The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Some local Christian and Jewish religious leaders Thursday lent their voice to a national campaign calling for immigration reform.
"Our system is badly, badly broken," said the Rev. John Manwell of Unitarian Church of Norfolk.
The gathering was part of an effort by Reform Immigration for America urging Congress to act on the issue this year.
The event, which drew about 20 people, was smaller than rallies in Detroit and New York that brought out hundreds of supporters.
Advocates say they believe this could be the year legislators take up the immigration issue after a failed attempt in 2007.
An immigration bill was introduced last month in Congress, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also is working on legislation.
Schumer last year said his bill would increase border security, provide a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, make family reunification a priority and increase auditing of businesses to ensure they don't hire illegal immigrants.
Schumer is expected to present a draft of his legislation in the coming months.
"It's 2010 - it's time to pass it," said Meghan McNamara of Reform Immigration for America.
The organization is targeting legislators it believes could be critical votes on the issue, including U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, a Democrat who represents Virginia's 2nd District.
Nye is facing a tough re-election this November; six Republicans have lined up to oppose him.
The congressman will listen to what immigration reform advocates have to say, said Clark Pettig, Nye's spokesman, but Nye believes that the federal government needs to enforce current immigration laws and secure the borders. Nye would not support amnesty for illegal immigrants, Pettig said.
Rabbi Israel Zoberman of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach said he is hopeful that there will be changes to the immigration law, but he acknowledged that it would be a challenge.
"Immigration reform is vast and complex," Zoberman said. "How do you weigh compassion and security? "
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
WHAT IS INSANITY?
WHAT IS INSANITY?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Congress has passed 7 amnesties for illegal aliens, starting in 1986.
1. Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA), 1986: A blanket amnesty for some 2.7 million illegal aliens
2. Section 245(i) Amnesty, 1994: A temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens
3. Section 245(i) Extension Amnesty, 1997: An extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994
4. Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty, 1997: An amnesty for close to one million illegal aliens from Central America
5. Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA), 1998: An amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti
6. Late Amnesty, 2000: An amnesty for some illegal aliens who claim they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty, an estimated 400,000 illegal aliens
7. LIFE Act Amnesty, 2000: A reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty, an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. YOU can make a difference! Sign up with: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/action/
Trouble with immigrants
"My family's been having nothing but trouble with immigrants ever since they come to this country!"
-Senator Billboard Rawkins
enforce what laws we have FIRST
we need to enforce what laws we have on the books. Watch the Dems try to provide blanket amnesty as a way to agin circumvent the laws and build their voter ranks.
We must enforce the laws we have and make sure we do not impede the immigrants who come to American legally with college educations and needed skills and then deport them when their work visas expire. I personally know several former immigrants who came here with college degrees and needed skills but were forced to return home when their work visas expired. Yet if you come to this country illegally you are protected and may get amnesty. This is what is broken and must be honestly addressed and not swept under the rug.
So tell me
how much money are you willing to pay in taxes to increase the force to round up and deort 12 - 20 million illegals, including those from Europe and Asia, not just Latinos? And once that is done what do we do about the rotting crops that can't be harvested because Americans won't work for less than minimum wage and benefits and the growers can't afford to pay them because Americans want cheap food? Who will clean our buildings?Build our building? Work in the slaughterhouses? Are you willing to pay $10, $12, $14 a pound for beef? How does a $8 head of lettuce grab ya?
ignore the law?
so we should just ignore the law and further pretend that these illegal immigrants came here illegally? Then what other laws will we ignore? this is a dangerous slope to choose which laws we ignore when we are already paying big sums to protect and defend the border.
I guess Obama can just unionize these illegals and then we will pay $8 a head of lettuce anyway.
I didn't say ignore it
but asked how we pay for the deportation of up to 20 million people, and are you willing to accept the increased costs of food and other services? You didn't answer that.
Excellent point
The University of North Carolina conducted an experiment for the NC Dept of Labor a few years back. During harvest season 12,000 seasonal jobs were set aside for folks who had to show they were US citizens and would be paid minimum wage (more than immigrant labor gets paid). A grand total of 36 signed up; 12 showed up on the first day; and none finished the first day of picking. That study also showed that for every dollar an illegal immigrant costs the government for services (Medicare, education, etc) they contributed $38 to the economy in labor, retail sales, and taxes (sales and, yes, many even pay income taxes through their employers). If Hunt's and Delmonte can't make money growing tomatoes on the Eastern Shore because labor is unavailable or too expensive, they'll move their operations to Mexico and Central America. This issue is much too complicated to lend itself to knee-jerk reactions, simplistic solutions and political sound bites.
We are already paying that
if you consider all the freebies these illegals get in the form of health care (Medicaid), food stamps/welfare, and Oh, yeah, they don't pay taxes - so we are already footing the burden for them. Send them back to where they came from - won't be an different really - except that maybe the ones here LEGALLY (U.S. citizens) will get assistance when they need it for a change.
Nice try
Illegals are not eligible for food stamps and most other forms of public assistance and pay the same sales taxes we all pay. Many who work for bigger employers like farms, hotels and construction companies have federal taxes witheld from their wages. As I said above, political sound bites aren't going to solve the problem.
they do not
pay income taxes.....and they can claim exempt from having withholding taken out.....but usually they are paid in cash anyway. A lot of jobs are contracted out - therefore the major companies do not have anything to do with their pay anyway. And yes, they do receive public assistance if they need it, which is one of the reasons this country is in such a state. But I agree, political soundbites will not solve the problem - sending them back from whence they came, however, will.