Christopher Reed takes a stand in immigration debate

Most Iowans would agree with Christopher Reed (and Steve King) that we need to enforce our immigration laws, penalize buisnesses that hire illegals and fund the building of a secure southern border. It is not "anti-immigration" to oppose ILLEGAL immigration and another amnesty bill is not the answer.

Human rights must not be forgotten in any case. Regardless of views on immigration, we must understand that humans are humans and deserve all the same. Forcing people to rely solely on charity for sustenance or separating families at a moment’s notice is disgusting regardless of political views. Reading comments like the first one on this article should remind us all that racism and arrogance are playing a much larger role in this issue than the desire for a better state and country.

Christopher Reed should save the twelve dollars he currently has on hand. Thankfully, he is not going to beat Tom Harkin.

Very well stated, Reed is just another hate mongering member of the Bush party aka GOP who are going down in flames this Fall. Nice move Reed its good you have shown your true colors so early. Vote REED McCain,The party of Hate and division.

Human rights must not be forgotten in any case. Regardless of views on immigration, we must understand that humans are humans and deserve all the same. Forcing people to rely solely on charity for sustenance or separating families at a moment's notice is disgusting regardless of political views. Reading comments like the first one on this article should remind us all that racism and arrogance are playing a much larger role in this issue than the desire for a better state and country.

Christopher Reed should save the twelve dollars he currently has on hand. Thankfully, he is not going to beat Tom Harkin.

Please be advised that illegal entry into this country is not felony yet, and it is a misdemeanor ( that is the law ), similar to getting a speeding ticket.

If the law says it is not felony, similar to paying a fine for a speeding ticket, illegal immigrants should be able to pay the fine and move on. Maybe get the legal papers.

Meanwhile, congress should make it a felony and put all kinds of rules and conditions.

I came to this country legally 21 years ago and I am registered voter for past 10 years.

I appreciate politicians claiming that foreigners should come legally, but, at the same token it might take 15-20 years in waiting. I can understand, I am not blaming the system and at the same time this country cannot accomodate 5 billion people from all over the world.

But, at the same time, if this country has to remain economic super-power then we need able-bodied immigrants who can come here for a brief period of their productive life ( may be 3-5 years ) and then go back. We should make laws water tight, they have no other options but to go back.

Countries like Isreal and middle eastern countries offer a work visa for employers to hire foreign workers and congress should strictly mandate that immigrants can only come on temporary basis and then after a period of 3-5 years, they have to go back or else face penalties including face deportation, criminal prosecution and other legal consequences.

The main reason people come to this country is because of job opportunities. Employers, need help. Please do not steriotype that illegal immigrants get paid less. This totally wrong. As a matter of fact they get paid more, because, it is impossible to find reliable work force, who are willing to come every day to work without failure and work 40 hours, without skipping work.

Legal resident of USA do not want to work for minimum wage in USA, instead they would like to claim welfare, and people who work would like do it for few weeks and then claim unemployment, at that pay level, it simply does not matter whether you work or claim government benefits, as they both pay same.

There two things USA can do to stop this immigration crisis:

1) Welfare and unemployment should be eliminated, period. So, that means if people need to feed themselves then they have to work and that is it. Then you would have reliable work force for employers, so that they can stay competetive with the world and be also profitable.

2) Create a water-tight work visa, where an immigrant comes to this country for a period of 5 years and then have to go back. At the same time since employer should not have a problem in hiring foreign workers legally, this should supplemented with very strict enforcement. Department of Homeland Security should hire thousands of workers to check the employers and funding should be gotten from the money collected from the employer and immigrants. If employers, want to hire a foreign worker then they should pay $1000 a year per worker. We should enforce, enforce and enforce. In few years all the illegal immigrants who are here, will just go back to their country as there is no work and enforcement had become real.

Finally, we should be clear, that USA needs reliable hard working unskilled labor force to remain competetive in the world and be an economic super power.

My immigration plan.

We set up little shacks along the border like rest areas. We charge $2000 for 90 day entry into the US. (You know they are paying a coyote more to stuff them in a railcar with no food and water.) At which time $1000 goes into a victim restitution fund for all the victims created by illegals smashing into cars with no DL or insurance and then fleeing (not being responsible) $1000 for employee wages, program management, and govt buracracy. During the initial entry, a dna sample is collected (since they are not afforded the same protections as a US citizen) and entered into CODUS (a dna databank of felons) and a health inspection to assure no transmittal disease posing a health risk to the rest of the population. You present them with a 90 day work/residence temporary visa card (not tamperable).

Next you establish a check in procedure...at the end of 90 days (and each 90 days thereafter), they most either have purchased a home and/or have a full time job paying into Social Security and taxes. With said job comes health insurance, etc. If there is any break in home ownership or employment for 30 days, automatic deportation with 5 year banishment into the US. The burden should be on them to prove they are complying, not the govt to prove they are not.

Now the best part. If you establish that you have been employed for 5 years, you are eligible for US citizenship as long as you remain employed and have not committed a felony offense. Now you are a US citizen and afforded the constitutional protections.

Whammo...an easy immigration policy.

Let's send two of them into Washington this year. Reed for Senate and William Meyers for House district 4! Latham takes money from these factories and Greenwald calls them law abiding. With Reed and Meyers both in, one a Naval veteran the other a Marine veteran, I think they'll help clean this state up.

SOME HOPE REMAINS!

Finally, some one with testis running for Government!

Good luck against that loser Harkin!

America is a great country. Do you ever think to yourselves, but for the grace of God? I'm not even christian, but I could be one of those downtrodden, I'm glad I was born here, as many here think first...how can I protect what's mine, rather than...how can I help those that don't have enought to eat, vaccinations, etc. Look around, how much do we spend on war, and oppressing people? How much do we spend on fighting, or encouraging others to fight? I grew up near an immigration town, and the immigrants settled in and worked. I am an ER nurse, most of my patients on welfare are white born and bred Americans. I think that we need love and care for one another, but there is no policy for that, and certainly no money forthcoming.

Wow... there are so many wise and educated people in this great state of Iowa... wow... it is amazing that they even have Internet...

The successful program to insure that employees have legal status is E-Verify. This program is before Congress right now for reauthorization, but the lunatics there are playing politics with it.
Sign on to NumbersUSA.com and fax your congressional reps for free. Let them know this is an important measure to support.

Tamper proof photo IDs and mandatory E-verify programs will automatically eliminate fraud documentation and illegal workforce. The Congress is dilly-dallying on important issues and bickering about non issues to side track the American people. This is hurting the economy. A quick immigration fix is urgent and important to get the country back on track.

We cannot wait any longer to enforce our immigration laws. We must ensure that predatory employers have no loopholes, to attract illegal workers.
Our economy can no longer afford to support millions of illegal immigrants with free health care, education and law enforcement. Unless we achieve enforcement of THE PEOPLE'S laws we be unable to stop bogus documentation, November voter fraud, fraudulent immigration entry.

This includes the millions of people who smuggle themselves past the undermanned border agents. Democrats have gutted the border fence funding, and now are trying to undermine the voluntary business e-verify system. The new SAVE ACT (H.R.4088) is enforcement only and would be instrumental in making the E-very process mandatory. Free faxing at NUMBERSUSA. to force this law through Congress.

Mr. Reed gets a big thumbs up and he sounds like the type of politician that needs to be sent to DC. The ones in DC are not paying attention to what the citizens are demanding. Last year the citizens shut down the amnesty bill, demanding enforce the laws. Mccain heard "Secure the border first". Is he hard of hearing or trying to cross the isle to compromise with conservatives?

There are several noteworthy things about this issue.

First, these aliens (not "illegal immigrants," the politically-correct term) broke the law by entering the United States in a method inconsistent with proper, well-established and lawful procedures. On that basis alone they are criminals…period.

Second, their illegal entry is a slap in the face to those who did the right thing, both morally and legally, by following the rules, waiting, in many cases, for years.

Third, their illegal entry tells others that they have no issue with breaking the law. After all, they simply “want a better life.” Lawlessness begets lawlessness, and all such actions, whether committed by aliens or citizens, reinforce the idea that breaking the law is acceptable when it suits our own purposes; the ends justify the means. It’s “situation ethics” on a grand scale.

Fourth, their illegal entry speaks volumes about the type of citizen they might be should they ever actually become lawfully naturalized, which in and of itself seems doubtful.

Fifth, there is a lot of blame to spread around in this regard. Employers, as “good community citizens,” have a duty, both morally and legally, to see past the dollar signs and do the right thing. Aliens also have the same moral and legal responsibility to follow the law. To “want a better life” should not and does not include side-stepping the legality of their entry into the United States. Further, our own government has a moral and legal mandate to enforce the law. Their willingness to “look the other way” and, in fact, work with the national governments of one or more of these aliens’ native countries in aiding their illegal entry is a sad statement of how far both the Democrats and Republicans, especially at the Federal level, have sunk.

Sixth, I find it instructive that out of all the “Press ‘1’ for English”-type phone messages I’ve heard, not one has offered their callers the option of any language other than Spanish. Why is that? Is that because Spanish-speaking people are incapable of learning English? Are the Chinese, Koreans, Somalians, Italians, Germans, and many others for whom English is not a native tongue the only ones that can and do learn English? I think not. So, why do those who speak Spanish get special treatment?

Seventh, for all the criticism that anti-illegal immigration advocates get that they are “racist,” it’s those chanting “La Raza!” who are the real racists. Some of them go even further by telling some to take a swim back to Europe because America, or at least parts of it, belongs to “La Raza!” And this is a view that has been articulated for years, unbeknownst to many U.S. citizens.

Eighth, I find it especially disturbing that the Catholic Church there in Postville, along with some Jewish groups and others, supports the breaking of the law under the guise of how we all need to “love your neighbor,” as if to “love your neighbor” and to be lawful are mutually exclusive. I’m not sure what the church there would have to gain other than more money rolling into their coffers. Perhaps that’s not the case, but, following the money does tend to pull all sorts of skeletons out of the closets. For their part, the Jews who participated in supporting those entering, living and working in the United States illegally, the only answer I can find is, there again, that it has to do with money. It makes sense to me as the Agriprocessors plant in question is owned by Jews. And like any business, lower labor costs can only add to the bottom line.

Shame on all of them, aliens included, I say.