Rep. Wilson shows two faces on illegal immigration

Raw Story:

This year, they’re making Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, their new poster boy after he famously shouted “You lie!” during President Obama’s speech on healthcare reform last week. Wilson’s outbust occurred as Obama was saying he has no intention of giving illegal immigrants access to health care benefits in his reform plan, and CNN personality and avowed anti-illegal immigration crusader Lou Dobbs is giving Wilson “great credit” for advancing the cause, per The Washington Independent and Politics Daily.

Wilson may have a conflict of interest, however. Two months before he heckled Obama, he introduced legislation to keep Sainey Fatty, an illegal immigrant from Gambia, in the country. Fatty came to the U.S. for school in the early ’90s and lived here for seven years while under a deportation order, according to his friend Bill Cook’s blog.

In his bill, Wilson asks Congress to forgive Fatty’s immigration woes, drop the deportation order against Fatty and allow him to remain in the country legally.

Wilson’s communications director Ryan Murphy told Raw Story in an e-mail that “Congressman Wilson does not support illegal immigrants getting access to a government taxpayer funded health insurance program.” He did not respond to questions about what motivated Wilson to keep Fatty in the country or whether Wilson supports Fatty’s ability to receive medical care in the U.S.

Officials with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement told Raw Story they aren’t allowed to comment on the details of requests for asylum, although Fatty’s friend Cook says in his blog that Fatty is allegedly a Christian convert who abandoned his Muslim roots. Cook did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comments, and restricted the public’s ability to view his blog after Raw Story left a voice-mail message at his office. Government workers familiar with the process in which members of Congress fight deportation orders say many undocumented people file asylum claims stating they would face violence if they return to their native countries after converting to Christianity.