I attended the forum in Salem this afternoon with Fred Thompson and Scott Bruun.  Most of the questions were of course immigration centered.  Both Thopmpson and Bruun did well navigating the issue.  We are a country subject to the rule of law and I think our immigration, or rather, illegal immigration problems are largley the result of a lack of enforcement of our existing laws.

After the forum an idea was presented to the group.  A referendum is being proposed to provide legslation to police and fine Oregon companies that hire illegals.  At break I asked the young man who forwarded the idea if he owned a business and he replied that he did.  I asked him how much it would cost for this enforcement action and he said nothing.  Another person chimed in that it would be funded by the fines.  Another person jumped in and declared that it is the ONLY way to stop illegal immigration.

So now we have an agency or at least several new state employees policing thousand of Oregon businesses.  In order to validate and fund their own existence they MUST issue fines to Oregon employers.  Might I say that this is the same type of backward thinking that has created a hostile business enviroment in this state?  Why would we want more regulation and more government intrution?  Why would anyone seek to penalize one person or entity for the illegal actions of another.

This petition will be coming your way soon.  Give it some thought.  Is this the only way to stop illegal immigration?  Do we need more regulations and penalties?

Let's enforce our existing laws before we make new ones.

David