Enforcement, his Utah House of Representatives page is below, where his e-mail address is located:
http://le.utah.gov/house/members2005/bios2005.asp?id=74

Thanks for that e-mail addy . He can enjoy his coffee over a hell bend letter i send him .

Originally Posted by zeezil

I have come to realize what a huge IA hugging, bleeding heart newspaper the Salt Lake Tribune is.

The Salt Lake Tribune is owned by the Media News Group, which owns about 40 newspapers around the US. Their CEO is William Dean Singleton, a CRF member. CRF members also run the NY Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, and most of the major networks. Now you know why they always print pro-illegal propaganda.

What you can to about it is tell everyone you know to cancel their subscriptions to these papers and get the Washington Times online instead. They are the only pro-America major newspaper. Another good one if you live in CA is the Santa Barbara News Press.

Just enforce existing laws and many if not most IAs will return to their home countries over time! We don't get to pick and choose which laws we obey -- and we're citizens.

As I consider the type of community in which I want to live, I find myself more concerned about the real criminals in our midst rather than the perceived criminals. I believe most of the illegal immigrants in our country came here hoping to participate in the American Dream.

I can assure you sir that an illegal invader's vision of the "American Dream" and your vision of that dream are worlds apart.

The illegal invader dreams of unchecked breeding in which the government picks up the tab. Joining a gang and dropping out of school is more likely than graduating high school. Violating any and every law in order to steal what they can from the system is the norm rather than the exception.

If you doubt this, come live in So Cal for a month and you will have a different opinion on this subject.

They do not want to participate in the American Dream. They want to hijack the foundation in which such dreams were made.

Hey, if these people want the IA's here so much, why don't they pay for them? I think anyone who is against illegal immigration should get a refund on their taxes!!

I just sent a scathing email to Clark. I asked hhim to honor his oath of office and stop betraying America.

If you build it, they will come. As IA's flee AZ and OK they are going to be on the lookout for the next friendly haven. If Utah is foolish enough to welcome them, they will soon be inundated with hordes of uneducated, poorly behaved illegals. In a sense it will be poetic justice. Many of the myraid expenses associated with a large population of IA's are borne at the state and local level. Once Utahans are being taxed to the hilt and their state is being turned into a landfill, they may rethink their 'compassion'.

You know for every American Citizen there are fifteen people in the world poorer. Does this politician expect us to be "compassionate" and give away 96% of what we make to them?