Pelosi Wants Citizenship for Illegal Aliens
By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
October 28, 2003

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said she believes the recent investigation that found hundreds of illegal aliens working at Wal-Mart is nothing short of "terrorizing" that company's employees.

On Friday, federal agents entered the headquarters of Wal-Mart, Inc. in Bentonville, Arkansas as well as 60 Wal-Mart stores located across the United States to round up more than 300 illegal immigrants who were found to be employed by the retail giant.

Pelosi contends that investigating and inquiring about illegal aliens working at the nation's number one retailer creates tension for the workers.

"It instills a great deal of fear in people who are only trying to earn a living and put food on the table for their family," she told reporters on Friday during her visit to Mexico.

She says immigration laws require more accountability from employers and that workers should not be targeted for an investigation by the government, even if they are illegal immigrants.

"We think there might be a better way to go about this because the fact is that it is against the law for the employer to hire these people so there should be more focus on the employer and less in these terrorizing raids," Pelosi stated to Reuters.

The comments were made by Pelosi on Friday at the end of her three-day visit with Mexican President Vicente Fox about immigration policy and border patrols. There were four Democrats and one Republican in the entourage to Mexico.

Pelosi favors granting legalized status to illegal aliens who are working in the American economy. In fact, there are several pieces of legislation making their way through Congress that would grant U.S. residency to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

One such bill Pelosi supports is one drafted by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). This bill would allow 500,000 illegal immigrants who are employed in the agriculture industry to become legal residents of the United States.

"The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003," or H.R. 3142, has 47 co-sponsors in the House and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Pelosi says that business leaders should embrace this measure to "recognize how dependent they are on some people who may not be completely where they need to be legally." She believes businesses would suffer if these illegal immigrants were forced to go back to their native country.

Interestingly, there is an alternative bill that would deal with the problem of illegal immigrants in a different way. It was introduced in the House by Rep. Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) and would put a moratorium on all immigration for one year in an effort to reduce the number of illegal aliens residing in the United States to less than 10,000 per year.

"The Mass Immigration Reduction Act of 2003," or H.R. 946, currently has 10 cosponsors in the House and is under consideration by the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.