Thread: There's More Than One Way To Fight Illegal Immigration

Another response from a member of Congress on my letter:

Ms. ------: just a short note to let you know I received your e mail and your thoughts on illegal immigration. This is a very serious issue and impacts Idaho significantly. Thanks for your input.
Rep. George Eskridge

Another response:

Dear Ms. -------,
Thank you for your detailed e-mail with stats on illegal immigration. I could tell this issue is very important to you and your desire to have Idaho legislators more educated on this issue.

At this time I have not heard of any legislation on this subject yet this legislative session. I appreciated your comments and will keep them under consideration if any legislation comes forward.
Sincerely, Rep. Elaine Smith - District 30

That is a GREAT letter. You should be extremely proud of yourself. I may have to borrow it (if you don't mind) and send it to the representatives of my illegal alien loving state.

Thanks, Lynne. Feel free to use it. I hope it helps.

bttt

My response to Representative Jaquet from her letter above:

Dear Representative Jaquet:

In your response to my email of January 22, 2008 regarding the illegal alien problem in Idaho, you asked if I have any specific recommendations for state action. This issue is so complex, there are no easy answers. Although Idaho has already taken some measures, I’m concerned that it isn’t enough. So far we have passed an English Only Law for the state of Idaho. However, any state public documents that are coupled with federal money still have to be bilingual. So this makes this bill weak as many of our state agencies receive federal dollars.

Another bill that was passed to deny social benefits to illegal aliens is also weak. Many of these people, although here in this country illegally themselves, have children who are born here who get automatic citizenship. So, in essence an illegal parent still receives benefits such as food stamps when they are given to the legal children. Some states are already considering denying birth certificates to babies born to illegal alien parents. Instead the parents would have to go to their consulate who would in turn apply through our federal government for this. I think this would go a long way in discouraging more birthright citizenships as most illegal aliens would be hesitant to expose themselves for fear of deportation.

The S.A.V.E. program to verify if an employee is in this country legally is also weak by its voluntary participation. Employers who insist on hiring illegal workers are not going to sign up and we have no way to check to see who is using this program. This program will only work if participation is mandatory with follow-up measures of enforcement. As it stands right now we don’t have any kind of enforcement for the workplace. This is especially important for us because we also have contractors from the state of Washington coming here to do construction, landscaping and paving jobs, who are bringing illegal aliens with them. The state of Washington has been cracking down on the hiring of illegal aliens which is pushing them across the border to work here in Idaho.

The most troubling part about having illegal aliens in our country is that we do not know who these people are, or anything about their backgrounds. I understand from law enforcement that if someone is arrested who they feel may be in the country illegally, they notify ICE who investigates and decides on deportation. However, we find ourselves waiting for a crime to be committed before expelling a criminal illegal alien from our midst. The people who come here illegally have already committed a crime by entering the country without permission and the majority of those people are using false documents which have been stolen or fraudulently purchased which already makes them a felon. If you google Violent Crimes Institute and read the articles by Dr. Deborah Shurman-Kauflin, you’ll find that many of the violent rapes and murders of our citizens by illegal aliens are committed by young males who are working as day laborers and other low paying jobs. These people are living amongst us, next door, down the street, near our schools, doing work for our elderly. It’s like watching a hand grenade with the pin pulled and waiting for it to go off. However, if we dare ask the legal status of people who we suspect are here illegally, the ACLU and Hispanic groups rear up and scream racism. Somehow, we have to find a way to stop allowing ourselves to be the victims in our own country.

The state of Oklalhoma just passed Bill 1804, the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which is the stiffest enforcement bill I have seen yet. And it has been upheld even though the ACLU and other advocate groups have tried to knock it down in court. Oklahoma was smart to design their bill using the federal laws of the 1996 Immigration Act which I talked about in my previous letter to you. Below is a portion of an article about the Oklahoma bill, but if you want to look at the bill itself, just google it and it comes right up. There are also many articles about this and how the illegal aliens are fleeing Oklahoma in huge numbers for fear of being caught. Apparently just the threat of the bill is working.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my lengthy letters and I sincerely hope Idaho will do everything possible to ensure our citizens and our jobs are safe. If I can help in any way or make suggestions, please call me.

Sincerely,
-------------

House Bill 1804 was passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate of the Oklahoma Legislature. The measure's sponsor, State Representative Randy Terrill, says the bill has four main topical areas: it deals with identity theft; it terminates public assistance benefits to illegal; it empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws; and it punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Oklahoma is no longer "O.K." for illegal aliens, Terrill observes. "When you put everything together in context," he contends, "the bottom line is illegal aliens will not come here if there are no jobs waiting for them, they will not stay here if there is no government subsidy, and they certainly won't stay here if they know that if they ever encounter our state and local law enforcement officers, they will be physically detained until they're deported. And that's exactly what House Bill 1804 does."

The Oklahoma legislator is pleased the bill he sponsored into law was signed by Governor Henry and believes it will go a long way to curb t he illegal immigration problem in the state. "I would remind people that states are separate sovereigns in our federal system," Terrill points out. "Anyone who doesn't understand that needs to go back and take an American federal government class in college," he says.

As a result of that sovereignty, the Oklahoma lawmaker insists, "We have as much right - in fact, I would argue, a responsibility - to protect our tax payers against that sort of egregious waste, fraud and abuse as the federal government should have a responsibility to protect that international border, but doesn't do that."

Terrill says as long as the federal government refuses to do its job of protecting the international borders of the United States, states like Oklahoma must take action to deal with the problem that is costing taxpayers in the state $200 billion a year in public benefits, law enforcement costs, and other resources.

Gosh, Tiny and SoSad, can't believe I didn't see this thread. Thanks for PM'ing me to it. Awesome letter, Tiny. (BTW, I had no idea you were a she; I thought you were a he coz of "bob" -- heehehe.)

I'm so glad to hear Ada County is going for 287(g)!! That's MY COUNTY!! And that is an awesome start. Nampa and Caldwell are hotbeds of illegals.... those cities always have the most crime stories in the Idaho Stateman, did you notice? Boise is getting "up there" too.

I believe if our legislature can copy OK's 1804, that is the way to go. I hear another state -- is it Wyoming? -- is going to copy it. It seems to have passed muster, so it must be airtight.

So, 1804 and 287(g) are the biggest messages, so far, for illegals to get out of Idaho.

What can I do to help??

Tiny, I am an actual "victim" of II. I fled CA PRECISELY coz of what I saw there. Maybe an anecdotal letter from me could help? I know they want facts, so maybe not....

I am also going to use your letter! ( which is very well written and covers all the issues) I am going to send to all my reps in Ca...This should be interesting. lol

Go for it, Cali.

And Ex_OC, I think a testimonial from you would be a real eye opener for these guys. Thanks. If you need any help, let me know.