Letters to Mr. Espy can be sent to the address here. jimmyespy@daltoncitizen.com

Who is Jimmy Espy?

Read below to find out, I have a feeling you may want to write him with a differeing opinion on the illegal immigration/illegal employment crisis in Georgia.

Dalton Daily Citizen, Jimmy Espy: Holding pattern?

Written by Jimmy Espy
Posted on 2007-06-17

President Bush spent part of his week trying to rescue immigration legislation in the U.S. Senate. He may be wasting his time.

Not because the legislation he favors is inherently bad, but because there may no longer be sufficient national will to do anything substantive on the matter. Has all the yelling and screaming produced gridlock?

If so, it’s to the detriment of the country.

The United States needs to move forward with a comprehensive plan on immigration which allows illegal aliens currently living in the country to stay here and begin the process of “getting legal.”

It would be absurd after decades of a laissez-faire policy (non-policy?) on illegal immigration to suddenly decide that “NOW, we’re gonna get tough and you all have to go home.”

Not only does that not pass the basic fairness test, but it ignores the economic and social problems that would ensue.
Abandoned jobs?
Families split up?
Massive bureaucratic snafus?
And that’s just the start.

We need a process by which these millions can gain legal status in this country and the sooner the better. As part of this process, we also need to begin straining out as many unacceptable candidates as possible. Make a probationary period a part of the procedure. You want to stay in the U.S? Don’t commit crimes. Get a job. Learn English. Make those things requirements.

The U.S. has the right to maintain its borders and regulate who comes into the country to live. That means we have to be able to secure our borders. Why spend billions of dollars on airline surveillance and security, then do little or nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration across our southern borders?

Does that mean we need a 20-foot wall stretching for hundred of miles? Maybe, maybe not. But I suspect a well-crafted, aggressively enforced federal immigration policy would be a lot more effective than any physical impediment.

The rabid anti-immigration crowd doesn’t want to hear any of this. The true believers are convinced that illegal immigration is going to the be the downfall of this country. Bullfeathers!

Without immigration, legal or otherwise — the population of this country would quickly begin to decline. Fewer people would enter the workforce and the aging U.S. population would have a smaller pie to slice up to pay for costly benefit programs.

Immigrants can help solve this problem, but only if they become full-fledged participants in our economy.

That won’t happen if they are kept in the shadow world…more from Espy here…courtesy of Jerry’s site