Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez to Promote Illegal Alien Amnesty During Philadelphia Visit
(April 1, 2009 — Washington, D.C.) - Amidst a backdrop of rising unemployment and increased costs of illegal immigration, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has been on a five week tour visiting 16 American cities including Philadelphia this Saturday — promoting amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and the dismantling of immigration law enforcement. Rep. Gutierrez describes the Family Unity Immigration Outreach Tour as an effort to “document the harm caused to citizens across our nation in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform.”
What is notably missing in Rep. Gutierrez’s tour is any mention of the harm mass amnesty would have on citizens and legal immigrants, or the economic toll illegal immigration has on American workers. With a national unemployment rate of 8.1%, over 12 million Americans are scrambling for jobs. Yet according to the Pew Hispanic Center, an estimated 7.7 million jobs, desperately needed by U.S. workers, are held by illegal aliens. To be sure, unless worksite enforcement is continued, E-Verify reauthorized, and laws enforced, Americans will continue to compete against illegal aliens in ever greater numbers. The amnesty initiative advocated by Rep. Gutierrez would simply reward those who have broken the law, encourage more illegal immigration, and exacerbate a labor market already in distress.
“Pennsylvania’s illegal alien population has grown to 140,000, costing state taxpayers $285 million annually at a time when the state is facing a potential $2.3 billion deficit,” stated Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “While Pennsylvanians are looking for work and facing increased competition for jobs and mounting economic burdens from illegal immigration, Rep. Gutierrez is in Philadelphia peddling his special interest-driven amnesty agenda and calling for the abandonment of immigration enforcement.”
“Lawmakers should be evaluating how U.S. immigration policy impacts the American worker, not parading around the country trying to lay the groundwork for mass amnesty,” continued Stein. “We cannot keep our heads in the sand and ignore the impact illegal immigration has on wages and jobs not in good times and certainly not now. It is a fiscal necessity and moral imperative to protect the American worker.”