Thank You Gordon Fox
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Bravo to House Speaker Gordon Fox for cancelling the hearing on a bill (H-8142) introduced by Rep. Peter Palumbo (D?!) that would mirror the controversial anti-immigrant bill passed into law in the State of Arizona. You know who's going to be on the Hot List this week!
As cities, states, companies and sports teams boycott Arizona over their enactment of this de facto racial profiling law, the last thing that Rhode Island needs is an economic boycott of our state!
Furthermore, Rhode Island has a rich history of immigration stretching from the Irish to the Italians to the Cape Verdeans to the Greeks to the Portuguese to the Polish to the Russians to the Armenians to the Dominicans and to the Mexicans and Guatemalans.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhile previous immigrants didn't have to get "legal papers" or wait 10-20 years to come to America's shores, that is the harsh reality of today.
The immigration system and the American Dream is broken. That's why those who tell you, "I support legal immigration, just not illegal immigration" are simply not telling you the truth. There wasn't a distinction between legal and illegal when the Irish and Italians were coming to the shores of the Ocean State. They were certainly not American citizens when they left, when they landed and some of them still are not even citizens today!
Rhode Island needs more immigrants and their hard-nosed work-ethic and entreprenuerial spirt - not less.