FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 15, 2009 Contact: Jamie Zuieback (202) 225-6170

Democrat Amnesty Plan Harms American Workers

Washington, DC - Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) responded today to introduction of the Democrats' mass amnesty bill by saying:

"Our policies should put American workers, American taxpayers, and American citizens first, not those who are in the country illegally. This is the kind of legislation that foreign governments would promote, not the U.S. Congress.

"The amnesty bill does not hold any surprises and lays out the same vision for amnesty that President Obama and the Democrats have promised to the illegal immigrant lobby. The bill proposes to reduce illegal immigration by making all illegal immigrants legal!

"Allowing millions of illegal immigrants to stay and take jobs away from citizens and legal immigrants is like giving a burglar a key to the house. Illegal immigrants currently occupy eight million jobs. Those stolen jobs rightfully belong to citizens and legal immigrants. We could cut the unemployment rate in half simply by enforcing immigration laws!



"The bill won't pass because the American people oppose rewarding lawbreakers, which then encourages even more illegal immigration."