Unrecorded Mexican Amnesty Vote is UnAmerican
Says U.S.ENGLISH Chairman and CEO Mauro E. Mujica
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As an American, and as an immigrant from Chile who
emigrated to the U.S. legally, I am outraged by the underhanded, reckless
and self-serving attempts of House Republican leaders to sneak through
an unrecorded vote tonight that would give amnesty to illegal Mexicans
currently living in the United States.
Why all the secrecy and blue smoke and mirrors? If these so-called leaders
have nothing to hide, then why not throw the issue of blanket amnesty of
illegal Mexicans out to American citizens for a full-throttled public debate,
rather than hide it beneath the fog of 'shadow votes'?
This dishonest manipulation of our system of Democracy is political
pandering of the highest level and flies in the face of the freedoms
we hold so dear. Contrary to the sugar-coated rhetoric spun by House
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), this backdoor move will not tell
the world that our beloved country is a 'beacon to all who love freedom
and the opportunity to live, work and raise a family.'
To be sure, Rep. Armey, we are sending a loud and clear message to our
international neighbors. It is, however, a message for which I am
profoundly ashamed: 'Illegal Mexicans, come one, come all. You take
precedent over any other nationality. Come to America and jump
the line by breaking the law.'
Rather than coddling the Mexicans for their votes and money in the
next election, our leaders should focus on the needs of our legal
immigrants to help them integrate so they too can realize the American dream.
Census data continue to show that their needs are largely unmet.
The high school dropout numbers for immigrants are devastating,
and many adults are consigned to a low-wage ghetto because they
have not learned elementary work-force survival skills, such as
the ability to speak our common language - English.
We believe help should first be given to our legal immigrants
who don't yet speak English so they can escape the 'linguistic
welfare system' they have been barely surviving in, before blindly
throwing open our doors to a select ethnic group who have broken
our laws to get here.
U.S.ENGLISH is the nation's oldest and
largest citizens' action group dedicated to preserving
the unifying role of the English language in the United
States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of
California, U.S.ENGLISH now has more than 1.5 million
members nationwide.
| 
