Thread: Texas Senator Dan Patrick

Here is a copy of a letter I got last week from Dan Patrick after making comments to him about Arizona Senate Bill 1070. Today I followed up this letter with questions about why he is supporting Rick Perry.


Thank you for your thoughts regarding illegal immigration in Texas and Arizona Senate Bill 1070. As you may know, I am a strong supporter of strengthening the border security to ensure that Texans are safe from the threat posed by illegal immigrants entering our country. I introduced a similar bill in the 2007 legislative session, SB 773. This bill related to the creation of the offense of criminal trespass by illegal aliens and to certain procedures for arresting illegal aliens suspected of committing criminal offenses. This bill was left pending at the end of the session and, therefore, did not pass.

Despite the great efforts taken and bipartisan compromise, illegal immigration continues to be an unresolved issue in the state. In the 81st Legislative Session, I took several different approaches to addressing this major issue. One bill would have penalized employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens and operate on a cash-only basis. These businesses are violating not only immigration law but are also avoiding state taxes and unemployment insurance. This creates an unfair playing field for businesses operating in Texas. A version of this bill passed out of the committee but did not have the support on the Senate floor to proceed any further.

Another bill I introduced , and passed out of committee would have dealt with the problem of sanctuary cities. Similar to federal law, the bill would have prohibited cities from enacting policies that ban local cooperation with federal immigration efforts. This bill passed out of committee but again did not have the broad support needed to pass the Senate floor.

Senate Bill 2584 was a compromise on the sanctuary city bill, which gained bi-partisan support in the Senate. Legislation would require local law enforcement to report illegal immigrants who have been arrested and have a previous felony record to federal immigration officers. The goal of this bill was to identify repeat offenders and ensure that those illegal immigrant repeat offenders were not released back to the streets. This bill passed the Senate 30-1 but died in the House committee.

I will continue to fight to advance legislation to throttle the tide of illegal immigration and secure our state’s border. If you have any additional questions about legislation be sure to check the following web site for more information:
www.capitol.state.tx.us

If you have any other comments about this or any other issues of concern to you, please contact my office, and my staff will be happy to assist you. It is an honor to serve you in the Texas Senate.

May God bless,

Dan Patrick

My follow up letter this morning after Dan Patrick appeared in Houston last week campaigning for Rick Perry for Governor.

We were very disappointed last week you were in Houston supporting Rick Perry for Governor. The Dallas Morning News exposed Rick Perry on December 6, 2006 saying that " Gov. Rick Perry sharply criticized several immigration proposals Wednesday, saying "divisive" ideas – such as a wall along the border, cutting off public education for illegal immigrants and taking away "birthright citizenship" – should give way to "real solutions."

"Any of those types of legislation that create divisions are bad," Mr. Perry told reporters at a meeting of public officials from the border region. "We need to look at ways to be bringing people together, rather than driving wedges between them."

This goes completely against some of the bills that you wrote and sponsored. It also goes against what the people of Texas want and the majority of people in the America want.

I want to remind you again of the new Zogby poll that shows that the majority of executives, small business owners, and union households oppose amnesty.

To be specific, 59% of executives (CEOs, CFOs, et al) and a whopping 67% of small business owners oppose amnesty. In contrast, only 30% of executives and 22% of small business owners support a "pathway to citizenship." Don't these numbers make it clear that Americans in positions of economic strength oppose amnesty?

The Zogby poll's findings are clear: Americans and Texans do not support amnesty or this unnecessary spending of our tax money on illegal aliens. Rick Perry has made it clear that he doesn't care what America or Texas wants. Please remember that Rick Perry has had quite a few years now to do something about the flood of illegal aliens to this state and has done nothing but support them with statements like in the Dallas Morning News.

Great letter Bigtex.....way to go!!!