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border fence ??? Ouch !!! Border Patrol implements zero-tolerance policy for illegal immigrants Denver debates college tuition for illegal immigrants Illegal immigration: A glimpse of the other side. I need a Bull.... Daughter for sale......... Charges To Be Filed Against Anyone Caught Crossing U.S.-Mexico Border Illegal Immigrants Arrested On Prostitution Charges Post nasal drip December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 
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U.S. recession could worsen the illegal immigration crisis, says investigative journalist Jerome Corsi.
Dr. Corsi believes the United States economy is currently in recession, judging by the continuing rise in gas prices and the weakening of the U.S. dollar. But the New York Times best-selling author believes the recession may bring another issue to a head -- the continued presence of millions of illegal aliens from south of the border. http://www.onenewsnow.com/P...
As a card member of a Union I strongly support this...... AP News JEFFERSON CITY -- Hundreds of union members filled the Capitol's south lawn today to urge lawmakers to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. TO ALL YOU SUPPORTERS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION....I'M SURE YOU WOULDN'T MIND IF AN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT USED YOUR SS CARD. KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nobody likes getting a letter from the IRS. So imagine Amanda Bien's reaction last Valentine's Day when the agency wrote to demand $3,300 in back taxes. For jobs she never worked. Five of them. In multiple states. A Lenexa, Kan., Taco Bell. A Wendy's restaurant. Two Target stores, one in California. The Engineered Air manufacturing plant in De Soto, Kan. Someone, somewhere, got Bien's name and Social Security number and gave it a workout. A 28-year-old illegal immigrant was later arrested at the De Soto plant and faces ID theft charges. Though illegal immigrants aren't the only ones stealing identities, cases like Bien's illustrate the inability of disparate government agencies to tackle the problem. While lawmakers in Washington debate ways to crack down on illegal immigration, the market for false documents and stolen Social Security numbers is booming. Particularly vulnerable, authorities say, are legal residents with Hispanic last names. Or, as in Bien's case, names that could sound Hispanic. As politicians know and Bien is finding out, it's a problem that defies easy solutions. The IRS may suspect that multiple people are using the same Social Security number, but the agency doesn't investigate ID theft. Local police and prosecutors cannot deport illegal immigrants they arrest. "I feel like nobody's listening," said Bien, 23, of Ottawa, Kan. "If this can happen to me, it can happen to anybody. And if we don't do something about it now, what's going to happen in 10 years?" Federal estimates indicate that nearly 10 million Americans become victims of identity theft each year. Officials can't say how many of those identities are being used by illegal workers, but prosecutors in Kansas say they see more cases of illegal immigrants using fake credentials every year. It mirrors an increase in overall cases related to illegal immigration. The Kansas U.S. attorney's office received 18 such cases in 1997; in 2007, the number was 106. Experts expect the trend to continue, and they're finding ID theft in surprising places. Last fall, U.S. prosecutors in Missouri charged five noncitizens with ID theft after they were found working in the Kansas City Federal Building's cafeteria. "We know there are thousands and thousands of people working here who aren't even supposed to be here," said Brent Anderson, assistant U.S. attorney for Kansas. "There is rampant ID theft going on ... and I'm afraid that given the situation we're in right now, this is just the beginning." Bien doesn't know how someone gained access to her information, but experts say it can happen in several ways. Hackers steal databases. Workers with access to records sell them illegally. Sometimes, it's as simple as someone rifling through your mail or garbage for sensitive documents. And illegal immigrants are hardly the only perpetrators. Americans avoiding warrants or child support payments steal identities, too. Scam artists use the information to drain bank accounts or get credit cards. After her identity was stolen, Linda Foley founded the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center. She said identities can be bought for as little as $30 or much more for quality counterfeits. Often, as in Bien's case, the same identity is sold multiple times. "Thirty dollars - that's how much your good name is worth," she said. "And if you're going to counterfeit a document, it's as easy to make five copies and sell all of them." Judy Ancel, director of the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Labor Studies, said it's wrong to compare immigrant workers to criminals who take out fraudulent credit cards. "Identity theft is when you steal someone's identity in order to profit from them," she said. "The crime they (illegal immigrants with fake identities) have committed is working under somebody else's Social Security number. The attempt to criminalize immigration is the wrong path. ... It's just going to make a bunch of families suffer." Once, a made-up name and Social Security number were enough to get a job. But as employers became more diligent, the demand has grown for real identities that can pass database checks. Children and the elderly, who are less likely to work or watch credit scores, are especially susceptible, Foley said. When Utah officials checked a list of children on welfare against tax rolls, they found that 1,800 children, all under 13, were listed as working. Bien, a wife and mother, is completing her student teaching, but had to delay her credentialing when she applied for a new Social Security number. She's lost sleep, and she worries that even more people are using her identity. Still, she's fortunate: Many victims don't learn of the crime until their credit score drops or a loan is denied. In one recent Kansas case, a man found out when he was arrested for a crime committed by an illegal immigrant using his identity. After Bien discovered the ID theft, she and her mother drove to De Soto to find the Engineered Air plant. When they asked a sheriff's deputy for directions, he said he had arrested an illegal immigrant there a week before. The deputy followed Bien to the plant, where he arrested Rocio Diaz Cano, the woman allegedly claiming to be Amanda Bien. Cano pleaded not guilty last week. Her attorney, James Conard, said he's handled 10 or 12 similar cases, and said roughly 85 percent of his business is now Spanish-speaking. He said he sympathizes with Bien and said she's a victim of the government's tacit acceptance of illegal immigration. "I think the federal government is in cahoots with this whole problem," he said. Conard noted one example of the mixed messages: Probation, which his client is likely to receive if convicted, often requires the person to stay employed, which illegal immigrants cannot do. Engineered Air President Ric Rambacher said his company follows all employment laws and checks applicants against a federal database of legal workers. But that system doesn't catch ID thieves. Bien would like to see ID thieves charged with federal crimes. She believes federal authorities could push for greater sentences, and be more likely to start deportation proceedings. Yet so far, her thieves in other states haven't been charged, even though Bien has given information to local and federal authorities. Prosecutors say the decision to file charges and deport comes down to manpower, resources and evidence. When local police make an arrest, the case often falls to the county prosecutor. Federal authorities say they must focus on the most serious crimes. "Like all law enforcement agencies, we prioritize," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Tim Counts. "We have finite resources." Johnson County, Kan., District Attorney Phill Kline, whose office is prosecuting Cano, agreed that federal agencies often lack the manpower to take on lesser cases. When Kline was state attorney general, he said, his office helped U.S. authorities in a checkpoint where three vans of illegal immigrants were stopped. Immigration officials arrested those in one van, but had to release the others. Deportation, too, is a federal matter. And ID thieves prosecuted locally are likely to get probation if they have no prior record. "You can have an illegal (immigrant) commit a felony with presumptive probation and they'll be right back on the street and not deported," Kline said. "We're left with no options." Kline has made it his policy not to offer diversion to illegal immigrants. Diversion is when a suspect in a low-level crime can avoid a conviction through restitution and community service. Foley, from the Identity Theft Resource Center, said federal authorities must do more. Too often, she said, agencies don't even share data that could pinpoint ID theft. "There is no universal database. Who's going to collect it? The IRS is there to find out who isn't paying their taxes, not to look for ID theft," she said. "Create a new universal database and suddenly you've created a new target for ID theft." GUADALUPE, Ariz. (AP) — The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has been making forays into Phoenix and nearby Guadalupe and sweeping up illegal immigrants, drawing howls of protest from the cities' mayors and other community leaders. While Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has legal authority to enforce the law in cities within his county, politicians and activists are accusing him of grandstanding and, worse, racial profiling. A total of 150 people — 73 of them illegal immigrants — were arrested by Arpaio's deputies in the raids on heavily Hispanic sections in late March and early April. "I was upset. We did not request them here," said Guadalupe Mayor Rebecca Jimenez, who charged that the patrols were meant to raise Arpaio's profile for his re-election campaign this year. Guadalupe, a community of about 6,000 people that relies on the sheriff's office for police protection, is taking steps to find another department to patrol its streets. As for Phoenix, Mayor Phil Gordon said Arpaio should be concentrating on more pressing duties such as finding people with warrants against them, and he has asked for a federal civil rights investigation, complaining the sheriff is singling out people who are "driving with a broken taillight or have brown skin." The U.S. Justice Department refused to comment. And in Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city, the police chief has requested two days' notice of any sweeps Arpaio might conduct there, so that his officers can be prepared for any unrest. Arpaio has long had a reputation for in-your-face tactics. He is known for making jail inmates wear pink underwear, assigning them to old-style chain gangs, and serving them green bologna sandwiches. He began pushing the boundaries on immigration three years ago when he set up a special unit to deal with people sneaking across the border. Since then, his office has arrested 900 illegal immigrants under a state human smuggling law and set up a hot line for reporting immigration violations. Arpaio said the recent sweeps were prompted in part by business owners' complaints about crime among illegal immigrants. "It isn't racial profiling," the sheriff said. "We don't arrest just anybody on a street corner." He said the 150 people arrested were approached or pulled over in traffic stops because deputies had probable cause to believe they had committed crimes. It was only afterward that deputies found nearly half were illegal immigrants, the sheriff said. The crackdowns have led to demonstrations by protesters on both sides of the immigration debate. Opponents lined streets in Guadalupe earlier this month, honking horns and holding up signs with slogans such as "Arpaio Stop Using Guadalupe!" One vehicle had "Proud to Be Brown" written on one of its windows. Alex Rivera, an American-born landscaper living in Guadalupe, said that during the crackdown there, he saw a Hispanic driver get pulled over twice by deputies. "It made me angry," Rivera said. "If they let him go once, it gives you the point that he didn't do anything or he didn't have anything. So they let him go once. And then they pulled him over? Of course, the guy looked totally Hispanic." Civil rights advocates said Arpaio is spreading fear among Hispanics, illegal or not. "You have cooks, landscapers, nannies afraid to drive," said Hector Yturralde, president of the group Somos America. Still, many others in Arizona are frustrated over the flow of illegal immigrants across the border, and the sheriff has received hundreds of letters of support, along with a request from a group of state lawmakers to go into Mesa. (Arpaio said he is planning a sweep in Mesa but is reluctant to warn the police department there for fear the chief will tip off the community and stir up demonstrations.) Judith Bederka, a retired postal worker from Mesa, said Arpaio is the only local official doing something about illegal immigration. "He is doing what everybody wants him to do," Bederka said. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the sheriff has stayed within the bounds of an agreement that gave special immigration training and powers to 160 of his officers. The agency said it knows of no abuses by Arpaio's office. Weeks after the crackdown, 20 Spanish-speaking day laborers gathered at a dusty intersection to wait for people to offer them work. Ramon Arajon Contreras, a laborer from Mexico who has lived in Guadalupe for eight years, said the sweep frightened him so much that he hid out in his house until it was over. He said he is still afraid. "If I see immigration officers," he said, "it's like I see the devil." On the Net:
According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, more than 24 million Americans cannot speak English -- that’s more than double the 1990 total. Increasingly, English is being replaced by Spanish, Chinese, Korean and other languages. It is a matter of public record that the federal government has so far refused to declare English as the official language of the United States. In fact, the government continues enacting laws requiring the use of foreign languages in more and more official capacities -- and all at taxpayers’ expense! What’s your opinion?Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has been boxed around in this column for his failure to take action to prevent congregating day laborers from interfering with lawful commerce.
I believe that illegal immigration is a net detriment to the country and the state. The increase in economic output is more than offset by the drain on public treasuries and the depressing effect on the wages of native-born workers.
I would support amnesty at the national level as part of a reform that sharply restricted future low-skilled immigration.
In the meantime, however, I think Arizona should pursue a policy of attrition to reduce the incidence of illegal immigration and discourage its expansion.
That includes the new state employer sanctions for hiring illegal workers.
It would also involve all local law enforcement agencies getting cross-trained to enforce federal immigration laws and determining the immigration status of those they stop, cite and detain.
People will agree or disagree with these views on various immigration issues, often passionately. However, irrespective of positions on other immigration issues, there should be unanimity regarding the immigration sweeps being conducted by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
They should be universally condemned as a gross abuse of his discretion and an assault on the American creed of equality before and under the law.
Our society has made a serious mistake enacting a body of laws governing individual behavior that is too expansive to be universally enforced. In fact, there are some laws, for example those dealing with drug use, that society does not want to be universally enforced.
This gives law enforcement enormous discretion over which laws to enforce against whom. This discretion is the most dangerous power in American civil society today.
Part of the American creed is that people are to be treated alike by government irrespective of standing or status. It is also part of the American creed that we are to be protected from the unwarranted attention of the government.
Arpaio's sweeps aren't to suppress any unlawful activity other than illegal immigration. There has not been an epidemic of bad driving in poor Latino neighborhoods that threatens public safety.
Instead, Arpaio is invading poor Latino neighborhoods and vigorously enforcing laws, primarily traffic laws, that are ordinarily ignored or lightly enforced, for the actual purpose of catching illegal immigrants.
Now, it is certainly true that poor Latino neighborhoods are where illegal immigrants in Arizona are likely to be found.
However, a probability analysis is not a substitute for the probable cause required for the rule of law to prevail. Probable cause requires specific information about specific offenses committed by specific suspects.
In short, lawful residents who happened to be poor and Latino are being subjected to unwarranted attention from government because of their status.
The fact that a few illegal immigrants are also found in the process doesn't justify the gross abuse of discretion and the assault on the American creed involved. We are a rules-based society not given to the proposition that the end justifies the means.
So, what to do about it?
Arpaio's hubris is a difficult mountain to overcome. It will require extraordinary action.
Much attention has been given lately to what Gov. Janet Napolitano will say or do. Similar attention will likely turn to Attorney General Terry Goddard shortly.
This is a situation in which silence is complicity. However, the involvement of additional Democratic politicians perceived to be soft on illegal immigration will merely enlarge the controversy without adding moral clarity.
Instead, a special moral obligation falls on two classes of Republican politicians.
The first is the Republican members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. They need to condemn what is being done in the county's name, and they need to explore what they can do to cut off funding for these immigration sweeps.
The second is the Republican members of Arizona's congressional delegation, who have the best ability to get the Bush administration to act.
They need also to condemn the sweeps. They need to ask the Department of Justice to investigate whether the sweeps can be stopped on civil rights grounds.
And they need to ask the Department of Homeland Security to investigate whether Arpaio has abused his delegated authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
The latter pains me to write. Arpaio is the only local law enforcement official doing the right thing in getting his force cross-trained.
What he is reporting is the only solid information available regarding the important question about the relationship between illegal immigration and other crimes. Other departments are shirking their duty.
But this is bigger than the immigration issue. This is about the character of our community and our commitment to the American promise of equality before and under the law.
By Frosty Wooldridge President Bush brags, “They do the jobs that American citizens won’t do.” He neglects to say, “Oh, and by the way, for slave wages, social security fraud, identity theft, drunk driving, trashing our schools, hospitals and, oh, I shouldn’t leave out—crime!” Illegal alien migration into the United States costs American taxpayers $346 billion annually as reported by the National Research Council. While employers of illegal aliens rake-in billions of dollars, the US citizens subsidize what might be called organized “Slavery in 21st Century America.” Edwin Rubenstein exposes the gargantuan costs of illegal aliens in the National Research Council’s new book: “The New Americans: Economic, Demographics and Fiscal Effects of Immigration.” The Social Contract Winter 2007-08. Rubenstein said, “Illegal criminal aliens play an increasingly large role in the Department of Justice’s workload and budgetary needs. Criminal aliens are an increasing burden on U.S. prisons. In 1980, federal and state facilities housed 9,000 criminal aliens. By 2004 federal, state and local jails held: 46,000 in federal prisons Cost to you? In 2008, Bureau of Prisons calls for $5.4 billion. Because of budget shortfall, 100,000 illegal alien convicts still walk the streets. They prove that crime pays! Rubenstein said, “The Government Accounting Office recently analyzed the rap sheets of more than 55,000 illegal convicted felons held in prisons. It found: 1, The average criminal alien was arrested for 13 prior offenses. “Doing the jobs that Americans won’t do,” Bush said. “An overhaul of the FBI’s IT capability is essential for border security,” Rubenstein said. “In 2008, the FBI requested $90.5 million to improve its capabilities for providing identification services for federal immigration and law enforcement agencies.” Although rarely discussed, human trafficking expands into America like an unfettered virus. Trafficking supports modern-day slavery. “An estimated 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders each year, “Rubenstein said. “More than 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States annually. A huge 80 percent of them are forced into sexual servitude.” The DOJ spends $4.8 million and carries 34 positions in the Civil Rights Division’s human trafficking initiative. Your tax dollars at work for something that shouldn’t be going on in the first place if Bush and Congress enforced our immigration laws! Yet another aspect of this criminal world stems from visa overstay absconders. Federal judges expelled 460,000 illegal aliens via deportation, yet allowed them to go free without follow-up. They remain in country enjoying 30 American cities with ‘sanctuary policy’ that protects them from deportation. We have met the enemy and they are our mayors, governors, president and Congress! Not mentioned in the report, but mentioned by Newsweek last year, 15,000 MS-13 gang members now operate in 33 states. What do they sell? They provide $130 billion in drugs to our kids and citizens annually. How much do we spend to stop the drug trade? According to www.leap.cc co-founder and retired police officer Howard Wooldridge, American taxpayers spend $6 billion per month on the War on Drugs with little to zero results in the past 37 years. Drugs remain ample, pure and cheaper than in 1971 when the Drug War started under Nixon. What remains most troubling about this incredible expenditure of our tax dollars? George Bush knows exactly what continues down at the border, but refuses to spend any time or money that would once and for all—stop illegal immigration. George Bush refuses to arrest, prosecute and jail employers of illegal aliens from big companies like Hormel, Tyson, Swift, McDonalds and other fast food companies, roofing contractors and big construction job contractors The pope needs to teach the word of god not interfere with our immigration laws. We already let more people into this country legally then any other country, Why doesn't da pope speak out that. We are the most compassionate country in the world. Let an illegal protest in a foreign country and see what happens......... Immigration reform activist Rick Oltman says it's inappropriate for the Pope to intervene in the internal affairs of the United States by advocating amnesty for millions of illegal aliens who are in violation U.S. immigration laws.
During the recent papal visit, dozens of individuals who advocate illegal immigrants descended on the steps of the Vatican's Washington liaison office seeking the Pope's help to soften enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. The Catholic pontiff has made amnesty a key issue in his papacy -- and during his visit with President Bush, he reportedly added his voice to the open-border lobby by encouraging the president to provide blanket amnesty to all illegal aliens in the U.S.
California needs to pass our own immigration laws. Its time that we take back our state from people that don't belong here. Enough is Enough its time to get tough with illegals and its time that they be arrested and deported.Local control of immigrationWith a failing state budget and decreasing local tax revenue, the problem of illegal immigration needs to be addressed once and for all.
The impact on our schools, hospitals, services and quality of life can no longer be ignored. Our local politicians, including the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Maria City Council, seem to be all too willing to pass the buck to the federal government regarding enforcement of immigration law. The fact is that our local government has the responsibility and authority to greatly increase enforcement - if they had the will to do so. Many other counties/cities across the nation are doing so now, and our local government should be following their lead, rather than burying their heads in the sand. I think that most people know that illegal immigration has gotten way out of hand. The question is, when are our representatives going to stop passing the buck and offering excuses, and truly represent the citizens and the taxpayers of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties? C. Smithers Santa Ynez Keep up the good work Sheriff Joe.........You are one of the good guys.
The following is a press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office: “As our deputies fight crime in the cities, towns and desert areas within the County, we are hitting the illegal immigration problem from every angle,” says the Sheriff. “Next, I will direct our operations to Mesa.” Last night’s traffic stops were made between 6:30pm and 9:30pm. In a Chrysler van eleven (11) illegal aliens including one smuggler, Gerardo Mendez-Ibanez (12/14/85), were being transported. Interviews with the occupants determined that each agreed to pay between $1,700.00 and $3,000.00 to be illegally smuggled into the United States and into the states of California and Oregon. The second vehicle, a Ford Expedition, was found to have 12 illegal aliens including one smuggler, Manuel Santiago-Martinez (12/12/75). The occupants told investigators they agreed to pay between $400.00 and $1,000.00 to be illegally transported into the country and into the State of California. The third vehicle, a Dodge Caravan, contained seven (7) occupants determined to be in the country illegally. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is and continues to be the only Arizona law enforcement agency arresting illegal aliens under all aspects of the state human smuggling law, employer sanctions law, and federal immigration law. This is the fourth operation Arpaio’s deputies have carried out in as many weeks, and during 40 hours of operation made over 180 arrests, 103 of which suspects determined to be in the country illegally. The Sheriff’s anti human smuggling team has now arrested 920 co-conspirators and smugglers under the class four felony charge of human smuggling, making them ineligible for bond. Sheriff Arpaio maintains, “The solution to the illegal immigration problem is to arrest and jail violators of both state and federal immigration laws.” What LA needs is a Mayor that isn't bias. A mayor that will stand up and support and enforce this countries laws, Not encourage others to brake them. By Miriam Jordan The federal government's crackdown on factories employing illegal immigrants is triggering a backlash among local officials including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who says the federal raids could damage his region's economy. Mr. Villaraigosa is due to meet Thursday in Washington with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees immigration. The meeting follows letters to Mr. Chertoff by the mayor and the president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce protesting actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Los Angeles is home to the largest immigrant population in the U.S. More than one-third of its 9.9 million residents and ... I watch with amazement the buzz around the pope's visit to the USA. I don't get it myself ...after all isn't he just another human being like me and you. Why do people treat the pope like he is closer to God then say the guy you sit next to at church. Because to me they are equal. If the Pope was going to visit Bakersfield would you flock to go see him? The vatican and da pope needs to preach the word of god, not encourage people to break laws and become criminals. Shame on the pope. by Chris Hawley and Sergio Solache MEXICO CITY - The Vatican is helping to pay for construction of a shelter for Central Americans traveling to the United States, angering immigration-control advocates just as Pope Benedict XVI begins his first official U.S. visit. The Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which reports to the pope, donated at least $20,000 in January to help erect a $120,000 building for the Brothers on the Path refuge in the southern Mexico city of Ixtepec, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday. The donation comes at a delicate time as the United States is fortifying its southern border and the number of Central Americans crossing illegally is high. Critics accused the Vatican of fostering illegal immigration to enrich the church Many Roman Catholic churches in the United States and Mexico have programs to aid immigrants. But few receive direct support from the Vatican, said Alejandro Solalinde, a priest in Ixtepec and project director. Ixtepec lies about 210 miles northwest of the Guatemalan border in the narrowest part of Mexico, an area known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The isthmus is the main conduit for Central American migrants who ride freight trains to the U.S. border. Guatemalans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans and other Central Americans are becoming a larger percentage of the migrants crossing the U.S. border. During fiscal 2007, non-Mexicans, mostly Central Americans, accounted for 7.8 percent of the 876,704 apprehensions by the Border Patrol, up from 2.4 percent in fiscal 2000. They made up a record 13.9 percent of apprehensions in fiscal 2005. The Brothers on the Path charity owns two warehouses and adjacent land on the isthmus, where it provides food, bathrooms and a place to rest for as many as 1,000 people a night, Solalinde said. Solalinde said Brothers on the Path wants to build a better-equipped facility and has approached Catholic charities in Mexico, Colombia and Germany for donations. In September, the Diocese of Tehuantepec asked officials at the Vatican itself for help. "They studied it in December, and that very December decided it was an important project and gave us their support," Solalinde said. In a letter dated Jan. 5, Cardinal Giovanni Battista, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, endorsed the project and enclosed a check. "I ask for the maternal protection of our Lady of Guadalupe for the successful completion of this project," Battista wrote. There was some confusion over the exact amount of the donation. Battista's letter pledged $20,000, but Solalinde said the actual check was written out for $30,000. Battista's office confirmed the donation Tuesday but could not immediately say how much was sent. The donation comes as the pope is trying to reach out to Americans with a five-day visit to the United States. He arrived in Washington on Tuesday and was scheduled to visit the White House this morning. Pope Benedict has said he intends to discuss immigration issues with President Bush and empathizes with families split apart by migration. "I have seen the breadth of this problem, above all the grave problem of the separation of families," the pope told reporters during his flight to the United States on Tuesday, according to the New York Times. "This really is dangerous for the fabric - social, moral, human - of these countries." But immigration-control advocates said the Ixtepec refuge encourages migration, and they called it an affront to Americans worried about illegal border crossers. "It's not only provocative, it's sinful," said Al Garza, executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, based in Scottsdale. "What they're really doing is saying, 'Look, even though the United States has laws, we're going to help you break the laws to realize your dream.' " By funding the refuge, the Vatican is "undertaking policies that had the effect of facilitating illegal immigration to this country," said Jack Martin, special-projects director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "There is definitely a particular interest on the part of the Catholic Church that derives from the fact that the majority of illegal immigration into the country is from Catholic countries," Martin said. "It helps fill the pews, it helps fill the coffers, it helps fill the recruits to the priesthood." It was unclear whether the pope was directly involved in the Brothers on the Path donation. Battista's office in the Vatican did not provide details about the donation or say whether the Vatican had funded other migrant shelters. Other Roman Catholic officials defended the donation as a humanitarian gesture. "Any good deed of the Holy Father is deserving of praise," Monsignor Luis Flores, director of Mexico's branch of Caritas Internacionalis, an umbrella group for Catholic charities, said in a prepared statement. "The church's mission is to provide assistance to people in need. We're not a law-enforcement agency," said Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "There's no broader intention to promote illegal immigration. We're just responding to the needs of someone who might be in distress.
I think the Mayor should be recalled for sticking up for the criminals that don't belong in this great country. PHOENIX (AP) -- The mayor of Phoenix wants the FBI to look into whether the local county sheriff has violated civil rights laws with his recent crackdowns on illegal immigrants. Stupid stupid stupid.. illegal white European aren't a big enough problem to target. Common sense tell you to attack the big problems and that is the illegal Latinos. Many are cheering for Joe Arpaio to continue his very public battle against illegal immigration. Think about what would happen if the tables are turned and Joe starts looking at the problem of illegal immigration of European nationals. You know? The White illegals. Do you think that would sit well? This is ridiculous ......The reason that Latinos are targeted is simple..They make up over 80 percent of all illegal in this country while illegal immigrants of European nationals + illegals from Canada make up only around 6 percent.Stupid analogy...
The below order is just asinine......All agency's of law enforcement need to be involved in ID, arresting and deporting ALL illegal aliens. Special Order 40 Prohibits Police From Questioning Immigration Status LOS ANGELES -- A proposal to go after gang members who are in the country illegally gained support Thursday from Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, who said he will seek to amend an LAPD policy that currently bars police officers from asking arrestees about their legal status.
The councilman, who has spent almost 40 years with the Los Angeles Police Department -- in recent years as a reserve officer -- will introduce a motion Friday asking that Special Order 40 be amended to allow police officers to notify federal immigration officials of gang members who are in the United States illegally.
Special Order 40 prohibits Los Angeles police officers from questioning or arresting suspects based solely on their immigration status. The order is intended to encourage illegal immigrants to report crimes and assist police. "The fact is that Special Order 40 allows Los Angeles police officers to inquire about immigration status if a crime has been committed, and reinforces the effort to deport an illegal immigrant if a crime has been committed," Zine said.
"We can now take it one step further and say that if an individual is a known gang member and an illegal immigrant, that the LAPD has the responsibility and duty to turn the individual over to federal immigration officials."
On Tuesday, the parents of Jamiel Shaw Jr., a Los Angeles High School football star who was shot and killed by a 19-year-old reputed gang member, urged city leaders to go after criminals who are also undocumented immigrants.
Authorities believe Shaw's alleged killer, Pedro Espinoza, may have been in the country illegally. The 18th Street gang member has pleaded not guilty to murder. http://www.knbc.com/news/15...
I read the article and this is yesterday's new but what caught my eye was this person Juan Martinez taking this tragic opportunity to accuse the anti illegal immigration groups that original came out to support the lying girl a bunch of Racist. Juan Martinez wrote the following- When I saw this and the author of this article is Hispanic I had to laugh. An eighth grade student, at a middle school near Dallas, Texas, what is it about Dallas and the Fort Worth area, was attacked and assaulted over an anti immigration poster, she brought to school as part of a class project. Melanie Bowers, later told her parents and school officials that a pack of angry students had attacked her, stolen and destroyed her poster that read, "If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration." She had made the poster after being instructed by her history teacher to make "protest signs" dealing with issues from history and the present. Bowers' sign read: "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration." Bowers later expanded her claims by making statements to a local reporter that in addition to her being punched and kicked; several members of the mob also attempted to drag her into a boy's bathroom with the intent of raping her. State and national news agencies quickly picked up the incident and ran with it. Anti-immigration advocates and those pesky less than tolerant groups that use illegal immigration as a means to mask their racist agenda quickly gave Bowers and her parents their undying support. In the immediate investigation by school administrators and aided by Melanie, 21 students involved in the alleged attacked were identified. Three Hispanic students were suspended and school officials are looking into disciplinary action against several others. Melanie's parents also contacted the FBI and demanded that an investigation into the attack be opened as a hate crime. The middle school where this alleged attack on "Freedom of Speech " occurred is located in Athens, Texas, where the population consists of 70 to 75 percent, white Anglo to a little over 30 percent Hispanic. This was the original article I was going to write, when I first heard about the attack of this young girl over the issue of immigration and illegal immigrants. But that was before I learned, that this alleged attack was completely made up. There was no physical attack, attempted rape or assault of any kind. It seems that through further investigation and by reviewing surveillance cameras at Athens Middle School, showing Melanie Bowers, punching and scratching her own face and arms in a hallway of the school, clearly revealed that there was no attack or assault and that any injuries sustained by Bowers, she received at the hands of herself. Now even after the ugly truth has been revealed, school administrators have elected to continue with the punishment of the three Hispanic students suspended for this hoax and lie, initiated by Bowers. In the words of an Athens School District official, Superintendent Fred Hays, "Witnesses reported the three making contact with their white classmate." My question is why did this administrator find it necessary to use the term "white classmate" as opposed to just "classmate"? Also, where is all the media interest and blitz that immediately followed the initial reports of a gang of Hispanics attacking this poor white, little Anglo girl, now that it has been proven to be just a hoax, perpetuated by a twisted and attention starved delinquent? Also, is the current anti-immigration, illegal immigrant, and anti Hispanic hysteria that is sweeping the Dallas, Forth Worth area and the rest of the Nation to blame for this? Why was it this little girl, this child, so easily able to blind everyone to the truth? Perhaps, if we can answer these questions, we may better understand Melanie Bowers and ourselves. Alright I don't know if you have seen this picture it's kinda been around for a while but I'm going to steal politicsanyone idea and ask you to write the caption........ write your own caption..... Does lisa have big enough Balls to fill ed's shoes? Deputy District Attorney Lisa S. Green announced Thursday she is running for district attorney in 2010. Photos:
Lisa Green leaves the courtroom and speaks to the media after Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael Bush sentenced convicted murderer Vincent Brothers to death. 
District Attorney Ed Jagels She said in October she would run for the office if District Attorney Ed Jagels decides to retire. She said Thursday that she believes Jagels, who has held the job for 26 years, will retire, though he has not formally said so. Jagels could not be reached for comment Thursday. Also in the race is former deputy district attorney Bob Barton who announced in October he would be running whether Jagels retires or not. Barton is now senior assistant inspector general in the central region office of the Bureau of Independent Review, an agency that helps oversee state prisons. Barton was a prosecutor from 1988 to 2005 when he prosecuted misdemeanors, general felonies and gang crimes. Green has been a prosecutor for 25 years, handling many high-profile cases including the 2007 conviction of Vincent Brothers for the murders of five family members. Brothers was sentenced to death in the July 2003 shooting and stabbing deaths of his mother-in-law, wife and three small children. Green’s announcement came in a speech to the Rotary Club of Bakersfield where she gave some insights to her role in the Brothers' trial. She said running for district attorney is a “natural progression of my career” and hopefully she can show a good example of aggressive prosecution to the staff. McCains stance on illegal immigration is weak. He pretty much supports Amnesty. Believe me if this short armed fool becomes President Illegals will get their licenses to drive before his first term is up. Sen. John McCain’s opposition to driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants could help him win California, according to Roger Simon of Politico. Simon says that giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is unpopular in California. “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully exploited opposition to such driver’s licenses in both of his elections, and McCain would have a shot at winning California by exploiting it also,” Simon says. This would only work however, if Sen. Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. Obama supports giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Sen. Hillary Clinton opposes it. To read more, click here. A girl who claimed she was injured by a group of Hispanic students because of a class project lied about the attack, a school official said.
Melanie Bowers, 13, had claimed that a group of middle school students physically assaulted and threatened to rape her because of the anti-illegal immigration poster she created for a class project, which instructed students to craft a protest sign. However, Bowers made up the story, according to Athens Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes. He said three boys did rip the poster out of her hand, but that school surveillance video captured Bowers injuring herself -- scratching her arms and face. The district will pursue charges against Bowers for filing a false police report and would also punish the boys, Hayes said. Bowers parents have signed a letter of apology for Bowers' false accusations, he said. The kids involved in this attack should be arrested and charged with a hate crime. AP news DALLAS — A teenager who took a sign reading "If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration" to school said she was hurt after being swarmed by angry classmates, and administrators said Tuesday they have suspended three students involved in the scuffle. "It's disappointing that it happened," Athens school district superintendent Fred Hayes said. "It does not surprise me with the political nature of this issue." Melanie Bowers, 13, brought the sign to Athens Middle School on Friday as part of a class project on political activism. Each child was assigned to pick an issue and prepare a poster supporting a position. Hayes said she was showing the sign in the hallway when a group of students tried wresting it away. J.R. Bowers, the girl's father, said Melanie suffered scratch marks along her neck, face and arms. He said she also had a swollen jaw. Bowers said as many as 20 students surrounded his daughter in the hallway, and Hayes said others may have hurled verbal insults. The poster was ultimately destroyed by other students. "She was like a zebra on her arm," Bowers said of the bruises. "She believes they were intentionally trying to hurt her." The three students given in-school suspension are Hispanic, Hayes said. Bowers is white. Although the school has video surveillance, Hayes said the incident occurred in a blind spot out of camera range but no punches were thrown. The Athens Daily Review and Tyler television station KLTV reported the story Monday. Hayes said that since local media first reported the story in Athens, a city of 12,000 about 70 miles south of Dallas, the district has received e-mails from far away. He said some messages are prefaced with sympathy for Bowers, but go on to say that the other students "are American citizens just like I am, and just like you are." "Some of these people are irrational in some of the e-mails that they've been sending me about these young people," Hayes said. Nearly 50 percent of students in the Athens school district are white and about 34 percent are Hispanic, according to the Texas Education Agency. Hayes said the class project was not appropriate for middle school students. He said the immigration issue has become so politicized and polarizing that "it's much more than illegal now. It just becomes sinister and evil." Bowers agreed that the project shouldn't have been given to an eighth-grade class. "The night before she had this due, she started telling me about this assignment," Bowers said. "I looked at her and said, 'This is a bad idea. This is going to go south real quick.'" Bowers said he is holding his daughter out of school for a week until attention surrounding the scuffle calms down. Hayes said school officials are continuing to investigate to see if others were involved. Everyone love's sheriff Joe Arpaioby Sandra Haros and J.W. Cox/KTARSheriff Joe Arpaio's crackdown on illegal immigration may have only just begun in the East Valley, with last week's patrols in the town of Guadalupe. State lawmakers from the East Valley, led by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, have sent the sheriff a letter inviting him to their district, and Arpaio said Mesa might be next on his list. Arpaio said he is not bothered by accusations of racial profiling that have come from protesters of his special patrols at two Phoenix locations where day laborers gather and in Guadalupe. ``We got other enforcement that we are doing, not just illegal immigration," he said. ``That's just a small part of our operation... We stop everybody. I'm an equal opportunity guy. I lock up everybody." Arpaio said he was not surprised to learn that he has the backing of Matthew Allen, the newly-named head of of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Arizona. Allen said Arpaio's sweeps do not violate his agreement with the feds. ``We know," the sheriff said. ``We've been doing this for a year, this is our year anniversary. We know how to operate, regardless of all our critics." One of those critics has been Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris, whom Arpaio has accused of dragging his feet on signing a new police policy that would allow Phoenix officers to call ICE when they encounter a criminal suspect who appears to be an illegal immigrant. Asked about Arpaio's claims, Harris said, ``My comment is there's just no comment." Harris said the new procedures ``have been finalized, and they will be due out within the next few weeks." Arpaio responded, ``That's great. Then he'll be able to assist me more in enforcing the illegal immigration laws in the City of Phoenix." San Antonio is a hub of people crossing our borders illegally to come and make a new life, and also a hub for those who are caught and will eventually get sent back. Our News 4 cameras were invited to Pearsall for an early morning look inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, facility there. We're able to show you just what's going on in the middle of the night while you're sleeping. Guiltan Abran says he made the long treacherous trek from Honduras to the US in search of work. He says during the 15 days it took to get from Honduras to the US border, he watched others get hurt, even die while jumping railroad cars. It was a bitter-sweet moment when he finally reached the Rio Grande River leading to Texas because he was immediately captured after crossing. He's spent the last month at Pearsall's Detention facility. You'll see there's little sympathy from ICE officials. Marc J. Moore is the ICE Field Officer Director. He told us about Guiltan: "Well, he's violated the immigration laws of the United States. He entered illegally." They ship about three thousand illegal immigrants out of the country every month. Guiltan is one of more than 100 men we meet on this particular morning who are about to be flown back to Honduras. It's all part of an incredibly complicated process; From getting everyone travel papers to medical check-ups, then loading them onto buses and safely to the airport, and even something as minute as packing a lunch for their trip home. At anytime, officers have to be able to deal with all sorts of problems that could arise. Like on the morning of our visit, a chicken pox outbreak pops up. Moore told us about the outbreak, "It's just part and parcel of individuals that come from other countries, typically Central and South American countries." This meant about a dozen men had to be pulled from the flight and kept separated from the group. Moore explained, "Everything we do is wrapped around the interest of national security." So the detainees are checked, shackled, loaded onto buses and driven to the San Antonio International Airport, then screened one more time. "Certainly there's a large measure of non-criminals," said Moore, "Folks who are coming here to work or do other things, but there's also a significant amount have criminal backgrounds; ranging from minor criminal offenses to some that are rather aggravated and severe." This all comes at a high price to you, the taxpayer, of about $72,000 per plane full. That adds up to more than $300,000 per week. "I think ICE has a clear commitment to not only safe detention but also humane detention, and I think this is part of that," explained Moore. It seems to be a never-ending job because people like Guiltan are desperate to get here, no matter the cost. He told us maybe the third time is the charm, and he will return if God wants it. ICE officials tell us detainees usually spend between 18 and 20 days at the facility, giving them time to coordinate a full flight to each destination and in effect, saving you money .http://www.woai.com/news/lo...
Sheriff Arpaio for President of the United States. MESA, Ariz. (AP) - Dozens of Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and posse members descended on the small town of Guadalupe in an effort to curb what the sheriff said are street crimes involving illegal immigrants. Within the first three hours of the 2-day operation in Guadalupe, deputies arrested 15 people, 4 of whom are illegal immigrants. The sheriff's office says deputies were ordered to stop drivers for minor traffic violations and ask for identification. In some cases, people were stopped for littering. The heavy sheriff's office presence in the largely Hispanic town of about 5,500 people included roughly 30 patrol cars, 60 civilian volunteers known as posse members and a helicopter. Throughout the town, a number of handwritten signs had been posted along main roads asking the sheriff's office to leave. One read, "This is our home. Leave us alone."
Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.eastvalleytribun...
San Francisco should loose all State and Federal funding and their elected officials should be arrested for treason...........
The city wants undocumented workers to know they won't face discrimination when seeking public aid.
SAN FRANCISCO -- This city has long considered itself a compassionate place, promoting gay marriages and expanded homeless welfare programs. |
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