63 Members Sign Hayworth Letter Urging President Bush to Uphold Immigration Laws

Sixty-three House Republicans co-signed a letter by Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) urging President Bush to support an immigration policy with Mexico that "secures our borders, draws a bright line between legal and illegal aliens, and rejects any and all forms of amnesty." (Visit Rep. Hayworth's web site to read the letter.) or read letter below.

October 28, 2003

The President

The White House

Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to seize the opportunity during your upcoming discussions with Mexican President Vicente Fox to make clear this nation’s determination to establish and enforce an immigration policy that celebrates our immigrant heritage, secures our borders, draws a bright line between legal and illegal aliens, and rejects any and all forms of amnesty.

We trust and urge that any agreement reached during these discussions and any implementing proposals you may subsequently bring to Congress will honor what we consider to be bedrock principles of a sane, effective, productive immigration policy:

·       Our national security against terrorism must be built on secure borders, and we intend to invest whatever manpower and technological resources are required to close our borders to terrorists, drug smugglers, and illegal aliens;

·       Our national allegiance is to one indivisible nation, and we will not allow or condone the balkanization of the United States of America but instead embrace efforts to help documented newcomers become part of the American family;

·       Our core belief that “reverence for the laws” must be, as Lincoln said, the “political religion of the nation,” which means we can no longer blur the line between legal and illegal immigration and we must vigorously enforce all our immigration laws;

·       Our n