From Terence Chea of the AP:
Republican Senate candidate Bill Jones railed on Monday against a ballot measure that would grant non-citizens here the right to vote in school board elections, calling it a "slap in the face" to U.S. citizenship and the country's immigration laws.
Speaking on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, the former secretary of state said the charter amendment would violate the California Constitution and erode public confidence in the electoral process. He said encouraging immigrants to become citizens is the best way to expand voter participation...
Oddly enough, Barbara Boxer also opposes the measure.
Whether Terence Chea would characterize Barbara Boxer as "railing" about something is an open question.
Posted at 01:26 PM | Comments (1)
During the Clinton administration, the INS became a virtual recruiting drive for the Democratic party, as described here.
So, when Hillary Clinton remarked in her speech yesterday that we should secure our borders, I laughed a bit. However, there's always the possibility that if they say it enough, they might actually mean it. Unfortunately, the non-liberal media will not press her to fully explain her comment and provide details of what we should be doing.
WND comments on that part of her speech here:
Hillary Clinton surprised a few people around the country and turned a few heads when she talked about how John Kerry would make America safer.
In a nationally televised speech from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, the New York senator and former first lady said, "We need to secure our borders."
Posted at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
I was working on a similar post, but Dan Stein of FAIR says it much better:
Ranking right up there with the proverbial "Dog Bites Man" headline, a new opinion poll released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center finds that Latinos in the United States are most concerned about education, jobs, the state of the economy and access to affordable healthcare � just like everyone else in the country. Eleventh on the list of things that Latinos are concerned with � several notches below the vague notion of moral values � is immigration...
With the stroke of Bush's or Kerry's pen, millions of illegal aliens can be instantly transformed into guest workers or green card holders, and the man holding the pen can take credit for having "delivered" something to Latinos, even if it is only the 11th item on their wish list. Ironically, in making item No. 11 come true, the politicians who are pandering to them will make their other wishes even more difficult, if not impossible, to attain. Because neither Congress nor the president possesses the authority to repeal the law of supply and demand, amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and their families, expanded guest worker programs and still higher levels of legal immigration would only exacerbate the very problems that most Latinos (and everybody else) worry about...
My post, however, would have wondered whether the "Hisp" part of "Hispandering" is accurate or not. Are Bush's and Kerry's "outreach" to Latinos via Open Borders initiatives really intended to get the "Hispanic vote" so much as to appease those who desire cheap labor at any cost?
And, in Bush's case, could he be looking to demographically change the U.S. in order to make a presidential bid by his nephew possible?
Or, are Bush and Kerry's plans part of their general globalist, NWO agenda? (Not that I believe in any of that black helicopter, Skull & Bones, Bilderberger stuff, mind you.)
In any case, a newly-enspined John Kerry could follow up on Hillary Clinton's remarks of yesterday (see the next post). He could announce a flip-flop on the Kerry Amnesty. Rather than attempting to flood the U.S. with low-wage workers, he could decide to use immigration to America's benefit. By doing so he would enrage the "Latino" "leadership." But, where would they go? And, how many Latinos who are not a member of far-left Racial Identity groups could he attract to his campaign? And, how many disatisfied conservative voters could he bring on board? And, by pledging to increase border security and decrease illegal immigration, he could point out Bush's glaring weaknesses in those areas.
I think he'd come out ahead, all things considered. But, that would require him to show true leadership and take a risk, rather than sticking with the safe bet of playing the usual Democratic race game.
Posted at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
From this:
U.S. Border Patrol sweeps to round up and deport undocumented immigrants will continue in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, officials said Saturday.
A newly formed unit at the Border Patrol's Temecula station has arrested 505 illegal immigrants in Southern California since June 4, including a total of 154 in Ontario and Corona. The rest were arrested in Temecula and San Diego County...
"I know they have future operations planned and they have received the support of Washington, D.C. for future operations,' said Richard Kite, senior patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector...
Kite would not disclose when or where the sweeps will occur...
Sean Isham, a Border Patrol supervisor, said "an intelligence folder' has been approved for an upcoming operation.
"Whether it's based on citizen calls or agent experiences going out and surveilling a certain area, they compile that intelligence into a folder,' said Isham, who is based in San Diego. "That folder is sent to Washington for approval.'
Hmmm. Window dressing or for real? Will the Bush administration cave in to Racial Identity groups and the Mexican government again, or will they, er, stay the course? Stay tuned.
Previous coverage of the raids starts here.
Posted at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Organizers who brought together a panel of national experts for a forum on immigration reform sponsored by First Data Corp. on Thursday night billed the event as way to foster dialogue on a critical policy issue...In February, First Data held a "debate" moderated by former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno. The panelists were:
Halfway through, a fistfight broke out, and police arrested a woman friends described as a Hispanic activist after she struck a heckler on the head.
"All the other events have been perfectly calm," said Wendy Carver-Herbert, a slightly shaken First Data Corp. vice president, referring to similar panels in Washington and Chicago.
"We intended this to be a very thought-provoking forum on an important topic that needs to be debated," she said...
...critics blamed the organizers for staging a forum they said was one-sided and shut out the opinion of immigration opponents...
Harry Pachon, president, Tomas Rivera Policy Institute * Cecilia Munoz, vice president, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) * Arturo Vargas, executive director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Educational Fund (NALEO) * Sal Gomez, board member, Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce * Raul Hinojosa, Ph.D, North American Integration & Development Center/UCLA * Robert Deposada, president, The Latino CoalitionDoesn't sound like there was much debate involved.
About 100 miles south of Mexico City, in a valley framed by towering pre-Columbian ruins, sits Coatetelco, population 15,000, which has a beauty parlor but no bank. A few people grow maize, chilies and fruit, but remittances--mostly from agricultural or construction workers in Georgia and the Carolinas--account for a staggering 90% of the villagers' incomes. Patricio, 49, who stopped working in the U.S. three years ago, says sending money to Coatetelco has become more convenient and less expensive since his return. At the end of each month, he gets a call from his two sons, who are working illegally in Georgia....Obviously, there's big money in enabling illegal immigration.
Yesterday that amendment was sustained in the full committee by a vote of 26-25, despite major arm twisting by the Bush Administration to remove the provision. Treasury Secretary Snow wrote Appropriations Committee Chair, Rep. Bill Young, "The Administration believes as a general matter that Americans are better protected if consumers of all nationalities are invited into the financial mainstream."Shouldn't Presidents support our laws, rather than helping them be broken?
Posted at 04:02 PM | Comments (1)
The Feds are giving Arizona hospitals $42 million a year for four years to help reimburse the costs of (free) healthcare for illegal aliens.
In the past year, the University Medical Center in Tucson lost ten times that amount providing free healthcare for illegal aliens.
The employers of those illegal aliens could not be reached for comment, as they were on their way to the bank.
Posted at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)
Bob Herbert of the New York Times finds out:
A startling new study shows that all of the growth in the employed population in the United States over the past few years can be attributed to recently arrived immigrants...
Those most affected by the influx of new immigrant workers are young, less well-educated American workers and so-called established immigrants, those who have been in the U.S. for a number of years...
Simply stated, there are not enough jobs being created to accommodate the wide variety of demographic groups in need of work. With that being the case, and with some employers actively recruiting new immigrants, the inevitable result has been the displacement of previously employed workers, especially in the less skilled and lower-income categories...
Someone should alert Kerry's base to the effect the Kerry Amnesty would have on their lives. JumboJack90040 is working on that, but he needs your help. Moby-lize!
Posted at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)
Here's the main findings of a new Gallup poll:
only 14% of Americans wanting to see immigration increased; another 33% want it kept at the present level while 49% want it decreased.
In a more detailed question:
Gallup asked respondents to rate the impact immigrants have on six different aspects of life in the United States. In all but one dimension, more Americans think that immigrants make the situation worse rather than better. This is especially true with respect to taxes and crime, on which close to half the public thinks immigrants make the situation worse. Immigrants are also viewed more negatively than positively in the areas of the overall economy, job opportunities, and social and moral values...
Only 6% think immigrants make the crime situation better, and only 22% think they make the economy better.
It would be helpful if Gallup would include questions about illegal immigration in their polls; I'm sure the numbers would be strongly opposing that form of immigration.
Posted at 01:19 PM | Comments (1)
The CSMonitor crunches the numbers:
More than one-third of all people who ever immigrated to the US have come in the past three decades. Most have been men looking for jobs, legally or illegally, who compete directly with native- born men. George Borjas, a Harvard University economist and expert on immigration economics, estimates that between 1980 and 2000 immigration reduced the average annual earnings of native-born men by $1,700, or roughly 4 percent.
Because most immigrants in those 20 years had relatively little education, the impact of their arrival was greatest on natives who didn't graduate from high school, Borjas found. By adding to the supply of less-educated labor, immigration reduced their wages by 7.4 percent...
Immigration also exaggerates the gap between the rich and poor, Borjas determined. For example, while the poor and less educated in the US see their wages fall sharply because of the influx of new workers, the well-to-do and some businesses benefit from the cheap supply of gardeners, house cleaners, factory workers, day laborers, and so on. So wealth - in the "tens of billions of dollars" a year - is redistributed from labor to buyers of immigrant services, he estimates...
Then there's the drain on government budgets. Providing immigrants with things such as welfare, education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care costs taxpayers a net $11.4 billion to $20.2 billion, a 1997 National Research Council (NRC) report found. That's the total after accounting for the added taxes that immigrants pay into the system. And it surpasses the NRC estimate of $1 billion to $10 billion in benefits to natives - primarily the well-to-do - accruing from having so many immigrants in the labor markets...
A more recent Columbia University study pegs the net cost of immigration at $52 billion a year, or about half of 1 percent of gross domestic product, the nation's total output of goods and services.
"Generally, people don't want to hear these results," says David Weinstein, economist and coauthor with Donald Davis of the Columbia study...
Posted at 01:12 PM | Comments (1)
Ah, the Arizona Republic outdoes itself yet again. "Anti-migrant initiative backed" is their report on a new poll showing overwhelming support for the Protect Arizona Now initiative.
First of all, PAN is not "anti-migrant." It simply attempts to limit illegal immigration. The opponents of the measure will certainly attempt to smear it as anti-migrant, and the Arizona Republic is just doing its part.
Also, considering that 74% of those polled support the initiative, the word "backed" is quite an understatement.
If the Arizona Republic were a supporter of PAN, they would, of course, highlight its broad support in the headline, instead they attempt to minimize it.
About 13% of the respondents were Hispanic, and they were evenly split on the initiative; the pollster (an ASU professor) expects 35% or 40% of Hispanics will support the initiative.
If you'd like to suggest that the Arizona Republic use the correct terminology and refrain from false and inflammatory headlines, click here to send various editors an email.
For a counterexample, the more balanced Douglas Daily Dispatch report "Poll shows voters would deny public assistance to illegals" never once uses "undocumented," and it has a far less inflammatory headline that doesn't attempt to downplay the poll results.
Posted at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
The Washington Times just ran a series of articles that offers an overview of the illegal immigration problem. They concentrate on our problems with enforcement, and they offer a stark contrast to the usual media blather featuring happy smiling serf laborers:
Outnumbered in a hunt for aliens
Posted at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)
From this:
A Colorado congressman is praising a bill recently introduced in the House that would curb voter fraud by requiring voters to actually prove their citizenship.
It is called the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2004 (H.R. 4530). Introduced by Illinois Republican Henry Hyde, it is designed to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor Voter Bill." That Clinton-era legislation has been criticized because it provides no safeguards from illegal aliens being able to register to vote.
That is why one of the stated purposes of Hyde's legislation is to prevent fraud in federal elections. Tom Tancredo of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus says illegal alien voting has been a serious problem...
Posted at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
The Kansas City Star has an editorial about FAIR's suit to prevent Kansas from making U.S. citizens pay greater college tuition than illegal aliens:
Despite the group's acronym, there's nothing "fair" about the attempt by [FAIR] to challenge a new Kansas law regarding college-age children of undocumented immigrants. Misguided and hurtful are more appropriate adjectives.
FAIR filed a lawsuit Monday in a Topeka federal court to block legislation that would allow immigrant students who meet certain guidelines to pay in-state tuition at Kansas colleges and universities... [The plaintiffs] argue that it is not right for them to have to pay out-of-state tuition while students in the country illegally pay less...
What the plaintiffs fail to acknowledge is that they had a choice in deciding to pay higher tuition. If they wanted to pay in-state tuition, they could have attended colleges and universities in their home states.
[The "immigrants" had no free will...] ...The immigrant students aren't replacing or jumping ahead of American-born students. There is plenty of room in Kansas' colleges and universities for those who wish to further their education.
These immigrant students have spent at least three years in Kansas schools. [Some were model students, the slow U.S. immigration system is really to blame... ends on hopeful note.
Those "certain guidelines" are that the students are "illegal immigrants," not "immigrants" as the editorial repeatedly states. The word "illegal" only appears once in the editorial ("... students in the country illegally pay less...") And, they even use "undocumented."
These (illegal) immigrant students are indeed replacing U.S. students. There is only so much money to go around, and the idea that money should be spent on an illegal alien before a U.S. citizen is a patently anti-American idea.
You can send a letter to the editor at: letters@kcstar.com
For more contacts, see this or this.
Their Editorial Page Editor is Miriam Pepper: mpepper@kcstar.com
There's background information about the suit in Suit challenges in-state tuition for illegal immigrants
Knight-Ridder reports on the suit in Suit seeks to prevent tuition break for illegal immigrants in Kansas. While the report is somewhat fair, note how a) the second paragraph uses "immigrants" instead of the correct phrase "illegal immigrants." And, note how only one plaintiff is featured, yet comments from two people on the other side are featured, and the comment from one of the people on the other side comes first. And, the second comments is from Emira Palacios of NPA. That's the group that surrounded Karl Rove's house a few months ago, banging on his windows in support of the DREAM Act.
The author of the Knight-Ridder piece is: Steve Painter at (785) 296-3006 or spainter@wichitaeagle.com
His editor might be Sherry Chisenhall: schisenhall@wichitaeagle.com
Posted at 10:35 AM | Comments (5)
Under a new Bush administration program, we're flying deported illegal aliens back into the interior of Mexico rather than a border city. It's costing each of us at least $100 per alien.
The only problem is it looks like - in addition to education, health care, housing, and all the rest - we're subsidizing vacation pay for their employers:
"I will be going back in 15 days," said [a deportee]...
Seven of eight deportees interviewed within a half-hour period Monday said they would cross the border soon.
"I'll try again in a month," [said another deportee]...
"It remains to be seen what percentage of the thousands caught at the border each week will opt for a free ride home," said Wayne Cornelius, immigration expert at the University of California at San Diego. "But bus tickets are cheap in Mexico, and even from the southern part of the country it should cost only about $100 and take two or three days for the average migrant to get back to the border."
So, once again, here's what the Mexican government and those corporations that employ illegal aliens are taking us for:
Shouldn't those corporations that employ illegals be picking up those costs, rather than passing them on to the rest of us?
Shouldn't John "Corporate Responsibility" Kerry be calling these corporations to task, rather than proposing amnesties that will bring millions more illegal aliens here?
Posted at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Fifteen undocumented Mexican workers filed suit in federal court last week alleging their supervisors at Green Valley Hand Car Wash failed to pay them adequate wages as required by state and federal law.
According to the group's lawyer, Jeffrey Fisher, the workers who filed the lawsuit, all men, frequently had been required to work almost 80 hours a week washing and buffing cars by hand. They were not paid minimum wage for all of the hours they worked, and they did not receive overtime pay, their lawyer said...
[...he said, she said...]
While federal and state law requires employers to pay all of their workers minimum wage for every hour they are at work -- regardless of their immigration status -- exposing the alleged injustice to the courts also means possibly exposing the workers' illegality to immigration officials...
A few of them had purchased Social Security cards for about $100 at the swap-meet on Bonanza Road, the workers said. They had used these forged documents to apply for work at the car wash, they said.
But if any of the workers past or present were illegal, supervisors at the car wash said they did not know that.
"They're all legal," Scully said. "They presented their two forms of ID (when they applied)..."
Uh huh. No, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that... well, I don't believe you.
The most favorable outcome of this will be a) the plaintiffs will win several thousands each, b) the plaintiffs will collect after having been deported, c) the car wash will realize they could have saved money overall if they'd just hired U.S. citizens instead of illegal aliens.
Keep those suits a-comin'; if there are enough of them employers might wise up to the TCO of serf labor.
Posted at 08:20 PM | Comments (2)
Exhibit #1: The Santa Cruz Sentinel article "U.S. Border Patrol denies stepped-up enforcement":
When U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Southern California, they touched off a wave of fear and anger that rippled throughout the state and across the nation.
But the agency, bound by a federal immigration policy frequently at odds with public sentiment, denies the actions it took last month in the Temecula area have been duplicated elsewhere.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the article's author, Donna Jones, is trying to state that the Feds are forced to pursue enforcement despite "public sentiment" being against it. That is, of course, completely wrong. The great majority of Americans want more immigration enforcement.
Unfortunately, quotes from Mario Villarreal, "spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection," make it quite clear that Americans are going to get less enforcement, not more.
Villarreal said the Border Patrol had a "substantial" presence in the Central Coast area in the past, but no longer. The Salinas office, whose agents conducted random stops of suspected illegal residents as late as 2000, has closed.The nearest Border Patrol office to Santa Cruz County is Livermore, he said. The regional office, which is responsible for the territory between the northern edges of San Bernadino and Los Angeles counties and the Oregon border, has only a "handful of agents," and they are being reassigned in the near future, Villarreal said.
Well, that's a relief. He goes on to say that the border is protected, but the interior is not. Or, words to that effect.
Before reading the following, make sure you aren't drinking water or anything:
"We don’t make policy; we enforce the law," he said. "We are out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week protecting America from anyone who enters illegally and from anyone who wants to do us harm."
Posted at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)
Heather MacDonald (author of the much-linked "The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave") has a new article entitled "The Immigrant Gang Plague". Too much to excerpt, but it's highly recommended. My most important recommendation, however, would be to somehow force community "leaders" and other apologists to read it. Or, even better, vote out of office those who support policies that lead to the situation described in her report. In fact, Santa Ana already did that. Unfortunately, Nativo Lopez still manages to get his name in the papers.
Posted at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Illinois Leader editorializes:
The prospects of a Da Coach for Da Senate made this an interesting week in the soap opera that is Republican electoral politics in Illinois...
We know Republican primary runner-up Jim Oberweis met with party officials for his interview earlier this week. We’re sure he’s waiting with bated breath to see if the gang who can’t shoot straight will deem him qualified to be the GOP Senate candidate...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Topinka and GOP National disgrace, er, we mean National Committeeman Bob Kjellander are now wooing State Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Downers Grove)...
...as long as Judy Baar Topinka and Bob Kjellander are calling the shots with impunity-and make no mistake about it, they are-three things are clear: one, Illinoisans will not have a clear answer as to what it means to be a Republican in Illinois; two, as a result, Illinoisans will not have an articulate standard-bearer for GOP principles to consider as a US Senate candidate; and, three, the Republican Party in this state will continue to slouch towards electoral irrelevance.
Here's a quote from Dillard:
"...an Oberweis candidacy would present unique problems when it comes to immigration and race and ethnicity, [problems] which I'm not sure we want to take on at this time."
What a wimp.
Contact info for the IL GOP is provided here if you want to suggest they grow a spine. Ted Nugent - yes, Ted Nugent - would certainly be interesting. However, their best bet would seem to be to choose Oberweis and through all their weight behind him.
Posted at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
TOPEKA, Kan., July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- A law suit will be filed on Monday, July 19 in Federal Court in Topeka, Kansas, charging that a new state law permitting illegal aliens to attend Kansas public universities at in-state tuition rates violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and other federal laws. The suit is being filed on behalf of 24 American citizens who claim they are being denied the same benefits that Kansas is offering to illegal immigrants...
The suit will be filed by Kris Kobach, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City Law School, on behalf of the plaintiffs who were identified by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Professor Kobach was formerly a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Justice on immigration and homeland security...
"The new law in Kansas offers a better deal to illegal immigrants than it does to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, including some who own property and pay taxes in Kansas," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. "Ironically, a foreign student who legally obtains a visa to attend a public university in Kansas will wind up paying a far higher tuition than someone who broke the law. While this suit is being filed in direct challenge to the Kansas policy, its outcome could affect similar policies in other states..."
The DREAM Act would be a national version of the Kansas law.
About the only argument supporters of the DREAM Act and the Kansas law have are emotional appeals and smears. Tactically speaking, I hope that the 24 plaintiffs are sympathetic, and also that a fair number of them are Of Color to help deflect the expected cries of racism from supporters of illegal immigration.
We'll have to wait and see if the non-liberal press will do stories on any of the plaintiffs with the same emotionalism that they write about the plight of illegal aliens.
Posted at 03:38 PM | Comments (2)
The LAT intones:
Federal authorities launched a crackdown this week aimed at breaking up smuggling rings that use Los Angeles International Airport to send illegal immigrants across the United States.
In the first coordinated operation to halt human smuggling at the world's fifth-busiest airport, uniformed Border Patrol agents and undercover immigration investigators arrested 64 undocumented immigrants on Tuesday and Wednesday...
"This is not about picking up large numbers of illegal aliens using LAX," said Kevin Jeffery, deputy special agent in the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This is about dismantling criminal organizations."
The complaints of ethnic profiling from the usual suspects are first referenced in paragraph 6. And, I want to stress just how much the DHS is going out of its way to assure everyone that they're only using intelligence to search for smuggling kingpins or principals. They are not racially profiling.
The SanFran Chronical story "Officials start crackdown on human smugglers at LAX" stresses the negative, pointing out that the raids will just push the smugglers to other airports in the second paragraph. Surprisingly, the Chronical story doesn't include quotes from the usual illegal immigration advocates.
The AP report, on the other hand, goes in the direction one would expect based on its headline: "More Arrests At LAX, Immigration Groups Fear Profiling". Concerns about racial profiling start in the second paragraph, and over a third of the article is devoted to their cavils. It even includes a quote from Mexico's consul general in L.A. (Someone should tell the AP's reporter or editor that "consul" is the person, "consulate" is the building or office pertaining to a consul, because in their report they confuse the two.)
Posted at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)
OK, so you read the lies from the L.A. Times about Arizona's PAN initiative.
Large-scale illegal immigration is an important issue in Arizona and much of the rest of the nation, and it is crucial that the facts about Proposition 200 be reported accurately to the voters. What Proposition 200 says and does not say, what it would do and would not do, must be presented accurately so that voters can make an informed choice when they go to the polls on November 2.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the leading immigration policy organization in country, has prepared an analysis of what is contained in Proposition 200, and answers to key questions about the initiative and those who are behind it. "We fully expect that opponents of the initiative will attempt to distort and mislead Arizona voters about Proposition 200," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. "Therefore, it is important for the media and the public to have access to the facts about an initiative that has local and national implications." FAIR staff attorney, Michael Hethmon, is available to discuss and provide additional information about Proposition 200. He can be reached at (202) 328-7004 or at attorney@fairus.org
There's much more. If you live in Arizona, or are otherwise interested, check it out.
Posted at 09:25 PM | Comments (6)
No, not the "normal" way such as that allegedly employed by Wal*Mart subcontractors, Tyson Foods, and the like.
There are millions to be made by following the laws, rather than trying to break them:
YAKIMA, Wash., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of legal immigrants residing in Washington state's apple-producing Yakima Valley won a major legal victory yesterday after a U.S. District Court judge certified a class action lawsuit against executives of one of the state's largest orchard owners charging that the executives conspired to depress farmworkers' wages by hiring large numbers of illegal workers to set low wage standards for orchard and packing house work.
The class action lawsuit was originally filed in United States District Court in March of 2000 under the Federal Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and is the first of its kind in the U.S. where legal workers have sued agricultural employers about intentional wage depression through the use of illegal labor.
Now certified as a class action, the suit represents an estimated 20,000 packing house and orchard workers of Zirkle Fruit Company, based in Selah, Washington and those legal workers hired by Selective Employment Agency to work in Zirkle's packing house operations.
Seattle attorney Steve Berman filed the lawsuit on behalf of three named plaintiffs...
Suits like these will raise the TCO ("Total Cost of Ownership") of illegal alien serfs. Hopefully Berman and lawyers who file similar class actions will clean up and the growers will decide that illegal alien serfs just aren't worth it.
Posted at 08:54 PM | Comments (6)
From the VOA:
The Malaysian government says it is planning a massive expulsion of the estimated 1.2 million illegal foreign workers in the country.
The country's home minister say about 400,000 volunteer corps members will detain and deport the illegal workers. Officials say they are still working on the logistics of transporting and housing so many deportees...
And, from "Government to weed out illegals first":
[Home Affairs Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid] said new laws on the recruitment of foreign workers were also being drafted and there would be amendments to certain legislations to curb the inflow of foreign workers and illegal immigrants.He warned employers to expel their illegal workers or face hefty penalties.
It's unfortunate that they're going to have a national ID card, but that doesn't mean the U.S. couldn't expel our illegal aliens if we wanted to. If we started cracking down on the employers, untold thousands of illegal aliens would self-deport.
Posted at 12:41 PM | Comments (1)
Knight-Ridder: 'Modern slavery' growing in U.S., panel told
Seattle Times: Washington state a hotbed for human trafficking, report says
Posted at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
Despite "storming" out of a meeting:
House Speaker Dennis Hastert and several top Republicans, including state house GOP leader Tom Cross, [are] expected to endorse the idea of a Ditka candidacy Wednesday night at the Navy Pier... unknown whether Ditka will attend...
Why would the GOP be so interested in Mike Ditka? Perhaps they think or know that he'll basically do what they want. He'll be colorful, but he won't rock the boat.
Meanwhile, 2nd place primary finisher Jim Oberweis is largely ignored. His apparent sin? Opposing illegal immigration. If the GOP leadership is behind Ditka, expect him to be "compassionate" just like Bush on this issue.
Posted at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
[This post is originally from 7/10/04; see the next post for an explanation]
After its Kerry-Edwards-Stahl kissyfest, 60 Minutes ran a segment called "Boosting For Billions":
"Boosting" is organized shoplifting, and if you think it's a petty crime, think again.
As Correspondent Steve Kroft first reported in February, approximately $10 billion in merchandise is stolen from stores every year -- and retailers are just beginning to realize that a huge chunk of it is being taken by gangs of highly skilled, well-organized professionals from South America...
There may be as many as a 1,000 of these teams operating every day, and about the only the place they are ever captured is on the videotape in store security cameras...
[A cop] has books containing mug shots, and surveillance photos of 2,500 South American gang members known to be operating in the United States. All of them have been arrested at least once; almost all of them are in the country illegally...
...retailers are trying to push a bill through Congress that would treat shoplifting by these rings as a federal felony with penalties of up to 10 years in jail.
Would it be mean-spirited of The Gap and the rest to suggest that - the horror! - the boosters should just be deported? No new laws necessary, just enforce those we already have.
Would Racial Identity groups hold protests in the streets? After, these gangs sound like they're doing the organized shoplifting Americans won't do.
On the other hand, perhaps these retailers who are losing millions of dollars a year might be willing to help get rid of lax immigration policies.
Posted at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
WND reports on John and Ken's valiant efforts:
Border Patrol agents who executed highly popular roundups of illegal aliens in Southern California last month – the first of their kind in recent memory – say they've been told to stop such enforcement action, and the Bush administration official in charge of the immigration enforcement has refused to say if there would be additional sweeps in the future.
In an extraordinary radio interview [if that link doesn't work, save or play this one --LW] Thursday on Los Angeles talk-radio station KFI, talk-show host John Kobylt grilled Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson about why the roundups had been ended. The official, a former congressman who works under Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, attempted to defend the Bush administration record on immigration enforcement, but was repeatedly pressured by Kobylt to justify the canceling of the sweeps...
Previous coverage starts here.
Posted at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)
The LAT prints a guest commentary from Tamar Jacoby entitled "Anti-Immigrant Fever in Arizona":
Call it Proposition 187 redux. Last week, backers of a ballot measure dubbed "Protect Arizona Now" turned in petitions signed by 190,887 residents of that state calling for the initiative to be put to voters in November. The local political establishment was stunned. No one had expected the measure, which would deny state services to illegal immigrants, to garner anything like that kind of support — over 50% more signatures than required to get it on the ballot. If the signatures hold up, Arizonans will pick up where Californians left off 10 years ago, in another ugly battle over immigration...
More important, unlike in California, most Republican elected officials appear to be opposed to the measure. No member of the Arizona congressional delegation, or any other statewide politician, has supported it. And business leaders, who understand the value of immigrant labor, are adamantly against, at least in private meetings...
We owe a debt of thanks to Tamar Jacoby. That last paragraph neatly lays out where the problem lies, and who's responsible. Many current Arizona politicians and businesses are opposed to the will of the great majority of the people. Hopefully Arizonans will go against the wishes of the elites.
As for the L.A. Times, one wonders why they would print a guest commentary like this. They are supposedly an unbiased, non-liberal news source. Why didn't they change the headline of the commentary? It's obviously false and inflammatory: "opposed to illegal immigration" and "anti-immigrant" are two quite distinct things. Why didn't the LAT vet some of Jacoby's statements? Is it perhaps because the LAT agrees with her?
I urge everyone to send an email to the LAT's readers rep: Readers.Rep@latimes.com
Printing Jacoby's opinion is fine. Parroting her lies and smears is not.
See also:
Opponents of 'Protect Arizona Now': funded by a check-cashing firm
"Graf rips Kolbe at candidate forum" (Graf opposes illegal immigration)
(Via this)
Posted at 12:57 PM | Comments (1)
Here's today's scariest, most disturbing story:
WASHINGTON – Despite increased anti-terror demands, immigration inspectors guarding the nation's borders are laboring under an internal budget crisis that has forced freezes on overtime pay and new hiring – as well as the release of hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention centers.
The funding crisis, which some lawmakers blame on possible financial mismanagement at the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to last at least through the fall...
...detention facilities in some regions have been asked to cut their populations of detained illegal immigrants by as much as 50 percent to save money, according to internal DHS memos obtained by WorldNetDaily. More than 1,600 detainees are in the process of being released inside the U.S. Hundreds more are expected to follow before the election...
Some alarmed members of Congress aren't fully buying [DHS's explanation of problems related to the INS-Customs merger], however.
For example, U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, last month asked the DHS inspector general to conduct an audit of the financial management of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. The Texas Democrat says the committee has received "numerous reports" of financial problems at the new DHS bureau, possibly resulting from mismanagement.
...officials say DHS decided to freeze hiring at two of its bureaus: CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which is responsible for detaining and deporting illegal immigrants...
...inspections supervisors at major airports say they are under pressure to cut back on overtime staffing, especially for secondary inspections...
Even so, veteran immigration inspectors say morale has sunk to new lows since the merger, which they describe more as a "hostile takeover" by U.S. Customs management...
"Washington views the inspector in the field as the enemy," said a supervisor at another major airport, "and is trying hard to get rid of as many older inspectors as possible..."
Money is so tight, in fact, that some major airports have even begun cutting back on supplies used at inspections booths, such as copying paper, pens and latex gloves, officials say...
Worse, DHS is planning to release thousands of jailed illegal immigrants to save money. It spends about $550 million a year to hold the estimated 24,000 detainees around the country.
And headquarters is discouraging border patrol officers from taking new aliens into custody, according to both officials and internal documents.
"They don't want to capture anybody because they're running out of [jail] space and they don't have the money to hold them," a CBP official said.
An internal CBP memo circulated in the Midwest region reveals that the Detention and Removal division, or D&R, of ICE has been told to cut jail populations in half.
"D&R is feeling the budget crunch, too," said CBP official Richard J. Roster in a recent staff memo. "D&R has been told to cut back lock-up numbers by 50 percent."
"For example, down Kansas City way, they raided a chicken feeding farm and picked up 24 aliens. This will have to stop!" he said in his June 21 memo obtained by WND...
Victor Cerda, acting director of detention and removal operations at ICE, called the administration's new plan to release thousands of jailed illegal immigrants to home confinement "a compassionate alternative..."
Posted at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
The newest member of the John Edwards community has a question:
I'm on the fence, and I hope someone can help me with a few questions.
I read a report where John Edwards said that John Kerry will restore corporate responsibility. That sounds good to me, but I'm worried about John Kerry's plan that would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
Most of those illegal aliens were employed in violation of our immigration laws. Under Kerry's amnesty, those thousands of corporations that have employed millions of illegal aliens won't be held responsible for violation our laws for years.
In most cases those corporations were fully aware that they were hiring illegal aliens, a federal offense. Does John Kerry intend to punish those corporations, or will he just let them get off?
Also, I read a statistic that I didn't know about before. According to Kerry, "Hispanic-American unemployment has soared more than 30% (and) 1.4 million Hispanic-Americans are out of work."
Yet, Kerry's amnesty will encourage millions more low-wage earning illegal aliens to come to the U.S. That will drive down wages for low-income Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans. How does Kerry intend to provide jobs for millions of low-wage earning American citizens if he's inviting millions of low-wage earning illegal aliens to come here?
Like I said, I'm on the fence, so I hope someone can answer my questions.
Let's see how long "JumboJack90040"'s question lasts before it's deemed not fawning enough. My similar posts were deleted from John Kerry's blog.
In any case, I encourage others to "Moby-lize" the cause, perhaps even doing it in a more subtle way.
Posted at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)
This is what happens when you refuse to enforce the immigration laws:
Sophisticated criminals are smuggling thousands of people from around the world into Washington -- from Canada, through Sea-Tac Airport and through the Port of Seattle.
Federal and local officials believe that many of them are victims of human trafficking -- working in sweatshops, massage parlors, restaurants and farms here and elsewhere. But because many local law-enforcement agencies have no idea how to identify trafficking victims, very few of them have been found. So the federal government plans to launch an Anti-Trafficking Task Force here in the fall to improve enforcement efforts.
Federal experts believe Seattle's many points of entry make the city one of the nation's top human-trafficking hot spots...
[A federal apparatchik says,] "People don't know that it's happening. A good percentage of those who are trafficked are being trafficked for labor reasons -- to work in migrant camps. They're being held in debt bondage. ... It really is akin to a modern day form of slavery."
Seattle being "immigrant-friendly" (in English: turning a blind eye to illegal immigration), leads to an environment where involuntary illegal immigration can thrive. Seattle - like Los Angeles and other big cities - has a "sanctuary law" and forbids their police officers from asking about someone's immigration status. And, like other political organizations, they'll fold at the first hint of a protest from Racial Identity groups or the Mexican government. If Seattle or the Feds want to get serious about reducing modern-day slavery, they'll start getting serious about illegal immigration.
Posted at 11:24 AM | Comments (2)
From "Kerry promises Hispanics immigration plan":
John Kerry promised Hispanics on Saturday that he would send Congress an immigration overhaul plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens.
"Today, our immigration system is broken," [courtesy Ted Kennedy and others --LW] [he told] the League of United Latin American Citizens.
"In my first hundred days as president, I will send a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress," Kerry said...
"Building a stronger America means protecting our values at home," Kerry said. "In the last three years, Hispanic-American unemployment has soared more than 30% (and) 1.4 million Hispanic-Americans are out of work... Millions and millions of hardworking Hispanics who have jobs are getting paid enough to pay the bills..." [sic; presumably that should be "are not getting paid enough..."]
Also Saturday, Edwards [said] "In November, middle-class families will be able to rest assured that John Kerry will look out for their interests, restore corporate responsibility and put our economy back in line with our values."
Both Kerry and Edwards are guilty of classic doublethink.
Edwards supports corporate responsibility, but at the same time they want to turn a blind-eye to those corporations which flagrantly violate our immigration laws. Those employers who've used illegal aliens for years or decades would simply get a pass under the Kerry Amnesty.
And, the Kerry Ammesty will not only not encourage illegal aliens to return to their home countries, it will encourage millions more to come here.
Since about 95% of those new illegal aliens who'll come here will be low-wage workers, they'll drive down already low wages. If Kerry truly cared about un- or under-employed "Hispanic-Americans," he'd seek to reduce the pool of low-wage workers. The Kerry Amnesty will have the exact opposite effect.
Posted at 01:46 PM | Comments (6)
From the Sierra Vista Herald:
SIERRA VISTA -The issues facing Congressional District 8 have changed, and U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is no longer the man to represent the critical area that includes much of Arizona's border with Mexico, said Randy Graf.
As Kolbe's Republican primary opponent, Graf, currently an Arizona legislator and leader in the state House of Representatives, said although Kolbe has served the district for 20 years he is out of touch with his constituents and issues...
Graf said Kolbe is so out of touch with his constituents he has even "abandoned Cochise County."
It is ironic that the congressman has scheduled five town halls this month and not one of them is in Cochise County, Graf said...
...Graf said one of the main issues he will dedicate himself to is protecting the border from the influx of illegal immigrants.
He said he believes the military can be put on the border but it will not require the use of tanks, landmines and M-16s.
Rather the military will bring technology to help the U.S. Border Patrol do its job better by using systems to locate illegal intruders, Graf said.
He estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 members of the military would suffice to provide assistance along both borders - with Mexico and Canada...
Posted at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
From immigration lawyer Matt Hayes:
On June 30, John Kerry went to Phoenix and spoke before the national conference of the race identity group La Raza. By now most Americans know that “La Raza” is Spanish for “The Race,” and also that the media accept that groups such as La Raza are conspicuously race conscious while being intolerant of others for being so.
This may be why Kerry, a presidential candidate of a mainstream political party, didn't see much of a downside in speaking before such an organization. In Kerry's appearance, Americans can see just how far behind its politicians have left the truth. They can also see that most candidates for federal office will propose almost anything if votes are in the offing...
On closer inspection, it's clear that Kerry's pronouncement could have come right out of Orwell. Not a single individual who could benefit from Kerry's amnesty plan has by any definition "played by the rules..."
Posted at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)
Amidst all the talk about Jack Ryan and Seven-o-Nine and Mike Ditka, the craven stupidity of the Illinois GOP has been obscured.
It looks like they'd rather cede the race for Senate to the Democrats than nominate someone who's - horror of all horrors - opposed to illegal immigration:
The Illinois Republican Party took another body blow Thursday, as the candidate considered the favorite by a number of GOP leaders dropped out of the running to replace U.S. Senate nominee Jack Ryan.
State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger said his late entry into the race would have made it nearly impossible to raise the money required to compete effectively against Democrat Barack Obama...
Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis argues that his second-place primary finish makes him the "logical" choice.
But many Republicans remain uneasy over TV commercials Oberweis ran during the primary attacking President Bush's immigration reform plans. Oberweis insists he only opposed illegal immigration, but the ads drew fire from immigrant groups and Republicans alike.
"There is a group in the party which obviously is enamored with Mr. Oberweis because he finished second," said DuPage County GOP Chairman Kirk Dillard. "[But] an Oberweis candidacy would present unique problems when it comes to immigration and race and ethnicity, [problems] which I'm not sure we want to take on at this time."
After Oberweis, the remaining 10 names on the list are not exactly household names...
Awww, they're "uneasy..."
See:
Jim Oberweis And The Illinois Senate Race
Oberweis ads rile immigrant groups
Survivor Tribal Council snuffs out fourth torch [Oberweis won't be endorsed by paper]
Tancredo endorses Oberweis for (R) Ill Senate
Congressman helps Oberweis push immigration reform
Primary also-rans in line for ballot spot
GOP told thanks, but no thanks [by Rauschenberger].
Most importantly, contact the IL GOP and let them know what you think:
Judy Baar Topinka, Chairman of the IL GOP:
chairman@ilgop.org
Chicago Office
32 W. Randolph, Suite 1700,
Chicago, IL 60601-3405
Phone: 312/201-9000
Fax: 312/201-1271
(To prep you for your phone call, take a look at her book: 'Here We Dough Again'. Oh boy.)
Posted at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
President Bush hasn't learned:
President Bush made a pitch for his proposed temporary worker program before the nation's largest Hispanic rights group on Thursday.
Bush, via satellite, addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in San Antonio.
Bush proposed allowing legal and illegal immigrants to work in the United States under renewable three-year permits...
On Saturday, LULAC members are expected to hear from Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry.
Some of the other reports of Bush's speech are similarly vapid.
However, the report "President draws criticism at LULAC convention" has some quotes from attendees:
"America is a nation of open doors, and we want it to remain that way," [Bush] said. "Immigrants bring great strength. For this administration, el sueno Americano es para todos (the American dream is for everyone) and we all deserve a chance at the American dream."
But C. R. Contreras, a LULAC member from San Antonio, said she wasn't impressed by Bush's speech or his Spanish phrasing.
"It was political," she said. "He wants my vote. He spoke one sentence in Spanish of which the tone of voice was negative. He confirmed my decision to vote for Kerry."
..."Current law says that we live in a massive undocumented economy," [Bush] said. "The system is not fair and it's not right. My proposal is humane. We need to bring people out of the shadow of American life."
Some members walked out during Bush's speech or didn't attend the luncheon because he was speaking.
Ray Mancera of El Paso left the ballroom when Bush came on the screen.
"As soon as he came on, I walked out," he said. "I'm not interested in what he has to say. I saw how he hurt minorities as governor and he's still doing that on a national level."
Ramiro Robles, the past national president of LULAC, said Bush has not helped Hispanics.
"He has nothing for us," he said. "He caters to the Hispanic community to break us. But we are educated now and we're going to vote."
These quotes reveal the core fallacy of the Bush/Rove Doctrine. Not all members of the same race, ethnic, or cultural-linguistic group think the same. Even little children can see that, but apparently Bush and Rove cannot.
If Bush were reaching out for the African-American Vote, would he cozy up to Spike Lee? Probably so, but, of course, it wouldn't work.
Likewise, rather than reaching out to "Latinos," perhaps Bush should reach out to those people who support border control and immigration reform. That will include large numbers of "Latinos," but it won't include the relatively small number of "Latinos" who support Open Borders. But, that latter group probably wouldn't ever vote for a Republican anyway.
Posted at 10:56 AM | Comments (4)
From the Financial Times of London:
Asa Hutchinson, under-secretary at the Homeland Security Department, surely has a lot on his mind. Now he has to contend with the fall-out from John and Ken, the hosts of Los Angeles' most popular drive-time talk show, who told listeners to give him a piece of their mind.
Brimming with bile, they announced the White House had called to demand Hutchinson's phone number and e-mail address be removed from their KFI 640 station website.
Claiming they had been informed that "thousands" of messages were jamming the system and preventing Hutchinson from getting his job done, the hosts responded by repeating his contact details on air.
Hutchinson's first mistake, by their account, was to call off a series of sweeps by the Border Patrol - which had netted more than 400 undocumented immigrants in the LA area - and to propose that the patrolmen stick closer to the Mexican border. The duo had hailed the actions as a long-overdue counter to the flood of "illegal aliens", who, they have claimed ad nauseam, number 2m in southern California and cost taxpayers $5bn a year.
Hutchinson's second mistake was to imagine that a "swill-spewing spokeshole" (their generic term for all media officials) from the Bush administration would carry any weight with them. "We're terrified!" bawled John Kobylt, relishing the recognition. "It's John and Ken against the White House."
Previous coverage starts here.
Posted at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)
From Knight-Ridder:
WASHINGTON - The trafficking of human beings constitutes a "growth industry" in the United States, with more than 15,000 people forced into bondage each year as sex slaves or captive laborers, according to testimony before a Senate panel Wednesday...
Previously: a discussion of the controversy surrounding the NYT report about sex slaves in the U.S.
Posted at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
The 'Protect Arizona Now' initiative seeks to limit illegal immigration by requiring proof of citizenship before voting or receiving some public handouts. They recently turned in more than enough signatures to get on the ballot, and, since 70% of Arizonans support the initiative, it stands a good chance of being passed.
On the other side is a group calling itself the "Statue of Liberty Coalition." The Sonoran Times follows the money:
[The "Statue of Liberty Coalition"] have spent all but $76.45 of the $38,480 they've received in contributions, $15,000 of which was paid to Joel Wright and Associates for polling, with $23,000 to Wright Consulting, at the same address in Strawberry, for consulting fees. STC spent $267.55 on video equipment rentals. The rest was paid to Wells Fargo for bank fees.
Over half of STC's contributions came from two sources,
Los Abogados, the currently defunct Hispanic Bar Association of Maricopa County, contributed a total of $10,000.
The nonprofit organization was dissolved by the Arizona Corporation Commission on January 13, 2004 for failure to file their last two annual reports.
Members include Rep. Ben Miranda, D-16, who called Rep. Randy Graf, R-30, a "racist and an uneducated fool" because of his support of the PAN initiative...
Cambrio Express, listed on the campaign finance report as a check-cashing service, also contributed $10,000.
There is no record of a business by the name of Cambrio Express listed with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
However there is a listing for Cambrio Express under the Cash Now.com website, calling it "a foreign exchange business that can be operated as a stand-alone business or in conjunction with a Cash Now or Cash Express business."
The chairman of the "Statue of Liberty Coalition" is Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, last mentioned here. At the time, I sent her a polite email asking for clarification of the smears she stated in the article and, naturally, no reply ever came.
And, as can be expected, an Arizona Republic columnist came out in support of the check-cashing funded PAC in "Protecting Arizona from Protect Arizona Now."
Another member of the "Statue of Liberty Coalition" is Chad Campbell. A web search shows a person by that name as the Program Director of the Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation:
The Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation is a broad-based, non-partisan coalition of grassroots and advocacy organizations, individuals, and leaders that promotes social justice and articulates and advocates a people's agenda.
Their "Current Organizational Members" include a few mainstream "progressive" organizations as well as the Young Democratic Socialists.
Posted at 12:33 PM | Comments (3)
From the website of KFI (AM-Los Angeles) talk jocks John & Ken:
Trey Bohn is the Director of Radio, Office of Media Affairs, for the White House and he wants you to stop e-mailing Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Trey wants you to use a generic e-mail address, where you letters may or may not be seen. If you get a chance, why not give Trey a call and remind him who pays his salary. Call Trey at (202) 456-3851
If you're completely confused, here's the summary: John & Ken posted the emails and phone numbers of various officials, encouraging their listeners to give those officials a call in support of the recent sweeps against illegal immigrants.
Someone claiming to be from the DHS called and complained, asking that Asa Hutchinson's email be removed. He supposedly couldn't get his work done because of all the calls and emails.
Then, Trey Bohn from the White House called and asked that they stop it.
UPDATE: The Financial Times of London has a report here.
Posted at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
The previous report "The Feds threatened L.A. radio station KFI?" has been partially confirmed.
According to today's John & Ken show (KFI-Los Angeles), a press secretary at the White House has contacted Ray Lopez, John & Ken's producer, and asked them to stop giving out Asa Hutchinson's phone number. No mention has been made of whether the threat to ban KFI reporters from DHS press conferences stands. However, the fact that the White House is now complaining strongly indicates that the call mentioned in the earlier post was not a hoax.
Apparently Asa can't get his work done because of all the calls from KFI listeners complaining about lax immigration enforcement.
Perhaps if they listened to the vast majority of citizens they wouldn't be facing this problem.
Thankfully, John & Ken don't appear to be giving in.
The White House has offered an alternate email address for Asa, but it apparently is just an unread drop-box.
UPDATE: The complaints are coming from Trey Bohn, the White House's Director of Radio.
Posted at 02:15 PM | Comments (6)
From U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly:
Illegal immigration, more than any other single factor, is crippling major segments of California's economy, from health care to higher education to jobs. That's why, regardless of the security concerns -- and there are many -- Schwarzenegger should not sign any bill granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
This is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. Exit polls conducted during last year's recall showed that 39 percent of the recall voters identified themselves as Republican. Yet 70 percent told pollsters the license law that was then in effect should be repealed...
A driver's license would be one more enticement. Instead of offering driver's licenses, we must remove the enticements we now offer.
Anyone, whether here legally or not, should not be denied emergency care. But illegal immigrants use hospital emergency rooms for general care. As a result, 82 percent of the state's emergency rooms lost money in 2002, according to the California Medical Association...
Illegal immigration also hurts our native working poor's ability to attain Section 8 housing. By state law, illegal immigrants are barred from Section 8 housing. But the law is not enforced. So illegal immigrants fill public housing while a several-generation U.S. mother lives in her car with three children because she's on a six-year waiting list.
In California, illegal immigrants attend state universities at in-state tuition rates. That's grossly unfair to a legal high school student who moves out of California for a year, then returns to attend college. That student will pay $16,956 a year more than an illegal student -- who shouldn't be entitled to attend anyway...
It's impossible to return California's economy to a solid footing without addressing illegal immigration. It's true that the federal government needs to step up enforcement, and I am working with my congressional colleagues to do so. But as long as we offer free health care, jobs, heavily subsidized higher education, subsidized housing and other enticements, illegal immigrants will risk life and limb to come here.
For the health of our state's economy, Schwarzenegger should declare any future driver's license bill dead on arrival and begin reversing state laws and policies that serve as a lure to illegal immigrants.
Posted at 12:36 PM | Comments (5)
This is good news and hopefully it won't get shot down by those corrupt, anti-American politicians who hope to profit from illegal alien voters:
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) has introduced a bill into the U.S. House of Representatives that would help curb voting fraud by requiring voters to provide photo identification when voting in federal elections.
"The Federal Election Integrity Act of 2004," or H.R. 4530, would specifically amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Motor Voter law, to require any individual who desires to register or re-register to vote in an election for federal office to provide the state election official with proof of citizenship to prevent illegal aliens from voting in federal elections...
Posted at 10:08 PM | Comments (3)
Another few weeks, another drop house busted. However, the important things in the AP report are the following:
Police investigating a report of a kidnapping found 28 suspected illegal Mexican immigrants who had been held by smugglers at a small hotel...
A crowd of mostly Hispanics gathered at two corners near the motel, holding large Mexican flags and chanting, "Let them go!"
At one point the crowd of about 30 people blocked the street as three large vans pulled up to take away the immigrants. One person threw a rock at police and struck a squad car. About a dozen officers lined up shoulder to shoulder and cleared the street as the vans departed...
An official from the Mexican Consulate office spoke to some of the immigrants to advise them of their rights to an attorney before they were taken away.
Louis Carrillo, a consulting attorney with the Mexican consulate, said it was the third time in recent months that he had seen Los Angeles police working in tandem with federal immigration authorities.
"That should not be permitted in Los Angeles," he said. "The police department assistance is counterproductive because it can lead illegal immigrants to fear reporting crimes."
This situation is only going to get worse. With enough "immigration" (in English: massive illegal immigration) it will soon be very difficult for even federal agents to bust a drop house. At that point, the "immigration" problem will spiral out of control. If we don't get a handle on it now while we still can, it might be too late.
The way to do that is to make it absolutely clear to your elected representatives that they either vote to stop massive illegal immigration or they won't get your vote. That goes for Bush and any other Republican too.
Posted at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)
John Kerry is not completely insane. At least in the political sense:
Democrat John Kerry said he opposes state laws that give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, a position that puts him at odds with the Hispanic activists he is courting in the presidential race.
Immigrant advocates have been pushing for the laws, saying they help undocumented workers get around safely. Licensed drivers know the rules of the road and can buy insurance, making streets safer for everyone, they say.
Shortly after Kerry told the National Council of La Raza on Tuesday that he would make immigration reform a top priority to ease the path to citizenship for working immigrants, he took a tougher stance on the issue of driver's licenses in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo.
"I think that driver's licenses are part of the legality of being here and if you've been here a period of time we may work something out as part of that immigration process, but I wouldn't give somebody who is automatically one year in here illegally all the rights and privileges of being here legally," Kerry said in the interview.
"I think that's wrong. That defeats the purposes of the law," he said.
Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, said Wednesday that Kerry's comments "somewhat undercut" his well-received speech before her organization.
"Let me take a deep breath here," Munoz said after hearing about Kerry's comments, then paused before continuing. "I guess what's frustrating is that Sen. Kerry was just at our conference making terrific proposals that would benefit the immigrant community. ... This stand is going to be much less well received."
Munoz said driver's licenses have nothing to do with granting legal status or protecting against terrorism, as other opponents of the laws have suggested...
Guess what? She's wrong, and probably lying.
Details of Kerry's plan to grant a general amnesty here.
Posted at 08:09 PM | Comments (2)
The Arizona Republic - always an unbiased source with a completely non-liberal slant - headlines their story about Kerry's threat to declare a general amnesty for illegal aliens as "Kerry vows action for migrants".
The "action" in question is an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, not "migrants." Could their agenda be any more transparent?
Here are some helpful emails. Please, as always, be as polite as humanly possible:
Ward.Bushee@arizonarepublic.com
Randy.Lovely@arizonarepublic.com
jleach@azcentral.com
llevitt@azcentral.com
jeff.dozbaba@arizonarepublic.com
Posted at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
College shouldn't be difficult for Joaquin, who mastered Advanced Placement classes in a language he learned only four years ago and recently graduated 12th in his high school class.
But paying for it will be. The 19-year-old is an undocumented immigrant. He doesn't qualify for federal financial aid, which makes up 90 percent of the average Texas college student's aid package...
Congress is considering the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would make some undocumented immigrant students eligible for federal loans, but not grants. The bill would make students who immigrated here five or more years ago at the age of 15 or younger eligible for legal status and federal loans...
In January 2000, he trekked 26 hours across a desert from Mexico with about 50 others to join his father, who was living in North Texas and performing odd jobs. His mother and sister came separately. The family said they paid a smuggler $1,800 each to get them across the border...
Here's a draft of the letter I'm sending to Rex Seline, Managing Editor/News (817-390-7729 rseline@star-telegram.com). Please send your own version.
I've seen several "news reports" very similar to this advocacy piece in other publications. They invariably feature one or two bright illegal aliens who are presented in the most sympathetic light possible. All of the upsides of the DREAM Act are presented, with few of the downsides. If you did a search, you might be surprised. It's almost as if they were all following the same template.In any case, I'd like to suggest that you break new ground and cover the DREAM Act from a different perspective.
In a future article, could you cover someone who would be negatively impacted by the DREAM Act?
There are only a finite number of colleges, and only a finite amount of money available for discounted college educations. Joaquin (from the "news report") will be in competition with U.S. citizens for those finite discounted college educations.
What that means is there's a good chance that Joaquin will get a discounted college education, and a U.S. citizen will not. For instance, let's assume that there are just 1000 discounted college educations available, that there are 1001 applicants, and that 1000 of of those applicants are U.S. citizens but the 1001st is Joaquin. If Joaquin gets a discounted college education, that means that one of those 1000 U.S. citizens will not.
In other words, there's a good chance that Joaquin - an illegal alien and a citizen of Mexico - will take a discounted college education away from a United States citizen.
Perhaps you could find a citizen who might lose out to an illegal alien and do a sympathetic portrait/advocacy piece on them.
Also, you might want to ask why a) Joaquin can't go to Mexico for a college education, and b) why Mexico apparently is unable to offer him one.
I'll give you credit for including a dissenting voice in the "news report." In a future article perhaps you'll go into more depth on the effect if the DREAM Act passes. Won't that encourage even more illegal aliens to come here with their children to take advantage of the DREAM Act or a similar bill? And, as time goes on, won't those new illegal immigrants take even more discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens?
Also, please give a quick look to this older article: "Eighty-six percent of those surveyed for the Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Saturday said illegal immigration is a very serious or somewhat serious problem..."
I look forward to your next article on this topic.
Posted at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
From this:
A new man is in charge of border relations for Mexico and he has some radical ideas for change at the border with the United States.
Arturo Gonzalez Cruz, a 52-year-old Tijuana businessman, says many improvements are needed at the border to benefit trade, including creating more lanes and adding border crossings. Ultimately, Cruz says flat out, he wants to see the border disappear...
In his first hundred days as President, Kerry (see the previous post) would help make Cruz' dream a reality. I say we make sure that neither of them get what they want.
Posted at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
This news release from Kerry's campaign explains how:
The Kerry Campaign today released the following fact sheet on immigration reform:
Today at the National Council of La Raza's annual conference, John Kerry will continue to talk about his plans to open the doors of opportunity and expand access to the American Dream, including reforming America's immigration laws...
He will offer a reform bill in his first 100 days that allows immigrants to earn legalization, encourages family reunification, and strengthens our border protections...
As President, John Kerry will make it a priority to make the DREAM Act the law of the land...
As President, John Kerry will make [the AgJobs amnesty bill] a reality...
In his first hundred days, John Kerry will also offer a comprehensive immigration reform bill with four basic components. And Kerry will work tirelessly until reform has become law.
Earned Legalization. Under John Kerry's approach, undocumented workers who have lived and worked here for 5 years, who pay taxes, and who are successfully screened for security purposes will have a path to citizenship. Kerry will also expand opportunities to learn English and obtain civic education classes to help immigrants assume all of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Reuniting Families. Kerry will eliminate the massive administrative backlog and delay that has left many families unnecessarily divided for a decade or more. Our Nation's immigration system must be able to more quickly reunite husbands with wives, parents with children. Legal permanent residents seeking to reunify with spouses and children must be provided a fair and efficient process to do so.
Visa Program with Worker Protections. Kerry will establish a secure channel for a limited number of temporary workers to come into the United States. To protect all working people in the United States, Kerry will ensure that these temporary workers have the protections of U.S. employment and labor laws, including fair wage protections. These protections must be rigorously enforced.
Stronger Border Security. As an integral part of his reform, John Kerry will reach an accord with neighboring countries to improve security along our borders and stop illegal smuggling. He will improve our nation's security databases and watchlists and better control the borders to ensure that people who intend to harm us cannot cross our borders.
The AgJobs amnesty will, like all other amnesties, reward illegal behavior and encourage millions more illegal aliens to come here. Kerry's broader amnesty would have an even worse effect.
The DREAM Act would take discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens and give them to citizens of other countries.
Any lip service Kerry pays to future enforcement of immigration laws should be considered through the lens of history. For instance, the 1986 amnesty was supposed to be conditioned on stringent enforcement. However, those enforcement provisions were gutted by Teddy Kennedy. How are we going to ensure that Kerry's enforcement provisions aren't gutted by his friends on the far left?
Any weakness in our immigration policy - and that's exactly what Kerry's position is - will embolden our "friends" south of the border. If we can't stand up to corrupt third-world governments now, we certainly would not be able to under Kerry's plans.
This report has an excerpt from Kerry's speech:
"It is time to fulfill the promise of America, so that those who work hard and take responsibility and build a better life for them and their families, and live by the rules [*], and pay their taxes and raise their families have a right to share in America and its citizenship in the fullest," the Democratic candidate for president said...
* Except for that minor bit about a) entering or residing here illegally, b) no doubt working here illegally, and c) no doubt using false and thus illegal documents here. Just a few minor points. Oh, and remember to register to vote when you get your driver's license.
Posted at 11:18 PM | Comments (2)
Imagine, if you will, a group of thirty people. Five groups of six people each will do. Keep that image in your mind:
With agents clad in dark riot gear looking on, about 30 activists gathered outsidethe Border Patrol station in Temecula on Monday to protest recent immigration sweeps in Southern California.
Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. citizens have phoned and emailed the DHS and other agencies in support of the sweeps. Yet, somehow, the illegal-alien-supporters win out. Odd, no?
Perhaps it's because those in Washington are afraid being called names:
"We're organized and we're ready to fight this Gestapo-style movement," said Joe Mota, who represented the United Farm Workers at the demonstration.
(BTW, BugMeNot.com is a great resource)
Posted at 02:47 PM | Comments (1)
From Congressman Tom Tancredo's site:
Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO-06) today along with 49 Congressmen applauded Border Patrol enforcement in California and urged Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson to resist pressure to halt arrests in the southern California by Democrat members of congress.
Fifty Members of Congress including House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Chairman of Homeland Security Appropriations Harold Rogers, Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and California Representatives Richard Pombo, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrel Issa have praised the U.S. Border Patrol for its new enforcement actions in southern California. In a joint letter on Friday, the lawmakers asked Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson to "resist outside pressure to curtail it..."
Unfortunately, Hutchinson - or someone above him - has caved.
If you agree with Tancredo, here are some contacts:
Gloria Chavez Public Information Office U.S. Customs and Border Protection 202-927-1422 gloria.chavez@cbp.govAsa Hutchinson
Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security
202-282-8010
asa.hutchinson@dhs.govRobert Bonner
Commissioner
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
homeland@mail.house.gov
robert.bonner@dhs.gov
Posted at 08:23 PM | Comments (1)
Allan Wall wants to know:
The Mexican government is engaged in a deliberate strategy to influence American immigration policy, increase the population of Mexicans in the United States, slow their assimilation and retain their loyalty to Mexico. This is no secret conspiracy -- Mexican leaders speak openly of it. It is already bearing fruit. If allowed to continue, the inevitable outcome will be effective control of U.S. immigration policy by a foreign power.
Mexico's elite see the United States as a safety valve, where a part of Mexico's population can be exported, to relieve pressure on Mexico's troubled economy. This in turn reduces incentive for real economic reform. Why fix the problems when it's easier to export Mexicans?
The Mexican government works to hinder assimilation of Mexicans in the United States and to retain their loyalty. The goal is to gain control over U.S. immigration policy. And the strategy is working. Notice how U.S. immigration is no longer considered an internal U.S. matter but rather a bilateral issue to be negotiated between the United States and Mexico. Mexican immigration policy, stricter than our own, is off limits from such negotiation, of course.
Some influential Mexicans go even further, speaking openly in terms of a reconquista -- a reconquest of the U.S. Southwest, briefly a part of Mexico in the 19th century...
A great deal of supporting information for the above can be found in the Immigration category.
Posted at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
Bobby Eberle of gopusa.com discusses the most recent WSJ smear attempt:
...How can conservatives such as myself stand up and discuss immigration reform in the context of border security when the Wall Street Journal is labeling us as "anti-immigrant?" Not once in the Journal's editorial was the topic of border security mentioned. Not once did the editorial mention that many conservatives rightfully believe that rewarding illegal behavior only encourages more illegal behavior. Shortly after President Bush's announcement of his guest worker program, illegal immigration shot up "dramatically" according to the National Border Patrol Council. However, if conservatives step forward and discuss this in a logical manner, the name-calling starts and the shouts of "I can't hear you" begin.
Publications such as the Wall Street Journal should recognize that the immigration issue is more than just an economic issue of cheap labor. They should also realize that a great many Americans, including myself, are deeply concerned about the security of our country, and we realize that an important battle in the war on terror is making sure our homeland is secure. We are taking the fight to the terrorists, and at the same time, we must make it as difficult as possible for the terrorists to take the fight to us. Squelching debate through hit pieces and name calling does nothing to address the real immigration and security problems facing America. Of all publications, the Wall Street Journal should know better than that.
Posted at 10:17 AM | Comments (1)
[UPDATE #3 (7/6/04): despite UPDATE #2, this story appears to have been partly confirmed. See the post The White House is complaining about KFI's John & Ken]
[See UPDATE #2, which is rather important.]
The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly threatened to bar KFI reporters from DHS news conferences. KFI, at 640AM in Los Angeles, is one of most listened-to news-talk stations in the country and can be heard throughout Southern California and on the Internet.
The DHS will reportedly deny KFI reporters access unless KFI hosts John & Ken stop their current campaign requesting that their listeners contact the DHS in support of the recent immigration sweeps in Southern California.
Bowing to pressure from a few Congressmen, the DHS has placed these sweeps under review ("Official says SoCal immigration sweeps violated federal policy")
John & Ken do not encourage their listeners to harass the DHS in any way. They have simply been asking their listeners to contact the DHS and let their voices be heard. So far, the DHS has received thousands of emails and phone calls in support of the sweeps.
The right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances" is a fundamental American right enshrined in the First Amendment. John & Ken are simply encouraging the public participation of their listeners. Any government attempt to stifle these attempts is contrary to our most fundamental principles.
Many news organizations might disagree with John & Ken's positions on the sweeps. However, all news organizations should feel threatened when the government attempts to restrict access simply because talk-show hosts upset government agencies by encouraging listeners to pursue their First Amendment rights.
I urge all news organizations to look into this matter and to hold accountable anyone who has been responsible for this threat against our most basic rights.
Addendum:
John & Ken discussed the threat from the DHS at approximately 6:45pm on Friday June 25, 2004. Other listeners have confirmed that they said this.
From John & Ken's web site:
If you want to thanks the San Diego Border Patrol for taking care of business, you can e-mail them at SDC.PIO@DHS.GOV
Contact Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security and tell him that you want the Border Partol to do their job! Call at 202-282-8010 or e-mail him at asa.hutchinson [atsign] dhs.gov. Also, contact Robert Bonner, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection who sent out a memo for the Border Patrol to stop the sweeps at homeland [atsign] mail.house.gov or robert.bonner [atsign] dhs.gov.
Contact your Congressman! Click here, and simply find your Congressman and let them know that if they don�t support the Border Patrol Sweeps, then they WILL NOT get your vote in November!
UPDATE: It should be noted that John & Ken broadcast Monday through Friday from 3pm to 7pm Pacific time. Thus, this threat was discussed at the end of their show. Hopefully they will have more information on Monday.
UPDATE 2: I listened to their show on Monday but I didn't hear anything about this. So, I called KFI...
Unfortunately, they don't know whether the DHS threat was legitimate or not. The person who made the DHS threat called in and did not leave a message or phone number.
And, KFI has contacted Asa Hutchinson's secretary. She says KFI will not be banned and everything's hunky dory between DHS and KFI.
So...
I should have called KFI first and gotten the details. I at least could have included the bit about the call's legitimacy being in doubt in the post.
Posted at 12:01 PM | Comments (7)
The Christian Science Monitor comes out against both Bush's and the Democrat's plans:
The Latino vote has some chance of tipping the presidential election this year. That's why both Democrats and Republicans are dancing around different ideas about amnesty for illegal aliens.
Actually, amnesty isn't a word used too much anymore in the immigration debate. Since the amnesty of 1986, opposition has grown stronger against rewarding those who bust US borders, especially after Sept. 11.
Still, the "almost amnesty" proposals are worth some campaign debate. The issue has been helped along by two recent studies. One, from the Center for Immigration Studies, found the average yearly earnings of US-born men between 1980 and 2000 decreased by an estimated $1,700 as the number of immigrant workers rose. The other study, by the Inter-American Development Bank, calculated that the 16.7 million Latin American-born adults in the US send back more than $30 billion each year to their home countries, while contributing $450 billion to the US economy. One third of those adults are illegal aliens. Such benefits and costs of illegal immigration, however, are secondary to the corrosive effects of such massive lawbreaking.
The debate also has been enlivened by the work of Harvard Prof. Samuel P. Huntington...
Immigration is certainly a worthy issue for campaign debate. But proposals that are simply a backdoor approach to amnesty and designed mainly to woo a small percentage of votes are a stealthy way to a bad solution for a serious problem.
Posted at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
From CEO of DC’s PBS Station Mad About Day Laborers Next to Studio:
Earlier this week [August 1, 2003], Sharon Percy Rockefeller, CEO of WETA, the Washington, DC PBS station really located in Arlington County, Virginia, lashed out at the county board for voting to build a pavilion, to house day laborers waiting for work, next door to WETA’s studios where the PBS NewsHour and Washington Week are taped.
“WETA balks at having day-labor shelter next door,” declared the headline over the July 31 story in the Northern Virginia Journal about WETA’s reaction to the Tuesday night vote by the all-Democratic county Board of Supervisors.
See the previous post about PBS's new Farmingville documentary.
As can be expected, there are two sets of rules. PBS and other elites follow one set, while the rest of us are supposed to watch Farmingville and read its execrable "discussion guide" and follow a different set of rules.
The elites are able to isolate themselves from the negative impacts of their policies that they want to impose on the rest of us.
The solution is to demand accountability on the part of your elected representatives.
The specific solution in PBS's case is to stop donating money to them and encourage your elected representatives to cut their funding.
Posted at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
PBS's new documentary 'Farmingville' was broadcast on many PBS stations tonight. It covers a Long Island community's reaction to a sudden influx of illegal immigrants.
From PBS's synopsis:
The shocking hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapult a small Long Island town into national headlines, unmasking a new front line in the border wars: suburbia. For nearly a year, Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini lived and worked in Farmingville, New York, so they could capture first-hand the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all sides of the debate.
Lou Dobbs calls it "[o]ne of the most important documentaries in years", but others say it's strongly biased in favor of illegal immigration. FAIR says it "Distorts Views of the Community". And, many of the visitors to PBS's discussion forums say it's biased as well. I have not seen it yet.
However, the documentary comes with its own discussion guide, and that might give us some clues to the documentary's intent. The guide could fairly be described as a pro-illegal immigration brochure. It gives the upsides to massive illegal immigration, and attempts to counter or sidestep the downsides.
Part of the brochure has been repurposed and placed in HTML pages on PBS's Farmingville site in their special features section. Because it forms a core part of their description of the documentary, that would tend to indicate that the views it expresses are endorsed by PBS.
The documentary makers had a web chat, and the transcript is here. The transcript makes clear where they stand as well as their misconceptions. Those misconceptions range from small things like the derivation of the word wop on up. In the web chat, they also attempt to subtly smear those who hold opposing viewpoints as racists.
Dan Stein of FAIR is given a chance to answer a few questions at PBS's site, however they're mostly meaningless questions and PBS does not provide an opposing view of the documentary itself.
There are past reports on the documentary here and here.
It'd be helpful if interested parties could look through at least the materials at PBS's site and point out all the lies and misrepresentations. Then, that hefty compilation could be sent to PBS and the documentary's sponsors. More importantly, the compilation could be sent to Congress with the suggestion that they use it as PBS not serving the community as their charter says they should.
Posted at 11:03 PM | Comments (1)
Human Events has an overview of Chris Cannon and today's primary that might send him packing:
Congressman Chris Cannon of Utah apparently is in real danger of losing his seat in Congress, and apparently that’s causing him to employ extreme measures.
Cannon faces serious GOP primary opposition from former state legislator Matt Throckmorton. In the Republican state convention, Throckmorton forced Cannon into a primary election happening today. Throckmorton hammered Cannon’s mass immigration stance, as well as his support for the controversial No Child Left Behind education law.
Throckmorton, a solid conservative who is 100 percent pro-life and for enforcing immigration laws, has found an easy target because of Cannon’s immigration stance (Americans for Better Immigration grade: D)...
Posted at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)
The Wall Street Journal editorial page published another of its periodic eructations on immigration last week. This one was essentially a campaign ad for Utah Congressman Chris Cannon, the administration point-man on immigration in the House of Representatives, who was forced into a primary (being held today) because of