Public will finally have say on illegal immigration
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
By: Dan Stein

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

While the White House and the Senate have been applying pressure to the House of Representatives to negotiate an immigration bill that includes a de facto amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens, a massive new guest worker program and huge increases in legal immigration, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) affirmed that there is an important voice in this debate that still needs to be heard: the American people.

Thanks to Hastert and other House leaders, the American people will get their say in August at a series of field hearings around the country.

With anger growing over unchecked illegal immigration and the prospect of amnesty for tens of millions of immigration lawbreakers, these hearings should reaffirm the public's overwhelming support for the enforcement-only approach of the bill passed by the House last December.

It isn't often that Congress holds field hearings so that the people can have a direct voice in the legislative process. The fact that the House is planning to hold such hearings on immigration reform is an indication of just how strongly the American people feel about this issue.

Recent polls indicate that there is strong public support for the enforcement-only approach taken by the House.

Even as supporters of an illegal alien amnesty have become more vocal, holding protests and boycotts around the country, House members — all of whom must face the voters in November —have been inundated with demands from constituents that America's immigration laws must be enforced.

President Bush and the Senate have moved forward with an amnesty/guest worker bill that, conservatively estimated, will add 66 million new immigrants to this country over the next 20 years, while stubbornly refusing to listen to the public.

We believe that these field hearings will mark a turning point in this debate and provide momentum for enactment of an enforcement-only bill.

As members of Congress move around the country and hear directly from the people, it will become abundantly clear that comprehensive immigration enforcement, not amnesty for illegal aliens, is what the public is demanding.

Dan Stein is president of the Federation for Immigration Reform in Washington.