Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Kevin Gibbons and Illegal Immigration Policy

District 18 Senate Republican Candidate Kevin Gibbons claims that he has the answers for our immigration policy problems. As an immigration attorney Mr. Gibbons has a credible claim to expertise in immigration law, but one look at his list of donors shows where his loyalties in immigration policy come from.

While Gibbons says that he wants to represent Mesa, only 20.6% of his donations come from people who live within the city. In fact, only 15.1% of his donations are from people in District 18. In contrast, 100% of Russell Pearce’s donors are from inside the district.

More to the point 53 of Gibbons’ donors are out-of-town farmers from Yuma and Buckeye, with over 30% of his total donations coming from Yuma alone. A large majority of these donations come from the farming community that is actively engaged in employing cheap labor which is against Arizona’s new employer sanctions laws. Since Mr. Gibbons would obviously better represent the views of his Yuma “constituents”, perhaps he should consider running for their senate seat.

Kevin Gibbons supports initiatives that will weaken the laws requiring the use of E-Verify. He also advocates for a guest worker program that will basically open the borders for his farm and fast food supporters who desire cheap labor. Kevin Gibbons’ policy positions are not the forward thinking policies supported by the citizens of District 18. On the contrary, they are the failed “business-as-usual” policies that do nothing to solve our immigration problems and promote the defiance of our laws.

While Gibbons talks of “real reform” for illegal immigration, his supporters and backers tell a different story. From former Democratic Party Chairmen to Open Border Supporters, his rhetoric does not match the real intentions of his patrons.

Russell Pearce has been a champion of the taxpayer and a nationally recognized leader on immigration issues. He has the conservative credentials and a solid track record of representing the people of District 18. Even a cursory examination of Mr. Gibbons’ list of out-of-town open border advocates and Democrat power brokers reveal who he would really represent.

If Mr. Gibbons sincerely wants to represent the citizens of District 18, I suggest that he return donations he’s received from supporters whose policies we have clearly rejected.

2 comments:

Armed Citizen said...

I for one have no problem with weaker E-verify laws. They target businesses without making the illegals in any way accountable. They effectively move the burdon of securing our borders to us, business owners. Heaven help someone who thinks they have done everything they need to and somehow end up with a hired illeagal with the "right" paperwork. That being said, I absolutely love Pearce. I spent a portion of last night debating for him with neighbors and friends. He is losing some of his credibility among the masses because of e-verify. I was appalled to hear them all leaning to vote for Mr. Gibbons. I support Russell and will talk up the points i love about him, but he needs to stick to fixing the state at the borders first and then figureing out how to slowly fix the problem here. I know as a small business owner that I support the spirit of E-verify. I have seen the result of certain aliens migrate back to Mexico for fear of not finding work. But the stiff-business shutting down- penalties which seem to only hurt the small businesses need to be redone to work with the community businesses. Anyway, Not a Gibbons man, Go Pearce!

Anonymous said...

Email me an email address to mesaissues@gmail.com. I'd like to send you a couple questions for a D18 roundtable.