Thread: MD: Sarbanes gets earful on illegal aliens

Sarbanes gets earful on illegal aliens

June 23, 2007
Rep. John Sarbanes had many voices to listen to at a town hall meeting yesterday.

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Town hall meeting gets heated over immigration

By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer
The new congressman representing part of Anne Arundel County got an earful at a town hall meeting in Annapolis yesterday, as residents complained about illegal immigrants.
Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Baltimore, called the meeting - his first at the Arundel Center and his fourth in the county since being elected in November - to discuss a number of matters, including veterans issues and Base Realignment and Closure.
But the most heated questions from the roughly 60 people in the audience dealt with immigration.

Mr. Sarbanes' answers to questions at one point resulted in audience members shouting "No, no!" and "Bull!"

"I feel like my birthright has been stolen by illegal immigrants," said one man in the audience, who described himself as a veteran who had "earned" his citizenship. "I want to see them deported, put out of the country and not allowed back in again."

Mr. Sarbanes said that attacking the problem would require tighter border controls, but also keeping a registry of immigrants who would be allowed to work. Under this plan, employers caught hiring people not allowed would be severely punished, and illegal immigrants would be discouraged from entering the United States.

A woman in the audience soon complained that the country has only limited resources for education, and too much money is being spent educating children who come from places where they received little or no schooling.

She said that Montgomery County, for example, has students from 150 different countries.

"What I am hearing here is a description of America as it has always been," Mr. Sarbanes said of the country's diverse origins.

This response prompted the outbursts and calls of "Bull!"

Mr. Sarbanes said after the meeting that he wasn't surprised by the strong feelings about immigration.

He cautioned that immigrants and minorities have long been a target for unscrupulous leaders who appeal to voters' base instincts.

"People are generally angry and conflicted about it (immigration), but it also is an issue that is easily demagogued," he said.

If Mr. Sarbanes failed to satisfy the audience when he discussed immigration, he made up for it when he criticized President Bush and the war in Iraq.

The room broke into applause when Mr. Sarbanes said "I wish instead of the $10 billion a month that is going to Iraq, $10 billion was coming back to this country" to help fund education and medical care.

At other times throughout the 90-minute meeting, Mr. Sarbanes spoke of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's refusal to listen to other people and his "arrogance" in thinking we could win the Iraq War with a small military force.

"I think Vice President (Richard) Cheney, in many respects, has been at the center of a small group that hijacked the nation for a while," Mr. Sarbanes said. "The Bush Administration has been like a rogue nation."

At other times, Mr. Sarbanes spoke of the "swagger of this administration."

Many Republicans are saying in the halls of Congress that they are about to stop backing Mr. Bush's war efforts, Mr. Sarbanes said.

Mr. Sarbanes was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which includes part of Baltimore and Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties.

When discussing veterans, Mr. Sarbanes spoke of a bill he is introducing to reduce the paperwork and waiting times disabled veterans face when applying for Social Security benefits.

Currently, these veterans who are disabled in the line of duty undergo evaluations by the Veterans Administration and, though found disabled, must go through a similar lengthy process when applying for Social Security.

Mr. Sarbanes said that Base Realignment and Closure will bring thousands of new jobs - and thousands of new residents - to this region.

He and Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski are about to introduce bills to allow federal funds to go to local governments before an impact is realized, unlike presently, where the problem must exist before the federal government will help remedy it.

"BRAC is an excuse ... to do the kind of planning we ought to be doing anyway," he said.

Rep. John Sarbanes' Annapolis Office is located at 44 Calvert St., Arundel Center, Suite 349. The office is open Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and by appointment. The number is 410-295-1679.

http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/re ... _23-16/GOV

All new Congressmen need a good education and it sounds like this crowd set a good foundation.

All new Congressmen need a good education and it sounds like this crowd set a good foundation.

The computer froze-up and obviously hiccuped.

Bring this neophyte rep to Southern California for a few days, he'll soon sing another tune.

He cautioned that immigrants and minorities have long been a target for unscrupulous leaders who appeal to voters' base instincts.

"People are generally angry and conflicted about it (immigration), but it also is an issue that is easily demagogued," he said.

Are these politicans deaf, ignorant, and dumb? We keep talking about ILLEGAL immigration and they keep defending IMMIGRATION. Illegal immigration and immigration are two separate issues, and they know it!

If he is your Congressman, send him this story so he can see what the real world is dealing with.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=70222

In thinking about this, I think we should turn the power of ALIPAC on this guy. Let's school him on the difference between illegal immigration and legal immigrtion which most of us embrace.

http://www.congress.org

Baltimore schools have one of the worst graduation
rates in the country. Even NPR is reporting how bad
it is, but of course, with NPR, it's just a lack of proper
funding.