Black Leader Blasts Senate 'Preference to Noncitizens'   

By Robert "Rob" Redding Jr.

Publisher

    WASHINGTON, May 26, 2006, 12:30 p.m. - The leader of a newly-formed black anti-illegal immigration group today accused the Senate of ignoring the plight of blacks and acquiescing to special interest by passing a bill that would offer amnesty to illegal immigrants.

    "We have never gotten any sympathy or any concerns for our citizens who have committed nonviolent crimes," said Frank Morris Sr., chairman of Choose Black America. "So why is it that we give tremendous consideration and preference to noncitizens?

    "What you have is a Senate that is dominated by millionaires, in both parties, who are more concerned with the expansion of low wage labor to support corporate interest than they are with the impacts of this legislation on low wage workers...and it is going to have a devastating impact on African Americans and all Americans," Morris told Redding News Review.

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    Morris, a former associate dean at the University of Maryland, heads a group that believes illegal immigration is extremely detrimental to black Americans.

    The coalition of leaders, which held their first news conference this week, said that any black member of Congress who backs the amnesty plan does not represent the views and interests of their constituents. Members of the group say they are also ready to sue the government if amnesty legislation is passed.    

    The Senate yesterday passed the most substantial immigration reform in two decades. The bill "calls for hiring additional Border Patrol agents, as well as the construction of 370 miles of triple-layered fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the border. It also includes a guest worker program and a chance at citizenship for many of those in the country illegally if they meet a series of conditions that include paying a fine and back taxes," according to the Associated Press.

    Senate leaders must now consolidate their immigration bill with a version passed by the House of Representatives in December.

    President Bush has already said he supports amnesty as a path to citizenship.

    "There is never any concern for African Americans," Morris said. "We have been in this country for centuries, and we continue to suffer from laws that are not even laws. You have had law enforcement people that have lynched people...and now we have law enforcement, in numerous local areas, who are being told not to enforce the immigration laws. Look at the difference of how American citizens - especially African Americans - get no amnesty for their nonviolent crimes."   

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