- Some critics of Rep. Tom Tancredo say he is attacking
Hispanics. They're outraged he questioned the blatant continued presence
in the U.S. of an illegal immigrant family.
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- We're outraged, too, but not by Tancredo. We're outraged
that Hispanic activists and the media imply that all Hispanics favor sanctuary
for illegal aliens. Hispanics demand legalization for Mexican illegals,
Hispanics demand safe border crossings, Hispanics demand free tuition for
illegals, we are told.
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- Absurd! We four Hispanics - and millions of others -
want no such thing. We want borders brought under control and immigration
reduced to historical levels. We want illegals sent home. We want politicians
and others to stop pandering to self-appointed Hispanic "leaders"
by working for mass amnesties or other forms of "regularizing"
for illegal aliens.
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- The very core of our system of government is majority
rule. Yet, we blatantly ignore the vast majority as a tiny minority of
a minority manipulates the system and as politicians pander to this voting
bloc while implying the ludicrous - that 35 million Hispanics think exactly
alike.
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- Hispanic "leaders" don't speak for Carmen Diaz
and Marlene Guerrero. We entered this nation legally and respect its laws
and are determined that it not go down the same paths to overpopulation-driven
poverty and environmental degradation as our native Honduras and Peru.
Studies show the opportunity to emigrate keeps such countries from dealing
with their own population and political problems.
-
- Immigration and high immigrant fertility rates are driving
a U.S. population boom that could mean our children will, by 2050, live
in a nation of up to half a billion people. We are angry that politicians
subvert the wishes of Americans who, through our replacement-level birth
rates, show we want to stabilize our population growth rate.
-
- Immigration - at five times historical norms, rates higher
even than during the Great Wave of 1880 to 1915 - is sending our population
exploding even as we struggle to come to grips with water shortages, sprawl,
species extinction, failing schools, social problems and inadequate infrastructure.
-
- Hispanic "leaders" don't speak for native-born
Corine Flores and Oralia Lopez with roots deep in Texas and New Mexico.
We work in the hospitality industry where employers brazenly hire illegals
at substandard wages, telling us to accept similar pay or not work at all.
-
- They and others then hide their shameful practices behind
the insulting clich, "Immigrants take jobs that no one else wants."
We in fact want such jobs, but we need to earn enough to feed our families.
Worse, illegal aliens compete for what little affordable housing there
is.
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- A Sept. 27, 2001, Zogby poll showed that 70 percent of
Hispanics said a dramatic increase in border enforcement is needed. The
2001 Zogby poll showed a majority of Hispanics thought an amnesty for illegal
Mexican immigrants was a bad idea. A March 2000 Wall Street Journal poll
I showed three times as many Hispanics viewed immigration as "too
open" as "too closed."
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- We are a nation of immigrants, but we are not a nation
of illegal immigrants nor of unfettered immigration. Until 1965, legal
immigration averaged 200,000 a year. Now it exceeds 1 million, plus hundreds
of thousands illegal aliens added yearly to our population. American workers
cannot compete where unfettered immigration serves as a government subsidy
to business to keep wages depressed.
-
- Hispanics, like other Americans, do not want to live
in overpopulated misery, in a nation lacking opportunity or border security.
Those issues, not safe harbor for illegal aliens, are our concerns. On
immigration matters, Congressman Tom Tancredo speaks for us and many millions
like us.
- _____
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- Corine Flores is a retired housekeeping professional
residing in Santa Fe, N.M. Marlene Guerrero is a naturalized United States
citizen from Honduras and a spokesperson for Colorado Alliance for American
Immigration Reform. Oralia Lopez is a Texas native residing in Colorado
and Carmen Diaz is a naturalized citizen from Peru residing in Colorado.
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- http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_1448561,00.html
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