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Immigration Reforms: Presentation, Protest & Prayer
UPDATE, MON, 9 PM: With House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner at his side, Representative John Hostettler said Tuesday's field hearing on immigration reform hits close to home for Hoosiers.
Congressman John Hostettler says, "Conservatively speaking, 80 percent of the questions I get are on the issue of illegal immigration."
The hearing won't include any open mikes for the public, but will incorporate testimony expected to back the House's version of reform seen as much tougher on illegal immigration than a Senate bill that includes an amnesty program.
Representative James Sensenbrenner, the Judiciary Committee Chair, assures, "This hearing today (Monday) is to try to make sure immigration reform is done the right way."
Congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth says, "To be sitting here and told that immigration is a problem, I think we all know that."
Hostettler's opponent, Brad Ellsworth, says the hearing is nothing more than a stunt designed to translate a hot-button issue into votes.
Ellsworth explains, "I think it's time we quit meeting with the people here and informing us what's going on and go back to Washington D.C. and get the work done and start enforcing existing laws on immigration."
But how the hearing plays in the heartland is up in the air. Participants will be greeted by a crowd of protesters who believe the House plan doesn't recognize immigrant rights - a voter block that neither candidate seems eager to embrace because of the potential political fallout.
Sensenbrenner says, "First, we had thousands of people on the streets waving Mexican flags; that got under the skin of the American public. And then, about three weeks later, there was a call to walk away from work and walk away from school to go demonstrate some more. And if the American public wasn't angry before that call, they were really irate after that call."
Tuesday's hearing is open to the public. It begins at 10 a.m. at the Centre in downtown Evansville.
PREVIOUSLY: Downtown Evansville will temporarily become the center of a national debate over illegal immigration reform Tuesday morning.
The House Judiciary Committee will hold a field hearing on immigration reform efforts, and Congressman John Hostettler will be in attendance.
Tuesday's hearing is expected to draw a big crowd of Hostettler supporters. But a large contingent of protesters, who oppose the House bill to crackdown on illegal immigration, will be marching downtown, as well.
Some of the pro-immigrant movement will gather for an interfaith prayer vigil Monday night in Owensboro to seek divine intervention before Tuesday's hearing.
Representative John Hostettler says, "This is an opportunity for us, not only in Indiana but across the country, to draw a distinction between the Senate approach, which allows amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens, and the House approach, which, in my opinion, maintains the commitment of the 1986 act by enforcing the laws."
Congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth says, "I think Hoosiers and the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County know what the problem is. Let's get them to do something about it, not just tell us and preach to us. Let's get the work done."