Congressional Hopeful Proposes Ban on Wire Transfers by Illegal Aliens
by James L. Lambert
March 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A candidate running for a vacant congressional seat representing North San Diego county has unveiled a plan to ban wire transfers by illegal aliens to Mexico. In a March 4 press conference near the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican Howard Kaloogian said he believes his proposal "will remove a major incentive for illegal immigration and increase national security."Kaloogian hopes to win the April 11 special election to fill the U.S. House seat left empty when Randall "Duke" Cunningham resigned from office shortly after pleading guilty late last year to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery. The winner of that election will complete the final six months of Cunningham's term.
Kaloogian, an attorney and a conservative political leader who headed up the 2004 recall movement that ultimately ousted California Governor Gray Davis, has made illegal immigration one of the major issues of his campaign. America's borders, he says, must be secured. He is convinced his proposal will deter some of those coming across from Mexico illegally.
"The Mexican government is making billions of dollars every year from illegal aliens who enter the U.S. illegally and then wire that money back to their families in Mexico," Kaloogian observed. "Our economy continues to bear the cost of illegal aliens who pay no taxes but receive taxpayer-funded services."
Kaloogian's proposal, if adopted by Congress, would require those wiring money to Mexico to provide identification to financial institutions or wire transfer operators to prove their citizenship. Currently, it is estimated that private-party wire transfers from the United States to Mexico range from $15 to $20 billion annually. "It's absurd," he says, "that we continue to allow those who have broken the law by entering this nation illegally to then enjoy the benefit of collecting wages illegally and then sending those funds to a foreign nation."
Kaloogian says past legislative proposals involving wire transfers have only imposed an extra fee for illegal aliens. But the Republican says that his proposal will "establish leverage" with foreign leaders such Mexican President Vicente Fox, who he says has "sent a wink and a nod to [his] citizens to enter the United States illegally, collect wages that add up to 10 times those paid in Mexico, and then send those funds back to Mexico."
Also at the border press conference was Claudia Garcia de Spencer, spokeswoman for the group San Diego Minutemen. Appearing at the conference to voice her organization's support both for Kaloogian and his proposal, de Spencer said she cannot understand why lawmakers do not seem concerned by illegal border crossings.
"Four and a half years after 9/11, our federal and state officials still refuse to confront threats allowing our borders to be breached thousands of times each day by foreigners," she said. "As a new citizen who followed the procedures and obeyed the rules, this [illegal immigration] is a shocking affront to me and a slap in the face to all loyal Americans."
Kaloogian was a California State Assemblyman from 1994 to 2000. His candidacy for Congress has received a variety of endorsements including Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, and Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes Magazine. If no candidate receives a 50 percent majority in the April 11 election, a run-off will be held between the expected Democratic candidate -- Carolyn Busby -- and the top Republican vote getter.
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
