Mercer sheriff among five sheriffs concerned on immigration reform

Mercer sheriff among five sheriffs concerned on immigration reform

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Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey

Posted: Thursday, August 15, 2013 2:45 pm
By LAUREN PACK Dayton Daily News LimaOhio.com

HAMILTON - Five county sheriffs wanted to send a strong message to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday not to back pedal on an immigration reform bill they say is the best one for securing America's borders.
The National Sheriff's Association supports House Resolution 2278, dubbed "The SAFE Act," which expands the role of state and local law enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement. It is one of several current bills on immigration reform, including Senate Bill 744, a bipartisan bill passed in June that includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country, in addition to provisions to secure the borders.
Boehner has previously said immigration reform isn't a top priority.
On Wednesday, four Ohio county sheriffs and one from North Carolina wanted to let the speaker know that it should be.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones hosted a roundtable in Hamilton - Boehner's home district - attended by Darke County Sheriff Toby Spencer, Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Gray and Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson, all from Boehner's 8th Congressional District. Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer and Rockingham County, N.C., Sheriff Sam Page, co-vice chairman of the National Sheriff's Association Border Security and Immigration Committee, were also in attendance.
For 60 minutes the sheriffs were joined by a representative from Boehner's office to discuss their concerns.
In a letter written Aug. 1 in response to Jones' invitation to attend the roundtable, Boehner wrote, "I stand with you and other law enforcement officials from our region in support of H.R. 2278 and in unequivocal opposition to the massive, Obamacare-style immigration legislation backed by President Barack Obama and passed recently by the United States Senate."
He added, "From the many conversations I've had with constituents at home in Butler County and throughout the Eighth Congressional District, it's clear to me that the people of our region, like millions of other Americans nationwide, prefer that our nation's broken immigration system be fixed through a step-by-step, common-sense approach that starts with securing our borders and enforcing our laws."
Jones said Boehner's letter is "a response we have not heard before."
North Carolina is no different from other states throughout the country where drug and human trafficking is driven by illegal immigration, Page said.
"If we fail to secure our borders in America, every sheriff in American will become a border sheriff," Page said.
At a June rally for immigration reform outside U.S. Rep. John Boehner's Springfield office, Shahrzad P. Allen, an immigration attorney from Dayton, framed the argument for immigration reform as a way to reduce the nation's deficit.
Allen said that allowing 11 million illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" would create citizens who pay taxes and learn English "just like the rest of us."
Jose Sanchez, a pastor originally from Nicaragua who leads a Hispanic congregation in Springfield, said it's "time to stop the division."
"We are here for work, not for anything else," Sanchez said during the June rally. "We're here to support our families."
http://www.limaohio.com/news/local_news/article_e459142a-05da-11e3-8bce-0019bb30f31a.html

by Matthew Boyle 15 Aug 2013, 6:59 AM PDT
breitbart.com

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A top staffer for Speaker of the House John Boehner apparently told sheriffs in his Ohio district on Wednesday that the border must be secured before any legalization of any illegal aliens takes place.

In a phone interview after the meeting with Boehner’s district director Ryan Day, Butler County, OH, Sheriff Richard K. Jones told Breitbart News that the Speaker’s representative promised no legalization will happen before the border is secured and the nation’s interior immigration laws are enforced.

“He said Congressman Boehner agreed with us that first the border had to be secured,” Jones said. “Second, working with state and local and federal law enforcement working together within the United States, that has to be done first. Securing the borders has to be done first. And he promised that that Senate bill was not going to go through the House. And that unless they had a majority, it was not going to come out of [conference] committee.”

Jones added that Day apparently had a strong message from Boehner. “He said Boehner said to deliver this message: ‘Nothing gets done on anything until the border is secure first. Nothing. And that’s more than we had said before. Amnesty is not even going to be talked about.’ That’s what he said.”

Jones said “Oh yeah,” when asked if he supports that.

“We don’t want nothing done until they secure that border, support the law enforcement--local, state and federal working together--enforcing laws that they choose to,” Jones said. “Right now, we can’t enforce nothing. It’s a total chaos, a total mess. The way the Senate bill was done is they want amnesty first. We don’t want none of that until these things are addresses. That [amnesty] is another day, another time. But right now, they got to do this first today. And they support basically what we asked for. That’s pretty important.”

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Breitbart News in response to Jones’ comments that the Speaker does not support any “comprehensive” immigration plans. “The Speaker favors, and will insist on, a step by step approach to fixing our immigration system that starts with securing our borders and enforcing our laws,” Steel said in an email. “That's what his staff said, and what Boehner has said in his letter and elsewhere.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...t-legalization