July 3, 2007
Honorable Zoe Lofgren
Washington, D.C.

Dear Congresswoman Lofgren,

Two legislative bills recently introduced in the U.S. House are very troubling in light of the current debate concerning illegal aliens.

Specifically, I refer to H.R. 1557 introduced on March 17, 2007, by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) to grant legal status to Elvira Arellano, and H.R. 2182, introduced on May 3, 2007 by Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) to grant legal status to Elvira Arellano and 34 other illegal aliens.

It is my understanding that both of these bills have been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugee, Border Security and International Law, which of course, is your area of expertise.

As I understand them, both of these bills seek to sanctify criminal behavior by people who have thumbed their noses at U.S. borders and the rule of law.

Illegal immigration negatively impacts nearly area of American life including homeland security, anti-terrorism efforts, social security, health care, deficit spending, and crime. This crime must be prevented and reversed as soon as possible.

As I have written you in the past, granting amnesty to illegal aliens is wrong for several reasons.

To begin with, it rewards those who wantonly violate our laws and encourages even more people to come here unlawfully. America's experience with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which was supposed to end illegal immigration, is a case in point.

IRCA provided amnesty to three million illegal aliens, but successive administrations failed to take note of the enforcement provisions.

As a consequence, IRCA resulted in neither reform nor control, and America is now suffering under the weight of an additional 12-30 million illegal aliens who have invaded America since 1986.

Secondly, we tell millions of people all over the globe that America operates under the rule of law, and that in order to come here one must wait in line and follow the rules. It is simply not fair to those are following the law to allow those who are not to "cut in."

Finally, as a society we have an obligation to future generations to set examples for our young people to follow with regard to morals, law and order, fairness, and common sense.

Rewarding illegal aliens with amnesty sends the wrong message to our youth on all counts.

Accordingly, I urge you to use your influence to remove H.R. 1557 and H.R. 2182 from further consideration within the People's House.

Best regards and thank you.

Sincerely,

John W. Lillpop
San Jose, California