Harry Mitchell offers a better plan for immigration enforcement

In an editorial in the Arizona Republic yesterday, Harry Mitchell called for more stringent enforcement of Immigration laws against employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Mitchell also slammed the current Republican Congress for cutting funds to support such enforcement.

Washington has failed Arizona on immigration enforcement

Enforcing our nation's immigration laws is an absolutely necessary ingredient to securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Failure to do so will undoubtedly lead to further chaos at the border, encourage even more illegal crossings, and make it difficult for us to monitor who is within our borders and for what purpose.

That's why the news last week that work-site enforcement of our nation's immigration laws has been cut 95 percent, to virtually none at all, is cause for serious concern.

Even more troubling is the revelation that law enforcement officials were pressured by members of Congress not to crack down on companies that hire illegal workers.

As one former Immigration and Naturalization Services official explained, "We were pushed away from doing enforcement."

According to the Washington Post, the number of employers fined for hiring illegal immigrants plunged from 417 in 1999 to only three in 2004. [emphasis added]

The numbers tell an increasingly common story: Washington has failed Arizona when it comes to ending illegal immigration.

Mitchell went on to outline three specific ways to address the issue constructively in a more comprehensive manner. This is very much in contrast with JD Hayworth's one-note approach to the immigration issue focus only on interdicting the illegal immigrants. Mitchell urges:

• Increasing work-site enforcement of immigration laws, fully funding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget, and providing the investigators and prosecutors that ICE needs to hold employers accountable.

• Fast-tracking a system that will enable employers to electronically and instantly verify who is and is not eligible for work. No brand of immigration reform, including a much-needed temporary worker program, can be effective unless employers and the federal government have the capability of determining a potential hire's legal status.

• Targeting crimes that facilitate illegal immigration and illegal employment, such as document fraud and identity theft.

Perhaps most importantly, though, we need members of Congress who are willing to enforce the law, produce real immigration reform, and stop playing politics with the issue.

I'll go along with that. It's yet another reason I'm endorsing Harry Mitchell for Congress.

On Mitchell's website, Harry carries forward with this theme, echoing a very mature, bipartisan approach that seems so foreign to Hayworth's extremist rhetoric.

Dear Friends,

Last Friday, I was proud to earn the support of many Republicans who believe we need a new direction in Washington.

Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, former Senate President Leo Corbet, former Scottsdale Mayor Sam Campana, former Tempe Mayors Neil Giuliano, Bill LoPiano, and John Moeur and so many other Republicans believe, as I do, that it is time to put partisanship aside and do what's right for Arizona.

We can begin by working together to secure our border, and deliver tough and realistic immigration reform. I support the plan put forward by Arizona Republicans John McCain, Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe, and in Congress, I'll work with them and the President to get Arizona the resources we need to secure the border.

That's a stark contrast from the current situation in which my opponent has chosen to play politics with immigration instead of delivering real solutions.

It is time to end partisan bickering in Washington and elect leaders who put Arizona before politics. Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Libertarian, I hope you'll join me and the thousands of others in this campaign by volunteering your time and making an online contribution today.

Harry

Go Harry Mitchell!