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FAIR Legislative Update
Nov. 17, 2003
63 Members Sign Hayworth Letter Urging
President Bush to Uphold Immigration Laws Sixty-three House
Republicans co-signed a letter by Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
urging President Bush to support an immigration policy with
Mexico that “secures our borders, draws a bright line
between legal and illegal aliens, and rejects any and all forms
of amnesty.”
The letter was sent to the White
House last Wednesday in anticipation of a meeting later this
month in Texas between President Bush and Mexican President
Vicente Fox to resume talks on immigration policy that were
interrupted by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The following principles were
outlined as essential to the formulation of immigration policy:
securing borders against terrorists, drug smugglers and illegal
aliens; preventing the balkanization of the U.S. while helping
documented newcomers assimilate; vigorously enforcing all
immigration laws; preventing
American workers from being undercut by
exploited, unskilled, illegal aliens, and rejecting all forms
of amnesty.
The letter also called on President Bush to
make clear to President Fox that we expect Mexico to be an
integral part in this effort. “For far too long, Mexico
has acted more as an accomplice in illegal immigration than a
partner in preventing it,” the letter says.
Please check the list below to see
if your representatives co-signed Rep. Hayworth’s letter.
If so, please call and thank them for their commitment to
upholding and enforcing our immigration laws.
October 28, 2003
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to urge you to seize the
opportunity during your upcoming discussions with Mexican
President Vicente Fox to make clear this nation’s
determination to establish and enforce an immigration policy
that celebrates our immigrant heritage, secures our borders,
draws a bright line between legal and illegal aliens, and
rejects any and all forms of amnesty.
We trust and urge that any agreement
reached during these discussions and any implementing proposals
you may subsequently bring to Congress will honor what we
consider to be bedrock principles of a sane, effective,
productive immigration policy:
Our national security against
terrorism must be built on secure borders, and we intend to
invest whatever manpower and technological resources are
required to close our borders to terrorists, drug smugglers,
and illegal aliens;
Our national allegiance is to one
indivisible nation, and we will not allow or condone the
balkanization of the United States of America but instead
embrace efforts to help documented
newcomers become part of the American family;
Our core belief that “reverence
for the laws” must be, as Lincoln said, the
“political religion of the nation,” which means we
can no longer blur the line between legal and illegal
immigration and we must vigorously enforce all
our immigration laws;
Our nation’s economic security
and that of our workers, particularly low-income and
underemployed Americans, must not be undercut by exploited,
unskilled illegal alien workers;
Our national treasure is of, by, and
for Americans – native or naturalized, but in all cases
legal citizens – and should not be further depleted to
aid, abet, or encourage persons who are here illegally; and our
previous experiments with direct or indirect amnesty have
failed, resulting in more, not less, illegal immigration
because amnesty rewards lawbreakers and discriminates against
those who seek legal entry into this country; therefore, every
form and vestige of amnesty must be rooted out of federal laws,
regulations and policies.
We also believe you must make clear
to President Fox that we expect Mexico to be an integral part
of this effort. For far too long Mexico has acted more as
an accomplice in illegal immigration than a partner in
preventing it. And
while we sympathize with Mexico’s
problems – its statist economy, hugely inefficient public
sector, laws that limit foreign investment, and inability to
create enough jobs for its people, etc. – it nonetheless
has a responsibility to help control this runaway problem that
is largely of its own making.
If the Mexican government
can’t – or won’t – make necessary and
long-overdue changes to provide economic opportunity for its
own people, then it should at least help pay for the burden on
the American taxpayer that it has created and, indeed,
encouraged.
By reaffirming our fidelity to these
self-evident truths, we can seize this moment of opportunity to
resolve one of the primary and growing threats to our
nation’s future. We urge you to act now to rescue
an immigration policy that is failing the American people,
imposing enormous costs on our economy, and leaving us more
vulnerable to terrorism.
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Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Rep. John Boozman (R-AK)
Rep. Terry Everett (R-AL)
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA)
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL)
Rep. John Mica (R-FL)
Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL)
Rep. Phill Gingrey (R-GA)
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
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Rep. Michael “Mac” Collins
(R-GA)
Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA)
Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
Rep. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R-ID)
Rep. Phil Crane (R-IL)
Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL)
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-MN)
Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO)
Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Rep. Cass Ballanger (R-NC)
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC)
Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC)
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE)
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Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY)
Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK)
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA)
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA)
Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)
Rep. William Jenkins (R-TN)
Rep. John Duncan (R-TN)
Rep. Randy Negeubauer (R-TX)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Rep. John Carter (R-TX)
Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA)
Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA)
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
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