http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=65785

NLPC Immigration Expert Says Border Control Necessary but Additional Steps Needed

5/15/2006 12:29:00 PM


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To: National Desk

Contact: Dr. Carl Horowitz of NLPC, 703-237-1970 or Web: http://www.nlpc.org

WASHINGTON, May 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Dr. Carl Horowitz, director of the Organized Labor Accountability Project of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), today made the following observations in anticipation of President Bush's speech tonight:

The recent mass marches in major U.S. cities in support of the 'right' of migrants to live here illegally should serve as a wakeup call for full-scale immigration reform. A large majority of citizens, as never before, are demanding that Congress and the Bush administration do more to secure our borders and protect our interior.

President Bush is set to speak tonight from the Oval Office to unveil a plan to respond to these mounting concerns. An estimated 11.5 million to 12 million immigrants live here illegally, with Mexicans accounting for more than 55 percent of that figure. And that figure is increasing by a net of at least 500,000, and possibly a good deal more.

About four percent of all people in this country have no legal right to be here. Anyone who doesn't see a major problem here is not living in the real world. Our very sovereignty is at risk unless we do something - and quickly."

The White House plan reportedly calls for putting thousands of additional National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border. Some troops already are being deployed under state of emergency declarations in New Mexico and Arizona. The President has assured Mexican President Vicente Fox that the soldiers will perform an administrative and logistical support role.

Technically speaking, it's not militarizing the border. But it certainly looks like a step in that direction.

If it seems like an extreme measure, it's nowhere near as extreme as the beliefs and behavior of marchers and ethnic- separatist organizations. These people brazenly call for what amounts to Mexican mini-nations on U.S. soil, a process openly encouraged by the Mexican government.

Public outrage, not high principle, is what drives the proposal.

President Bush long has held to a sentimental view that mass immigration, regardless of consequences, embodies the essence of our national character. The fact is there are consequences, and we've been seeing a nasty downside in recent years. Mass immigration really does erode our sense of nation. And it's taking taxpayers to the cleaners in terms of subsidies for hospital care, Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits. And the overall benefit to the economy is almost negligible, especially for immigrants who do not speak English.

Unfortunately, the Senate's recent 'reform' proposals embrace the fallacy that illegal immigrants are indispensable to our economy, and thus must be legalized. Mass-immigration enthusiasts such as Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., John McCain, R- Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., effectively want to legalize the presence of every illegal immigrant here.

This will encourage more illegal immigration, necessitating another "final" amnesty down the road in a self-perpetuating process.

The House, at least, is responsive to such concerns. Last December lawmakers passed legislation (H.R. 4437) that, among other things, would require employers to conduct a Social Security ID check for prospective employees and authorize funds to construct about 700 miles of high-security fencing along our 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

The very real prospect of this bill becoming law is what triggered those massive, televised rallies and marches in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere. Yet President Bush seems to want to appease these activists.

Remember, back in January 2004 the White House unveiled a guest worker program to legalize the resident status of potentially millions of illegal workers with renewable temporary three-year visas. The idea went nowhere, even among his fellow Republicans.

Bush doesn't understand that a guest-worker plan is most likely to function as amnesty in slow motion. Once you allow illegal immigrants to live here, even temporarily, they will never go back. Their employers will claim a labor 'shortage.' And many of the workers will invite family members up here. A full-scale amnesty of the sort Congress enacted 20 years ago only would accelerate the process.

END HOROWITZ STATEMENT

Horowitz is the author of a new report titled, "Member-Hungry Unions Place Hope in Mass Immigration," published by the Capital Research Center. Go to http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.asp?ID=505. He is widely published on topics including immigration, labor and housing.

NLPC promotes ethics in public life.

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