What voters told R.N.C. telephone solicitors.

It is common knowledge among those of us who work the phones that the #1 complaint we hear from donors is that illegal immigration is destroying the country and that ‘legalization’ programs make a mockery of our citizenship laws. Donors routinely express outrage at President Bush’s unwillingness to defend our borders. Donors are frustrated that Big Business’s desire for cheap, exploitable labor is dictating our immigration policy. Donors adamantly oppose any form of a ‘guestworker’ or ‘amnesty’ program that would allow illegal aliens to remain in the country. Donors consistently support a policy of ‘attrition’ where the laws are enforced over a period of years, forcing illegal immigrants to return home and apply for citizenship - like millions of LEGAL immigrants before them.

We are instructed to tell donors that their concerns are passed on to the Chairman and that he communicates those thoughts to the White House. We are also instructed to tell donors that President Bush ‘opposes rewarding illegal aliens.’ It has become impossible to sound sincere when repeating this to potential donors.

* * * *

It is worth noting that the public does not view the immigration debate from a ‘Left vs. Right’ perspective. Voters correctly view the debate as ‘Elite vs. Middle Class’ . . . . [T]he poor and middle class . . . are tired of subsidizing this cheap labor by paying for ‘free’ medical care and public education . . . [and are] increasingly unable to compete in the job market with illegal aliens willing to work for low wages. As a result, nearly every poll one can find indicates that Americans overwhelmingly oppose any program that would allow illegal aliens to remain in the country. But the White House has indicated over the past six years that it doesn’t care.

Comment by J.D. (a recent Republican National Committee telephone fund solicitor) on "RNC fires solicitors." Washington Times, 6/1/07 (emphasis added).