Thread: Rep. Frank Guinta: Frankly Speaking: Illegal Immigration - M

September 14, 2011 Wednesday 11:23 PM EST


Frankly Speaking: Illegal Immigration - Making Washington Enforce the Law

Targeted News Service

WASHINGTON


Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H. (1st CD), issued the following column:

You and I, our families and neighbors, face a common problem. Between seven and 20 million people currently live and work in the United States illegally. They don't pay local, state or federal taxes, yet they place an additional burden on government services and severely strain limited revenue sources. Because they came here illegally, there was no chance to check them for a criminal background. Their children attend public schools, adding to classroom size and diverting scarce education dollars. These problems keep mounting as people keep coming here illegally.

I am not opposed to legal immigration. I'm a product of it, just like many of you are. My ancestors came here legally from overseas. But illegal immigration is something entirely different. The U.S. is a nation of laws. Illegal immigrants choose not to play by the rules, and then expect to receive all the privileges given to those who followed the law and now live here legally. That's just not right.

But everyone doesn't see it that way. The Obama Administration has taken steps designed to make it possible for more illegal immigrants to stay in our country. An executive order was issued last month to circumvent Congress and establish new priorities for deportation. The result: it's now easier for illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. and apply for work permits. Even more troubling, this creates a back door approach for granting amnesty.

Let me repeat what I have said many times before: I do not favor, and I will never support, any attempt to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

I recently joined more than 50 of my colleagues in signing a letter to President Obama, protesting his action. I am also a member of the Immigration Reform Caucus in Congress.

But my involvement doesn't end there. I'm adding my name as a co-sponsor to H.R. 2497, the HALT (Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation) Act. The HALT Act would prevent USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) from granting parole for illegals who commit crimes; issuing work authorizations; extending voluntary departures; giving illegals TPS (temporary protection status); executing deferred actions (authorizing illegals to work in the U.S); and reverses the administration's recent executive order authorizing the cancellation of the removal of illegal aliens from our country.

To put it in everyday language, the HALT Act would do just that: it would halt the Obama Administration's efforts to get around the law and would require the USCIS and ICE to continue doing their jobs.

If Americans want to change the immigration process and revise the laws that regulate the status of people are who currently living in our country illegally, that's one thing. But to do it by executive fiat is something else. It's bad enough that millions of people who choose to ignore and flaunt the law are living within our borders; it's worse that the executive branch of our government, which is charged with upholding the law, chooses to ignore them as well.

In the last few years, we have witnessed an overreach of power from Washington as the administration has ruled by regulation. Enough is enough! I was sent to Congress to make sure the federal government returns to operating within its proper parameters and serves the people rather than lording over them.

These two problems - illegal immigration and an overzealous federal government - intersect in a way that's bad for everyone. The HALT Act is an important tool for addressing both problems at the same time. It makes sure your government continues deporting the people who flaunt and disobey the law, and it makes sure that the government stays within its proper limits while doing so, too.

As an American citizen, you have the right to expect nothing less.

www6.lexisnexis.com

We need Rep. Frank Guinta on our tracking list and the list of the 50 members of Congress on that letter.

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

We need Rep. Frank Guinta on our tracking list and the list of the 50 members of Congress on that letter.

W

You took the words right ouyt of my mouth. You have to admire a man that stands up for his constituents in this day and age!

I look forward to reporting back to you in two weeks on the latest developments in Washington. In the meantime, if I can be of service to you, or if you want to share your thoughts, suggestions or concerns with me, please call either my district office in Manchester at (603) 641-9536 or my Washington office at (202) 225-5456, or contact me through my website at www.Guinta.House.Gov. You can also follow what I’m doing 24/7 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repfrankguinta and on Twitter at @RepFrankGuinta.

I fired off an email to his office saying thanks, and I also called his office but couldn't really get an answer about the other 49 signers. Maybe they want to announce it first themselves ?

The Demagogues have already started fighting it. Sent from Gutierrez office

LETTER TO OBAMA: WE STAND WITH YOU AGAINST "DECEITFUL, MEAN-SPIRITED, AND PARTISAN ATTACK" OF THE HALT ACT


75 Democrats Sign Letter Opposing Judiciary Chairman's Bill to Limit

President Obama's Immigration Enforcement Powers
PDF of letter.
http://www.gutierrez.house.gov/images/s ... mplete.pdf




July 21, 2011

Media Contact: Douglas Rivlin (202) 225-8203



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington, DC) – A dozen pro-immigrant Democratic Members of Congress gathered for a press conference today to release a letter to President Obama saying they are opposed to the HALT Act, which they described to the President as "an attack on your integrity that should not pass unnoticed or unopposed." The letter was signed by 75 Democrats.

The HALT Act ("Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation" Act, H.R. 2497), was introduced last week by Rep. Lamar Smith (D-TX), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and a companion bill was introduced in the Senate this week by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). The bill would suspend -- until January 21, 2013 -- certain powers the President has under current law to prioritize the deportation of criminals and suspend the deportation of individuals whose countries have been decimated by natural disasters, whose families serve in the U.S. military, or for whom other circumstances warrant leniency or special consideration.

Rep. Gutierrez said at the press conference that the HALT Act is "a mean-spirited affront to the President's integrity" and that the 75 signatures so far -- after only a week of gathering support --represented over half of the votes the House would need to sustain a presidential veto if it ever got to that point.

"We are half way there in a week," Rep. Gutierrez said at the press conference, "and at that rate of growth from last week to this week, I am pretty confident the President has nothing to worry about if he vetoes the HALT Act."

Rep. Gutierrez (IL) was joined by eleven other Democrats at the press conference, all of whom signed the letter -- Reps. Judy Chu (CA), Yvette Clarke (NY), Lloyd Doggett (TX), Mike Honda (CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), Hank Johnson (GA), Barbara Lee (CA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Jared Polis (CO), Silvestre Reyes (TX), and Jan Schakowsky (IL) -- who said they would call on the House Democratic Caucus to stand with them in opposing Rep. Smith's bill.

Link to letter: http://www.gutierrez.house.gov/images/s ... mplete.pdf

The following are Rep. Gutierrez' remarks at the press conference as prepared for delivery:

Last week, I stood with 10 other Members of Congress at a press conference on Thursday to denounce the HALT Act which had been introduced by Chairman Lamar Smith that Tuesday. Here we are a week later and I hold the signatures of 75 Democratic Members of Congress who say they support President Obama and that they feel the HALT Act is a mean-spirited affront to the President's integrity.

Now, let's do the math. It takes a two-thirds vote to override a veto and therefore a one-third vote plus one to sustain a veto. By my quick math, 435, divided by three, plus one is 146. We need 146 commitments to give the President reassurance that if the HALT Act somehow gets to his desk and he vetoes it, we have his back and would vote down any attempt to override his veto. We are half way there in a week and at that rate of growth from last week to this week, I am pretty confident the President has nothing to worry about if he vetoes the HALT Act.

But we hope it doesn't come to that. What we are finding is that regardless of how Democrats feel on the broader issues of immigration reform and the need to fix our broken system, regardless of how they voted on the DREAM Act or whatever else, they see the HALT Act as a hollow attempt to play politics with a serious national issue.

Why? Because Chairman Smith, when he wrote this bill, said I don’t want to take the power away from the presidency; I want to take the power away from this President.

Let me explain. With the resources to deport about 400,000 people per year, the HALT Act says the President must prioritize the deportation of a hardworking family man with a wife and U.S. citizen children and 20 years in the U.S. the same way he prioritizes the deportation of a convicted rapist.

But the power to prioritize who is first in line for deportation -- like gang-bangers and murderers -- and who is last in line -- like DREAM Act students and the spouses of U.S. service men and women -- is not a power that no President should have, just a power that President Obama shouldn't have, according to the HALT Act.

In Chairman Smith's world, President Obama plans to grant a massive, blanket "amnesty" to every immigrant. The Chairman is holding a hearing about it in Judiciary next week. Now, also in Chairman Smith's mind, all immigrants are criminals and terrorists, even the "legal" ones who come here through the diversity visa program. In his mind, it is perfectly realistic to base our national immigration policy on the fantasy that we will -- or can -- or should -- deport or drive out 11 million men, women, and children from our country who are living here undocumented.

Chairman Smith conveniently forgets that he called on previous Presidents to use their power of prosecutorial discretion when they saw that a deportation would cause extreme hardship to American citizens.

I marked a copy of his 1999 letter with red pen to highlight the good parts at our press event last week.

The Chairman also forgets that President Obama deports more people -- about 1,100 per day -- than the last President or any President in modern history. He conveniently forgets that the Obama Administration told Congress they are granting deferred action and other delays in deportation less than the previous Administration. He also forgets that we are seeing historically low levels of illegal immigration; that communities along the U.S. Mexico border are the most crime-free communities in our nation; and that immigration from Mexico is the lowest it has been in six decades.

This is not about facts, it is about fears. He thinks that by stirring up images of immigrants as criminals and terrorists at every hearing and not-so-subtly hinting that President Obama wants to give them all a free ride to citizenship, he can get more scared, disgruntled Americans to vote against their own self-interest and for his Party.

Well, this is a law and order issue and the Republicans and Lamar Smith are on the wrong side. This is about targeting the worst criminals for deportation. This is about using the billions we spend in border security and border enforcement wisely to keep us prosperous and safe.

The broader issue of immigration reform -- which Lamar Smith and almost everyone in his Party opposes -- is about getting those undocumented immigrants living here already into the system, on-the-books, conforming to the law, and integrated into society so we can weed out the criminals. It is about having a working immigration system so people come after vigorous vetting with visas and not with smugglers in the first place.

The Republicans still don't get that the American people are quite practical. They favor solutions over political games. They want us to solve problems rather than just try to blame the other side for problems. They want us to work for them rather than just work towards our next reelection and that is why 75 Democrats are saying to the President we are with you when your legal judgment is under attack. We are with you in standing up to divisive manipulation of the immigration issue -- and other issues -- aimed at splitting the country, not uniting her. And we will do what we can as the minority in the House to make sure these attacks on your integrity, Mr. President, do not go unnoticed or unopposed.

Now I want to bring in my colleagues...




http://www.gutierrez.house.gov/index.ph ... s-releases