Friday, March 30, 2007

Immigration Reform Supporters front and center at Congressional immigration hearing on Ellis Island


This photo is from the New York Times. The Tmes reports, "[T]ourists of all complexions gawked from the sidelines, and an audience of immigrant activists let their T-shirts do the talking — “Legalize the Irish” and “I Love Immigrant N.Y.” They sat on the same benches where years ago anxious immigrants waited to be called for inspection."


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

just read the Times article. I think it is pretty lousy of Steve King from Iowa to blame the 9/11 attack in New York on immigration and imply that undocumented workers are responsible for the terrorist attack.

I wish he found a better way to espouse his anti-reform stance on the immigration issue.

If Mr. King really cared about border security, why - SIX YEARS AFTER 9/11 - does he continue to oppose immigration reform that would tighten border security and allow ICE to focus on terrorists and criminals instead of undocumented workers who pose no threat?

Mr King and the anti-reformers in Washington had the chance to pass comprehensive immigration reform last year. Instead, they travelled around the country holding rehearsed anti-reform immigration hearings. The bill they refused to discuss provided for tighter border security and provided a path for the undocumented Irish to earn legal status by paying stiff fines and going through background checks.

Instead of going to conference committee and trying to reach a compromise that would have strengthened our national security, Mr. King and the House leadership at the time did nothing but pass an unfunded bill for a fence. Without funding that fence is never going to be built and even if it was up and running better than expected before 2001, it would not have prevented 9/11.

As an Irish-American New Yorker, the city attacked on 9/11, the best thing I can say about Iowa's Steve King and his misleading remarks about 9/11 yesterday is that I am glad he doesn't represent me and my family in Congress.

- Joe

Anonymous said...

King just said: "Criminal aliens are coming to the U.S. in record numbers.” How you can construe that somehow by saying that he is blaming the 9-11 attacks on immigration, is beyond me.

Anonymous said...

Blarney,

The Times article reads, "With a nod to the New York skyline... HE MENTIONED THE ATTACKS ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER [caps emphasis added] and warned, “Criminal aliens are coming to the U.S. in record numbers.”

Mr. King's implication - as clear as it is unfair and inaccurate - was that we need to fear ALL undocumented immigrants because they are dangerous criminals.

We can disagree about what King said, but you can't deny that he and the anti-reformers in Congress refused to bring last year's immigration reform bills to conference committee. Instead of working toward compromise and strengthening our border security they held onto the ball and took a knee to run the clock down in 2006.

Hopefully this year Stev King and the anti-reformers will come out to play and join the huddle.

Anonymous said...

Well, shouldn't we screen out the bad apples?

Anonymous said...

The STRIVE act or any bill that provides a path to EARNED legal status with stiff fines and background checks wouldscreen out the bad apples.

When will Congress Act? We need immigration reform now!

Anonymous said...

The bad apples simply wouldn't apply for the EARNED legalization program. They're going to prefer to just stay in the shadows, are they not?

Anonymous said...

^^^ First you want to screen for bad apples. Then you say bad apples won't come forward.

Right now we don't even know where the apples are.

Earned legalization - by separating immigrants who pose no threat - would help us to identify the bad apples.

Anonymous said...

Earned legalization would only identify the good apples. Hardly a comprehensive solution at all.

Anonymous said...

Hardly. But then nobody ever said that earned legalization alone was the comprehensive solution.

A path to earned legal status is just one of many parts in each of the comprehensive immigration reform proposals (McCain-Kennedy bill of 2006, President Bush's May 2006 speech, and the recently introduced STRIVE ACT).