The Battle Rages Against Illegal Immigration

DELEGATE PAT MCDONOUGH (R-BALTIMORE COUNTY) AGAIN LEADS THE CHARGE AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN MARYLAND!

Delegate Wants Immigration Fight in MD
Reported by: Christian Schaffer Email: christian.schaffer@wmar.com Last Update: 4/28 8:48 am
Illegal Immigrant Battle Moves to Maryland

Del. Pat McDonough

Arizona has become ground zero in the battle over illegal immigration, but at least one Maryland state delegate is trying to bring the fight here.

The question is whether police in our state should be allowed to question people who they think might be in the county illegally, which essentially is what police will be allowed to do in Arizona. That state's new immigration law is expected to take effect this summer.

State Delegate Pat McDonough, a Republican from Baltimore County, is a frequent critic of policies he says fail to target illegal immigrants. The Arizona law has drawn a lot of criticism since it passed, but Del. McDonough says Maryland should pass the exact same law.

And he plans to find out what every candidate for office in our state this November thinks about the idea. 'When people come across that border, they're not going to go to Arizona anymore. They're coming here,' Del. McDonough said.

Del. McDonough defended Arizona's immigration law. He says it's merely a copy of federal immigration laws already on the books. 'They just got so frustrated down there with the idea that the federal government was not enforcing the law,' he said. 'So they said ok we'll take the same law, the federal law, and we'll make it a state law and we will enforce it.'

CASA of Maryland is one of the groups calling for a repeal of the Arizona law. CASA's lead organizer in Baltimore, Elizabeth Alex, says it criminalizes immigrants and will lead to racial profiling. 'This is a huge symptom of the gaping sore that is our broken immigration system and we need to address this at the federal level,' she said.

Immigrants in Maryland whom Alex has spoken with are angry about the new law. CASA will participate in large protests in Washington and around the country next weekend. 'These types of small enforcement-only strategies don't work we need to look at the entire immigration system and solve it in a comprehensive way,' Alex said.

Del. McDonough says new, comprehensive federal legislation could lead to amnesty for illegal immigrants who are already here. And he believes a large majority of people in our state and around the country agree with him. 'If President Bush and President Obama and the politicians in Washington enforce the current law, we wouldn't need a new law we wouldn't need anything we wouldn't need a state law but they have not done that,' he said.

This week Del. McDonough plans to start sending a survey to every candidate for the General Assembly -- along with the candidates for governor -- asking them whether they agree with Arizona's approach.

'We'll go on the record and this summer we're going to pretty much know who is in favor of the Arizona bill and who is not,' he said.

NATION-WIDE ORGANIZATION, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS, JOINS THE CAUSE AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION!

SIGN THEIR PETITION IN SUPPORT OF THE LAW ABIDING CITIZENS OF ARIZONA.

WE MUST ALL WORK TOGETHER TO DEFEAT AMNESTY AND SECURE THE SOUTHERN BORDER WITH MEXICO!

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/ImmigrationPetition/Default.aspx