U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY: HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED
An Interview with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
By Edgar B. Anderson, LAIKS Latvian Newspaper in USA, October 13-19, 2012
September 4, 2012, Charlotte, North Carolina
During the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, I had the opportunity on behalf of Latvian newspaper Laiks to speak briefly with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. In view of the Obama Administration’s pro-illegal alien immigration policies, I chose to question her about the dramatic changes in the way that the Federal Government has treated newcomers over the years. I leave it to you, the reader, to decide whether she really was willing to address my concerns.
EA: My name is Ed Anderson. I’m a reporter for an immigrant Latvian newspaper – Latvia, Eastern Europe – and I wonder if I can ask you a quick question. You know most Latvians in this country came here after World War II. They were refugees who ran from the Red Army or otherwise they would be sent to Siberia. And most of them spent four or five years in Displaced Persons camps in Germany, and they couldn’t come here without a sponsor so that they would never become a public charge, and any funds that were expended in support of them they paid back. What are they to think today when the policy toward immigration is so very different, where illegal immigration is kind of winked at, and many times a pass is given to those people? Meanwhile, of course, people who are waiting in line in other countries and following the rules are kind of made fools of.
Secretary Solis: Well, I know the President is working very hard to try to get bipartisan support on immigration reform, and he worked recently to move through Executive Order Deferred Action for those youngsters that have lived here, gone through, gotten their education, have either joined the military or are signed up to go to community college. Many of them have parents and others that have, you know, been here. And it seems like our immigration system is evolving, and we know there are a lot of people who are waiting to be citizens, and we need to expedite their visas and get them all settled in with their assistance as well. So I’m hopeful that that will happen and that we’ll have cooperation across the aisle to be able --
EA: Well, George Bush supported a form of amnesty, a broad amnesty, as does --
Solis: I’m not talking about amnesty --
EA: But allowing people who are here in violation of the laws to stay. What does that say to people who follow the rules?
Solis: We want everyone to follow the rules, and we want to have a good stable conversation about it, and we’re not able to do that right now with the current makeup of the House and the Senate, and until we get there and we have that kind of support, I think we’re going to be at a stalemate unfortunately, and a lot of people are being hurt.
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