LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Immigration law enforcement essential

Lamar Smith, Washington

Saturday, April 4, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

A March 23 Las Vegas Sun editorial headlined “Readying border buildup: Protecting against the murderous drug cartels is a bigger priority than workplace raids” wrongly suggests that enforcement of our immigration laws should not be a priority.

Illegal immigration takes jobs from citizens and legal immigrant workers. More than 12 million citizens and legal immigrants are currently looking for work, but there are 7 million illegal immigrants working in the United States, according to the most recent estimates.

What’s more, the Center for Immigration Studies just completed a study that found that wages increased for legal workers after a work site enforcement operation at a large meatpacker in 2006. This is exactly the type of case the Sun editorial suggests is unimportant.

The editorial ignores the fact that illegal immigrants commit crimes. More than 15 percent of federal inmates are criminal aliens, and hundreds of thousands are in state jails for crimes such as murder, assault, gang activity and drug offenses.

Immigration enforcement and border security are both important. Cutting off the jobs magnet reduces the flow of illegal immigrants across the border, making it easier to focus on other border crimes.

The fact is that the Homeland Security Department’s total budget is $42.9 billion, and the administration has asked for an additional $2.6 billion next year. The budget for work site enforcement — a critical and effective program that helps cut off the illegal immigrant jobs magnet — is less than half of 1 percent of that total.

The Homeland Security Department can and should find savings in another area of its nearly $43 billion budget to address border security without sacrificing work site enforcement.

The writer, a Texas Republican serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Discussion: 7 comments so far…

By Barrett

4/4/09 at 7:38 a.m.

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Rep. Lamar Smith, I and thousands of Americans salute you. You have been one of the only polititions lately to speak about our illegal immigration problem with the American citizen taking top priority. Please sir, let me know what a citizen can do to help you! To help you would be to help us.
By rittergirl44

4/4/09 at 8:45 a.m.

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I don't believe anyone anymore when they say they are going to do something about the illegals who are here. I sincerely believe you want them here and are scamming the US citizens so we have to support them out of our income. This way you rich people can enforce one world order when you break us and make us as poor as the people we are now taking care of. We have to feed them, clothe them, doctor them and house them. What so far have you done about the illegals claiming all of these goodies? Nothing! A lot of you talk but eventually it is swept under the rug while us citizens shut obey and obey.
By AndiMedi

4/5/09 at 10:31 a.m.

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Of course we need immigration enforcement, but we also need to be realistic. We are not going to deport or otherwise drive out 12,000,000 people from the United States. We're no longer buying the hardline that requires mass expulsion before we do anything else to fix immigration!! It isn't going to happen and we can't wait that long.

We want to get most of these people into the system and playing by the rules, paying their fair share, weeding out the real violent criminals, and making it harder for their employers to cheat them or us. Lamar Smith is against that and wants you to wait through another few decades of chaos, illegality, and unfair competition so he can look "tough on illegals" but his approach is the problem, not the solution.
By wandagb

4/5/09 at 6:25 p.m.

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Yep. Lamar Smith is the real immigration reform folks hero (as opposed to the neo-reform that advocate amnesty under phony names like 'earned legalization'.)

"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." - Adam Smith, economist and ethicist

Everything you need to know about immigration and what to do about it humorously told.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBw1nUlf3...

(Roy Beck and NumbersUSA are the "gumball" heroes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuO...
By Harley

4/5/09 at 10:04 p.m.

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I assume those employing the 7 million illegal immigrants weren't consulted about citizenship enforcement issues, perhaps Lamar should ask those hiring illegal citizens why they do it and get back to us with their responses?
By CAJeffO

4/8/09 at 5:55 a.m.

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Let's pass around a few educational video PlayLists & websites. Tell your friends about:
www.IllegalImmigrationCrisis.com
www.ChristianAction.org
www.Apathetic-USA.com
An see the video "FITNA" on Youtube.

Fellow Americans (if you actually see the above info? You'll fully understand:
*** HOW I CONNECT THE DOTS ****
All of these groups have vested interest in being combative, destroying or taking over America. And, they are doing just that.
-1- Illegal alien proponents have ties to drug gangs & a corrupt Mexican government.
-2- Illegal alien proponents have smuggled Islums through the our southern of our country.
-3- Marxist/Communist groups are infiltrating our government & actively recruit illegal immigrants.
-4- Muslims are recruiting people into their faith & have 35 Terrorist Training camps on American soil.
-5- Many politicians have tried to pass amnesty and rumors fly they will try again in spring.
-6- Plus we still have "Sanctuary Cities" which are used my illegals to pull their shenanigans.
-7- Obama supports amnesty & will not stop illegal immigration (even if it's bad for Americans).

We better wake up!
And, I hope it's not to late to spread this message.

GODSPEED, CAJeffO

P.S. Read the following info after seeing the aforementioned videos:
#1) America is in Peril .... Don't take my word for it.
Here's the proof: I.O.U.S.A. The 30 minute video
By: David Walker (Former Comptroller General of America )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TjBNjc9...
MY NOTES:
This video shines a light on the alarming growth rate of the Federal Deficit. Yet this film fails to correlate, with the hyper-escalation of the Federal Deficit, Regan's 1986 Amnesty Bill (& the illegal immigration crisis) and the lasting effect on our Federal Deficit.

In 1980 The National Debt was only $909 Billion Dollars.
* 1986 Regan put through the first amnesty bill.
In 1988 The National Debt rose to $2.6 Trillion Dollars.
1988-92 Bush Sr. was President.
By 1992 The Federal Deficit rose to $4 Trillion Dollars.

Note: The National Debt had a sharp increase during a time of peace and prosperity.
No reasonable excuse for a skyrocketing Federal Deficit except "amnesty".

So, America is in Peril. - What's the biggest problem in our budget?
#2) This man predicted these problems prior to 1998.
More than 10 years ago Congress & The House of Representatives ignored his video.
Roy Beck - Immigration Gumballs. (a report from 1998)
Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ
Roy points out the normal numbers of immigrants coming into America was 175,000 back in the early 1980's. In the 00's it increased to over 2 million per year.

2009 Our National Debt skyrocketed past 12 Trillion
We have not added the following debts yet!!!!
- The War.
- Obama's new budget.
- The $43 Trillion in SSI unpaid remittances
- The $515 Trillion in Derivatives Jimmy Buffet talks about.

See the correlation?
By azsk8fan

4/8/09 at 6:42 a.m.

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NEITHER party wants to tackle the illegal immigration issue - BOTH parties are so heavily indebted to Corporate big business and it's the companies who just LOVE hiring illegals because of the money they can keep in their pockets by paying them below standard wages - I will always contend that for the most part if you pay an American a LIVING WAGE they WILL work - granted there are always going to be some who are too lazy to work no matter what the wage - but MOST will work for a living wage. And please, no nonsense about how the prices will have to go UP - how bout big business just making a little less profit - still a profit but just not so exorborant a profit -