Rocky on the Wall
Sun, 01/07/2007 - 2:39pm
A new voice has joined the fray over illegal immigration- Sylvester Stallone. While promoting his new movie in Mexico City, Sly took a few moments to criticize U.S. plans to build a 700-foot wall along the U.S. Mexico border. His comments highlighted the benefits immigrant workers bring to the U.S. economy and questioned the impact the wall could have on our diplomatic relations with Mexico.
Once Bush signed the bill last October authorizing the construction of the wall, the story fell off the pages of mainstream media. Stallone's comments brought the immigration story back to the forefront, just in time for the 2007 Texas Legislative session. A dozen bills concerning illegal immigration have been filed for the new session, and some believe immigration will be the issue of the legislative session. New legislation includes an effort by Republican Rep. Leo Berman from Tyler to deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrant parents and Berman's bill that would require an 8% fee on all money sent to Mexico and Central America to families of illegal immigrants (Senator Royce West is sponsoring this bill in the Senate).
Last year Comptroller Strayhorn released a report that estimated illegal immigrants contribute more than $17 billion to the Texas economy and contribute enough tax revenue to cover the state's expenses associated with the benefits they receive through education, transportation, etc. The shortfall lands on county governments in the costs related to indigent healthcare, leaving counties to raise revenues of almost $1 billion each year.
Democrats should spend time talking about the realities of illegal immigration and work to shape a constructive debate that actually solves the problems associated with illegal immigration instead of focusing on political ploys to create a lot of buzz without any real solutions.
Since we know illegal immigrants are providing enough revenue through taxes, fees, and lottery play to cover the expenses they introduce to the state, Democrats should focus our attention on plans to help county governments cover their increased costs and on employers that exploit the immigrant labor force.
I'm a bit amazed that it took a comment from Rocky get the immigration debate back on the front page. The immigration bills in new legislative session seem destined to ensure it stays there. Democrats cannot afford to stand on the sideline of this debate. We must stop race-baiting and stop posturing to see who is tougher on illegal immigrants. We must be front and center leading the discussion about the issues that really matter in immigration.
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
Rocky has rocks in his head.
By magyart
Tue, 11/20/2007 - 1:26am
Illegal immigration will not be solved by a fence, even if it's along the entire border. The federal govt. has FAILED to actually build the fence that was promised. Perhaps three miles, of a single layer of fencing has been finished.
Legislation called for 800 miles of a secure DOUBLE fence.
A few miles of fence will only help protect the "fenced in" portion of the border. Thousands of miles of border will still be wide open.
Illegal aliens from around the world steal across our borders to secure employment. Turn off the job magnet and you reduce the attractiveness of illegally invading the USA. Presently, employees do NOT verify social security numbers.
Any illegal alien can secure a job with false papers. The documents are easily available for $150. Thosusands, if not millions, of illegal aliens have taken jobs with false or stolen identity papers.
If employers were forced to VERIFY every social security number, most illegal aliens would be denied a job. Most of them would go home. They would self-deport. A low paying, but steady job in their homeland is better than waiting for work at Home Depot.
The newly introduce Save Act, HR -4088 was introduced in the US House of Representatives with bipartisam support. It has 110 cosponsors. Identical legislation was introduced this week in the Senate.
Stop the colonization of the USA by illegal aliens.
Call your elected representatives and urge them to SUPPORT this legislation.
Supporters "on the wall" and strong interior enforcement:
By magyart
Mon, 11/26/2007 - 9:18pm
Supporters of the SAVE Act include:
More than 100 Republican and Democrat co-sponsors, including nearly all of the hard-line Republican opponents of illegal immigration and 15 Democratic House committee chairmen. Click here to view the full list of co-sponsors.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), which represents more than 600,000 small businesses in every state. NFIB endorsement said that H.R. 4088 strikes a "fair balance between increased enforcement and limiting regulatory burdens placed on small businesses."
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents more than 725,000 American workers. IBEW endorsed the H.R. 4088 because it focuses on denying "entry of all unauthorized immigrants into the United States by securing its border to the maximum extent possible without compromising constitutionally guaranteed personal and civil liberties." The IBEW went on to say that "mass unregulated immigration into the United States creates unfair wages competition, which is detrimental to the best interests of U.S. citizens and legal residents..."
The National Association of Police Organizations, which represents more than 2,000 police unions and associations, 238,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 11,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement