Chambliss: We’ll tackle immigration
LAWRENCEVILLE — Congress needs to find middle ground on immigration reform between deporting illegal immigrants and giving them a blanket amnesty, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said Thursday.
The Senate will take up competing bills on the issue when lawmakers return after
Labor Day from their August recess, the Georgia Republican said during a meeting
with Gwinnett Daily Post reporters and editors.
“We can’t simply close our borders. We don’t have the manpower
to do that,” he said. “If (illegal immigrants) are here for the right
reason, let’s figure out some kind of accommodation.”
With the tide of illegal immigration into Georgia and other parts of the nation
showing no signs of receding, the issue is expected to be on the front burner
in next year’s congressional elections....
“You can’t go to a construction site or carpet plant and not find
a significant work force made up of illegal immigrants,” said Chambliss.
“Sticking your head in the sand means our children will have tenfold the
problems we have.”
But state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, chief sponsor of the package of immigration
reform bills introduced in the Georgia Senate last winter, said giving illegal
immigrants even temporary amnesty to work in the U.S. sends the wrong message.
“It’s easy for us to sit back and say they’re doing jobs other
people don’t want to do,” he said. “(But) we cannot have a system
that rewards people for breaking the law.”
Jimmy Herchek of Suwanee, a member of Georgians for Immigration Reduction and
editor of the Citizenship Matters newsletter, said illegal immigrants won’t
be motivated to seek blue cards until stricter law enforcement makes it more likely
that they will be caught....
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