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Immigration Law

: Greg Siskind's Blog

LIKELY SENATOR FROM NEW YORK SCORES HIGH WITH ANTI-IMMIGRATION GROUPS

By Greg Siskind

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Now that Caroline Kennedy has dropped out of the running to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate, speculation has now turned to Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand from the upstate New York area. Andrea Mitchell of NBC is reporting that she's going to be announced tomorrow as the new Senator.

Gillibrand has a poor record on immigration and her appointment will be extremely disappointing to the pro-immigration community. All the more surprising is that it comes from a Governor who presumably wants to appoint someone who is going to appeal to one of the most pro-immigration constituencies of any state in the country. Unless Gillibrand dramatically changes her views on immigration, she will very likely face a primary opponent when her seat is up and Republicans could have a much better chance to take this seat. Here is how Gillibrand describes her immigration views:

Our immigration system is broken and hard-working Americans often bear the brunt of the federal government?s failure to secure our borders and provide adequate protections for the American worker and the shrinking American Middle Class. I believe the first step to fixing our immigration system is to stop the flow of illegal immigration. This can be accomplished by securing the Southern border, enforcing the employment laws on the books and ensuring that our farmers and businesses have the adequate number of legal workers after they have exhausted their search for American workers. I am firmly against providing amnesty to illegal immigrants. In my first year in Congress, I passed legislation on the floor of the House of
Representatives that would bar employers, who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, from receiving federal contracts.

In addition, I am a sponsor of the SAVE Act, which will hire 8,000 new Customs and Border Patrol agents, while utilizing new technology and fencing along the border. I have also sponsored the Legal Employee Verification Act, which would require all employers to verify, through the Social Security Administration, that their employees are legal. In addition,

I support reforming and streamlining the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) so that the extraordinary casework backlog will be addressed within two years. This is especially important for the thousands of farmers in our district who need legal workers. I am confident that Congress can enact reform without providing amnesty to illegal immigrants. This is a national and economic security issue for our country and I am committed to fighting for the American worker.

NumbersUSA, the anti-immigration group, gives her a high grade for her voting record because Gillibrand's rhetoric has been backed up by her votes.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on January 22, 2009 (boomark / email).