Today I received an e-mail from Help Save Maryland (HSM), a group of which I’m a member. I believe immigration is one of the most important concerns (not just an assimilation and voting matter, but also a fiscal issue!) facing Maryland and our country.
And, I’m not just talking about illegal immigration, most of you would be shocked to know the details of what is happening with legal immigration, but that is a story for another day.
Below is what Help Save Maryland’s Brad Botwin (who has labored hard for the cause)says in his alert urging members and friends of HSM to come to Annapolis on Wednesday:
Help Save Maryland is a co-sponsor of the Wednesday January 13, 2010 Tea Party Taxpayer rally in Annapolis and will be one of the many speakers that evening.
We have $1.4 billion reasons to participate – that’s how much O’Malley and his cronies across the state spend on education, emergency healthcare and jail costs for aliens each year. And that number is growing rapidly! We can’t afford illegal immigration in Maryland anymore. See the full costs by county on www.helpsavemaryland.com
It is important that we help support the great efforts of Americans for Prosperity and the other MD groups co-sponsoring the rally.
Make No Mistake – AFP Opposes Illegal Immigration and Amnesty for Illegal Aliens! (PTPR’s underlining.)
I don’t really know who the people are at Americans for Prosperity, so I can’t say where they stand on immigration issues, but obviously someone has suggested they might be squishy on the subject, or, I’m guessing, Brad wouldn’t have put that line in his alert.
Truth in Tea Party Advertising
We should obviously not have a litmus test for Tea Party participants. Surely as this dynamic movement moves forward everyone is not going to be in lock-step 100% of the time. There will be disagreements about what issues motivate the grassroots, but, I do think that we all need to know where each group has been on the key issues—one of which is immigration.
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) president Grover Norquist will be a keynote speaker Wednesday evening in Annapolis. ATR is widely known for fiscal and regulatory concerns, and fighting against tax hikes in particular with its no-new-taxes pledge.
But Tea Party folks need to know that Mr. Norquist has also testified in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (Amnesty legislation before Congress in past years), here.
Many of us who are concerned with out-of-control immigration and many Marylanders with our state becoming a “magnet” for illegals, believe our lax immigration enforcement and some of our legal immigration programs are causing a huge financial drain on our economy and are, in fact, fiscal worries—not to mention vital voting, local gangs, and national security issues as well!
Mr. Norquist has caused quite a stir in recent years on the subject, alienating many who would normally wholeheartedly support ATR if it weren’t for his outspoken support of amnesty, and apparently other legislation that would benefit businesses who seek an immigrant labor force. Mr. Norquist’s close ties to certain Islamic groups have also been concerning. Here, here, and here are a few articles readers should know about. As we all say, we report—but you all should discuss and decide.
Please don’t get me wrong, again, I’m not witch-hunting, I’m not seeking to banish this group or that group, but I just would like for grassroots folks to know who is who — so that they will know that on certain issues one can follow this leader or that one.
And in my view, we all need to be wary of blindly following anyone who has been a player in the Washington, DC establishment for a long time.
[This post has been edited since it originally appeared.]
Update January 12th: I see this morning that another blogger, Conservative Refuge, has the same concern as I do. I’m putting this blog in our blogroll!
acorcoran
[...] And, here is a blog posting at the Center for Immigration Studies about the author of the Washington Independent piece, Dave Weigel. Have a look at it because it mentions Dick Armey and Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform) another open borders advocate I discussed here recently. [...]
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