Conservative leaders will withhold their support over amnesty vote

July 7, 2006

Forty-three influential conservative opinion leaders have pledged to without their support for any candidate, Democrat or Republican, who votes for legislation providing either amnesty or a guest-worker program for illegal aliens. The group includes Alan Keyes, Phyllis Schlafly, David Horowitz and Swiftboat activist John O'Neill.

They call themselves the Secure Borders Coalition, and state that the immigration bill passed by the Senate and a separatae plan proposed in the House by Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, calling the latter 'amnesty lite' and unacceptable. Pence's plan, they say, provides for 'the wholesale importation of aliens and a path to citizenship for them.'

The group is circulating their declaration among other conservative leaders and grassroots activists, and say that their stance represents a major break with the Bush White House. The declaration points out that the Heritage Foundation estimates the Senate bill will bring in at least 60 million foreigners during the next 20 years.

Expecting that any ‘temporary worker’ group will be made up of people similar to illegal aliens already here, the group says they expect that ‘more than half will be high school dropouts who will work low-paying jobs that require payment of little or no income tax. They will be 50 percent more likely to receive government benefits than those in non-immigrant households. And 42 percent of their children will be born out-of-wedlock – but all their children born in the U.S. will automatically become American citizens.'

According to the Heritage Foundation, the cost of the Senate amnesty for illegal immigrants alone, would be $50 billion a year for entitlements, including Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, public housing, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and federally funded legal representation.

The declaration says the plan proposed by Pence, hailed by supporters as a compromise, would 'place no limit whatsoever on the numbers of foreign workers who could be imported by U.S. employers from any country anywhere in the world.'

'By flooding this country with so many immigrants, legal and illegal, controlling immigration will become impossible and by dumping that burden onto an already-overburdened system of government benefits, these proposals are a threat to the future of the United States,' the declaration states.

The declaration concludes: 'Passing no bill is better than passing any new amnesty, legalization, guest worker or foreign worker program of any kind.'

The backers 'call for enforcement now' and favor a 'policy of attrition of the illegal population through strong enforcement of our nation's immigration laws, which includes, first and foremost, the securing of our borders.'

The signers and their affiliation is:

• Peggy Birchfield, Religious Freedom Action Coalition;
• Jim Boulet, Jr., English First;
• Brent Bozell, Conservative Victory Committee;
• Bay Buchanan, Team America PAC;
• Mario A. Calabrese;
• Christine Carmouche, GrassTopsUSA;
• Jim Clymer, Constitution Party National Committee;
• Kristen N. Cooper, Foundation for American Christian Education;
• Jerome R. Corsi, author;
• Kay Daly;
• Tom DeWeese, American Policy Center;
• James R. Edwards, Consultant to NumbersUSA;
• Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch;
• Don Feder, Don Feder Associates;
• John Fonte;
• Paul Goedinghaus, Alamo Alliance;
• William Green, RightMarch.com;
• Ellen Grigsby, Open Doors USA;
• Colin Hanna, Let Freedom Ring, Inc.;
• Carl F. Horowitz, National Legal and Policy Center;
• David Horowitz, Center for the Study of Popular Culture;
• Joan L. Hueter, American Council for Immigration Reform;
• Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Hope Christian Ministries;
• Kevin Kearns, U.S. Business and Industry Council;
• Alan Keyes, Declaration Alliance;
• Mal Kline, Accuracy in Academia;
• Gary G. Kreep, United States Justice Foundation;
• Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies;
• Deborah Lambert, Accuracy in Media;
• Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Toward Tradition;
• K.C. McAlpin, ProEnglish;
• William J. Murray, Religious Freedom Coalition;
• John O'Neill, Swiftboat Veterans;
• Howard Phillips, The Conservative Caucus;
• Alan Potter, Constitution Party of Virginia;
• Marc Rotterman, American Conservative Union;
• Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum;
• Rick and Caryann Shaftan, Neighborhood Research/Mountaintop Media;
• Rev. Lou Sheldon, Traditional Values Coalition;
• Chris Simcox, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps;
• Kent Snyder, The Liberty Committee;
• Mike Valerio, Mike and Helen Valerio Foundation;
• Richard A. Viguerie, Conservative HQ.com.