Radio talk show hosts, lawmakers join forces to oppose amnesty for illegals
By Amie Parnes

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

WASHINGTON — Opponents of immigration reform, preparing for a showdown in Congress, went door-to-door on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to block a bill that would establish a guest worker program and grant citizenship to thousands of illegal immigrants now in the country.

At a news conference, 35 radio talk show hosts from around the country joined three members of Congress to oppose amnesty and voice their frustration over the government’s reluctance to implement laws against illegal immigration. The talk show hosts, including some from Miami/Fort Lauderdale, were in the nation’s capital as part of “Hold Their Feet to the Fire,” a program aimed at opposing illegal immigration.

The talk show hosts and members of anti-immigration groups said they would like to see members of Congress enforce laws that would tighten the nation’s borders and penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Most importantly, they said, they want lawmakers to oppose amnesty and new guest worker programs.

“This event represents a new age in the battle to control our borders,” said Dan Stein, the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “We are universal in our opposition to amnesty. Every immigrant must comply with immigration laws.

“We won’t accept anything else,” Stein added. “We the American people are going to take back our sovereignty and our right to control our borders.”

Last year, a comprehensive immigration reform package passed the U.S. Senate but later stalled in the House after lawmakers refused to back the contentious proposal months before the midterm elections.

The three Republican lawmakers who attended Tuesday’s news conference said they would fight a comprehensive immigration proposal backed by President Bush and Democrats in both the House and the Senate.

The president’s plan would set up a guest worker program and would allow illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. to continue to work while they apply for citizenship while enforcing border security. It would simply require illegal immigrants to pay a steep fine, pass background checks, pay back taxes and a steep fine in order to gain citizenship.

But some lawmakers argue that the proposal isn’t fair to all the immigrants who applied for citizenship “the right way.”

“Every illegal alien is an insult to every legal immigrant,” said Rep. Brian Bilbray, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. “You do not reward those who break our laws.”

“We hear you!,” a man shouted from the crowd at the news conference.

“Here here!,” another yelled.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, the Colorado Republican who is a strong opponent of a comprehensive immigration reform package, said Bush and the Democratic leadership are “not on the side of Americans who are worried about our borders.”

“We must defend our language, defend our culture and defend our borders,” he said.

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