Is the local GOP on the right side of this issue? It seems as if the Democrats are seizing the initiative, at least according to the NY Times portrayal.
The GOP on immigration:
"Paul Tonna of Huntington, a Republican member of the Suffolk County Legislature, is a veteran of these wars. He defended day laborers, tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation to set up a hiring hall for them and earned many enemies in the process."
The Democrats on immigration:
"It's been ignored, totally ignored," said Mr. Levy, a Democrat who was elected on a platform of fiscal austerity and better management of the county, on the eastern end of Long Island, and its 1.4 million residents. "It's led to workers being exploited, houses being overcrowded and legitimate businesses going under. There's an undercurrent of frustration within the majority of Suffolk residents."
"But few ideas over the years have drawn as much fire as the one Mr. Levy first broached publicly about three weeks ago to give Suffolk police officers the authority to detain illegal immigrants taken into custody for a variety of offenses. After a meeting last week with representatives of Hispanic groups, Mr. Levy changed his plan, proposing instead to give corrections officers broader powers in enforcing immigration laws and access to federal databases. He said he would also ask Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to assign three federal agents to the county to help identify and deport illegal immigrants in police custody."
If the NY Times is accurately portraying the situation, and the Democrats have seized the leadership from the GOP on this issue, wait until Hillary gets a hold of this! We will be hearing about her "partnering with local officials" to control illegal immigration on Long Island. She could ride this wave straight to the White House.
She could ride this wave straight to the White House.
Don't even THINK it!
http://feinstein.senate.gov/03Releases/r-scaapII.htm
"Illegal immigration is a problem that affects communities across the nation. However, this issue affects my home state of California disproportionately because of California's proximity to the border. In the last year, illegal immigration cost Californians almost $1.2 billion. Of that amount, California spent an estimated $980 million on emergency services for undocumented immigrants.
Border counties, in particular, are among the hardest hit - especially in terms of dollars spent on incarceration, court costs, and emergency medical care for those who are living in the U.S. illegally. For example,
* San Diego County spent an estimated $76.1 million in 2001 in uncompensated costs to provide emergency medical care for undocumented immigrants.
* Imperial County, one of the nation's most impoverished counties, spent nearly $3 million in 2001 in uncompensated emergency medical costs for undocumented immigrants." *****
Thank you for your letter regarding social security accounts for Mexican nationals working in the United States. I welcome the opportunity to respond.
On July 15, 2004, Representative Mac Collins introduced House Resolution 720, a resolution expressing disapproval of the totalization agreement between the social security systems of the United States and Mexico......snip.... Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
We report you decide
Yeah cause anti-immigration candidates have been really riding that anti-immigration wave. Buchannan road it all the way to 0% of the vote in 2000. Everybody you know is talking about illegals. Why isn't the Republican Party listening?
He is also a very slick racebaiter. Real slime.
bookmarked