Editors:

As a people, we are a blend of the world and throughout our history a
healthy immigration policy, largely open, yet tightly regulated, has ensured
a constant flow of new faces, bright minds, talented souls and strong backs
into the mainstream of our population. Indeed, most historians would agree
that America is a great nation not in spite of her large immigrant
population, but because of it.

As such, the fierce debate on illegal immigration that rages across the
nation may seem disquieting at times, but is entirely necessary. We must
decide as a nation where we want to go and how we intend to get there. In my
opinion, forming a secure border and fair immigration policy are the two
most important steps we can take as a country.

But until our national leaders take action, state leaders like myself are
forced to deal with the structural realities of a flawed federal policy. It
seems quite evident that the driving force in the HudsonValley hoping to
turn a debate about immigration, security and law enforcement into one about
race is the Editorial Staff of the Journal News. Indeed, your reporting of
the 287G program, a law enforcement program that combats criminal illegal
alien crime, and creates a more cooperative relationship between the state
and federal government, and targets criminals, not immigrants, is shameful.

Evidently, on paid staff at the Journal News, is a group of Editors content
with half truths and lackadaisical reporting, even on an important issue
like 287G, a program that has either been embraced or adopted by several
states and dozens of municipalities including Florida , Arizona and Rhode
Island. Your paper has bastardized this issue in the name of selling papers
and refused to address the real crux of the issue which is the deportation
of criminal, yes criminal, illegal aliens.

Today in New York , tens of thousands of illegal alien criminals abscond back
into the larger New York community after serving their time, and are given
another opportunity to strike again. New York is not working properly with
the federal government, thereby allowing criminal illegal aliens of all
ethnicities, religions, criminal levels and backgrounds to slip through the
cracks, and that is what, among other benefits, a tightly crafted, statewide
287G bill would solve. Those are the facts.

Would the Journal News rather these sick criminals remain in the Hudson
Valley, to strike again? A 287G agreement between the state and the federal
government will help local law enforcement confirm the identity of rapists,
murders and child predators, among others, and begin deportation
proceedings. And it ensures that criminal illegal aliens, that serve their
time, are then deported back to their nation of origin - be it Ireland ,
Russia or Mexico .

Another inconvenient fact is that upwards of 10%, or more, of our state and
local prisons and 30% of our federal prisons are comprised of criminal
illegal aliens and cost taxpayers billions nationally and hundreds of
millions statewide. A 287G agreement will save New York taxpayers millions
every year and force the federal government to take a more proactive, rather
than reactive, role in New York by working directly with New York 's local
and state law enforcement via a formalized agreement.

My role as an elected official and legislator is to get involved and try to
make the world a better place where possible. As such, trying to foster
communication and create an environment where we can learn from our mistakes
is an important part of my job. To simply point the finger at the federal
government and whine about broken policy may be therapeutic for some, but is
irresponsible, and largely unproductive. Some elected officials turn the
other way when confronted with a tough issue; I just roll up my sleeves.

As a pro-immigrant state legislator I will continue to lobby for efforts
that will expand and streamline opportunities for legal immigration, and I
welcome you to those causes. What I, along with tens of millions of
Americans do not support, is the current failed federal policy that coddles
criminal illegal aliens and entices 4 million illegal alien day laborers to
cross our border every year while millions of legal immigrants wait in line.
This is a federal policy that relies upon the exploitation of millions of
illegal aliens currently living in nothing less than indentured servitude
and while my campaign signs which read, "Illegal Immigration is Illegal" may
have ruffled some feathers, including yours, I stand by those words.

Greg Ball
Member of Assembly
99th Assembly

Editors:

As a people, we are a blend of the world and throughout our history a
healthy immigration policy, largely open, yet tightly regulated, has ensured
a constant flow of new faces, bright minds, talented souls and strong backs
into the mainstream of our population. Indeed, most historians would agree
that America is a great nation not in spite of her large immigrant
population, but because of it.

As such, the fierce debate on illegal immigration that rages across the
nation may seem disquieting at times, but is entirely necessary. We must
decide as a nation where we want to go and how we intend to get there. In my
opinion, forming a secure border and fair immigration policy are the two
most important steps we can take as a country.

But until our national leaders take action, state leaders like myself are
forced to deal with the structural realities of a flawed federal policy. It
seems quite evident that the driving force in the HudsonValley hoping to
turn a debate about immigration, security and law enforcement into one about
race is the Editorial Staff of the Journal News. Indeed, your reporting of
the 287G program, a law enforcement program that combats criminal illegal
alien crime, and creates a more cooperative relationship between the state
and federal government, and targets criminals, not immigrants, is shameful.

Evidently, on paid staff at the Journal News, is a group of Editors content
with half truths and lackadaisical reporting, even on an important issue
like 287G, a program that has either been embraced or adopted by several
states and dozens of municipalities including Florida , Arizona and Rhode
Island. Your paper has bastardized this issue in the name of selling papers
and refused to address the real crux of the issue which is the deportation
of criminal, yes criminal, illegal aliens.

Today in New York , tens of thousands of illegal alien criminals abscond back
into the larger New York community after serving their time, and are given
another opportunity to strike again. New York is not working properly with
the federal government, thereby allowing criminal illegal aliens of all
ethnicities, religions, criminal levels and backgrounds to slip through the
cracks, and that is what, among other benefits, a tightly crafted, statewide
287G bill would solve. Those are the facts.

Would the Journal News rather these sick criminals remain in the Hudson
Valley, to strike again? A 287G agreement between the state and the federal
government will help local law enforcement confirm the identity of rapists,
murders and child predators, among others, and begin deportation
proceedings. And it ensures that criminal illegal aliens, that serve their
time, are then deported back to their nation of origin - be it Ireland ,
Russia or Mexico .

Another inconvenient fact is that upwards of 10%, or more, of our state and
local prisons and 30% of our federal prisons are comprised of criminal
illegal aliens and cost taxpayers billions nationally and hundreds of
millions statewide. A 287G agreement will save New York taxpayers millions
every year and force the federal government to take a more proactive, rather
than reactive, role in New York by working directly with New York 's local
and state law enforcement via a formalized agreement.

My role as an elected official and legislator is to get involved and try to
make the world a better place where possible. As such, trying to foster
communication and create an environment where we can learn from our mistakes
is an important part of my job. To simply point the finger at the federal
government and whine about broken policy may be therapeutic for some, but is
irresponsible, and largely unproductive. Some elected officials turn the
other way when confronted with a tough issue; I just roll up my sleeves.

As a pro-immigrant state legislator I will continue to lobby for efforts
that will expand and streamline opportunities for legal immigration, and I
welcome you to those causes. What I, along with tens of millions of
Americans do not support, is the current failed federal policy that coddles
criminal illegal aliens and entices 4 million illegal alien day laborers to
cross our border every year while millions of legal immigrants wait in line.
This is a federal policy that relies upon the exploitation of millions of
illegal aliens currently living in nothing less than indentured servitude
and while my campaign signs which read, "Illegal Immigration is Illegal" may
have ruffled some feathers, including yours, I stand by those words.

Greg Ball
Member of Assembly
99th Assembly