Ultimately, Says Rep. Alonzo, All Immigration Bills, Pro or Con, Are Just "Fodder for Politics"

By Megan Feldman Thu., Feb. 19 2009 at 2:43 PM

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State Rep. Robert Alonzo

You might think that since Texas legislators are tied up dealing with a plunging housing market and accepting stimulus money, they'd drop the predictable collection of politically motivated immigration bills seeking to fill the federal policy vacuum. Nope. Not a chance.

Rep. Jim Jackson of Carrollton would like to declare English the official language of Texas. Then there there's Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler, who has filed nearly a dozen bills aimed at illegal immigrants -- from a measure that would challenge automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to a provision that would force all illegal immigrants to move to "sanctuary cities." During an immigration policy panel discussion yesterday in Austin, a Chinese American lawyer called Berman "evil" and "despicable." The lawmaker, who says he's withdrawn the proposed legislation that's still on the state's Web site, shouted at the man to "Go home!" and "Kiss my ass!"

Rep. Roberto Alonzo of Dallas, co-chair of the Dallas legislative caucus, is pushing his own pro-immigrant measure, a bill that would prevent landlords from denying housing to illegal immigrants because of their status. It's an attempt to block the infamous Farmers Branch ordinance that, after two years and $1.6 million dollars in legal fees, has never been enforced.

"My take on this is, look, if you're gonna do anti, I'll do for," Alonzo tells Unfair Park. "But in the end, there's a wash, and we're clear about leaving immigration to the feds."
Since many of the immigration enforcement bills are failed repeats from the last session, and since House Speaker Joe Straus has expressed less interest in them than his predecessor, Tom Craddick, Alonzo says the efforts are pure political rhetoric with little hope of gaining traction.

"These bills are not gonna see the light of day because of the new number of Democrats and the change in speaker," Alonzo says. "The issue is fodder for politics. There's gonna be a contested primary fight and the governor's race, so there'll be a fight over who's more anti-immigrant."

Of course, the anti-immigrant forces happen to be on the losing side of the demographic -- and democratic -- wave. Take Irving, for example. Alonzo points out that last November, Linda Harper-Brown held onto her seat by a thin strand of fewer than 20 votes, and Mexican American turnout nearly doubled.

"The future is now," Alonzo says, "and people have realized that by participating in the democratic process, you get results."

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I can't say the ILLEGAL ALIENS are completely to blame for the shape of our economy, but they are a BIG part of the problem. The ILLEGAL ALIENS send BILLIONS upon BILLIONS out of this Country every year, money we will NEVER see again. Does this help our economy? How about the BILLIONS the American taxpayers fork out for the ANCHOR BABIES, the schooling of them, the medical care and the list goes on, and on, and on. How about the MILLIONS upon MILLIONS paid to jail ILLEGAL ALIENS for the crimes, then the cost to deport them. Does this help our economy? Then you have these activist groups, the Catholic Church and the ACLU that want AMNESTY for these ILLEGAL ALIENS. It would be absolute suicide for this Country if AMNESTY were granted to the 20 million or so ILLEGAL ALIENS. We have more and more people out of work everyday and they want to add another 20 million to this Country? I say, "NO"! If AMNESTY were ever granted to these 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS, you can bet big money that 3 years from now, there would be ANOTHER 3-5 million ILLEGAL ALIENS demonstrating on our soil for AMNESTY. An end MUST come to this illegal immigration. The perfect tool we have so far is E-Verify. It MUST be used by ALL businesses and Government Social Services. EVERY employee must be checked! If they are illegal, they are to be dismissed! I believe it is time for all 50 States to pass a State law, like Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and a few others. It is time for these ILLEGAL ALIENS to go back to their home Country and get out of this Country. The problems they are causing will not go away until the ILLEGAL ALIENS are out of this Country. I think that is plain to see. TEXAS, GET AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAW PASSED! It's the best thing you can do for your State and the very best thing you can do for America.
So Megan, your position is that if it's too difficult to immigrate legally, it's ok to violate federal immigration laws and enter the country illegally? As for your random (?) usage of "immigrant" versus "illegal immigrant" (supposedly because you think there's no important difference) -- let's say that I don't think it matters whether someone has a drivers license or not, and I write an article about people who are upset about the large number of unlicensed drivers. If half the time I referred to "opponents of unlicensed drivers" and half the time "opponents of drivers," "anti-driver ordinances," etc., should I dismiss people who question this strange usage as "obsessives?" Anyway, I applaud your honesty about not caring whether someone is here legally or not, but I think you should make your position clear in your articles, lest someone get the crazy idea that you're an objective journalist, as opposed to someone with an agenda who is unlikely to fairly present both sides of an issue.
Well, first off, the obsessive distinction between anti-immigrant and anti-illegal immigrant is irrelevant because except for a very small number of visa-issued agricultural workers, it's impossible for uneducated, low-wage workers to come here legally... Megan, that's exactly how I explained it to Silvestre when I gave him the keys to his new Escalade and he waved the three loads of Bushmasters on through. If Mexico had the sort of enlightened gun laws that would allow 'Lonzo and the other cartels to get the munitions they need to do business properly there wouldn't BE any of this illegal gun smuggling that gets people so up in arms, so to speak. By definition, it's the doggone laws that create all that doggone illegality nobody wants. Now I have a hankering for some pussy from that little redhead I passed on the way in. Once again, just bending her over and taking it from her is going to get a few sensitive types all upset, but it's all these doggone laws that get in the way, it's not me. Lord knows it's not as if I've got the time to ask her nicely, or marry her, or any of that kind of shit. I've got another three loads of Bushmasters to get through. Say, you and me oughta have lunch some time. Sounds like we have a bunch in common.
Yep, Megan's got it all figured out. If we Americans weren't so darned over-educated, we would all be working construction. First off, doesn't DISD have a 50% dropout rate? Didn't I just hear that DISD has hundreds of ninth graders that are aged 19-21? Does anyone think that even 10% of our legal citizens could solve a simple algebra equation, state the freezing temperature of water, or point to their location on a map? I don't.
Megan Feldman, spokesperson for illegal aliens, misrepresents the issue again. Feldman perpetuates the myth regarding work Americans will not do. In all cases (food service, agricultural, ...), there are more legal Americans already doing those jobs today than illegal aliens. In fact, the illegal aliens push down the wages of their legal counterparts. Bottom line: Megan Feldman is an advocate for criminals and is not a journalist.
I think if some of the anti-illegal immigrant folks had a romantic date with an illegal immigrant, they might just change their attitude. Try it, you might love it!
Well, first off, the obsessive distinction between anti-immigrant and anti-illegal immigrant is irrelevant because except for a very small number of visa-issued agricultural workers, it's impossible for uneducated, low-wage workers to come here legally, and those are the ones our economy has been drawing in droves and the ones we need as Americans' education levels increases and Americans' willingness to do jobs such as construction (the average American-born construction worker is approaching 50, for example) decreases. Secondly, the comparison to the amnesty of the eighties is specious because it legalized millions without providing a mechanism for low-wage workers to emigrate here legally, thus creating a whole new generation of "illegals."
Remember we tried amnesty in the late 1980s and it failed. What makes anybody think it will work better this time. Don't give me that path to citizenship garbage it's amnesty
Hey scott, since you're such a supporter of people who have entered this country illegally, why don't you put the name of your gardening company on here so all those other supporters of illegals can help your business out?
Tom, most official gov't studies have found that illegals are a boon for America they contributed $11 billion to the TExas economy alone over their burden. NAtionally the figure was $17 billion. Those figures came from the CBO and were largely ignored by those who make the anti-illegal arguments on the radio and TV. By the way, those people are not willing to honestly engage and dialogue on illegal immigration, it is just a wedge issue to piss people off. And, somehow to blame Dems with, despite that Reps. had run the country for 6yrs with all legislative and executive branches under their control.
Megan knows perfectly well what she's doing, using the tested "anti-immigrant" construction. It's no different from saying "Jews" regularly kill children, without specifying which Jews, under which circumstances, just a device to drive sales, whether of VV media blog hits or Wahhabi school contributions. Smart girl, eyes on the prize, unburdened by the sentimentality of the truth.
fred, IMHO, you should certainly be allowed to legally marry your partner. I believe everyone should have the right to be screwed by their ex and a litany of attorneys when the marriage inevitably fails.
I guess the libs forgot illegal aliens cost the taxpayers and ridding the US of them will actually save money. By the way, the libs are being stupid again. The "anti" groups aren't opposed to immigrants. They're opposed to illegal aliens. But the non-nativists (aka un-Americans) intentionally misuse these terms because it commingles 20 million outlaws with three distinct and well-defined groups. Mixing illegal aliens with sovereign Hispanic nations, Latino citizens and immigrants, creates a confusing, amorphous blob of humanity that defies description. Illegal aliens survive in this confusion in the same way that birds survive in flocks and fish survive in schools. The problem is most illegal aliens are not Spanish, Puerto Rican or Filipino. And they�re neither citizens nor immigrants. They�re simply what their national labels say they are. Bluntly, they�re usually Mexican.
Hey gay citizens pay taxes but that doesn't give THEM any rights!
Jason, I'm just devastated by your lack of support, but I do think that you and Toots make a great couple.
Honestly, RoB. Toots totally nailed you. your "I can tell you're trying" comeback = weak
We should go after the people who hire illegals, but nobody will because Republicans are in the pocket of the business lobby and Democrats are in the pocket of hispanic groups. As for illegals doing the work Americans won't do, i hear there's lots of people who are having trouble paying their mortgage these days, sounds like they could use some extra work. Oh that's right, they don't need the extra work because Obama is sending them lots of other peoples money.
The Republicans are making a facetious argument here. They certainly haven't fined those employers that had hired hundreds in meat packing plants. They only deported the little guys. You're right, the Republicans have, with few exceptions, completely bent over to the business community on this issue. See, this is pure economics, but you and those decrying the illegals don't really like free markets. "Free markets" means free, legal, open competition. There are plenty of illegal ways to gain a competitive advantage in a market; hiring illegal aliens who will work for less than Americans, and allow themselves to be overworked and abused due to fear of deportation is one example. OTOH, if a legal immigrant is willing to work for lower wages than I am, that's fair competition in a free market.
I'm sorry. That was offensive. I shouldn't stereotype all as Mexicans. My yardman is actually Ecuadorian. Still, if there is just one leaf under my bushes..............
I agree with CynicalOB. We really need to start going after the employers. I would like to see fines for employers raised to $100,000 per person per day they have illegals working for them.
Lakewooder, there wasn't anyone willing to do that work 12 months ago. But as the economy has shed jobs many of these guys have returned oust the illegal immigrants. Many of the illegals are leaving. See, this is pure economics, but you and those decrying the illegals don't really like free markets. The Republicans are making a facetious argument here. They certainly haven't fined those employers that had hired hundreds in meat packing plants. They only deported the little guys. Again, we should have national health care, what we have cost 2 times what any other country spends per capita. For similar reasons, it is cheaper to give them free health care. Illegals pay lots of taxes. When they rent, they are paying property taxes, when the shop and eat they pay sales taxes. If we could simply develop a computer insurance check, we can ensure that drivers carry valid insurance. I do think our car dependent city makes it hard to deny the right to drive to anyone. If you're insured I don't care. Now, if I were an insurance company, I'd be sure my drivers had licenses. A bonded insurer can make their own assessments. Funny, if we didn't have illegals, we probably couldn't have these bubbles without vast inflation. If labor costs rose as they would without illegal or non-CONTROLLED immigration we'd see rapid inflation in any productivity boom.
Toots, bless your heart. I can tell you're trying.
I think the FB law is a disaster. However, I want to see it enacted as a test case. Again, let's give it 18 months, I bet you see apt owners getting a quiet change. The economics of this do not make sense. The anti-illegal arguments are not grounded in evidence.
It seems to me we Texans were dealing with this "Immigrant Problem" just fine until the Sean Hannity's, Keith Olberman's, Lou Dobb's and such started talking about it. I like Mexican's enough. Hell, I vacation in their country. I also enjoy the "Ask a Mexican" column in the Observer. I like my yard clean and pay a Mexican cheaply to keep it that way. Allot of the Mexicans with fake SS#'s still have to pay FICA tax that they won't ever collect. I think its great that you can always hold over their heads that you just have to report them to La Migra if your not getting what you want. Why, just the other day a Mexican with his family scratched my door at the local Home Depot and when he claimed he did not have insurance, I called immigration and reported him and his license plate number. After hanging up, I had visions of officials showing up at his door and hauling him off away from his family to his motherland. With whom else can you get such satisfaction in business dealings? To me this is just Yankee problem. They just haven't seen all the wonderful ways to exploit illegal immigrants. I mean, since some jokers made slavery illegal, this is the next best thing. And the best part is that obviously the Mexicans must love being exploited because they keep avoiding the hassle of being legal citizens. I LOVE this Country!!!
You have to remember, RoB the post I was responding to had no content. Unlike you, I can't make it up. I also see that I didn't get personal. I thought Republicans were badasses.
RoB, just remember... we need these workers, so yes, if you're anti illegal immigration, you're obviously a Mexican hating racist son-of-a-bitch. I mean, think about it for just a minute.... it's not like we have millions of people relying on public assistance... just sitting around doing nothing. If that were the case, those are the people that would be out there busing tables, mowing lawns, painting & roofing houses, etc. There's no one available to do these types of jobs, so of course we have to make it possible for 20 - 30 million illegal immigrants to live here. Sheesh, it's just common sense.
If you don't want illegal immigrants in your city just have your local police do checks on all employees at restaurants, distribution centers, lawn services, etc. Then fine or shut down the businesses that are doing the hiring. The illegals are here because businesses are hiring them.
Toots, I see that your feeble attempt to "move on" and take the high road over those awful right-wingers who only make content-free personal attacks because they can't rebut specific points didn't last very long.
".......and we want to stereotype everyone who's against illegal immigration as a bunch of fearmongering, Mexican-hating racists, si?" Hell, Robert just gives you the rope. You do the hangin' yourself.
Megan, where you say "anti-immigrant", it should actually read "anti illegal immigrant". I don't know any of them personally, but I am pretty sure opponents of this are against the illegals, not the legals. Just thought you should know.
Rep. Roberto Alonzo of Dallas, co-chair of the Dallas legislative caucus, is pushing his own pro-immigrant measure, a bill that would prevent landlords from denying housing to illegal immigrants because of their status. Of course, the anti-immigrant forces [...] Shouldn't that read "pro-illegal immigrant" and "anti-illegal immigrant" respectively? But then, it might seem reasonable to be against something or someone who's illegal, and we want to stereotype everyone who's against illegal immigration as a bunch of fearmongering, Mexican-hating racists, si?