Issue Position: General Statement

Issue Position

One of the issues I feel strongly about is illegal immigration. My first introduction to what could have very well been illegal aliens occurred when I was a child in West Texas growing up across the street from cotton fields. I watched with interest as Mexican laborers worked up and down the rows pulling long bags full of cotton. I was really interested in playing in the cotton wagons, but I watched as each picker weighed and then emptied his bag into the wagon. I made a couple of friends with the children of those pickers and was even invited to supper. We ate tortillas outside their living quarters which were long tarpaper shacks.

Today, we have over 11 million illegal aliens that have entered our country and are now demonstrating in the streets for recognition and rights. Unfortunately, they are criminals whose first act in the United States was illegally entering this country. Even naturalized citizens are frustrated by their actions because they followed the legal process when entering our country legally. The often opined thought that the illegal aliens only take jobs others do not want is simply not true; instead they take jobs that an employer does not want to pay adequate wages for services rendered.

I also believe we should adhere to our forefather's intentions of a limited federal government. The United States Constitution gives only limited power to the federal government and these powers include the defense and common welfare of the nation, handling disputes between the states, establishing common currency, to regulate commerce with other nations and to control naturalization and immigration at our borders. That means the rest of the authority and power should be transferred to the States because these governments are closer to the people and can respond more quickly to the needs of their people.

Another hot issue I feel strongly about is the power of eminent domain or the abuses of eminent domain by local governments. This has been spelled out by our country's founders in the Fifth Amendment. This power was to include only the confiscating of somebody's land "for public use, without just compensation." This has traditionally been intended for transportation needs. To emphasize a point: transportation includes roads, railroads, waterways, and airports. This does not mean a government entity stealing a person's land to give to a non-government agency because some politicians perceive that they have a better use for that land. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified to subject the states to the federal bill of rights, which means that no governing authority, state or federal, has the right to seize personal property without just compensation.

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