Gillibrand Choice Unfriendly to Immigrants

New York Governor David Paterson has announced that he will appoint Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate to replace Hillary Clinton.

As a U.S. representative Gillibrand has taken positions on immigration that are deeply troubling:

• She sponsored legislation that sought to require local police officers to take on immigration enforcement duties, even though police chiefs have testified it would impair their ability to protect the public.
• She strongly supported throwing more resources toward ineffective border enforcement, but appeared to oppose any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
• Gillibrand opposes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and co-sponsored the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act in 2007.
• As Andrea Batista Schlesinger pointed out on The Huffington Post, Gillibrand has received a high score –a “B”– on the Immigration-Reduction Report Card created by anti-immigration group NumbersUSA.

Gillibrand clearly has a poor record on immigration and her appointment will be extremely disappointing to the pro-immigration community. All the more surprising is that it comes from a Governor who presumably wanted to appoint someone who is going to appeal to one of the most pro-immigration constituencies of any state in the country. Now that she represents all of New York state, lets hope she reconsiders her position.