Ohio Dems and Illegal Immigration

There are some very interesting statements being made by Ohio Democrats on the issue of illegal immigration. The Columbus Dispatch puts them on the record here.

Let's start with Zack Space:

U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, applauded the planned crackdown, saying it could give the president more credibility in pushing to overhaul immigration law.

"It's a positive development," he said. "They should have been doing this a long time ago."
...
Space, however, did have concerns that the crackdown could overburden some business owners. He favors a centralized database that employers could use to quickly and easily confirm the authenticity of Social Security numbers.

Zack almost sounds like one of them law and order conservatives there... Too bad his votes don't exactly match up to his rhetoric. When offered an opportunity to deny federal funds for benefits to illegal aliens, Zack had to change his vote because Speaker of State Nancy Pelosi told him to. The result shut down the US House of Representatives...

How about Sherrod Brown?

Support also was offered by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who said three things must be done to address immigration concerns: provide better security at the borders, fix trade agreements that encourage illegal immigration and enforce laws against hiring illegal workers.

That racist wants to protect the borders! How dare he say that!!!

Rep. Marcy Kaptur:

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, said the initiative would address the wrong issue. The focus should be on preventing illegal immigrants from entering the country in the first place, she said.

Oh, really! Where have I heard this stuff before???

Tim Burga of the Ohio AFL-CIO:

"The focus should be on the employers rather than looking at some gotcha for workers," Burga said. "It's appropriate to focus where illegal activity is suspected of happening. But it's easy to go overboard."

It's okay to look where illegal activity is suspected except when the illegal activity is the very presence of an illegal alien... That's an interesting position to take, Tim.

And I just have to highlight this bit from the end:

One Columbus worker, who did not want to be identified because of her immigration status, said the crackdown would hurt her family.

"If they are going to do this to all the companies, who's going to work then? Because there are a lot of Latinos working here, and the work they do is hard, " she said. "The economy is going to suffer."

The woman and her husband both use fake Social Security numbers out of necessity, she said.

"In Mexico," she said, "there aren't any jobs."

Maybe having no jobs in Mexico is Mexico's problem...

If all the illegals are busted, who's going work these jobs? Is that really your question, senorita? We have 6.1% unemployment rate in this state, lady. AMERICANS will work those jobs if the employers get around to paying real wages.

Nobody is questioning the work ethic of Latinos. NOBODY. What people are questioning is your right to be here at all. Come here legally, and we will welcome you with open arms. Assimilate into our culture and you will be able to emerge from the shadows. Continue to make a mockery of our laws, and I guarentee you will not make any friends.

The point in all of this is that it is time to start making sure that our Democrat friends start backing up their rhetoric with their votes. How many of these Democrats have voted to support gving illegals federal funds? If there is a litmus test for immigration, that is as good a place as any to start...