Rep. Mo Brooks repeats concern about illegal aliens, says amnesty ignores immigration

Rep. Mo Brooks repeats concern about illegal aliens, says amnesty ignores immigration laws

By Paul Gattis
on March 26, 2013 at 10:15 PM
al.com

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U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks spoke out against granting amnesty to illegal aliens during a town hall meeting tonight in Scottsboro.

SCOTTSBORO, Alabama - Americans aren't paying close enough attention to wayward federal spending, including a $1 million junket President Obama recently took to Florida to play golf with Tiger Woods, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks said tonight in a town hall meeting.

"I wish he hadn't done that," Brooks said before about 40 people at the Jackson County Senior Center. "It would have been a lot cheaper to fly Tiger Woods up to Andrews Air Force Base and played one of the nice golf courses (in Washington). Heck, a private jet would have been cheaper. But that's not the approach that was used."

But while Brooks hammered the financial woes facing the country as he has done in other town hall meetings in recent weeks, he spoke out tonight against what appears to be the likely granting of amnesty to illegal aliens.

Brooks has long been in opposition to allowing leniency to those who skirted the law to live in the United States. In 2011, Brooks said at a town hall meeting that the U.S. should "do anything short of shooting them" to keep illegal aliens out of the country.

Tonight, Brooks pointed to the financial burden illegal aliens are putting on the economy. He said the U.S. Treasury was writing checks for about $4 billion per year in child tax credits to illegal aliens who are submitting fraudulent tax forms. He also said that estimates in Washington indicate illegal aliens are contributing $20 million per year to the tax system while consuming $100 million per year in taxes.

He acknowledged, however, that his views on immigration are "in the minority" in Washington. Immigration reform, including the amnesty program, has been a rare issue receiving bipartisan support.

"I think it's quite clear we are subsidizing illegal aliens to come to America and that's one of the reasons why they come," Brooks said. "If you really want to get upset about what's going on - and it's one issue that bugs me no end - the U.S. Treasury is paying roughly $4 billion a year to illegal aliens who have fraudulently filed tax returns using tax identification numbers claiming kids they don't have."

"When are we going to prosecute them?" an audience member asked Brooks.

He responded by citing his experience as a former Madison County district attorney and commissioner, saying that illegal aliens are constantly on the move and almost impossible to track down.

Brooks said between 11 to 15 million illegal aliens are living in the U.S. today.

"If I had my druthers, folks would not be here illegally," he said. "We would do whatever is necessary to enforce our borders and enforce our laws and provide a deterrent to people who come here."

Allowing illegal aliens to remain in the country and begin the process of receiving U.S. citizenship is essentially disregarding immigration laws, Brooks said.

"If you grant amnesty, the message is very simple: Don't bother complying with our laws," Brooks said. "Break our laws. That's OK, we'll forgive you. If we have a second round of amnesty, then what's the message starting the day after amnesty? Everybody, you don't have to worry about the restrictions of our laws of who can come here and who cannot. After all, America doesn't enforce its own laws.

"I think that's a very bad message to send. We should always enforce our laws if we're going to have them. If we're not going to enforce them, we shouldn't have them."

Opposing amnesty to illegal aliens, Brooks said, is not the same as opposing immigration.

"We want to have more immigrants come in," Brooks said. "We can have the pick of the lot. We ought to be picking the ones who have the most productivity that they're going to add to the American economy -whether it be education or skillset. People who are going to add more in taxes than they are going to consume."

As Brooks described the precarious condition of the economy and the value of the dollar existing, in part, simply on reputation, an audience member asked Brooks, "What can we do about it?"

"The most important thing is to elect Congressmen and a president who see this as a serious issue," Brooks said. The passage of a balanced budget amendment is also critical, Brooks said, but that Alabama has "done its part" in passing a resolution calling for such an amendment.

"We need to pay attention to what's going on," Brooks said. "There aren't enough voters around the country right now who are paying attention to where America is and what must be done to keep us as a nation No. 1 in the world. We're going in the wrong direction real fast."

Rep. Mo Brooks repeats concern about illegal aliens, says amnesty ignores immigration laws | al.com