June 14, 2007
Dear Senator Feinstein:
After carefully reviewing the 326 page text of the proposed Act as well as the language of the numerous amendments that have been accepted over the course of the last few weeks’ debate, I have come to the conclusion that senate bill 1348 will not achieve anything that can be considered even remotely beneficial to the American people. Furthermore, while the security provisions contained in this proposal would be an easy improvement over the currently deplorable situation on our southern border, the proposed 2007 Act contains no great degree of assurance that the currently debated security provisions will actually be funded, implemented or effective. As you are well aware, we have stood in this same place before and the consequence of the decision made then is the primary motivation for the current proposal. The consequence of repeating that error with the present level of illegal immigration will be nearly 14 times more disastrous and, I find it entirely inconceivable that something of this nature would be entertained as a possible solution to our current dilemma.
Existing laws sufficiently provide the means for competently and effectively handling the problem we now face and the only thing that is lacking is the will of the federal government to enforce those laws. No amnesty, no guest worker program and no probationary benefits are required beforehand. You know as well as I do that this is a true statement of fact.
S. 1348 is a proposal that I do not find acceptable. The high cost of its implementation will unfairly burden me with taxes that I can ill afford. The overall affect of rewarding people for criminal behavior will not enhance the society that I live in and there is a distinct probability that if S.1348 is allowed to become law it will further exacerbate the growing scarcity of water and electrical energy in my area while increasing the burden of already overcrowded highways and roads with a disproportionate number of unlicensed drivers driving uninsured automobiles on the very roads that I must depend on. The negative impact of this proposed legislation on healthcare, the Social Security System, our currently overcrowded jails and prisons and the general welfare of the natural environment, such as it is, combine to invest S.1348 with the credible potential for being one of the most insanely destructive bills ever devised in the political history of the United States. If I were given the opportunity to vote on the matter I would enthusiastically vote against it, however, that is not the way a representative democracy functions. On the other hand, as an elected representative of the citizens and legal residents of this nation you will either be allowed the opportunity to vote on this matter or you have the authority and opportunity to greatly influence those who will vote on this matter and, I hope, you will represent my best interests as I have explained them to you in this respect.
In summary, I will reiterate the point that there are few words to adequately express the disdain I have for this bill or the damage I know it will cause if it passes. I do not support it and I would not want to think that my representatives would support it either. Strict enforcement of the current laws is sufficient to solve the problems we face and I will support anything that you can do to make strict enforcement a reality. If you and I can agree on this matter then I look forward to making absolutely certain that your political career is long and prosperous.
*****
June 21, 2007 Senator Feinstein Replies by email
Thank you for writing to me about the current immigration reform debate now going on in Congress.
I understand there have been mixed reactions to the bipartisan bill that is being considered in the Senate and that there are very strong feelings about this issue. I believe that while this bill is not perfect, it is a good compromise. The current immigration system is not working – our borders are broken, our national security is compromised, and there is no feasible way to identify and deal with the 10 to 12 million undocumented people now living in the United States.
I have served on the Immigration Subcommittee for over a decade, and while there have been many partial attempts to address immigration issues, this is the first comprehensive bill that has a chance to fix and reform the entire system.
This bill is the toughest I’ve seen in my fifteen years as a U.S. Senator. It adds 14,000 new border patrol agents over 5 years, 200 immigration prosecutors, enhanced border surveillance and fencing, and detention facilities that can house 27,500 undocumented people at a time. It creates tough new penalties for people who enter the U.S. illegally in the future. It also cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers – providing for employer fines of up to $75,000 per unauthorized worker.
At the same time, the bill provides a path to legalization for the undocumented people now living in the U.S. It is not amnesty. It is a tough 8-year road, requiring that an undocumented person pay a $5,000 fine, return to their home country to file their paperwork, undergo a background check by submitting their fingerprints and biometric identifiers, and apply through the same new merit-based point system that everyone else must use to qualify for a green card – but only after those now in line have had their green card applications processed.
The bill also ends what is known as “chain migration.” In the future, one immigrant can apply for green cards for their nuclear family only, rather than for their adult children, siblings, and the spouses and children of those people. Future green cards will be granted using a new merit-based point system – awarding points for work experience, job availability in the U.S., education, and family.
Finally, the bill creates a limited guest worker program. This program will ensure that individuals who want to come to work in the United States in the future will have a reliable and safe method to do so, and that businesses can hire additional workers when there are no Americans to do the job. Having a workable temporary worker program is important to prevent future individuals from coming to the U.S. outside of legal channels and creating a new class of illegal immigrants.
I believe this bill helps restore the rule of law and provides a workable path to address the current immigration population. It is as close as we are going to get to solving this problem. We must not refuse to act simply because it is easier to do nothing.
*****
My June 24, 2007 Reply to Senator Feinstein
Note: After reading the letter above I hit the reply button and wrote the following but it got shipped back undelivered so I decided to post it here and save myself the stamp.
Dear Senator Feinstein:
I don’t believe that anyone is looking for perfection; however, the people of this nation have a right to expect competence. The Senate immigration bill now being debated is entirely unacceptable to the majority of the American people for many reasons.
It rewards the criminal behavior of millions of people who came to this country without authorization. Not only did these individuals violate America’s immigration laws, they violated numerous other American laws in order to avoid apprehension, to secure employment in this country and in many cases, to commute back and forth to work. A large number have also committed more serious crimes while in this country, including identity theft and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Respect for the law comes from enforcement. Rewarding lawbreakers that have demonstrated their disdain for American law will merely increase their contempt for our legal system and the American people will suffer the consequences.
The proposed immigration act would immediately provide every illegal alien in the United States with probationary benefits. These probationary benefits include the authorization to secure employment in this country and the ability to leave and return to this country without fear of detention. This is amnesty because, it effectively decriminalizes the violations of American law they have already committed. The bill will not eliminate the laws they have broken, it will merely forgive them for their violation of those laws, this is amnesty and it will apply immediately once the Act becomes law. Selling American citizenship to the illegal aliens does not constitute amnesty, regardless of the price or, the time it takes them to receive it. Furthermore, the idea that most of the illegal aliens now in this country are eager to become American citizens is entirely ludicrous. Most of them have homes and families in their country of origin and have come here simply to make money before returning home. They are not interested in becoming a part of American society; they will be well satisfied with the probationary benefits handed to them. They will not pay to become citizens of this country.
Senate bill 1639 and before that 1348 will not increase the number of new border patrol agents nor will it increase the miles of border fence beyond what was required by the bills passed into law last year. The biometric system, like the high-tech equipment of the so-called “virtual fence” is still in a state of development and remains unproven at this time. There is no possible way to accurately tell when or, even if, these provisions will be implemented fully and effectively. The sanctions against employers hiring illegal aliens contains vague language about the employer “knowingly” hiring undocumented workers and that provision would deny immigration authorities access to the unauthorized employee’s personnel file that could be useful in apprehension. Without strong, well conceived and, strictly enforced laws prohibiting the employment of illegal aliens, we are merely exacerbating the problem.
As I stated in the first paragraph of this letter, the Senate immigration bill now being debated is entirely unacceptable to the majority of the American people. It will provide immediate amnesty to more than 20 million illegal aliens currently in this country and adversely affect the ability of the lower-skilled and less educated American workers to find and maintain employment. The massive surplus of low-end workers will drive down the wages and the level of benefits now made available to American workers and effectively destroys many years of persistent hard work and great personal sacrifice by honest American workers and labor advocates.
The June 4, 2007 Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate clearly states that the implementation of the proposed immigration law changes will only reduce the continued influx of illegal aliens into this country by a mere 25%. Furthermore, the report states that “Other aspects of the legislation are likely to increase the number of illegal immigrants—in particular, through people overstaying their visas from the guest-worker and H-1B programs.” This bill may very well be the toughest you have seen in your fifteen years as a U.S. Senator but it is still ineffective and unacceptable to the American people. The cost associated with this bill becoming law is too great and the benefits it will bring to the American people are too small to be noticed. It is not a solution to the problem we face; it will only make the problem greater.
The reduction of illegal aliens in this country can be achieved with far more effectiveness and at less cost to the American taxpayer through the strong enforcement of currently existing laws. The implementation and enforcement of stronger penalties against employers who encourage further illegal immigration by providing employment to undocumented workers would eliminate the motivating factor for illegal entry and increase the pressure on those already here to return home. This would eliminate the need to identify and apprehend the majority of our currently overwhelming population of illegal aliens and, it would reduce the number of illegal aliens without further reducing respect for American law. The strong enforcement of American law has proven to be an effective deterrent to numerous forms of criminal behavior in American society and, there is no compelling reason to believe that strong enforcement would be any less effective if used to combat illegal immigration. The dire problem we now face is the result of the federal government’s refusal to enforce the immigration laws of this country for more than two decades. The solution to that problem is strong enforcement.
Securing the borders of the United States and reducing the current population of illegal aliens in this country is the most important priority for millions of American citizens like me who favor strong enforcement measures. Unlike the provisions of the current senate immigration bill, strong enforcement of our existing immigration laws would provide very tangible benefits such as alleviating many of the problems associated with our failing educational system; reducing the strain on health care and correspondingly bringing the cost of medical insurance down to where more people can afford it, achieving notable reductions in crime and gang violence while relieving the pressure on our overcrowded prisons and jails and extenuating the growing demand for our diminishing supply of drinking water and reducing this country’s dependence on foreign oil. The American people well understand that every one of these benefits can be achieved in our lifetime simply through strong enforcement of our existing laws, they also understand that none of these benefits will be achieved as a result of the current Senate immigration bill which is not in their best interests, does not address the causes of the problem and provides no real solution.
Enforcement of the law is the only true way to restore the rule of law in this country and, it is the the only logical and realistic way to reduce the population of illegal aliens currently in this country. If the closest we can get to solving the problem is to pass the current Senate immigration bill that will only increase the problem and restrict our ability to effectivly deal with it later then we would be better off doing nothing, after all, we know that our government can do nothing very effectively, we have allowed them to prove that fact for more than thirty years. Wouldn’t you say it’s about time we stopped doing that and started working intellegently to accomplish a common goal?
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