Wilmington, NC:  Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC) today announced that they were pulling their endorsement of Congressman Mike McIntyre and endorsing Ilario Pantano, the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District.  ALIPAC joins the VFW as the second group to pull their endorsement from Congressman McIntyre.

ALIPAC announced this morning  that they were “rescinding their endorsement of Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC-7), originally made in 2008, and transferring that endorsement to Ilario Pantano, the Republican challenger who has promised to stand up for the enforcement of America's existing border and immigration laws, instead of any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants.”  ALIPAC went on to say that they believe that “Pantano will be more aggressive about securing America's borders.”  In giving further reasons for their decision to take away their endorsement of Congressman McIntyre, ALIPAC stated that they wanted to “rebuke” Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership in Congress, which Congressman McIntyre is a member of, for “actively promising amnesty to illegal aliens.”  

ALIPAC, according to their release “is a national organization comprised of citizens of every race, party, and walk of life who represent the 80% of Americans who oppose illegal immigration and amnesty as evidenced in most recent polls. Founded on 9/11/2004, ALIPAC has quickly grown to become the third largest national organization addressing these issues.” In addition to endorsing Pantano, ALIPAC also added him to its list of 18 targeted races they are asking their activists to focus their efforts on as Election Day nears.

Earlier this month, the VFW dissolved their PAC after endorsing Congressman McIntyre and other congressional candidates.  The PAC was dissolved over serious concerns by the VFW’s leadership regarding their decision to endorse incumbents like Nancy Pelosi with a track record of non-support for our military and non-veteran candidates like Mike McIntyre over veterans like Pantano who are active VFW members.

Pantano released the following statement upon learning of ALIPAC’s decision:

“I am pleased to receive the endorsement of ALIPAC.  After a closer examination of Congressman McIntyre’s record, ALIPAC discovered that Congressman McIntyre’s actions don’t match his words when it comes to standing against illegal immigration.  This is the same thing voters across the 7th District are seeing when they take a look at what Congressman McIntyre does in Washington compared to what he says in the District.”

“As the proud son of a legal immigrant who watched his father work to learn English I can tell you that the love of country my father displayed by earning citizenship has led me to fight in two wars for my country.  When something like citizenship is earned, legally, it has a tremendous positive impact on the individual that achieved it and their entire family. But when the benefits of citizenship are stolen, it sets a negative precedent, which as a nation of laws, we cannot allow.”

Posted at WECT.

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has rescinded its endorsement of Congressman Mike McIntyre, which was originally made in 2008, and has transferred it to Republican challenger Ilario Pantano.

The move is a blow to McIntyre's campaign, which has just launched an anti-illegal immigration ad campaign in the last week of the election season.  McIntyre, in a debate at Brunswick Community College on October 11th, touted the ALIPAC endorsement as proof that he was the stronger choice to combat illegal immigration.

"What counts is what does Mike McIntyre do? And people have known that in this district. That's why we have blessed with Republican and Democrat and Independent support through the years. In fact, ALIPAC, which is the nation's largest anti-illegal immigration organization has endorsed my candidacy, because they know of the strength of my position, even much stronger than my opponents," Mike McIntyre said on October 11th.

However, in a press release, ALIPAC says it made the change as a way to "rebuke the national Democratic leadership for promising Amnesty to illegal immigrants, deploying illegal aliens as election workers, and enticing illegals to vote in the 2010 elections."  Pantano and national Republicans have worked to tie McIntyre closely with the Democratic Party during this campaign.

ALIPAC's news release states it is supporting Pantano because of his promise to stand up for the enforcement of America's existing border and immigration laws.  The group believes he will be more aggressive about securing America's borders.

ALIPAC is also transferring its endorsement of Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall to Republican challenger Austin Scott, who voted to pass some of the first state laws against illegal immigration in Georgia before the new Arizona law took center stage.

"We believe that our endorsements are better aligned with Ilario Pantano and Austin Scott against these incumbents who have refused to take action against cities that harbor illegal aliens," said William Gheen President of ALIPAC in a press release.

ALIPAC is a national organization that is against illegal immigration and Amnesty.  The group has endorsed 205 federal candidates in 2010.