(OCEAN CITY, October 23) – First District Republican Assembly candidates Norris Clark and Mike Donohue today slammed their Democratic opponent, Nelson Albano, for statements Albano made at last night’s League of Women Voters debate, in which Albano declared his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“Last night, at the League of Women Voters debate, Nelson Albano said he favors amnesty for illegal immigrants,” said Donohue. “He was smart enough not to use that particular word, but when he talked about ‘registering’ illegal immigrants, and then making provisions to ‘get them into the process,’ what he was really talking about is amnesty by another name – and that’s something that the overwhelming majority of the residents of the First District strongly oppose.

“As a local prosecutor, I see the costs of illegal immigration up close and personal, every day,” Donohue continued. “Overcrowded courts, overcrowded hospital emergency rooms, overcrowded school rooms, overcrowded jails. We’re taxing ourselves out of house and home already, and now we have the Albano Amnesty Plan to reward people who broke our laws to get here. That’s just nuts.”

“Offering amnesty will only serve as a magnet to encourage more illegal immigrants to come to New Jersey,” said Clark. “As Mike and I talked about last night at the debate, our social services are already stressed to the breaking point as we deal with the $2 billion-per-year cost of the estimated 450,000 illegal immigrants here in our state already. Why in the world would we want to encourage MORE illegal immigration?”

Below are statements made by Assemblyman Albano regarding illegal immigration at last night’s debate:

“We have these immigrants here now.  We have to start getting them registered…

If there are illegal immigrants we have to go through the process – we have to register them. Those who come here to work, we have to give them work visas…

Get them registered and get them work visas.”

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Paid for by Asselta Clark Donohue