Last Tuesday, I attended a candidate forum at Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill with our congressman, David Price, and his opponent, B.J. Lawson. Knowing that Lawson opposes comprehensive immigration reform and instead emphasizes sending troops to guard the border, I was struck by Mr. Lawson’s apparently thoughtful response to a question about the DREAM Act, which would offer a path to college education for hardworking immigrant students who were brought to the United States as kids.
Lawson said it gave him “heartburn†to know the doors of opportunity were being shut to these children because of their immigration status. He said the DREAM Act was “worth discussion,†and even gave the impression that he would potentially support the bill. (Price is a longtime cosponsor of the bill.)
To my surprise, the very next day on his website Mr. Lawson attacked David Price for supporting the DREAM Act, which he disparaged as “amnesty for illegal immigrants†and a “government handout.â€
The candidate B.J. Lawson at the forum was not the same person who desperately attacked David Price the next day. And the worst part is, Lawson was attacking David for something Lawson himself appeared to support – or at least consider supporting.
One thing I know about David Price: He’s a man of his word. That’s a lot more than I can say for B.J. Lawson. Price has my vote.
Hank Elkins
Chapel Hill
As I understand it from Dr. Lawson, he is in favor of establishing a system that permits everyone who wants to come into the USA to work as long as they have applied, have been accepted, and are documented and contributing to our society (i.e., paying taxes and obeying our laws). He is against undocumented “illegals” overrunning our border, taking advantages of our social/welfare/healthcare services, voting, and/or working here illegally. He is in favor of securing our borders.
As illustrated by Rep. Price’s votes and committee actions in the House, Price is neither in favor of enacting laws requiring the documentation of illegals nor supportive of measures that would physically secure our borders. He will not support legislation preventing illegal aliens from accessing our government services and voting (i.e., voter’s showing a valid ID). Price won’t even support enforcement of our current immigration laws. Aren’t our congressmen bound to uphold the laws of our country? Or, using Representative Price as an example, can they just support or ignore the laws on grounds of political expediency?