Lawrence and Douglas county
Boyda addresses immigration issues
January 8, 2008
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Boyda discusses immigration legislation
U.S. Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Boyda says she expects congress to take another stab at immigration legislation this year. Enlarge video
U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., says Congress needs to find a way to help employers identify illegal immigrants through a "practical employer verification program."
"Then you can move forward and talk about what else we're going to do to make policies that are going to work for the long term, but without a way to enforce it, you can't really have a meaningful policy," she said.
During an interview Monday with the Journal-World, the first-term congresswoman from Topeka touted her co-sponsorship of the SAVE - Secure America with Verification and Enforcement - Act, which also includes provisions for border security.
Illegal immigration has been a major federal and state issue for several years. Boyda also has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Mexican trucking pilot program, which gives Mexican drivers greater access to U.S. highways, and said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has not allowed a substantive immigration bill to come to a vote.
In 2006, Boyda, whose district includes western Lawrence, defeated five-term Congressman Jim Ryun, a Lawrence Republican, during a bitter campaign in which Ryun ran ads that said Boyda was soft on immigration reform. Boyda denied the ads then.
Ryun and Kansas Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, both Republicans, have started campaigning for a chance to face Boyda in November's general election, and both candidates also have stressed their stances on the issue.
"Jim Ryun is the only candidate in this race who has a strong, consistent record of supporting legislation that would secure our borders and strengthen our current laws on illegal immigration," said Jacqueline Harrison, a Ryun campaign spokeswoman.
Patrick Leopold, Jenkins' campaign manager, also mentioned setting up a database to help employers more easily search potential employees' backgrounds.
"Unlike what's been going on in Congress, when Lynn Jenkins is sworn in, she will stop the endless talk and take immediate action to strengthen our border security and give employers the tools they need to ensure they are not hiring illegal immigrants," Leopold said.
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8 January 2008
at 8:31 a.m.
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jasonc_22 (Anonymous) says…
wonderful! i'm so glad lynn jenkins is so confident that her singular voice and winning smile will help her do what no congress has even done before….
And as to the BS from the Ryun camp- Boyda is in office right now and has already done more in her single year in office to fix the immigration problem than Ryun did in his 10 years in office.
8 January 2008
at 8:59 a.m.
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Agnostick (Anonymous) says…
Jenkins' idea of a database sounds like a good one!
I'm continually flabbergasted by the disparity of technological advancements in some fields/industries, and the Stone Age troglodyte approaches that are clung to in other industries.
Go into any retailer… swipe your credit/debit card… and in a matter of seconds your purchase is either allowed or prohibited, based on a wide variety of factors (amount of cash/credit you have access to, credit history, prompt payment of your last bill, card reported lost or stolen, etc.).
So we have this lightning-fast system that drives our economy… but when it comes to checking someone's background for a job, it's slow, cumbersome, and unsecure. Or, maybe it's just non-existent!
(Not to open another can of worms, but the same goes for guns, gun licensing, and gun purchases. A gun dealer shouldn't have to enforce a 7-day waiting period—the background checks for criminal history, mental health etc. should take just as long as a credit check, and they should be just as reliable and secure.)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be administering a database for employers.
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
http://www.uscentrist.org
http://www.americanplan.org
8 January 2008
at 10:56 a.m.
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jrlii (Anonymous) says…
I have a plan which will make illegal immigration disappear over night: Repeal the immoral immigration laws.
When my ancestors arrived in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, no one even asked their names, never mind made them jump through a bunch of bureaucratic hoops to come here.
They came, got off the ship and went looking for farms to buy or rent. What right have we to slam the door behind us?
The right to travel is a natural right. The right to work is a natural right. So why is the so-called “Land of the Free” interfering with those rights?
What makes us so much better than they were that we think we have a right to impose all kinds of restrictions on immigration?
8 January 2008
at 1 p.m.
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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…
It's the Republicans who exploit illegal workers with slave wages and dangerous working conditions.
The whole of western Kansas is filled with feed lots and slaughterhouses manned almost entirely by illegal Mexican workers.
Fine and imprison their employers, or stop pretending you care about immigration.
8 January 2008
at 2:04 p.m.
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BigDog (Anonymous) says…
It's the Republicans who exploit illegal workers with slave wages and dangerous working conditions.
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I would guess by your statement that in your world Democrats don't own or run businesses, and none of them have been raided for employing illegal aliens.
Why have the Democratic unions remained silent on this issue? Have they sold out their members?
8 January 2008
at 2:08 p.m.
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BigDog (Anonymous) says…
jasonc_22 (Anonymous) says:
wonderful! i'm so glad lynn jenkins is so confident that her singular voice and winning smile will help her do what no congress has even done before:
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Jason - Why can't Lynn Jenkins do that? By reading some of your previous statements, all it has taken to fix things in Washington DC now is one voice …. Nancy Boyda
8 January 2008
at 2:11 p.m.
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kneejerkreaction (Anonymous) says…
Boyda's got it finally. Address the immigrants and send them back.
8 January 2008
at 2:11 p.m.
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staff04 (Anonymous) says…
There will be no substantive legislation on immigration passed this year. In a run-up to an election, the President isn't going to sign anything that could make Democrats look good, and the Democratic leadership in Congress isn't going to debate or pass anything that would make Republicans look good. This year will be a legislative waste, IMO.
And really, not just immigration. It isn't likely that anything gets accomplished towards Medicare or Social Scurity reform either…
8 January 2008
at 2:46 p.m.
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jasonc_22 (Anonymous) says…
boyda's been right on illegal immigration the whole time she's been in office…look at her votes and her public statements since she's been in office.
as to your question, BigDog- she can certainly try, and I'd hope she does try. it's too bad for her that Nancy Boyda has beaten her to it and has done exactly what that quote from Jenkins' manager says Jenkins plans to do.
Well, save one thing “stopping the endless talk” isn't ever going to happen.
just more empty spin from lynn's office.
8 January 2008
at 3:10 p.m.
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toefungus (Anonymous) says…
Republicans need to get on top of this issue with action, not rhetoric. Boyda's database idea has been proposed many times. It is time to get it done.
8 January 2008
at 3:32 p.m.
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moo (Anonymous) says…
Amen, jrlii. I think it's interesting that a lot of the same people who constantly argue for removing all restrictions on businesses also argue for shipping all the immigrants back. If you are truly so free-market, shouldn't you believe in international citizenship? Shouldn't businesses be able to hire anyone they want from anywhere? Shouldn't workers be able to work for any company who pays a salary which they are willing to accept?
Personally, I believe in controlling business, but as a citizen of this planet I should be able to go wherever I want and work there. People on this forum constantly tell anyone who is against the war in Iraq to go live in some other country without thinking about the fact that it is not easy to do. For example, getting a legal job in Europe as an American is extremely difficult.
8 January 2008
at 8:02 p.m.
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Brittanicus (Anonymous) says…
It has been reported that Democratic voters have not been asked their standing on the front burning issue of illegal immigration, by the media. Yet, each day the Republicans are bombarded continously with this economic question—and it is economic as well as everything to do with national security? Democratic voters, just like Republicans and Independants, want to know where their tax dollars are going? Even in the debates the questions of Democratic presidential nominees have been engineered, and have not been asked any questions about the illegal immigrant occupation of our nation!
Last March Sen.McCain, Obama, Clinton, Richardson and friends agreed with ultra liberal Ted Kennedy a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. But something even worse is coming to your community, as your state and county treasury is bled dry by free-loaders who broke our immigration laws. Take a look at Los Angeles? New statistics from the Department of Public Social Services reveal that illegal immigrants (that means illegal not legal) and their families in Los Angeles County collected over $37 million in welfare and food stamp allocations in November 2007 up $3 million dollars from September, announced Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.
Twenty five percent of the all welfare and food stamps benefits is going directly to the children of illegal aliens. Illegals collected over $20 million in welfare assistance for November 2007 and over $16 million in monthly food stamp allocations for a projected annual cost of $444 million.
“This new data shows an alarming increase in the devastating impact Illegal immigration continues to have on Los Angeles County taxpayers,” said Antonovich. “With $220 million for public safety, $400 million for healthcare, and $444 million in welfare appropriations, the total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers far exceeds $1 billion a year , which does not include millions of dollars in education. The federal government takes your taxes to educate millions of illegal alien children, to the tune of 11 billion dollars!