Tancredo Sends Head of Lettuce to Chertoff

[Pale Rider]

Tancredo Sends Head of Llettuce to Chertoff


June 28, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It’s not every day a presidential hopeful sends Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff a head of lettuce, but that’s what Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, did Wednesday to show his disagreement with Chertoff’s recent comments on how failure of passing immigration reform might affect the agricultural industry.

Tancredo says he disagrees with recent comments Chertoff made that suggested if the immigration bill fails, the agricultural industry will suffer. To prove his point he sent Chertoff a head of lettuce, a fruit basket, and a card saying, “much, much more where this comes from.”

“The administration has taken hyperbole to a whole new level this time,” Tancredo said in a statement. “They are now trying to convince the public that without amnesty, the American people are going to starve?”

“The agriculture industry and the free market has managed to keep producing through floods, droughts, and $3.00 per gallon gas,” Tancredo added, “I doubt very seriously that a nominal increase in labor costs is going to be the end of lettuce as we know it.”

In a July 14 speech before the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Chertoff said, “Without reform that brings workers in legitimately, that makes it efficient for businesses, including agricultural businesses, to hire those workers efficiently, and without some kind of a mechanism to promote agriculture and to deal with the current illegal work force, we’re going to put people like you and those you represent in a terrible bind — they’re either going to have to break the law, which is a bad thing to do, or they’re going to have to shut down their farms, which is a bad thing to do, or what’s going to wind up happening is those farms are going to Mexico and Canada.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/06/28/tancredo-sends-head-of-lettuce-to-chertoff/

[JohnDoe]

Tancredo makes some very good points! Especially regarding food on our tables, regardless of gas hikes, regardless of the cost of floods and the cost of droughts to the agriculture industry, so a moderate hike in labor costs by using legal immigrants or us citizens, will not even be a minor blip in the agriculture business....food on our tables will still be readily abundant.

[Pale Rider]

Tancredo makes some very good points! Especially regarding food on our tables, regardless of gas hikes, regardless of the cost of floods and the cost of droughts to the agriculture industry, so a moderate hike in labor costs by using legal immigrants or us citizens, will not even be a minor blip in the agriculture business....food on our tables will still be readily abundant.

We don't need this shamnesty washington is trying to ram down our throats. We already have good existing laws that would go a long way towards putting a good dent in the illegal alien problem, "IF WE ONLY ENFORCED THEM." Even if the cost of a head of lettuce did go up ten cents, if we didn't have even HALF of the illegals we do now in the country, in other words, if we started enforcing our laws and deported them, our economy would all of a sudden get a huge JUMP START.

[JohnDoe]

We are so ''dicked'' in this illegal immigration situation!

BECAUSE our government NEVER followed the LAWS on the books already!

NOW, 12-20 Million Illegal Immigrants are working and residing in this country!

Pale,

There is no way that either Democrat or Republican in office, will fund a deportation of 12-20 million people that SHOULD BE deported, imho.

I just DON'T see it happening, even though it should.

If, I am correct, and the yellow bellies in Congress DO NOT deport all illegal aliens, then where do we go from here? From knowing that...?

I heard someone say yesterday, that if we do not pass new legislation, then it would be the equivilant of "giving amnesty" to all of those illegals here and the equivalent of giving amnesty to all of the employers that employ them...

This really made me think...and ask, what the hell should we do then?

My simple answer is enforce the laws that are on the books already, darn it!

But this still gives amnesty to all of those that are here and their employers for breaking the Law? And short of deportation, IS Amnesty, no?

So, if they will not spend the time and money to deport the 12-20 million illegals...what the heck do we do?

[Pale Rider]

We are so ''dicked'' in this illegal immigration situation!

BECAUSE our government NEVER followed the LAWS on the books already!

NOW, 12-20 Million Illegal Immigrants are working and residing in this country!

Pale,

There is no way that either Democrat or Republican in office, will fund a deportation of 12-20 million people that SHOULD BE deported, imho.

I just DON'T see it happening, even though it should.

If, I am correct, and the yellow bellies in Congress DO NOT deport all illegal aliens, then where do we go from here? From knowing that...?

I heard someone say yesterday, that if we do not pass new legislation, then it would be the equivilant of "giving amnesty" to all of those illegals here and the equivalent of giving amnesty to all of the employers that employ them...

This really made me think...and ask, what the hell should we do then?

My simple answer is enforce the laws that are on the books already, darn it!

But this still gives amnesty to all of those that are here and their employers for breaking the Law? And short of deportation, IS Amnesty, no?

So, if they will not spend the time and money to deport the 12-20 million illegals...what the heck do we do?

Well, the bill is dead, and now, the illegal alien issue will be a huge issue during the upcoming Presidential election. NOW we'll hear republican candidates say what WE want them to say. "NO AMNESTY." We may not be able to deport "all" of the illegals, but we COULD deport a BUNCH of them, and we should. The criminals, the gang bangers, the drug pushers, the illiterate, the ones in our jails and prisons, the sick and diseased, the ones on welfare, etc., etc.. And it doesn't have to be a "round up." We already know where most of those are. Send 'em pack'n. You get caught coming back in illegally again, we'll deport you to Iraq. It might even take years to do, but that's fine, IF we stop the invasion on the border. Closing the border is THE most important thing we have to do, period. If we close the border, then that gives us the time needed to deal with the other problem. But no matter what we do, we should NEVER give the illegals here AMNESTY! They should NEVER be given citizenship or the right to vote, UNLESS, they go back to their country of origin, and go through the LEGAL channels to become a citizen, and just to add to that, no more anchor babies either.

We can solve this problem, but it's going to take an OPEN DEBATE to do it. NOT the stinking liberals trying to RAM AMNESTY DOWM OUR THROATS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS!

[Hugh Lincoln]

We may not be able to deport "all" of the illegals, but we COULD deport a BUNCH of them, and we should. The criminals, the gang bangers, the drug pushers, the illiterate, the ones in our jails and prisons, the sick and diseased, the ones on welfare, etc., etc.. And it doesn't have to be a "round up." We already know where most of those are. Send 'em pack'n. You get caught coming back in illegally again, we'll deport you to Iraq. It might even take years to do, but that's fine, IF we stop the invasion on the border.

Agreed. Start deporting now, and you get a ripple effect... right now, illegals are pretty effin' brazen. Show them we're serious and many will either leave on their own or not come here at all.

[Pale Rider]

Agreed. Start deporting now, and you get a ripple effect... right now, illegals are pretty effin' brazen. Show them we're serious and many will either leave on their own or not come here at all.

Not that I want it to happen, but what we need right now is a another terror attack. You want to see how fast Washington could close the border? Wait until we get hit again.