Congressman Luis Gutierrez Travels on National Amnesty Tour While U.S. Workers Stand in Unemployment Lines

March 5, 2009


(Washington, D.C.) Amidst a backdrop of rising unemployment, mounting economic turmoil, and increased costs of illegal immigration, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is spending the next five weeks visiting 16 American cities promoting blanket amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and the dismantling of immigration law enforcement programs. Rep. Gutierrez describes the "Family Unity Immigration Outreach Tour" as an effort to "document the harm caused to citizens across our nation in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform."

What is notably missing in Rep. Gutierrez's tour is any mention of the harm caused to citizens and legal immigrants by illegal immigration or the permanent damage that would be done by enacting amnesty for an estimated 12 million illegal aliens now in the U.S. With an unemployment rate of 7.6% and getting worse - the White House announced recently it is forecasting an increase to 8.1% - over 11 million Americans are scrambling for jobs.

Yet according to the Pew Hispanic Center, an estimated 7.7 million jobs, desperately needed by U.S. workers, are held by illegal aliens. To be sure, unless worksite enforcement is continued, E-Verify reauthorized, and laws enforced, Americans will continue to compete against illegal aliens in ever greater numbers. An amnesty initiative would simply reward those who have broken the law, encourage more illegal immigration, and exacerbate a labor market already in distress.

"Lawmakers should be evaluating our immigration policy for its impact on the growing number of Americans out of work, not parading around the country trying to lay the groundwork for mass amnesty," stated Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "We cannot ignore the impact illegal immigration has on the job market - not in good times and certainly not now. It is a fiscal necessity and moral imperative to protect the American worker."

"While millions of Americans are spending their time diligently looking for work, Rep. Gutierrez is trekking across the country peddling a special interest driven amnesty plan and calling for an end to ICE enforcement," Stein continued. "We would hope Rep. Gutierrez comes to understand, like most Americans do, that worksite enforcement is an economic stimulus plan in and of itself."

About FAIR
Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 250,000 members nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

CALL DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE GUITERREZ FROM CHICAGO AT HIS DC OFFICE 202-225-8203. TELL HIM THAT THERE WILL BE NO AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS. ICE MUST CONTINUE THEIR EFFORTS TO REMOVE ILLEGALS FROM JOBS THAT BELONG TO AMERICANS! START SUPPORTING AMERICANS NOT ILLEGALS!


WHAT IS OBAMA THINKING WITH THIS APPOINTMENT?? HE ALREADY HAS A LA RAZA PERSON IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

Who's Thomas Saenz?

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Civil Rights: The open-borders crowd eagerly awaits the nomination of one of its own to a key Justice Department post, a man who has dedicated his life to promoting illegal immigrant "rights."

President Obama is expected to appoint Thomas Saenz as the nation's top civil-rights enforcer. It's a key appointment because Obama has promised to "reinvigorate" the division Saenz will lead. And the Civil Rights Division carries a wide-ranging portfolio, covering everything from hate crimes and police misconduct to voting rights and redistricting laws.

All this power will likely be turned over to Saenz, who was a top lawyer for a radical Hispanic group that wants to cede California to Mexico. Saenz is credited with killing Proposition 187 in California against the wishes of 60% of voters. That law would have denied welfare to illegals.

At the time, Saenz was vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, whose co-founder has exulted: "California is going to be a Mexican state, we are going to control all the institutions. If people don't like it, they should leave."

Saenz has also sued California cities to establish "hiring halls" for illegal day laborers so that they can have a place to urinate. In fact, protecting day laborers against "anti-immigrant" sweeps is one of his top priorities.


He has agitated for "a federal court decision which would settle (the issue) for all time," and now he may have his way. Loitering illegals may soon have total freedom to harass store customers and drink and relieve themselves in public.
He would also crack down on local law enforcement officials who help ICE deport illegals. When the LAPD tried such collaboration, Saenz demanded "punishing all wrongdoers."

In fact, the way Saenz sees it, no illegal alien should be rounded up.
"Currently in California, thousands and thousands of people live in fear because of widespread Border Patrol sweeps," he said. "It is critical that comprehensive immigration reform includes nondiscrimination against people on the basis of immigration status."

By reform he means amnesty. "At a certain point," he said, referring to the 20 million illegals in the U.S., "people have earned a right to stay here with their families."

In addition to amnesty, he wants to give them full access to government benefits, including Social Security. "We treat undocumented immigrants as a separate class from which we take and do not give," he complained.

Obama ran on a promise of uniting all Americans, not those who broke into the country illegally, and his selection of Saenz couldn't be more divisive.
And now, with Mexican drug-gang violence spilling across our borders, this certainly is no time to put an open-borders extremist in charge of policing police.

CONTACT THE WHITE HOUSE ABOUT THIS BAD SELECTION AT http://www.whitehouse.gov/Contact/