RE: By Brenda Walker’s blog post Legal Immigration: California Newspaper Considers Additional Diversity for America

From: An Anonymous Californian [Email him]

The quote in the San Jose Mercury article:

[Rep. John]Garamendi [D-Walnut Grove] said in an interview that he prefers to keep diversity visas — "it's a value statement about who we are as Americans,"

I visited Garamendi's Walnut Creek office in April of 2011, hoping to chat up a staffer about immigration when the Congressman himself walked in. He approached me, so I asked him how high levels of immigration squared with getting Americans to work and reducing our energy dependency?

 He declared he supported "comprehensive immigration reform."  I told him that was a  euphemism for amnesty and handed him his NumbersUSA Report Card of F-. The staffer hovering nearby suggested meeting in an hour and a half, so I left and returned to wait, and wait and wait.

Finally Garamendi emerged and towering over me in tanning salon red demanded to know what I would do with the 12 million undocumented. I told him that 40 million people call up Bekins and Mayflower yearly and move—and his 12 million could do the same. I told him that E-Verify is important; he said he supported it. I told him the Diversity Lottery was a disgrace; he said he was against it. He said he favored foreign talented workers and we argued a bit over that! He again returned to his F- Report Card which rankled him.

The point here is that he personally told me he was opposed to the Diversity Visa but now I read he supports it. Most disappointing.