Posted on 05/05/2010 7:23:27 AM PDT by timesthattrymenssouls
Legal immigrants have made the U.S. the greatest nation in history
By, Elizabeth Emken Candidate for Congress, California’s 11th District
Most every American can proudly claim they are children, grandchildren or great grandchildren of immigrants. We are a nation founded and built by immigrant families who came to our country legally, seeking American citizenship and the opportunity for a better life. It takes exceptional people to meet the requirements of American citizenship which is as it should be--we are an exceptional country.
Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution charges Congress to “establish a uniform rule of Naturalization.” Yet, Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat controlled Congress has shamelessly politicized the immigration debate with amnesty as their ultimate goal. In the wake of Arizona’s much discussed and much distorted immigration bill signed into law this past week, it is important to keep the rights of U.S. citizens, legal immigrants and the need for a secure border front and center. The current obfuscation by the left is designed to upend uniformity and punish the efforts of honest, law abiding immigrants who have followed the rules of the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) to become legal citizens.
In California, illegal immigration is adding enormous costs to an already deficit burdened state. According to a 2004 study conducted by the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) a non-partisan, national public interest organization, illegal aliens cost the state of California approximately $10.5 billion per year. At the end of 2004 when the study was completed, FAIR estimated the annual cost to each California household was $1,183 to educate, incarcerate and provide health care to illegal aliens. Imagine the cost in 2010.
Some have said that illegal aliens are willing to do jobs that California’s won’t. With over 12% of the state’s population unemployed, that argument withers. Others have argued it is impossible to verify citizenship. Or that we simply can’t stop the flow through our porous borders. I emphatically disagree. My good friend, Congressman Ed Royce (CA-40) was a co-sponsor of the Secure Fence Act that would establish double fencing in the areas of highest border traffic. The bill passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. Subsequent bills passed by Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat controlled Congress have undermined the Secure Fence Act and put up numerous bureaucratic and legal hurdles to prohibit completion of the fence.
According to Rasmussen Reports, 67% of voters believe illegal aliens are a significant strain on the U.S. budget. And 68% say “gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States.” Yet Nancy Pelosi and her gang refuse to listen to the people. Once again.
Of the four candidates running in the Republican primary (June 8th) for California’s 11th District, I offer the strongest stand on immigration policy. As your member of Congress I will take targeted steps to deal with the crisis at the border including reinstating funding for the Secure Fence Act and advocating a military presence until the border is secure. I will advocate increased usage of the E-Verify program by employers, and enhanced prosecution of those employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. I will fight to remove the incentives--free education and health care--for illegal aliens and assist them in returning home. I will stand by my oath to establish a uniform rule of Naturalization according to the Constitution. And I will continue to support and encourage all those seeking a better life in the United States to follow the legal immigration process.
Oh yes, and there is one more thing I promise to do if elected: help take back the gavel from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
need to get up to speed ...no longer building...just trying to survive
More propaganda BS. I am tired of paying for illegals. Cut their benefits out totally.
I get sick of this “we’re a nation of immigrants” mantra. Before the 1965 Immigration Act, this nation was more than 90% white. Also, before that, we were never more than ~12% first-gen immigrants. Please stop repeating this we-re-a-nation-of-immigrants-drink-the-kool-aid stuff. It’s incredibly misleading.
Why is the president of Mexico calls our law in Arizona racist when his own country has even stricter immigration laws. Sounds like he thinks we owe Mexicans something. We do not owe them crap.
My mother was an immigrant... She came from Italy June 2, 1939. Even though it took a long time, she became an American citizen. My grandparents, came to America legally and worked their asses off. There is nothing wrong with legal immigration — I just have a problem with people who sneak over the border.
Roger that. As if whatever conditions were decades ago, are still a viable argument to continue similar practices. All this "immigrant" talk is off the mark. AZ law = Federal law. If anyone is against AZ's law, they are against ANY enforcement of applicable law.
And they assimilated into the culture I bet, unlike what’s happening now.
Guessing you didn’t read the piece, just the headline. Ms. Emken calls for a stop to the drain on taxpayer coffers due to illegal aliens through: a cessation of incentives to stay (free education and health care), secure borders, finishing the fence and military presence if required at the border. This is not a mantra piece—it is a conservative policy statement by a candidate. Fact is this is a country of immigrants by definition—just legal ones.
Built by Immigrant Families and distroyed by.
Ping!
We were not founded by immigrant families. I can only think of 2 immigrant Founding Fathers. We are a settler nation and the Founders were mostly 3 to 4 generations in what would become the US. They largely shared a common English culture and originally wrote of their rights in these terms.
Gee, in my case I gotta go back ummm....Nine generations paternal and Thirteen generations maternal to get to "immigrants" (is that what they're called when they ride a rickety wooden boat across the Atlantic and settle in a wilderness?)
I'd love to have fuzzy feelings about the "Old Country", but this is the only one I've got after 3 centuries.
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