From Reader, Natasha Cooper in Indianapolis, Indiana

March 29, 2006 Illegal Immigration Comments

Dear Senators,

I am compelled to write you after a majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to sell out their American constituents, their children, and their grandchildren by inviting in more immigrants and providing citizenship to more than 11 million illegal aliens residing in the United States.

Young, high school educated men and women have a hard time finding entry level jobs as it is, and if these measures are passed by Congress, they will face increasing difficulty in obtaining an entry level position in the work industry. From 2000 to 2003, when 1.8 million new jobs were created in this country, jobs held by Americans actually decreased by half a million. Jobs held by foreigners during that time period increased by 1.3 million. American workers are being displaced, whether the majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants to believe it or not, and we are angry that they feel it necessary to invite more immigrants in to please business donors looking for subsidized illegal alien workers and bullying foreign governments which derive income from their citizens in this country.

Today in our country, 40% of our lakes, streams and rivers are unswimmable or unfishable due to overcrowding and pollution. To what state shall our environment deteriorate in the next 30 years, when millions upon millions more immigrants, legal and illegal, make their way to our country, creating even more overcrowding and pollution? By refusing to regulate those coming to this country, something every country on this earth does, you have, in essence, destroyed our childrenâ€™s and grandchildrenâ€™s future enjoyment of this countryâ€™s natural resources and beauty.

Ask yourself, what will be the result of making 12 million illegal aliens legal? Those illegal aliens will not become magically â€œricherâ€ or self-sustaining by virtue of their newfound legal status. No, they will continue to be lower-class, low-educated, low income earners who are subsidized by the American taxpayers. Once legal, they will then be eligible for even more public assistance than they are getting now, straining our welfare system even more. Should they demand higher pay or benefits from their employers based on their gift of a legal status, they will be ignored, or be given raises only to eventually be pushed out of their positions to make way for new subsidized illegal alien workers, upon whom business owners say they â€œdepend.â€ They will then feel the same anger and sense of injustice that American workers, particularly African Americans, have felt for decades.

Between 70% and 80% of Americans and naturalized citizens of all races believe immigration should be lowered and illegal immigration stopped. Should you choose to vote in favor of those immigration measures passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 27, 2006, you will be held to account. Perhaps millions of Americans will take to the streets, just as our Latino and Mexican friends have done recently. The major difference is that we will be shouting â€œUSA, USA,â€ not the name of a foreign country. Our allegiance is to our country. The same cannot be said with certainty about those demonstrating in support of immigrant â€œrightsâ€ these past few weeks.

I urge you in the strongest terms possible to vote for immigration enforcement, and against any kind of amnesty or guestworker program which harms American workers and their wages. History has shown that giving amnesty to illegal aliens only increases the demand on American taxpayers and encourages more illegal aliens to come. Do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Americans have had ENOUGH.

Thank you.
Natisha Cooper
Indianapolis, IN

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Dear Senators,

I urge you to vote against the immigration measures passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 27, 2006. We are a nation of laws, without which, there is chaos. Lack of enforcement has led us to such a chaotic point, as is evidenced by the millions of illegal immigrants living in our country.

Please remember that our system is currently unable to handle the policing of immigrants who enter this country legally. Immigrants using visas simply overstay those visas and disappear into the country. We have no way to verify that illegal immigrants are who they say they are. An industry based on fraudulent documents and identification is thriving. Chaos reigns. Inviting even more immigrants in, whether it is on â€œblueâ€ cards, green cards, or visas, as the Senate Judiciary Committee seems eager to do, will only increase the burden on our overwhelmed immigration system.

Please vote for enforcement of our immigration laws and vote against any amnesty or path towards citizenship which does not require illegal immigrants to first return to their home countries. It is the only way to discourage more illegal immigrants from crossing our borders and to promote the security of our nation.

Thank you.
Natisha Cooper
Indianapolis, IN