By: CHRIS ENGLISH

CAMPAIGN 2006

Withdrawing his support from some proposed state laws on immigration doesn't look good for state Rep. Matt Wright, R-142, his opponent in the Nov. 7 election said.

Democrat Chris King alleged Wright might have withdrawn his sponsorship because of pressure from one of his supporters, Middletown Republican Howard Lindner. His son Frank Lindner is an attorney who represents many businesses that employ immigrants, including businesses that are attempting to help some of their immigrant employees through the process of becoming legal.

A main goal of one of the proposed bills is to impose fines on employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Wright is still a sponsor of that bill, said his spokesman Al Bowman. However, Wright has withdrawn as co-sponsor of two other immigration bills because of concerns, Bowman added.

King said Wright's withdrawal of support from some of the legislation is suspicious.

“Apparently, one of Matt's campaign managers, Howard Lindner, has a son, Frank, whose practice focuses on working with immigration issues and helping immigrants,” said King in an e-mail to the Courier Times. “I am told Howard Lindner threatened to not support Matt unless he withdrew his support of the immigration reform bill.”

The Courier Times was unsuccessful in reaching Wright for comment, despite leaving several phone messages.

However, the Lindners called King's claims baseless.

Howard Lindner said he is helping Wright with his campaign but is not a campaign manager and did not exert any pressure on Wright regarding proposed immigration law.

“I think Chris [King] likes to make things up,” said Howard Lindner.

Frank Lindner, a Republican and Wright supporter with a law office in Lower Makefield, said he spoke to Wright and testified at a House subcommittee hearing in Philadelphia about what he believed were serious flaws with parts of the immigration legislation.

“It had nothing to do with politics,” said Frank Lindner. “I had concerns as an attorney, and I would have done the same were I not a Republican or a Wright supporter, or if my name was not Lindner. Other than to vote, I try my best to stay out of politics.”

Lindner said the main problem with the immigration proposals was they would have contradicted federal law by punishing employers with immigrant employees who were going through the process of becoming legal.

“Let's take all the intrigue out of this,” he said. “I went to Matt and told him there were legal issues with the law that had to be fixed or it would be a slap in the face of the entire state Legislature. I testified about the same things before the House committee and they agreed. Many parts of the bill are fine. There is nothing wrong with punishing employers for doing things that are illegal. The law is being rewritten, and I'm sure Matt will be a sponsor of whatever new law comes out of the process.”

Bowman, the Wright spokesman, said there are actually several pending bills on immigration. He said Wright is still the main sponsor on House Bill 1314, still in committee, that would impose fines on employers of illegal immigrants.

Bowman said Wright has withdrawn his co-sponsorship of bills that would deny benefits to certain immigrants. Bowman said the bills have to be reworked because they conflict with federal law.

King wasn't too impressed with the explanations.

“I find it very strange Howard Lindner's son is an immigration attorney, and Matt withdraws his name from a bill on what seems to be a very popular political issue 50 days before the election,” he said. “It seems like very odd timing. I think penalizing employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants is obviously a good idea. I guess Matt doesn't think so.”

Frank Lindner said he believed Wright withdrew his name from some of the immigration legislation because of legitimate concerns over legality.

“Matt did the right thing, and it's a shame my father's name got dragged into this,” Lindner said.