February 1, 2009

Three of the most high profile leaders of the immigration reform movement - former US Treasurer Bay Buchanan as well as former Congressmen Virgil Goode and Tom Tancredo - release op-eds this week calling for a time out on legal immigration and a halt to illegal immigration.

They point out that President Obama's SOTU remarks subtly hint at an amnesty push in 2010, while paradoxically noting that creating jobs is his top priority, the leaders note that a moratorium is needed since American workers are hurting and burdened by double digit unemployment.

 

• Tom Tancredo

In a World Net Daily , the former Congressman and presidential candidate notes that the best jobs program is an immediate immigration time out. Tancredo writes:

"Every month our government lets in 75,000 permanent foreign workers via "green cards" and 50,000 temporary workers through numerous guest worker programs. That's 1.5 million new foreign workers each year. Then add all the illegal aliens flooding across our open borders. Every one of those new arrivals is competing with American citizens for jobs - and contrary to the propaganda of the open borders lobby, they are not taking only "jobs Americans won't do."

When our economy was growing, these figures were easy to ignore, but with 25 million Americans out of work, it is insane to continue these policies. Yet, few members of Congress in either party are willing to discuss reducing legal immigration to safeguard American jobs.

A timeout on immigration will also make it easier for the legal immigrants already here to assimilate. And unlike Obama's jobs program, a moratorium will not cost a penny and will create new private sector jobs for Americans and legal immigrants already here."

Tom Tancredo represented Colorado's 6th Congressional District from 1999 until 2009 where he founded the 100+ member bipartisan Immigration Reform Caucus.  In 2008 he sought the Republican nomination for president.   He currently serves as chairman of the Rocky Mountain Foundation and co-chairman of TeamAmericaPac.

 

• Bay Buchanan,

In her Human Events , the conservative pundit points out that the president's call for "immigration reform" is a not so subtle push for amnesty. She writes:

"Despite claims that we are enforcing immigration laws and the economic downturn is causing illegal aliens to leave, there are still over 8 million illegal aliens in the workforce.  

Rather than cracking down on illegal aliens and their employers Obama has reversed positive steps towards enforcement made in the last years of the Bush administration.  

Now he says he supports Rep. Louis Guiterrez's (D-Ill.) misnamed Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 that will completely gut all enforcement against illegal immigration and give a blanket amnesty to illegal aliens.  The bill has over 90 Democratic co-sponsors."

Ms. Buchanan is a conservative activist, author, and pundit. She served as US treasurer in the Reagan Administration and then as a senior adviser to Pat Buchanan, Tom Tancredo, and Mitt Romney. She is currently president of the American Cause and chairman of Team America Pac.

 

• Rep. Virgil Goode

The former Congressman takes aim at an amnesty bill currently making its way through Congress and advises the GOP not to cave in on this legislation:

"As we all know, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" and "Path for legalization" are nothing but code words for amnesty.  Under Gutierrez's bill, every single illegal alien in this country the day of the bill is signed will be eligible.  This gives foreigners a great incentive to come to this country illegally because they know they'd soon be eligible for amnesty.  A recent Zogby found that 56% of Mexicans said themselves or people they knew would be more likely to enter America illegally if they knew an amnesty was coming.  

To make matters worse, when proving they have jobs and were in the country before the amnesty passed, illegal aliens are allowed to use their stolen identities, fake green cards, and fraudulent social security numbers without fear of prosecution. 

It guts successful enforcement measures, limits raids on illegal immigrants, prohibits use of troops on the border, and replaces the effective E-Verify system used to ensure that employers only hire legal American workers. 

If Republicans want to defeat this bill, we need to stand united as a party against this atrocity.  Democrats know this is a loser with the voters, but in the past Democrats were always able to justify their stance on amnesty by pointing to pro-amnesty Republicans like George Bush and John McCain.  With Democrats firmly in control of Congress, they just need a few Republicans to give it the air of bipartisanship and to give cover to vulnerable Democrats."

Virgil Goode represented Virginia's 5th Congressional District from 1997 until 2009.
 
Please contact Jim Maia at or to schedule an interview with Tom Tancredo, Bay Buchanan or Virgil Goode.

NOTE: Tom Tancredo and Virgil Goode are not directly affiliated with the American Cause.