Eric Massa for Congress - NY 29 IMMIGRATION

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Eric's Position on Immigration

"Immigrant" is part of who we are as Americans, a melting pot from the beginning. People have come here to escape persecution -- religious, racial, political; to live in a place that is open and inclusive; to have a shot at the American dream. My own grandparents came here through Ellis Island. But clearly, we face a new problem: a growing wave of illegal immigration. It's a serious problem, for one thing because it can affect national security. It's also a complicated economic problem.

The biggest problem, though, is that the Bush administration and Congress have only just now discovered it, and suddenly immigration is on everyone's agenda. After years of looking the other way as illegal immigration exploded, this Administration is manufacturing yet another crisis to divert attention from its multitude of failures, particularly in Iraq. And their "solutions" won't even begin to solve the problem, which has become institutionalized at multiple levels in our society, especially the economy.

Let us never forget that our current immigration crisis is a direct result of our failed free trade policies. NAFTA created the environment where huge international agri-businesses made it impossible for millions of Mexican and Central American farmers to make a living and feed their families. They migrated north to work in the thousands of maquiladoras or manufacturing factories. Our continued fascination with free trade produced the World Trade Organization most favored nation trading status with communist China. Those manufacturing jobs were snuck out Mexico. Millions then did the only thing they could do, they came north where a majority of them have been systematically abused by corporate America's hiring policies. Our immigration crisis is a reality manufactured largely by the Bush Administration's hand shake with China and it can be undone.

This is a problem government can solve. But we need leaders of integrity and principle, leaders more interested in developing solutions than in arguing about the problem for political gain. Here's a summary of what I see as the important points about this "crisis."

The Bush Double Flip. Back in 2005, the President promised to add 10,000 extra border patrol agents (2,000 per year). These would be the natural people to actually have patrol the border, don't you think? And then he never followed through. Instead, when no one was looking, he and the rubber-stamp Congress cut the funding for these agents from the budget, to save money. Now they're calling for the National Guard to solve the problem.
Before loading up the over-extended National Guard with another impossible task, Congress and the Administration should follow through on their original promises.
It's all about Economics. The real drivers of this "crisis" are fundamental, structural issues of economics, and any solution that doesn't address the economics won't work. We need to address our trading partners to the South about their practices of exporting their citizens into our country. We should also admit that workers enter this country illegally because there is a demand for their services: cheap labor, no benefits. And it's not just businesses and corporations that like it this way. I don't hear any calls from the anti-immigrant crowd for boycotts of goods that we get more cheaply because they're produced with illegal labor -- say, fruits and vegetables, or cheaper houses and buildings.

Secure the Borders. One of my core beliefs is that our first priority is to secure our borders. In a post-9/11 world, we simply must have control over who comes and goes, and why. But we can do it smart. We can't afford to shoot ourselves in the foot in the process. Security has to come hand-in-hand with a sane approach to the complex political and economic problems of the economic demand for immigrant labor, and the understandable desire of immigrants for the opportunity for a better life.

Crack down of corporate hiring. Many large corporations, as a policy, reach out and import illegal labor and then hold those workers in the shadows, paying them sub-minimum wages with no benefits. Any such company should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Reimbursement to local authorities. Washington's inability to fix this problem has basically shifted the costs associated with immigration to our states and counties. Those counties are no longer able to bear this financial burden. Just because Washington is broken, does not mean we need to break our local government as well.

Create a fair Guest Worker Program which originates from our embassies overseas. If illegal aliens know that we will simply grant them amnesty, as the President and Republicans in Congress have recently tried and failed to do, then there is no incentive for them to follow the law.We need a valid guest worker program to help our farmers, but I would demand that this program originate from our embassies. If migrant workers are forced to go to our foreign embassies for their papers, then there is no incentive for them to cross the border illegally. This will require us to staff up our embassies a great deal, however it will save us millions of dollars in the long run.

A path to citizenship. The strength of this Nation has forever been derived from the power of legal immigration. Let us never forget that we are mostly all immigrants. I believe strongly that the values and culture of the United States of America, and our ability to be strengthened by legal immigration, far out weighs the Rush Limbaugh fear mongering that we often fall victim to.

Blogs

Eric Massa's Weekly Diary: If You Build it They Will Come...and Stay
May 21 by Eric Massa

After years of looking the other way as illegal immigration exploded, this Administration is manufacturing yet another crisis to divert attention from its multitude of failures, particularly in Iraq. �While we all agree that illegal immigration is a problem - a major one at that - the President and the Republican congress are jumping the gun with knee-jerk, half-baked "crisis" solutions to a problem that has been building for years. � And their "solutions" won't even begin to solve the problem, which has become institutionalized at multiple levels in our society, especially the economy itself.

I'll explain myself more in a moment, but right now, here's a summary of what I see as the important points about this "crisis." �

News

Massa stands against Drivers Licenses for Illegal Immigrants... Challenges Randy Kuhl on Border Security
Oct 24

CORNING, N.Y. - Retired Navy Commander and candidate for New York's 29th Congressional District Eric Massa, today came out against the recent proposal to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in New York. Massa released the following statement:

"It's a serious problem that more than 12 million illegal immigrants currently live in our country. It is unimaginable that six years after foreign terrorists crossed into our country and attacked New York and Washington DC that this Administration has yet to secure our borders. And it's an even bigger problem that Tom DeLay legacy Washington DC Republicans have refused to work together with the new majority in Congress to create a bipartisan solution to the immigration crisis. Occasionally in politics, you find your opponent agreeing with you on an issue. In this case, we both oppose granting driver's licenses to illegal aliens, but he and I differ greatly in our willingness to address the problem in a bipartisan fashion.

Neighbor 2 Neighbor

David C. Hall Sr. 6/18/2007 I have had enough of no employment. :: More...

Lori Bartkovich 6/17/2007 His position on immigration, gun control, energy and environmental conservation. :: More...

Paul Stuart 6/11/2007 9:49:25 AM Eric Massa's mind is a comprehension of contemporary issues. :: More...

Upcoming Events

Chemung County Council of Women hosts Election Tea Join the Chemung County Council of Women, the local press, and Congressional Candidates in Western New York's 29th District for an Election Tea at Notre Dame school in Elmira, NY. Each candidate will present for 20 minutes in the auditorium. The presentations will be followed by refreshments and a one-on-one questions and answers session with the candidates in the gymnasium. We hope you can join Eric Massa at his presentation! Sun. Oct 26 - 2:00 PM

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