Opposes Immigration Act
To the editor:
I am writing to urge you to oppose the “Border and Immigration Enforcement Act of 2005” H.R. 4437 which has been introduced by Congressman Sensenbrenner. Our nation’s security depends upon the passage of comprehensive immigration reform that is fair and effective. Sensenbrenner’s legislation is mean-spirited, ineffective and anti-immigrant.
You should oppose H.R. 4437 for the following reasons:
* The bill criminalizes the undocumented population in the United States and will flood our jails with harmless immigrant workers.
* The bill would waste federal tax dollars on persecuting the most vulnerable population in the United States when the reality is we need their labor just as much as they need an opportunity to work.
* The bill would destabilize the U.S. economy by creating an aggressive employment verification system without providing an opportunity for essential workers to work legally.
* The bill would prevent the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States from ever being eligible for legal status.
* The bill would broaden the definition of alien smuggling to include family members, employers, church groups and immigrant advocates who provide undocumented immigrants with humanitarian assistance.
* The bill would forever deny citizenship to any legal permanent resident who was unlawfully present in the United States at any time.
I urge you to stand with hard-working immigrants and the Hispanic community by saying no to this bill and saying yes to finding solutions that make sense and are in the best interests of all Americans.
By focusing only on enforcement, this bill will force undocumented immigrants further into the shadows endangering their lives and making all of us less safe.
I urge you to oppose H.R. 4437 and support comprehensive immigration reform.
Carlos Gonzalez
Santa Monica
Opposes death penalty
Dear Governor
Schwarzenegger:
I urge you to grant clemency to any prisoner facing execution by our government. As an advocate of human rights everywhere, I am vehemently opposed to the death penalty and consider it an inhumane devaluation of human life.
The death penalty perpetuates the very injustice it attempts to rectify. It is a cruel, immoral punishment that violates the principles and values of a just and moral society. As a government, we cannot justify taking a life for the sake of another. Two wrongs do not make a right.
The execution of any person, guilty or not, is an option that should no longer exist. I urge you to declare a moratorium on executions and ultimately to abolish the death penalty.
Bill Rosendahl
L.A. City Councilman,District 11
