Ill. Mortgage Program Benefitting Illegal Aliens (Dems treat illegals better than Vets)

llinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich(D) has used his executive powers to create a state-backed low-interest mortgage loan program for persons with little or no credit history, including illegal aliens.

The Opportunity I-Loans, as they are called, have a below-market interest rate (currently 5.95 percent) for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. The interest rate will vary but will always be at least half a point below market interest rates. A slightly higher interest rate is also available for homebuyers who receive $1,000 in downpayment assistance through the program.

The move generated praise from some groups and criticism from others, including denunciations from all four candidates for the Republican nomination for governor.

"People who are working hard, paying their taxes, are of good moral character ... regardless of their immigration status, they, too, should be able to share in the American dream," U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) told reporters at a December 11 service at New Zion Baptist Church in Chicago, where Blagojevich announced the program.

"Buying a home is a key first step for many working families to start realizing the American Dream," Blagojevich said in a statement. "But when you are paid in cash, or you can't open a checking account or establish a credit history, applying for a mortgage loan is a lot more difficult. That's why we created the Opportunity I-Loan program to help Latino families, African-American families, Asian-American families, and so many other families qualify for a loan and buy a home."

Jim Inhofe has introduced good legislation in the Senate. In it he praises the Minutemen.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r109:./temp/~r109y5z2Zj

NATIONAL BORDER NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM -- (Senate - December 16, 2005)

--- Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, yesterday I introduced S. 2117, which is a bill engaging our Nation to fight concerning our right to control entry. It is legislation that covers many aspects of the problem we are having on our very porous borders. One part of this is utilizing retired law enforcement officers. As many people know, national law enforcement officers have to retire at age 57. We learned of their availability after 9/11 when the Transportation Safety Administration and our office was inundated with calls from these brave law enforcement officers who are retired, saying that they wanted to participate in this activity, and they are willing to do it for costs. The legislation I have introduced does include the very sophisticated type of a fence that goes along the border between Mexico and the United States and also with an army of people who can join those who have already demonstrated very clearly that if we have enough people down there, we will be able to secure our borders.

Illegal immigration is at an all-time high, with around 1 million illegal aliens infiltrating our borders each year.

Through the creation of the National Border Neighborhood Watch Program, NBNW, retired law enforcement officials called the Border Regiment Assisting in Valuable Enforcement, BRAVE, Force agents, will come and work alongside Border Patrol agents. Civilian volunteers, much like the now well-known Minutemen, will be able to report immigration violations to assigned BRAVE Force agents.

The NBNW Program is modeled after the National Neighborhood Watch program, a collaboration between law enforcement, businesses, and concerned citizens who watch for and report suspicious criminal activity in neighborhoods to the local police.

Another provision of the ENFORCE Act will make it a felony to be illegally present in the U.S.

Our State, local, and tribal law enforcement are experiencing increasing encounters with illegal and criminal aliens during routine police duties. The typical officer often does not know the law, policy, and procedures for determining immigration status or violations--apart from or in conjunction with other offenses--concerning alien lawbreakers. Knowledge of basic immigration enforcement can complement law enforcement's core mission; should a local officer have strong reason to suspect other law violations without sufficient evidence to hold or charge the alien on other offenses, immigration violations may constitute sufficient grounds to hold a criminal.

Not only are illegal immigrants increasing by crossing the border and dodging law enforcement officers, they are having ``anchor babies'' in rapid numbers. Anchor babies are born to illegal aliens who come to our country and have a baby who is then treated as a citizen because it was born on U.S. soil. These babies are helping the immigration population grow more rapidly than the birth rate of American citizens.

Furthermore, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, CIS, a non-profit immigration reform organization, based on numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2002 there were about 8.4 million illegal aliens, which represent about 3.3 percent of the total U.S. population. That same year, there were about 383,000 babies born to illegal aliens, which represents about 9.5 percent of all U.S. births in 2002. In the Spring 2005 issue of the American Physicians and Surgeons Journal, Dr. Madeleine Pelner Cosman says, ``American hospitals welcome anchor babies. ``Illegal alien women come to the hospital in labor and drop their little anchors, each of whom pulls its illegal alien mother, father, and siblings into permanent residency simply by being born within our borders. ``Anchor babies are, and instantly qualify for public welfare aid.'' Between 300,000 and 350,000 anchor babies annually become citizens because of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which says: ``All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside.''

These anchor babies are being used to enable their parents to skirt the law, cross our borders, and bring in additional, illegal aliens. As the law currently stands, because these children are considered citizens, it creates an incentive for more aliens to illegally cross into our country.

My bill will end this incentive by clarifying that only children born to citizens or legal permanent residents are considered citizens and ``subject to the jurisdiction thereof.'' The ENFORCE Act will also address several issues including clarification of acceptable identification documents, verification of Social Security numbers and benefits, clarification of the rights of local and state law enforcement officers concerning illegal immigration and construction of a fence along our southern border.

There is a growing problem regarding fraudulent identification, identity theft and foreign-issued consular cards in our country. Illegal aliens often steal a person's identification, such as the birth certificate of a deceased person, and use it to gain employment and other benefits.

The ENFORCE Act will clarify which identification documents can be used for official identification within the United States--such as driver's licenses, passports, etc.--eliminating the use of consular cards for identification. Often, foreign embassies, within the U.S., will issue consular cards to their citizens who are in the U.S. These cards are unnecessary because the U.S. government either recognizes foreign passports or issues its own identification documents to foreigners who are legally in the U.S. The majority of consular cards have been found to be used as identification for illegal aliens and have been called an insecure document by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.

Another provision in my bill will address Social Security benefits for work performed by illegal aliens. Under current law, former illegal aliens, who gain legal status, are able to receive Social Security benefits for the work they performed while they were illegal. My bill will end this practice by not allowing anyone to collect Social Security benefits for work performed while they were illegally present in this country. Our Social Security system is already strained and faces bankruptcy. Allowing work performed by illegals to be counted and used to further drain our Social Security system must stop. The ENFORCE Act will also address fraudulent use of the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, ITIN.

Another issue my bill addresses is building a fence along our southern border. It is known, according to government reports, that foreign nationals from countries such as Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia have crossed our southern borders, not to mention the high number of illegal aliens from other countries. According to We Need a Fence, an organization dedicated to ensuring a fence is built along our southern border, a CNN poll has shown that 87 percent of its respondents support building a security fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. The ENFORCE Act will direct a high security, state-of-the-art fence to be built along our southern border to prevent illegal border crossings. This fence will actually consist of two fences separated by a patrol road, ditches, barbed wire, and surveillance cameras. While the initial cost to build the fence is considered high by some, I firmly believe it will result in savings in the long run by preventing illegal border crossings and eliminating the cost of finding, arresting, detaining and deporting illegal aliens.

The ENFORCE Act will also make it illegal to establish day-laborer centers and to assist illegal aliens in finding employment, much like the sites that are set to be built for illegal aliens in Fairfax County, VA.

Another problem we face is educating illegal aliens. Some states, such as Oklahoma, allow illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition at colleges and universities. This is a slap in the face to out-of-state students who must pay higher tuition than illegal aliens who have broken the law and do not even belong in our country. My bill will address this problem so that illegal aliens will not be able to receive this benefit.

Last May, my friend's son, Jeff Garrett, was tragically shot by an illegal alien while Jeff was turkey hunting in Colorado. After he shot Jeff, the illegal fled to Mexico, where he is hiding today. I know this story is just one among many about innocent Americans murdered each year by illegal aliens who then find safe harbor in Mexico. I believe the ENFORCE Act will not only help prevent these criminals from coming across our borders, but is a good start to ending our rampant problem of illegal immigration in general.

I ask my colleagues to join me in solving our immigration problem by cosponsoring the ENFORCE Act.(snips)

Ask your senator why they have not cosponsored Inhofes bill!

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