The Washington Times
The author of a House bill giving 600,000 state and local police officers authority to enforce federal immigration law wants the Bush administration to abandon plans to grant guest-worker status to millions of illegal aliens now living and working in the United States.
Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia Republican and chief sponsor of the Clear Law Enforcement for Alien Removal Act (CLEAR Act), joined with 21 other House Republicans this week in urging President Bush not to grant what they called amnesty to illegal aliens, saying it would be "detrimental to our national and economic security."
"There is absolutely no doubt this nation's immigration system is badly broken and needs repair in the worst way," Mr. Norwood said. "But disregarding the immigration laws already on the books and giving legal status to individuals entering America illegally would only make the problem much worse.
"I'm pleased to join my colleagues in this strong appeal to the administration against giving citizenship to people entering our country illegally; and strongly urge Congress and the president to focus our collective efforts on getting the 80,000 hardened criminal aliens, released by our own federal government, out of our neighborhoods and off our streets," he said.
Posted by Suzanne at November 19, 2004