Posted by
Grampus on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 12:52:53 PM
This post is an email from my district's House representaive. I know that it was written by a staffer, but it is sure good to know the exact position that your representative has taken. It is not much, but at least I can let him know how I think about an issue and actually receive a response. I don't think enough of us are using this medium...if we did...then perhaps we could slowly get Republicans to act like Republicans.
Thank you for contacting me with your comments on illegal immigration and
border security. I have received a significant amount of feedback from the 2nd
Congressional District on this issue and I can assure you that this issue is one
of my top priorities during the 109th Congress.
I do not support illegal immigration or amnesty for illegal immigrants
already in this country, period. I support immigration, but people must do it
legally. Amnesty rewards illegal conduct and only increases the number of
illegal immigrants who try to enter America as we have seen in the previous
amnesties in 1986 and 1996. As a former judge for over 22 years, I believe very
strongly in the respect for the rule of law. I never let anyone get away with
breaking the law and immigration laws should be no different. We must vigorously
enforce the laws we already have on the books and make some of them stronger. No
protest or political statement will change my respect for our nation's laws and
our sovereignty. In fact, recent demonstrations have just made me and many
Americans more resolute in our convictions.
We must not forget how the tragic events of September 11th demonstrated the
need for heightened security. The 9/11 Commission Report stated that terrorists
seek to exploit our vulnerabilities. Our border remains one of those serious
vulnerabilities. I have had the opportunity on two recent occasions to travel to
the U.S. - Mexico border in Texas to witness the situation first-hand. Our
border, sadly, remains wide open. While the Border Patrol apprehends a million
illegal crossers each year, half a million slip through their reach; among them
are people seeking to work illegally, human smugglers, drug smugglers, and even
possible terrorists. In 2004, the Border Patrol apprehended 650 people from
countries that are state sponsors of terrorism. How many were Border Patrol not
able to apprehend? How do we know they didn't bring weapons of mass destruction
along with them? These are serious questions that need serious answers.
Solving this crisis will not be easy as there are many who want amnesty and
support policies that promote more illegal immigration and lawlessness. These
are unacceptable in a post 9/11 world. I believe we can start by enforcing the
law and showing we are serious about it. We also need to eliminate policies in
this country that encourage and ignore illegal immigration; including easy
access to jobs with little enforcement of employers who hire illegals, free
healthcare, free education, birthright citizenship, policies that don't promote
assimilation, and the inability of local law enforcement to assist federal
immigration authorities.
I am a cosponsor and have voted on legislation in the 109th Congress that
address many of these problems. One of them is H.R. 4437, the Border Protection,
Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, which passed the
House of Representatives in December 2005. This bill is a strong border security
bill that makes it a felony to be illegally in the country, forces employers to
use an employment verification system to ensure that current and future
employees are authorized to work, and provides more resources for law
enforcement on the border. The U.S. Senate is currently debating a separate bill
that includes a guest worker program for the estimated 11 million illegals in
the U.S. along with the House border security provisions. I believe this is the
wrong approach. We must first secure the border and fix the root of the problem
before addressing broader immigration reform.
As your elected Representative from the 2nd District of Texas, please be
assured that I will continue to work hard on solving this crisis because we
can't afford to lose. Again, thank you for contacting my office. For additional
information regarding border security and illegal immigration and my
representation of the Second District, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/poe. There you will
also find video and text versions of the speeches I have given outlining this
problem and the solutions Americans want.
God and Texas,
TED POE
Member of Congress
TEXAS
Grampus