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For your liberty!
James Eyer
Candidate for U.S. Congress District 9
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Talking Points: Immigration

Situation

  • Excepting Native Americans, the U.S. is a country of immigrants or of descendants of immigrants and it will continue to be.
  • The United States needsmore immigrants, especially younger ones; because of our aging population--soon therewillonly be only two workers per retiree.
  • Immigrants, by nature, tend to be well motivated risk takers with a strong work ethic.
  • Immigrants take on jobs that citizens and residents will not or can not perform, ranging from farm work to complex semiconductor device design and manufacture. So, in most cases immigrants complement rather than competing with existing employees.
  • Most children of immigrants are more successful than their peers.
  • Health, education, and other mandated services for persons without legal status does create incentives to come to the U.S. illegally.
  • Better monitoring of non-citizens seems necessary given the terrorism threat.

Policies and Actions

  • I support significantly increased opportunities for non-citizens to work in the U.S., coupled with a robust system for keeping track of non-citizens.
  • Citizenship quotas should be increased and should be based primarily on a) the ability of the economy to absorb new residents and citizens and b) a person's demonstration that s/he will be a productive citizen.
  • Other important criteria to use when deciding who may immigrate include: criminal history, whether significant persecution is involved, and whether the person will commit to staying off the dole. Criteria should not include country of origin.
  • Taxpayers should not have to pay for social services for residents without legal status.
  • The federal government should reimburse states and local government agencies to the extent that those agencies spend time and resources on matters related to people who are not legal residents.


rev 8/06/06