Dear President:
As you know, our unemployment is more than 8.1%, In Silicon Valley, high-tech firms are still retaining more foreign workers. Meanwhile more US skilled workers got lat off, we need reform immigration process specially for foreign workers. 1) No green card application for foreign worker if company has laid off or fired American workers. 2) Foreign workers need to pay addition income & state taxes.

I could not agree with Peter9191-CA more! He is exactly right in his assumption that we, Conservative America, MUST start enacting LAWS which require elected-officials, and non-elected businessmen alike to be fully accountable for their employment actions. Once this has been done, it will be easier to deal out punishment for infarction(s) of hiring illegal-aliens, and quite possibly make them bear the burden of the deportation process, and resultant financial obligations that come with such deportation. As it stands now, the courts have NO CLEAR LEGAL COURSE OF ACTION against many of these supposed infarctions, so the REAL-AMERICANS are forced to pay-up. This needs to stop, and WE MUST FIND A WAY TO SEND THE ILLEGAL-ALIENS IN AMERICA BACK TO THEIR OWN COUNTRIES!

NumbersUSA Moderator: Do not forget, Brian, that NumbersUSA is made up of Conservatives, Liberals, Libertarians, etc. We've achieved our successes by bringing people together across the political spectrum.

Congress controls the flow of immigration, federal courts ruled that the public should appeal to congress if they want changes, not by lawsuit.  However, FAIR assisted a group in a RICO suit against Tyson chicken. Lawsuits cost a great deal of more than our efforts to stop bad legislation and pass good reform legislation.

The current state of the economy has prompted rumors of (and actual) lay-offs within many large US corporations. Is it selfish for US Citizen employees to be concerned that as this occurs, the equivalent H1B visa employees may be retained over them, where the later are simply "cheaper"?

The last time i recalled, we the americans voted these people into office, not foreigners, I think they are supposed to work for us & express our will not their agenda

What more can be said, Roy? I would like to add this, however. I can’t say the ILLEGAL ALIENS are completely to blame for the shape of our economy, but they are a BIG part of the problem. The ILLEGAL ALIENS send BILLIONS upon BILLIONS out of this Country every year, money we will NEVER see again. Does this help our economy? How about the BILLIONS the American taxpayers fork out for the ANCHOR BABIES, the schooling of them, the medical care and the list goes on, and on, and on. How about the MILLIONS upon MILLIONS paid to jail ILLEGAL ALIENS for the crimes, then the cost to deport them. Does this help our economy? Then you have these activist groups that want AMNESTY for these ILLEGAL ALIENS. It would be absolute suicide for this Country if AMNESTY were granted to the 20 million or so ILLEGAL ALIENS. We have more and more people out of work everyday and they want to add another 20 million to this Country? I say, “NO”! If AMNESTY were ever granted to these 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS, you can bet big money that 3 years from now, there would be ANOTHER 3-5 million ILLEGAL ALIENS demonstrating on our soil for AMNESTY. I don’t wish to lose my privilege on this site, so I will refrain from using the words that fit here. An end MUST come to this illegal immigration. The best tool we have so far is E-Verify. It MUST be used by ALL businesses and Government Social Services. EVERY employee must be checked! If they are illegal, they are to be dismissed! I believe it is time for all 50 States to pass a State law, like Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and a few others. It is time for these ILLEGAL ALIENS to go back to their home Country and get out of this Country. The problems they are causing will not go away until the ILLEGAL ALIENS are out of this Country. Now, Roy, I think we said it all!

 FROM ROY:  Oh, maybe just for today, Robert. Thanks for all your good comments. You are definitely on the right track on the states.  Every state -- and even counties -- could largely resolve its own illegal alien problem by passing a law requiring all businesses to use E-Verify. The illegals won't all leave at once, but some will leave immediately, and the exodus will continue at a steady pace.  Localities do not have to wait on Congress.  And, yes, each amnesty just develops pressure for the next amnesty.  Conress enacted its first amnesty in 1986 and then passed six more (narrower) amnesties in the 1990s. But once we established our Capitol Hill presence in 2001 and got our membership up to an impressive size, not a single one of the more than 5 dozen amnesties that have been proposed in Congress has passed. That is because of all of YOU. We the staff at NumbersUSA can have minimal effectiveness without the constant vigilance and participation of those of you who have registered to send faxes and phone calls (which really DO make a difference, even in the offices of the worst Members of Congress).

Several people have taken exception to my calling for a continuation -- and even expedition -- of immigration for nuclear family and refugees, while deeply cutting numbers in all other categories.

First, I applaud your desire for truly deep numerical cuts.  I agree that much about America would be better off if we could cut immigration to zero -- at least for several years.

 But I also believe that there are certain practical considerations that must be weighed. One is that I am not ready to take away the right of a U.S. citizen to adopt or marry outside this country. It is true that most such marriages are U.S. citizens who are immigrants or whose parents are immigrants. But the Constitution will not allow us to treat some U.S. citizens differently from other citizens. If we allow any citizen to marry outside the country, we have to allow all citizens.

If the government refuses to confront the problems of immigration much longer, we may have to consider tougher steps.  But I, for one, prefer to live in a country in which citizens are free to marry and adopt from any country -- this is part of the individual liberty for which we all fight.

As for refugees:  If we bring all other immigration categories into a rational size, we have room for our country to bear our fair share of the world's burden of re-settling refugees for which there is no reasonable option of their ever being allowed to return to their home country.  That number is surprisingly small each year. I personally believe that this is one of the few legitimate reasons for immigration in a modern age, but it must be kept clean and free of fraud (something that often is not the case). I also believe that trying to eliminate refugee resettlement would not be supported by more than a small minority of Americans and, thus, would politically make it more difficult to achieve other reductions.

This is on of the best analogies that I have ever heard - and thanks to everyone that supports stopping illegal immigration - My father-in-law was shot at in 2007 for wearing a 'US Border Patrol Hat" and the illegals that did it were sent back to Mexico the week before it happened and were already back. Then they ran back after the shooting occurred - WORTHLESS COWARDS.

Roy,
For years I have been a consistent NumbersUsa faxer. Steven1018 of TX wrote in his comment many statements that I find hard to disagree with in view of our Country’s current reality condition. Steven1018 of TX writes; " People like Obama and those around him will not only ignore such a petition. They will regard it as an act of supplication and, thereby, view it with amused contempt. This is the nature of such people. In dealing with such politicians as he- as with foreign despots- one must negotiate from a basis of proven strength". Jason Mrochek, Co-founder & Executive Director Fire Coalition writes in his blog; Our elected "representatives" no longer represent our interests. Our government no longer feels the need to abide by a Constitutional form of government. They'll do what they want to do and ignore the laws they don't like. Expecting consideration of your views apart from their planned interests of “change” and the demise of America, you have written a letter highlighting a National crisis to an individual the so-called president-elect, who shows downright contempt for our Constitution and for the American people and who is awaiting inauguration day despite not having proven he is a natural-born citizen, flaunting the supreme law of the land (Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution). You should know very well that the "news media", our politicians and the people inside our government are also players in America's demise by pandering to the Chamber of Commerce and to all the socio-ethnic organizations pushing for more and more foreign admissions of people into our Country devastating our economy, eroding the American culture and displacing American citizens from the jobs. The fact the two main candidates this past presidential election endorsed by the two major political parties were supporters of amnesty for illegal aliens and of the continuing importation of foreign workers and using our laws to replace Americans from the jobs and while at the same time exporting manufacturing and other jobs abroad, speaks plainly as to their intentions and to our success in prevailing stopping the immigration national crisis. I’m foreign born, naturalized U.S citizen and a so-called Hispanic. I believe is time to realize that we are in a contention with those who want to erase America and we who are in opposition should not longer be passive to tactics our adversaries use. You report that Hill staffers are shocked at the foreign workers importation figures, yes indeed they are shocked; ”Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that there is gambling going on here! Croupier: Your winnings, sir. Renault: Oh, thank you very much”--Movie Casablanca 1942.

no more immigration until we sort out the illegal problems and send them back,use some of the bailout funds and the unemploed to round them up

I have been having a problem just getting a job since August, 2004. My previous experience involved twenty two years as a federal employee who retired from the service only because I was having a problem getting a higher position. I thought retiring would make it easier to get a job with another government agency or a position with one of the private industry companies. It appears that too many of these private industries are hiring a lot of immigrants, but only because they know that other language. These positions require basically no previous experience otherwise. Why would a person that already has some managerial experience as well as experience training others continue to be left out?

I also know at least three others that are having problems getting jobs, too. It isn't because we don't qualify, it's because we don't know what they are looking for in their employees. That other language, and language should not be a deciding factor.

Thank you for saying exactly like 83% of the American population has been saying for years. No one in Washington has been listening. You are absolutely right, no one will read that long winded condescending letter Roy wrote. Tell the truth, short and sweet. We are Americans, we dont need to molycoddle everyone on Capital Hill. I think your letter should be the one sent to Washington.

Thanks, Roy, and all the people of NumbersUSA for keeping everyone informed on what is going on with immigration. Keep up the good work.

I would love to sit Barack down, slowly read him Roy's very thoughtful letter, then ask him to talk to me about any of the recommended policies that he does not think he should implement. That is a debate I would not lose. It all really comes down to the awesome responsibility to the American people that he is about to assume, and that our best Presidents always keep close to their hearts. He can choose the easy road, do what is politically expedient, and fail us, or he can take the long and hard road, and earn the respect and gratitude of our nation. These are things we desperately need that are long overdue.

The immigration policy argument that supports the issuance of temporary work visas no longer exists when a developed nation such as the United States encounters soaring unemployment and underemployment numbers in my opinion. I agree with your letter completely.

The original stated purpose for permitting foreign citizens to enter the United States to work in highly technical areas related to the perceived unavailability of qualified citizens to fill specific technical job vacancies. The burden of establishing that a need exists now to import workers from abroad should fall squarely upon prospective employers to establish that they cannot locate any citizens to train to fill vacancies should it not?

Many foreign workers enter the United States each year as working professionals trained abroad and employed in a temporary capacity in fields such as nursing (both R.N.s and L.P.N.'s), occupational therapy, physical therapy, medicine, teaching (elementary, high school and university level) and computer technology. Surely a developed nation such as ours with so many highly educated citizens to draw upon could instead utilize job shadowing and on the job apprenticeship programs to fill this need for qualified, well trained professionals if there is an unmet labor demand in a specific field?

For example, there are even training programs overseas that assist people training in some of these fields with specific inducements to relocate to the United States as temporary workers. This situation draws talented foreign workers away from their own countries to the detriment of the needs of people in many developing nations where these professionals are sometimes urgently needed. Additionally, there may be a limited ability on the part of some local and state occupational licensing entities to ascertain whether offshore training is always equivalent in rigor to professional training in the United States.

Roy:
Thanks for the great articles and letters. I have been using your newsletters and statistics and using them to promote my own grass roots effort to educate the public here in Minnesota. Here's how...

I have subscribed and have been reading online versions of the major local newspapers here in Minnesota. Every time I see an article that discusses unemployment, layoffs or the recession I make sure to leave an online comment (that all readers can see) highlighting the issues of importing foreign labor during the recession and the impact to legal workers already in the US.

I don't know how many people actually see these comments (depends on the newspaper and the article) but I have been getting alot of positive feedback on this particular issue.

The only quality of life the Congress considers is their own!!!

Rebecca, I couldn't have said that better myself. This started 20 yrs ago. I would like congress to abolish immagration for 20 yrs and work on deportations, or let the ILLEGALs make their way home and lower the ILLEGALs flood waters around my home. All our homes!!!.People that want to come here will come the right way. Or don't even try to come at all. 3rd gen Italian-Welsh.

I recently retired from state service with the State of Washington, and I can
attest to the extent that illegal immegrants and their fellow travelers have
penetrated American institutions. Mexicans and Russians were the most numerous
in the locations where I was employed. I worked in the Depts. of Corrections and
Labor and Industries, and I had first hand expierience with dealing with the il-
legals in many different situations

I am here to say that these people receive support in numerous ways from local,
state, and federal governments. I can attest that the INS, the Washington State
Farm Bureau, and the State of Washington joined together to curtail the enforce-
ment for immegration laws in central Washington during the time that I was work-
ing in this region. This is but one example of some of the out-right disdain
for our laws and the protection of national interests that I encountered in my
time of state service. Americans should become aware of the extent of the pro-
blems with illegal immegration before it is too late to take steps to correct the
situation.

I continue to be astounded and dumbfounded by the sheer nonsense going on in our Federal government. If my math is correct, the stimulus package, at a "conservative" $700 billion for 3 million jobs, essentially costs us $233,333 per job. Then we are going to import foreign workers who will basically nullify this action. Do these people ever step back and look at the big picture? It's just ridiculous; there is no other word for it.

Yes, we are a country of immigrants. LEGAL immigrants, that is. I completely agree with Roy. We need to restrict our importation figures of legal immigrants because we are no longer the country we were 30 or even 10 years ago, and if we want to protect the American way of life it requires tough measures or the end of this country as we know it. The economic crisis just exacerbates the issue even more. Plus, we need to enforce the laws on the books to take care of the illegal immigration.

If these politicians had to fight the crowds and traffic like we common folk do, and had to put their kids in the public schools that are overcrowded and dealing with immigrant children, they might wake up and realize something needs to be done.

Good letter Roy. Keep up the good fight.

 FROM ROY:  It is good to see everybody's comments thus far (I always enjoy reading through them, even if I don't always respond to them).  I hope that we can set a grassroots fire on this one.  Our fax machines are whirring at the moment, with thousands of faxes going into congressional offices.  I expect to see them humming all night, and hope we can keep the faxes flowing the rest of the week. We have to first get the attention of the congressional staffers who will eventually report up to senior staffers.  With enough push, we can hope to see Members of Congress themselves becoming familiar with the "138,000 Problem" and the need to address it!

I find it tough to understand why our political leaders
have become blind t0 this 138,000 monthly foreign workers
coming to USA. All of these workers will become natural-
ized U.S. citizens even if they don't read, write, and
speak English. These 138K will petition their parents,
wives, and siblings who will in turn do the same never-
ending petitions. English will disappear as a national
language. Let us stop this foolishness of too many
foreigners coming monthly to USA.

Well stated Roy! Our country is a country of immigrants but if we let them all come then we won't be able to support ourselves or them. But I did have another thought, with all the GMO (genetically modified) foods in our Country maybe we should just let "them come" and we go somewhere else! God Bless America and hang those jerks who are trying to ruin it!

I know it is hard for many to believe, but there are actually people think that we should eliminate all borders and allow all who inclined to do so, to enter our country. I can't even imagine the chaos that would result.