Print friendly
E-mail story
Tip Us Off
Comments
Share Article
Facebook
Twitter
Google+1
del.icio.us.
Digg!
Yahoo! Buzz
Diigo
google
newsvine
reddit
technorati
Yahoo!
MyspaceProviding a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, as the President called for again today, without requiring illegal immigrants to return to their countries of origin and apply for legal status, is amnesty.
Amnesty will not pass Congress, Mr. President. It is unfair to the 26 million American workers who are unemployed or underemployed and it is unfair to those who are waiting to legally immigrate to the United States.
Conservatively, seven million people are working in the United States illegally. Instead of focusing on creating jobs and getting 26 million Americans back to work, the President’ proposal would give millions of illegal immigrants the opportunity to work legally in the United States, attract more illegal immigrants looking for the same opportunity, and take more jobs from American workers.
Elton Gallegly (R-CA) represents California's 24th District in the U.S. Congress
Comments
Of course it is amnesty. But the use of the word is now toxic.
Of course wages have been lowered by the influx of illegals, but that fact is overshadowed by the increase in potential voters. And the emotional tirade about "who would pick our vegetables" is comical; the vast majority of illegals do not work in agriculture. Take a look at the wage dive in construction jobs in this state...
Finally, many of us would support the Dream Act if there was any requirement for proof of completion of an academic program instead of an unverifiable statement from the person applying.
Both Dems and Repubs are continuing to use immigration policy for their own interest instead of the collective interest of the country.
italiansurg (anonymous profile)
May 18, 2011 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why would Gallegly write an open letter to the President? I mean, can't he write directly or just make a phone call? He is a Congressman after all :)
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
May 18, 2011 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just more grandstanding from Gallegly, who refuses to meet with his constituents.
EZK (anonymous profile)
May 18, 2011 at 5:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gallegly comes to the simplistic conclusion that if we shipped all the Mexicans back to Mexico that all of a sudden our 26 million unemployed would "get back to work".....
He doesn't bother to explain the mechanism that would make that happen. How, for instance would all the unemployed electronics workers who's jobs have been outsourced to China and India find employment just because we deport a couple of million construction workers and busboys?
Continued Federal tax benefits that reward corporations for shipping our jobs overseas are a primary cause for unemployment. Trying to figure out a way to deport 7 million productive workers will cure neither unemployment nor xenophobia.
tricynical (anonymous profile)
May 19, 2011 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The question is this: Why have immigration laws if they are not enforced or enforced according to the dictates of certain pressure groups? Either the laws should be enforced, or taken off the books; anything else is hypocritical.
Conditions in most of the world are terrible, and since Mexico is next door to us naturally more immigrants will come in from that country than any other. Having said that, the emphasis should be on the problems down there being fixed.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
May 19, 2011 at 8:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amnesty for Illegals?
The only way Obama will get elected for another 4 years!
dou4now.
dou4now (anonymous profile)
May 21, 2011 at 11:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I thought Gallegly was going to bow out graciously several years ago...
GregMohr (anonymous profile)
May 22, 2011 at 1:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)