Cynthia Matthews on Immigration
Excerpts from her website:

We are literally drowning in a flood of foreign labor. And instead of throwing the hard-working men and women of our district a life preserver or a safety line, Representative Dreier is shoving a hose down our throats.

Instead of a safety line, the only line we are being offered is the corporate line – that free trade agreements like NAFTA and FTAA, and legislation like HB-1, will result in both cheap consumer goods and more jobs for Californians....

Dreier’s belief that cheaper consumer goods would become available to us here if corporations were allowed to send jobs overseas has simply not come to pass in our district. I know many working families for whom recently buying new school clothes, shoes, and supplies for their children was a serious financial burden. These foreign-produced necessities were not necessarily “cheap” in price. However, some were certainly “cheap” in quality....

Trade agreements written, championed, and endorsed by Rep. Dreier have resulted in manufacturing jobs being exported to overseas interests. His support of foreign worker visas has led to many of our white-collar tech workers being replaced by imported foreign nationals....

I have met many honest employers in our district - men and women who provide jobs to our community and that only employ documented workers. They have told me about the comparative disadvantage that they are suffering due to competition that is allowed to employ undocumented labor.

American workers and documented foreign workers work just as hard and skillfully as any undocumented worker. There is no disadvantage there. The disadvantage lies in the failure of our state and federal authorities to both enforce labor laws already on the books, and to develop new policies to deal with our current crisis. The failure of our government to punish those who employ undocumented workers has resulted in honest businesses being disadvantaged when competing with those who pay illegally low wages, pay no workers’ compensation insurance, offer no benefits, and shield their workplaces from unions and other agencies....

The plight of Mexican migrant workers is understandable. Any man faced with a situation in which he cannot support his family cannot be attacked for trying to provide for them by any means necessary. Mexican migrant workers are being exploited both by the Coyotes that help them illegally cross the border, and by the companies that employ them. Their condition requires sympathy. However, it is a simple fact that the state of California can no longer afford to allow this crisis to persist....

On the issue of undocumented immigrants obtaining drivers licenses - due to National security issues it is imperative that we ensure any persons seeking legal documents have their citizenship verified for our safety as well as the safety of those who protect us.

[OE UPDATE 11/1/2004]