Posted on 10/14/2006 5:36:22 PM PDT by JulieRNR21
Senate Candidates Divided On Immigration Issue
The two candidates for U.S. Senate find themselves on opposite sides of the battle over immigration reform.
Republican Katherine Harris is attacking incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, saying he wants to give a free ride to citizenship for people living in this country illegally.
A recent survey shows illegal immigration is a top concern among Florida voters, WESH 2 News reported
In fact, more voters said they're worried more about immigration than they are about terrorism or the war in Iraq.
Willie Telismon said he doesn't mind grueling work. Picking fruit pays little, but he said he's proud to say he's received his immigrant working papers after coming to this country illegally.
More than 800,000 illegal immigrants are working in Florida, mostly in low-paying jobs.
Even for those who attain U.S. citizenship, the process can take two or more years.
Demonstrators who have marched in protest of current immigration laws are demanding citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
"We just want to have the American dream like everyone else," said Elias Piccard, who marched in a recent rally.
"We just want to be treated fairly. We want to be treated like humans. And sometimes we're not," Adriana Ortiz said.
Illegal immigrants are committing themselves to hard work, but a new study shows they're costing Florida taxpayers more than $4 billion per year in health care, education and other social programs. Another study shows only half pay taxes.
Harris voted for the U.S. House bill that proposes building a fence along the Mexican border and holding employers criminally liable if they hire illegal aliens. Nelson supports a plan passed by the Senate that would give some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, but he does not call that amnesty.
"You take a portion of those and you send them back, but a portion of them that are needed for the labor supply, they can't have a criminal record, they have to pay back taxes and fines, they have to learn English, and they have to have a full-time job of employment," he said.
"We differ strongly on that point. The bill that he supports, tens of millions of new citizens would come into our country. Tens of millions. Up to 100 million new citizens. And at a cost of $50 billion annually in social services alone," Harris said. "Those are dollars that our taxpayers, everyday citizens are incurring for an act against our law."
It is an important decision for voters. No compromise bill has been forged, and whoever wins the Senate race next month will play an important role in deciding which immigration law is passed.
It's an easy choice, WESH 2 political reporter Greg Fox reported. If you're a hard-liner on illegal immigration, Harris may be your candidate. If citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants is OK with you, Nelson might be your choice.
It's my understanding that his wife, Columba wanted a break from politics. The word is she didn't want Jeb running for any office!
According to this TV station:
A recent survey shows illegal immigration is a top concern among Florida voters, WESH 2 News reported.
In fact, more voters said they're worried more about immigration than they are about terrorism or the war in Iraq.
Good evening!
It would be great to see you and The First Lady at the Harris Victory Party!
Poll: Immigration Could Decide Tight Races
[Issue Could Be Decisive in Many Battleground Contests]
A new poll examines the views of likely voters nationally and in 14 contested Senate and House races. The findings show strong majorities of Americans want immigration laws enforced and illegal immigrants to go home. One of the strongest findings is that the public overwhelmingly opposes increases in legal immigration of the kind found in the bill passed earlier this year by the Senate.
The results are surprisingly consistent across the country, both in terms of how voters see the problem, and what they want done about it. Unlike many other polls, the survey uses neutral language and avoids terms like “amnesty” and “illegal alien.” The survey was done by the polling company inc. for the Center for Immigration Studies.
In addition to a national poll, detailed polling on immigration was done in four contested Senate races -- Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Montana -- and in 10 contested House races: Arizona 5th, Connecticut 4th, Indiana 8th, Kentucky 4th, Pennsylvania 6th, Texas 17th, Louisiana 3rd, Georgia 8th, Colorado 7th, and Ohio 6th.
The results are embargoed until Monday, October 16, at 9:30 a.m. Advance copies are available to the media. The data will be available online at www.cis.org
---Mark Krikorian, CIS
October 11, 2006
I have not seen any ads from Rep. Harris either. I think she will wait until closer to the election and than there will be a TV and newspaper blitz. Money may be an issue as I don't think that she is getting much from the RNC senatorial committee. The RNC is pouring money into Chaffee's campaign. It doesn't seem to matter who the primary voters choose they almost ignore us in an effort to keep "the club" intact.
I get so crazy over the choices that the RNC makes. Arlen Specter comes to mind.
Let's see. That would be $5000 per illegal. I wish somebody would give me $5000. Do you think if I went to Mexico they would .... No, of course not.
Of course, anyone who's been following the illegal immigration issue knows that Bush's "comprehensive" plan is a code word for amnesty. But some of us aren't as dumb as he thinks. It's ironic but Nelson and Bush agree more than Bush and Harris!
>>What happening in CA regarding illegals & amnesty?
Is it as big an issue in CA as it is in FL? <<
California has already gone Third World !
We waited too long to deal with this issue, without politically incorrect solutions - -
result: Leftwing democrats took over this state completely .
Hopefully it is not too late for Florida .
Where illegals take over, so do the CommunistCrats !
Isn't discussing the Nelson-Harris "race" a waste of good bandwidth?
No, but your posts are.
Understand........I may have upset a few on this thread. But, in the end, I want the FL seat and all seats in the country to be GOP on election night.
Jeb would never want a Senate seat.
There were others, and I am equally upset that they did not run.
I hope so! We've already sent in our absentee ballots!
Nobody actually gets $5,000 when any government spends $5,000. The bulk of it goes into payroll, new buildings to hold the new payroll, travel...etc. That doesn't count the mis-use and corruption factors either.
Wouldn't it be great to get together for a Harris victory party? If it's too far to drive, maybe a little dinner party at our favorite restaurant?
Gonzo can sing "Why Didn't You Believe Us When We Said She Would Knock 'Em Dead When We Knew She Was a Winner All the Time?"
Leni
BTTT
Just exactly WHO IS this conservative Republican candidate that was likely to beat Nelson? Where is he today? Where was he two years ago? Why was he so unsuccessful against Harris?
If you insist on having candidates that can win regardless of politics, you will end up like us in Kalifornia with a RINO governor fighting global warming.
LOL!
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