MONDAY, JULY 12, 2010
Does Tom Perriello support Arizona, or President Obama
Perriello has paid lip service to enforcing immigration laws in the past, but now is oddly silent
Tom Perriello has never been coy with his opinions, especially on controversial topics.
When Nancy Pelosi and President Obama announced job killing energy taxes and a federal government takeover of health care, Tom was one of their loudest cheerleaders.
But now that the Obama Administration has launced an extremely unpopular effort to stop Arizona from enforcing federal immigration laws, Tom has become extremely quiet.
An overwhelming majority of Americans support the new Arizona immigration law. A majority also oppose Attorney General Eric Holder's lawsuit against the state. Public opinion notwithstanding, President Obama has called Senate Bill 1070 "a misdirected effort."
Even Tom has acknowledged the critical role encforcement of Federal immigration laws - the heart of Arizona's effort - plays in dealing with this complex problem:
".. I think we do have to take very seriously the idea that the number one most effective way to deal with this problem is holding employers accountable. There's not a county in this district I go into I can't say to 10 people, "Who's hiring 'em?" and everyone knows who it is.
But we're not going after them. If we cut off the supply of jobs, we know that people are going to stop coming over and people are going to start self-deporting."
Based on his past behavior, many Virginian's are probably asking themselves why won't Tom give us a simple 'yes' or 'no' on whether or not he supports Arizona's law to stop illegal immigration?
Republican Robert Hurt has made it absolutely clear where he stands.
"We need leadership in Washington that will take these difficult issues head on. As Virginia's next Congressman, I pledge to fight to secure our borders, enforce the immigration laws we currently have on the books and make sure that amnesty is not an option so that we can cut government spending and get Virginians working again."
So which is it, Congressman? Do you support enforcing the law, or do you support President Obama?
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