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.
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.
ping...
She has no prayer of winning.
She would have been lucky to hold her House seat.
The topic of this thread is the illegal immigration issue & how Harris & Nelson differ on that issue!
Katherine needs to get the message out that Nelson ALSO voted AGAINST the ban on partial birth abortion, and voted AGAINST the Patriot Act.
I wonder how many dumbed-down Floridians will vote for POS Nelson in spite of his dismal girlyman record. Nelson is a complete embarrassment to Florida.
GO KATHERINE HARRIS!
I don't believe either of your statements.
I agree. Harris opposes amnesty & Nelson voted for it and also to give illegals social security!
I think she'll make sure the voters know the truth!
Excerpt:
"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.
The real topic is FL Senate race.......
Nelson has a lock on it because of the weak candidate on our side.
He was beatable, unfortunately.
>>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. <<
True, but Katherine Harris seems to be a late convert to this issue !
What happening in CA regarding illegals & amnesty?
Is it as big an issue in CA as it is in FL?
We will see on election day.
She would have been lucky to hold her House seat.
She threw her hat in the race fair and square. She won her primary.
It is a big issue.....and the candidate who promotes illegals and amnesty has better chance of winning.......California is weird!
Not late at all. She's been talking about Nelson's votes for many months!
She came out early in support of a more secure border and the frnce!
Other top FL Republicans declined to run against him.
Harris did, and beat the 3 losers in the primary.
So, your griping is irrational.
No quarrel with her winning the primary fair and square.
I still think she is a weak candidate the GOP could have nominated.
I lived in CA in the 90's. We decided to move to Florida because of the high taxes the illegal problem had created.
Agreed on all points.
Griping only because a weakling like Nelson is going to head back to the Senate......
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