http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... 194208.txt

Radio ad rallies against amnesty

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- A radio ad that aired last week sounded the immigration alarm once again.

The new Democrat-controlled Congress could make it easier for President Bush to pass an immigration reform bill including amnesty for illegal immigrants and a guest-worker program, the ad said.

The radio spot, sponsored by Californians for Population Stabilization, a Santa Barbara-based group seeking to curb immigration, urged listeners to take action.

"In all the celebration of the Democratic victory in the congressional elections, nobody noticed that President Bush won a big victory, too," the voice in the ad said. "For the first time, there's a Congress likely to approve his aggressive agenda to increase immigration. ... Together we can still stop this Congress from increasing immigration."

Californians for Population Stabilization, a group that some critics call radical, is not alone in sounding the call to action. Well-known groups seeking to restrict immigration, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in Arizona, sent similar messages recently via e-mails and news releases.

But not everyone agrees that a bill containing amnesty for illegal immigrants or guest-worker provisions is guaranteed under the new Congress.

"Given the passion over immigration, I don't see an easy path to pass an amnesty bill," said Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Rep. Brain Bilbray, R-Escondido, who made border security a centerpiece of his congressional re-election campaign.

Diana Hall, director of the group sponsoring the ad, said the campaign began airing on radio Monday statewide. She said the radio spot aims to energize people to call and write their congressional representatives.

"We know there's a huge constituency of people who feel that the immigration that we're getting into the United States is too much," Hall said.

In last month's elections, Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. While Republican leaders focused their campaigns on border security, many analysts said the outcome of the election was largely driven by voters' anger over the war in Iraq.

Anti-illegal immigration groups were quick to point out that many of the newly elected Democrats ran on platforms that included border security and sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"Many of the freshman Democrats are arriving in Washington with a message from the voters back home that controlling the borders and cracking down on employers who undercut the middle class by hiring illegal aliens is a top priority," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

In its ad and in its literature, Californians for Population Stabilization blames population growth, largely due to immigration, for problems ranging from traffic congestion to environmental pollution. The "only solution" is to limit immigration, according to the group's Web site, www.capsweb.org.

"Politicians fear losing votes, while businesses don't want to give up a steady influx of 'cheap' labor," according to the group's Web site. "Others try to make it an emotional issue, others say it's 'unfair' to prevent anyone from crossing the U.S. borders."

Critics, including civil rights groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Friends Service Committee, say Californians for Population Stabilization uses rhetoric that fans the flames of hate.

The group also sponsored a TV ad that aired earlier this year showing footage of immigrant rights rallies.

"The last thing California needs is more traffic, crowded schools and bankrupt hospitals," the voice in the ad says. "The last thing California needs is more immigration."

Pedro Rios, director of the San Diego office of the American Friends Service Committee, said the ads and statements by the group's board members border on racism.

"It borders on racist notions of who is valuable to be in this country and who isn't," Rios said.

Limiting immigration to curb overpopulation is rational, not racist, according to the group. California's population of about 37 million people grows by about 539,000 each year. Hall, a former professor of behavioral science, said most of the population growth in the state can be attributed to immigration and births to immigrant parents.

"(Immigration) numbers have to be tuned to our needs and the constraints of our infrastructure," Hall said.

Some argue that immigrants revitalize an aging native population. Unlike some European countries and other developed nations, the U.S. population remains vibrant because of immigration, said Tamar Jacoby, a researcher who focuses on that subject at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative think tank based in New York.

"Europe is a very civilized place to live," Jacoby said. "Go to Germany, go to England, and they have eight times the population per square kilometer."

Moreover, the new Congress is unlikely to pass immigration reform without bipartisan support, she said.

"There's no question that Democrats are going to try to pass immigration reform," Jacoby said. "Nevertheless, it's going to take both parties to pass, because just as the Republicans were split on immigration, so are the Democrats split."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.