Veterans Launch National Education Effort on Illegal Immigration

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, April 28, 2008 - Crime, terrorism and dependency on scarce government dollars are some of the major reasons why the nation's largest veterans organization is concerned about illegal immigration. So concerned, in fact, that The American Legion today began a nationwide outreach to alert Americans to the dangers posed by illegal aliens and the government's reluctance to seriously address the issue.

Through a radio spot campaign, news releases from posts across the country, letters to newspaper editors and a concerted outreach to America's leading media pundits, at both the national and local levels, The American Legion will offer a free booklet about illegal immigration that not only discusses the far reaching problems it is causing but also provides a cogent strategy to address the issue.

"American Legion members have served in the U.S. Armed Forces throughout the world so that Americans can feel safe at home," said Marty Conatser, national commander. "We have seen Third World countries. We have seen poverty, political instability, disease and war. Today we see the threat that open borders present to our homeland.

"With more than 14,000 posts and 2.7 million members, I am asking Legionnaires everywhere to start the national dialogue that needs to happen now," Conatser said. "As a nation at war with operatives sworn to kill Americans, our government must shut down our open borders and take decisive action to address a crippling national problem."

The booklet, "A Strategy to Address Illegal Immigration in the United States," is available for download at www.legion.org/bulletins. A free hard copy can be requested by sending an email to acy@legion.org. Conatser has asked Legionnaires to obtain a media kit, visit radio stations and offer the public service spot package of six 60-second radio spots that addresses various problems with illegal immigration and offers the booklet free to listeners.

"The American Legion is very much in support of legal immigration," Conatser added. "Indeed the ancestors of countless Legionnaires immigrated here from around the world. However, we are a nation of laws and since we all swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States when we donned our uniforms, we believe strongly that the security and sovereignty of our nation must be our highest priority through stringent enforcement of our immigration laws."