Minuteman Co-founder Headlining

Illegal Immigration Townhall Meeting

April 27, 2006

6PM-8PM Central

The Factory in Franklin, Tennessee

The Liberty Room

Click here for a map

Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project, will headline Phil Valentine's Demagnetize America Townhall Meeting.  Valentine, host of the syndicated radio program The Phil Valentine Show, will host this important meeting on illegal immigration on April 27, 2006 at 6PM at The Factory in Franklin, TN.  The entire two-hour discussion will be aired commercial-free on Valentine's flagship station, SuperTalk 99.7WTN in Nashville.

Valentine will interview key players in the fight against illegal immigration individually then take questions from the crowd.  In addition to Gilchrist, the meeting will include Susan Tully, National Field Director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR); Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who will talk about the immigration reform act passed by the U.S. House in December and now being debated in the Sentate; TN State Senator Bill Ketron, who recently introduced legislation requiring tests for state driver's licenses to be given in English only; Theresa Harmon with Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policies; and several other elected officials active in the area of illegal immigration.

The recent widespread protests by illegal aliens across our nation have finally awakened even the most passive observer.  The images of criminal trespassers defiantly shouting slogans like "This is our land!" while draped in the Mexican flag have angered citizens who are ordinarily slow to anger.   They now realize the stakes are extremely high and it's time for all concerned citizens to come together and devise a plan to do something about illegal immigration. 

Illegal immigration costs countless American jobs.  While people complain about companies outsourcing to foreign countries, millions of illegal immigrants are being lured into this country for the express purpose of undercutting American jobs.  Illegal immigration also costs the American taxpayers over $35 billion per year, even after you factor in the taxes paid by illegal workers.  Rising healthcare costs, rising education costs, record incarceration costs, all are greatly affected by illegal immigration.  Not to mention crime, the notorious Hispanic gang, MS-13, and the decay of many middle-class neighborhoods across the nation.

For well over a year, Phil Valentine has proposed a plan that would not cost the taxpayers a single dime in deportation fees.  It's called "Demagnetize America."  Among Valentine's proposals are stiff fines ($20,000) levied against any employer who hires an illegal alien and jail time for chronic offenders.  He is also proposing similar fines for government workers who knowingly provide services to illegal aliens.  These fines would also extend to anyone who rents an apartment or sells a home to illegals.  Banks that provide loans to illegal aliens would be fined $100,000 per infraction and repeat offenders would be shut down.

"This is the only way to effectively solve the problem," Valentine said.  "There is no way we can deport 11 million illegal aliens.  They all came here for a reason - whether it was jobs or government benefits or both - and the only way they'll go home is to take away the magnet that lured them here.  I hear all this nonsense of how many billions of dollars it will take to deport all the illegal aliens.  We didn't pay to import them, we won't have to pay to deport them."

Georgia recently passed legislation similar to Valentine's idea of demagnetizing.   States like Tennessee already have laws on the books the penalize businesses that hire illegal aliens by revoking their business licenses.  "That's fine with me," Valentine said, referring to the Tennessee law.  "Whatever it takes to get the job done."  Tennessee, however, has not enforced that law in well over a decade.  That inattention to the problem frustrates Valentine.  "Had all 11 million of these illegal aliens come to this country at once we would've called it an invasion.  What difference does it make that it took them ten years to all get here.  I have absolutely no problem with legal immigration.  Those who want to come to this country to become a part of the great American experience, I embrace you.  The problem is, many of the illegal aliens simply want to supplant their third-world country and culture here.  That is not acceptable and we will fight it every step of the way."