Thread: TN. Valentine leads town hall meeting against illegal immigr

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index ... s_id=49482

Valentine leads town hall meeting against illegal immigration
By John Rodgers, jrodgers@nashvillecitypaper.com
April 28, 2006

FRANKLIN – A boisterous, patriotic group waved American flags and rallied Thursday night against illegal immigration and the politicians they say are allowing it.

The contingent, numbering nearly 1,000, packed The Factory in Franklin to hear local radio talk show host Phil Valentine lead the town hall meeting against illegal immigration in a pitch entitled Demagnetize America.

The grassroots gathering continues a movement toward curbing illegal immigration in the state and country while immigrant rights groups protest in streets across America. And as those trends gain momentum, politicians are feeling constituents heat in a dicey election-year issue.

But Thursday, that issue was simple for the crowd – do everything possible to stop illegal immigrants.

To get the crowd going, Valentine talked about how undocumented workers were hurting the American economy and disagreeing with the argument that American’s won’t do some of the jobs the illegal immigrants will do.

“It’s a vicious cycle of greed and corruption,” Valentine said of employers hiring illegal immigrants.

Valentine then presented a list of demands to reform immigration, each receiving a loud cheer from the noisy throng. The demands included a $20,000 fine for employer’s knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and the same levy for a bank giving a loan or mortgage to an illegal alien.

If an employer or a bank repeats those offenses, Valentine demanded they have their business license or bank license revoked, respectively.

Lastly, Valentine proposed that illegal immigrants be punishable under the same laws as prostitutes for soliciting work on the side of the street.

While Valentine spoke, David Kent, a machinist from Cottontown, Tenn., was waving a “Remember Sept. 11” flag and remarking that the terrorists who carried out the attacks “were illegal immigrants.”

Kent said he was disappointed that since it’s been nearly five years since Sept. 11 that the country still hasn’t protected its borders or ports.

“Those who don’t want to be Americans but come to America for other reasons have full access and freedom to do what they want,” Kent said.

In addition to talking immigration reform, Valentine brought three Republican lawmakers, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Representatives Glen Casada (R-College Grove) and Tom DuBois (R-Columbia) to the stage to tell the audience and take questions about what the state is doing, or not doing, to address illegal immigration.

The three GOP lawmakers told the crowd about pending state legislation and where it was in the process. But that explanation often led to jabs at Democrats in the House who have killed some immigration measures that Republicans have backed.

“Go to the polls and get these people out of here,” an unidentifiable audience member shouted from the crowd.

As the U.S. Senate has taken reforming immigration back up this week, the group also targeted U.S. Senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander for not being as tough as the group would like on undocumented workers.

“I have been extremely tough on both Sen. Frist and Alexander,” said Theresa Harmon, the co-founder of Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policies, who also spoke to the crowd.

Harmon also referenced a recent immigration rights rally in downtown Nashville as helping her fight against illegal immigration.

Although the event was in the heart of his district, Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin), a Republican gubernatorial candidate, did not appear to be present. Neither was Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was attending House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh’s raccoon supper in Covington.

I'm so proud of Tennessee ... I've got to get my computer work done so I can start going to townhall meetings