NEWS & ANALYSIS

Maricopa County Attorney Thomas Tackles Illegal Immigration with Nov. 3-5 Conference

October 24, 2005

During his bid for election as Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas campaigned against illegal immigration. It was an approach that resonated with voters weary of the flood of illegal immigrants coming through a porous border that the federal government refuses to secure.

Although Thomas's detractors marginalized this tactic, referring to it as biased and racially motivated, he walked into office with a comfortable margin.

Now, a year after assuming office, Thomas is hosting the Southwest Conference on Illegal Immigration, Border Security and Crime. Scheduled November 3 - 5 at the Scottsdale Resort and Conference Center, it is already bringing out the expected negative press from the Arizona Republic, which accuses him of career enhancement rather than drawing a bead on the massive problems attendant with criminal migration.

In describing the event, Thomas termed it, “perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive public-policy forum to date, devoted to America’s illegal immigration crisis.”

Impacting not only crime rates, but posing additional burdens to our educational system and health care, illegal immigration has become a crisis which is long overdue in being addressed. The conference will offer a wide-range of discussions and analysis of problems related to unlawful entry into this country.

Thomas’s office has implemented a new unit aimed at prosecuting human smugglers, or “coyotes,” and crimes related to illegal immigration. In an effort to find solutions to this multifaceted problem, the conference is open to interested citizens, law enforcement officers, lawmakers, community leaders and media representatives. It will feature diverse panels of speakers representing various viewpoints. In addition to the guest speakers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund have been invited to participate.

“We need new ideas for the fight against illegal immigration,”
said Thomas. “This conference will offer a robust debate and exchange of views, which I believe will generate important new ideas and initiatives for securing our border.”

Topics will include the effects of illegal immigration on states
and communities, the impact on public safety, improving border security and impositions of employer sanctions.

Scheduled speakers include:
Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R - Ariz.)
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R - Colo.)
Mark Krikorian, Executive Director / Center for Immigration Studies, Washington D.C.
John Leo, Columnist and Contributing Editor, U.S. News and World Reports
John Fund, Writes Political Diary column for Opinion Journal, Wall Street Journal
Heather MacDonald, John M. Olin Fellow/Manhattan Institute
Mark Wyland, California Assemblyman
Ray Haynes, California Assemblyman
Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal
Glynn Custred, Professor Cal State East Bay
Larry Dever, Cochise County Sheriff
Debbie Schlussel, Conservative political commentator and attorney
Peter Nunez, Former U.S. Attorney and former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury

Registration information is available at:
www.immigrationconference.com or by calling (602) 506-3536.

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