Daily Thread: Illegal Alien Freedom Ride Counter Protest

Title: Illegal Alien Freedom Ride Counter Protest Source: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

URL Source: http://www.fairus.org/html/activism.html Published: Sep 25, 2003 Author: staff

Beginning Sept. 28th thru Oct. 4th, many of us will be joining groups from across the country to counter the Illegal Immigrants Freedom Ride to DC. We will be using toll free phone numbers (that we pay for) to blitz the Senate, House and the Whitehouse on behalf of the hardworking citizens of the United States....the taxpayers.

Please join us. NUMBERS MATTER! It's our only hope to keep our politicians in line on this issue. We did it once early in the Bush Administration when he first pushed amnesty for illegals. It was a success! But we need you now to counter the Illegal's demand for "rights."

Please give us some time, if only to call your own Senators and Representatives to protest this invasion. And please consider calling as many of them as you can! In coming days I'll be posting links to the current incumbents, as well as a list of key sponsors of Pro-Illegal bills before the House and Senate.

The following are frequently asked questions to be used as talking points. Please print a copy to use in the event you actually get a "human being" to talk to! :0)

In 2001, more than one million immigrants were admitted to the United States. Additionally, about 500,000 entered illegally. This is nearly four times as many immigrants as we were receiving only 30 years ago.

About 20 percent come from Mexico. India, China, and the Philippines each send between five to seven percent. The following countries each send between two and three percent of our immigrants: Vietnam, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti, Bosnia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Korea, Russia, and Nicaragua. Together, these top 15 sending countries account for about 60 percent of all immigration to the U.S. The remaining 40 percent is composed of very small shares from a large number of other countries.

Most immigration (almost two-thirds) is sponsored by family members in this country who most often immigrated themselves and are now legal permanent residents or have become U.S. citizens. Smaller shares of admissions (about one-sixth) go to workers (and their families) whom employers say they need to complement the native workforce, and to refugees and asylees (about one-tenth). In addition, about one out of every 25 admissions visas is given away by lottery.

As a sovereign state, the United States has the right and responsibility to regulate the permanent and temporary admissions of non-citizens. This authority is vested in the Congress, which makes the laws that determine the basis on which visas are authorized (although refugee admissions are proposed annually by the President for concurrance by the Congress). The regulations that promulgate those laws are developed and administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) a division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Within the INS, there are the Border Patrol, which monitors the borders against illegal entry; the INS Inspectors, who monitor people entering the U.S. at ports of entry such as airports; INS Investigators, who track down violators of immigration law; and immigration judges (appointed by the Attorney General), who hear cases on violations of immigration law and regulation. Independent from the INS but still within in the DOJ, there is a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review; the BIA hears appeals of decisions by the immigration judges.

Immigration is much higher now than it has historically been. Through most of our country's history (more than 180 years), we took in fewer than 500,000 immigrants a year; for more than 135 of those years, it was fewer than 300,000 immigrants. In 2001, our country admitted 1,064,318 legal immigrants, as well as an estimated additional 500,000 illegal immigrants. Only seven years in our entire history have had as many immigrants as we received in 2001.

Because so many of today's immigrants are low-skilled, mass immigration brings competition for entry-level jobs, harming American low-skilled workers. Because most of today's immigrants are poor, they are a drain on our fiscal resources and our economy. Because immigrants are being admitted faster they assimilate, mass immigration is causing social strain and strife among different groups. And because immigration is the source of most population growth in the U.S., it strains the environment and our natural resources.

FAIR believes we should strive for a system in which continuing immigration does not add to our population size. That would mean admitting between 200,000 and 300,000 immigrants a year. This would allow us to maximize the positive effects of immigration without overwhelming our environment, schools, social services, and other institutions. It would also contribute to U.S. population stability over the long-term.

“Immigration is a big part of American tradition and national character. We are a nation of immigrants. ”

The fact is, immigration levels today are far higher than traditional levels; in the mid 1950s, our immigration was less than one-third what it is today. Also, the U.S. today is a very different country than in years past. We’re now a fully populated nation of almost 290 million people, not the sparsely settled territory of 150 years ago. Today we’re concerned about limiting sprawl, overcrowding, and environmental stress. Yet, if today’s rate of immigration is continued, it will add nearly 150 million people to our population over the next 80 years. How will that help achieve a single U.S. objective? Will it decrease traffic and other forms of congestion, improve water tables, decrease school overcrowding, cut oil consumption, reduce housing costs? Not one single domestic objective of our nation is being facilitated by today’s mass migration.

“Immigration has been good for us in the past and has made our nation great.”

Immigration in the past did bring benefits--in the past, the U.S. needed large numbers of people to settle the frontiers, cut forests, build railroads, mine gold, and much more. Today’s priorities are preserving our remaining wilderness areas, conserving our natural resources, and ensuring a better quality of life for future generations.

Furthermore, immigration in the past has been quite limited. History shows us that immigration at high levels is not beneficial, which is why the country cut back immigration after the brief Ellis Island period. In the past, we have successfully absorbed and assimilated immigrants because we have periodically halted immigration.

“Throughout our history, people have always attacked immigration and they have always been wrong.”

While people have opposed immigration for a variety of motives over the years, Americans have always had legitimate concerns about immigration and its effects on our population, economy, and society. While we have coped successfully with some of these concerns in the past, that is largely because mass immigration to this country was stopped, not because the concerns were unfounded.

“Immigration is less of a problem today because immigrants comprise a smaller share of our overall population than ever before.”

Quite the opposite is true. When there were fewer people in this country, there was more room and opportunity for immigrants. Now, in a country already stuffed with well over a quarter of a billion people, adding another million through immigration every year is much more of a problem. The more people we have in our country, the fewer immigrants can be added without unwanted consequences.

There are always people who support the right idea for the wrong reasons--but that doesn’t make the idea itself wrong. None of this changes the fact that bringing a million additional people from other countries into this one is disruptive to our economy, our society, and our environment. We condemn racism. But we also condemn the use of terms such as “anti-immigrant,” “racist,” or “xenophobe” as they are used to try to stifle open, honest discussion of how our immigration policy is impacting the country.

“Immigrants are a driving force behind our economy, performing jobs that Americans won’t do.”

There are no jobs Americans won’t do, only conditions and wages that are unacceptable. The employers who have become economically dependent on immigrants for cheap labor use this argument to justify virtual indentured servitude and then try to shame Americans into accepting it. Job competition by waves of new immigrants depresses the wages and salaries of American workers and hits hardest at minority workers and those without high school degrees.

Actually, both are true. But many of those jobs created are jobs in providing services to immigrants. Other jobs that immigrants create are generally low-skilled and mostly go to other other immigrants anyway. This doesn’t really benefit Americans at all; it simply creates distortions in the economy, generally away from the high-skills, high-education, high-wage economy most Americans support. And it doesn’t in any way address the increased burdens on our schools, environment, social services, and natural resources that bringing in so many additional people causes.

“We live in a global economy and must have foreign workers to compete in the world market.”

Very little immigration is of skilled personnel. Besides, it is precisely because of advances in global communications that we do not have to allow people to move to the U.S. to take advantage of their talents and benefit from their contributions.

“Immigrants are a net benefit, because they pay taxes and contribute more to our society than they cost.”

The seminal study of the costs of immigration by the National Academy of Sciences found that the taxes paid by immigrants do not cover the cost of services received by them. A calculation to the contrary works only if you discount the programs used by the immigrants’ children, refugees and asylees, immigrants who aren’t of working age, illegal immigrants working “off the books,” and immigrants from certain countries.

This argument also ignores the impact of sacrificing farmland and forests to roads and housing developments, increasing congestion to the point that people spend more time in traffic than at home with their families, and raising the burden on our already strained water supply and other natural resources.

A country isn’t a big box that you stuff as many people in as possible. It’s a society supported by an environment, and the question isn’t how many people can physically fit in it, but how many people the society wants and the environment can support. Many of the “wide open spaces ” in the U.S. are inhospitable deserts or mountains, or are already used as farmland to raise food to support the population living on the coasts and to export to feed people in other countries.

“Immigrants catch up quickly economically and soon blend into American society.”

There is increasing evidence of groups of immigrants who are trapped in depressed inner cities, and their children similarly find themselves unable to escape poverty. Today more than 21 million people in our country say that they speak English less than very well. Besides, the hub of the problem is not the rate at which immigrants are assimilating, it’s the rate at which we are admitting them. As long as we have mass immigration, the bulk of unassimilated people in our culture will grow, causing social tension and conflict.

The distinction between legal and illegal immigrants is increasingly blurred by programs such as the amnesty in 1986 that gave legal status to nearly three million illegal residents and provisions that allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents if they marry someone legally here, i.e., Section 245(i). There is little difference between the societal effects from illegal immigrants and from those who were amnestied (and the same is true to a large extent for family members sponsored by former illegal aliens).

“We have a humanitarian obligation to take in struggling people from other countries.”

We can’t solve the world’s problems by importing a tiny fraction of the millions who would like to come here. Instead, we should solve problems where people live and help them turn their countries into places that people aren’t driven to leave. But although the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that foreign aid and assistance is best utilized when the resources are spent on alleviating problems at their source, the U.S. channels a large share of its refugee resources on the transportation, language training, cultural adaptation, and assistance grants to refugees resettled in the United States that could benefit many more refugees if expended on temporary shelter and sustenance at refugee facilities near the refugees’ homeland and in the refugees’ eventual return to their homes.

It should be noted, however, that the United States admits as refugees many persons who are not true refugees under the United Nations’ standard, e.g. people from Cuba who do not qualify for asylum in this country.

FAIR Legislative Update

September 30, 2003

House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Extend and Expand the Basic Pilot Employment Verification Program

The House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday to extend and expand a pilot program to help employers avoid hiring illegal aliens. The bill, H.R. 2359, by Representative Ken Calvert (R-CA), would extend the program through 2008. It was set to expire Nov. 30. The measure was approved 18-8, with Steve Chabot (R-OH) voting with committee Democrats against the bill.

Immigration Subcommittee Chairman John Hostettler (R-IN) succeeded in amending the bill to expand the voluntary program from five states to nationwide.

The Basic Pilot Verification Program was created by a 1996 law to help companies comply with U.S. laws that bar them from knowingly hiring illegal aliens. Employers participating in the free program receive computer software that allows them to access federal databases to screen all new hires to determine if they are eligible to work.

U.S. Treasury Department Gives Green Light to Unregulated Acceptance of Foreign Identification Documents

On September 25, the U.S. Treasury Department gave banks the green light to unregulated acceptance of foreign identification documents, such as the highly controversial and easily counterfeited Mexican matricula consular card. In an unprecedented move, Treasury had reopened the public comment period for regulations it had already finalized in May allowing banks to accept foreign government-issued consular cards. Unfortunately, after reviewing more than 34,000 comments, Treasury recommended no changes to the rules. Treasury rejected the idea of developing an official blacklist of foreign documents that financial institutions could not accept when opening new accounts for non-U.S. citizens. Treasury also rejected recommendations to require financial institutions to retain photocopies of identification documents used to verify customers’ identities.

Lawmakers Introduce Companion Farm Worker Amnesty Legislation

On September 23, Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced companion farm worker amnesty bills S.1645 and H.R. 3142. “The Agricultural Job, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003” (AgJOBS) provides an amnesty for illegal aliens engaged in farm work and their spouses and children. The bill also expands the H-2A agricultural guestworker program. A broad coalition consisting of labor unions, agribusiness, the hospitality industry, the immigration law bar, and the usual supporters among open borders and illegal alien advocacy groups have aligned themselves in support of the legislation.

FAIR opposes this legislation and all other attempts to reward illegal aliens with amnesty. Please read our action alert to learn how you can help defeat this pro-illegal alien legislation.

Entry-Exit Tracking System Faces Criticism

The congressionally mandated entry-exit tracking system, U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology system (U.S. VISIT) appears to be in trouble. This is alarming because one of the keys to identifying potential terrorists, criminal aliens, and visa violators will be the effective operation of an entry-exit tracking system. On September 23, the General Accounting Office released a scathing report citing several factors making the U.S. VISIT program “a risky endeavor.” These factors were attributed to poor management and include the potential cost, the low current staffing level, and the fact that the system’s final structure remains unclear. GAO recommended that DHS establish a multi-agency body to guide and direct the program.

Congressional support for U.S. VISIT also appears to be waning. The 2004 Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 2555) approved by Congress includes only $330 million for U.S. VISIT, a full 31 percent less than the $480 million President Bush requested. Appropriators based the funding reduction on the fact that DHS has been slow to provide congressionally mandated spending plans and other information on the program, as well as more details on how the program will work.

Last Week’s Floor Statements
September 23:
• Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA) presented statements in support of his legislation, H.R. 2671, the “Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003.”
THE CLEAR ACT OF 2003

• Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) presented statements in support of his illegal alien farm worker amnesty legislation, S. 1645.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

September 24:
• Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) made comments on “Our Nation’s Immigration.”

Upcoming Events
Tuesday, September 30:
• The Senate Immigration Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine visa security. Witnesses include Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border security and transportation security, Homeland Security Department; and Maura Harty, assistant secretary for consular affairs, State Department. When: 2 p.m. Where: 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Contact: 202-224-5225

Wednesday, October 1:
• The House Select Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on “Identification Documents Fraud and the Implications for Homeland Security.” When: 1 p.m. Where: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. Contact: 202-225-9600.
• The House Immigration Subcommittee will hold a hearing on immigration law enforcement and H.R. 2671, the “Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003.” When: 4 p.m. Where: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building. Contact: 202-225-3951.
Guys, make sure you call These people's offices and these #'s on Thursday 10-2! The Senator/Reps contained in these links needs to be contacted!

TAKE ACTION NOW!!! From FAIR:

Help Defeat Illegal Alien Farm Worker Amnesty Legislation
Help Defeat Illegal Alien Farm Worker Amnesty Legislation Take Action Now!
Urge Your Elected Officials to Oppose S.1645 and H.R. 3142
On September 23, Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced companion farm worker amnesty bills, S.1645 and H.R. 3142. "The Agricultural Job, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003" (AgJOBS bill) provides a "one-time" amnesty for illegal aliens engaged in farm work and their spouses and children. The bill also expands the H-2A agricultural guestworker program.

A broad coalition consisting of labor unions, agribusiness, the hospitality industry, the immigration law bar, and the usual supporters among open borders and illegal alien advocacy groups have aligned themselves in support of the legislation.

FAIR opposes this legislation and all other attempts to reward illegal aliens with amnesty. Please help us defeat the AgJOBS bill by urging your representative and senators and to oppose S.1645 and H.R. 3142.

Here's how it would work:
Illegal alien farm workers would be granted temporary residence if they worked the lesser of 575 hours or 100 work days during any 12 consecutive months between March 1, 2001 and August 31, 2003.

After working the lesser of 2,060 hours or 360 work days in agriculture in the six year period between September 1, 2003 and August 31, 2009, they could adjust their status to legal permanent resident.

Spouses and relatives gain legal permanent residency along with applicants.

Illegal aliens detained prior to enactment, if otherwise eligible for the amnesty, would not be deported. Type your zip code into the "take action now" box to send a free faxed message to your legislators opposing this legislation.

TAKE ACTION NOW ALERT

Follow up your faxed message with a phone call. Visit the elected officials section of our web site for help contacting your legislators.
Elected Officials Find elected officials, including the president, members of Congress, and more.

Forward this alert to your likeminded friends and family members and ask them to contact their elected officials.

Talking Points:
Any guestworker program that involves "earned legalization" is an amnesty, a reward for law-breaking that is vociferously opposed by the American public.

This is not only an amnesty for illegal aliens, it is also an amnesty for employers who have consistently violated federal employment laws.

Nothing in this bill will prevent employers from continuing to employ illegal aliens once the amnesty is in place.

Nothing in this bill will empower federal immigration enforcement authorities to properly enforce employer sanctions.

Nothing in this bill requires mandatory worker eligibility verification to prevent further illegal immigration. For more information on why guestworker programs and amnesty are a bad idea, read the following FAIR issue briefs:

How Guestworker Programs Harm America

Why Amnesty For Illegal Aliens Is A Bad Idea

FYI Update for anyone who asked for SAVE OUR LICENSE petitions:
Our petition drive to overturn SB 60 is picking up steam! We've now mailed petitions to the more than 30,000 individuals that signed up at SaveOurLicense.com.

When you receive your petition(s) in the mail, PLEASE take the time to fill it out and mail it back to us as soon as possible. We need to make decisions in the coming weeks about whether we should hire a paid signature gathering firm. If properly filled out petitions are coming in at a quick pace, we can avoid paying signature gathers. That will save us thousands of dollars.

We are also in the process of setting up regional distribution sites where individuals can pick up additional petitions as well. Several radio stations throughout the state, as well as local CRA units, will be serving as petition pick up points. Once we have locations finalized, we will post the information on our website:
Save Our License!

Please understand that we are printing and mailing petitions as fast as we can afford to. We do not have a big special interest group bankrolling our efforts.

We could really use your financial support. To help raise the money necessary to qualify and win, we have set up a way to donate securely on-line to cover these expenses.

Thank you very much for your help and support.
God Bless,
Mike Spence - CRA President & Proponent of the Referendum
Save Our License is a project of the California Republican Assembly
Post Office Box 877, Monrovia, California 91017

Local 2544

National Border Patrol Council

Tucson, Arizona

AFGE - AFL/CIO

Edward Tuffly II, President

We represent Border Patrol Agents and other employees in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, covering most of the State of Arizona. This website is maintained for our Union members, but based on the feedback received by the Local 2544 President it is obvious that the site is heavily used by a wide variety of government employees, retired Border Patrol agents, media, and private citizens. Our members are a diverse work group, comprised of people from all walks of life. We believe it is important for you to understand that we support legal immigration. However, the American taxpayers pay us to stop illegal immigration. Although it may appear to the uninformed party that we are hard on certain politicians and pro-illegal alien activists, everyone should understand that we have a hard job to do and some of these people make our jobs even harder with the positions they take. We are staunchly against any form of "amnesty" to reward illegal aliens for sneaking into this country. It makes us wonder why we risk our lives to stop them in the first place. Currently, no portion of this site is restricted. We are proud of the work we do on behalf of our members. We welcome your comments.

One union who is doing right!

president@local2544.org

__________________________________________________________

ATTENTION MEMBERS: THE AFL/CIO HAS SOLD YOU OUT!

The AFL/CIO is apparently in the Alien SMuggling business now (and you thought they were a labor organization). tHEY ARE ALSO providing a platform for RADICAL ANTI-BORDER PATROL GROUPS SUCH AS "DERECHOS HUMANOS" AND "COMIDA, NO MIGRA"

Would the firefighters' union spend its members' dues money to support arsonists? Of course not. There would be an uproar from the firefighters because arsonists commit criminal acts which endanger the firefighters' lives.

The AFL/CIO, in what can only be termed a total disgrace and an insult to our Union and every Border Patrol agent in this country, is using our funds to support illegal aliens and radical pro-illegal immigration groups.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.