Minuteman Group Rejects Immigration Bill
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Submitted by Abena Williams on May 19, 2007 - 6:36pm. News | Immigration: Cost of Freedom

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Next Monday the Senate will begin debating an immigration bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for some 2 million illegal immigrants already in the United States.

That legislation is already hitting stiff opposition, including Tennessee Valley lawmakers who say it amounts to amnesty. Members of the Minuteman group agree and they are organizing a movement to stop it.

Minuteman Gary Armstrong shows photos of his recent trip to the Arizona-Mexico border. The pictures detail the volume of personal belongings and trash left behind as immigrants pass through trying to enter the United States.Arizona-Mexico borderArizona-Mexico border

Now, he and others want to send a strong message to Congress against granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Gary Armstrong, "We want to start seeing the laws on our books followed. When we see secure borders, when we see employers going to jail for hiring illegal aliens, then we can begin to have a discussion about the ones that are here."

The immigration bill would grant legal status to millions of undocumented workers already in the U.S., stiffen border security, and create a program for temporary workers.

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker and Representative Zach Wamp both say they will vote against the bill.

Rep. Zach Wamp, (R) 3rd District, "It's amnesty. We need to stand firm in the House because the Senate is making a mistake and unfortunately the President would sign their mistake."

Billy Inman and others hope lawmakers like Wamp will speak up for them. Inman says his life changed after an undocumented person hit his families car.

Mr. Inman

Inman, "Illegal alien Gonzolo Gonzales took my son's life and put my wife in a wheelchair."

After the accident, Gonzales walked out of a hospital and has never been caught.

Inman, "I don't blame the Hispanic people, I'm more upset with my government for letting them do this."

Inman says the debate is not about race, but about legal and illegal.

Today President Bush praised lawmakers for crafting the legislation.