Keene on Illegal Immigrant Initiative:
"Walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, it must be amnesty"

Alexandria, VA - The White House's intention to grant legal status to non-citizens who have entered the country illegally was sharply criticized today by American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman David A. Keene.

"The Bush Administration would have us believe that this move toward legalizing the status of illegal immigrants-lawbreakers-will curb the flow of illegal immigration and enhance our border security. Nothing could be further from the truth," said Keene. "When you send the message that violating our current border controls is all one has to do in order to stay in the U.S., the already unmanageable flow of illegal immigrants will undoubtedly rise to even more uncontrollable levels. Any argument to the contrary is simply naïve.

"What we fear is that this amounts to little more than an attempt to redefine what has always been known as 'amnesty' by calling it a guest worker program that 'promotes compassion for unprotected workers.' If it walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, it must be amnesty," said Keene.

"Few conservatives want our borders closed and we recognize both that we are all the sons and daughters of immigrants and that the attractiveness of our country to others is something of which we can be proud, but a desire to offer a piece of the American Dream to those who embrace the American ideal must be differentiated from simply tolerating the unacceptable illegal immigration that has caused so much trouble in recent years," continued Keene.

"It is our hope that as the Administration rolls out the details of its program we will find a sensitivity to the adverse impact of runaway illegal immigration on our economy, the costs of government and on our cohesiveness as a nation, but the initial signs are not comforting," concluded Keene.

In December, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge floated a trial balloon by saying that the U.S. needed to "afford them [illegal immigrants] some kind of legal status." Thirty-six conservative members of the U.S. House wrote a letter to Secretary Ridge that criticized those statements.

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To schedule an interview with ACU Chairman David Keene contact Ian Walters at (703) 836-8602 x16, or by email at iwalters@conservative.org