Chris Cannon Immigration

I contacted Chris Cannon's office and asked for a point by point stance on immigration from him. They emailed the following to me, which, as I understand it, has also been published in the Deseret News. It's good information:

Please give — point by point — your solution to the U.S. illegal immigration problem?

Point 1: Complete the Border Fence. I voted for and support and continue to staff up the Border Patrol to cover the entire southwest border.

Point 2: Institute a tamper-proof ID card for all immigrants seeking to work in the United States. This ID card would employ biometrics and interface with an entry-exit database.

Point 3: Strengthen E-verify for employers to eliminate excuses and confusion inherent in our current work verification process. Employers should know in minutes if an applicant is legal.

Point 4: Require any immigrant seeking US Citizenship to demonstrate a proficiency in English, American History, and Civics.

Point 5: Institute "Catch and Deport" while mandating that after a certain date, any person found in the US illegally, would be barred from re-entry for any reason for 10, 20, or more years.

Point 6: Create a process whereby anyone currently in the United States illegally can come forward, pay a fine, receive a criminal background check, go to the end of the line if interested in becoming a US citizen, receive a temporary work status, forfeit all Social Security monies earned, be required to either have employer provided health insurance or a Health Savings Account. If anyone is found to have a criminal history of any kind, they are to be deported and barred from re-entry. If anyone is found after the grace period, they are to be deported and barred from re-entry.

Point 7: Enforce the law and the new programs from day 1.

Chris Cannon's Stance on Illegal Immigration

I've had a few people express concern about Chris's stance on immigration. He does favor a Worker ID program, but I popped over to his website and pulled the information straight from him.

Indeed, the time for action has come. Today, there may be as many as 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. For the most part, we have no real way to know with any certainty who they are, where they are, or what they are doing. What we do know is that the majority of these folks are in fact living in our communities, sending their kids to our schools and, yes, working in jobs that are absolutely essential to our local, state and national economies. But, since they entered the country illegally, they cannot let us know who they are, they cannot obtain reliable identification and they live in the shadows of our society. In our post 9-11 environment, it is simply not acceptable to have that many people living and working in those shadows.

There are some who maintain that the solution to illegal immigration is simple: We should just round all these folks up and send them home, wherever that might be.

And in the context of an election year, that approach might have some appeal, however, [it] is not a real solution. Our immigration bureaucracy today cannot even efficiently manage the flow of legal immigrants and guests-- much less find and deport 12 million illegal immigrants. Perhaps more importantly, it is not entirely clear that our economy could withstand the loss of what has become an essential part of our national workforce. As the Deseret News and many others have said, we need plausible solutions to the challenge of illegal immigration not simplistic rhetoric.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I have been deeply involved for several years in trying to achieve reasonable and practical solutions to this vexing issue. My efforts with regard to immigration policy have been, and continue to be, driven by a few very basic principles:

Secure Borders Protecting the Homeland: There is nothing more fundamental to national security than control of our borders -- knowing who is coming in and preventing entry by those who would do us harm. We can and must do a better, and smarter, job of meeting this most basic responsibility. Of course, a key requirement for secure borders is to have rational immigration laws and policies which allow us to focus our security expertise, state-of-the-art technology and resources on real threats.

Economic Security: The fact that we have millions of illegal aliens in the United States today is the result of some basic realities: Existing and past immigration policies that have not worked; a failure to adequately control our borders; and the law of supply and demand. America is still the Land of Opportunity, and it is opportunity that is driving the majority of illegal immigrants to go to extraordinary lengths to enter our country and fill jobs in vital sectors of our economy--including many right here in Utah. We need immigration policies that will allow those willing workers to meet the needs of willing employers and do so in such a way that does not endanger the jobs of American workers.

Fairness to Legal Immigrants: The term amnesty is tossed about in debates over immigration policy, and with good reason. Millions of hard working, tax-paying legal immigrants are today living in America and making tremendous contributions to society. In many instances, those immigrants endured years of patiently waiting and complying with the complicated process of legal entry. It is essential that any legislation or initiative to allow illegal immigrants who are already in the U.S. to gain some form of temporary status be equitable to those who are here legally. The key to that equity lies in placing strict work requirements, monetary penalties, or other reasonable burdens on those who wish to stay here and work here despite having entered illegally. I will only support legislation which encompasses such penalties and mandates a fair price of admission for all.

Reality-Based Immigration Laws: Americans, and particularly we Utahns, are fundamentally welcoming people. We understand that reasonable and robust levels of immigration are critical to the continued growth and well-being of our economy, our communities, and our entire nation. It is a simple fact that we would not today have millions of illegal immigrants if our immigration laws and policies were based upon reality. We must have a system which allows willing workers to come here legally if there are jobs to fill. Likewise, we cannot just ignore the fact that those millions of illegal immigrants are, in fact, here, using our health care facilities, sending their kids to our schools, and in most cases, paying taxes to our federal, state and local governments.

In short, our immigration laws and policies must reflect the realities we face today: Our economy demands a robust supply of willing workers; our security demands that we bring people who are here illegally out of the shadows and into the light of day; and common sense demands that we find realistic solutions to a system that is clearly not working. ~ Chris Cannon

I have spoken with Chris, in length, on this issue. Yes, I'd like to see every single illegal immigrant rounded up and deported. I'd like to see our borders completely secured. Barring the first, I'll unhappily recognize that rounding them all up might not work. Although I'd sure like it to.

My second desire is slowly being taken care of. Chris said he drove, he believes, 400 miles of border fence. Some of it he says is inadequate, some of it is good. He is working hard to get the fence up and secure.

On the first, Chris says there is no way to round up 12 to 15 million people and deport them. We don't have the budget or manpower for that. He stated that we have to come up with the alternative. He favors, as I said, the Worker ID program which will allow them to work here but not allow them to access our health care and welfare programs. Barring shipping them all out, which is still my favorite option, Chris' plan works for me.

Tomorrow I'll post David Leavitt's stance on immigration.

My Conversation with Chris Cannon

Today, Alvin and I were able to spend two-and-a-half hours with Chris Cannon and a few other Precinct Chairs. He welcomed us into his home and it was great to listen to what he had to say, and to hear others stand up and talk about how impressed they've been with Chris and his time served in the Congress.

I have been a staunch supporter of Chris for many years. To learn of my experiences with Chris over the eleven years he has served as my congressman, read what I wrote on my personal blog: "Become a Partner With Chris Cannon."

Today I learned that one of his opponents has chosen to hammer him for not being present for various votes which needed to be cast by him. Chris is a hard-working congressman who fights for his constituents, the Constitution and this nation every minute, of every day, of every week, of every month and year. Today, one of his staff outlined for us what was going on in Chris' life when he missed those votes.

The first time his wife, Claudia, was having a baby. (She chimed in that she was old when this occurred and she needed Chris by her side.) Really, his opponent has a problem with Chris being by his wife's side when she gave birth to one of their children? That's not a man I'd want to vote for.

The second time was when his daughter, Rachel, was sick, so was the third time as she was reacting violently due to the medications she was being given. The fourth time he missed the vote was when his sweet daughter died. What kind of man would attack our congressman over these missed votes?

There was indeed one time when Chris missed a vote because he was working hard on some legislation and heard the buzzer too late to get the floor and cast his vote. He did say he felt pretty bad about that one.

Chris does not rush to the floor to vote on bills renaming post offices or roads, or other nonsensical matters which I am floored to find Congress dabbling in . . . but there you have it. Our Congressman was busy dealing with the bills he was writing, co-sponsoring or submitting in order to protect our rights and our lands here in Utah.

Again I ask . . . what opponent would challenge him on this?

So I brought up my concerns. I asked what was being done about our dependence on foreign oil. I knew this was a hot issue for him. He asked me if I knew how much was being sent out of the country? I nodded and replied, "$450 billion . . ." I was wrong. It is now $550 billion! Chris has been pushing hard to end of our reliance on foreign oil. He told us about reports stating we have five times the amount of shale oil in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah as they do in the Middle East. He explained the technology was in place, a company had purchased the rights to the technology and is prepared to begin drilling in the fall. They only have 47 government agencies which have to sign off on it. He feels pretty optimistic that it will come to pass. Until it does, he'll keep fighting for it.

In the meantime, the Democrats are fighting the Republicans tooth and nail. They want us to continue being reliant on foreign energy sources. The only answer to the myriad of problems we face in America is the taking back of the Senate and the House. Some say it can't be done. I say it will be deadly if it is not.

By the way . . . shale oil produces diesel and will drastically drop the diesel costs here in Utah. I'm guessing we will all want to start looking at diesel engines eventually. Just keep your eye on the news.

We also talked about immigration and how he and the other committee members drove along our southern border checking the fence which has been built. He talked about erroneous numbers coming out of Homeland Security, there's a surprise, and shared with us what he'd actually experienced.

He favors a worker ID program for the following reasons:

1. We don't know who is illegal in the U.S. and who is not. Finding out will cost a fortune.
2. We don't have the manpower to round them up and it will cost a fortune to hire all the policemen and agents needed to accomplish this monumental task.
3. He believes a worker ID program will restrict them being able to use our Emergency Rooms for their free medical visits and end their reliance on our welfare programs.
4. And finally he said we need to increase the number of citizenship spots available

I don't know if Chris is right, but I sure haven't heard a better plan. Yes, we need to close the borders. Fight with us to take the majority of the Senate and the House back and get the job done. It won't get done with the Democrats. Yes, we need to rectify the illegal immigration problem, this definitely won't get done with the Democrats. In other words, work with us to bring Conservative Republicans, like Chris, back into power so that we can get America back on the right track.

We spoke about universal health care. He's not a fan of it. Neither am I.

We spoke about the War on Terror. He thinks our efforts can be logistically improved, but that pulling out now would be the worst mistake we could make. I agree.

We spoke of honor, integrity, the courage to stand for the issues as well as the values and needs of Utahns despite all obstacles. He has done this.

I have spoken with Chris often over the last few years, as I outlined in the article on my personal blog linked at the top of this article, and he has always answered me. Whether by email, letter or phone call, Chris has been my support, in the congressional sense, when I stood helpless against issues only my congressman could fix. And he fixed them. He has never let me down. Ever.

You can go to Chris' website and learn where he stands and what he's done on the issues facing America today. You can check his record in Congress and see for yourself what he has done for the State of Utah and the constituents of the 3rd Congressional District.

In other words, it behooves you to investigate the claims made by the other candidates and learn for yourself why I stand behind Chris Cannon in his bid for the 3rd Congressional seat. The websites links of each of the candidates are available to the left of this article.