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The ADL's definition of "hate" and "anti-immigrant" can't be trusted. (ALIPAC, others)

The Anti-Defamation League - which apparently at one time did some good, but which is now a far-left Gramscian enforcer and defender of illegal activity - has released a new report entitled "Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves into the Mainstream" [1]:

A closer look at the public record reveals that many ostensibly mainstream anti-illegal immigration organizations – including those who testified before Congress or frequently appeared on news programs – promote virulent anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Some groups have fostered links with extremist groups.

They list several groups, but as will be shown, their definition of "hate" just can't be trusted. For example, consider this claim:

[Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee/ALIPAC president William Gheen] [2] also inflames anti-immigrant sentiment by falsely asserting that foreigners bring disease into the nation. During a June 2007 radio interview, he said, "We've got bedbugs back in all, almost all of our 58 [sic] states. We've got TB on the rise, we've got hepatitis, we've got HIV, we've got diseases like Chagas disease, which is a horrifying disease, but also, much like TB, is very, very difficult to treat at all, and it's coming in because of the, the lack of enforcement of our immigration laws and, and the end result is Americans are suffering, Americans are dying."

The ADL's claim that foreigners don't bring diseases into the U.S. is obviously false. And, let's turn to this May 23, 1989 article:

The rising wave of immigration from Central and South America increases the likelihood that Chagas' disease may become more common in the United States, experts said, unless blood banks routinely reject donors born in Central or South America or test their blood.

The source? Why none other than the scare mongerers at the New York Times (link). Finding other sources discussing those various diseases and immigration is left as an exercise. And, of course, immigrants at Ellis Island were checked for diseases, and there are laws on the books regulating immigrants and visitors who have various types of diseases.

Now, it's about to get ironic. Returning to the ADL:

At an August 2007 rally in North Carolina, Gheen stated, "Illegal aliens in this country have set up ethnic cleansing zones, ethnic cleansing zones where if you walk past the wrong sign post, the invisible line, you’re under the threat of death."

Then, let's look at this January 20, 2007 article:

Prudhomme was murdered because he identified himself as black (he was in fact mixed-race) in a neighborhood occupied by one of the many Latino street gangs in Los Angeles County. Incredibly, even though these gangs are fundamentally criminal enterprises interested mainly in money, gang experts inside and outside the government say that they are now engaged in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" -- racial terror that is directed solely at African Americans.

The source? Brentin Mock, from the Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center [3] [4].

(The SPLC is, of course, another group that likes to throw the "hate" charge around; perhaps the ADL could call the SPLC a hate group, and the SPLC could respond by calling the ADL a hate group, and then the could both lock arms in battle and fall into the abyss.)

Even the Los Angeles Times has noted something similar (link):

Authorities said the gang specifically tried to eliminate rival African American gangs in South L.A. and the Florence-Firestone area in an effort to "cleanse" the neighborhood. In doing so, they mistakenly harassed and attacked innocent African American residents, according to the indictment.

As has the Guardian (link):

It is a city of violence as a new race war escalates between new Hispanic gangs and older black groups, each trying to ethnically cleanse the other.

If you see any reporters quoting the ADL on this issue, please send them this link.

11/06/07 UPDATE: Janet Murguia helps us discover yet another misleading statement from the ADL; see that link.

And, from the Los Angeles Times' "Latin American scourge turning up in U.S. immigrants/In L.A., nation's first clinic opens to treat deadly insect-borne Chagas disease" (link):

A Los Angeles County hospital has opened the first clinic in the country devoted to studying and treating Chagas disease, a deadly parasitic illness that has long been the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America and is now being seen in immigrant communities in the United States... ...By the end of October, 253 people in 30 states had tested positive for the antibody, according to data compiled by the American Association of Blood Banks. The prevalence nationwide is estimated to be about 1 in 30,000 donors, and about 1 in 7,000 in Los Angeles, said Dr. Susan Stramer, executive scientific officer for the American Red Cross... ...Most donors who tested positive since screening began this year emigrated from high-risk areas, sometimes years ago, or were the children of such immigrants, said the Red Cross' Stramer in an e-mail. But in nine cases still under investigation, Stramer said, infection may have been transmitted by insects in the United States...

[1] adl.org/PresRele/CvlRt_32/5154_32.htm
[2] I'm not a member because I'm not a joiner. I also don't think their occasional highlighting of illegal aliens and crime is the right way to fight the issue. However, I don't think they deserve the treatment the ADL gives them.
[3] alternet.org/story/46855/
[4] splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=722 (same article as [2])

Posted to Immigration2007b at 07:40 PM

U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty heads to Senate vote: call Senators and tell them no

The United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty has been voted 17-4 out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meaning it will now be voted on by the Senate; when exactly isn't known.

See the brief introduction from Sen. James Inhofe here, and see the first link for background information. And, please call your Senators and tell them you oppose the treaty.

Posted to Politics at 04:33 PM

Hillary Clinton now supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times offers this:

Hillary Rodham Clinton offered support today for Gov. Eliot Spitzer's effort to award New York driver's licenses to illegal immigrants...

"Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform,'" her campaign said.

Mrs. Clinton's aides said her statement was intended to signal that she broadly supported Mr. Spitzer's goal of awarding driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants...

...Mrs. Clinton's advisers said that she had not studied either plan, and was not specifically endorsing either of them...

Apparently, those advisors think that embracing a position that three-quarters or so of Americans oppose is better than being seen as someone who evades questions.

Of course, Nagourney and the other MSM hacks won't now point out that reform would not only not fix the issue, it would make it worse.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 03:56 PM

Hillary's double-dodge on illegal aliens driver's licenses; +, go for it, Dems!

One perhaps overlooked part of Hillary Clinton's wishy-washy non-answer to the question concerning driver's licenses for illegal aliens concerns this:

[New York governor Eliot Spitzer is] making an honest effort to [bring illegal aliens "out of the shadows"]. We should have passed immigration reform.

The "reform" she mentions wouldn't solve the problem. "Reform" will send a loud message to millions and millions around the world that our immigration laws mean nothing, and they'll respond by trying to come here illegally.

So, even if "reform" were to pass, New York would still have plenty of new illegal aliens (encouraged to come here by "reform") as well as those who were there before reform but who weren't covered by it for one reason or another or who didn't want to take advantage of it. Obviously, if we had real debates she would have been called on her implication that "reform" would completely resolved the issue rather than making it far worse.

On a related note, Hillary has found a defender in none other than Jonathan Singer of MyDD.com [1]. Since that site has deleted a few comments I left there I'm not going to bother helping them understand how they're wrong, but I sincerely wish them the best of luck:

No doubt this isn't the most popular move at this juncture. But with a bit of explanation and political capital (and real capital) invested in making the argument, I think there are a lot of people -- particularly the large proportion of Americans in favor of a path to legalization or citizenship for illegal immigrants -- who could be swayed. And even for those whose positions are particularly hardened at this point so that they would not be swayed, it's not clear to me that the issue is salient enough to make them change their mind about a presidential election when other issues like Iraq, Iran, the economy and healthcare continue to loom large.

No. Please. Don't do it. Supporting driver's licenses for illegal aliens - and doing so in a loud way involving lots of political capital - is the thing that I most fear. It would drive millions of Americans to vote Democrat. No. Please. Don't do it.

I also note that past Singer posts at MyDD have been sponsored by AFSCME [2] and SEIU [3]. No one appears to have picked up the tab for his brilliant advice above.

[1] mydd.com/story/2007/10/31/141810/86
[2] mydd.com/story/2007/2/21/14555/2059
[3] mydd.com/story/2007/3/24/115150/071

Posted to Immigration_dls at 02:38 PM

Mike Huckabee defends Mexico consulate deal (businesses agreed to pay Mexico's bills; law violated?)

Mike Huckabee is the new establishment favorite GOP presidential contender, and one reason is probably because he'd keep the cheap labor flowing. In fact, he encouraged Mexico to build a consulate in his state with the obvious intent of providing a workforce for Arkansas' low-wage employers. Jerome Corsi asked him to defend his actions:

A lingering controversy over the role former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee played in establishing a Mexican consulate office in Little Rock financed by taxpayers and local businesses continues to follow the Republican presidential candidate's campaign, even as he enjoys a surge in polls.

Critics in Arkansas contend Huckabee worked with some of the state's most prominent and politically powerful businesses to draw illegal immigrants to the state to accept low-paying jobs.

Huckabee strongly denied the charges in a telephone interview with WND yesterday...

Others mentioned include his then-economic development adviser Robert Trevino, who was also an official with the League of United Latin American Citizens. Trevino later was appointed commissioner of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services; they leased space to Mexico in a state office building at $1 per year.

And:

A July 21, 2006, memo from Trevino's office also documents that a consortium of Arkansas corporations had agreed to "support the consular presence" during the first three years, including what appears to be the costs of building for Mexico a permanent consular facility in Little Rock.

Much more at the link. And, I urge everyone to go to the Huckster's campaign appearances and ask him this question:



UPDATE: "Legality of Huckabee's Mexican consulate deal questioned" has more, including the possibility that the scheme might have violated the law:

Ark. Code Ann. Section 22-2-114(C)(i) provides: "After July 1, 1975, no state agency shall enter into or renew or otherwise negotiate a lease between itself as lessor or lessee and a nongovernmental or other government lessor or lessee."

And:

"Even more offensive, there was nothing in the lease or other agreements that would have prevented the Mexican consulate from providing legal assistance to illegal aliens," [Arkansas attorney Chip Sexton] told WND. "We have information that the Mexican consulate operating out of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Facility was providing legal assistance even to Mexican illegal aliens who were accused of committing violent crimes in Arkansas."

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:03 PM

Why the debates are like Soviet puppet shows, Part #3832 (John Edwards, Democrats, Drexel)

An example of just how much of a public disservice the presidential "debates" have been is offered in John Edwards' answers to a couple questions from NBC News' Brian Williams at last night's Democratic debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia (link, direct link).

Williams asked this:

Senator Edwards, should there be a bottomless well of federal dollars for people who knowingly live in areas of this country that are disaster-prone to rebuild their homes if lost in a disaster?

Edwards first responds by saying the "national community" should be there for victims; in other words, he said nothing. Then, he launched into the speech part of his presentation, discussing his trips to New Orleans, federal contracts, etc. He didn't answer the question, so Williams' follow-up was this:

But does smarter mean any limits? Let's just take 20 seconds more here -- from Malibu to the Outer Banks down to Florida -- should there be unlimited federal authority...

Edwards once again doesn't answer the question, only saying that there should be limits. Obviously, everyone knows there are always going to be limits, and what we need is a grown-up discussion of where those limits are and tangible examples of what policies the candidates would push in disaster-prone areas. And, if they've already supported such policies, then the flaws in their existing policies need to be pointed out.

Are we to believe that Brian Williams is so naive that he thought Edwards was going to outright answer such a weak, non-specific question as he asked? Is he completely incompetent? Or was he basically just a set-up man, giving the candidates the intros to their speeches?

A real debate would have involved things such as hypothetical situations and would have involved Edwards' previous statements and actions in this regard. Surely, NBC has dozens of researchers available and has access to people at think tanks who spend all day thinking about these issues. Surely, they could have combined the two to come up with real questions about this issue. The only honest reason I can think of them to avoid that level of debate is time constraints, but that won't wash: time could have been made to delve into one or two topics if they actually wanted to.

Posted to Politics at 10:11 AM

Spitzer supporter: "You made me make a fool out of myself" (details on his switch)

This article (link) provides the insider details on how and why Eliot Spitzer "caved" and decided to only give a limited driver's license to illegal aliens. A taste:

To try to smooth some of the anger, Mr. Spitzer invited [State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.] and a half-dozen other lawmakers, most of them Hispanic and defenders of the original plan, to an Upper East Side diner on Sunday morning to explain his decision.

Feelings were frayed, and the meeting grew emotional. At one point, Mr. Spitzer asked Mr. Diaz to lower his voice because they were in a public place.

"You made me make a fool out of myself," Mr. Diaz told the governor...

Posted to Immigration_dls at 09:21 PM

New York Times to Eliot Spitzer: die on the driver's licenses for illegal aliens hill

Another day, another New York Times immigration editorial. This time, they're wrong about DLs for IAs in "Governor Spitzer Retreats" (link). They wanted him to be a good soldier in the NYT's war for illegal immigration and stick to the original plan no matter how much it hurt him:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has confronted the most intense public criticism of his political career - and caved. Not so long ago, Mr. Spitzer was doing the right and brave thing, planning to offer driver's licenses to qualified but undocumented immigrants. The plan was inherently fair and would have made the state and its roads safer. Unfortunately, it also made Mr. Spitzer the target of some very nasty rhetoric from his political opponents, while his allies offered mostly weak-kneed support...

[...blather and stuffing deleted...]

Governor Spitzer's pivot from his difficult stand on driver's licenses is a disappointment. The way he swiftly made, and then unmade, this decision is unsettling. It revives questions about whether this rookie governor seeks enough wise counsel and then listens to it. It leaves us wondering whether Mr. Spitzer has the willpower to remain focused on his better plans and better instincts in the future.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 09:18 PM

Hillary Clinton: soft on driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Obama supports it)

I'll replace the following with a transcript when it's available, but from tonight's Democratic debate:

[Hillary Clinton says:] [Eliot Spitzer] is trying to make up for the failure of the Bush Administration to address illegal immigration. He's filling a vaccuum... We need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform."

Only Dodd thinks that illegal immigrants should not have driver's licenses.

Hillary refuses to say she supports it, but says she understands why Spitzer is doing it.

Dodd tries to go after her, and seems to succeed. "But what is the identification if someone runs into you today?" She says, "It makes a lot of sense. What is a governor supposed to do? We have failed, and George W. Bush has failed to address this issue."

UPDATE: The exchange starts on page 20. Chris Dodd is actually stronger against this then I would have given him credit for:

Clinton: Well, I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do...

(Unknown): Wait a minute...

Clinton: And we have failed. We have failed.

Dodd: No, no, no. You said -- you said yes...

Clinton: No.

Dodd: ... you thought it made sense to do it.

Clinton: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving...

Dodd: That's a legitimate issue. But driver's license goes too far, in my view.

Clinton: Well, you may say that, but what is the identification?

If somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker...

Dodd: There's ways of dealing with that.

Clinton: Well...

Dodd: This is a privilege, not a right.

Clinton: Well, what Governor Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses, one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues, another which is another ordinary driver's license, and then a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road, so...

Dodd: That's a bureaucratic nightmare.

Clinton: ... it's not the full privilege.

Russert: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure of what I heard. Do you, the New York senator, Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license?

You told the New Hampshire paper that it made a lot of sense. Do you support his plan?

Clinton: You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays "gotcha." It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problems. We have failed. And George Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York, we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows.

He's making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 08:58 PM

DCCC wants citizen informers to videotape "Macaca moments" (smears, not policy)

Showing just how sleazy and incompetent the Democratic Party is, their Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants people to go to campaign events and - rather than ask tough questions about policy - help them craft smears [1]:

With 2008 fast approaching, the DCCC is urgently mobilizing our Rapid Responders to be our eyes and ears on the campaign trail. Our goal is to make sure that every time -- anywhere in America -- when a Republican crosses the line with one of their attacks, someone is there to capture it... The next time a Republican has a 'Macaca Moment,' will you be there to capture it? The power to hold Republicans accountable for their lies, distortions, and attacks belongs to you.

Then, they want the smears to be uploaded to Youtube and a link sent to them.

If the Dems wanted to do a public service, they'd suggest what I've been urging for almost a year:

1. Go to campaign appearances and ask tough questions about policy, specifically immigration (Examples here, here, and here).
2. Upload and promote the response.

The fact that they only want smears indicates how childish and unworthy of setting policy they are.

I left the following comment on their video [2] (featuring the graphic "Will you catch the next one"); it has to be approved and I might have oversold it too much so I don't know if it will be or not:

I should also add that there's no age requirement, so you children are encouraged to join in! Also, your parents might talk in their sleep and they might say something really juicy, so be sure to keep recording at all times!

If you recall, that's how they caught Rep. Tom Parsons [3].

11/08/07 UPDATE: The video was added October 29, and it's been featured by Youtube in their politics section for several days. They've even featured it in their non-U.S. politics sections. After almost 10,000 views, it only has two comments: "hold their feet to the fire!!" and "GOOD FOR YOU FOR GETTING THEM!!!!" I assume a) every other comment left was negative, and b) they don't know what "sock puppet" means.

[1] dccc.org/rapid_response_network/caughtontape (cached locally)
[2] youtube.com/watch?v=hSWTNefIhUw
[3] www.itiscannizzaro.net/Ianni/booksweb/sito1984/papers/characters.htm

Posted to Politics at 09:40 AM

Tell Senate: No to U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty

The Democrats and some Republicans want to ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty, which would give a UN body control over 70% of the Earth's surface and would allow them to create a de facto global taxation system.

On Thursday, November 1 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on it; please contact their members (senate.gov/~foreign/about.html) and/or your Senators and let them know you oppose the treaty.

There doesn't appear to be a concise overview available, but see this, which describes how Sen. David Vitter asked several tough questions of Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte during a previous hearing; Negroponte appears to have at least misled if not outright lied. More on their dust-up here.

This page links to much more information, such as this.

UPDATE: Sen. James Inhofe offers a brief introduction here.

Posted to Politics at 08:19 PM

Civil rights solved, lawmakers push for diversity in Capitol statuary collection

From this:

Just nine statues in the Capitol's 100-piece Statuary Hall collection depict minorities, a figure that some lawmakers claim is woefully inadequate.

Concerned about the lack of diversity, the legislators are spearheading efforts to make changes to the Capitol's artwork...

Those quoted as supporting a de facto quota system for statues include Reps. Charlie Rangel, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jesse Jackson Jr., Joe Baca, and Mike Honda. I'll admit that they have a slight point, even if they won't admit that this is a completely trivial issue and they're engaged in a power play. But, it least it will mean that Baca will have less time to work on opening the borders.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at 07:44 PM

10Questions.com is a horrible idea, here's proof

10Questions.com is a new site that aggregates Youtube and similar political videos and allows visitors to vote on their favorite. The top 10 will then be asked of the presidential candidates, with the candidates then asked to upload replies.

The site is co-sponsored by several blogs as well as the New York Times and MSNBC. Almost none of those sites have an interest in real questions being asked, and now we've got proof.

My issue with the site is that those who can drive traffic to the site will be able to vote up weak questions, and that there's no accountability. Under my competing plan, only known quantities (pundits, bloggers, etc.) could vote on questions, and all their votes would be public. And, they'd be voting on whether a question is tough or not. That way, those known quantities would be forced to choose between choosing the toughest questions and losing credibility (if they voted down tough questions). Other plans would have the questions only selected by a "central committee" of like-minded individuals; mine differs in that it would be open to anyone who's been publicly stating opinions for some period such as six months or so.

Earlier today, the scenario I outlined previously occured [1]:

Participation on 10Questions.com has surged, with the total number of voters topping 15,000 (that's up about 9,000 from Friday), the total number of votes hitting 46,000 (up 19,000) and the total unique visits for the weekend at 17,000, more than ten times Friday's traffic... What happened? Several different advocacy campaigns, each on behalf of a particular question, joined in the conversation. A new video asking about net neutrality was posted, and from what we understand, MoveOn.org sent out an email to about 60,000 of its member activists urging them to vote for it. Obviously, a lot of people did, as that video rose to the top (with more than 5,000 net positive votes as of now). MySpace/MTV will be playing it for Senator Obama to answer during today's webcast (1:30pm EST), which will also be aired on MTV tonight at 7pm.

The question that was asked is here; it just asks whether the candidate would make reinstating net neutrality a priority in their first year in office.

Now, let's go to the live coverage [2]:

2:19: The question is about net neutrality, and Obama says he supports it. That's great! 10Questions wasn't mentioned, however.

The problem is that Obama already said he supported net neutrality, way back in June 8, 2006 [3]. In fact, a google search for "barack obama" "net neutrality" has that as the first hit.

If you're getting a vague Soviet vibe, hopefully you aren't alone. An advocacy group was able to propel a weak question that the candidate had already answered into top position, and the candidate answered it as he had done before.

We need real debates, and 10Questions is not the way to get them.

[1] techpresident.com/blog/entry/11190/10questions_update_10_29_07_usage_surges
[2] techpresident.com/blog/entry/11191/liveblogging
[3] obama.senate.gov/podcast/060608-network_neutral

Posted to Politics at 12:49 PM

Richard Marosi/Ari Bloomekatz/LAT enable illegal immigration (San Diego fires)

As a cost-saving move, let me suggest that the Los Angeles Times outsources their coverage to the Western Growers Association, the Mexican government, or the Democratic Party. That way, "reporters" Richard Marosi and Ari Bloomekatz can achieve their true calling of selling used tires, and there'd be little difference between the outsourced version and that which they provide in "Evacuations raise deportation fears" about illegal aliens and the San Diego wild fires (link).

In fact, their article is remarkably similar to the other instances of this new subgenre, such as that from Leslie Berestein of the SDUT or Amy Isackson of NPR/KPBS. They rely on two quote sources already seen in those previous articles (Remy Bermudez and Enrique Morones) and about the only difference is that they've managed to be even more "liberal" (i.e., in effect supporting serf labor):

Disasters can magnify the marginalized status of people here illegally... Immigrant rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, however, claim that authorities have created a climate of intimidation through neglect and such policies as asking for identification at some shelters... ...The mere presence of Border Patrol was enough to scare off some immigrants... ...The ACLU and immigrant rights groups claim illegal immigrants were subjected to racial profiling at Qualcomm and were abused by some volunteers who questioned their legal status...

They don't mention that asking for ID is designed to help prevent fraud; even the AP has noted that. Real reporting would involve asking the ACLU exactly how they intend to prevent fraud (and perhaps whether they really believe in "to each according to his needs" or whether they want more).

[San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders], [spokesman Fred Sainz] said, has always looked out for the needs of the migrant community and has tried to protect them from encounters with Minutemen and other groups that oppose illegal immigration... "The mayor has bent over backward to protect the migrant population," said Sainz.

Not being familiar with that mayor, I don't know whether that's because he's a "liberal" or because he's actually bending over backwards to protect their crooked employers, or both.

The article ends with a plea to be more "sensitive" to the feelings of those who aren't supposed to be here in the first place; the use of the term "immigrant" is meant to mislead:

Critics say local and federal officials should be more sensitive to how immigrants might perceive things. A checkpoint that might seem inconvenient but understandable to a citizen could represent potential deportation to an immigrant, they say.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:59 AM

Feds strike deal on Eliot Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens (victory or defeat?)

(Picture associated with UPDATE 3 below)

From this:

The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver's licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version.

...Saturday's agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government's post-Sept. 11 effort to make identification cards more secure [joining Arizona, Vermont and Washington].

...Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was not happy that New York intended to issue IDs to illegal immigrants. But he said there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"I don't endorse giving licenses to people who are not here legally, but federal law does allow states to make that choice," Chertoff said.

The governor made clear he is going forward with his plan allowing licenses for illegal immigrants. But advocates on both sides of the debate said Spitzer had caved to pressure by adopting the administration's stance on tighter security standards for most driver's licenses.

The first tier is an "enhanced" license, followed by one that complies with the REAL ID Act. The third tier is one just for those who are making money for corrupt businesses and banks and who just might vote for Democrats, i.e., illegal aliens. They wouldn't be valid as federal ID. As Rep. Peter King says, this might be a defeat for Spitzer because few illegal aliens might want the licenses since they would strongly indicate that the bearer is here illegally. Needless to say, "immigrant rights" groups will probably protest it for that reason.

UPDATE: The plan won't go into effect until mid to late 2008. Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola says he'll continue his plan to sue to try to prevent any kind of licenses being issued to illegal aliens. And, as predicted, those on the other side are complaining, with Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, saying:

"He has crossed the line to the other side, letting his good name be used to promote an anti-immigrant, junk security measure in the Real ID."

Here are some details on the tiers:

A lower-level license for driving and state ID purposes will be available to illegal aliens and citizens. The license will carry the words "Not for U.S. government purposes" and won't be acceptable ID for boarding a plane, entering a federal facility like a courtroom, or crossing the border.

A more expensive second license, a federally recognized document that meets the REAL ID security requirements enacted by Congress in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will be available to citizens and legal aliens and will be good for boarding a plane or accessing federal facilities.

The third document, known as an "enhanced driver's license," will be strictly for U.S. citizens. It will carry all the federal benefits of the REAL ID, plus allow New Yorkers to cross the border into Canada without a passport under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

The "WHTI" sounds like it warrants a bit more research.

UPDATE 2: Ray Rivera of the New York Times offers "Governor Accused of Betraying Principles", which will probably be repurposed as an NYT immigration editiorial. It contains a similar Chung-Wha Hong quote, together with this:

[Hong] said having separate licenses would amount to a scarlet letter for illegal immigrants. "I know I'm speaking for millions of immigrants when I say I just feel so thoroughly betrayed."

If Rivera were a real reporter he would have called her on that. Isn't she basically play-acting? "Immigrants" - those who've pledged to abide by our laws - can get the middle-tier, normal licenses. Is she making the false claim that most legal immigrants feel solidarity with illegal aliens? To the extent that that's true, isn't that more of either a personal thing (mixed status families) or a racial solidarity issue? Is encouraging either of those good public policy?

And, never fear, the ACLU is here:

The separate licenses could also serve as an invitation for law enforcement to arrest anyone carrying one on immigration charges, said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She added that the new proposal could send illegal immigrants further into the shadows, compelling them to drive with forged or no licenses and without insurance.

That's what's happening already, so it's not going to get worse just because they won't get the new, special licenses just for them.

UPDATE 3: The picture at the top of this post is apparently from a protest which was held today in front of Spitzer's NYC office (link). Hong was apparently there, as well as another play-actor:

"You have forsaken a practical policy that would have been a benefit for all New Yorkers - for what? For just your own short-sighted political cover," said S.J. Jung of [Young Korean American Service and Education Center]. "Today, New Yorkers are outraged by your flip-flopping and New Yorkers are ashamed to have someone like you as our governor."

YKASEC is also a member of the "New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights", a group that wants to let "immigrants" vote; whether that means illegal aliens or not isn't known. They also say that "New York government officials do not adequately reflect the faces of the people they represent."

How badly has Spitzer's corrupt scheme failed? He's lost support among law-abiding New Yorkers, and he's also lost the support of at least the leaders of a couple groups that, like him, support illegal activity. On one hand it's good that his career has been damaged; on the other hand, it would be better if there were no licenses for illegal aliens at all.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 04:53 PM

ACLU, Leslie Berestein, Amy Isackson defending looters because they're illegal aliens

On Wednesday, an alleged group of looters were arrested at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego; it was claimed that they were collecting supplies meant for the victims of the recent wild fires in order to resell them. Apparently one or more admitted they were stealing, and one person said it was for resale. Some were illegal aliens; when that was suspected the San Diego Police called the Border Patrol who then deported a few of them. A few others have been released.

The exact details, and everyone who was involved, isn't clear at this time (and probably never will be). However, one thing is crystal clear: Amy Isackson of NPR/KPBS, Leslie Berestein of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and the ACLU will reflexively support illegal aliens and try to prevent them from being deported. And, they'll ignore the fact that they've been charged with stealing supplies from fire victims.

First, here's Berestein with "Border Patrol presence at stadium causes anxiety" (link):

The apprehension and removal to Mexico of two couples, one with three children, after they were accused of looting at Qualcomm Stadium Wednesday has created unease among some of the Latino evacuees staying there... Andrea Guerrero, field and policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, said about 25 families who were staying at the stadium left after the incident because they were undocumented, or of mixed legal status... Guerrero said the police department should not have called Border Patrol agents, some of whom are stationed at the stadium assisting other law enforcement officers, unless formal criminal charges were filed. [SDPD spokeswoman Monica Munoz], however, said the department did not violate protocol and that the accused individuals admitted to stealing. [...one of the deported illegal aliens says she wasn't stealing...]

And, here's the similar "Arrest of Six Illegal Immigrants at Qualcomm Raises Concerns" from Isackson (link):

The arrest of six illegal immigrants at the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation site yesterday raises questions regarding how San Diego Police handle immigration issues. Civil rights activists are concerned police may be violating their own policy with respect to the Border Patrol... Kevin Keenan is Executive Director of the ACLU. He says he hopes police can resolve the discrepancy [vis-a-vis a sanctuary-style policy]...

For a point of reference, here's Gillian Flaccus of the Associated Press with "Thieves and scam artists try to take advantage of SoCal fires" (link):

At the stadium, volunteer Karen Huff said she and other volunteers alerted police earlier this week when they spotted a half-dozen people loading two pickup trucks with relief items. Police confronted the thieves and recovered the goods... "Thousands of dollars worth of stuff was being taken from these victims," Huff said. "It's the worst type of crime you can commit, when you take advantage of a situation like this." ...The Border Patrol detained eight people Wednesday who were suspected of stealing cots, blankets and dry goods, said San Diego police Capt. Bob Kanaski. Police officers questioned 15 people who were suspected of filling up two trucks and a sedan with stolen property and brought in the Border Patrol after surmising that some were illegal immigrants. The other seven were released... ...Authorities said some charlatans were coming to the disbursement center up to four or five times a day to stock up on supplies.

When even the AP is less biased, you've got a problem.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:24 PM

Mike Glover/AP promotes Mike Huckabee, fails to note his immigration issues

Mike Glover of the Associated Press offers a partial lionization of Mike Huckabee in "Iowans Gives Huckabee a Second Look". It's similar to the Adam Nagourney puff piece, starting with:

Mike Huckabee, who strums a bass guitar and cracks jokes at campaign stops, is quietly establishing himself with Iowa voters as a serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Then, we get the downsides of the other candidates, including this:

McCain stirs distrust among party regulars because he has advocated an immigration overhaul that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens and because he co-wrote a campaign finance law despised by conservatives.

As readers know, Huckabee is extremely weak on immigration, but Glover doesn't mention that among his "vulnerabilities":

He has been criticized by anti-tax groups for signing tax increases as governor, although he also signed into law nearly $100 million in income tax breaks... Two months after taking over as governor, Huckabee announced he would commute the sentence of castrated rapist Wayne DuMond, creating a furor. Four months later, Huckabee denied clemency on the same day that the state parole board announced it would release DuMond if another state accepted him. DuMond was released to Missouri in October 1999 and in June 2001, he was charged in the murder of a Kansas City-area woman.

If you want to get Huckabee's immigration record out there, please go to his campaign appearances and ask him a question like this.

Posted to Politics at 01:47 PM

Illegal aliens steal evacuee supplies; NPR's Amy Isackson promotes serf labor

Six illegal aliens were allegedly caught stealing supplies in San Diege meant for wild fire evacuees. They brought trucks and came back for more, and one of their group said they were paid to do so. While there might be a somewhat understandable explanation, such as they were taking them to an ad hoc shelter somewhere else, I suspect that if there were such an explanation we would have heard it. If there isn't such an explanation, it shouldn't be surprising that some of those who've shown no respect for our immigration laws would show no respect for fire victims.

Meanwhile, Amy Isackson of NPR puts the pseudo-humanitarian, crypto-corporatist spin on a related issue in "Fires Highlight Safety Needs of Migrant Workers":

Jesus Gomez from Oaxaca was at his job at a nursery in San Diego's North County when the Witch fire roared in from the east. His crew kept working while wind whipped smoke and ash in their eyes... "They gave us masks, but still, our eyes were filling with dirt and ashes. So, we keep working, but then the police came in," Gomez says... He says his boss told him to stop working only after law enforcement gave the mandatory evacuation order... ...The Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are lending 200 officers to law enforcement efforts during the fire... Just their presence in the streets ignites people's fear...

If all or most were legal workers or not enrolled in a "guest" worker program, situations like that would not occur. Instead of looking into that, the overall impact of the NPR report is to enable such working conditions. If Isackson wanted to prevent such working conditions, she'd support the Border Patrol rather than try to portray them as an invading army.

Also quoted: "immigrants rights activist Enrique Morones", someone who's a member of the Democratic Party of San Diego; a Mexican official joined him on a ride in support of illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 01:23 PM

Hugh Hewitt is really, really, really happy about his cruise of South America

While smiles like this are usually associated with either maniacs or those who are about to embark on a BrazillianSexTour, I am almost positive that Hugh Hewitt was just having a good day. A really, really, really good day:

Posted to WackyHumor at 08:48 PM

Joe Klein of Time Magazine explicitly supports illegal immigration

It'd be great if every pundit was so forthright about their support for massive illegal activity. Here's Joe Klein of Time Magazine coming out explicitly in favor of illegal immigration [1]:

It's long been my belief that the GOP hole card in 2008 is going to be a rancid furriner-bashing anti-illegal-immigrant smear campaign. Make no mistake, whatever lipstick they put on this pig, the bottom line is the same old know-nothing nativism that has been a minor American stain since the Protestants began to get worried about the Irish Catholic surge in the 1840s (among some of our earliest settlers, the only acceptable immigrants were slaves).

I tend to be an extremist on this issue. I am wildly in favor of immigration, legal and illegal. I realize that national security--i.e. terrorism--requires that we secure the borders, and that's a good thing, if almost impossible. But as a New Yorker, I'm deeply grateful to the immigrants, many of them illegal, who saved the city by bringing commerce (and sales tax revenues) to some of the toughest neighborhoods in the 1970s and 1980s...

I left the following comment:

"furriner"? What other regional dialects would Joe Klein feel free at mocking? Please, provide us with a list.

It's good to hear Klein explicitly coming out in support of massive illegal activity. By so doing, he's also a supporter of all it entails and implies: massive government corruption, identity theft, political power inside the U.S. for foreign governments, and so on.

And, of course, there are huge differences between then and now. For instance, 58% of Mexicans think the U.S. southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico. That's not true of past groups. There are many other differences as well.

And, of course, Klein is engaging in a logical fallacy: just because some opponents of illegal activity might be racist doesn't mean that opposition to illegal activity is necessarily racist, as much as supporters of illegal activity like Klein would like it to be.

Should Time Magazine continue to employ someone who explicitly states his support for massive illegal activity? Write them and let them know what you think.

P.S. A partial list of recent Joe Klein lies is here [2].

[1] time-blog.com/swampland/2007/10/the_gop_in_2008_1.html
[2] time-blog.com/swampland/2007/10/gop_debate_1.html (do a find for "recap")

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:59 PM

Senate blocks DREAM Act

The DREAM Act was up for a cloture vote earlier today; the Democrats needed 60 votes to proceed, but they only came up with 52 versus 44 opposed.

UPDATE: The votes are here.

Those voting for it included current or former presidential contenders Joe Biden (D-DE), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Barack Obama (D-IL).

Republicans voting for it were: Bob Bennett (R-UT), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Larry Craig (R-ID), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Trent Lott (R-MS), Dick Lugar (R-IN), and Mel Martinez (R-FL).

Democrats voting against it were: Max Baucus (D-MT), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Jon Tester (D-MT).

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) voted for it, but Boxer didn't vote.

Chris Dodd (D-CT), Teddy Kennedy (D-MA), and John McCain (R-AZ) also didn't vote.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 11:40 AM

Fred Thompson releases good-sounding immigration plan (attrition)

Fred Thompson - someone who I don't entirely trust and who in fact doesn't appear to be exactly energetic - has released an immigration plan that actually sounds acceptable (link). First he says he's against amnesty, but aren't they all. But, the surprising bit is that he appears to actually mean it:

Attrition through Enforcement. Reduce the number of illegal aliens through increased enforcement against unauthorized alien workers and their employers. Without illegal employment opportunities available, fewer illegal aliens will attempt to enter the country, and many of those illegally in the country now likely will return home. Self-deportation can also be maximized by stepping up the enforcement levels of other existing immigration laws. This course of action offers a reasonable alternative to the false choices currently proposed to deal with the 12 million or more aliens already in the U.S. illegally: either arrest and deport them all, or give them all amnesty.

Whether he actually means that is another matter. At the least, he's put something more detailed than Mitt Romney out there, and unlike Rudy Giuliani he doesn't appear to favor an amnesty. It will be interesting to see whether the GOP and Dem candidates try to change their plans in some way or how they try to attack it.

WAS IT COORDINATED? UPDATE: Both the Democratic National Committee ("DNC", link) and Rudy Giuliani (link) have taken remarkably similar swipes at Thompson's plan. Neither discuss anything about the plan itself, only pointing out his spotty Senate record.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:56 AM

Morris Dees/SPLC: Lou Dobbs will one day be "depicted like George Wallace" (Don Walton)

Don Walton of Lincoln, Nebraska's Journal Star offers a gushing report of a stop by Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (link). We're informed that he's "increasingly focused now on Latino immigrant worker rights". Of course, what he really wants to do is give foreign citizens additional rights. His organization also has an indirect link to the Mexican government. After meaningless chatter he issued a far-left rationalization for illegal immigration, promoted profiting from an imported serf class, and then issued his smear:

...Latino workers, as well as other immigrants, come to the United States primarily for jobs, Dees said, sometimes migrating here because failed U.S. policies adversely affected conditions in their own countries.

If there was a 30-day work stoppage by every undocumented worker, he said, the effects on the U.S. economy could be staggering.

They are part of the fabric now.

"America is great because of its diversity and differences, not in spite of them," he said.

One day, Dees said, CNN's Lou Dobbs "will be depicted like George Wallace," the Alabama governor who preached segregation and fanned the flames of racial animosity and division...

The New York Times has already compared opponents of the Senate amnesty to Wallace, and I have little doubt that far-lefties like Dees would love to rewrite history so Dobbs is seen in the least favorable light possible. Our goal should be to get the truth out about Morris Dees and his organization.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:28 AM

DREAM Act could be voted on Tuesday 10/23/07, call your Senators

From this:

By invoking Senate Rule XIV on S. 2205 [link], Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has paved the way for prompt (and ill-advised) floor action on the measure, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) new stand-alone DREAM Act amnesty bill. The procedural move, made late last week, means that the DREAM Act may be brought to the Senate floor as early as Tuesday (October 23) without ever having been considered in committee.

Co-sponsors are Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel; a couple of the worse provisions have been removed, but it remains a massive amnesty with huge loopholes (described at the first link).

UPDATE: The vote on this is Wednesday, so please keep calling and tell others to do the same. More of the horrific features of the amnesty are listed here. Millions could be amnestied under the scheme.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 04:19 PM

2004: Mike Huckabee promotes benefits of illegal immigration

On July 6, 2004 Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee - currently a presidential contender - spoke on his monthly radio show and, responding to a caller's question about illegal aliens, said the following:

"If they're illegal they're not about to show up at some public institution and say I'd like funds because when they do the I.D. check and find out they're illegal then they're in trouble... [quotes a study purportedly showing that illegal aliens contribute more than they take...] So these are not the people who are accessing welfare, food stamps because they're not eligible for them. They can't get them... They're purchasing things and paying sales tax... They're buying things. They're paying taxes but they're not getting the benefits of a taxpayer. Not Social Security, not food stamps, welfare, benefits from employers... The truth is the illegal aliens are costing themselves more by being illegal when the real goal ought to be to give people the opportunity to become legal, naturalized citizens of the United States."

The article then adds: Huckabee emphasized that he was not justifying illegal immigration. Obviously, he did, and we don't have to look too far to get one idea why that might be.

Needless to say, a tape of this show would be very useful.

Recently:
From the Back of the Pack to David Brooks' Heart (promotes Mike Huckabee)

Posted to Politics at 03:10 PM

Desperate New York Times immigration editorial plays race card; afraid attrition might work?

Like clockwork, the New York Times offers yet another immigration editorial and, of course, they're still wrong ("Ain’t That America", link). Per them, not enacting comprehensive immigration "reform" is yet another in the long line of "greatest historical shames" perpetrated by the U.S. The national mood is slipping into "hatred and fear" against those "documented or not, who speak Spanish and are working-class or poor":

The evidence can be seen in any state or town that has passed constitutionally dubious laws to deny undocumented immigrants the basics of living, like housing or the right to gather or to seek work. It's in hot lines for citizens to turn in neighbors. It's on talk radio and blogs. It's on the campaign trail, where candidates are pressed to disown moderate positions. And it can be heard nearly every night on CNN, in the nativist drumming of Lou Dobbs, for whom immigration is an obsessive cause.

As evidenced by their coverage, supporting illegal immigration and cheap labor is an "obsessive cause" for the NYT. As for those questions, the fact that the NYT's "reporters" aren't out there taking the candidates to task for the gaping holes in their policies shows that they're just a propaganda source and not a real newspaper.

Then, after promoting Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, they offer three choices to solve the problem. The first is mass deportations, something that no national leaders are calling for. The second could have been written by either the Democrats or the Bush administration:

Find out who they are. Distinguish between criminals and people who just want to work. Get them on the books. Make them pay what they owe - not just the income, Social Security, sales and property taxes they already pay, but all their taxes, and a fine. Get a smooth legal flow of immigrants going, and then concentrate on catching and deporting bad people.

They can't even get that right: all of the amnesties so far proposed would have allowed terrorists and criminals to sneak through the cracks, with the latest Senate bill allowing the DHS to admit known gang members. At least one version would have forgiven two years of taxes. And, that "smooth legal flow" sounds vaguely like an attempt to flood the U.S. with cheap foreign labor.

Their last choice is a mischaracterization of attrition, and they appear to have done that because they're afraid it might work:

Catch the few you can, and harass and frighten the rest. Treat the entire group as a de facto class of criminals, and disrupt or shout down anyone or any plan seen as abetting their evildoing.

Most people who support attrition are obviously not guilty of what the NYT claims; they're simply playing the victim. In fact, the ones trying to do the "shouting down" are those on the NYT's side who continually try to racialize the issue, use misleading "news" reports (such as from the NYT), smear people like Lou Dobbs, and so on.

The New York Times doesn't want a real debate on this issue: they want to try to kneecap their opponents by calling them bigots rather than, for instance, doing real reporting on this issue and disclosing all the downsides of the "reform" they support or asking the presidential front-runners to defend their flawed policies.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 11:52 AM

Fox GOP October 21 debate had only two offhand immigration questions

Last night's Fox New GOP "debate" only had two, offhand questions about immigration matters, and one of those was in response to something Fred Thompson said (transcript link). Their September debate at least had a section devoted to the topic, even if all the questions they asked were weak.

Obviously, immigration is a vital topic and many Americans are concerned about it. Yet, all the media can offer is the occasional question designed simply to elicit stock responses and none that I've seen have been willing to ask the candidates about the specific flaws in their specific policies and in a way designed to avoid stock speeches. And, I have a great deal of trouble believing that that isn't intentional: asking tough questions about this topic would cost powerful forces money and power, so real questions are off the table.

I once again urge everyone reading this to go to campaign appearances, ask the questions the MSM won't ask, and then upload the response to video sharing sites. If enough people do that we can make immigration a campaign issue.

In the debate, Fred Thompson mentioned that he had voted against sanctuary cities and that Rudy Giuliani had sued to fight that. Rudy responds:

Oh, the simple fact is that New York City had a policy of allowing people who are illegal immigrants to report crime and to put their children in school. Otherwise, we reported every single illegal immigrant that committed a crime.

Everyone in the U.S. has probably already memorized what he said right after that:

The results had to be pretty darn good. I brought down crime by over 60 percent in New York City. I brought down homicide by 67 percent. I had the most legal city in the country. And I took the crime capital of America and I turned it into the safest large city in the country.

I wonder: if he becomes president will we have to have that paragraph tattooed on our foreheads?

The only formal question about immigration was to Tancredo:

...your health care plans seems intended to show how tough you would be on illegal immigration. Your concerns involve the illegal immigrants using our hospital emergency rooms. The RAND Corporation says that illegal immigrants account for about 1.5 percent of the nation's health care costs.

These debates are, in fact, "show debates" that might as well have taken place in the Soviet Union.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 09:28 AM

Spitzer driver's licenses and illegal aliens voting (Motor Voter)

From this:

A new front has opened up in the war over Gov. Eliot Spitzer's undocumented immigrants driver's license controversy - the voting booth.

The latest battle lines are being drawn over how the state processes what is popularly called "motor voter" applications, where those seeking drivers' licenses can at the same time register to vote.

Critics say Spitzer is not only compromising security by licensing undocumented immigrants, but he also is opening the door to a flood of illegal voters. Aides to Spitzer say he is just following the existing law, and the new rules will improve security and public safety.

New York DMV first sent out a memo saying that Motor Voter apps were only for those who supplied a Social Security number. That was followed the same day by another memo saying clerks can't withhold MV forms and should just send them all to the registrar of voters. Spitzer's office said the second was the policy all along. Keep reading:

However, John McArdle, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), said several upstate clerks have told their office that the new directive is a "total reversal" of past practice. "This strips back the veil of what their intentions have been all along - to register as many illegals as they can," McArdle said.

Frank Merola, Rensselaer's Republican county clerk, said that before the Oct. 2 change listing the Social Security number on the license application automatically opened the option for going to the motor voter screen on the computer. The latest change eliminates that safeguard, he added.

Maybe it's time for the Feds to step in and take a closer look at Eliot Spitzer.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 09:29 PM

John McCain admits immigration "reform" hurt his campaign

Just to put a nice shiny bow on his cratered campaign, here he is on Fox News Sunday (link). After Chris Wallace asks him for his mistakes:

Well, a little straight talk - immigration reform was something that Americans, because they didn't trust the government - they have no trust or confidence in the government. They didn't believe us when we said we'd secure the borders. I got the message, we're going to secure the borders... ...So I think immigration reform, obviously, was something that hurt me with the base. That was probably primarily...

Note, of course, that he still supports "reform" (aka amnesty), he's just changed his tactics to get it.

Related:
E.J. Dionne, Chris Cillizza/WaPo realize: voters oppose illegal immigration (Niki Tsongas)

Posted to Immigration2007b at 09:18 PM

KC mayor Mark Funkhouser doesn't give in to La Raza demands; NCLR moves convention

The National Council of La Raza threatened to move their 2009 convention out of Kansas City, Missouri unless a member of that city's parks board - also a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps - either quit from the board or the group. Mayor Mark Funkhouser seemed to buckle a bit, but he didn't give in to their demands, and now the NCLR has unanimously decided to hold their convention in another city.

This is a good victory for those who - unlike the NCLR - support the enforcement of our immigration laws and those who oppose strong-arm tactics by groups that fund extremists.

This also marks one of the few times where I'll point approvingly to an Associated Press paragraph (link):

A national Hispanic civil rights organization said Saturday it will not hold its 2009 annual convention in Kansas City because an opponent of illegal immigration was appointed to the city's park board.

Gotta love the way they got that cause and effect in there.

Previously:
Tell KC mayor Mark Funkhouser: don't give in to National Council of La Raza
Kansas City Star to mayor: capitulate to racial power groups, money's at stake!

Posted to Immigration2007b at 09:09 PM

Mel Martinez quits as RNC chairman; Peter Wallsten/LAT offers pro-illegal immigration spin

As predicted and even sooner than was hoped, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) has quit as the head of the RNC. Don't let the door hit you, etc.

Now comes Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times to put the worst possible face on it ("Latino head of RNC resigns", link). While it reads like something Howard Dean could have written, even he might consider it race-baiting:

The Republican Party's highest-ranking Latino official abruptly resigned Friday, marking the latest casualty in the GOP's bitter internal fight over immigration and dealing another setback to President Bush's years-long effort to court Latino voters.

The announcement by Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida that he was quitting as general chairman of the Republican National Committee came after he had expressed frustration over the tenor of the immigration debate within his party. Martinez will remain in his Senate post...

...The White House had engineered the ascent of the Cuban-born Martinez over the objections of many conservatives as part of an effort to repair the GOP's image among Latinos. That image suffered when Republican congressional leaders and conservative activists stymied administration-backed measures that would have created a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants...

I wasn't joking above: Howard Dean could have written those paragraphs. Must Latino voters be courted by hiring someone who's of the same race as they? Isn't that more of a Democratic/far-left assumption? Must they be courted by hiring someone who supports massive immigration? Isn't that assumption not only false but against the best interests of the U.S.? And, while Bush certainly seems to favor Hispanics over other groups, isn't his attempt to court the mythical Hispanic vote basically just because he's corrupt and his backers want cheap labor (and perhaps because he wants to get his hands on Mexico's oil). And, aren't Martinez' claims about the "tenor" basically just sleazy attempts to call the majority of members of his party bigots in order to cow them into supporting the importation of cheap labor?

Those questions are obviously too honest for a dishonest "reporter" like Wallsten, who goes on to quote GOP consultant Lionel Sosa, who brings his own brand of poison to the issue. Wallsten doesn't disclose that Sosa is supporting Bill Richardson for president. He even did so in explictly racial terms: "Blood runs thicker than politics". Note that Wallsten himself wrote the article where he said that. This time around he says:

"Mel Martinez was a symbol of the party's outreach to Latinos, and that seems to be disappearing... It is not a good day for Latino Republicans, that's for sure."

More poison follows:

Robert de Posada, president of the Republican-leaning Latino Coalition [and also linked to Western Union], said Martinez's departure is especially disheartening because it follows the resignation of another high-profile Latino in the GOP: former U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.

"The message that it sends is Latinos are not welcome," De Posada said. "The radical conservative base has a temporary victory right now."

Posted to Immigration2007b at 08:48 PM

Richard Clarke endorses Spitzer license scheme; opposed DLs for illegal aliens in June

Richard Clarke - former counterterrorism adviser to Bill Clinton and George Bush - has endorsed Elliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, saying:

States should act to register immigrants, legal and illegal, who use our roadways as New York is doing... From a law enforcement and security perspective, it is far preferable for the state to know who is living in it and driving on its roads . . . than to have large numbers of people living in our cities whose identity is totally unknown to the government.

Just one problem: back on June 1 of this year, he wrote a New York Times editorial called "A Back Door for Terrorists" (link):

...The Real ID Act of 2005, which among other things established standards for state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver's identification cards, has now been put off until at least 2009. And many states are in open revolt against its tough requirements for issuing driver's licenses... The result is that potential terrorists here illegally can easily use phony licenses or, in many states, get real ones issued to them, along with credit cards and all of the other papers needed to blend into our society. (The only places in this country that seem to check the validity of drivers' licenses are bars in college neighborhoods.) Indeed, those arrested for allegedly planning to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey included illegal immigrants who apparently had little difficulty getting along in this country.

Asked to explain himself, Clarke said it was because New York's licensing requirements are tough. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with him seeking some sort of political or financial gain.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 01:26 PM

E.J. Dionne, Chris Cillizza/WaPo realize: voters oppose illegal immigration (Niki Tsongas)

Pundits have spilt a lot of ink trying to convince themselves that opposing illegal immigration is a losing political issue. Those include: Fred Barnes, Linda Chavez, Tamar Jacoby, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Arlen Specter, and Michael Barone.

Now, we turn to the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne ("Test Run For 2008", link). Note, of course, that the Washington Post explicitly supports illegal immigration:

In Massachusetts's 5th Congressional District -- a collection of mill towns and affluent and blue-collar suburbs north of Boston -- the surprise issue was illegal immigration. [Jim Ogonowski] made it the centerpiece of an anti-Washington campaign. An Ogonowski news release, for example, accused Tsongas of being "committed to giving cheap college to illegals at taxpayer expense."

...[Niki Tsongas], a community college dean, favored granting in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In Ogonowski's translation of that, Tsongas believed that "Massachusetts taxpayers should foot the bill for the college tuition of the children of illegals."

Republicans think the immigration issue helped Ogonowski, so the country may be in for a lot more of this sort of thing next year. "Everywhere we went, people wanted to talk about immigration," said Matt Wylie, Ogonowski's general consultant. "It was just coming up over and over again."

[...SCHIP may have helped her win...]

Earlier, Chris Cillizza of "The Fix" wrote (link):

[Ogonowski] also found fertile ground by calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration and decrying Tsongas' support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as amnesty.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 07:53 PM

NY Sen. Jose M. Serrano supports Spitzer's illegal aliens driver's licenses

New York state senator Jose Serrano supports New York governor Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give illegal aliens driver's licenses. In this post he discusses an appearance on the Lou Dobbs show: first he race-baits and plays the victim card, implying that those who support enforcement of our immigration laws are racists. That, of course, is to be expected. Then:

The 9/11 Commission determined that restricting access to driver's licenses based on immigration status would not have prevented the attacks.

In fact, in the long list of proposals to make the licensing system more secure, the Commission explicitly did not recommend denying driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants as a measure that would prevent another attack.

The Commission did, however, recommend that states take immediate steps to increase the security of their licenses, which is an integral part of the Governor's plan.

I strongly suspect that he's not telling the whole truth. While I've discussed Chapter 3 of the 9/11 Commission Staff Report as well as other parts, I don't have time to scour the full report in order to find out whether he's lying and what he isn't telling us. However, you can leave comments at the link if you're more familiar with this and would like to discredit him.

See also:
The 9/11 hijackers and driver's licenses
9/11 hijacker used bypass code to obtain California [driver's] license
9/11 hijackers were illegal aliens; Senate bill would have given them a loophole
"Immigration Laws Might Have Stopped Sept. 11 Plot"

DOH UPDATE: I originally stated this was from Rep. Jose E. Serrano, but now I see this is from someone else: Jose M. Serrano, a state senator and not a Congressman.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 02:20 PM

Mexican consul meddling in Irving Texas (Matricula Consular cards to prevent arrests)

From this:

The Mexican Consulate wants to send mobile units to Irving [Texas] to issue identification cards [Matricula Consular cards] to illegal immigrants to try to save them from arrest and deportation.

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said the ID cards could prevent only a few arrests, but he promised to meet monthly with Consul Enrique Hubbard Urrea to review any complaints stemming from the city's Criminal Alien Program.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 01:58 PM

Smoking gun emails: Spitzer retaliated against opponent of his driver's license scheme

From this:

A key Republican lawmaker [Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady)] disclosed several "smoking gun" e-mails yesterday showing [New York governor Eliot Spitzer]'s administration had OK'd funding for a local health-care clinic last month - before suddenly canceling the grant on Monday after his attack on Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens...

Spitzer claimed it was for budgetary reasons, but the emails indicate otherwise.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 11:43 AM

From the Back of the Pack to David Brooks' Heart (promotes Mike Huckabee)

As an indication of the cluelessness of our elites, David Brooks offers a paean to Mike Huckabee entitled "From the Back of the Pack" (link). Expect this attempt by our elites to push Huckabee to succeed about as well as their attempt to push through "comprehensive immigration reform". As an example of David Brooks' cluelessness, consider this:

[E]ach of the top-tier candidates makes certain parts of the party uncomfortable. Huckabee is the one candidate acceptable to all factions.

Except, of course, to the "faction" that supports enforcement of our immigration laws and that opposes illegal immigration. As discussed here for years, Huckabee has been a strong supporter of illegal immigration. And, he does it in a sanctimonious way that's even more annoying than George Bush.

I don't know the extent to which Huckabee's stance is known, but I very strongly urge everyone to go to his campaign appearances and ask him this question and then publicize his response.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:03 AM

Naomi Wolf: prepare for war

I am hereby declaring Blog War on Naomi Wolf.

As discussed at that link, I left a comment on one of her Huffington Post entries. It should have been approved, but it was not.

Now, it has happened again on this post; comment below. This time the address that visited the linked page was from a South Bay Area SBC address; whether it was Wolf herself or one of Arianna Huffington's minions isn't clear.

In any case, I am urging all my minions, retainers, followers, and various hangers-on to visit Wolf's future entries and post comments pointing out flaws in what little argument she can provide. Give her forces no quarter!

--- COMMENT ----
I somewhat trust Ron Paul, but based on their history I'm not so trusting of the far-left/Democrats. For all I know this bill has something supporting Lynne Stewart or the Cuban Five hidden within it. Unfortunately, the credibility of the far-left/Democrats on this issue is below zero. Let me know when someone a bit more mainstream than RP gets behind it.

P.S. I discuss here the comment that you or a HuffPost helper didn't post to an earlier thread:

http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007067.html

Why wasn't that posted?

Posted to Bloggage at 09:57 AM

Hispanic vote is a myth?

We already knew that. Now comes Steven Malanga from City Journal, writing in the Los Angeles Times (link):

...The Latino vote for Bush was far from decisive, however, and it may be years before it plays a pivotal role in a national election. Latinos may represent about 14% of the U.S. population, but they constituted just 6% of the 2004 electorate -- 7.5 million voters out of 125 million. According to Census Bureau data, only 34% of the nation's adult Latino population registered to vote in 2004, and 28% voted. By contrast, 67% of the country's adult white, non-Latino population and 56% of its adult black population voted in 2004. Black voters outnumbered Latino voters nearly 2 to 1 in 2004.

Exit polls taken during 2004 also indicate Latino support for Bush may have been exaggerated. In different polls, Bush's share of the Latino vote ranged from a high of 44% to a low of 33%. Yet subsequent academic studies have estimated Bush's actual level of Latino support at the lower end, somewhere between 35% and 37%. Seen in this context, the "swing" of voters from Bob Dole, who garnered 21% of the Latino vote in 1996, to George W. Bush was hardly historic. In 1984, Ronald Reagan captured 37% of the Latino vote -- a performance at least equal to Bush's.

This suggests that the key to winning Latino votes may be running good candidates, not pandering. Latino voters themselves seem to agree. A 2004 Washington Post poll found that immigration was the least important issue among Latino voters, with only 3.5% placing it at the top of their concerns...

He makes other points that have been made here and elsewhere, namely that supporting a loose border policy is contrary to the interests of Hispanics, that a significant portion of Hispanics actually support our laws, and that pandering to the loose borders sentiment of those on the far-left might actually be counter-productive.

As a gauge of Republican orthodoxy, let's turn to "Captain Ed" (link):

Republicans need to make the argument that tighter border security and immigration policy will help protect not just national security, but also jobs and wages for American citizens and legal residents. The GOP has a shared set of values on life issues with the Hispanic community, and a shared focus on strengthening the family. If we make those arguments, we can lift both the floor and the ceiling of our share of their vote, and do so without mindless pandering.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 09:01 AM

Mary Peters, Carlos Gutierrez, Mexican official team up to promote Mexican trucks in U.S.

From this:

Bush administration officials [Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez] held a news conference with Mexico's transportation secretary [Luis Tellez] yesterday to respond to criticism of a program allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads, but critics in Congress who helped pass counter-legislation are unmoved...

...By overwhelming margins, the Senate and the House adopted identical amendments into the Transportation/HUD Appropriations bill that would cut off federal funds for the truck project. The House passed the measure 411-3 while the Senate voted 75-23. The bill awaits consideration by a Joint Conference Committee...

The press conference included a sideshow: an inspection of a U.S. and a Mexican truck. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) - who opposes the trucks for union-related reasons - said about that:

"The information we need to ensure the safety of American drivers on American highways is not available... That includes vehicle inspection and drivers' records and accidents reports. None of that information is available. An 'inspection' of a hand-picked Mexican truck at a press conference doesn't change that."

Posted to Immigration2007b at 08:55 AM

Braindead: Neal Boortz, Susan Estrich, Alan Colmes on Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence incident

On October 7, two members of San Francisco's "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" (the "nuns" - except for the last "nun" - featured on this video) took Communion at the Holy Redeemer Church, located in Frisco's Castro district (thesisters.org/MHR_Release.html; picture here; news report with video of the incident here; apology from Archbishop here). They were videotaped apparently by a member of a conservative Catholic group, and in any case if them dressing as nuns-in-drag and their history wasn't enough of a clue, the behavior of the two - such as pretend cheek kissing - made it clear that their goal was to mock, despite their protestations to the contrary.

Bill O'Reilly has been making hay with this event since then, and tonight's Hannity & Colmes decided to make some hay as well.

Guests Neal Boortz and Susan Estrich and host Alan Colmes were completely clueless on this issue, thinking it was a good thing that they were going to church. Whether due to the libertarianism of the first and the liberalism of the last, or due to something in the water, they completely failed to understand that the goal of the exercise was to mock the Catholic Church. While I'm used to seeing braindead pundits, this was a new low.

Posted to Miscellania at 10:01 PM

DREAM Act might be coming back...

From this:

Now that the Senate has completed action on the CJS spending bill, senators have taken up the labor, health and human services spending bill (H.R. 3043). Some Capitol Hill sources are telling NumbersUSA that open borders senators may offer the DREAM Act amnesty as an amendment to that bill. Although we cannot confirm this, NumbersUSA members are nonetheless encouraged to contact their senators to stave off this possibility.

Depending on its current configuration, the DREAM Act may allow illegal aliens to take college discounts from U.S. citizens, thereby depriving U.S. citizens of college educations and devaluing U.S. citizenship. It would be absurdly simple to discredit its backers by pointing that out; here's a sample question for Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, and all its other supporters.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 02:15 PM

Even California Nurses Association turns on Fabian Nunez (wife's conflict of interest)

From this:

The California Nurses Association demanded Tuesday that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez abstain from voting on health-care legislation because his wife works for a nonprofit agency bankrolled by the hospital industry.

"Californians can no longer trust that he will represent the public interest and not the financial interest of a large industry that has put his wife on their payroll," Zenei Cortez, spokeswoman for the association and for the National Nurses Organizing Committee, said in a written statement Tuesday.

The Bee reported Tuesday that Nunez's wife, Maria Robles, was hired at a six-figure salary in January to serve as president of Californians for Patient Care, a Sacramento-based nonprofit agency that receives nearly all its funding from the California Hospital Association...

Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair Nunez must no longer be useful to those in power, or perhaps they're Obama supporters who are trying to make Hillary's campaign more difficult. Just recently, the Los Angeles Times - usually a staunch ignorer of malfeasance by Democrats, especially former MEChA members - has run negative articles on him, as have the AP and the Sacramento Bee.

Posted to California at 02:09 PM

Tech President/10 Questions: is it meant to work in the first place?

This site "techPresident" (techpresident.com) has launched a new feature called "10 Questions" that's highly similar to the existing site Community Counts (one of those behind CC is involved in 10Q). Basically, people will upload video questions for the candidates, others will vote on the top questions, the top ten questions for each candidate will be selected, and then the candidates will be asked to answer the questions.

Sounds great, except it won't work as it appears to be intended. By allowing a simple vote, the worst questions will be selected: Obama Girls, snowmen, puffballs, scandal questions, the whole lot.

In fact, I earlier sent techPresident a link to my much better suggestion. They ignored the first couple emails, but on the third the guy who runs it made a cryptic reference to other formats coming down the pike. I guess we know what one of those other formats is. Unfortunately, it's an inferior format, and it will simply lead to more of the same.

Which shouldn't be surprising considering those who are sponsoring it, which includes the New York Times, MSNBC, and a series Democratic/Republican partisan blogs. Almost zero of those sources would be able to recognize a tough question for a candidate if it fell on their head, and almost zero of those sources have any interest in any of the candidates being embarrassed by being asked a tough question.

UPDATE: Here's a tangible example. If these videos were entered into the contest, which do you think stands a better chance of being voted into the Top 10?

  

I'm going to hazard a guess that the one featuring Melissa Jenna would get more votes. Unfortunately, attractive as she is, none of her questions quite pack the punch that mine (such as the one on the left) do. With my proposal, anyone who voted up her videos and voted mine down would run the risk of reducing their own credibility.

With voting open to everyone, someone like "Captain Ed" or Instapundit could encourage their visitors to vote up select videos. Would either of those select videos that, say, took Mike Huckabee or John McCain to task for their support for illegal immigration? I would be extremely doubtful, since the "Captain" did an interview with Huckabee without quizzing him on his immigration stance, the area where he's weakest and where it would be easiest to completely discredit him. And, Instapundit did an 18 minute or so interview with Huck that didn't feature immigration at all, in addition to letting two John McCain lies about immigration fly right past him.

No one should trust either of those two to ask Huckabee, McCain, or the others tough questions about immigration, yet they could drive traffic to the contest and cause videos to be put into the Top 10.

Posted to Politics at 09:02 AM

72% oppose Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens; lowest rating ever

From this:

Seventy-two percent of New York voters who have read or heard about the [New York governor Eliot Spitzer's] proposal to allow undocumented aliens to obtain New York driver's licenses oppose the Governor's plan, while only 22 percent support it, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters released today. The Siena New York poll also shows that Eliot Spitzer’s job performance rating is lower than it has ever been, with a majority of voters saying he's doing a fair or poor job. If the 2010 gubernatorial race were held today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, running as a Republican, would beat Democrat Spitzer 50-37 percent...

Posted to Immigration_dls at 04:07 PM

"Mexico's Fox openly calls for North American Union"

Calling all North American Union apologists. Please see this:

In a promotional tour for his new book, "Revolution of Hope," Fox told NPR's "Talk of the Nation" audience: "That's part of my Americas dream, that we can build our future together. We are partners with United States and Canada through NAFTA. There are other blocs in Latin America, but at the very end a continental trade agreement and union on the long term would be a way to develop ourselves and to be able to have the standards and level of living that we all need."

Related:
Vicente Fox: FTAA common currency (Amero), Hillary for president, Bill Richardson, driver's licenses, lies about heathcare...
Vicente Fox promotes North American Union (Jon Stewart)

UPDATE: It's in his book too:

...On page 101, Fox writes: "I proposed a 'NAFTA Plus' plan to President Bush and Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien to move us toward a single continental economic union, modeled on the European example."

On the next page, Fox notes the White House was reluctant for this theme to be discussed openly.

"Bush shot the idea down," Fox continued. "The White House sent word that life would be easier if this Mexican cowboy would stop raising hackles with his talk of a North American Union."

Posted to NAU at 12:11 PM

Down the Memory Hole with the Los Angeles Times (censors own blogger)

From this:

On Thursday night, L.A. Times political blogger Andrew Malcolm wrote a post about John Edwards's denial of an extramarital affair. When some commenters complained that the story was unsupported tabloid trash, Malcolm replied in parenthetical remarks appended to the comments, saying that it was a legitimate topic because of Edwards's denial.

If I have the sequence of events right, the L.A. Times first deleted the whole post. Then, when Patterico inquired about it they put it back, minus three final paragraphs. They also deleted the parenthetical remarks from their own bloggers. Tidy, no muss no fuss!

Posted to Bloggage at 07:56 PM

Holly Ramer, AP "reporter", helps John McCain spout massive immigration propaganda

Associated Press "reporter" Holly Ramer offers "Voter Confronts McCain on Immigration" (link), a slab of pro-massive immigration propaganda that helps show how corrupt the mainstream media is and how much of a propagandist and incompetent reporter she is. John McCain's comments also somewhat contradict his past statements:

[...McCain supports "reform" after the borders are secured...] That wasn't enough for a man who spoke up at the Hopkinton Town Hall, telling McCain that legal immigration could result in civil war in the next five years... "Do the people in Washington - the politicians and the lobbyists and the rich people writing the checks - do they understand the amount of anger the average European Christian, native-born American feels when they see their country turning into a multicultural chaos Tower of Babel?"

Certainly, a question like that will raise some eyebrows among those in Washington and other elites. But, if we're going to constantly discuss the Hispanic vote and politicians are going to feel free to pander to that supposed vote, then perhaps discussing "European Christians" shouldn't be out of bounds, even if pollsters would call them by a different name. And, a discussion of multiculturalism shouldn't be out of bounds either.

However, the intent is clear: the questioner is meant as an example of nativist sentiment. And, of course, rather than acknowledging the non-racist, non-nativist concerns of millions of Americans, McCain responded with politically-correct nothingness:

"I believe the greatest strength of America is the lady who holds her lamp behind the golden door that says send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses... And I am grateful to live in a nation that has been enriched by people coming to our nation from around the world... I will do everything in my power to secure the borders, but I love this nation and I love the people who have come from around the world."

Obviously, he didn't answer the underlying concerns about the impacts of massive immigration and multiculturalism. Surely, it's possible to "love the people" while at the same time oppose separatist sentiments and the like. All this raises a few questions:

1. Why didn't "reporter" Holly Ramer mention that McCain himself said that unless "reform" was enacted we could have Paris-style riots? That's not the same thing as a "civil war", but it's in the same ballpark.

2. Why didn't Ramer attempt to contextualize and amplify the question, as the AP would most likely do in the case of someone supporting massive immigration?

3. Why did the AP choose that question in the first place? Even the New York Times taped McCain being asked a better question, and surely McCain and others have been asked better questions. Why suddenly rush into print one question, unless of course the goal was to show "nativist" sentiment?

4. And, going directly to Ramer's competence as a reporter, shouldn't she have asked McCain whether he truly thought that reading a poem that was later tacked on to the Statue of Liberty is a proper answer to the question? Shouldn't she have offered a more palatable version of the question and pressed McCain, mentioning that there are indeed millions of Americans who are worried about the impact of massive immigration?

5. In line with #4, exactly how many tough questions on immigration has she ever asked McCain? Can we trust someone who - believe it or not - referred to McCain's blather as "trademark straight talk"? ("McCain faces immigration worries, vows to secure borders", August 11, 2007, link).

The solution to all of these issues is to go to campaign appearance, but ask better questions and then upload the responses to Youtube. That way we can completely disintermediate hack "reporters" like Holly Ramer.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 07:34 PM

What does the Democratic Party stand for? (An Introduction)

Think you're a Republican? Think again! Dr. R. C. West of the DCNC has put together this instructional video to help show what the Democratic Party stands for and why you should join:

How many famous Democrats can you spot?

REGRETS, I'VE HAD A FEW UPDATE: While Democratic icon Gus Hall made the video - twice! - I unfortunately forgot to include pictures of Neville Chamberlain, Vidkun Quisling, and others. I also only had one piece of DailyKos content (the Joe Lieberman photoshop) and I didn't include their Ahmadinejad poll. Next time.

Posted to WackyHumor at 12:21 PM

Mitt Romney supports attrition by illegal aliens?

A blogger tried to ask Mitt Romney about his immigration positions:

...he did not address the question of the fate of the 12-20 million illegals in residence here... I tried to get near enough to ask about it. A flack intercepted me and said Mitt was not answering anymore questions, then asked me what I was going to ask. When I said it was about the illegals already here, the flack said they would just self deport...

At least he tried. Hopefully others will try to get a similar question asked, since the mainstream media is never going to try to find out exactly where Romney stands.

Here's a discussion of Romney's immigration positions, and here's a question for Mitt Romney that you can ask to try to nail down exactly where he stands. Please go to his campaign appearances and try to get him on tape answering that.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 05:17 PM

More questions for illegal immigration supporting religious leaders (Roger Mahoney, Bob Edgar)

On Monday the 8th, Cardinal Roger Mahony (aka "The Pedophile Protector") gave a speech at Notre Dame University in support of immigration reform. He said much the same as he's said before and apparently no one called him on it. For completeness' sake, here it is.

Meanwhile, back in August, Bob Edgar - outgoing head of the National Council of Churches - offered similar blather in support of massive illegal immigration (link). It included a paean to importing a foreign serf class:

Nearly everything we eat passes through the hands of an undocumented worker. Nearly every office and rest room in America's corporate towers are cleaned and sanitized by undocumented workers. Nearly every meat packing plant -- after breaking unions and cutting living wages for American citizens -- now employs mostly Latinos and many of them undocumented workers.

And, it engaged in the expected smear tactics:

Immigrants have become the contemporary scapegoat. Higher taxes, crowded schools, infectious diseases, all have been attributed to those who have come to America without the proper papers. It's time we call it for what it is-racism.

His selective quoting of the Bible and his comments are discussed here, which includes a few questions for him. Please go to public appearances by him and other religious leaders and ask them:

Unmentioned by Edgar are Scriptural teachings that uphold the authority of rulers to enforce laws, and the Apostle Paul's warning that "all things must be done in order." Even more disturbing was his blissful ignorance about ethical arguments against unregulated borders. How does unrestricted immigration affect America’s poor? And how does unrestricted immigration distort the economics and demographics of Mexico? Should Mexico's poor not have economic options other than having to relocate to another country? Will Mexico ever reform economically as long as the U.S. serves as its population safety valve?

Posted to Immigration2007b at 05:07 PM

Vicente Fox "Revolution of Hope" co-author: Bush-linked Rob Allyn

The co-author of Vicente Fox's book "Revolution of Hope" - which he's currently on tour promoting - is none other than Mexico's very own bought-and-paid-for propagandist, Rob Allyn. In 2005 he was paid $720,000 by the Mexican government to help show their side of massive immigration from that country. He's also friends with Ruben Navarrette Jr. and he's linked to the Bush family.

Says he:

"Because I agree passionately with what the president has to say about free trade and immigration and America, it's really easy for me to tell this story... That's what makes it worth the long hours and the time away from home. Besides, it was fun... ...It's completely anti-intuitive right now. The last thing people want to hear about is free trade and immigrant labor crossing the border..."

Posted to Immigration2007b at 01:03 PM

Center for American Progress' indirect Mexican government link (Henry Fernandez, Kica Matos)

Henry Fernandez, Senior Fellow at the Clinton-linked Center for American Progress, is hosting a CAP event entitled "Strange Bed Fellows? Anti-immigration Organizations and Hate Groups" on October 18 [1]. The panelists are Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center (a group indirectly linked to the Mexican government) and Devin Burghart from the Center for New Community.

Luckily, I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and I saw this:

Fernandez lives with his wife Kica Matos and their son in New Haven, Connecticut.

Matos is the former head of Junta for Progressive Action, a group that's collaborated with the Mexican government. She now works for the city and she led the effort by that city to give out their own form of ID cards which are designed for use by illegal aliens. And, Fernandez is the former campaign manager for New Haven mayor John DeStefano, someone who may have a financial stake in illegal aliens opening bank accounts.

A question: what if the interests of Hillary Clinton and the Mexican government differ? Whose side will CAP come down on?

[1] americanprogress.org/events/2007/10/antiimmigrant.html

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:32 PM

Tell KC mayor Mark Funkhouser: don't give in to National Council of La Raza

From this:

The National Council of La Raza will keep its convention in Kansas City if a park board appointee quits her membership in an anti-illegal-immigration group.

And Hispanic leaders expressed optimism Thursday that Mayor Mark Funkhouser was willing to consider asking appointee Frances Semler to drop her membership in the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps...

While he's supported her in the past, he answered "no comment" when asked whether he'd ask her to resign.

Please contact him at mayor *at* kcmo.org or (816) 513-3500 and tell him not to give in to a group that has links to and funds extremists.

Previously:
Kansas City Star to mayor: capitulate to racial power groups, money's at stake!

Posted to Immigration2007b at 02:32 PM

DHS, SDUT, Harry Reid on Charles Breyer no-match ruling (ACLU, CofC, AFL-CIO)

The San Diego Union-Tribune says "Appeal the ruling on illegal worker checks" (link) about Judge Charles Breyer siding with the ACLU, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the AFL-CIO against the interests of those who support our immigration laws:

...Following [the no-match procedure] gives considerable protection against harsh sanctions for employers who know, or should know, of illegal hires. The no-match letter alerts them to that possibility. The Homeland Security brochure mailed with it outlines how to check and protect themselves. At no point must employers fire any worker, illegal or legal – if they are willing to risk eventually facing those sanctions.

That's only one discrepancy between Breyer's order and reality. But it's reason enough to appeal to lift the injunction and move on to the merits of this suit, brought by the ACLU, business and labor. It's an unusual alliance of organizations with zero interest in enforcing existing immigration law and reducing the jobs magnet that drives illegal immigration...

And, for the administration's side of things, "Captain Ed" did an interview (link):

...Ms. Keehner took great pains to point out a couple of erroneous suppositions in the ruling. Foremost, the notion that no-match letters exert an undue burden on small businesses is nonsense. The regulation exempts businesses that employ less than 10 people, so mom & pop stores don't have to worry about it at all... [DHS Deputy Press Secretary Laura Keehner] assured me that the DHS plans to pursue relief from this injunction in both the appellate courts and in Congress, if necessary, to further refine the legislation. They see the no-match letters as a necessary method of protecting the integrity of the Social Security database, to ensure that people get credit for their legitimate contribution to the Social Security fund, and to enforce employer-based sanctions for illegal immigration.

Since I'm not familiar with all aspects of the case, it's not clear whether the Clinton-appointed judge was being an activist, or whether the government simply failed to make their case. It's certainly a possibility that the virulently pro-cheap labor Bush administration intentionally botched the case, knowing that they'd receive a ruling like this and could then throw up their arms and claim they tried. Meanwhile, even more cheap labor can flow over the borders, enriching members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, and conferring political power on the Democratic Party and the ACLU.

If you'd like to do something about this that a judge can't block, go out and discredit some politicians.

UPDATE: See also "[Harry Reid] Backs Decision to Block Immigration Enforcement Rule".

Posted to Immigration2007b at 02:00 PM

Rick Sanchez/CNN "Out in the Open" about support for illegal immigration

CNN has a new program that airs at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern entitled "Out in the Open" and hosted by Rick Sanchez, who they or he appear to be positioning as the CNN version of Geraldo Rivera (albeit with 100% less moustache and 20% even more doofusness).

Tonight's show will be live from Irving, Texas; the description:

Illegal immigrants allegedly doped with drugs just to make it easier to deport them! We bring this shocking claim 'Out in the Open.'

Most likely his report will be based on this CNN story. Two persons who were to be deported were involuntarily drugged; the ACLU is suing and trying to make it a class action. They may or may not have a point since it isn't clear what the rules are and the specific circumstances of each case. More here.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:17 AM

Clerk arrested in Rhode Island driver's licenses scam has minor links to Democrats

Two Rhode Island DMV clerks (Soraya Santiago and Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme) have been arrested for selling driver's licenses to illegal aliens and drug dealers. From this:

...[Rodriguez-LaFlamme]... had already been ordered deported. Her application for adjusted immigration status had been denied after a federal investigation discovered two fraudulent marriages, according to a state police affidavit. LaFlamme is appealing the deportation order.

Some who know LaFlamme from her political action in the Latino community said they knew about her immigration issues. LaFlamme had volunteered on a number of election campaigns for Democrats, including those for U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, and City Councilman Nicholas Narducci Jr.

Yesterday, Narducci said he learned LaFlamme wasn't a citizen last year when she tried to run for a seat on the Ward 4 Democratic committee. She had posted her campaign on a page on Narducci's Web site — touting her employment at the Registry and that she'd come to this country from the Dominican Republic in 1996, and borrowing Narducci's election slogan "A New Beginning." But Narducci said another candidate eventually ran for the seat when it was discovered that LaFlamme was ineligible to vote. She was put on the Ward's community action committee instead.

State Rep. Anastasia Williams, D-Providence, a close friend of Laflamme, said yesterday she didn't know what type of visa LaFlamme entered with, or how long it would have allowed LaFlamme to remain in the United States legally. Williams said that LaFlamme "had gotten married to someone here, while she was still in good standing."

Posted to Immigration_dls at 09:58 AM

SCHIP and illegal aliens (shocker: a Center for American Progress fib?)

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP/S-CHIP) appears like it could be abused by illegal aliens to obtain benefits that they should not, under the bill, receive. Whether that's intentional or not isn't known. The bill was recently vetoed by president Bush. The House will try to override the veto next week (link).

The bill is HR 976 (link). Section 605 ("No federal funding for illegal aliens") contains this one sentence:

Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents.

However, Section 211 ("Verification of declaration of citizenship or nationality for purposes of eligibility for medicaid and chip") describes how eligibility for the program can be proven by providing a name and a social security number. That's then verified with the Commissioner of Social Security. That would allow illegal aliens and others to obtain benefits using someone else's name and SSN, just as long as they match:

In order to better understand the impact of these changes, on Friday I [presumably Jim McCrery, Ranking Member, Committee on Ways and Means] wrote a letter to the Social Security Administration, asking whether this type of process could detect and prevent legal and illegal aliens from improperly qualifying for Medicaid and SCHIP. In his response (copy attached), SSA Commissioner Astrue indicated that the new provision would fail to identify and therefore prevent the following categories of persons from illegally getting healthcare benefits through Medicaid or SCHIP:

* Legal aliens who are not naturalized citizens;
* Illegal aliens fraudulently using another persons valid name and Social Security number;
* Individuals who have illegally overstayed a valid work permit.

Commissioner Astrue's letter makes it explicitly clear that this new provision will not prevent legal and illegal aliens from violating our laws and qualifying for Medicaid and SCHIP.

So, while the bill pretends to block illegal aliens from obtaining benefits, there's a huge loophole which many illegal aliens would seek to take advantage of. And, their apologists - those who profit from illegal immigration in some way - would seek to enable them to obtain those benefits.

Thus, we turn to Meredith King of the Clinton-linked Center for American Progress, which is more of a joke than a think tank. In her August 16, 2007 article [1] she said:

Hardline conservatives in the White House and Congress failed to defeat this progressive legislation. But undeterred, they are now falsely claiming that the House bill will allow undocumented immigrants access to public health insurance at the expense of tax paying citizens.

Could the version of the bill she's discussing be different? Apparently not. The earliest version appears to be H.R.3269 from July 31, 2007 (link), and it contains a Section 211 nearly identical to that in the vetoed version.

She's not alone. The October 8 MetroWest Daily News (Massachusetts) editorial "Editorial: Twisting SCHIP facts" [2] says:

But a more blatant distortion comes from James Ogonowski, the Republican candidate for the 5th District Congressional seat in an Oct. 16 special election. "What bothers me the most is the benefits SCHIP gives to illegal immigrants," he wrote in an oped column in the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune... But he ought to read the bill before he votes on it, including this part: "SEC. 605. NO FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS. Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents."

[1] americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/schip_immigrants.html
[2] metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/x1251771357

Related:
ThinkProgress misrepresents Chertoff comment about environmental damage on border
Sleazy Think Progress, Anderson Cooper lie about Tom Tancredo
Media Matters for America plays word games re: their funding
Ruy Teixeira, polling "expert", agenda-driven hack
Judd Legum/Think Progress: propaganda is OK if for a good cause
More Center for American Progress piffle on immigration

Posted to Immigration2007b at 10:07 PM

Fabian Nunez shares luxury downtown L.A. penthouse with fundraiser Dan Weitzman

From this:

State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez shares a luxury downtown penthouse with a prominent fundraiser [Dan Weitzman] who has collected nearly $600,000 in fees and expenses from Nunez's political committees and the state Democratic Party since 2005.

State law places no restrictions on legislators living with friends or fundraisers, but some government watchdog groups say such arrangements can raise potential conflicts because of the proximity of political power and contributors' money.

Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat and one of the state's most powerful dealmakers, pays $1,000 of the $4,325 rent to live part-time in the loft-style penthouse in his district, which has 20-foot ceilings and jetliner views...

A map of the 46th Assembly District is here. It's surprising that he choose a luxury downtown penthouse (what he calls a "loft") instead of such glamorous locations as Pico-Union, South L.A., Maywood, Huntington Park, or the industrial paradise known as Vernon. Maybe it's just because Cudahy is outside of his district.

Posted to California at 03:43 PM

Students visit asylum, see Tony Villar, Dianne Feinstein

(From the L.A. Times, via this)

Posted to WackyHumor at 03:14 PM

Vicente Fox: FTAA common currency (Amero), Hillary for president, Bill Richardson, driver's licenses, lies about heathcare...

On Monday's Larry King show, former Mexican president Vicente Fox:

* Said that the Free Trade Agreement of the Americans (FTAA; called in Spanish ACLA) on which he worked with president Bush was to, long-term, include a common "Latin American" currency. Since that agreement would apply to the U.S., the currency would apply here as well...

* Promoted immigration from Mexico, "guest" workers, and NAFTA...

* Lied about U.S. citizens not paying the healthcare costs for illegal aliens...

* Agreed with Felipe Calderon's claim that "Mexico does not stop at its border"...

* Promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens...

* Said he wants Hillary Clinton to be president and called Bill Clinton a "great man"...

* Said that Bill Richardson was a "excellent man" and that "he's so Mexican in his interior"...

Transcript here; excerpts in the extended entry.

The first point resulted in this:

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed the existence of a plan conceived with President Bush to create a new regional currency in the Americas, in an interview last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

It possibly was the first time a leader of Mexico, Canada or the U.S. openly confirmed a plan for a regional currency. Fox explained the current regional trade agreement that encompasses the Western Hemisphere is intended to evolve into other previously hidden aspects of integration.

Fox' statement resulted in Les Kinsolving asking about it:

A spokeswoman for the White House has denied any knowledge of a discussion between President Bush and former Mexican President Vicente Fox where the two, as Fox confirmed, conceived a plan for a regional currency for the Americas.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino also said she's not aware of any plan for such a currency either...

Whether that's worth a plugged Amero is left up to the reader's judgment.

FOX: ...And so I am not claiming for open borders to everybody. What I am claiming for is a decision, an intelligent decision with a vision to the future, because the United States needs that energy to support the elderly, to support the pension plans, to be competitive in front of Asia and China. And it's a must.

...KING: ...In his state of the union address [Calderon] said, "I have said that Mexico does not stop at its border, that wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

Do you agree with that?

FOX: Yes. Yes. But I also put my feet on the ground or my boots on the ground. And I understand the problem. But we must deal with problems. We must deal with challenges...[blathers on...]

FOX: ...and give a driver's license, because you need a driver's license only to those who know how to drive, and you will be much more secure to have those guys driving with a driver's license, the insurance and everything all together, instead of them driving without a license and without any I.D.

..FOX: ...[promotes guest workers]

...KING: ...We have an e-mail question from Patricia, Oxnard, California: "Why should the American public have to pay for medical care of illegal immigrants from Mexico? Why shouldn't we be able to bill the government of Mexico for care given to their citizens?"

FOX: Patricia, let me tell you that you're not paying for medical care for undocumented workers...

FOX: ...what I see is fear dominating people here -- or some people here because it's still, I would say that a majority of your citizens would go along with a reform, done with a proper intelligence and solve this problem once and for all and convert it into win-win situation.

KING: [who does he want for president?]

FOX: A lady [i.e., Hillary] would be my choice... [Bill Clinton is a] Great man. [Jimmy Carter's great too] ...[his "Fox Center" is] associated with the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California, the largest think tank in the world. They are going to open an office in San Cristobal, in the farm by the side of the center so that we will work on developing knowledge and research together.

...[Bill Richardson is an] Excellent man. I mean, he's so Mexican in his interior, I like him a lot. And he's a good governor. Good man.

...KING: E-mail from Mrs. Gonzalez in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "Mr. Fox, I would like to know how you feel about the possibility of having a Latin America united with one currency?"

FOX: Long term, very long term. What we propose together, President Bush and myself, it's ALCA, which is a trade union for all of the Americas. And everything was running fluently until Hugo Chavez came. He decided to isolate himself. He decided to combat the idea and destroy the idea...

KING: It's going to be like the euro dollar, you mean?

FOX: Well, that would be long, long term. I think the processes to go, first step into is trading agreement. And then further on, a new vision, like we are trying to do with NAFTA.

KING: How is NAFTA doing?

FOX: Excellent. Mexico's seventh largest trading economy in the world... So we account for hundreds of thousands of jobs in this economy in the U.S.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 02:40 PM

John Edwards in shocking torrid affair?

Our confidential sources are now ready to report: presidential contender John Edwards is involved in a steamy, shocking, torrid affair which started via phone calls and email messages and soon "exploded into romance":

"The affair started about 18 months ago," a friend says the woman confessed to her. "When they met at a bar, sparks flew immediately.

"She never expected it would turn sexual since John is married and is running for President. But it soon did — and she fell for him."

In one bombshell e-mail message provided to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, the woman confesses to a friend she's "in love with John," but it's "difficult because he is married and has kids."

In another e-mail, she writes: "Last night and this a.m., he actually has amazed me. He is a great man. My heart is loud and my head is silenced."

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:39 AM

Giuliani advisor warned about national worker's ID card... in 1986

As part of his pledge to "end illegal immigration", Rudy Giuliani wants to require all foreigners in the U.S. to carry a biometric ID card. As discussed at the link, that would either be ineffective or it would eventually result in a national ID card for all.

Back in 1986, one of Giuliani's current advisors - Annelise Anderson of the Hoover Institution - published "Illegal Aliens and Employer Sanctions: Solving the Wrong Problem" (link) discussed the massive downsides of national ID cards. It appears that those under Simpson-Mazzoli - unlike Giuliani's plan - were to be for everyone, so her paper isn't completely applicable to the current proposal. It would, however, eventually become applicable:

Supporters of the legislation point to provisions limiting the use of any employee identification to employment eligibility. But one Congress cannot bind another Congress. It is easy to imagine a future Congress, seeking to deal with terrorism, gun control, civil disturbance, tax evasion, draft evasion, failure to pay child support, voter fraud, welfare fraud, spies, communicable diseases, multiple drug prescriptions, or whatever, extending the power to use the national identification system to deal with the crisis of the moment... A centralized national identity system is an extraordinarily powerful tool to give to a government. No totalitarian government operates without one. It requires a naivete based on a total absence of historical perspective to believe that we can allow the government to establish such a system and at the same time prevent its eventual use for purposes that we would today consider totally unacceptable. The problem of illegal immigration does not warrant such a risk...

Posted to Politics at 10:38 AM

Barack Obama endorses California DREAM Act; help discredit him

Barack Obama wants Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign Gil Cedillo's "California DREAM Act". From a statement (link):

"If Governor Schwarzenegger vetoes the Dream Act a second time, he will compound the immigration crisis by driving thousands of children who are on the right path into the shadows... We teach our children that in America you will thrive if you work hard and dream big. Governor Schwarzenegger now has the chance to demonstrate that instead of blaming one group for the challenges America faces, he can unite Californians and give children who play by the rules the opportunity to succeed."

If anyone can go to his campaign appearances and ask him this question and then publicizes the response, it just might end his candidacy. (That question is about the national version, but it applies just as well in this case.)

Posted to Immigration2007b at 08:13 PM

District Judge Charles Breyer blocks DHS no-match letters (ACLU, CofC, AFL-CIO)

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post offers "Judge Bars Bush Crackdown on Illegal Workers" (link):

A federal judge barred the Bush administration today from launching a planned crackdown on U.S. firms that hire illegal immigrants, warning of the plan's potentially "staggering" impact on law-abiding workers and companies.

Issuing a firm rebuke of the White House, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction against the government's plan to pressure employers to fire up to 8.7 million workers with suspect Social Security numbers starting this fall.

...Breyer said the plaintiffs, an unusual coalition that included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and the American Civil Liberties Union, had raised such serious questions about the plan to mail Social Security "no-match" letters to 140,000 U.S. employers that it should be blocked from proceeding.

It's not that "unusual": such groups have been allied in their support for illegal activity for a long time. Note of course that this is being portrayed as a defeat for Bush, when he, the WaPo, and those who brought the suit are on the same side.

..."The government's proposal to disseminate no-match letters affecting more than eight million workers will, under the mandated time line, result in the termination of employment to lawfully employed workers," the judge wrote. "Moreover the threat of criminal prosecution . . . reflects a major change in DHS [Department of Homeland Security] policy."

The previous "policy" was to refuse to enforce the laws on the books. When they make a half-hearted attempt at enforcing the laws, corrupt businesses and far-left "civil rights" groups - together with a Clinton-appointed judge (fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2719) - can't even let that happen. This will apparently be appealed, but if you'd like to do something more effective in the meantime, I suggest discrediting those who support illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 01:29 PM

Los Angeles Times editorial lies about California DREAM Act

The Los Angeles Times offers an editorial called "Make the Dream reality/Legislation to help undocumented California college students benefits everyone" (link) about Gil Cedillo's "California DREAM Act". In addition to admitting that what they write might "strike some as soft-hearted sophistry", it contains this lie:

Cedillo's bill doesn't jeopardize college for anyone -- it simply expands the universe of students we are willing to help.

Any dollar spent on educating illegal aliens is money that could be spent on educating U.S. citizens. By giving college discounts to illegal aliens, we're taking those discounts away from U.S. citizens and, thus, some U.S. citizens will not be able to go to college. There really is no way around that unless, as the Los Angeles Times seems to think, money grows on trees.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 11:47 AM

Vicente Fox promotes North American Union (Jon Stewart)

Continuing his book tour, former Mexican president Vicente Fox appeared on the Jon Stewart show (link).

Like good, trained "liberals", the audience applauded this remark:

"It's my impression that fear is guiding public opinion here"

He also conflated legal cross-border trade with the border fence; the latter is, of course, designed to block illegal traffic and "trade".

Then, Fox discussed how we need more "solidarity", describing how the European Union has increased incomes in Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and Greece.

Then, Stewart almost said "North American Union" but seemed to stop himself in time:

"Would you like to see a North American U... so, what's your team? U.S., Mexico, Canada... you want Canada?"

The latter caused the trained "liberals" to erupt in laughter, completely missing the fact that Fox said that that would indeed be his team.

Stewart is just a tool, but at least he almost got some truth out there.

Posted to NAU at 10:53 AM

Bill O'Reilly asks Vicente Fox some tough questions

Tonya Reiman has enough material for weeks and weeks, as former Mexican president Vicente Fox was asked a few tough questions by Bill O'Reilly. He didn't go as far as I would have liked to have seen, but Fox was clearly taken aback by some of the questions:

Posted to Immigration2007b at 08:17 PM

9/11 Commish: al Qaeda "will be able to come to New York" with Spitzer driver's licenses

From this:

Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer's new policy that permits illegal immigrants to obtain New York State driver's licenses is "an absurd" decision that will provide a new gateway for terrorists, a member of the federal commission that investigated the 2001 World Trade Center attacks warns.

"It's a perfect formula for al-Qaida. They won't be able to resist it. They will be able to come to New York," said John Lehman, a former secretary of the Navy who served on the 9/11 Commission that warned of the nation's vulnerabilities to terrorist strikes...

"It is not logical," he said of the Spitzer policy, adding: "As we know, New York is target number one."

Spitzer's plan "is going to make life easier for illegals," especially terrorists, counterfeiters and others who will have easy access to a valuable piece of identification, Lehman said...

Posted to Immigration_dls at 07:43 PM

Pamela Constable/WaPo on Latinos who lose money when laws enforced

Pamela Constable of the Washington Post offers "Latinos Unite Across Classes Against Curbs on Immigration" (link). It ends with this:

"I have always appreciated this country, and it really upsets me to hear about this law," said [middle class construction company employee Jesus Calva], who spoke briefly at last Tuesday's [Prince William County] hearing [about an anti-illegal immigration resolution]. Afterward, he strode outside, sat down on a curb and began to weep in frustration. "Even when I was illegal, I worked hard for everything I got, and I paid a lot of taxes," he said. "If they don't like us, why don't they just say so? I love my home, but I don't want to live in a place where I am hated."

Oh, no! The mean-spirited racist xenophobes have made him cry! Don't weep, Jesus! It's OK. Here, why don't we just open the borders so everyone of your same race can come here at will? Will that make it all better for you?

Plus, it will help all those businesses that Pamela Constable mentions earlier in her report, the ones run by those who - while hitherto shunning their lower-caste brethern - now realize that with immigration enforcement they'll lose money. At least they openly admit it's mostly about the money.

The affected businessmen include the owner of a real estate settlement company with a "mainly Latino clientele" (Jose Marinay), the owner of a variety store, and someone who "owns several cafes and clubs in Prince William" (Ruben Andrade). They've formed an unnamed coalition:

In August, a regional Latino business coalition was formed to seek subtler ways to fight anti-immigration measures, such as through personal lobbying and economic power. Coalition leaders said that it was hard to get some entrepreneurs involved but that more are being spurred to action by a mixture of self-interest, guilt and sympathy for those they once considered a lower class of immigrant... "This is definitely not business as usual. If people can't buy groceries, they can't buy cars or houses," said Marinay, a coalition official. Other members work in real estate, banking, entertainment and insurance. "We are a wealthy group, and we have invested millions in this region," he said. "Why can't we get these people off our backs? It's our own fault for not being united."

I guess "these people" refers to those U.S. citizens who support our laws, i.e., us.

The August 15 article "Businesses Vow to Fight Crackdown" by Nick Miroff and Krissah Williams (link) has more on the coalition, with most of their members supporting a boycott organized by Mexicanos Sin Fronteras. Unlike Constable's article, it's all about those businesses losing money.

If the Washington Post wanted to be a real news source - instead of just a propaganda rag for those who seek to indirectly profit from illegal activity - they'd discuss whether it's good public policy to encourage those who need illegal immigration to stay in business. Perhaps those business owners should be forced to look into above-board ways of making money.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 09:55 AM

Fabian Nunez runs from reporter (questionable luxury expenditures)

Last week, the LAT reported on lavish expenditures by California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (also a Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair). Now, oddly enough, Miriam Hernandez of KABC-TV tried to ask him about those luxury purchases. However, Nunez apparently didn't want to talk and she ended up following him down a hallway and being held back by security: link.

From last year and along the same lines:
Fabian Nunez denies making racist speech (Prop. 187)

Posted to California at 09:38 AM

How to Make Ron Paul a Top-Tier Candidate

This video shows how you can make Ron Paul a top-tier candidate, specifically by reducing the popularity of his opponents. The video mainly consists of a series of text screens and the script is below.

This shouldn't be considered an endorsement of Ron Paul; while I support him on sovereignty-related and similar issues, his libertarian economic policies would make me pine for the glory days of Bill Clinton. However, the current top-tier candidates are remarkably bad and anything that will reduce their popularity should be welcomed by all those who, for instance, oppose illegal immigration.

At the very least, if enough people take the advice on the video it will lead to the major Republican and Democratic candidates being forced to deal with issues in a more serious matter than they have before. It might also shame the mainstream media into asking real questions instead of simply acting as a transcription service.

Script:

To make Ron Paul a top-tier candidate, his popularity has to increase at the same time as the popularity of his opponents decreases.

An excellent way to reduce the popularity of his opponents is to expose their misleading statements and the flaws in their policies. The mainstream media won't do that, so it's up to you.

To reduce their popularity, go to campaign appearances by the current top-tier GOP - and Democratic - candidates, and try to ask them tough questions about their policies. Then, upload their responses to video sharing sites and promote the responses via blogs, forums, and other means.

The questions should be about their policy positions or things they've already said or done.

The questions should be about popular issues that people care about; immigration matters are a great choice, especially because that's where all the major candidates are weakest and the mainstream media refuses to press the candidates on that issue.

For maximum impact, try to anticipate the response to the question. If a politician will answer your question with their standard speech, change the question so they don't have that opportunity.

Try to keep the question brief and if you need to provide background information, pass out flyers with links to supporting information.

If enough people do this, it will have the side-effect of making the mainstream media look bad because regular citizens will be asking the questions they're afraid to ask.

So, please get out there and start asking some tough questions.

Posted to Politics at 03:06 PM

Oregon gov. Kulongoski wants driver's licenses for illegal aliens, admits it's to help businesses

From this:

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is suggesting a two-tiered system for Oregon driver's licenses: one card for those who can prove they're citizens and another for those who can't.

...The license for those who provide proof of "legal presence" would become an official identification card, for use at airports, banks and other places that require ID. The other license would be for driving privileges only and would be stamped "not for identification."

...[Kulongoski] said he wants to bring Oregon into compliance with the federal Real ID Act as a way to stem the tide of identity thefts and to help guard the nation against terrorist attacks...

Afterward, however, he said he also wants to allow driving privileges to people who can't prove they're in the country legally. Not doing so would create problems for workers who lack such proof and their employers, Kulongoski said...

The issue apparently won't come up for a vote until February, but if you're in that state you can start calling his office now. Or, go to his public appearances and ask him tough questions about his plans.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 01:18 PM

National Latino Congreso: "No Human Being is Illegal", Nativo Lopez, Gil Cedillo, Kucinich, Cuban Five, Fairness Doctrine, and more!

The 2nd annual "National Latino Congreso" - a meeting of hundreds of "Latino organizational leaders, elected officials, and activists at all levels" is currently underway in Los Angeles (latinocongreso.org). Yesterday, Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times offered a whitewashed report here. Let's take a look at the groups involved and some of the loony resolutions that were passed. Expect the MSM coverage to be in line with Gorman's report: it will completely cover for far-left racial demagogues and avoid mentioning the loony resolutions.

Their "conveners' include:

* League of United Latin American Citizens
* Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (indirect link to the Mexican government)
* National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities
* National Day Laborer Organizing Network
* Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
* William C. Velasquez Institute

Their "co-conveners" include the California Nurses Association, Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, and the Mexican American Political Association. Both the latter are associated with Nativo Lopez. They have 226 "endorsers", so discussing all of those would take a lot of time. But, one is the Communist Party USA, and most of the rest are far-left racial power groups.

The sheer number and sheer idiocy of the resolutions that were approved makes them likewise too difficult to cover in detail, however, they include:

* "No Human Being is Illegal" by Raul Anorve of "Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California" (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=41). If it were made U.S. law we would have literally open borders since we couldn't conduct immigration raids anymore and illegal aliens would have "full civil rights". It contains several grammatical mistakes and ends with:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the that organizations represented by delegates of the 2007 National Latino Congreso urge the United States pass socially just legalization, including full labor and civil rights protections and family reunification; to place a moratorium on immigration raids, detentions and deportations, as well as their eventual abolition; and... [the NLC urges] the United States demilitarize the border, immigration control, and end immigration-police collaboration; to support initiatives and policies that ensure healthy and stable communities, including living wage jobs for all immigrants, working people and people of color... [the NLC urges] the United States redistribute funding and resources away from prison-building, policing and criminalization to social, health and education services, family reunification, ending the backlog in visas and applications for permanent residency and citizenship, and full civil and labor rights protections for all persons, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.

Bear in mind: they approved that and all the other resolutions to be discussed.

* "Resolution to Urge the Bush Administration to Halt Immigration Raids" by Pablo Martinez of New Mexico LULAC (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=22). It's moderate by comparison to the last, but that's not saying much.

* "Resolution to Urge Congress to Repeal 287 (g) and Restructure Federal Funding to Target Drug Enforcement Operations and Place a Civilian Oversight Committee" by ibid (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=21).

* "Fair, Humane and Rational Immigration Reform" by Nativo Lopez of Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=45). As you might guess, it's a very bad idea, and includes him calling for enactment of the "Unity Blueprint for Immigration Reform".

* "Resolution on the Five Cuban Political Prisoners" by Alicia Jrapko of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=12). When I said far-left, I meant it.

* "Support for Puerto Rico Self Determination" by Pablo Martinez of LULAC (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=96).

* "Unconstitutional Towing and Driver's License Resolution" by Gil Cedillo (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=26). It uses that possibly inaccurate recitation of events as a vehicle to support driver's licenses for illegal aliens; I wonder why they didn't just come right out and support that explicitly.

* "Decreasing the National Hispanic Dropout Rate Supporting the DREAM Act" by Luis Avila of the Somos America Coalition (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=129).

* "Restore the Fairness Doctrine Act", ibid, (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=126).

* "RESOLUTION TO DEMAND THAT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HEAR THE CASE OF THE U.S. CITIZEN CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED PARENTS" from Mr. Emma Lozano [sic] supposedly of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=125). She may be a part of that group, or that might be a mistake; the URL is to somosunpueblo (with an extra 's'):

[The NLC demands] that the U.S Supreme Court hear the Class Action Suit of the 5 million U.S. Citizen Children to prevent the enforcement of the removal of their parents fro the United States without first giving the children a fair opportunity to obtain a remedy for their hardship and redress for the implicit violation of their civil rights.

* 'Formal Position and Statement Denouncing Vigilantism of the "Minutemen Project"' by Yuri Jimenez of Kucinich For President 2008 (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=62):

WHEREAS the Minutemen Project encourages and incites hatred, violence, racism and discrimination in border States... THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by delegates of the 2007 National Latino Congreso formally denounce the Minutemen Project, and further declare their position that the Project promotes violence, hatred, racism and discrimination which are not representative traits of the honorable and just American society that has a rich legacy of immigration and inclusiveness.

The other Kucinich resolution approved condemned Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's illegal immigration hotline (latinocongreso.org/resolutions07approved.php?id=56).

Posted to Immigration2007b at 07:55 PM

Michael Chertoff/DHS "fisks" NYT/WaPo pro-illegal immigration editorials

From our "what universe is this again?" file comes this entry (dhs.gov/journal/leadership/2007/10/its-law.html) from the Department of Homeland Security "Leadership Journal", aka DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff's blog:

Two editorials in today's Washington Post and New York Times offer a good illustration of the kind of obstacles our Department faces in dealing with the problem of illegal immigration.

The Washington Post writes [link] that our use of Social Security no-match letters to prevent the hiring of illegal workers actually harms legal workers as well. That is simply not true. Legal workers can provide any number of identity documents to establish or clarify their work eligibility, including a passport [other points]...

But the Post raises what I suspect is the real argument being mounted against the no-match rule [implies it's about the money, says opponents want him to "pursue a silent amnesty"]

The New York Times editorial staff also hyperventilates today about our efforts to apprehend criminal gang affiliates in the New York area as part of a nationwide initiative to take dangerous illegal aliens off the street... [opposes special interest groups trying to tie DHS's hands, but also promotes "comprehensive immigration reform"].

Posted to Immigration2007b at 01:52 PM

DHS revamping agriculture guest worker programs (crops rotting in fields, redefining "temporary")

Nicole Gaouette of the Los Angeles Times offers "U.S. lets in more immigrants for farms" (link):

With a nationwide farmworker shortage threatening to leave unharvested fruits and vegetables rotting in fields, the Bush administration has begun quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers can legally be brought into the country.

...On all sides of the farm industry, the administration's behind-the-scenes initiative to revamp H-2A farmworker visas is fraught with anxiety. Advocates for immigrants fear the changes will come at the expense of worker protections because the administration has received and is reportedly acting on extensive input from farm lobbyists. And farmers in areas such as the San Joaquin Valley, which is experiencing a 20% labor shortfall, worry the administration's changes will not happen soon enough for the 2008 growing season.

"It's like a ticking time bomb that's going to go off," said Luawanna Hallstrom, chief operating officer of Harry Singh & Sons, a third-generation family farm in Oceanside that grows tomatoes. "I'm looking at my fellow farmers and saying, 'Oh my God, what's going on?' "

"Family farm" or politically-connected major albeit non-corporate grower? Perhaps if the LAT wanted to do some real reporting they might consider looking into her links.

Officials at the three federal agencies are scrutinizing the regulations to see whether they can adjust the farmworker program, an unwieldy system used by less than 2% of American farms to bring in foreign workers. They are considering a series of changes, including lengthening the time workers can stay, expanding the types of work they can do, simplifying how their applications are processed, and redefining terms such as "temporary."

Orwell would be proud.

The agencies are also working on possible changes to a separate visa program, H-2B, which brings in seasonal workers for resorts, clam-shucking operations and horse stables, among other businesses.

All of which are vital to our economy.

...The changes to the H-2A visa program comprise one of more than two dozen initiatives the administration announced in August. Most of the initiatives dealt with increased enforcement, the most prominent being a measure that would force employers to either fire workers for whom they've received "no match" notification (indicating their W-2 data don't match Social Security Administration records) or face punitive action from the Department of Homeland Security. When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the enforcement push, he also acknowledged the problems that agriculture reported.

...Industry lobbyists have sent the Bush administration a set of detailed suggestions for overhauling the H-2A program through administrative changes, which could take weeks to put in place, and through changes in the regulations, a process that takes months.

Some of the suggestions under consideration include changing the procedures farmers must use to try to hire U.S. citizens first. Currently farmers have to advertise the jobs, then submit applications to Labor and Homeland Security to bring in foreign workers. Growers would prefer to move to a system in which they pledged that they had done all they could to recruit U.S. workers, but no longer had to submit an application to Labor.

Other changes under consideration would simplify the detailed H-2A housing requirements, extend the definition of "temporary" beyond 10 months, and expand the definition of "agricultural" workers to include such industries as meatpacking and poultry processing.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 11:07 AM

Liberal or Conservative? A primer with videos

Conservatives believe in authority, an almost mathematically-based order, efficiency, and reason:

On the other hand, liberals (called in more extreme cases "progressives" or "socialists") substitute reason for pure emotionalism. They enjoy dressing up as fairy tale characters and similar and engaging in historical re-creations; they believe in faerie sprites, hobgoblins, and elves. They also tend to have higher voices. And, they enjoy long walks through the woods engaging in interpretive dance:

Posted to WackyHumor at 11:40 AM

Fabian Nunez' questionable expenditures (luxury foreign hotels, goods)

California Assembly speaker and Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair Fabian Nunez must be on the outs with the Politburo, because the Los Angeles Times offers "Nunez travels the world like a high-roller" (link):

[...his spending] includes $47,412 on United, Lufthansa and Air France airlines this year; $8,745 at the exclusive Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a "meeting" at Cave L'Avant Garde, a wine seller in the Bordeaux region of France; a total of $2,562 for two "office expenses" at Vuitton, two years apart; and $1,795 for a "meeting" at Le Grand Colbert, a venerable Parisian restaurant.

...Other expenses are closer to home: a $1,715 meeting at Asia de Cuba restaurant in West Hollywood; a $317 purchase at upscale Pavilion Salon Shoes in Sacramento; a $2,428 meeting at 58 Degrees and Holding, a Sacramento wine bar and bistro; and $800 spent at Dollar Rent a Car in Kihei, Hawaii.

...Given a list of 99 entries culled from his campaign finance filings, however, Nunez's staff refused to show how the expenditures were related to California government or politics...

..."There's not too big a difference," [Nunez] said, "between how I live and how most middle-class people live."

...He received a total of $1.9 million in 2005 and 2006 from unions, corporations and others with a perennial stake in legislative business. They include $17,300 from AT&T and Verizon, phone companies that pushed Nunez legislation allowing them to compete against cable television companies, and $2,500 from a group of pharmaceutical companies affected by a Nunez bill to create a prescription drug discount program.

The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California donated $5,000 in February 2006, one day before a bill it sponsored was introduced in the Assembly.

The state Democratic Party, which unlike officeholders can raise unlimited sums, transferred $4 million to Nunez's campaign account last November.

...Similarly, the tax-exempt William C. Velasquez Institute, a policy think tank focused on Latino issues, paid $6,169 toward Nunez's 2005 trip to France and Sweden to study universal preschool. The institute also helped finance Nunez's trip to France in April to study high-speed rail, according to institute President Antonio Gonzalez...

Posted to California at 11:15 AM

Diane Sawyer/Good Morning America in Mexico on Columbus Day

On Monday, October 8 (Columbus Day), Diane Sawyer from Good Morning America (newsbusters.org/node/14050) will be "reporting" from Mexico on immigration. Why, the segment practically writes itself. While I don't watch the show and won't be tuning in, I expect it will basically be a "nation of immigrants" propaganda piece and she won't be featuring anything remotely approaching real reporting, such as Mexico's role in encouraging emigration in order to profit from the money that illegal aliens in the U.S. send home.

UPDATE: Here's the transcript of a biased report from Claire Shipman that ran on today's GMA:
newsbusters.org/blogs/
scott-whitlock/2007/10/05/abc-frets-local-governments-going-too-far-against-illegals
(Link in that form because I've twice tried to register for their site and twice heard nothing back.)

10/8/07 UPDATE: Things went largely as expected, while it wasn't a complete puff piece (she asked Felipe Calderon about remittances) it was basically propaganda designed to support those who, in one way or another, are profiting from illegal immigration. Transcript here:
newsbusters.org/blogs/
scott-whitlock/2007/10/08/abc-blames-angry-emotional-americans-immigration-debate

Posted to Immigration2007b at 11:12 AM

AVWatch: Antonio Villaraigosa panders at gala supporting fashion designer charged with rape (Anand Jon, McAuliffe)

Anand Jon is a fashion designer who's been charged with 59 counts of sexual assault or rape involving women between 14 and 27 (link). The number of charges was recently raised from 46 in June, and he's now in jail. His lawyer says it's all fabricated.

Meanwhile, on September 15th, former MEChA leader, Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair, and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended a gala organized by Jon's sister for the "Friends of the South Asian American Communities". It featured a large number of people wearing t-shirts saying, "We Support Anand Jon" (link).



In addition to Tony Villar, former DNC chairman and current Chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign Terry McAuliffe was there (note the "We Support Anand Jon" t-shirt):



What a party indeed.

...members of the fashion community participated in [Jon's sister's] Fashion extravaganza in support of global independence, civil rights and her brother the crown prince of couture designer ANAND JON... A line up of stunning models wearing "WE SUPPORT ANAND JON" opened a spectacular fashion presentation on the 15 of September for the annual gala event for FOSAAC celebrating 60 years of Indian independence... [...a video "humaniz[ing]" Anand Jon was shown...]

After the LA Mayor introduced Terry McAuliffe, Sanjana Jon, Marla Maples, Camille McDonald, and Amrita Thapar took the stage and made a plea to the community and politicians to take a strong stance and consideration regarding the violation of individual's civil rights. GUILTY BY COLOR should be eradicated and justice served was the main message promoted through the show.

The Honorable Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa had greeted the audience with "Namaste". The Mayor expressed his warm gratitude towards the South Asian community, he had said, "you have always supported me whether it was for State Assembly or the Speaker of Assembly and now as Mayor." The Mayor had said, "It is not only India’s Independence but it is Mexican Independence as well, our flags are similar and so are the people. It is my honor to be the Mayor of Los Angeles, where my grandfather had come a hundred years ago with a dream. ...[American dream, Mahatma Gandhi, etc.]... So the connection between Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian people, Mexicans, Americans of every nationality is deep and profound. ...["peaceful co-existence among the nations", etc... ...[Los Angeles is a] diverse city in America and a diverse city in the world...

[McAuliffe said:] "...The South Asian Commuinty has been with us in our good and bad times. I will never forget what you have done for the Clinton family. You have been our friends and you have made us stronger."

UPDATE: In comments, "Intimately Involved" says:

This accusation is completely false. I was intimately involved with the event and the fact is that sanjana jon, anands sister, was hired explicitly as a professional to create a 15 minute fashion show to commence the evenings schedule of awards and dinner. The event never was advertised in anyway to be connected with Anand John. The true summary of the events, rather than a blog post that ambiguously states names, is locate here: http://indiapost.com/article/communitypost/1053/1/print/ The event was to celebrate Indian Independence Day with an award show and dinner. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was invited to introduce Terry McAulife, the guest of honor, and to present him his award. Please get your facts straight next time. This kind of slanderous garbage deserves to be in tabloids, as there is no 1st person verification, and John and Ken drew their sources from a blog post.

The "best" defense from the Villar/McAuliffe perspective would be that the "blog post" is a pro-Anand inflation of the events. Does "Intimately Involved" deny that there was a pro-Anand video and that pro-Anand statements were made? Even if only a small part of the event was pro-Anand, shouldn't Villaraigosa and McAuliffe have distanced themselves from that part of the event, and shouldn't McAuliffe have avoided having his picture taken with someone wearing a "We Support Anand Jon" t-shirt? Wouldn't, for instance, Hillary run from a photo op with someone wearing a Che t-shirt? The indiapost link says Sahara One Television was there; perhaps someone has a tape. I note also that "my facts" are the ones not in italics; the only contradiction between "Intimately Involved"'s description and mine is the extent of his sister's involvement in organizing the event. And, assuming the italicized quotes from Villaraigosa are accurate, he's still a pandering fool.

UPDATE 2: Whether Sanjaya Jon "hijacked" the event or not, it should have been abundantly clear to anyone watching the fashion show that support for Anand Jon was a major part of it. Both Villaraigosa and McAuliffe have been around the block multiple times, so surely they must have wondered who this "Anand Jon" was. Despite that, McAuliffe still had his picture taken with someone wearing one of the shirts. Here are four photos from http://www.newsasia.us/fosaac-pics.asp, click for a larger version:



UPDATE 3: Kevin Kaul (fosaac.com/kevinkaul/bio.html) - founder and chairman of the "Friends of the South Asian American Communities" (fosaac.com), the group that organized the event, is a Hillraiser (hillaryclinton.com/feature/HillRaisers).

And, from fosaac.com/images/fosaac%20ad%20sep%2015th%20jpeg_1.jpg here's the flyer for the event:



The "Cultural Program Highlights" section says "Fashion extravaganza by international fashion designer Sanjana Jon. This special event will also mark the runway debut of Donald Trump's beautiful daughter Tiffany Trump." There's no mention of her brother that I can see. It also features what appears to be a letter from George Bush, and it lists another "chief guest": Lee Baca. It also says that Barbara Boxer was invited; apparently she had other things to do.

Posted to Los_Angeles at 03:54 PM

New York Times editorial: stop the "ugly" immigration raids!

Someone has to do it, so let's look at the latest New York Times immigration editorial entitled "Stop the Raids" (link). Because of recent and apparently sloppy immigration raids on Long Island, the NYT is now calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be much more careful. However, it's pretty easy to see that no matter how careful they were - perhaps even going as far as allowing the ACLU and the Mexican government to tag along for the ride - the NYT would find something to complain about. Because, for them, what's important is that there are 12 to 20 million people here who are enriching crooked businesses and confering political power, and sending those people home would cost those businesses money and cost politicians power.

Armed squads bursting into homes in the dead of night with shotguns and automatic weapons, terrorizing families and taking away anyone who lacks identity papers, even if they have raided the wrong house. It may sound like Baghdad, but it is the suburbs of New York City, the latest among hundreds of communities around the country where federal agents have been invading homes and workplaces in search of immigrants to deport... Federal officials say the raids are a focused campaign to catch gang members and other fugitives. That would be good if Immigration and Customs Enforcement were carefully extracting the dangerous criminal sliver from a population of 12 million illegal immigrants.

Yes, take the "criminal sliver", but leave the rest since they're making money for someone.

The NYT is a supporter of immigration "reform", which would include ramped-up enforcement. So, either the NYT would look the other way when post-"reform" enforcement "terrorizes" people, or they'd just keep printing editorials like this in an attempt to discourage post-"reform" raids. Their characterization of ICE enforcement actions as something approaching the Gestapo isn't exactly a hopeful sign for those who think they'd support future enforcement.

Related:

New York Times editorial: pass anti-American DREAM Act
NYT editorial: supports illegal activity; acknowledges attrition; "pest control"
New York Times compares Senate bill opponents to George Wallace
NYT editorial: Senate bill bad; "Know-Nothings" hate illegal aliens
NYT: mainstream immigration positions are "fringe"
NYT hides behind "terrorized" illegal aliens to support massive immigration
New York Times' worst immigration editorial ever: "They Are America"
Signs of Delusion in New York Times Immigration Editorial

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:04 PM

Mexican consuls to increase push for amnesty (propaganda, anti-defamation)

From this:

The Mexican government is giving its consulates in the U.S. wide latitude to ramp up a campaign to toughen their defense of immigrants and plans to give them more resources as well, officials familiar with the strategy said.

...Among the actions under discussion are the creation of an anti-defamation league similar to that focused on protecting Jews; budget increases for some of the 47 consulates, especially in regions such as North Texas, where Mexican migration has been swift and plentiful; and a media campaign aimed at counteracting groups opposed to illegal immigration and sometimes legal immigration.

..."Our fight is no longer inside the Beltway," said one senior Mexican official, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity. "We have been forced to change our strategy."

...Nearly two dozen U.S.-based immigrant leaders, including North Texans, flew to Mexico City recently [around Sept. 15] to meet with senior officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry to discuss the strategy. The Foreign Ministry and its Institute for Mexicans Abroad, or IME, is carrying out the government's plan.

Mario Ramirez, a Dallas businessman and Mexican immigrant who attended the meeting, said he knows his loyalty to the U.S., as a naturalized citizen, will be questioned.

As indeed it should be.

Note that those linked to the IME were also involved in organizing the big Chicago immigration marches, and one IME member is even an Illinois state senator (Martin Sandoval).

It would be nice to get a full list of those attending the MC meeting; for now, this is the only other one mentioned:

Primitivo Rodriguez, a Mexico City resident ... coordinator of the Coalition for the Political Rights of Mexicans Abroad, which has members in Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston.

Posted to Immigration_consul at 09:59 PM

Want identity theft with that? (Reno McDonald's immigration raid)

From this:

A puzzling W-2 form prompted last week's raids on eleven McDonald's stores in Reno and Fernley.

A Fernley [Nevada] woman, whose name was not immediately available, became suspicious when she received a W-2 form early this year that reported more income than she had earned.

The woman soon discovered someone at the Fernley McDonald's where she used to work had been using her identity.

A manager at the same location was also using someone else's ID. There were 54 arrests in the raid, with just eight already having been deported. Sixteen are still in custody... and thirty were released for "humanitarian" reasons and will (supposedly) appear before judges next week.

Meanwhile, the "Casa Latina Centro de Informacion" (president: Gilbert Cortez) organized a march - and a boycott - today in solidarity with illegal aliens, including those who engaged in identity theft. The Hispanic Club at Sparks High School also held a protest (link).

From this 9/30 report (link):

..."Huelga! Huelga! Huelga!" the group [of about 60 people] chanted as it stood and applauded near the end of a meeting Saturday at El Cordero de Dios Assemblies of God Church in Reno. Huelga is Spanish for "strike."

The group also called for a boycott of Reno radio station KKOH and its afternoon talk show host, Bill Manders, who it argued is not compassionate towards undocumented Latinos. A KKOH representative nor Manders could not be reached for comment.

..."We feel we Latinos have been bushwhacked, charred and ICE'd by our government," said Gilbert Cortez, president of Casa Latina Centro de Informacion, one of the groups that organized the meeting. "This land belongs to God and not to the United States."

...[Reno businessman Luther Mack, owner of the restaurants] said he originally hired the workers and was surprised that people would lash out at him and his business on their behalf.

...Luis Caceres, general director of the Sociedad De Salvadorenos Unidos De Nevada Cooperando Con Atiquizaya, said the proposed action is to draw attention to the fact that immigrant workers are here to work and raise families.

"If work is a crime, accuse me of committing a crime," he said. "Because of the reform that didn't pass, we're paying for it. Our families are being divided and our people are being prosecuted because they didn't have any papers."

I note that in April, Hillary Clinton co-chair Raul Yzaguirre (former president of the National Council of La Raza) visited Reno [1] for a scarcely-attended meeting with local "Hispanic community leaders, many employed at University of Nevada, Reno". No word on whether any of the groups above attended, but if anyone has a guest list that would be very helpful.

[1] hispanictips.com/2007/04/23/ clinton-aide-raul-yzaguirre-reno-discuss-hispanic-issues

Posted to Immigration2007b at 03:02 PM

New York Immigration Coalition supports Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens plan

It's no suprise that the New York Immigration Coalition - a group that doesn't seem to understand the word "illegal" - would come out in support (link) of Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

UPDATE: If you're in NY state, there's a petition - including a printable version - here.

And, from "Spitzer's licensing plan has some Dems worried" (link):

But Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic chairman, worried that Republicans will use the licensing issue to tar Democrats in all local races. "I wish the governor would have consulted with some of the suburban counties that he is impacting with this licensing proposal," he said.

But Jay Jacobs, Nassau Democratic chairman, downplayed the issue's impact on local races, saying it is a state issue, not a local one. "It may be an issue in 2008, but not this year," he said.

...In Suffolk, Legis. Jack Eddington (D-Medford) and Democratic legislative candidate Brian Beedenbender have already come out against Spitzer's plan and are circulating petitions against it.

The Suffolk Legislature's presiding officer, William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), called Spitzer's plan "troubling," saying, "I don't think he thought it out all the way."

Posted to Immigration_dls at 01:21 PM

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) town hall immigration meeting Sat. Oct 6 2007

Rep. Barbara Lee will be holding two immigration meetings this Saturday. Both will include representatives of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but the other guests appear a bit... "pro-immigration". Details here. Partial guest list:

* Immigrant Legal Resource Center
* Asian Law Caucus
* Catholic Charities of the East Bay
* Asian Pacific Environmental Network
* Filipinos for Affirmative Action
* Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
* Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation

If you're in the area, see if you can ask her a question or two.

Posted to Immigration2007b at 01:17 PM

How to fight MediaMatters, far-left smears (Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage)

The far-left is on the warpath, with General Wesley Clark calling for Rush Limbaugh to be removed from Armed Forces Radio as part of a followup to a MediaMatters-originated smear. That follows the same group having smeared Bill O'Reilly, and, apparently unrelated to that, the San Francisco supervisors (led by Gerardo Sandoval) have passed a resolution condemning Michael Savage for "hate speech".

What can you, yes you, do about these attempts by the far-left to silence their critics?

One thing you can do is to point out and publicize errors in the coverage by MediaMatters, ThinkProgress, and similar smear merchants.

Even easier, take the "re-transmitters" to task: try to reduce the credibility of those who simply rip-and-read from Media Matters press releases. For instance, consider this comment I posted on an entry by Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine a few days ago (linking added):

This is truly negligent "reporting" on Tumulty's part. If she's going to provide a quote like this, she might want to at least acknowledge the other side. Is Tumulty a real reporter, or just a hack?

If enough people do things like that (being situationally appropriate of course), eventually it will sink in, and people like Tumulty will learn to think twice before simply promoting Media Matters smears.

Posted to Politics at 08:20 PM

Just show us your... Neglected Tropical Diseases

There are only a few things I associate with Huffington Post's newest blogger, and "neglected tropical diseases" is not one of them (link).

I learned about NTDs when I heard Dr. Peter Hotez speak at least year's Clinton Global Initiative and I felt compelled to help raise awareness of this injustice.

UPDATE: I note sadly that her headshot is just 45 by 45 pixels, while, as I pointed out before, a whopping 45 by 64 pixel picture was needed to contain the head of Bill Maher. Because we really want to get a close-up look at him.

Posted to WackyHumor at 03:39 PM

Wed. 10/3: open forum against Eliot Spitzer's driver's licenses for illegal aliens plan

Tomorrow, October 3 at 10am in Manhattan various state Republicans will be leading a meeting to discuss New York governor Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Those attending include Rep. Tom Tancredo, columnist/former INS employee Mike Cutler, Peter Gadiel (9/11 Families for a Secure America) and T.J. Bonner (National Border Patrol Council). Details here.

Posted to Immigration_dls at 02:25 PM

ThinkProgress misrepresents Chertoff comment about environmental damage on border

The Clinton-linked site ThinkProgress offers the post "Chertoff: Immigrants 'degrade the environment'" [1] about the following comment from DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff (link):

"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas... And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment."

First of all, he's not only correct, but even the Los Angeles Times has noticed the problem:

...At Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, 2 1/2 million pounds of garbage is scattered through broad valleys and desert arroyos every year, according to Roger DiRosa, the refuge manager...

Secondly, Think Progress has shown once again that they're the kindergarten version of other smear merchants such as MediaMatters. Some things should be obvious to everyone, but apparently are not to the 76 people who've left content-free comments on their entry:

1. Cheroff was referring to "illegal migrants", not "immigrants". There are only 27 words separating the two phrases in their post, so give them points for boldness.
2. Think Progress failed to direct their readers to any articles backing up Chertoff's claims, such as the LAT one above.
3. Bush and Chertoff are only supporting the fence (to the limited extent they are) in order to obtain an amnesty; they're on the Democratic Party's side in this matter.
4. And, both Think Progress and the Bush administration are on the side of those who profit from illegal activity and not on the side of the great majority of Americans.

[1] thinkprogress.org/2007/10/01/chertoff-immigrants-degrade-the-environment/

Posted to Immigration2007b at 12:14 PM

Non-"liberal" coverage of immigration, Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...

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All Posts(links to each post by title)

• The ADL's definition of "hate" and "anti-immigrant" can't be trusted. (ALIPAC, others)
• U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty heads to Senate vote: call Senators and tell them no
• Hillary Clinton now supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens
• Hillary's double-dodge on illegal aliens driver's licenses; +, go for it, Dems!
• Mike Huckabee defends Mexico consulate deal (businesses agreed to pay Mexico's bills; law violated?)
• Why the debates are like Soviet puppet shows, Part #3832 (John Edwards, Democrats, Drexel)
• Spitzer supporter: "You made me make a fool out of myself" (details on his switch)
• New York Times to Eliot Spitzer: die on the driver's licenses for illegal aliens hill
• Hillary Clinton: soft on driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Obama supports it)
• DCCC wants citizen informers to videotape "Macaca moments" (smears, not policy)
• Tell Senate: No to U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty
• Civil rights solved, lawmakers push for diversity in Capitol statuary collection
• 10Questions.com is a horrible idea, here's proof
• Richard Marosi/Ari Bloomekatz/LAT enable illegal immigration (San Diego fires)
• Feds strike deal on Eliot Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens (victory or defeat?)
• ACLU, Leslie Berestein, Amy Isackson defending looters because they're illegal aliens
• Mike Glover/AP promotes Mike Huckabee, fails to note his immigration issues
• Illegal aliens steal evacuee supplies; NPR's Amy Isackson promotes serf labor
• Hugh Hewitt is really, really, really happy about his cruise of South America
• Joe Klein of Time Magazine explicitly supports illegal immigration

My trip to Alpine County What not to do, again (September 1-2, 2002)

Boston Market Cornbread Temperatures Please help contribute to this important study (August 28, 2002)

Did The Gap Put Celebrities at Risk? An Open Web Letter to The Gap (May 20, 2002)

Humphreys Peak Arizona's highest point (May 19, 2001)

Go Heavy, Go Slow, Get Lost Bay Area highpoints (December 14, 2000)

Hubris in New England The highpoints of RI, CT, and MA (October 8, 2000)

Let's go to Utah Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon (August 14, 2000)

Your host, climbing Monkey Face (5.14d)

Your host's arm (circled)

Your host's hopelessly outdated conditioning progress

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Res Ipsa Loquitur
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