Issues: Immigration
Immigration has become a hot-button issue over the past few years without consensus on how to effectively deal with the problem of illegal immigration.OVN believes we need to focus attention on providing jobs and higher wages to U.S. citizens. We cannot and will not support a plan that allows filling jobs with those who are in this country illegally. We need a solid immigration plan that addresses how we keep U.S. jobs in the hands of U.S. Workers. We need an immigration plan that is tough but fair. Legal U.S. citizens in Virginia should not lose jobs to anyone who is residing in Virginia illegally. We cannot reward those who break the law. If we don't act, we send the message that it is okay to displace U.S. workers. OVN believes we have to put Virginia workers first.
There have been numerous immigration proposals out there, but politics have seemed to sandbag all of them. OVN believes it is unrealistic to think you can build a fence that will keep people out. For us, the visual of President Reagan speaking to the American people and shouting .Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall. should force us to look at our own policy proposals and say a wall is not what we are about as Americans. We supported the Soviet razing of their wall, we should not make the same mistake by building our own wall to keep people out.
This doesn't mean we oppose immigration reform. No serious nation in the age of terror can afford to have wide-open borders with millions of illegal aliens crossing at will. We can only really combat the issue of illegal immigration if we also deal with those in this country who are illegally hiring them. Illegal immigrants may be serving you lunch at a restaurant, washing your car, and mowing your lawn. They may be working on the construction projects you drive past each day.
We need a guest worker program that filters out criminals and potential terrorists and ensures that guest workers pay taxes, get drive's licenses, buy auto insurance, and abide by the law. The program should not be an automatic qualification for citizenship.
In this country, illegal immigrants can get driver's licenses without question. Illegal immigrants can get access to healthcare without questions being asked about their citizenship. This is unacceptable and we need an open dialogue, not rhetoric or scare tactics.
