Bright has spirited town hall meeting on immigration

Echo resident James Jenkins came to Congressman Bobby Bright's town hall meeting on immigration on Friday expecting a little more fire in his voice about his opposition to the Obama administration's challenge to the new Arizona immigration law.

Jenkins, who lived in Arizona, said Bright's support of Arizona's immigration law and his stated opposition against the suit challenging it isn't enough.

"He can say here he is against the Obama suit, but what is he doing in Washington? Why is he not speaking out against it more?" said the 83-year-old Jenkins.

"The President is hurting the state of Arizona with his words," Jenkins said. "When he speaks about people not coming to Arizona because of this law, I think people need to know how much Arizona is getting hurt."

Jenkins represents the challenge Bright, a Democrat, faces in keeping his seat for a second term in the conservative Second District. Jenkins said it isn't enough to cast conservative votes. He wants a Republican Congress to counterbalance the Democrat administration.

"When you have one party controlling the country, it's scary," Jenkins said. "I'm more frightened now about the condition of our country than at any time in my life. I like Bright. He's a good man. If he switched parties, I would vote for him."

Bright said the time has come to rise above party affiliation. When another man said he was concerned that the district would suffer because Bright bucked the party on several votes and may face retaliation, Bright said district voters need to give him the opportunity to allow his independent streak to take root in Washington.

"What else can I give you other than my word?" Bright said.

On immigration, Bright said the only way the issue can be fixed is for Democrats and Republicans to shed party interests and focus on the problem. He said the key to tackling the problem lies first in securing the border with Mexico.

"What we do is secure the border first. We have to do that. Let's take some of our resources coming back from Iraq and maybe even some of those heading over to Afghanistan and maybe look at taking those and applying them to border security," Bright said. "If we can get a handle on that, then we can look at what to do with those who are already here illegally."

Bright received a few pointed questions concerning his position on Arizona's immigration law. Montgomery city councilwoman Martha Roby, his Republican challenger in November's election, accused Bright of flip-flopping on the issue after initially telling The Washington Post he was concerned that the Arizona law could lead to racial profiling. He said he now supports the law because the Arizona Legislature modified the law, alleviating his concerns.

"When they did that, that removed any concern I had and I said 'bingo', let's go with it."

Bright's town hall meeting came just hours after he returned from a trip to El Paso, Texas, and eastern New Mexico to tour border patrol areas.

"What is going on in El Paso with border security is working and we need to get more resources down there so we can extend it throughout the length of the border," Bright said.

The biggest applause for Bright came from a response to a question from a man who claimed Bright was discounting immigrants' contribution to American society.

"If a person comes in to our country and does what we ask them to do, and they are legal, I don't think there is a person in this room that would not do what they could to help that person get a job," Bright said. "The problem we have here is this: We are entitled to run this nation in the way we have set it up to run. Immigrants should give us the decency to do what we say must be done to be a legal citizen in this nation."