Ridge not favoring amnesty in call for new status for illegals

Published: 2003-12-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Homeland Security secretary's call for "some kind of legal status" for the nation's illegal immigrants was not meant to imply he supports an amnesty program, according to his spokesman. Secretary Tom Ridge said at a town hall meeting at Miami-Dade Community College Dec. 9 that "as a country we have to come to grips with the presence of 8 (million) to 12 million illegals, afford them some kind of legal status some way." The comment quickly drew criticism from some members of Congress who oppose legalization proposals and expressions of hope from supporters of a legalization program. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is among the organizations advocating that the government enact a program to enable the majority of the nation's illegal immigrants to regularize their status. Ridge's spokesman, Russ Knocke, told Catholic News Service Dec. 11 that his boss's remarks were being taken out of context. Ridge's point was that there needs to be some way for the government to learn the identities of people living in the country, including illegal immigrants, as a security measure.

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