Gallegly will head House panel on immigration enforcement

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Gallegly will head House panel on immigration enforcement
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elton Gallegly, who has made the fight against illegal immigration the signature issue of his two-decade-long congressional career, has been handed the reins of a House panel responsible for overseeing enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.
Gallegly, a Simi Valley Republican, announced Friday he has been named chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.
The appointment was made by Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, with whom Gallegly said he has worked for many years on immigration issues.
“I appreciate the opportunity he has given me to step up congressional efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the workforce and to protect American jobs for those with a legal right to work in the United States,” Gallegly said.
He said the first two subcommittee hearings that will be held under his direction would focus on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s worksite enforcement efforts and the E-Verify employment-screening program.
“We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws,” Gallegly said. “Most of my district caseload concerns helping legal immigrants. Like our ancestors, immigrants who come here legally want to be American citizens, with all the responsibilities that go with it. It is unfair to those who put in the time and effort to immigrate here legally to allow illegal immigrants to break in through the back door.”
Gallegly said he looks forward to finding solutions “to the illegal immigration problem,” but stressed that he is committed “to fair and responsible oversight.”
A Latino advocacy group expressed dismay with Gallegly’s appointment.
“Talk about putting the fox in the hen house,” said Jim Hensley, Ventura County deputy district director for the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Hensley, who lives in Oxnard, said the subcommittee chairmanship will give Gallegly a lot more clout.
“And because of that, he’ll always have a lot larger podium or bandstand to broadcast from,” Hensley said. “He’s going to try to do everything he can now — and he’ll have that power from that committee — to do some tremendous damage to our nation and to our people.”
“We’re going to have to watch every step he makes, every policy he tries to implement,” Hensley said.
A research organization that has produced a number of studies on illegal immigration disagreed and said Gallegly’s extensive background on the issue makes him a natural to chair the subcommittee.
“I think he’s definitely a plausible pick for chairman,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies.
“Staff does a lot of the grunt work, and they have staff that have a lot of experience,” Krikorian said. “But you want to have the boss know what’s going on, too, and that’s why (Gallegly’s) kind of experience is important.”
Gallegly, who was elected to his 13th term in the House last November, has been active in the fight against illegal immigration for years.
He served as chairman of the 1995 Congressional Task Force on Immigration Reform, which conducted hearings and fact-finding trips across the United States and published a report with more than 80 recommendations. Most of those recommendations became law the following year.

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/...#ixzz1AOx5kxfN
- vcstar.com