Letter Against Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Dear Senators Feinstein & Boxer,

Re: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill (S.1348)

I have read several drafts of and amendments to the so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill (S.1348). As an independent voter with no party affiliation, I can assure you that I am against this bill. Minor amendments will not change my lack of support for this bill.

First, the Reform bill fails to address new illegal aliens who have arrived since January 1, 2007. Some estimates would put the number of new illegal aliens at 300,000! Aggressive interior enforcement is needed for addressing these new illegal aliens. An example of an aggressive interior enforcement provision would be a requirement that landlords verify the immigration status of tenants using the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program, much like the Reform bill appears to require of employers.

Second, the Reform bill provides a Z-visa to illegal aliens without any fines, back taxes, or touch-back provisions. This is amnesty! To have my support, any such legalization provision must require payment of back taxes at all levels (Federal, state and local), a fine ($5,000), and requirement that the illegal alien return to his or her country of origin while waiting for bureaucratic review of the legalization application. Also, no path to citizenship for illegal aliens.

Third, the Federal Government has failed to enforce existing immigration laws causing the current illegal alien crisis. Much of the current crisis can be dealt with by enforcing existing laws. Also, I have no confidence that the Federal Government will effectively enforce any immigration laws, new or old. As an example, current immigration law (8 U.S.C. § 1642), mandates, “Not later than 18 months after August 22, 1996, the Attorney General of the United States, after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall promulgate regulations requiring verification that a person applying for a Federal public benefit . . . is a qualified alien and is eligible to receive such benefit.” These regulations were never promulgated. Thus, no effective enforcement of the law passed by Congress!

Please vote NO on Senate bill S.1348, the so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill.

Senate Amnesty Bill

The Senate's so-called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" is a horrible piece of legislation. It is an amnesty bill, dressed up with complicated and confusing schemes of enforcement, fines, hiring, verification, and so on. The bottom line, however, is that all illegal immigrants claiming to be here on January 1, 2007, will get legalization after a mere 24 hours for a background investigation. Investigate Senate Bill 1348 for yourself:
Senate Bill S.1348

Some positive nuggests of the immigration bill should be passed without the amnesty provision.

S.AMDT.1165 (page S6489) - New Oath of Citizenship
"I take this oath solemnly, freely, and without any mental reservation. I absolutely and entirely renounce all allegiance to any foreign state or power of which I have been a subject or citizen. My fidelity and allegiance from this day forward are to the United States of America. I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and will support and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will bear arms, or perform noncombatant military or civilian service, on behalf of the United States when required by law. This I do solemnly swear, so help me God."

Upon the naturalization of a new citizen, the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of State, shall notify the embassy of the country of which the new citizen was a citizen or subject that such citizen has renounced allegiance to that foreign country.

S.AMDT.1169 (page S6564) - Voters must show photo ID before voting.

Section 769 excludes illegal aliens from congressional apportionment tabulations. To do this, the Census will have to ask about immigration status, and California may lose representatives. (The drawing of state and congressional districts also must exclude illegal aliens. Otherwise, vote dillution will occur!)

These three pieces of the legislation should already be the law!

CA Bill Would Limit Local Rental Bans

Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier want to make bans on renting to illegal aliens against the law in California.
Bill would nix Escondido-like rental laws


Assembly bill AB 976 "would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from requiring a landlord to, among other things, compile, disclose, report, provide, or otherwise take any action regarding a tenant or a prospective tenant based on the immigration or citizenship status of that tenant".

"We need to follow our (federal) laws in terms of immigration. We also can't have every city with their own foreign policy. Realtors don't want to be turned into immigration agents," Calderon said.

The full text of Assembly Bill 976 is available at www.leginfo.ca.gov.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_976&sess=CUR&house=B&author=charles_calderon

Immigration Sweeps in San Diego County

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting sweeps for criminal illegal aliens (Operation Return To Sender).
Immigration crackdown yields 359 arrests

From the comments on the stories, Americans are in strong support. A few Latino community activists continue with the same arguments. Apparently, they are against any interior enforcement of immigration laws.
Community complains over police and immigration cooperation

NLRC Study: Mission Park, Escondido, California

The National Latino Research Center's Mission Park Community Study is available at from the City of Escondido at the following link:
http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/depts/hns/
neighborhood/index.html
http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/depts/hns/
neighborhood/Mission_Park_Survey.pdf

Students at Cal State San Marcos volunteered to help in the study as data collectors and interviewed Mission Park residents.
http://www.csusm.edu/nlrc/projects/
http://www.csusm.edu/nlrc/publications/Newsletter/
NLRCNewsletter_Fall2005.pdf (page 5).

Quotes from the study:

"With an average federal poverty rate of 29%, the Mission Park area has been identified as having one of the most rapidly growing poverty rates in the State of California," page 14

"Immigration and Citizenship Status
The Mission Park area is home, and often the 'first stop' for many new immigrants seeking better opportunities in the United States. Language is a barrier for many, with 44% speaking English less than “very well”. Although the survey did not collect information about citizenship status, this seems to be key consideration for residents in this community." page 15

"Renters who are new immigrants and/or are exceeding the unit capacity are also less likely to complain or identify maintenance problems that could lead to unhealthy housing (mold, mildew, poor ventilation, lead, roach or rodent infestations, or other potential health hazards)." page 18

"Lack of information & fear: Fear of immigration/border patrol." page 25

"A large majority (85%) of survey participants were born outside of the United States. Most participants (81%) were born in Mexico, while fewer were born in other non-U.S. areas (Central America: 3%, “Other”: 1%)." page 30

"When asked “In what language do you usually communicate?” a majority of respondents (66%) indicated Spanish. A substantial number (18%) indicated that they communicate in both Spanish and English, 16% indicated English, and 0.2% indicated each of Mixteco, French and Swahili, and Tagalog." page 30

"The most frequently cited reasons for lacking health insurance were cost and immigration
status." page 44

Carol Lam Asked To Step Down

US Attorney Carol Lam was reportly asked by the Bush administration to step down. Her jurisdiction covered San Diego and Imperial Counties. "Lam, a Bush appointee who took the helm in 2002, was targeted because of job performance issues – in particular that she failed to make smuggling and gun cases a top priority . . . When she took over, Lam made it clear that she planned to focus less on low-level smuggling cases in favor of public corruption and white collar crime, which would mean fewer but more significant prosecutions."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070112-9999-1n12lam.html

Cases of harboring (providing shelter to) illegal aliens are a subset of human smuggling.

Our border region needs a US Attorney dedicated to the enforcement of US laws against crimes related to illegal immigration.

Senate's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

A Senate bill (S9)for a "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007" was introduced by Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Further information is available at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/

As of this date, the text of the bill is just a goal statement. The actual bill is expected to be similar to last year's Senate bill S2611 for a "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006".