06/19/2007
Metcalfe Plots Immigration Course
By: Joe Murray , The Bulletin

With 125,000 to 175,000 illegal aliens calling the Keystone State home and with Pennsylvania taxpayers forking over an estimated $285 million to support them, one lawmaker in Harrisburg has decided that enough is enough.
As the Senate once again begins to advance the Kennedy-McCain-Bush immigration bill, a bill that grants instant legal status to the 12 million-plus illegal immigrants that were able to duck the Border Patrol, it should be no surprise that the frustration gripping the nation over comprehensive immigration reform has spilled out of the nation's capital and into state and local governments across the fruited plains.
The town of Marlboro, Mass., is considering whether it can use town monies to fund a branch office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the office that spearheads deportations. The Marlboro city council feels that ICE's presence would deter illegal immigrants.
Marlboro is not alone as towns and states all over the country have been taking matters into their own hands to fill the gaps left by the federal government in protecting the border. The most famous example was Hazelton, as the town's mayor went to court to protect his town's laws prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal immigrants and employers from hiring them.
With such discontent, there was a need for a lobbying body that could unify the various voices on immigrations and send a clear message to Washington. Enter Daryl Metcalfe.
Last May, Metcalfe, a Pennsylvania State Rep. (R-Butler), decided to convert his anger to action. At a May 22 press conference in Harrisburg, Metcalfe announced that a new group, named State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), was open for business.
"Since Washington remains AWOL on fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities to secure our nation's borders against foreign invaders," thundered Metcalfe, "it is not only incumbent but the obligation for state lawmakers to step up and do the job that our federal government refuses to do." When Metcalfe started SLLI, the group boasted a membership of 25 states, half the nation. A little under a month has passed since that press conference and it is clear that Metcalfe's message of border security and his condemnation of a do-nothing federal government is resonating in the states.
SLLI has recently announced that Rhode Island, Maine and Texas - the state that once elected George W. Bush as governor - has joined SLLI in its fight to hold Washington's feet to the fire and demand that the federal government enforce existing law before it tinkers with de facto amnesty.
Metcalfe made sure to point out that his group has not given up on President Bush and was urging him to honor his oath of office and secure the border.
"We are still holding out hope that former Texas governor and President George W. Bush will choose the crystal clear will of the people and the U.S. Constitution over any blanket illegal alien amnesty sellout," said Metcalfe.
Texas is a key state for SLLI because of its stature, size and close proximity with this issue and the president.
"Now that his home state of Texas has provided us with a clear-cut majority of American state legislatures to join this national and ever-growing grassroots revolution, the president and other federal officials in Washington have even less philosophical quicksand to stand on," stated Metcalfe.
"State lawmakers across the nation, our federal congressional counterparts and even the president of the United States have one over-riding and undisputable factor in common," said Leo Berman, Texas State Legislature Coordinator for SLLI.
"We have all sworn an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States - not 98 percent of the laws but all of the laws. We are a nation of laws. If any elected official can arbitrarily ignore our federal immigration laws, the next and only logical solution is the complete and total surrender of our national sovereignty. It is my hope that State Legislators for Legal Immigration can serve as a unifying force to end the illegal alien invasion," added Berman.
As the Senate readies to debate the Kennedy-McCain-Bush immigration bill this weekend, SLLI will have its first test in flexing its newly developed political muscle.

Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us.

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