Jim Kouri
May 6, 2006
Mayor, officials swept out of office for their support of illegal aliens
By Jim Kouri

It's bound to become a local story that resonates with the denizens of the entire nation's political arena. It's also a story that's bound to resonate with the leaders of the two major political parties.

Tuesday's municipal elections in Herndon, Virginia, were about one issue and one issue only: illegal immigration. Last year, in the face of overwhelming public opposition, the mayor and a majority on the town council approved a publicly funded day labor hiring center that is used almost exclusively by illegal alien workers. It will be a decision they will long regret, according to an immigration reform group.

On Tuesday, all but one local officeholder — including the mayor — who backed the illegal alien hiring center received pink slips from the voters.

Heading the list of those given the gate by Herndon voters was incumbent Mayor Michael O'Reilly who resolutely ignored public opposition to accommodating illegal alien laborers who strain municipal services, disrupt civic life, and undermine legitimate businesses and contractors in the northern Virginia municipality.

Joining Mayor O'Reilly on the unemployment line is nearly every member of the town council who voted to use public funds to construct and operate the hiring center.

"Herndon is a harbinger of what is to come for other politicians who disregard the public's growing anger over mass illegal immigration," predicts Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform.

"The message to local, state and national politicians is clear: Pander to the special interests that constitute the illegal alien lobby and you will find yourselves looking for a different line of work come Election Day."

The Herndon vote came one day after the national day of protest and boycott by illegal aliens and their supporters, and amidst a heated debate in Washington about immigration. President Bush and many in the Senate are backing a proposal that would grant de facto amnesty to upwards of 12 million illegal aliens and flood the American labor market with millions more guest workers.

"Monday was billed as 'a day without an immigrant.' For supporters of illegal aliens in Herndon, Tuesday turned out to be 'a day without a political career,'" said Stein.

"If Congress does not turn its attention over the next few months to addressing the voters' demands for meaningful enforcement of America's immigration laws and rejecting calls for an illegal alien amnesty, there will be many more politicians around the country who share Mayor O'Reilly's and the Herndon Town Council's fate."

According to a newly released national poll by the Zogby Group, 64 percent of likely voters said they support the enforcement-only approach taken by the House of Representatives in a bill that was passed last December. Only 30 percent expressed support for the Bush/Senate proposal to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Only 2 percent of voters said they were in favor of Senate proposals to increase legal immigration.

"Public opinion has always clearly favored strong immigration enforcement and rejected accommodating illegal aliens with hiring centers, access to public benefits and service, and amnesty. Now those sentiments are being expressed at the ballot box, and any politician who ignores them does so at his or her own peril," said Stein.

"As the soon to be former mayor and town council in Herndon have discovered, immigration is now an issue that decides elections. While illegal aliens and their supporters make a lot of noise on the streets, the voters still have the last word at the ballot box."

© Jim Kouri

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)


Jim Kouri

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police... (more)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Jim Kouri: Click here

Latest articles

May 3, 2016
New book by rising star provides political action plan for millennial voters


April 15, 2016
CIA chief more concerned with Obamaism than protecting Americans: Critics


April 13, 2016
State Dept. finally turns over Huma Abedin/Susan Rice Benghazi files


April 4, 2016
Federal judge allows watchdog group access to Clinton email


March 23, 2016
ISIS hackers post 'hit list' of Minnesota cops


March 15, 2016
World leaders want Hillary: best president money can buy


March 9, 2016
Iran's Ayatollah: Under Obama U.S. lacks the might it once had


February 3, 2016
Political cover up at State Dept. to benefit Hillary Clinton during primaries


January 26, 2016
ISIS builds stronghold in Libya: Obama and Hillary ignore their handiwork


January 24, 2016
Hillary Clinton's email fiasco worse than originally suspected


More articles