Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - The leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives Wednesday promised illegal aliens the opportunity to receive "earned legalization," if they give Democrats back control of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) told a crowd of nearly a thousand people that he will introduce legislation Thursday so that "undocumented people in our country can earn legalization."
"But it will have a very hard time getting through the Congress if the Republican Party continues their majority in the Congress," Gephardt told the crowd, which responded by chanting "No more Bush!"
"If we want to get earned legalization passed, we need a new agenda in your House of Representatives," he continued. "We need a Democratic majority to get this up and get it done."
David Ray, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, took issue with Gephardt's terminology.
"Using the euphemism 'undocumented immigrant' to describe an illegal alien is like calling a bank robbery an 'unauthorized withdrawal,'" he charged. "It's an absurd term that candy-coats the fact that these are people who knowingly and willingly violated our immigration laws and are now trying to change the rules of the game."
Posted by Suzanne at October 10, 2002