CPAC 2015 Panel on Immigration From left: Alfonso Aguilar, Rep. Jeff Duncan, Charlie Gerow, Mario Lopez Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015 |
The panel was moderated by Charlie Gerow of Quantum
Communications and consisted of three panelists: Representative Jeff Duncan (SC-3), Alfonso
Aguilar of the American Principles Project and Mario Lopez of the Hispanic
Leadership Fund.
Alfonso Aguilar presented an argument for a conservative
solution that respects the rule of law and focuses on border security but
recognizes the need that our economy has for foreign workers, dealing at the
same time with “the undocumented population without doing amnesty.” Amnesty, in his view, and self-deportation
that does not work, are “false choices.”
Because the status quo is not an option, Aguilar said, we
must encourage those Republicans who share his view and convince the rest of
the Republicans that “the status quo is not acceptable.” People are staying here illegally because “Big
Government encourages de facto amnesty.” Additionally, “people come here to
work, they are not coming here to have children and to become citizens, no
mother brings her child so they can pay instate tuition at Texas A&M.” They
come here because there is no way for them to enter and exist legally, Aguilar
continued.
Yes, we need border security, strategic fencing, and more
resources in places like the Rio Grande Valley where there is lawlessness; we
need expanded use of sensors, of drones, and an exit registry, Aguilar
proposed.
“We believe in the free market. If American Big Business
cannot find workers, why should the government tell an American employer that
they cannot bring a foreign worker that they need? Let the market determine,”
continued Aguilar. “The Braceros program worked, but liberals opposed it
because of the unions.”
Aguilar argued for family reunification, that we cannot
break up families. There are entire towns in Mexico that have dislocated
populations, he said. We have become a social featherbed for the poor Mexican
population. Aguilar argued that “children” traveled last summer on top of
trains to be reunited with their families. Yet there is factual information
that many among these travelers were not children, were known gang members, and
transportation and housing were arranged and paid for by our government.
The panel emphasized that we need a market-based guest
worker program that will work as long as operational control and border
security are under control. We cannot grow the economy, Aguilar said, if there
are no American workers willing the do the job and we do not have foreign
workers. What about millions of American
citizens who are currently unemployed and have no prospects of getting a job in
this terribly mismanaged and depressed economy? Why does the government only
care for the fate of illegal aliens and not the future of our own American
citizens?
What can we do with the millions of “undocumented” currently
residing in the United States? “We cannot deport millions of people,” Aguilar
said, and self-deportation does not work. Actually deportations have occurred
in the past successfully. He proposes a
penalty for the path of legal status, but no citizenship.
In light of the hurried Social Security cards which were
issued to the five million amnestied by executive fiat, these people will vote
illegally for those who brought them into our country. Contrary to what Aguilar
said, “Latinos are not natural-born Democrats,” they do come from third world
nations whose citizens look up to big government for their salvation and
wellbeing even though they may be conservative with their families and with religious
views. They look up to the Pope with reverence, a political figure, who has
criticized capitalism in favor of Marxism and has interjected himself in the
issue of global warming and population control.
Mario Lopez pointed to a chart from Reason.com, showing the backlogged legal immigration system as a
proof that our immigration system is broken. He mentioned Obama’s executive
overreach in reference to amnesty and how he voted five times as a senator for
poison pill amendments to kill the immigration reform bill proposed long before
he became President.
Pointing to the visa lottery, the country quotas, and the
bureaucratic nightmare that backlogs family integration visas, he said, “It is
almost impossible to immigrate legally to the United States.” My question is, how
many members from an extended family in Mexico should be allowed to integrate
with one illegal family member who successfully jumped our border, while
millions from other countries are waiting to bring one spouse and/or child into
the United States?
“People are dying every day to get a piece of the American
dream. “ They are not coming here for handouts, welfare checks. People come
because America is the shiny city on a hill.” I say, it is a shining city on
the hill with generous welfare programs at the border. This mass exodus into
the United States created “legacy voters” who are loyal to Democrats who
promise and deliver more welfare.
“Why is the system broken? It is not broken, it is not
enforced,” said a member of the audience. “What has to be changed, radically
changed?” Aguilar answered that the immigration track, the quota system based
on the country of origin, treats other countries unfairly, and it must be
stopped. The H2B visas for non-agricultural unskilled workers should not be
capped at 65,000 per year, he argued, because employers cannot find American
workers and the labor market should be allowed to prevail.
Do politicians and immigration lobbyists care how millions
of unskilled and unemployed Americans are supposed to find jobs? The tired
explanation that Americans won’t do jobs that illegals do is a convenient
fantasy created for those in need of cheaper labor. Additionally, not all
illegals are paid lower wages.
Rep. Jeff Duncan interjected that we have an unsecure border
and a broken sovereignty. “The American
people do not trust the administration to enforce the law so why should we have
another law for the President to pick and choose winners and losers; the
President has poisoned the well to have a conversation in Congress because no
one trusts the administration to actually do the job that it is charged to do.
We have to uphold the law.”
Rep. Duncan said that the robust welfare system incentivizes
people not to take the jobs. In order to redress the immigration problem,
welfare reform must also be addressed concurrently. Rep. Jeff Duncan’s partying words were, “ I
don’t agree with everything the panel has said, but we should have a debate and
listen to the American people.”
People should come here legally and then go back to their
countries. The American people should decide how much immigration we have.
Mario Lopez argued that “Labor is an economic commodity. Overpopulation is not
an issue if you complain that you are bringing in too many illegals. There is a
demand of labor.”
Panelists agreed with one audience member that citizenship
should be outlawed if a person has committed a crime in the United States and
the offenders should be sent back to their home countries.
To the question, could labor unions be a hindrance to the
proposed immigration system, Mario Lopez answered that labor unions are
generally against it with the exception of a few such as the SEIU. “Operatives
in unions are generally Democrats.” He continued that “we cannot keep people
out” and “the Chamber of Commerce wants cheap labor.”
The question remains, if illegals who refuse to assimilate
do not come to the United States for welfare, why have so many received over
$4.1 billion in earned income tax credit, who claimed children of relatives in
Mexico, and why recently amnestied illegals, who have not paid taxes at all, will
receive retroactively for 2011-2013 as much as $35,000 per family in earned
income tax credit?
Would it not be cheaper for the American taxpayer to enforce
e-verify and adopt $5 biometric cards that would match prospective foreign
employees with prospective employers and stop all welfare to illegal aliens? Would
it not be safer for the American people to stop bringing in “refugees” from
countries that are hostile to our culture, to our western civilization, to our legal
system, and to our way of life?
Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2015
Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2015
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