Immigration News first half of 2005 Archives

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Illegal immigration advocates... want CAFTA changed

Let's send out a big "heh indeed" to Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) and Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood) as well as to Sergio Barahona of the Central American Resource Center. They say that CAFTA will lead to increased illegal immigration. They don't want to completely stop it, nor do they wish to join with pro-borders groups to stop it, they just want to add in some protections:

[the fine advocates] maintained that the pact, known as CAFTA, would depress wages and exacerbate poverty in the region, particularly among farmers.

That, they said, would spur a move to cities, and if jobs are not plentiful enough to sustain migration, people will seek jobs outside their countries both legally and illegally.

"Guess what we're going to have? More immigrants from Central America coming to the United States," said Barahona, whose Los Angeles-based organization represents an estimated 1.5 million El Salvadorans in the United States, more than 700,000 of whom are believed to live in Southern California.

Added Becerra, "CAFTA will do nothing to improve the situation when it comes to immigration, particularly undocumented immigration..."

Full report in "CAFTA leads some to think illegal immigration could rise". I have absolutely no idea why advocates for illegal immigration would now raise questions about something that would seem to increase their ethnic power base. There must be something else going on, but what that is I don't know.

UPDATE: From "Bush seeks to ease concerns over Cafta":

The White House on Thursday offered to negotiate with congressional Democrats over enforcing labour rights provisions in a trade agreement with Central America and the Dominican Republic, the latest sign that the administration fears the proposed deal is in jeopardy...

As if you needed any more reason to oppose CAFTA, see "Former President Carter backs Cafta".

Posted at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

OTMs on MSM radar

For some reason, OTMs ("Other Than Mexicans") are now on the MSM's perspicacious radar screen.

The AZ Daily Star combines their own reporting with the AP's reporting to create "Entrants not from Mexico big concern".

The L.A. Daily News' Washington Bureau offers "Most illegal aliens freed on bail, own recognizance".

Neither of those reports have much new to report, but if you aren't familiar with this issue they're worth a look.

UPDATE: There's yet another roundup in "Non-Mexican migrants swamp immigration, border agencies".

Unlike the other reports, there's actually news in "Release of non-Mexican illegals questioned":

...three U.S. senators Tuesday pressed federal officials to stem the flow by halting the routine release of thousands of non-Mexican illegal immigrants every month by the Border Patrol.

"Tell me what we can do and what it would cost," asked Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala...

"There is a vision, and it's already started," responded Wesley Lee, the acting director of Detention and Removal at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lee, like Border Patrol chief David Aguilar, touted a program of "expedited removal" that puts illegal immigrants on a fast track for deportation...

Expedited removal is only used in the Tucson and Laredo sectors, not in the other seven along the border.

Posted at 01:53 PM | Comments (2)

JAMA: Immigrants bringing drug-resistant TB to U.S.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has a special issue on tuberculosis. From "Drug-resistant TB coming to U.S. from abroad-study":

...Dr. Reuben Granich of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a news conference that while TB fell overall by 33 percent in California between 1994 and 2003, the proportion of cases that resisted more than two drugs, called multidrug-resistant or MDR TB, remained steady.

His team studied all reported cases of tuberculosis on California, the state with the most cases of TB in the United States...

Oddly enough (as they say), this is from Reuters and it doesn't sugar-coat the issue. The same cannot be said for, for instance, WebMD's "Drug-Resistant TB Continues in California". It mentions CA, NY, and TX as leading the nation in TB cases. What else do they lead the nation in? The reader is left to figure that out on their own.

See also ""Catastrophe in Care: Hospitals are being crippled by the costs of treating migrants".

Posted at 04:55 PM | Comments (1)

"U.S. officials promote programs for Mexican immigrants"

Can you spot the contradiction in this introductory paragraph from Knight Ridder's "U.S. officials promote programs for Mexican immigrants":

U.S. government officials convened Monday in San Francisco to promote programs, services and benefits available to Mexican immigrants in this country, including those who are undocumented, under a binational effort aimed at protecting workers' rights and improving the health of families...

Those of you who are old fuddy-duddies will probably have a problem with the U.S. government encouraging illegal immigration. But, wait, it gets worse. They're doing so with our friends from Mexico:

The officials from the Department of Labor and Department of Agriculture spoke to dozens of representatives of Mexican consulates from throughout the Western United States in a daylong training seminar aimed at jointly promoting immigrant rights...

While the government representatives seemed careful to not publicly emphasize how illegal immigrants can benefit under federal laws, the consuls and a top official from Mexico's Foreign Ministry in interviews spoke openly about how the undocumented often don't complain about working conditions for fear their employer will have them deported...

While I don't want to see workers exploited, I believe a far better way to avoid that would be for the federal government to fight against illegal immigration. That would also be consistent with our laws. And, no matter what we do, we should keep the Mexican government and their consulates at arm's length.

Maybe it's time for the American public to consider their options. If you don't want to go that far, contact your representatives and make clear to them that you oppose these sort of activities.

Posted at 02:52 PM | Comments (1)

Welcome libertarian Open Borders advocates!

Because you have a special ideology, I have a special treat for you: "Does the Free Market Require 'Free' Immigration?"

Note also that even someone as libertarianly pure as Michael Badnarik is opposed to illegal immigration.

Posted at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

"Report Card on America’s Schools: Illegal Immigration Provides Lesson in Negative Numbers"

A new FAIR study shows just how much we're spending to educate another country's children. From the press release:

With the traditional end of the school year, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has updated its study of the impact of illegal immigration on America’s public schools. Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools Into the Red estimates that nationwide, the cost of educating the children of illegal aliens in the U.S. now runs an astonishing $28.6 billion...

Posted at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)

ACLU: "Cowboys" enforcing immigration laws

Welcome to the Los Angeles Times' little world. In that world, it's unusual to enforce our immigration laws. Needless to say, the ACLU lives there too. Unfortunately, our "homeland security president" and his underlings live in that very same world.

From the LAT comes "Local Police, U.S. Agents Differ on Raids" (AP summary in "Local police didn't tip federal agents in SoCal immigration sweeps"):

When U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested more than 400 undocumented immigrants a year ago in controversial Southland sweeps, they said they acted partly in response to tips from local law enforcement agencies.

But hundreds of pages of documents about the raids, released by federal officials in response to a lawsuit from the ACLU, show no specific evidence of such tips, and several police agencies told The Times last week that they did not inform Border Patrol agents of the whereabouts of suspected illegal immigrants before the sweeps...

...The Escondido Police Department was the only one of seven agencies contacted by The Times not to dispute the Border Patrol's claims...

The Border Patrol says the tips may have come through unofficial channels, have been made by citizens, made confidentially, etc. etc.

...The sweeps raised protests among politicians, church leaders and the Mexican government because they extended well beyond the border and caused fear in immigrant neighborhoods, even among people in the U.S. legally.

Despite the overwhelming cultural presence of 'Born in East L.A.', those who are here legally have nothing to fear except the possibility of a slight inconvenience. As for those politicians et al., do some or all really have the best interests of the U.S. at heart? (See "AVWatch: Villaraigosa's under-reported associations" and "Rep. Joe Baca is making sense") As for the Mexican government, should we allow them to dictate our immigration enforcement policies? Aren't they - like some or all of the politicians - just on the other side?

Subsequently, the Department of Homeland Security determined that the agents did not get required approval from headquarters and did not coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency primarily responsible for immigration violations away from the border. Homeland Security officials then clarified that the Border Patrol should concentrate on the border, major transportation hubs and travel routes north...

There's a story for the Times: why did the DHS cave in? Are they corrupt or just scared of far-left racial demagogues?

...The documents, sought by the ACLU in a lawsuit alleging possible violation of immigrants' rights...

...ACLU attorney Ranjana Natarajan said she believes the dozen agents harassed "day laborers and other vulnerable workers" out of frustration over the Inland Empire's growing immigrant population.

"It looks like it was a bunch of cowboys at the Temecula office who wanted to do more," she said. "They clearly wanted to do interior enforcement... They didn't bother to get any approval."

So, the ACLU says it's "harrasment" to enforce our laws. And, those who do so are "cowboys." Did we need reminding of which side they're on? See "The enemy within".

...The sweeps had a profound effect in some areas: Some immigrants said they were scared to go to local markets or schools...

Memo to the Times: legal "immigrants" have nothing to fear from the BP. Those who are here illegally shouldn't be attending schools in the first place.

Also see:
Reports on the Temecula townhall meeting
"Homeland Security? Not Yet"
Search for Hutchinson for more

Posted at 12:02 PM | Comments (1)

Mort Zuckerman: Massive illegal alien amnesty is a "second chance"

U.S. News & World Report's Morton Zuckerman offers us "A Second Chance", all about "immigration reform". There are only three good ideas in this editorial: first, at least this magazine is covering this; second, he wants to end or reduce chain migration, aka "family reunification"; third, he wants to bring in more skilled labor.

However, like others, he comes out in favor of "immigration reform", such as that offered by Bush's horrific plan or by the McKennedy amnesty. It includes this:

...We have to figure out how to fully integrate these illegal immigrants into our nation so that they become productive, law-abiding citizens, paying taxes and learning English...

We have to do no such thing. "Having to" integrate millions of illegal aliens now will just provide an incentive for millions more to come, all of whom will "have to" be integrated. How about we reduce the incentives for remaining here illegally at the same time as making it unprofitable to employ illegal aliens. As pointed out many times before, hundreds of thousands or even more illegal aliens will repatriate themselves, and we won't have to go out of our way to accomodate them.

The hope would be that once the available jobs were filled by authorized immigrants, those unauthorized would stop coming because employers could no longer hire them. This would free the Border Patrol to look for terrorists--instead of people just seeking work...

Yeah, it's good to know we're basing policy on "hope." What will actually happen is employers will keep employing illegals until it's unprofitable to do so. They'll donate some money and get exemptions in return. Or, Bush will just not enforce the law as he's doing now.

He goes on to say that these "reform" proposals are not amnesties. And, perhaps in some extremely strict, legalistic definition in some dictionary somewhere he might be right. However, in any case it will be perceived as an amnesty in all those countries that have sent us millions of people. And, it will show that the U.S. is "easy", leading to millions more coming here in expectation of the next last non-amnesty amnesty.

Posted at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)

America's immigration system is broken, and needs to be fixed

America is a land of immigrants. Today, immigrants come to do the jobs that Americans won't do. Today's wave of immigration is just like past waves. Everyone agrees that our immigration system is broken and needs fixing.

Oh, sorry. I was just reading this card I found on the ground... let's see, what's on the other side... Party Line Printers, Berkeley CA???

Oh my.

Anyhoo, while reading the rather unremarkable "news report" entitled "Immigration forum Sunday in St. Helena", I ran across the only quote they provide from "noted immigration law expert Mark Silverman" from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center:

"Everyone agrees immigration is broken and needs fixing, but nobody can agree how to fix it," Silverman said. "We're talking to people about their legal rights."

I don't know whether he said more than that, or whether that was the first and only thing he said to the "reporter." But, you can see the same exact comment from others here. And, when we change the wording slightly, we get even more hits, including one from Sen. John McCain of McKennedy amnesty fame.

Posted at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)

"Catastrophe in Care: Hospitals are being crippled by the costs of treating migrants"

Leo W. Banks has a long, depressing article about the health care crisis caused by massive illegal immigration. Print it out, take it to a "liberal" you know, and stand there while they read it.

Posted at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

Mexico's Political Agenda Behind Migration Talks

There's a good roundup of the threat posed by massive illegal immigration in "Mexico's Political Agenda Behind Migration Talks: Americans Should Heed Warnings to Preserve National Unity".

The author has first-hand knowledge of the mindset she describes. In 2003 she spoke at the California hearings during which "American" legislators discussed accepting Mexican ID cards. At the hearing, former Sen. John Vasconcellos basically advocated giving the U.S. southwest back to Mexico. See "Since We Stole It, Let Them Steal It Back".

Posted at 11:42 AM | Comments (1)

Pro-illegal immigration groups gather, are ignored

Dan Stein reports:

A coalition of illegal alien advocacy groups including MALDEF, CHIRLA, SEIU and several dozen protestors holding signs demanding amnesty for illegal aliens, held a news conference on the steps of the Los Angeles City Hall this afternoon...

After the formal press conference, FAIR media director Ira Mehlman was interviewed by the press that did attend, presenting the arguments against rewarding millions of illegal aliens, and in the process punishing millions more Americans and legal immigrants. The organizers clearly were not pleased, as each interview was accompanied by angry glares from the leaders of the illegal alien advocacy groups who hovered around.

Apparently only KNX, KFWB or some other all-news station was the only English-language station that bothered to show up.

The protesters were there to support Kennedy-McCain, aka the McKennedy amnesty.

Posted at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

OTMs in Brownsville to be deported

As previously discussed ("Other-than-Mexicans give themselves up to get released into the U.S.") OTMs have been basically surrendering to BP agents because there's no detention space. Thus, they get a notice to appear in 30 days, they're released, and they're never heard from again.

Now, one Brownsville judge appears to be attempting to change that:

...U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio made a statement Thursday [seven] Central Americans who were caught this week crossing the Rio Grande near Brownsville.

"I want you to tell all your friends in Honduras that if they come through Brownsville, Texas, they will not be paroled into the system and they will be put in jail and deported," Recio told Vasquez in open court as he handed him a jail sentence that could keep him here until space opens at an immigration facility and he could be deported...

Full story here. Same report here.

Posted at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)

"The immigrant 'cheap labor' myth"

Jon Dougherty crunches the numbers and tells us:

...immigrants – legal and illegal – inflict a net drain on the U.S. economy, when you factor in all of the expenses associated with providing them taxpayer- and consumer-supported benefits and services.

While it is true there are some industries benefiting from cheap labor – agriculture, for one – bare-bones, unbiased, non-partisan statistics prove beyond reproach that illegal immigrants are costing the nation much more than they contribute to it...

Posted at 06:32 PM | Comments (2)

Wal-Mart, illegal aliens, and a wink and a nod

Earlier I pointed out that the $10 million fine to WalMart for employing illegal aliens represented about 15 minutes of their revenue (Wal*Mart's 15 minutes of pain).

Now, comes this news:

FAIR has learned from the Department of Homeland Security that the agency's recent settlement of charges for employing illegal aliens - that included an $11 million penalty - didn't apply any real pressure on mega-retailer Wal-Mart to mend its ways. One of the most useful arrows in the DHS quiver is a requirement that an offending employer sign up for the Basic Pilot verification system for all future hiring. FAIR learned that the enforcement folk at DHS did not levy this requirement on Wal-Mart...

Posted at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

AVWatch: Villaraigosa's under-reported associations

The last post ("The Trojan Horses of Sacramento") mentioned one Juan Jose Guiterrez ("JJG"), who has some association with America's favorite new mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. A closer look at JJG might prove fruitful for those who think that AV's apologists and supporters have any credibility left.

From this:

Villaraigosa was the only California politician who dared to join in the 1996 March on Washington that demanded amnesty for illegal aliens... The March was organized by Juan Jose Guiterrez of One Stop Immigration (now with SEIU) and led by a band from the Mexican Army...

What's a self-described patriot doing at a march featuring the Mexican Army band? There's a few pictures of AV from the march here. One picture includes AV and JJG together with someone who said on another occasion, "You old white people, it is your duty to die."

Just yesterday JJG held a press conference in L.A. where he called California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a Nazi. Parts of this press conference were broadcast on KFI, so there's quite a bit more to this. JJG seemed to be mispronouncing Arnold's last name, so it rhymed with a rather infamous and scurillous word for black people.

No, really. He said Arnold's last name several times, but, instead of pronouncing it like "Schwartz-uh-NAY-gur", he pronounced it a bit more like "Schwartz-uh-NI-gur". Now, JJG has an accent. But, think of the second syllable in the word "ole", which has the same sound as the penultimate syllable in Arnold's last name. Perhaps it's just some strange inability to pronounce phonemes which are nearly the same in anglicized German and in Spanish, or perhaps he was being tripped up by the double-g's, or perhaps he was doing this intentionally.

In addition, he brought up that Arnold's father was supposedly a Nazi, and detailed how said father had allegedly killed many different people of many different backgrounds. Therefore, since Arnold was trying to secure the borders, JJG compared what Arnold is trying to do to what the Nazis did. Eric Leonard of KFI called JJG on this, but JJG offered a evasive reply then moved on. And, JJG reportedly did this press conference standing in front of a Swastika banner outside Arnold's L.A. office.

But, wait, there's much more. JJG then introduced someone who I believe was named Camacho. That person then went off on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, claiming that because of that treaty we (you know, the Americans) had no right to prevent Mexicans from coming across the border at will.

Here's another slight connection, relating to the supposed immigration raids that supposedly took place in Southern California last year:

But the leader of Coalition Latino Movement USA, Juan Jose Gutierrez, claimed Border Patrol agents have also arrested people in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties.

He charged that Latino communities are being "terrorized" by the raids.

On Monday, Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa and religious leaders called for an end to the alleged raids.

"Border Patrol officials say they're only enforcing the law, but it's clear they're only selectively enforcing the law," Villaraigosa said.

Those raids never took place.

There's more on JJG's SEIU connection here. And, here's Antonio Villaraigosa, marching in an SEIU parade.

There's more here and here.

And, here's the announcement for a May 21 ANSWER protest:

Join individuals and organizations as they converge on Downtown LA for a day of political and cultural resistance to the anti-people policies of the White House, Wall Street & the Pentagon... Speakers and Performers Include: Mark Klein, Political Director SEIU 660, Angelina Corona, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, James Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild... Initiated by ANSWER-LA: Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee-LA/OC, Free Palestine Alliance, Gabriela Network, MINDULLAE, National Lawyers Guild, Palestinian-American Women’s Association, Latino Movement USA, Party for Socialism and Liberation...

There's more on AV's associations here. "Tell me with whom you hang out, and I will tell you who you really are" indeed.

UPDATE: The only news report I can find on this is here, in Spanish. They have a twelve-point plan, including:
* voter registration drives...
* declaring a day during which they're going to trash all Schwarzenegger products...
* trying to get our friends in countries to the south to declare Arnold persona non grata...
* a big march (will the Mexican Army band be invited?) on October 12...

And, they also want to work with nurses, teachers, firefighters, and all other anti-Arnold groups. Gosh, wouldn't that be sweet? Maybe even AV will end up supporting their efforts. Hopefully there will be a lot of discrediting going on in the near future.

Posted at 08:18 AM | Comments (3)

"The Trojan Horses of Sacramento"

This is from December of last year, but it's still timely considering that Gil "One Bill Gil" was able advance this year's version of driver's licenses for illegal aliens yet again:

...if some far-Left legislators, and California Democrats in general, continue to conduct themselves as traitors to the mainstream, we may have to dramatically alter how we look at them: not as elected officials we disagree with, but as revolutionary enemies within. Not only haven't they learned a single lesson from the party-wide condemnation of the 2003 recall, but they clearly see the removal of Gray Davis as an aberrant historical myth and urban legend...

According to K. Lloyd Billingsley of the Pacific Research Institute ("The Radical Vanguard in the Los Angeles Labor Movement," August 2000), who wrote about, among other things, Nunez and his extreme political speeches and positions:

"We don't have economic power because we don't own the means of production," Nunez told a rally in January 1995, where he urged the crowd to "bring Washington to its knees." A year earlier, in October of 1994, Nunez and his militant colleague Juan Jose Gutierrez of the group One Stop Immigration, coordinated a rally of 70,000 immigrants against Proposition 187. Protestors waved Mexican flags and displayed an American flag with only 13 stars. They called Governor Pete Wilson a pig, compared Prop. 187 to Hitler's laws against Jews and told "Anglos" to go back to Europe.

Who do these legislators really work for?

What oath did they take when they captured elective office?

What are their real objectives?

Every California voter should know don't you think?

...Mr. Cedillo is one of the most influential and visible members of the Latino Caucus, a powerful organization that constitutes more than one-fifth of the state Legislature. His singular devotion to a conflict-ridden cause on behalf of two million foreigners is a serious paradox to the legal residents who pay his six-figure salary...

Posted at 10:51 PM | Comments (1)

What you can do about illegal immigration

I hardly agree with everything she writes, but Devvy Kidd does have some useful tips about dealing with illegal immigration.

First, do not vacation in Mexico...

Second, don't book your business convention in Cancun or any other city in Mexico...

Third, stop buying anything made in Mexico or any Latin American countries...

Fourth, stop buying any fruits or vegetables from Mexico or Latin American countries...

Fifth, get your money out of any bank that is giving home mortgage loans to illegals or in any way doing business with them...

I heartily agree with #1, #2, and, especially, #5. #4 I do already since I'd rather not expose myself to unnecessary risks. #3 might be a bit of a closer call, as it might be counterproductive. In any case, those steps are more effective as threats rather than in practice. If the Mexican government thought that their aggressive anti-American activities might result in a loss of revenue, they might modify those policies.

In any case, with Mexican citizens illegally in the U.S. threatening to wage economic war on one of our states, I don't think anyone should have any objections to simply refusing to send their money south of the border.

Posted at 10:42 PM | Comments (4)

"Illegal Immigration and the Mexican Archbishop"

I'm not familiar with the term "Thomistic", but Robert Klein Engler is and he reports:

...CNN.com reports that "Even Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico City, criticized U. S. immigration policy as ridiculous and defended Fox's comments ["the jobs that even blacks won't do"], saying: "The declaration had nothing to do with racism. It is a reality in the United States that anyone can prove."

That's not the whole of Cardinal Carrera's comments about immigration. He also has criticized the United States for "xenophobic attitudes" toward Mexican immigrants, calling it inconsistent to promote international free trade but refuse to let people cross the border for the basic human right to work. "Just as the borders are open to merchandise, that is all the more reason that the borders should be open to the human being," said the Cardinal.

Why is the archbishop of Mexico City getting involved in the illegal immigration dispute between Mexico and the United States and defending President Fox and his remarks?

...Cardinal Carrera should be reminded that it is a principle of Thomistic theology that both the family and the state are natural and necessary for our earthly happiness. Respect for the family means respect for marriage and respect for the state means respect for its laws and borders. Furthermore, respect for the culture of indigenous peoples is no different from respect for the unique culture of those living in the United States. It is hard to imagine how following Thomistic theology we can justify illegal immigration or in the Cardinal's words, "that the borders should be open..."

Although Cardinal Carrera is in favor of national unity when it comes to things Mexican, he seems not to be in favor of national unity when it comes to the U. S. protecting its borders. During the 1995 rebellion in Chiapas he made a plea for national unity and worried that Mexico might run the risk of coming apart. But when the U. S. decides on the national unity that comes with the enforcement of its immigration laws, he opposes such an effort...

See also "Can I blame the Catholic Church then?" about a logic-free Open Borders editorial from Cardinal Roger Mahoney.

Posted at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

AVWatch: Annotating Villaraigosa's speech

L.A.'s mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa appeared at the "Take Back America" event (for "progressives", not necessarily reconquistas). Here are his remarks, annotated with few randomly chosen links:

I come today as a patriot... I talk about patriotism because I think for too long progressives have allowed some to wrap themselves around the flag and say, America, love it or leave it...

...take a snapshot of Los Angeles and in 25 or 30 years so will go Topeka, Kansas and Des Moines, Iowa.

...I started out in the civil rights movement...

The speech went on like that. If you prefer facts, even of the uncomfortable kind, click on the links and check out who "progressives" support.

The middle sentence should scare the crap out of anyone in the named cities. Trust me on this: you don't want to end up like Los Angeles.

Posted at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

Thinking not so welcome among Texas Democrats

The AP offers us "Minutemen not so welcome in Texas", which contains some less-than-brilliant thoughts from state Democrats.

First up is state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, who sponsored an anti-Minuteman resolution. He opines:

"I don't think that there's any doubt that there's a tinge of racism beneath the surface in their attempt to try to stop immigrants from Mexico," Hinojosa said. "Why don't they do that in Canada?"

Well, first of all, they do intend to patrol the Canadian border. And, secondly, while I haven't been following the news reports that closely, I believe there's an ever so slight difference between the numbers of people who stream over our southern border and those who come from the north. That number is just ever so slight, so I certainly can't blame Chuy for not being aware of a numerical difference. Say, why is Hinojosa more or less supporting the importation of millions of people who are of the same ethnicity as he is? Anyone have a clue why he might do that?

Next up is the always entertaining U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston:

She wrote an amendment to a Homeland Security budget bill that blocks funding to "any border patrol activities that are unauthorized by law."

She said the Minuteman Project was "an appropriate wake-up call for the United States" about the need to better fund border security. But, she said, it has completed its mission and needs to disband because of potential for violence.

"The California event wound up in almost hand-to-hand combat. The meeting in Las Vegas also produced violent reaction. What can we expect at the border?" she said. "The Minutemen are as bad for the southern border as the Ku Klux Klan was for the South."

I've seen some really far-out-to-space comments from our political class, but that has got to be one of the most brain-dead statements I've ever seen.

The Freedom Riders encouraged violence from the Klan. Does SJL think they should have been stopped? The Klan in the current case is not the MMP, it's the Commie-agitated anti-American racists who violently oppose the MMP. Perhaps SJL should consider supporting the rights of Americans to peacefully assemble and protest without having soda cans or water bottles thrown their way. What an absolute idiot.

I believe SJL's comments can be explained using the usual formula: up is down, down is up.

Posted at 10:11 AM | Comments (2)

Can I blame the Catholic Church then?

The LAT offers us a guest editorial from L.A.'s own Cardinal Roger Mahony entitled "A Nation That Should Know Better":

It appears fashionable these days, and almost politically correct, to blame hard-working immigrants, especially those from Mexico and Central America, for the social and economic ills of our state and nation. Anti-immigrant fervor on TV and radio talk shows, citizens attempting to enforce immigration laws and the enactment of restrictive laws, such as the Real ID Act, are evidence of this trend. Some of our elected officials are joining the parade, going so far as to call for the closing of our southern border...

It isn't "anti-immigrant" to support enforcing our laws. His first sentences are basically a strawman argument; perhaps he should do some more research into what people like, for instance, Lou Dobbs are saying rather than misrepresenting their complaints.

And, of course, the last sentence is a swipe at Gov. Arnold. Yet, oddly enough, Arnold made it clear that he was referring to securing, not closing the border.

That makes this the third instance I've spotted in which Arnold's comments have been deliberately misrepresented. The other two were from Antonio Villaraigosa and Pilar Marrero, both fine company.

Needless to say, the editorial goes downhill from there, and he ends up supporting "immigration reform" (you know, the "up is down, down is up" variety).

Now, of course, the reader is left wondering, "Why would a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church support the massive importation of millions of people from overwhelmingly Catholic countries?" I would be shocked and horrified if anyone dared suggest that the good Cardinal was trying to increase the size of his flock, and was using deliberate misinterpretations, strawman arguments, and Orwellian newspeak to do it. Why, it's inconceivable!

This section is titled "Thinking out loud." Perhaps the Cardinal should have thought about this some more.

Posted at 01:27 PM | Comments (2)

NYT goes to Idaho, discovers illegal immigration

Monday's New York Times has a front page article about illegal immigration to Idaho and County Commissioner Robert Vasquez's attempts to do something about it: "A Battle Against Illegal Workers, With an Unlikely Driving Force".

In what might be a first for the NYT, it's not a PIIPP, and the bleeding heart "liberalism" of Nina Bernstein is nowhere to be found.

It does, however, approach this issue with the idea that being Hispanic implies that one must also support illegal immigration. If that's true, does that mean that all or most Hispanics don't respect our laws and put their race before their country? Perhaps the NYT should look into that in more depth in a future article.

The article also says, "Mr. Schwarzenegger was criticized by many Latinos after he praised a group of citizens patrolling the border." Do far-left (or worse) racial demagogues (including one with alleged links to the Mexican government) really count though?

The NYT also generally supports the idea that without all those illegal serf laborers Idaho would be forced to declare bankruptcy and be sold to Canada or something. For the answer to that, see "How Much Is that Tomato in the Window?" or "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers":

...California Farmer reported in 1963 that if the flow of braceros stopped, tomato growers and canners "agree the State will never [again be able to plant] the 100,000 to 175,000 acres planted when there was a guaranteed supplemental labor force in the form of the braceros..."

Reality, however, never confirmed these dire predictions. In 1960 some 45,000 farm workers (mostly braceros) had harvested 2.2 million tons of processing tomatoes. By 1999, it took only 5,000 workers to operate machinery that harvested some 12 million tons. Thanks to these efficiency gains from mechanization, the real price of processing tomatoes declined 54 percent while per capita consumption rose 23 percent...

It's a good start, but I hope the next time the NYT will look into this in a bit more depth. And, perhaps they should consider coming to Los Angeles and reporting on our situation here.

Posted at 09:55 PM | Comments (3)

New South Federal Savings Bank... and RICO?

Dimitri Vassilaros might be an unforgivable idiot when it comes to biking ("Keep Bicycles off the Road"), but he does have an interesting column about home loans for illegal aliens. From "Banking on illegals":

New South Federal Savings Bank is giving illegal aliens home mortgages to help them realize the American dream.

Its Casa Mia program is designed to help tax-paying immigrants "without traditional forms of documentation" -- like anything indicating they are Americans...

If enough illegals apply, New South plans to offer Casa Mia mortgages in Atlanta, Phoenix and Houston "in the near future."

Unless, that is, the bank officers are arrested for helping to harbor illegal aliens.

"What this bank is doing is a clear violation of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act," said Craig Nelsen, executive director of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement...

...[FILE] is threatening to use the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to file a civil damages lawsuit against the bank...

Previously: "Most banks would sell the kidneys of Brazilian garbage men if they could get away with it".

Note that this article also mentions Atlanta's Mexican Consul general, Remedios Gomez Arnau, who I seem to recall from the Pedro Marin story. See Mexican agents in the state houses? Part 2.

UPDATE: Here's the FILE letter:

...It is very likely a court would find the issuance of a mortgage under your new program to be a criminal violation of 8 U.S.C. 1324 (Bringing in and Harboring Certain Aliens), which makes it a felony to encourage an alien to reside in the United States knowing that such residence is in violation of law. §1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) It is hard to imagine any court taking seriously a claim that helping an illegal alien buy a house situated inside the United States isn't knowingly encouraging the illegal alien to reside illegally in the United States...

Posted at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

AVWatch: Mexico to play important role in Villaraigosa's policies

Los Angeles mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa was interviewed by Mexico City's El Universal a few days ago, and:

[he said] that Mexico will play an important role in shaping his policies...

Furthermore:

...Villaraigosa stressed that as mayor he would look to improve relations with Mexico.

"We are starting a new era. Instead of closing the borders, as stated by (California Governor Arnold) Schwarzenegger, we should look at our border as an opportunity," said Villaraigosa. "This is a time of great importance, not just for us to rediscover our roots, but looking to create a mutually beneficial relationship."

...He said he would not support policies that persecute the city's large migrant population...

"I support Special Order 40 (prohibiting police from making migration-related arrests)," he said. "We need our police officers to fight gangs and organized crime. That will keep them more than busy."

He lamented the Real ID act, recently passed by the U.S. Congress, that if signed by President George W. Bush would prevent undocumented migrants from getting driver's licenses.

"Politicians in the United States need to understand that immigrants come here for the same reason that immigrants have always come: To work," he said. "Instead of punishing and demonizing them, we should try to integrate them."

He added that while his position does not allow him to make policies on immigration, he will speak out in favor of "humane, realistic and effective" migration reform...

Not being able to make policy hasn't stopped him from doing things like congratulating former MX president Zedillo on helping to block Prop. 187. And, while he might not have federal legislative powers, he can set immigration policies for Los Angeles by doing things like exactly what he says above: opposing Special Order 40.

Note also that AV misquotes Arnold Schwarzenegger above. Since Arnold made clear he was only referring to securing the borders, and AV undoubtedly knows that, wouldn't you consider that AV is intentionally trying to mislead the readers of this article?

Regarding Special Order 40, see also "Immigration Laws Might Have Stopped Sept. 11 Plot" and a similar policy discussed in "'Sanctuary' practice in Houston draws fire". The fire came from 9/11 Commission member John Lehman, who might be better able to speak to this issue than the mayor "for all of Los Angeles."

Note to all of AV's apologists, defenders, and supporters: expect this only to get worse as our Open Borders mayor drives Los Angeles even further down the road to ruin. Get out now while you still have some slight credibility left.

Note to the NYT: I see that you published "In New York, Fringe Politics in Mainstream" in your NY Regional section. Could you please come out to Los Angeles and do a special on our politics here? Sure there will be some bias, but I have no doubt you'll do a much better job than the L.A. Times. (Readers are urged to contact public *at* nytimes.com and ask them to do this.)

Posted at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

Rich Lowry on the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill

From NRO:

This bipartisan deal cut by Sen. John McCain is noxious. No, the issue isn't judges. (Or campaign finance, or health care, or any number of other things.) It's illegal immigration and a proposal that has just been cooked up by the Arizona maverick and the Massachusetts non-maverick Sen. Ted Kennedy to grant an amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants...

The bill could make illegals stand on one foot and wave their arms before becoming legal - but it would still be an amnesty...

...The McCain-Kennedy bill has the hallmarks of continuing in the tradition of the 1986 legislation... "A lot of it seems intended actually to handcuff DHS enforcement people," says [Mark] Krikorian. The rest of the enforcement provisions are a mishmash of calls for reports, coordination plans, advisory committees - in other words, the usual dodges when politicians want the public to think they are doing something they don't want to do...

Posted at 08:24 PM | Comments (4)

Sierra Club to rent Goodyear blimp

From the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club's website comes this (older) news:

Sierra Club members turned out in historic numbers in April to elect five of their peers to the Board of Directors and to reject a ballot initiative that would have forced the group to support restrictions on immigration. Over 15 percent of the Club's membership returned 122,308 ballots - the second highest in the Club's recent history - and defeated the anti-immigration measure by more than a 5 to 1 margin...

That's linked from their home page by the headline "Club elects new board; measure to restrict immigration soundly defeated". The prominent placement given to the defeat of the measure, and the use of the word "soundly" immediately prompted me to add, "Did you hear that, Mr. Gelbaum?"

For those who don't know the name, David Gelbaum has given the Sierra Club Foundation over $100 million. Here's a quote from him:

"I did tell Carl Pope [Executive Director of the Sierra Club] in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me..."

In case they want to make sure that he hears their message, perhaps they should rent the Goodyear blimp, buy billboard space, print up some coasters, or do all three.

Posted at 08:10 PM | Comments (1)

"Sens. Cornyn, Kyl Prepare Massive Guestworker Plan"

Paul Egan of FAIR reports on a Senate immigration hearing attended by John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Those two worthies are preparing their own massive guest worker plan/amnesty (not to be confused with the McCain-Kennedy Open Borders, Open Wallets bill.)

According to Egan the meeting was one-sided in favor of Open Borders types:

...Deputy labor secretary Stephen Law proposed a wide-open foreign worker program, for every sector of the U.S. economy. He was joined in supporting this proposal by the other witnesses, including Tom Donohue president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Dan Griswold director of Trade Policy Studies at the CATO Institute, and Princeton sociology professor Douglass S. Massey.

The witnesses also told senators that illegal immigration would solve the social security problem. Assistant Secretary Law made the incredible observation that the use of h-1b guestworkers in the high-tech industry, proves there is continued job growth in the high-tech industry, completely ignoring the record high levels of under- and unemployment for U.S. high tech workers...

For his part, CATO's Griswold responded to a question about the tax burden of illegal aliens on local communities by claiming that illegal aliens pay more in taxes than they get in benefits. He went on to offer another gem, saying one of the main problems of the 1986 IRCA legislation was that it didn't liberalize legal immigration. (Meaning, unlimit it.)

Egan says that neither Kyl nor Cornyn endorsed the statements of the pro-Open Borders crowd, but I doubt whether they renounced them either.

In case you think Law's comments were just a one-off or didn't reflect Bush's opinions, bear in mind that Margaret Spellings (former assistant to Bush for domestic policy and our current Secretary of Education) said the same things in January 2004. That's discussed in Bush "guest worker" program to be "open to any type of employee", and, strangely enough, Dan Griswold was on the same panel at that time. See also Bush immigration plan could affect techies.

Posted at 05:48 PM | Comments (5)

Illegal immigration activist offended, media alerted

Mayra Latimer - a counselor at high schools somewhere in Wisconsin - is angry. Very angry.

You see, there's a TV commercial playing in Wisconsin which opposes WI Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to give illegal aliens a better deal than U.S. citizens. Doyle wants to give citizens of other countries discounted college educations. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens who live outside WI but who want to (for some reason) attend WI colleges would be forced to continue to pay the full rate.

Let me put Jim Doyle's plan in chart form:
Illegal aliens: discount
U.S. citizens: the shaft

But, back to Latimer:

[she] says the ad makes her angry not just because it exists but because it drives an even bigger wedge between the people on both sides of the issue.

"We want to create a better future for our kids, and as a parent it's hard for me to see that kind of reaction."

That's nice, but it still doesn't explain why the U.S. citizens in Wisconsin should pay for the educations of citizens of foreign countries and give the shaft to other U.S. citizens from other states.

So far, I've only been able to come up with two explanations as to why this high school counselor was given air time: either the station agrees with her and was using her to make their point, or the news director is high on cheese.

Posted at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

They take the jobs teens won't do. Or something.

From the article "Finding summer job is no child's play. Teens have to slog to find work, more so in some states":

Employment rates for younger Americans have been falling steadily, hitting a historic low last year and likely to be about as low this summer. An expected improvement in teen jobs has failed to materialize even as the overall job picture has brightened.

Teens, facing stiff competition from older workers, immigrants and college kids, will fare about as well this summer as they did last summer, predicted Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

About 36.7% of U.S. teens age 16 to 19 will work this summer, Sum said, just about matching the 36.1% of teens employed last summer, which was the lowest rate in 57 years...

"Teens really benefit a lot when employers add a lot of jobs," [Sum] said. And because of a stable influx of older workers, immigrants and young adults age 20 to 24, "employers just haven't had to reach back that far in the queue to reach the kids..."

Why are we giving low-wage jobs to people from another country, when we could be giving them to our own citizens? And, is how socially healthy is this situation? Shouldn't teenagers get crap job experience as part of their development?

Previously: "[Illegal aliens] do the jobs that even blacks won't do."

Posted at 05:08 PM | Comments (3)

Tucson: free educations for all!

Tucson's a nice little city, but it has its problems. Two of those problems appear to be Pima County Schools Superintendent Linda Arzoumanian and, in the same county, Ajo Unified School District Superintendent Robert Dooley.

From this:

The state's top school official said Wednesday that students who live in Mexico regularly attend public schools in Ajo at the expense of Arizona taxpayers and that Pima County's school superintendent has refused his request to investigate the matter.

That refusal could result in a challenge of future per-pupil funding requests, said state schools superintendent Tom Horne

Horne said the allegations first raised a year ago in news reports were confirmed by a private investigator he sent to the border. The investigator videotaped students walking across the Lukeville border and boarding a nearby school bus...

...Horne said Pima County Schools Superintendent Linda Arzoumanian declined to investigate further, and Ajo Unified School District Superintendent Robert Dooley has yet to respond.

Should Arzoumanian or Dooley fail to take action, Horne said he may challenge schools' requests for per-pupil funding, an annual allotment which is currently set at $5,000 per student...

[Arzoumanian] said discriminating against students based on citizenship, race or national origin is unconstitutional - and because address checks aren't common practice - she hesitates to focus on border-area students of apparent Mexican heritage.

"It's not within my right to do an investigation," she said.

If, as in the Ajo schools, students provide the rent and utility receipts, or guardianship documents that they need to prove they live in the district, then they are eligible to attend public schools.

"I'm not sure that any (students from Mexico ) are attending. … There's no way to know," she said...

Other than the videotape and the investigation, of course.

Previously: "Southwestern schools root out illegal pupils"

Posted at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)

Chris Cannon, Grover Norquist, WSJ, Fox News all linked together?

Regular readers of this blog are probably familar with Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). (If not, see "Rep. Chris Cannon, great American and great Republican" for the latest or see "Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens" for a classic.)

On Monday, the NYT published "Link to Lobbyist Brings Scrutiny to G.O.P. Figure", which showed all the links between Grover Norquist and indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Now, Project USA reports:

On May 02, 2004, Norquist wrote a dishonest article for FoxNews.com attacking Matt Hayes of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement after FoxNews.com ran a piece by Matt detailing the negative impact on working Americans of the immigration policies pushed by Rep. Chris Cannon of Utah...

By the sheerest of coincidences, in the last election cycle, Chris Cannon's campaign paid Janus Merritt Strategies, the firm Grover Norquist started with David Safavian, Cannon's chief of staff in 2001, $5,960 for "Campaign Consulting & Fundraising Exp." Also during the 2004 cycle, Cannon's campaign paid $5,614 for fundraising expenses to Williams Mullen, the influence-peddling company that was in the process of buying Norquist's influence-peddling company.

Matt had a crushing response to Norquist ready to submit (crushing responses to immigration extremists, forced as they are to rely on dishonesty in order to be convincing, are very easy to write), when he got word that word had come from higher up not to print any more articles by him that mentioned Chris Cannon...

...In the 2004 cycle, News America Holdings gave $5,000 to Cannon for Congress...

Note that American Patrol says that Norquist is supposedly now in favor of greater immigration control, but who cares.

Posted at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)

Far-lefties support illegal immigration, use strawman argument

There I go again, giving MSM reports my own title. In fact, what we have is "Speakers say immigrants don't get fair shake":

"Immigrant bashers" got bashed Monday afternoon at a rush hour rally in support of immigration reform.

[...quote from SEIU deleted...]

...Speakers at the event denounced "Real ID," which they said makes it virtually impossible for an undocumented immigrant to get a driver's license...

But, isn't that a good thing?

I realize this is just a blurb, and it's probably from a cub reporter, but perhaps that reporter could have made a slight attempt at journalism and asked them what they mean by "bashing" rather than just serving a stenographic role. Can they give examples of this "bashing?" Could they in fact be referring to U.S. citizens simply asking that our immigration laws be enforced? And, could the reporter have given a slight clue to the far-left nature of the SEIU rather than requiring her readers to search for that information? And, by "immigration reform", don't they in fact mean "the Kennedy-McCain massive guest worker and amnesty program"?

Send your thoughts to metro at RockyMountainNews.com

Posted at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)

Should Bryan Barton sue San Francisco?

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is voting on a resolution that would condemn Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his support of the Minuteman Project.

The resolution is in this PDF file. As you might expect, it's full of innuendo and misleading statements.

However, it also contains at least one thing that I consider to be an outright lie:

WHEREAS, The federal border patrol had to call in the County Sheriff's Office when Minuteman vigilantes held a 26 year old Mexican man against his will, physically restrained him and forced him to hold a t-shirt with a mocking slogan while his picture was taken and he was videotaped...

That refers to Bryan Barton. I realize that in the alternate reality of Frisco the above statement might be true, but it's false in our reality. Even the Mexican consul agrees no crime was committed.

We can laugh about those wacky S.F. Supes all day long, but when the state lies about you and falsely accuses you of having committed a crime, that affects all of us irrespective of ideology. If I were Barton I know what I'd do, and I'm sure I'd win and collect a large judgment as well.

Posted at 06:30 PM | Comments (3)

Far-left illegal alien advocates bus in anti-Arnold demonstrators (my title)

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if my title had been used, rather than "Angry Immigrants Protest at Capitol"?

In that case, we'd actually know what's going on. Instead, we get this naive and misleading report:

Angry immigrants tried to get the governor's attention Monday with a noisy protest outside his office...

[...they don't like his support of the Minuteman Project...]

[Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark informs:] "The governor of the people is afraid of the people... He's become an embarrassment to our state."

...Immigrant groups began boarding buses for the Capitol just after sunrise to celebrate Immigrant Day. In Sacramento, they delivered an open letter to the governor and the legislature, asking them to recognize the contributions of immigrants and reject vigilantism.

[Reshma Shamasunder of the California Immigrant Welfare Collective intones:] "...Let's support comprehensive immigration reform. Let's not invite lawless folks into our state."

Some of these people might in fact be immigrants. Others, perhaps most of them, are actually immigrants. Oops! I forgot to call them "illegal immigrants" just like the article did. Thankfully I believe in calling things by their true names.

I note also that the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative (the correct name of the group mentioned, although collective is certainly accurate) is a far-left organization:

(CIWC) provides information on public benefits for immigrants in California. Some of the issues CIWC addresses include: Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), health care, domestic violence, language access, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Food Stamps, CalWORKs, public charge, and affidavits of support.

At this point in time you're probably thinking of that guy who sells books telling you how to get as much government money as possible. Except, when they say "immigrants", I think they're talking about "immigrants" too. As in the illegal variety. And, I don't know whether Matthew Lesko has chapters on that yet.

CIWC's homepage is here. You'll note two things: one of their collaborators is Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Click the link to see why that's not a good thing at all.

And, another of their collaborators is the National Immigration Law Center, which also hosts the CWIC's site. Read that link for much more on CWIC and their fellow travelers.

See also "The Enemy Within the Justice Department's Office of Special Counsel". The DOJ at one time linked to the NILC.

And, here's an action alert from the CWIC and their fellow groups advocating for the Mexican government's Matricula Consular cards.

Now, if I could do the foregoing, why couldn't CBS 5's John Lobertini?

Posted at 10:25 PM | Comments (2)

"Immigration excuses need some work"

David Harsanyi of the Denver Post gets it right:

Did you know some consider it racist to oppose illegal immigration but perfectly reasonable to support a system that casts illegal Mexican immigrants in the most menial and undesirable jobs?

The enlightened, it would seem, need someone to wash the dishes when they are done with their seared ahi and pinot noir in the finest Cherry Creek bistros.

Makes you wonder, though: Who are the bigots here?

...Colorado provides illegal immigrants free use of hospitals and city homeless shelters, while they make up around 20 percent of the Colorado jail population. And the state affords tens of thousands of immigrant children free schooling.

Is it racist to point out these facts? Or do open-border advocates cleverly equate rational immigration control with irrational bigotry?

He goes on to discuss Denver's sanctuary for illegal aliens policy and their current and former mayors John Hickenlooper and Wellington Webb. For more information on that sanctuary policy, see this.

Posted at 11:15 AM | Comments (2)

N.Y. Daily News, Albor Ruiz: Lying, Misleading, Joking, or Telling the Truth?

Welcome to the premier edition of "Lying, Misleading, Joking, or Telling the Truth", or LMJOTTT as it shall henceforth be known. In this series we'll examine editorials and news reports, and try to decide which of those the author is doing.

For this edition, we'll look at "Immigrants get new hope for fairness" from Albor Ruiz in the New York Daily News:

The new bi-partisan immigration reform bill introduced this week in Congress brings some hope for moving the immigration question away from prejudice, partisan grandstanding and merciless repression.

I think I'll put this part in the "he must be joking with his hyperbole scare talk" and part in the "he's misleading verging on outright lying". Is it really "prejudice" or "merciless repression" to enforce our immigration laws? So, is he joking, or just outright lying?

...current anti-immigrant climate...

I think he's referring to the fact that 75% or more of the American public is opposed to illegal immigration, and they seem to actually be demanding that their representatives share their concerns. Is that "anti-immigrant"? No, it isn't. Misleading.

It is too soon to give a verdict on the merits of the proposed reform law, but something is certain: It puts back some needed common sense in the immigration debate.

I get the impression that Albor didn't have the time to go to Kennedy's site and read up on the details. He lays it all out. Perhaps he's waiting for talking points or something.

Then, Ruiz includes a quote from the New York Immigration Coalition. This was the same group discussed in the earlier entry "Hats off to the New York Immigration Coalition", which - surprise! - featured Ruiz discussing a misleading poll that, unfortunately, was performed by an academic rather than a regular-grade hack.

We'll end with this highly misleading statement:

Immigrants are our neighbors, the parents of school children like our own, they are hardworking people who pay taxes, fight wars and hold the most difficult jobs out there.

That's good to know. However, isn't Ruiz mainly discussing illegal immigrants in this piece? Why doesn't he identify them as such? Why does the NYIC suffer from that same problem? Are they... trying to mislead their readers?

Note: just a couple weeks ago, a N.Y. Daily News "news" report was discussed in the post "Get out your hankies, here comes a PIIPP", which also contains the email I sent the NYDN.

Contact editor *at* nydailynews.com with your thoughts.

Posted at 09:04 PM | Comments (4)

Jesse Jackson, MALDEF creating "human rights" group

Disturbing news from the Reverend's latest junket:

On the heels of a meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox over his comments about American blacks, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced he is forming a group that will address issues affecting blacks and Hispanics...

On Thursday, Jackson, along with Ann Marie Tallman, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said they were forming a human rights council that would focus on issues such as fair immigration policies, voting rights and a balanced trade policy...

MALDEF, like many other open borders groups, gets most of their money from the Ford Foundation. See the link for more information on them. Even someone like Jackson should have qualms about forming a group with them. Maybe the other Reverend can do better:

...In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Sharpton said he wasn't satisfied with the contradictory expressions of regret issued by the administration of Vicente Fox this week. He said he would seek an "unequivocal, formal" apology during a meeting with Fox on Monday in Mexico City...

He said illegal migrants in the United States millions of whom are Mexican are working for low wages and no benefits, taking jobs from other minority groups who are in the United States legally.

"We also need to deal with the fact that there has been an inordinate amount of tension where people have come across the border for almost slave wages, competing with Latinos and blacks," Sharpton said. "It's almost like a 21st century slave trade."

Posted at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

"Immigration's not-so-hidden costs hurt American workers"

Liberal Clarence Page informs us:

"We are a nation of immigrants," Kennedy said in announcing the new bill. "And we always will be, and our laws must be true to that proud heritage." I agree with that. But I also know that the nation can have too much of a good thing, especially those who have entered the workforce illegally.

Controlled and orderly immigration is enriching for our country. But massive large-scale immigration puts a squeeze on low-wage workers who already are here and facing a shrinking demand for their low-skilled labors...

...Yet we continue to hear about how illegals only take the "jobs nobody wants." Ideally, there is almost no job that somebody would not want and make themselves available to do, if you offer them enough money to do it. Whenever I hear someone talk about the "jobs nobody wants" what I really hear is: "jobs that pay less than most Americans need to support their families."

Posted at 10:34 PM | Comments (4)

"Analysts say racism unrecognized"

The Dallas Morning News article "Analysts say racism unrecognized" gives a bit more background on Vicente Fox's recent comment that Mexican illegal aliens do the jobs "that not even blacks want to do".

President Vicente Fox's controversial comment about blacks in the United States is typical of a Mexico that fails to recognize its own racist attitudes, even as skin tone and economic success move in near lockstep, analysts said Tuesday.

In the official census, Mexicans of African descent are not even counted as a distinct group. White Mexicans dominate TV programs and advertising. Most politicians have light brown skin or are white like Fox, whose mother is from Spain.

"Racism is very deeply ingrained here, but no one accepts (that fact)," said Sergio Aguayo, a longtime human rights activist. "What Fox said was part of the language of all Mexicans. The paradigm of beauty is white skin and blue eyes..."

Previously: "Jesse Jackson and MALDEF go to Mexico".

Posted at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

El Paso poll: no driver's licenses for illegal aliens

From the El Paso Times' "Many oppose licenses for undocumented, poll shows":

El Pasoans, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, largely favor allowing some undocumented immigrants to work and live legally in the United States, but strongly oppose giving them driver's licenses.

An El Paso Times/KVIA-ABC 7 poll indicates that 59 percent of the 300 registered voters interviewed in April favored the creation of a work program for undocumented immigrants. But 65 percent of the same voters said they opposed giving undocumented immigrants driver's licenses, a much-debated issue for years...

In the poll, the answers to the two immigration questions were similar among Hispanic and non-Hispanic voters. Sixty-one percent of Hispanics and 72 percent of non-Hispanics disapproved of driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, and 64 percent of Hispanics and 50 percent of non-Hispanics favored a work program. The margin of error was plus or minus 6 percentage points...

El Paso is, of course, right on the border and it's around 3/4 Hispanic, almost all of which are Mexican-American.

Posted at 08:18 PM | Comments (2)

Jesse Jackson and MALDEF go to Mexico

Jesse Jackson shows exactly what type of person he is. When he first condemned Vicente Fox's remark that "[illegal aliens do the jobs] that not even blacks want to do" I (to a very minor extent) thought he might actually try to do some good. Instead, we get "Fox 'expresses regret' to Jackson for remark":

...During a 40-minute meeting, Fox said he was sorry the statement had offended Americans, Jackson said.

"He expressed his sincere regret of any misinterpretation of what he meant," Jackson said afterward. "He expressed with a very contrite heart that he is not a racist."

The two men pledged to work together on human rights, U.S. immigration reform and other issues, Jackson said. After talking, they posed with a large picture of Jackson and the late Hispanic civil rights leader, Cesar Chavez.

Jackson was accompanied by Ann Marie Tallman, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The group is leading the legal challenges against Arizona's Proposition 200 and similar initiatives in other states...

Al Sharpton is expected to fly in shortly.

MALDEF gets most of their money from the Ford Foundation. I wonder whether they contribute to the Rev. Jackson as well.

Larry Elder responded to this visit on Lou Dobbs' show:

Think about that. MALDEF wants open borders, effectively. They want driver's licenses for illegals. They want in-state tuition for illegals. They want us really to do nothing about -- about the borders... Then Jesse Jackson is standing there and talking to Vicente Fox about the "problem of illegal immigration." It's a joke...

For his next visit, let me suggest that Jesse Jackson go there with Gil Cedillo:

"Latinos have displaced other work communities - clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries that used to be done by blacks and anglos... Since Latinos are now central to union revitalization, through immigration and high birth rates unions can be partisan for full Latino empowerment."

Posted at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)

Feinstein has her own mass illegal alien amnesty plan

From the OCR's "Feinstein gives immigration plan ideas":

Feinstein, D-Calif., said any new guest worker program, even one that required employees to eventually return to their home country, would be a "magnet for illegal immigration" and something she could not support...

OK, I'm with her so far...

"There are plenty of workers here who will work legally if given the opportunity to do it," Feinstein said. "And I think the first step should be taken in the one industry that most assuredly needs it."

Under Feinstein's idea, which hasn't yet been finalized, longtime agricultural workers would get a "blue card," allowing them to continue to work in agriculture. After a period of years of continued agricultural work, they would be entitled to trade their blue card in for a green card.

Doh! Note that at least she's opposed to Kennedy and McCain's 'Open Borders, Open Wallets' plan.

Posted at 12:10 AM | Comments (1)

"[Kennedy-McCain] Guest-Worker Plan is Un-American"

Terence P. Jeffrey:

Sen. Ted Kennedy may do a lot of talking about his love for the little guy, but if two major proposals he has made in this Congress were to become law it would be a disaster for the poorest American workers and a blow to American freedom...

...[the Kennedy-McCain massive illegal alien amnesty program] would provide amnesty to illegal aliens while creating a permanent, ongoing guest-worker program to fill--as a summary on Kennedy's website puts it-- "jobs that require few or no skills." This would thrust the American employment ladder down into Mexico and other under-developed regions of the world so that workers who are used to laboring for Third-World wages could routinely, legally and in massive numbers climb into the U.S. job market and compete directly with American workers for pay and positions...

Until now, the American ideal of an immigrant has been someone who comes here with the ambition to work harder, earn more, save more, perhaps start a business, and succeed in the free-enterprise system. But this entrepreneurial spirit will not be encouraged among the sub-class of guest workers Kennedy would create. The bill, says Kennedy's summary, "Prohibits the hiring of temporary workers as independent contractors."...

Posted at 12:03 AM | Comments (2)

Bonnie Erbe: Anchor Babies hurt working class

PBS host, columnist, and presumed liberal Bonnie Erbe reports on the children born to illegal aliens:

...Since their children are delivered on U.S. soil, the children immediately become U.S. citizens and "anchor" the mother (and later, the rest of her family) as future legal U.S. citizens as well...

...California will get the largest chunk of this new federal outlay or almost $71 million [for healthcare]. No wonder. FAIR cites Census Bureau data showing Californians spent $10 billion last year (whew!) to subsidize education, medical care and incarceration costs for (not legal but) illegal immigrants.

Guess who's hit the hardest? Not the wealthy Hollywood types, nor the Silicon Valley billionaires, but the hard-working, low-income recent and legal immigrants. It's costing them nearly $1,200 per native-headed household to subsidize illegal immigration in the Golden State.

...This is not about race. For my part, I am the granddaughter of immigrants who came from Poland, Russia and Cuba. My father's side of the family speaks Spanish as a native language and English with heavy Spanish accents. This is about preserving the quality of life for legal immigrants, and the progeny of immigrants who have come here legally since the birth of our immigrant nation.

It's also about fairness to America's working class -- many of whom are legal immigrants. Their housing, education and health care costs go up as their wages are driven down by immense competition from illegal immigrants. Where's the fairness or practicality in that?

Posted at 11:54 PM | Comments (3)

Today's Kennedy-McCain news

In the posts "Tamar Jacoby on the Kennedy-McCain mass amnesty", Kennedy-McCain in "accord" with Bush's "principles", and "McCain, Kennedy introduce Open Borders, Open Wallets bill" I presented some of those who favor their massive amnesty for illegal aliens plan.

Another one of the usual suspects has weighed in: U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (Democrat-AZ). Grijalva is a former member of MEChA, and he's proud of having been involved with that group.

Here's what he said about the amnesty plan:

"[the bill] looks to the reality of immigration and attempts to create a safer, accessible and regulated immigration system... Arizona, like no other state in the nation, understands the need to address immigration and realism, fairness and a sense of urgency... [this is a chance to] move forward toward a solution and not merely react with empty rhetoric and increased divisiveness."

And, in other news, McCain has backtracked from recent remarks. Here's what he said last week:

"If we went down to the Camelback Inn today in Phoenix and arrested everyone who's working there illegally, the place would probably shut down..."

The Camelback Inn says everyone they employ is legal. Accordingly, here's yesterday's version from the Senator:

"I did not mean to single out any particular resort in my remarks... The legislation we introduced ... is designed to comprehensively address a broken immigration system. The reference to a specific business in my remarks detracts from the intent and import of my comments and this legislation."

Posted at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)

The other Reverend weighs in on Fox's comments

As discussed yesterday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson expressed his outrage about Vicente Fox's comments that Mexican "immigrants" take jobs "that not even blacks want to do."

Quicker than you can say "Tawana", the other Rev. weighs in:

Another American civil rights activist, the Rev. Al Sharpton, said the comment was especially disturbing because Fox was educated in the United States and "he is not unaware of the racial sensitivities here."

Posted at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

Jesse Jackson finally meets his match

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, more popularly known for basically shaking down businesses, actually did something worthwhile for a change:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Saturday criticized Mexican President Vicente Fox's comment that Mexican immigrants to the United States take jobs "that not even blacks want to do."

Jackson called the remark "a spurious comparison" with "ominous racial overtones."

Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Derbez tried to cover for Fox with this: "The president didn't make a declaration in the racist sense; of course there are those who interpret it in that way... [Fox was making the point that] Mexican migrants are making great contributions in the United States and that their role is a positive role... ...I think that what we have to be very clear about is that the statement made by the president was in no way motivated by racism."

Unfortunately, the Rev. also says he's going to be giving Fox a call, and you know what that normally means.

Posted at 04:01 PM | Comments (2)

Tamar Jacoby on the Kennedy-McCain mass amnesty

Tamar Jacoby has issued the following statement:

We the undersigned applaud the introduction today of Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act... [etc. etc...]

The signatories include:

Lee Culpepper (last mentioned here; works for the National Restaurant Association and is Chairman of the National Immigration Forum)

Jack Kemp

Grover Norquist

Rick Swartz:

And then there's the National Immigration Forum, the umbrella organization for high-immigration political advocacy, which works closely with sympathetic Republicans. But NIF is not like the conventional lobbying coalitions that exist on numerous issues. It was cofounded by the National Lawyers Guild in the 1980s, back when the Guild was a Soviet front group. The group's first head was Rick Swartz, a leftist attorney who cut his teeth advocating for Haitian illegal aliens and who, during a 1981 Senate hearing, likened the United States to Nazi Germany.

Like many lobbying coalitions, the NIF board includes representatives of Republican stalwarts like the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Restaurant Association, and used to include Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, now head of the Club for Growth. Whatever his libertarian views on immigration, I imagine Steve hightailed it out of there after he realized what he'd gotten into, because the people sitting around the conference table at NIF board meetings include some decidedly unsavory characters. In addition to the usual leftist suspects — the ACLU, the Service Employees Union, Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute — the NIF board includes the head of the immigration lawyers' association, one Jeanne Butterfield, who used to be executive director of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, identified by the Anti-Defamation League as an alliance between members of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine and the Workers World party (the Trotskyites behind the Iraq War protests)...

You'll note that the signatories are almost the same group as those who signed the "Conservative" Statement of Principles on Immigration from over a year ago.

Previously: More straw, Tamar?

Posted at 03:05 PM | Comments (3)

They do the jobs that even blacks won't do

Here's a recent quote from Vicente Fox:

"There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States..."

I believe at this point in time my "liberal" readers might want to read up on Mexico's racial hierarchy. Try "America's Imported Caste System" as a starting point.

UPDATE: If you have access to a site snake program, you might want to cache everything in this search for "the jobs americans won t do". I can almost hear history being rewrit as the White House and others work to cleanse their various statements of that phrase.

Posted at 11:44 AM | Comments (2)

What's Pete Seghesio's billing address?

Open Borders warrior Professor Bainbridge excerpts an absolutely hilarious article from Wine Spectator magazine. The article is basically an ad for illegal immigration disguised by "some of my best friends are Hispanic" coverage of the Sabor de Napa event. Call it enlightenment, but with a profit motive:

...As vital and energizing as Hispanics are to the wine industry, their contributions to California's overall economy are so pervasive and indispensable that I doubt we could exist without them. They are today's labor force, just as Europeans and Chinese were in centuries past. One of the great ironies is that as the wine industry pays homage to Hispanics, there is talk in the state capital of tightening the border and making it hard for Hispanics to cross...

...It's also a double-edged sword, since many other Hispanics entered California illegally and aren't citizens. Shutting down or even constricting the flow of immigrants across the border would be disastrous well beyond the wine industry.

Hispanics are the backbone of the wine industry, pure and simple, says Pete Seghesio, CEO of Seghesio Family Vineyards in Sonoma County...

...The bottom line, though, is this, says Seghesio: "If people really knew the percentage [of Hispanics working in California] that's driving our economy, there wouldn't be any of this talk from our government..."

Whether he knows it or not or is willing to admit it or not, Seghesio is receiving a massive government subsidy for any illegal aliens that he employs. If Seghesio employs illegal aliens, does he pay for their medical care? How about their schooling? What about all the other medical, social, environmental, and political costs associated with illegal aliens? Is he paying for that, or is he pushing the cost off on the rest of us?

How many illegal aliens are Seghesio, Wine Spectator, Professor Bainbridge, or the rest willing to sponsor? If the California wine industry is important to anyone, then perhaps they should pay the full and correct price for their products instead of shoving the costs off on the rest of us.

UPDATE: Apropos of nothing, did you know that Nanci Pelosi owns a couple vineyards in Napa? Now, they're probably too small to be concerned about. If they were much larger - or grew higher-quality grapes - we might raise substantial concerns about her past support for illegal immigration.

Posted at 08:17 PM | Comments (3)

Kennedy-McCain in "accord" with Bush's "principles"

From the WashTimes' "McCain-Kennedy bill opens citizenship path":

...Mr. McCain yesterday said he has told the administration about the provisions of the bill, and that administration officials "certainly agreed that they are in accord with the president's principles. If you think it's different in some key aspects, you'll have to point them out to me."

Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman, said President Bush's principles were to protect the nation's security and match willing workers with willing employers.

"We look forward to working with the leaders of both parties to pass legislation that meets the president's principles," she said...

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and the idea that a massive amnesty and guest worker program would be in "accord" with Bush's "principles" isn't exactly news. So, consider this post mainly to be here for entertainment purposes.

Previous coverage in "Why the Kennedy-McCain mass amnesty is important".

Posted at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

Why the Kennedy-McCain mass amnesty is important

It probably doesn't stand much of a chance of passing, but it's important for two reasons:

1. We probably didn't need any more data points, but it will make sure that the American public never takes the phrase "President McCain" seriously.

2. It reveals the base corruption of our elites, and just how far out of touch they are.

On a related note, Mark Krikorian of CIS discusses the bill in "Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me":

The essence of the bill is the same as the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act: amnesty up front for millions of illegal aliens in exchange for paltry promises of future enforcement - promises that will quickly be abandoned...

The enforcement sections of the bill are laughably thin, making the amnesty-in-exchange-for-enforcement claim even less plausible than it would be otherwise. The part on border security is almost a parody of a Washington cop-out: It orders up yet another "National Strategy for Border Security" (how about picking one of the previous strategies and just enforcing it?), plus an advisory committee, two coordination plans, and various other reports and programs and multilateral partnerships...

And the interior enforcement provisions seem intended to actually hobble enforcement. Though the law provides for a system to verify employment eligibility, it instructs the Social Security administration to reinvent the wheel rather than simply expand on the successful pilot system the immigration service has been developing for over a decade. The job of auditing firms for compliance with the immigration law would also be taken away from immigration agents, and given instead to the Labor Department, perhaps the only agency even less capable of doing its job. And the bill specifically says that it does not give state and local cops any new authority to enforce immigration law...

Previous coverage in McCain, Kennedy introduce Open Borders, Open Wallets bill.

Posted at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)

McCain, Kennedy introduce Open Borders, Open Wallets bill

Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy have introduced the "Open Borders, Open Wallets" bill, informally known as the "2005 Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act".

Do I really need to provide details, aren't the involvement of those two senators enough?

Anyway, their cohorts are Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ). This is a massive amnesty program that could lead to not only transforming the 10 to 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S. into citizens, but will most assuredly lead to millions more illegal aliens coming here to take advantage of this and future amnesties. As can be expected, Kennedy specifically denies that this is an "amnesty", but any difference between SAOIA and amnesty is purely semantic. Expect semantics - or, more properly, doublespeak - to be a major part of the debate on this bill.

Read more in "Bill would tighten border security, increase information sharing" and "Bills could grant legality to 10 million immigrants".

The complete details are in this detailed description of the bill.

Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) issued a statement opposing the bill, including this:

...If recent history is an accurate guide, and I believe it is, this so-called guest worker notion would only encourage a new wave of illegal aliens and make America's uncontrolled and unacceptable immigration debacle even worse than it is now.

This legislation is a bad idea not only because it creates a transparent path to amnesty, but also because it would reduce work opportunities, depress wages, and lower worker protection for Americans. Further, it would be impossible to administer and even more unlikely to be enforced...

Those in favor of this legislation include:

FIRM ("Fair Immmigration Reform Movement"). FIRM is a project of the Center for Community Change, and their organizer Bhargava is the executive director of that latter group. One of the members of FIRM's organizing committee is Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. The latter especially is a group that sounds quite dangerous. Despite that, the City of Los Angeles uses them as a quote source: The "L.A. Opens Office of Immigrant Affairs" story just gets worse and worse

The Service Employees International Union issued a press release in support of SAOIA here.

The National Restaurant Association's press release is here. It includes a statement from "Lee Culpepper, the Association's senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy and Chairman of the National Immigration Forum." The page "Organizations Supporting Amnesty for Illegal Aliens" contains a 2002 quote from Culpepper, which sounds similar to something you've probably heard many times from a "conservative":

...we believe that our nation's immigration policy should not only secure our borders, but also match willing employers with willing employees...

In an interesting twist, the Laborers' International Union issued a statement favoring the bill, but moderately opposing its guest worker provisions:

"In light of abuses that have historically occurred with guest worker programs, we believe the provisions in this bill for H5A visas should be improved to ensure that workers have legal recourse against unscrupulous employers and so that U.S. workers are protected from employers whose sole purpose in hiring H5A visa holders is to undercut existing workplace standards," [Terence M. O'Sullivan, General President of the Laborers' Union] said.

And, last but not least, the office of Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez has issued a statement. From "Mexico eyes immigration politicking":

"According to the preliminary information that we have, this initiative...supports substantive elements and distinct aspects of the migratory problem that reflect a serious interest and a political determination to adopt a balanced and integral focus on the treatment of the migratory issue and to tackle the issue of security from a wider context."

With friends like these, should we really trust anything from Kennedy or McCain?

Posted at 10:15 PM | Comments (7)

Foreigners declare war on Arizona

A large group of people from another country have invaded Arizona and are declaring war on the state unless they get what they want.

The force is mostly from Mexico. The war will be of the economic variety. What they want are benefits normally reserved only for citizens or legal residents.

Hyperbole? Let's read "Test of Hispanic boycott fails in Arizona" and find out:

An immigrant advocacy group asked Hispanics to boycott businesses and to stay home from work yesterday to protest legislation by Arizona lawmakers targeting illegal aliens, and said it was a trial run for a full-scale, three-day economic protest planned for July.

"This is a test so people can see and feel the power we have and the actual stranglehold we have on the economy of this state," Elias Bermudez, executive director of Centro de Ayuda, an immigrant advocacy group in Phoenix, told reporters this week...

...The July boycott was called to protest laws that restrict the use of the Mexican matricula, or identification card; require illegal aliens to pay out-of-state college tuition; deny access to literacy programs to illegals; adopt English as Arizona's official state language; and mandate that state funds be denied for the construction and operation of a day-workers center...

Arizona's Prop. 200 only concerned illegal aliens, as do most of those above. The only one on that list that might affect those here legally is the language bill, and that's far outweighed by their objections to Prop. 200 and the others. Of course, illegal aliens are - by definition - citizens of another country. Many or most of those participating in the boycott, such as it was, were no doubt citizens of other countries. And, the boycott was designed with them in mind: recent or proposed Arizona legislation is designed to reduce illegal immigration.

This boycott is a threat against not just the (lawful) residents of Arizona, but against employers as well. Expect almost all of them to buckle under. After all, if they're corrupt enough to employ illegal aliens in the first place, they probably aren't going to spend too much time considering the long-term effects on them and on the country by giving in to such boycotts.

Those few employers who aren't completely corrupt might want to ask themselves, "Where does it stop?" If Arizonans give in to such threats, they'll enable more illegal aliens to come. That will serve to increase the power of racial demagogues and increase the power of such boycotts. What then? Will there be a demand for voting rights for everyone regardless of "status"? What other demands will have to be acceded to in order to keep the money flowing?

Note that while the WashTimes says this wasn't a success, the Arizona Republic (as could be expected) paints it in rosy terms: "Valley Hispanic boycott called a success":

...Hispanics who could afford it or believed it was worth missing a day of pay showed up at rallies instead of work. [The AZ Republic only offers those two choices, truly a false choice. -- LW]

"We are trying to stop the anti-immigrant laws that they are introducing against us who don't have papers," said Rivas, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico...

Moderate Hispanic community or business leaders in Arizona should make it painfully clear to the AZ Republic and anyone else who'll listen that all "Hispanics" are not militant Chicanos, supporters of illegal immigration, and supporters of threats against the U.S. by foreigners. That's what the polls show, even if the AZ Republic would like to think otherwise.

Posted at 07:34 PM | Comments (7)

Irony on the Border, Part 5: Mexico clamps down on immigrants

Mexico wants to be our primary supplier of cheap labor, so they're starting to crack down on immigrants from Brasil who are using Mexico as a staging area for attempts to sneak across our border. How soon until we see Brazilian "immigrants rights groups" spring up in Mexico and agitate like similar groups do here? Will Sally Struthers-level emotionalism and charges of racism be used as a cover for attempts by the Brazilians to get rid of their own surplus population? Stay tuned.

Details hinted at here and explicitly stated in this PDF file (scan of a WSJ article).

See the previous pieces in this series starting in "Irony on the Border, Part 4".

Posted at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

Bush supports Georgia's sovereignty!

Maybe I completely misjudged president Bush. Maybe he does support U.S. sovereignty after all! Here's a speech he gave in Georgia earlier today:

"the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected ... by all nations."

Take that, Mexico! Our stalwart leader is finally standing up to your corrupt oligarchy and their expansionist plans!

Wait a minute... I just realized something. He wasn't speaking about Georgia U.S.A., he was talking about Georgia in Central Asia. That explains everything.

Posted at 08:38 PM | Comments (1)

KRCA's anti-American billboard: still up in Koreatown

I was driving through Koreatown (Los Angeles) earlier today and out of the corner of my eye I saw something quite familiar: one of KRCA's anti-American billboards. After driving around the block I stared at it for a minute, and I have trouble believing how anyone could not see it as an overtly agressive, anti-American symbol.

Supposedly, Liberman Broadcasting agreed to revise the billboards, and they were supposed to do that by the 6th ("Public outrage kills 'L.A., Mexico' sign"). However, as far as I could tell, this was the same billboard I've seen in pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me.

This might just be a minor delay, so if you know a liberal apologist who's nearby, take them for a drive and show it to them as soon as possible. It's on the north side of 8th Street near Catalina (between Vermont and Normandie). Note also that despite the name "Koreatown", most of the residents of the area are Hispanic. In fact, I believe a majority are from Central America and not Mexico.

One other subtextual item regarding this billboard is its relation to graffiti. When I first saw a picture of the billboard, I thought it might be graffiti, but then I looked at the lettering and read reports saying that that was the intended design. Something that I haven't read elsewhere is the fact that crossing out one gang's graffiti is considered a hostile act:

Graffiti is also used to cross-out graffiti written by other gangs, in their own and other gang's territories, which is considered both an insult and a challenge. In fact, the crossing-out of rival gang graffiti often leads to retaliation.

Since that's the first thing I thought of, I have an extraordinary deal of trouble believing that the advertising agency didn't mean it in that fashion in addition to their other subtextual messages. And, since the residents of Koreatown are quite familiar with gangs, I believe around 99% of them would get that same message. If you find useful idiot liberals downplaying the billboard, or even considering it funny ("L.A. Times Editors Say the 'Los Angeles, Mexico' Billboard is Funny"), please consider that symbols are quite powerful and the billboard is a quite a noxious symbol.

Posted at 06:03 PM | Comments (1)

Feds paid $2 billion/year to jail criminal aliens

WND has the details in "Feds pay $5.8 billion to jail criminal aliens":

...the number of criminal aliens in federal prisons increased from about 42,000 at the end of 2001 to about 49,000 at the end of last year... [that's a 16% increase]

The direct federal costs during the study's time frame were estimated to be $4.2 billion, with federal reimbursements to state and local governments totalling $1.6 billion through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP. [The last I heard, Bush wanted to eliminate those SCAAP payments. Even if the status has changed in the intervening year, it's still quite indicative.]

The majority of criminal aliens were identified as citizens of Mexico.

In addition, state prisons in fiscal 2003 housed about 74,000 criminal aliens. About 80 percent were in just five states -- Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Texas.

Also, about 147,000 criminal aliens were jailed in 698 local jurisdictions that received SCAAP reimbursement in 2003.

About 30 percent of those criminals were in five municipal and country jails -- Los Angeles County, California; New York City, New York; Orange County, California; Harris County, Texas; and Maricopa County, Arizona...

The GAO report is available in in this PDF file. UPDATE: Regarding SCAAP, see this:

The Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday, March 17, approved Sen. Dianne Feinstein's bill to increase funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). SCAAP partially reimburses state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal immigrants. Senator Barbara Boxer is a co-sponsor of the bill along with 10 other Senators from both parties.

S.188 authorizes $750 million for fiscal year 2006; $850 million for FY 2007; and $950 million per fiscal year from FY 2008 through FY 2011. The Committee approved the bill by voice vote.

Last year's FY05 omnibus appropriations bill funded the program at $297 million, down from a high of $585 million several years ago. The Bush Administration has proposed zero-funding SCAAP in its last two budgets. California receives about 40 percent of SCAAP funding - almost $112 million of the $281.6 million total available in FY04.

Posted at 02:27 PM | Comments (1)

"It was better before they came"

What, you might ask, is the title? Is that the latest racist xenophobic comment from one of those anti-immigrant racists? Why, yes it is. And, even worse, that racist comment is engraved in stone and stands outside a Metrolink Rail Station in Baldwin Park, CA.

Now, based on the last sentence, you can probably figure out that the monument is to racism of the politically-correct variety. Not only does it contain the titular phrase, but the end of this poem:

This land was Mexican once
was Indian always
and is.
And will be again.

Details and pictures here.

Posted at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)

Liberals learn about illegal immigration!

The DUmmies report on the latest news that the Feds are going to reimburse hospitals $250 million per year for unreimbursed illegal alien healthcare. Amidst the predictable, sub-Struthers guilty "liberal" whining comes this bit from a 1000+ poster:

Janitorial jobs that would pay up to $15 an hour in Southern California are now being done for $5 an hour by illegals who live 10 to 15 people per dwelling.

It is not that Americans will not do "shit jobs"; it is that they are not willing to live like sardines. $5 an hour in SoCal is not anywhere near a living wage.

I cannot believe someone on a Democratic site would encourage the depression of wages to such levels that living 15 to a house is the only way to survive.

One definition of a Third World country is where there is an extreme concentration of wealth at the top combined with a deliberate policy to destroy the possibility of a large and growing middle class. We're already there. America is Brazil North.

(Not to distract from his point, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that many of the people who post messages in favor of illegal immigration are not in fact simply misguided "liberals," but people who have a financial stake in the matter and are using misguided "liberalism" to help keep the money flowing.)

Posted at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)

Did Agence France Press lie about Arnold Schwarzenegger?

See if you can spot the bias in the AFP's "Boost US borders: Schwarzenegger":

CALIFORNIA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently angered his state's Hispanic community with his views on illegal immigration, called on the US federal government to boost patrols along the US border with Mexico...

[...quotes from Fox News Sunday...]

...Schwarzenegger, who emigrated from Austria in 1968, came under fire last month by praising the controversial "Minutemen..."

...Schwarzenegger had also drawn a storm of criticism last month by suggesting that the United States should simply close its borders to stop the inflow of illegal immigrants...

He later corrected himself, saying he meant to say "securing" instead of "closing."

Now, unlike Pilar Marrero, the AFP was at least slightly honest enough to print Arnold's correction.

However, look at what else they did, highlighted above. From the way AFP has written this, one would think that not only every single "Hispanic" in California is angered by Arnold's remarks, but so is everyone else. In fact, given the way that the AFP has written this, one might think Arnold is now forced to live in a cave on a hillside, surrounded by an angry populace who are all opposed to his immigration-related statements.

As poll after poll shows, that is very likely false. While there aren't any lies in this AFP's report, it is extremely misleading.

At post time this is available in two Australian papers: this and this. I'll watch and see if any of our fine U.S. sources decide to promulgate the AFP's misleading statements.

Posted at 10:25 PM | Comments (2)

Did Pilar Marrero lie about Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Pilar Marrero is a "political columnist and metropolitan editor for La Opinion newspaper in Los Angeles." The Pacific News Service printed a little screed from her entitled "Sagging Arnold Wants To Pump You Up With Diversionary Issue" which includes this:

Borrowing a page from his adviser, former California governor Pete Wilson, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about "closing" the borders...

[Speaking on KFI] Gov. Schwarzenegger also made sure the audience knew he gets his information on immigration from Fox News and that he's against giving water to people crossing the border, many of whom die from lack of it...

As for the first paragraph, everyone who's not a far-left, ethnically-blinded supporter of illegal immigration knows what he meant. Both he and his spokesperson clarified he meant "secured" not "closed." Yet, that distinction didn't make it to Marrero's column.

As for the second paragraph, here's what Arnold actually said:

...but what we are doing basically is by not really securing the borders, we are basically saying look, here are the various different water stations, here are the places where you can cross the borders, here is where we're going to help you. I mean, the whole system is set up to really invite people to come in here illegally, and I think that has to stop.

I believe that even Noam Chomsky would say that Arnold is refering to the system as a whole. And, I believe even Noam Chomsky would be forced to admit that Arnold would not deny water to those who are dying of thirst.

Further, I think (and I believe would Noam as well) that Marrero is deliberately trying to mislead her readers. It's not a flat out lie, but I'll remember her name and I'll remember not to believe anything she says in the future. I'd suggest you do the same. I don't think contacting the PNS would do any good, but if you want here's their contact information. UPDATE: Upon reading her comments again, I believe I was much too kind. I'm going to say that she's flat out lying with the bit about the water.

Posted at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

WaPo opposes the REAL ID Act, supports illegal immigration

That's one of the conclusions I drew after reading the horribly biased report "Immigrant Groups Fight License Bill" which reads like a press release from one of those "immigrants' rights" groups. Perhaps, as a slight sop to whatever journalistic credibility they have remaining, they should have rightfully described those groups as "illegal immigrants' rights" groups.

Another conclusion I drew is that the WaPo and those groups give not a whit for the security of the U.S., prefering to concentrate on what are in fact relatively minor costs. Consider this:

In addition to potentially costing the states millions of dollars to implement, the new measures could mean longer lines at the DMV and spell an end to walk-in, walk-out service to get a license.

Well, gosh, should licenses that allow people to board airliners and enter secure facilities really be a snap to obtain? Apparently the Washington Post thinks so.

Continuing on with their dire warnings:

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would cost states $100 million over five years to implement.

But Cheye Calvo, director of the transportation committee of the National Council of State Legislatures, said the costs to states could be five to seven times that.

Let's go for round numbers and say the cost could be $1 billion. Then, let's divide that by five years. Then, let's divvy that up by states. Lacking a precise formula, let's say that 10% of that is spent by California, 10% by New York, and the remainder is divided equally.

That means California and New York would pay $20 million per year for five years, and the other states would pay around $3.3 million per year for five years.

Even if we divided it equally, each state could pay as much as $4 million.

And, bear in mind I already inflated the inflated figures discussed by Ms. Calvo.

That's chump change compared to our security and the amount of money that those "immigrants" cost us.

In order to prevent junk like this in the future, please contact the WaPo with your thoughts: ombudsman *at* washpost.com

Posted at 01:08 PM | Comments (2)

Rep. Chris Cannon, great American and great Republican

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) did it again! At a forum in Washington, he boldly squared off against Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Rep. Cannon suggested of Tancredo: "I think he ought to consider his views and decide whether they're consistent with the Republican Party... I don't think there's a place in the Republican Party for racism, for xenophobia, for ideas that are fundamentally un-American..."

If it were possible to clone Rep. Chris Cannon, I know I'd be for it. You can read more about this fine upstanding American in these posts:

Rep. Chris Cannon is off the immigration subcommittee

Utah's loose Cannon is "working like crazy"

"[Rep. Chris] Cannon [R-UT] drums on immigration despite voters" (the AILA is a major contributor and helped him write legislation)

"Loose Cannon in Utah"

And, my personal favorite link for other fans of the Great American:

Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens

Posted at 08:39 PM | Comments (4)

91% think illegal immigration is a very or somewhat serious problem.

According to a new Fox News / Opinion Dynamics poll about immigration, 91% of respondents think illegal immigration is a very or somewhat serious problem. The report is here. The PDF file with the questions and the results is here.

Here's the actual question that was asked:

How serious a problem do you believe the illegal or undocumented immigration situation is in the United States today? Do you see it as a very serious problem, somewhat serious, not very serious or not at all a serious problem?

63% said "very serious", 28% said "somewhat serious", and 2% were unsure. Leaving 7% who don't think it's a problem. (In future posts, I think I'll call supporters of illegal immigration "The Seven Percenters.")

This was a phone poll of 900 people. Now, I fully expect the usual suspects to claim it was a fake poll or make a enormously humorous pun like "Faux." Well, stifle your laughter because here are three examples of MediaMatters citing other polls from the same source, without questioning their credibility: this, this, and this.

That said, one of the questions is a bit unfortunate:

Do you favor or oppose eliminating all forms of public assistance, including education and health benefits, to all illegal or undocumented immigrants and their children?

Emphasis added. I don't favor eliminating all services, which might include things like legitimate emergencies.

And, on an unfortunate note, a majority support allowing working illegal aliens to apply for "legal, temporary-worker status." I would imagine the responses would be dramatically different if the question had been changed to "legal, temporary-worker status which Teddy Kennedy and other 'liberals' would deal up into a permanent amnesty."

Note also that in most cases Republicans and Democrats are close or very close in their responses. That's similar to other immigration polls.

Posted at 08:31 PM | Comments (2)

A secret message from Patt Morrison?

Patt Morrison - the variously behatted L.A. Times lifestyle columnist - offers a column about the anti-American KRCA billboard entitled "A Sign of Controversy Over Immigration".

Now, at first glance, you might be tempted to think this is just a stock "liberal" screed designed to apologize for KRCA's anti-American actions and support the elites who favor massive illegal immigration. In fact, it is indeed chocka with "liberalism", including playing of the race card and implying that those opposed to the billboard are anti-semites. And, she tries to tempt people with "cheap" food. After all, what matters corruption and illegality when you can eat cheap? And, she gives Lenard Liberman the opportunity to express his views without asking him those hard questions I know Patt could come up with.

But, I read it twice and I think - like POW Admiral Denton with his eye-blinks in Morse Code - Patt is trying to send patriotic Americans a secret message.

Her column includes this:

"If," Liberman told me, "I put up a sign that had Big Ben in the middle of the L.A. skyline and put my newscasters in tweed jackets and said 'the best British news on the market,' nobody would think I'm telling people the British are coming."

I did point out that there aren't 5 or 6 million Britons living in Los Angeles...

Allow me to translate that into what I think Patt is trying to say:

I'm familiar with American history. I realize we had a War of Independence some years ago. I'm also aware that we have a "special relationship" with Britain, and I'm quite familiar with that relationship, and I realize that in some times and ways it's been a case of the tail wagging the dog. Be that as it may, if we were to assume that Britain wanted their "lost territories" back, being that they're much less powerful than we are, they could send us millions of people as a way to exert more influence on us.

In fact, Mexico has publicly stated that one of the benefits of sending us so many people is to have influence over our policies. It's not out of the question to imagine a more hostile British government attempting something like that.

Now, if we had millions of British living in the U.S., and someone put up billboards claiming that the U.S. had returned to being a British possession, that would indeed be outrageous.

And, the difference between this hypothetical case and the current case is that we could fix the problem and ensure our sovereignty without having to worry about braindead "liberals" at papers like the L.A. Times playing the race card and generally lying through their teeth to stop it.

P.S. Please send me more hats.

I might be wrong, but I think that's the secret message Patt was trying to tell us.

Posted at 01:56 PM | Comments (1)

A massive tax break for remittance companies?

Someone who's an expert on the law in question really needs to take a look at this post. It says that remittances companies, like First Data / Western Union and others, are getting massive tax breaks for helping "immigrants" (mostly illegal aliens) send money back home.

If that's true, I can see this story going MSM. Or, at least going to the small parts of the MSM with guts.

For more on Western Union, see "The Fastest Way To [profit from illegal immigration]". They also played a part in Colorado's guide for illegal aliens.

Posted at 12:17 AM | Comments (2)

Mmmm... Tyson Chicken and TB

At a Tyson Chicken processing plant in Oklahoma, 41 out of 222 workers were found to be suffering from tuberculosis. There's no stated illegal immigration connection in the article ("Workers in Processing Plant Being Infected with Tuberculosis"), but let's just say it's possible that some or many might be of that status. The article also says there's no risk of it having spread to the food and, not being a food scientist I have no way of verifying that. But, one wonders why, for instance, cafeteria workers are screened for TB. Perhaps all 41 of the workers were clerical or something...

Posted at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)

Daniel Weintraub's Sacramento cocoon

You have to give CalInsider some slight credit. Unlike many other California newspaper columnists, he doesn't support open borders. However, he also doesn't like the Minuteman project. See "Governor misses the mark on illegal immigration":

Schwarzenegger need not apologize for taking [illegal immigration] on. But as an immigrant himself, this governor was perfectly positioned to elevate the discussion in a way that did not associate his office with the bigots who often travel the same road.

[...Arnold complains about the anti-American KRCA billboard...]

That's when Schwarzenegger went out of his way to endorse the Minutemen, a group of activists - some armed - who have taken to patrolling the borders themselves out of frustration with illegal immigration. President Bush condemned them as vigilantes. The governor embraced them...

As an immigrant, this governor has the chance to lay out a passionate case for legal immigration and all the dynamism it has brought this country, while arguing in a civil and reasoned way for stricter enforcement of the borders and for stronger sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers. Illegal immigrants are breaking the law, cutting in line ahead of people who have waited, sometimes years, for a chance to come here legally. And illegal immigrants, most of whom arrive with few skills, bid down the wages at the bottom of the economic ladder, forcing the poor to get by with less.

But instead of making those points in a way that could have widespread appeal, even among recent immigrants, Schwarzenegger has thrown in with the worst elements of the anti-immigration movement, lending them his credibility rather than merely citing them as yet another unfortunate manifestation of the federal government's failure to deal with the issue...

Weintraub makes some good points in the penultimate paragraph. However, it's in the others that he shows that he's quite a bit out of touch. And, I don't believe he heard the original broadcast on KFI or read the transcript. Apparently he missed Arnold's happy happy feel good rhetoric, like this: "And like I said, it is divisive, and it's the last thing we need in Los Angeles. I think it should be a city where people live together, people of different backgrounds and cultures, immigrants, and everyone should work together, live together and live in peace..." Awww. Even Sally Struthers would probably have been moved.

As for the MMP, there were no doubt some yahoos among the volunteers. However, there's nothing wrong, illegal, or immoral with the MMP as designed. Like almost all the other articles on Arnold's recent remarks, he also seems to want to establish Bush as a standard on immigration matters. Yet, the great majority of Americans oppose Bush's stance on immigration, so if he's a standard it would be among the gated compound branch of the Republican party. The MMP, to their great credit, had the balls to stand up to the establishment, of which Weintraub, Bush, and the SacBee are definitely a part.

And, while there might have been a hitch or two, it mostly went as planned. It also had the fortunate side effect of further discrediting the ACLU and many members of the MSM. Now we know all about, for just one instance, Tim Gaynor of Reuters. And yes, there might have been a few bad apples among the members of the MMP, but not only were they not able to do anything bad, if they'd done anything it would have been against the rules of the project.

Weintraub should stick with pushing the good parts of his article and leave the piling on to the other members of the MSM.

And, you let me know when - for just one of the many examples I could provide - the SacBee covers the story "California legislators ask Mexican Senate to intervene [in driver's licenses for illegal aliens]", which originated right in Weintraub's back yard. Imagine that: supposedly American legislators pimping the U.S. to a foreign government and trying to encourage that foreign government to meddle in our laws. Where was the SacBee on that story? Answer: nowhere to be found.

Posted at 08:54 PM | Comments (2)

Tomorrow's hit pieces... today!

The last post linked to an article from Chris Strom of Government Executive magazine.

Mr. Strom might have the honor of being the subject of an upcoming post here. Read the statist psychobabble here to see why:

Strohm has just returned to D.C. from five days of interviewing members of the Minuteman Project in Arizona. He said today: "My interviews reveal a deep-seeded, reactionary, paranoid and anti-government philosophy among Minutemen organizers and volunteers. Their politics are a complex mix of right and left leanings, even if they are not aware of it. They are for strong U.S. labor unions. They feel the political class is corrupt. They are against the war in Iraq. They voted for Bush but now feel he has sold them out. They despise groups like the ACLU. They call employers who hire illegal immigrants 'criminals' and 'the ugly side of capitalism.' Many of them exaggerate the impact of illegal immigration to make it the scapegoat for almost every problem in American society, including traffic gridlock." Strohm added: "They were becoming increasing confused and frustrated at what they perceive as the demise of the 'American dream.' Then they found a face to blame for problems in American society: illegal immigrants. So they went to the border to plant their U.S. flags in the ground and take a stand against something tangible."

It certainly sounds like the article might be a hit piece, but I'm waiting to see it before commenting. If you want to be proactive rather than reactive, here's GovExec's contact information.

Note the internal contradictions in Strom's screed: the MMP volunteers blame the employers in one sentence, and in a following sentence he accuses them of concentrating their blame on the illegal immigrants themselves. The bits are bold are, IMO, along the lines of, "they eat Cheerios. They drive Fords. They sometimes wear hats." The fools!

On a side note, bear in mind that even professional writers make mistakes. It's "deep-seated", not "deep-seeded."

Posted at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)

A cover up from the Tucson Border Patrol chief?

Did Tucson Border Sector Chief Michael Nicely engage in a cover up to make the Minuteman Project look bad? The April 18, 2005 article "Border Patrol agents in Arizona face increased confrontations" from Chris Strom of Government Executive magazine included this:

...The Border Patrol has reported reduced illegal immigration activity near the Minuteman posts. But Nicely does not favor efforts such as the Minuteman Project. He said the decreased activity is the result of Border Patrol operations and the presence of Mexican authorities on the other side of the border...

Now, see this unconfirmed report: "Tucson Border Patrol Chief Orders Illegal Border Crossing Cover-Up".

Posted at 12:14 AM | Comments (1)

Hurray for Ludditism!

Professor Bainbridge links to an article in the WSJ about the Pew Immigration Study. His post just consists of an excerpt, but I assume he approves since he's an open borders kinda guy. From the excerpt:

The Pew study supports the theory that immigrants are supplementing the U.S. work force, not pushing native-born Americans out of jobs...

Even where illegal immigrants do compete with native-born workers, the larger labor pool may produce more jobs overall. That is because "employers are forgoing labor-saving machinery to rely on more laborers," says Ethan Lewis of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. "That has the effect of saving jobs."

Say what? Is replacing automation and mechanization with serf labor now supposed to be a good thing? Plus ca change... Hey, at least the South's economy won't collapse.

As for the first paragraph, now see this:

The recovery from the recession of 2001 is often described as "jobless." But this is not entirely correct. My analysis of Census Bureau data shows that between March 2000 and 2004, the number of adults working in United States actually increased.

What's interesting, however, is that all the net growth in jobs went to immigrant workers. In fact, while the number of unemployed adult native-born workers increased by 2.3 million over this time, the number of employed immigrants rose by 2.3 million...

I have a feeling there will be another Bainbridge-oriented post soon. See also "The morality of delousing pens" and "Jeb in '08? Jeb in '12? P. in '16? P. in '20? Wilbur [Bush] in '24? Wilbur in '28? Cletus [Bush] in '32? Cletus in '36? W. [first clone] in '40? W. [first clone] in '44?"

UPDATE: Scrolling down the page at the Prof's site, I see that the matter has already been taken care of.

Posted at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

Guess who owns part of Liberman Broadcasting?

If you're a public school teacher in California, you just might have a financial stake in the company that owns KRCA, the source of the billboard that places Los Angeles in Mexico. And, anyone else who lives in California might have a stake in that company too.

If I'm reading this PDF file from the California State Teachers’ Retirement System correctly, then CALSTRS invested $5 million in Liberman:

Attachments 3 and 4 provide executive summaries of action taken under delegation of authority for a $5 million co-investment in Liberman Broadcasting...

I don't know the exact legal status of CALSTRS, but:

The State Teachers’ Retirement Board has exclusive control over the investment and administration of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. The Board makes rules, sets policies, and has the power and authority to hear and determine all facts pertaining to application for benefits under the retirement system. The twelve-member Board consists of four ex-officio members, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Treasurer, the State Controller, and the Director of Finance. The Governor appoints five members, including three public members, one school board member or community college trustee and one retiree. Three members are elected by CalSTRS members...

So, they're at least a quasi-governmental agency. You can read their chock-full-o-loopholes "Statement of Investment Responsibility" for more.

Posted at 04:56 PM | Comments (1)

Schwarzenegger: KRCA should take down billboard; supports Minutemen

In an interview on today's John & Ken show on KFI Los Angeles, CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that TV station KRCA should take down the billboard in which the "CA" of "Los Angeles CA" has been crossed out and replaced with the word "Mexico."

He said that he understands why poor people from Mexico want to come here and that he welcomes business with Mexico. He blames the federal government for failing to secure the borders, not the illegal immigrants for wanting to come here. He called the billboard "divisive" and "unnecessary" and said that it promoted illegal immigration.

He said that Los Angeles is a city where "we should work together, live together" and that the billboard is a "disservice to legal immigrants" and that it "stirs up the issue of illegal immigration"

When asked about the Minuteman Project, he said that it had done a "terrific job." He said that "it's a shame that private citizens has to go in there and secure our borders."

He was asked about president Bush calling the volunteers for the Minuteman Project "vigilantes." He responded in a diplomatic manner and said that he can't say what Bush is thinking and that perhaps he knows something we don't know.

Posted at 05:01 PM | Comments (2)

Counting the lies in Moccio / Fennelly screed

Kathleen Moccio (a trustee of the American Immigration Law Foundation) and Prof. Katherine Fennelly of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs have a screed supporting immigration "reform" in the Minneapolis Star Tribune entitled "Facts, not fear, should guide U.S. immigration":

We were appalled to learn that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado was invited to make a keynote speech at a Republican fundraising breakfast in Minnesota's Third Congressional District this weekend.

His brand of fear-mongering about illegal immigration and his active encouragement of vigilantes should have no place in Minnesota politics. Immigration reform is sorely needed in the United States, but responsible proposals must be based upon facts and not incendiary rhetoric...

You know, the last group discussed here that attacked Tancredo in the same manner was ProgressNow ("Tying up the loose ends on Colorado's guide for the illegal alien"). I showed that they were lying and I believe anyone who believes anything ProgressNow says should lay off the KoolAid. I'd like to do the same thing in this specific case, but Moccio and Fennelly have given me nothing specific to rebut. All we have is their word that Tancredo engages in fear-mongering, and I don't think I'm willing to accept their word for much of anything.

Note, of course, the use of the loaded term "vigilantes."

Tancredo rails against "illegal immigrants," but he doesn't address why so many undocumented workers come to the United States...

I'm not going to bother to do the research because I'm pretty sure that's simply a lie. Note, of course, the use of scare quotes around illegal immigrants. Both Moccio and Fennelly should know that that's the correct, legal term and that "undocumented" is a Carter-era PC euphemism.

President Bush has called the militia "vigilantes," but Tancredo calls them "heroes" and has invited their leaders to address members of Congress in his Immigration Reform Caucus.

Seriously, who cares what President Bush calls them? Everyone knows he's beholden to those companies that profit off illegal immigration. What did you expect him to say, something that most American citizens would agree with? (Here's an article on their meeting with the Caucus.)

Amongst all the lies and the logical leaps, the article's greatest attempt to lie to the reader stands out:

Among these so-called heroes are white supremacists from the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Members of the Alliance were at the project's kickoff, and some carried assault weapons in their trucks and boasted that they were scouting "sniper positions."

Let's examine that in more depth. The word "among" implies membership in a set, and that set is those that are "so-called heroes." Therefore, Moccio and Fennelly are saying that those members of the NA were among the "so-called heroes." Who is the agent behind the "so-called"? Why, none other than Tancredo.

Therefore, we see that Moccio and Fennelly are saying that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo called members of the NA "heroes," with the implication that he did so knowing that they were members of the NA. Which, of course, is a bald-faced lie.

It is also misleading to state that these aforementioned NA members were also members of the MMP. That is clearly stated above. There were members of the NA who attempted to attach themselves to the MMP but were rebuffed. There may well have been members of the NA who hid their affiliation and were able to join MMP, but if so that's because they made it past the MMP's screening process. Not even the screening process by the CIA or other government agencies is foolproof, and one would hardly expect the same level of scrutiny from private parties.

Some members of the media went undercover among the MMP as well and attempted to provoke the others. I note that Moccio and Fennelly didn't mention that.

Note that the major funders of Moccio's group include the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Ford Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Institute, so you would probably expect the above from anyone associated with such fine organizations.

However, Fennelly is an academic and presumably has some standards of logical reasoning, and if she wrote the above she should be ashamed of herself.

Posted at 11:06 PM | Comments (4)

13% of Sierra Club members support massive immigration

The AP reports that Sierra Club members have voted down an immigration-related provision sponsored by Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization. None of the five SUSPS candidates for the Club's board were elected either.

However, only 16% of the Club's members voted, and 84% voted for the status quo. Thus, only about 13% of the Club's members decided this issue.

The Sierra Club elections were last discussed in this post. If you read that and the current AP article, you'll see that they repurposed what is probably a convenient lie from the Sierra Club:

Opponents, including many current and former club leaders, argued that wading into the politics of immigration would alienate allies such as labor unions and civil rights groups, and will not slow population growth worldwide.

In the earlier post I discussed one David Gelbaum, who gave the Sierra Club Foundation over $100 million. Here's a quote from him:

"I did tell Carl Pope [Executive Director of the Sierra Club] in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me..."

In that spirit, allow me to annotate this quote from Sierra Club president Larry Fahn with my own personal opinion:

"Our member$ have once again di$played great wi$dom and made their view$ perfectly clear... Now we can put our focu$ back where it i$ needed mo$t, into $trengthening communitie$ and building alliance$ to protect our environment for our familie$ and our future."

Posted at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)

At least it's not "Alta California"

WND has a picture of a billboard for Los Angeles TV station KRCA (62 UHF). The billboard contains the words "Los Angeles, CA". Except, the "CA" part has been crossed out and replaced with the word "MEXICO." And, a Mexican monument has been superimposed on the L.A. skyline.

The subtitle of the ad reads: "Your City. Your Team." Now, in the normal context of a local TV news broadcast that would be a normal slogan. However, in this context the bit about "Your City" takes on a whole new meaning.

The owner of KRCA appears to be "KRCA License Corp.", which appears to be a DBA for Liberman Broadcasting. You might have heard from them before: they produced Gana la Verde, the show where contestants ate worms in an attempt to get an immigration lawyer who might get them a green card.

And, in the "at least we have something in common" department, GLAAD issued this press release a couple months ago: "GLAAD, NCAVP Lead Coalition Calling on Liberman Broadcasting Corp. to Stop Airing Violent Anti-Gay Content". Perhaps as a result of their complaint, Nissan, Chevrolet and Kentucky Fried Chicken stopped advertising on the shows in question. Maybe those companies would be interested in U.S. sovereignty as well.

Corporate information on Liberman is here and here.

UPDATE: The thread about this at ALIPAC makes clear that Liberman does indeed own KRCA.

In the thread there's some confusion over what the subtitle means; I'm about 99% certain that my translation is correct. "Team" means the same thing as it does in "News Team 5!" or "News Team 7!" ("News Chopper 7!", "Storm Watch 2005!", etc. etc.)

I believe the thing to do here is to contact those companies that advertise on KRCA. The headquarters for Yum Brands (owners of KFC) were closed, so I left a message at Taco Bell's public relations department. It hasn't been returned. Finding someone to speak with at Taco Bell is quite difficult, apparently they get a lot of angry calls from various activist groups.

I'll try to watch KRCA and write down who advertises on their news show.

UPDATE 2: Here were the national advertisers on tonight's 9pm newscast:

Dodge (two different spots)
Coors Light
Chrysler
Kia

Those appeared to be fully national advertisements. I.e., they didn't say something like "sponsored by the Southern California Dodge dealers," although they might have been.

I'll try to contact those advertisers tomorrow and see if I can get statements.

UPDATE 3:
Dodge's customer service wouldn't connect me with anyone in their corporate offices. Even their WHOIS has that same customer service number, but I'll see if I can find a direct number.

Kia has not (yet?) returned my call.

Coors returned my call but said they only advertise on national networks. I did see one of their national ads, but it might have just been a space filler, a test, or placed by a local group or similar.

Posted at 06:36 PM | Comments (7)

Media Matters doesn't understand epidemiology, statistics, immigration

Media Matters for America is taking Bill O'Reilly to task for agreeing with a caller that the health and financial impacts of massive illegal immigration might equal or surpass the effects of 9/11.

On the site, Media Matters - which admits it receives money from George Soros - prints a supposed transcript from the Bill O'Reilly show.

Notably, O'Reilly says "I think you could probably make an absolutely airtight case that more than 3,000 Americans have been either killed or injured, based upon the 11 million illegals who are here."

And, I'd imagine that you could easily make that case, considering the numbers of crimes committed by illegal aliens, together with the health impacts of illegal aliens.

As we know, many liberals and other corrupt supporters of illegal immigration frequently use the strawman argument that today's immigration is the same as that of yesteryear. That is false for many reasons, and one of those is that most of those prior immigrants came through Ellis Island. Of those, some were found to have communicable diseases and they were sent home. (Only a small percent were sent home because the steamship companies did their own pre-screening. The steamship companies were fined for those who had to be sent back.) [SEE UPDATE]

Today, of course, millions of people have snuck over our borders without having been inspected for disease. And, many or most of those come from countries where diseases that have been eradicated in the U.S. are still common.

I posted the following links in comments there. Feel free to sign up for an account over at MMFA and educate them some more:

Illegal Immigration and Public Health

Leprosy in America: new cause for concern (Over 100 cases were found in immigrants last year, more than double the number in 2000, and, while the number of cases is still comparatively small, some researchers believe the trend could lead to leprosy spreading to the U.S.-born population.)

"Illegal Aliens and American Medicine"

UPDATE: The History Channel link above no longer works, but an archived copy is here:

web.archive.org/web/20040229010527/http://www.historychannel.com/
exhibits/ellisisle/reborn2.html

The page appears to have been authored by Pete Hamill of the NY Daily News. It says:

The steamship companies were required to pay for the return passage if an immigrant was rejected, a rule designed to force the companies to examine immigrants before they boarded.

The page also references The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in American Society 1880-1921 by Alan M. Kraut.

Posted at 04:56 PM | Comments (3)

A Mexican military helicopter on U.S. soil?

See "Mexican military chopper lands on U.S. soil near Arivaca." No MSM link is available or will probably become available. Apparently the Border Patrol was already aware of this, so draw your own conclusions.

See also "Mexican Army Incursions Into The United States".

Posted at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

"Blatant Racism by the Pro-illegal Alien Crowd"

This article has an interesting roundup of the titular topic. The footnotes are also of interest for future posts.

Also see "Racist liberals? Isn't that an oxymoron?" No, no it isn't.

Posted at 01:19 PM | Comments (2)

John McCain... or Asa Hutchinson?

McCain and Kennedy (or is that Kennedy and McCain, or is there a difference?) are moving ahead with their illegal alien amnesty plan, and they say they'll have something next week. Bear in mind their plan is even more of a giveaway than Bush's vague plans.

This article has the details, and it also includes this:

...Deporting the 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country is not practical, McCain told midshipmen during a guest lecture in Annapolis, Md.

"There are some who say send them back to their countries," McCain said. "It's not possible. It's not going to happen..."

And, there are a far greater number who say we should fine employers and reduce public benefits to illegal aliens, thereby discouraging future illegal aliens and encouraging those here now to self-deport. Of course, never let what people are really saying stand in the way of a good strawman argument.

Of course, the straw connoiseurs and aficionados out there will no doubt have recognized the straw McCain is using as the "Hutchinson variety" of straw, as illustrated in the September 9, 2004 article "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'":

The nation's border czar yesterday said it is "not realistic" to think that law-enforcement authorities can arrest or deport the millions of illegal aliens now in the United States and does not think the American public has the "will ... to uproot" those aliens...

Posted at 01:00 AM | Comments (5)

650+ new Border Patrol agents

From "Senate OKs border funds":

...Byrd teamed with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, on an amendment that would add 650 new agents to the Border Patrol. The legislation easily passed the Senate, 64-35, on Wednesday .

Arizona's GOP senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, split their votes. McCain voted against it; Kyl supported it.

Under the Byrd-Craig amendment, the Homeland Security Department may spend $390 million this year to hire 650 additional Border Patrol agents, 250 new immigration investigators and 168 new immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers.

Posted at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)

Scott McClellan: Minutemen are still "vigilantes"

Here's a question Les Kinsolving of WND asked at yesterday's White House news briefing:

Scott, WorldNet Daily quotes the largest local union of U.S. Border Patrol agents, Local 2544 in Tucson section, as saying this: "We have not had one single complaint from a rank-and-file agent in this sector about the Minutemen, many of whom are retired firefighters, cops and other professionals. Sensors have been set off by the ACLU sneaking around. If only President Bush were supportive of the rank-and-file agents." And my question, first question, has the president given any reconsideration to his reference to the Minutemen as vigilantes?

Needless to say, a large burst of hot air followed shortly thereafter, including this: "I think the president's views were made known, and I've expressed what our views are, as well." In other words, Bush is not going to retract calling the Minutemen "vigilantes."

Posted at 12:52 AM | Comments (2)

The Wall Street Journal's tenuous grasp on reality

The WSJ has yet another open borders screed. This one's about the fight between the Sierra Club and the Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization entitled "Low Sierra". It appears to be subscriber only, but the first part is here.

...It's an irony of the anti-immigration movement that its most prominent voices, on the right and left, are often immigrants who want to pull up the drawbridge now that they've arrived...

Thanks for that info on the "anti-immigration movement." Now perhaps you could discuss the 75% of U.S. citizens who are opposed to illegal immigration, or the smaller number who want reduced legal immigration as well.

While the Sierra Club insurgents probably lack the votes to prevail, their effort is notable for revealing the zero-population-growth roots of the anti-immigration movement. Their argument isn't about the "rule of law" or "securing our borders"; their main problem is other human beings... [...snarky comment deleted...]

Once again, thanks for revealing that about the "anti-immigration movement." Now perhaps you could discuss the groups that actually have some members.

...Meanwhile, Republicans tempted to embrace the anti-immigration cause should understand the political and ideological company they are keeping...

Unfortunately, that's where the excerpt ends, but I can only imagine what comes next. It's probably a rehash of the same smears they've printed in the past. See "The high-immigration Right is on the warpath" for a roundup.

See also "The WSJ gets desperate(r)" for an editorial in which they supported Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). That's the same Rep. featured in "Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens", and from this post:

...a survey of Cannon's financial disclosures since 1996 shows Washington, D.C., and out-of-state interests steadily replacing his Utah support. Eight years ago, 85 percent of the individuals backing Cannon hailed from Utah; today locals comprise just 16 percent of his donor base... A close look at who is giving also shows a sudden jump in contributions from immigration attorneys - 23 of whom have poured $20,900 into Cannon's war chest... At least five of the attorneys serve on the executive committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which helped Cannon draft the "AgJobs" bill...

I'd say the WSJ "should understand the political and ideological company they are keeping". Thankfully, Cannon's now gone from the immigration subcommittee.

See "WND and the WSJ on Rush, Bush, and illegal immigration", "The WSJ's libertarian fantasy world", "The WSJ is getting desperate", and "I can't believe it's not a free weekly" for more on America's premier national newspaper.

Posted at 09:47 AM | Comments (3)

Arnold gives far-lefties the faints

LAT:

SAN FRANCISCO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday urged that the U.S. "close the borders" to combat illegal immigration, though an aide quickly clarified his comment, explaining that the governor merely wants the borders better policed.

Schwarzenegger, taking questions at the Newspaper Assn. of America convention, described border security as a "lax situation" and urged tougher measures...

The LAT ends with the relatively measured thoughts of CA state Sen. Gil Cedillo. Gil "one bill gil" Cedillo is the sponsor of innumerable bills to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Posts about him start in "Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor". In addition to stating that we should give driver's licenses to illegal aliens because "they were here first," here's another one of his quotes:

"Latinos have displaced other work communities - clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries that used to be done by blacks and anglos... Since Latinos are now central to union revitalization, through immigration and high birth rates unions can be partisan for full Latino empowerment."

Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronical reports:

Democrats were quick to react to the governor's statement with outrage. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez issued a statement saying Schwarzenegger should "ratchet down this rhetoric and retreat from this narrow-minded approach to immigration."

Nunez argued that the idea reflects the approach of "political extremists, not rational policy-makers,'" and said that "even President Bush rejects the idea of a closed border with Mexico."

You can read up on Nunez here and here. Tell me who's the extremist.

The Chronical also includes outraged quotes from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

Posted at 01:05 AM | Comments (3)

Yale senior opposes Lou Dobbs

Evelyn Shih - a senior at Yale - has some strong words for CNN's Lou Dobbs in "Lou Dobbs Fuels American Immigration Paranoia":

...In between the dry segments of news and peppered rhetoric, Lou Dobbs peddles a latent racist agenda that is an easy trap in today's global economy...

Thanks for your input Evelyn, and good luck at Yale Global!

Posted at 12:51 AM | Comments (10)

Bloomberg opposes non-citizen voting for New Yorkers

April 16, 2005 - Immigrant advocates yesterday rallied to back a measure that would allow noncitizens to vote, but it was opposed by Mayor Bloomberg while the only Democratic mayoral candidate to back it was Virginia Fields.

"Ultimately, we want all those who are legal to be able to vote. It's the democratic way. They pay their taxes," said Councilman Bill Perkins, who plans to introduce legislation next week that would permit noncitizens to cast ballots in municipal contests.

Ron Hayduk, a social science professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College, said the legislation is a "huge step in realizing the promise of democracy, which is everyone who is a member of that community will have a say in how the rules are made. The essence of democracy is inclusion..."

Whenever the topic's about non-citizen voting, you can be sure that some airhead reporter somewhere is busy speed dialing community college professor Ron Hayduk.

See his quotes in 2004's "Purging illegal aliens from voter rolls not easy" and "Immigrant Voters Could Change Election Landscapes".

Posted at 12:43 AM | Comments (1)

At least some "liberals" are getting a clue

Over at the not-quite-as-bad-as-Hatrios site MyDD, Chris Bowers offers us "Scapegoating Immigrants" about the REAL ID Act. I was going to reply, except I see that it's generated five comments, all of which seem to be from real "liberals" and four of which are opposed to illegal immigration, including this one:

Dems need to get real

...Illegal immigration is bad, bad, bad, for everyone.

It enslaves those illegals with low wages, poor living conditions, and working rights.

It drives down wages for low income Americans who are forced to "compete"

It depletes our revenues providing healthcare, and social services and education to illegals

It increases our vulnerability to attack to maintain porus borders intentionally.

It makes a mockery of our laws. If we are a nation of laws, good ones and bad ones, we must be duty bound to uphold them, and change them if necassary...

We ought to have a comprehensive program to stop illegal immigration, including massive border security, substantive fines for employers hiring illegals. And we must have an effective and policable immigration and worker program...

On a related note, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD is working for Antonio Villaraigosa.

And, on a humorous note, in the post Bowers misspells our favorite word as "Demcorats."

Posted at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)

U.S. AG disagrees with AZ Gov. Napolitano on Voter I.D. at Polls

Secretary of State Jan Brewer today received official word from the U.S. Department of Justice that her efforts to implement Proposition 200 provisions requiring proper identification at the polls, does not violate federal law. This opinion directly contradicts Governor Napolitano's veto message on April 1st which incorrectly concluded that S.B. 1118 "conflicts with federal law."

The letter from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sheldon T. Bradshaw of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, states: "it is our considered judgment that neither HAVA nor any other provision of federal law preempts states from imposing identification requirements at the polls, including identification requirements for the receipt of provisional ballots." The Civil Rights Division is specifically charged with enforcing and interpreting Title III of the Help America Vote Act, which includes the provisional ballot requirements.

Bradshaw's letter to Brewer also noted that, "if a State such as Arizona wishes to impose identification requirements that are stricter than HAVA, it may do so without violating the statute."

Stated Secretary of State Jan Brewer, "I told the Governor that this bill was not in violation of federal law, yet instead of working towards implementing the will of over 1 million voters, she chose to play legal games." "I was extremely disappointed that the Governor based her veto on her interpretation of HAVA and I'll remind her that the job of enforcing these laws lies directly with the U.S. Department of Justice, and they have spoken," added Brewer...

This was apparently from an email from the AZ Republican Party. Continued here.

Posted at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

Fmr. NC Gov. wants citizens to pay more for college than illegal aliens

From "Hunt touts bill to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants":

With North Carolina's Hispanic population booming -- and Hispanic children dropping out of school at alarming rates -- lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would extend resident tuition rates at public universities to the children of illegal immigrants.

Former Gov. Jim Hunt returned to the General Assembly to show his support for the legislation, which is sponsored in the House by two Republicans and two Democrats. The measure would give in-state tuition to students who attended schools in North Carolina for at least four consecutive years before graduation. Young people in the country would have to apply for legal immigration status to receive the resident rate.

"It is morally right and it is economically necessary for our state," Hunt said. "We need these students. They have worked hard. They have excelled in high school. We need them to get all the education they can get."

It's morally right to give illegal aliens a better deal on college education than U.S. citizens? Bear in mind that while qualifying illegal aliens will get a discount, out of state U.S. citizens will still have to pay the full price. I think his moral compass has switched poles while he wasn't looking.

Posted at 01:05 PM | Comments (3)

"Immigration resurfaces as issue for Sierra Club"

From Terence Chea of the AP:

One year after failing to win control of the Sierra Club in a bitterly contested election, advocates for stricter immigration limits are back, arguing that the venerable conservation group can best protect the environment by reducing U.S. population growth.

The club's 750,000 members are voting this month on whether the organization should push for tighter restrictions on immigration. Five seats are open on the 15-member board of directors, which sets club policy and commands the $100 million annual budget.

Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization, club activists seeking to limit immigration, are backing five candidates and pushing a "yes" vote on a measure calling for restricting immigration...

But opponents, including many current and former leaders of the 113-year-old club, argue that wading into the politics of immigration will alienate allies such as labor unions and civil rights groups and won't slow population growth worldwide...

There might be a much more basic reason why the Sierra Club brass doesn't want to deal with this issue.

"Who's behind the smears?" discussed the case of David Gelbaum, who said "I did tell Carl Pope [Executive Director of the Sierra Club] in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me..."

Gelbaum has donated at least $100 million to the Sierra Club.

Terence Chea would have mentioned this in his article, except Lexis-Nexis was down or something.

UPDATE: I originally said Pope had left the Sierra Club, but it turns out he's still there.

Posted at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

"FAIR Responds to Sham Immigration Poll"

A new poll conducted on behalf of the open immigration advocacy group, the National Immigration Forum, reveals that even reputable polling organizations will conduct push polls to generate revenue in political off-years. The "National Survey of Voter Attitudes on Immigration," released Thursday, also reveals that pollsters can get their clients the desired results by the questions they ask.

In an effort to create the appearance of public support for President Bush's illegal alien amnesty and guest worker proposal, the poll conducted by Lake, Snell, Perry, Mermin & Associates, in conjunction with The Tarrance Group, asked respondents to choose from among very limited options for dealing with the illegal immigration crisis facing the nation. The choices presented to respondents "registering" millions of illegal aliens, or mass deportations of millions of illegal aliens. The poll ignored many other strategies for addressing mass illegal immigration that have wide support among the American public...

Continued here.

Oddly enough, those are the same false choice that Bush administration officials and supporters have presented, including such luminaries as Asa Hutchinson and Tamar Jacoby.

I saw the subscription-only article from Morton Kondracke entitled "Surprise! Voters Favor Work-Permit Immigration Reform" yesterday, and I knew there must be something wrong with it but since I'm not a subscriber I couldn't find out. Now we know exactly what that was.

Mon-TON! was last mentioned in "Mor-TON! Didn't you get the memo?"

UPDATE: The PDF of the poll is not organized in a nice way, so a more in-depth analysis will have to wait. However, one of the questions is "Deporting all 10 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States is unrealistic." Fifty-two percent agreed. However, note, of course, the use of the phrase "undocumented immigrants" rather than the correct "illegal aliens." There are many other questions and I'll look at them later.

Posted at 12:03 AM | Comments (8)

"Border crossings hinder training at Ariz. bases"

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- Marines preparing for combat in Iraq or Afghanistan have lost significant amounts of training time because undocumented immigrants from Mexico have constantly wandered onto a bombing test range in Arizona, according to the commander of this base along the border.

Virtually every Marine squadron headed to Iraq or Afghanistan receives combat training at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, which for nearly 40 miles touches the US-Mexico border in the southwestern corner of Arizona. The Border Patrol's focus in recent years on tightening the border in the eastern part of the state, where volunteer citizens this month have established their own observation posts, has pushed more undocumented immigrants westward.

Since July 2004, the training range has been shut down more than 500 times because of immigrants spotted on the range, causing a loss of more than 1,100 training hours, said Colonel James J. Cooney, the base's commanding officer...

Posted at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

"Illegal Immigration Costs Texans $4.7 Billion a Year"

Mass illegal immigration is costing Texas more than $4.65 billion a year finds a new report released today by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Texans, examines the fiscal costs being borne by the state to provide education, health care and incarceration for an illegal alien population now estimated to exceed 1.5 million...

Posted at 11:43 PM | Comments (3)

What got into the DUmmies?

Earlier I noted the DUmmies being somewhat sane on immigration matters. Now comes the thread "How the Working Class Views Immigration". Aside from the bit about "working class" it could be a thread at... FreeRepublic. This similar thread is not quite as good but still of interest. Please, please, please: I assure you. Our operatives are not behind this. #3294 is concentrating on liberal blogs, and #83921 is on vacation. No, this is coming from inside DUmmyland itself.

Posted at 08:54 PM | Comments (9)

Maybe they aren't as DUmb as previously thought

The DUmmies discuss the Minuteman Project in "Immigration Opponents (Civilians!) To Patrol U.S. Border" and, while several posters give the expected responses, one poster with 1000+ posts (he's not one of ours, honest!) indicates support for the MMP. Not only that, but one of the stock-repliers somewhat agrees with him.

Then, they discuss 6 Iraqis detained on Mexican border (article here). The same 1000+ poster offers sensible comments, and is not immediately banished to the gulag.

However, the DUers return to form and don their tin foil hats with "The Coming War in Iran and Syria...and the Mexico/Arizona Border...?" which links to this Debka Meets Nancy Luft article.

But, things get a bit better and quite a bit surprising as well. The post in "Poll question: Do you support the deportation of all ILLEGAL aliens?" has 93 votes at post time. And, 69% of them said "Yes."

Posted at 12:22 AM | Comments (4)

America's CEO is just maximizing shareholder value

As previously discussed, President Bush (of the U.S.), President Fox (of Mexico), and P.M. Martin met yesterday at Baylor University in Waco.

The WashTimes report is "Bush decries border project". The "border project" in question is the Minuteman Project. The AP report is in "Three-nation pact: Sore spots remain, but U.S. ties with Mexico, Canada thawing".

Both stories have little beyond the press conference which followed the meeting. Here are the sections of that conference dealing with immigration matters:

...PRESIDENT BUSH: And I have told [Vicente Fox] that we will -- I will continue to push for reasonable, common-sense immigration policy with the United States Congress. It is an issue with which I have got a lot of familiarity -- after all, I was the governor of this great state for six years and I dealt with this issue a lot, not only with President Fox's predecessors, but with governors of border states -- Mexican border states, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. And I know what -- I know the issue well. And I will continue to call upon Congress to be commonsensical about this issue.

And the basis of the policy is that if there is a job opening which an American won't do, in other words -- and there's a willing worker and a willing employer, that job ought to be filled on a legal basis, no matter where the person comes from. That makes sense. We need a compassionate policy. In other words, if this is in place, someone will be able to come and work from Mexico in the United States, and be able to go home -- back and forth across the border in a legal fashion. That seems to make sense to me. It's a commonsensical way of doing things.

I think we ought to have a policy that does not jeopardize those who've stood in line trying to become legal citizens. We want to reward those who have been patient in the process. There's plenty of Mexican citizens who have applied for citizenship, they should -- their position in line should not be preempted because of there's a worker program. But there's a better way to enforce our border. And one way is to be compassionate and decent about the workers who are coming here to the United States.

And, Mr. President, you've got my pledge, I'll continue working on it. You don't have my pledge that Congress will act, because I'm not a member of the legislative branch. But you will have my pledge that I will continue to push our Congress to come up with rational, common-sense immigration policy.

[...]

Q (As translated.) [...question about energy markets...] I also want to ask you in this security and prosperity partnership, when will you include the migratory, or immigration policy in this partnership?

And, President Bush, I wanted to ask you about your opinion about those people who are hunting migrant people along the border.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm against vigilantes in the United States of America. I'm for enforcing law in a rational way. That's why you got a Border Patrol, and they ought to be in charge of enforcing the border.

We talked about migration, of course -- we spent a lot of time talking about migration. We've got a big border with Canada, a big border with Mexico, and it's an important issue. But the issue on the borders is not just people, it's goods and services. And so the agreements we're talking about, the way to strengthen our relationships of course includes our border policy. And we'll continue to include border policy...

Posted at 02:07 PM | Comments (4)

Wal*Mart's 15 minutes of pain

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. escaped criminal charges but agreed Friday to pay $11 million, a record fine in a civil immigration case, to end a federal probe into its use of illegal immigrants to clean floors at stores in 21 states.

A dozen contractors who actually hired the laborers for work inside stores for the world's largest retailer agreed to plead guilty to criminal immigration charges and together pay an additional $4 million in fines.

"This case breaks new ground not only because this is a record dollar amount for a civil immigration settlement, but because this settlement requires Wal-Mart to create an internal program to ensure future compliance with immigration laws by Wal-Mart contractors and by Wal-Mart itself," said Michael J. Garcia, assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

The subcontractors involved will pay $4 million, most likely a very large amount for them.

However, to Wal*Mart $10 million is about equivalent to their revenue in a 15-minute period. Whether the compliance program has loopholes is unknown.

Note also that Wal*Mart is facing a class action suit by former janitors. Backstory in The price of "cheap" labor is about to go up.

Forbes covers the current events here:

But the class-action lawsuit brought in November 2003 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark seeks restitution for the workers. Though Wal-Mart filed a motion to dismiss the case in March 2004, the judge has already certified that the claimants can sue under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The judge is currently deciding whether to uphold the workers' racketeering claim against the company. Labor attorney James Linsey is confident that the racketeering claims will also stand.

"That leaves Wal-Mart in a bit of dilemma," Linsey says. "They'll be under some amount of pressure to do the right thing and settle with the people, because they don't like being called racketeers."

Linsey has also found help from foreign governments. The governments of Mexico and the Czech Republic have already filed briefs on the workers' behalf, and Linsey says that other government officials, angry that their citizens were mistreated at Wal-Mart locations, could be joining in...

Posted at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)

"Bill: Illegal immigrants' children would not be citizens"

From the Inland Valley Daily Bulletion:

A bill co-sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, [HR 698] would deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants in the United States, but opponents say the bill uses immigrants as a scapegoat for poorly developed policies...

The state spends about $7.7 billion each year to educate 1 million children born to undocumented immigrants, according to [Ira Mehlman of FAIR].

Cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers and deporting illegal immigrants is Miller’s solution to the problem, but opponents of the bill say it’s impossible to deport 10 million to 12 million people.

"It's another attempt to blame the immigrant community for the issues of the United States," said Ben Monterroso, western regional director for Service Employees International Union... [...Monterroso's implied logical fallacy of generalization deleted...]

See the last link for more on the SEIU.

On a side note, this same staff writer-written story appears in the Whittier Daily News as "Miller bill would deny citizenship", in the San Bernardino Sun as "Bill would deny citizenship to children of illegals", and in the Pasadena Star News as "Miller bill would deny citizenship". And, all of those papers are owned by the same company.

Posted at 03:56 PM | Comments (1)

Most banks would sell the kidneys of Brazilian garbage men if they could get away with it

So, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to find them doing something not nearly as bad but still quite disturbing. Namely, giving home loans to illegal aliens.

The article "Banks Find Mortgage Clientele in Undocumented Immigrants" is the latest in a string of reports about banks funding loans using ITINs ("individual taxpayer identification numbers") rather than social security numbers. It does include a quote from Dan Stein of FAIR, but about 80% of the paragraphs present the programs in a good light.

Probably the most outrageous quote comes from Antonio Riley, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. That's listed as a state agency, and here's what he has to say:

"We don't see what can be so controversial about helping people realize the dream of homeownership."

Let's see now. These are illegal immigrants, right? And, they (most likely) entered the country illegally, remain here illegally, and, if they're working here they're doing so illegally. Nope, I don't see anything controversial about that at all.

Several banks are mentioned in the report as making or guaranteeing these ITIN loans:

* Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank
* Mitchell Bank
* Neighborhood Housing Services of America (Oakland, CA)
* Banco Popular (Houston)
* Self-Help Credit Union (Durham, NC)
* Second Federal Savings (Chicago)
* First Bank of the Americas
* Texas Bank (Fort Worth)
* Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (Milwaukee)

It also mentions that the FDIC and Freddie Mac are involved or are considering getting involved.

See also Bank of "America", Welcome to the wacky world of corruption (about the WHEDA), "Undocumented Immigrants Buying Homes With Fake IDs", and "Who is the FDIC? And, why are they working with a foreign government to subvert our laws?"

Posted at 11:58 PM | Comments (1)

"Democrats Preparing Assault on Bush Border Security Lapses"

From Dan Stein of FAIR:

I attended a Capitol Hill hearing today [March 10] on "Interior Immigration Enforcement Resources." No one could have missed the fact that Democrats are preparing to pounce on the Bush administration's failure to fully fund authorized detention space and ICE enforcement agents. Time after time, Congresswoman Maxine Waters -- a newcomer to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims -- underscored the hypocrisy in the administration's failure to live up its public commitments to improve overall immigration enforcement. Her comments were echoed by Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Strange coming from people with no real track record supporting immigration enforcement.

Committee witness Paul Martin, Deputy Inspector General, US Department of Justice, noted "the lack of complete and accurate data" in locating and apprehending alien absconders. It's clear that the Bush administration is leaving itself vulnerable to Democrat attacks should another terror incident occur involving an alien crossing the southern border...

Posted at 02:09 PM | Comments (1)

Starring John Cornyn as "Asa Hutchinson"

The AZ Republic reports on TX Sen. John Cornyn, the latest incarnation of the administration's designated front person for amnesty and open borders. From "Big role for Texas senator?"

...Cornyn, a former state attorney general, chairs the Senate Judiciary immigration subcommittee, which has major influence over immigration policies.

On Monday, Cornyn will open hearings to investigate the country's weak border security system and failed immigration laws.

[...quotes from FAIR and AILA...]

...If history is any indication, Cornyn won't shy away from a fight. As a rookie senator in 2003, he blasted colleagues and outside groups on the Senate floor for doing "too little to reform a system that cries out for change."

"Special interest groups dominate the discourse, employing the potent but morally repugnant rhetoric of fear," he said. "We can no longer afford to deny both the sheer number of undocumented immigrants in our country and the extent of our economy's dependence on the labor they provide."

In persuading other lawmakers to go along with the president's plan, Cornyn will have to deal with defiant Democrats and equally reluctant Republicans.

The "rhetoric of fear" is almost all originating on the AILA side. As in, "say something bad about massive illegal or legal immigration, and you'll have to fear being smeared."

Hopefully Cornyn will have as contentious and relatively brief a run as did Asa Hutchinson or Chris Cannon.

Posted at 02:01 PM | Comments (3)

"Watchdog [Clark Kent Erwin] details confrontations with Ridge"

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Homeland Security Department's former independent watchdog says he was twice summoned to then-Secretary Tom Ridge's office last year and asked why his reports criticizing the agency were being sent to Congress and whether they could be presented more favorably to the department...

During a June 9 meeting, "Ridge said a couple of times, 'Look, are you my IG?' and I said, 'No, I'm not your IG,'" Ervin recalled.

Ervin said that when he told Ridge that the inspector general served the public, the former Pennsylvania governor replied, "I had an IG in Pennsylvania and he didn't release things to the Legislature or to the press."

Ervin said he answered: "But I do here. I have a reporting obligation" to Congress.

Ervin said the meeting "was two hours of 'Why are you doing this? Why are you being negative to the department? Why are you releasing reports?' It was a long come-to-Jesus meeting, angry and confrontational. I just spent the whole time trying to educate him about the role of the inspector general."

Ridge had just endured an uncomfortable morning on Capitol Hill. Senators had used one of Ervin's reports to question Ridge about problems, including lost and stolen passports, in a program that allows citizens from certain foreign countries to enter the United States without a visa.

In a subsequent meeting five weeks before the Nov. 2 election, Ervin said, Ridge talked about presenting the inspector general's reports in a way that would make them seem less critical of the department...

Posted at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)

"As Border Tightens, Growers See Threat to 'Winter Salad Bowl'"

The Wall Street Journal continues their scare-mongering in the 3/11/05 front page story "As Border Tightens, Growers See Threat to 'Winter Salad Bowl'". It's subscriber only, but excerpts are here:

YUMA, Ariz. -- Shortly before Thanksgiving last year, Tom Nassif did something few law-abiding citizens would ever think to do: He called the U.S. Border Patrol here and suggested agents stop manning a highway checkpoint intended to keep illegal immigrants out of the country.

A former U.S. ambassador and currently the president of a powerful farming association, Mr. Nassif told officials that the agency couldn't have picked a worse time to beef up enforcement. Didn't they know it was lettuce season?

The checkpoint -- complete with drug-sniffing dogs -- was meant to stop the flow of illegal immigrants who might have slipped through the regular border controls. But it was also ensnaring busloads of undocumented workers who are critical to the task of picking lettuce and other vegetables during the winter growing season here. Border patrol Public Information Officer Joseph Brigman says he told Mr. Nassif that "we aren't targeting fieldworkers; we're conducting normal operations..."

Later in that thread, someone posts a link to "In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines". See also "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers".

Posted at 01:51 PM | Comments (2)

"Illegal Aliens and American Medicine"

Hey, want to be depressed? The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons) has an article about illegal immigration in their latest issue. It's only available in PDF format, and here's the beginning:

The influx of illegal aliens has serious hidden medical consequences.We judge reality primarily by what we see. But what we do not see can be more dangerous, more expensive, and more deadly than what is seen.

Illegal aliens' stealthy assaults on medicine now must rouse Americans to alert and alarm. Even President Bush describes illegal aliens only as they are seen: strong physical laborers who work hard in undesirable jobs with low wages, who care for their families, and who pursue the American dream.

What is unseen is their free medical care that has degraded and closed some of Americaís finest emergency medical facilities, and caused hospital bankruptcies: 84 California hospitals are closing their doors. "Anchor babies" born to illegal aliens instantly qualify as citizens for welfare benefits and have caused enormous rises in Medicaid costs and stipends under Supplemental Security Income and Disability Income.

...many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue, and Chagas disease...

It gets much more depressing.

See this WND article for a summary if you don't want to read the whole PDF.

Posted at 10:41 PM | Comments (5)

MNDaily: "Bill would get Minnesota immigrants in-state tuition"

As you might imagine, the "immigrants" in question are, in fact, "undocumented immigrants". Of course, that fact is not disclosed until the fourth paragraph of their "news" story.

The co-author of the bill is Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul.

The "reporter" includes the thoughts of Ann Schuetz, "an education coordinator for the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota" and, needless to say, takes everything she says at face value.

Please contact this "newspaper" and suggest they stop trying to hide the truth: errors *at* mndaily.com

See also "Is the Onion based in Minneapolis?" for discussion of a similar article. That includes the news that Mexico has its sights set on Minnesota and will be building a consulate there.

Posted at 10:51 AM | Comments (1)

"Border plan risks estuary"

The OC Register discusses the border fence near Tijuana that Reps. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine want to finally complete: "Border plan risks estuary":

[...Greg Abbott, "an ecologist with the California Department of Parks and Recreation", leads the OC Register on a tour, pointing out the problems with the plan...]

Backed by two House Republicans, the project includes a controversial plan to remove hundreds of tons of soil from the top of nearby mesas and fill in a canyon appropriately named Smugglers Gulch.

Ecologists worry that erosion will carry the soil from the enormous mound of earth in the canyon into the estuary and disrupt the delicate balance that supports the wildlife.

The California Coastal Commission, which regulates coastal land and water use, is one of numerous agencies and interest groups fighting the proposed project and the legislation to make it possible...

"This is as much earth as would be used to build Hoover Dam," said Carl Zichella, western regional staff director for the Sierra Club, trying to explain how enormous a volume of soil would be moved.

Zichella said that what is being planned in the name of national security is unnecessary to protect the border...

The possibility that Abbott was sent out by his supervisors to throw cold water on the plan seems highly likely. Maybe there are alternatives that would work, however based on the Sierra Club being in opposition I'd imagine their version of a border fence might include a door. The post "Who's behind the smears?" described how the Sierra Club got millions of dollars from a pro-open borders philanthropist, and "DHS to build fences anywhere at any time, even committing mass murder to do so?" described the last loony leftie attempt at fear-mongering on this issue.

Posted at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)

Florida poll: 2/3 oppose amnesty, 3/4 oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens

That's the result of a poll from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

...The poll, conducted last week by Maryland-based Research 2000, surveyed 600 likely voters in Florida. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll found that fewer than four in 10 likely voters in the state think immigration helps the United States...

...Hispanics, who made up 15 percent of the respondents, were no more supportive of pro-immigration changes than other groups polled. Only two in 10 Hispanics favored a law allowing undocumented immigrants to work legally in the country. Only two in 10 favored issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. And only 38 percent of Florida's Hispanics who are likely voters said they thought immigration helped the United States...

See also Field Poll: 62% of Californians oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens.

Posted at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)

Appeasing our cheap labor supplier

Mexican Nationals to Get New U.S. Trials

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is asking Texas to conduct new hearings for 51 Mexicans on death row who say they were denied legal help from their consulates in violation of international law.

The International Court of Justice (search) in The Hague last year ruled that the convictions violated the 1963 Vienna Convention (search) by not providing the Mexicans with consular access. In 1969, the Senate ratified the treaty, which requires such access for Americans detained abroad and foreigners arrested in the United States.

The Supreme Court filing is an attempt by the administration to quell international criticism...

Maybe giving him a new trial is the right and not just the expedient thing to do, maybe it isn't.

However, the worrisome side effect in this matter is that this follows months of anti-U.S. activity by our "friends" to the south, all of which they've admitted are attempts to get a "migration accord" passed. See "Mexico may ask international courts to block Proposition 200" from earlier this year and "We're being sued by Mexico" from last year. The second post has more about Mexico's larger strategy. Are we sure that "cheap" labor isn't costing us more than we thought?

Posted at 05:53 PM | Comments (1)

How many of the 500,000 pro-Syrian demonstrators are Syrian guest workers?

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Nearly 500,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags and chanted anti-American slogans in a central Beirut square Tuesday, answering a nationwide call by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group for a demonstration to counter weeks of rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon...

Oddly enough, there are hundreds of thousands of Syrian guest workers in Lebanon. How many of those protesters are in fact Syrians? Is there a shibboleth-style way or similar to tell a Syrian from a Lebanese? Could we trust the MSM to report on the national origin of the pro-Syrian protesters?

Syrian guest workers are mentioned here, here, and here. The Reuters report reads similar to all those other stories about illegal immigrants in the U.S., even including a bit at the end about Syrians doing jobs the Lebanese won't do.

If many or most of the protesters are guest workers, perhaps we could take this as yet another lesson that guest worker programs have massive downsides.

UPDATE: A little birdie says: "I don't think Syrian guest workers were a large part of the demonstration. Most are Sunni, not Shia like Hezbollah." I'll wait for a more authoritative source to report on the breakdown of the demonstrators.

UPDATE 2: See "Ex-PM: Hezbollah rally numbers manipulated".

Posted at 01:34 PM | Comments (2)

Our cheap labor supplier to tour Arizona, make trouble

MEXICO CITY - A group of Mexican senators is heading to Arizona to investigate the effects of Proposition 200 amid growing fears in Mexico that other states will copy the measure.

The senators plan to meet with Mexican diplomats and migrants, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and state Attorney General Terry Goddard, said Domingo Clavel, technical secretary for the Senate's Human Rights Committee...

Clavel said the senators also plan to meet with groups that campaigned against Proposition 200, as well as Daniel Ortega, the Phoenix lawyer helping to challenge the measure in court...

[...cheap labor pimping from Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights...]

"They should be subject to the social protection and benefits that the state confers, and in all cases, receive a dignified and respectful recognition of their fundamental rights," [the Commission] said.

Ortega was involved in MALDEF's attempts to block Prop. 200, as discussed in MALDEF getting "moral support" from Mexico.

Posted at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

Arizona tries to stop public funding of illegal alien day laborer centers

This is from Elvia Diaz in the Arizona Republic, so be prepared. From "Panel backs ban on labor centers":

Advancing a strategy to discourage illegal immigration, a legislative panel has recommended banning government-sponsored day-labor centers in Arizona.

The measure is considered a blow to cities and towns struggling with undocumented immigrants crowding major thoroughfares, seeking work on jobs ranging from construction to roofing to landscaping.

The legislation, House Bill 2592, prohibits cities, towns and counties from building or maintaining a work center that facilitates the hiring of undocumented immigrants...

Eleanor Eisenberg, "executive director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union", acts as one of the article's cheap labor pimps.

If those cities and towns don't like illegal aliens crowding their streets, might I suggest they attempt to make coming here illegally less attractive? That would solve the underlying problem instead of papering it over with a hiring hall.

Note that this bill only covers public funding; private funders like Home Depot would still be able to help subvert our laws.

Posted at 02:24 PM | Comments (2)

Arkansas: discounted college for illegal aliens blocked

For now at least: "[Illegal] Immigrant College Aid Bill Falters". It earlier passed their House, but it failed to pass their Senate because one of their upstanding American representatives was out sick.

Previously: "[AR Gov.] Huckabee plan would give aid to illegal aliens".

Posted at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

U.S. Amb. Tony Garza: "Reliance on remittances from the U.S. is not a viable economic policy."

MEXICO CITY — U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza defended his criticism of Mexico's law enforcement efforts on the border even though it has ruffled feathers here, saying he has a responsibility to protect the safety of U.S. citizens...

In January, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory alerting citizens to recent drug-trafficking and kidnapping violence on the Mexican side of the shared border.

Soon after, Garza sent an open letter to Mexican officials criticizing local law enforcement's progress against border crime and saying the lack of security along the border could have a "chilling" effect on trade and tourism...

President Vicente Fox later said Garza's letter went too far.

...Garza [yesterday] also stressed the importance of generating economic growth in Mexico's poor and neglected regions. He said it was important to establish social entrepreneurship that can develop strong, local market networks to serve low-income communities.

Immigration reform is more likely to occur when "Mexico is doing everything it can to create economic opportunities" for Mexicans, Garza said. "Reliance on remittances from the U.S. is not a viable economic policy. This only increases dependence on the United States and delays Mexico's full participation in the global economy..."

"Immigration reform" is, of course, a euphemism for "regularization", which is the euphemism for "a massive illegal alien amnesty."

There's more from Reuters here:

The United States would be "far more likely" to ease immigration rules if it felt the Mexican government was doing enough to tighten border security and grow its economy, the US ambassador said yesterday.

Tony Garza, the US ambassador, told the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico that George W Bush, the US president, was committed to creating a guest worker programme which would provide temporary visas to workers from Mexico and other countries. "There should be no doubt, however, that immigration reform will become far more likely when the US public and its leaders feel confident that the border is secure and Mexico is doing everything it can to create economic opportunities here at home," he said, according to an advance copy of his speech...

..."Mexico can no longer rely on cheap labor as its comparative advantage," he continued. "And imagine what else could be achieved were corruption less pervasive, no longer able to poison business deals, encourage illicit activity, and chill investment..."

Posted at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

"Legislators target illegal immigrants"

MSNBC reprints an Atlanta Business Chronicle article about illegal immigration in Atlanta. It has some legislators saying really good things, as well as the usual cheap labor pimps chiming in. One of the people from the wrong side is Sam Zamarippa.

The article does not, of course, mention anything like what you can find at that link. Zamarippa and current/former GA Rep. Pedro Marin founded a group called GALEO, which you can read about here. See "Mexican agents in the state houses? Part 2" for more on Marin.

Posted at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

"The Truth About Asa Hutchinson"

KFI's John & Ken got an email from a listener who also appeared on their show. She's remaining anonymous so there's no way for me to verify this, however:

The John & Ken Show received an e-mail this morning that might shed some light on why the Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson is leaving his post...

...[The email author writes:] I was at a National Aviation Security Conference. At a break in the conference, I was talking to Asa’s Chief of Staff, and did not know who he was. He mentioned how different the articles in the newspaper were here about Border Issues than they were inside the Beltway. I suggested he should listen to the radio here without mentioning which station and he IMMEDIATELY became very animated. He told me how many file drawers he had of letters and emails he had from KFI, 5 drawers full, and how severely it affected Asa. It was the letters, our numerous letters and emails, he said that made Asa agree to come to Temecula, because Asa could always hold his own in speaking to crowds. Chris Clark related that Asa was blown away by the KFI staff and audience and decided immediately to retire to Arkansas and run for governor after the Temecula program...

Posted at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

Speaking about Asa Hutchinson...

In a way, the replacement for spent open borders warriors like Asa Hutchinson and Chris Cannon is Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]. The OC Register has an interview with him here.

Posted at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)

Asa Hutchinson's farewell speech

Former Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson gave his farewell speech yesterday. On his way out, he raised concerns about the Minuteman Project, supported Bush's guest worker program, and said a few other things. If you've been following along, you can pretty much write what he said yourself.

Posted at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)

Mexico to fight the Minuteman Project

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will pursue legal action against plans by a U.S. citizens' group to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border in search of illegal immigrants, the country's foreign minister said on Monday.

Luis Ernesto Derbez said he asked lawyers in Los Angeles to draw up a legal strategy to fight the Arizona-based initiative called "the MinuteMan Project" that has signed up hundreds of volunteers for border patrols.

"We are going to attack by all legal means," Derbez told a news conference. "We are presenting the reasons why we consider this action to be incorrect and illegal from the point of view not only of our government but also under U.S. law..."

It should be interesting to find out who the lawyers are...

See also "Mexico plans to step up immigration-policy pressure in 2005": Mexico plans to hire lobbyists and to work closely with leading U.S. think tanks and universities to promote its national interests, the Mexican official said...

What would you call a U.S. citizen who helps a foreign country that doesn't have the U.S.'s best interests at heart? At what point do we start using the "T" word?

Posted at 08:34 PM | Comments (2)

Providence Journal: "Costs of immigration"

The RI Providence Journal has a very clear-headed editorial on illegal immigration: "Costs of immigration":

...Illegal immigration is no free lunch, and it's time we had an honest discussion of the matter...

...Four of America's 10 poorest metropolitan regions lie along the Texas-Mexico border...

...Brownsville, for example, is a stroll across a bridge from Matamoros, Mexico. The population of the once sleepy Texas town grew 41 percent in the 1990s and continues to explode. An amazing 40 percent of the total is under age 19. Imagine a city of only 140,000 trying to support a school system with 40,000 students!

Some 400,000 people live in what are called colonias along the border in Texas. These unincorporated shantytowns often lack water, sewer systems, electricity and paved roads. The colonias residents pay little if any taxes but use the schools and other public services.

Brownsville is the poorest medium-sized American city; a third of its families live in poverty, according to federal guidelines. It's important to recognize that the illegal residents don't just add to the numbers of poor; they also bring down the wages and economic opportunities of the legal residents.

While America's problems caused by illegal immigration are most evident at the Mexican border, the solution lies elsewhere. No number of U.S. Border Patrol jeeps can stop the flow of poor people seeking jobs in the United States. Only penalties for the U.S. employers can do this...

Posted at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

I stopped at "Gestapo tactics"

The Naples Daily News' Dianna Smith violates Godwin's Law and just about every acceptable journalistic practice in the article "Haitians targeted unfairly in immigration sweeps, advocates say". It reads like a parody of biased, weepy "reporting":

The sky was still dark the morning the women heard knocks on their doors. The noises came from husky men dressed in black, pointing flashlights into the windows like burglars, holding them like guns...

...The wives and children were left helpless with hurting hearts, pleading so desperately it was like they thought the drivers would somehow hear them and turn around...

...Collier County is one of several Florida counties where officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, quietly appear during odd hours of the night, sometimes at places of employment, to capture people they call fugitives...

...But not all are crimes like most would think.

Some of those picked up by the task force are people with families, full-time jobs and homes. But, for one reason or another, they were found ineligible by an immigration judge to live in America and they later ignored deportation notices, which is a felony, Pruneda said.

[Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami] said there are 400,000 undocumented immigrants living in the United States...

"The strategy is - simply throw them out, ask questions later," [Casey Wolff, an immigration attorney in Collier County] said. "Most people caught in the web of immigration rules ignore them until something happens or are not aware of them. Congress has not fixed a broken system and they continue to use Gestapo tactics..."

Not only is Casey Wolff a member of the AILA, he's written at least one article for this same paper.

And, of course, the 400,000 number is off by 20 to 40 times. The source was probably referring to those who have received final deportation orders.

It probably won't do any good, but the Naples News' Editor is pplewis *at* naplesnews.com and their Managing Editor is whblanton *at* naplesnews.com

Posted at 04:15 PM | Comments (1)

Has the Springfield Republican been radicalized?

You've probably never heard of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican newspaper, but the article "Hispanics get call to political action" from Natalia Munoz seems of interest:

...A far-reaching campaign to stir political action by [Western Mass.] immigrants with and without legal papers was ignited yesterday with a talk by representatives from the Cambridge-based Centro Presente, which works with the Central American community in the state.

"There is an anti-immigrant environment here," said executive director María Elena Letona. "The hypocrisy of this country is that it denies immigrants rights and at the same time exploits their labor in below-minimum wage jobs."

More than a dozen people from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and El Salvador attended the talk, given in Spanish. It also addressed concerns over La migra, as Latinos call the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service...

Thanks for the translation. Perhaps when they start getting bigger crowds you could give us some background information on Centro Presente. From Mark Krikorian's "Strange Bedfellows: Left and right on immigration":

And then there's the National Immigration Forum, the umbrella organization for high-immigration political advocacy, which works closely with sympathetic Republicans. But NIF is not like the conventional lobbying coalitions that exist on numerous issues. It was cofounded by the National Lawyers Guild in the 1980s, back when the Guild was a Soviet front group. The group's first head was Rick Swartz, a leftist attorney who cut his teeth advocating for Haitian illegal aliens and who, during a 1981 Senate hearing, likened the United States to Nazi Germany.

Like many lobbying coalitions, the NIF board includes representatives of Republican stalwarts like the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Restaurant Association, and used to include Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, now head of the Club for Growth. Whatever his libertarian views on immigration, I imagine Steve hightailed it out of there after he realized what he'd gotten into, because the people sitting around the conference table at NIF board meetings include some decidedly unsavory characters. In addition to the usual leftist suspects — the ACLU, the Service Employees Union, Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute — the NIF board includes the head of the immigration lawyers' association, one Jeanne Butterfield, who used to be executive director of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, identified by the Anti-Defamation League as an alliance between members of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine and the Workers World party (the Trotskyites behind the Iraq War protests). As David Horowitz observed in National Review in 1991, Butterfield's organization was "one of the few groups in the world supporting Saddam's rape of Kuwait." Butterfield was later litigation director for Centro Presente, a Cambridge, Mass., outfit which provided aid to Central American illegals and was headed at the time by Frank Sharry, who is now, not coincidentally, head of NIF.

Also on the NIF board is the head of the L.A. branch of CARECEN, which backed the Communists in El Salvador's civil war and which helped pioneer the "sanctuary" movement to subvert U.S. immigration law. And, like the rest of the high-immigration Left that Chris Cannon has embraced, NIF's biggest funders include the Ford Foundation and George Soros's Open Society Institute...

The Springfield Republican's Executive Editor is Wayne E. Phaneuf. Please send him an email suggesting that his paper lays off the anti-Americanism and provides background information on the groups they discuss: wphaneuf *at* repub.com

Posted at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

"Federal Training Set for [L.A.] Sheriff's Employees"

From this:

Federal officials announced Thursday that they had reached final agreement on a six-month program to train Los Angeles County sheriff's employees to identify jail inmates who are in the country illegally.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security program, the first of its kind in the nation, was narrowly approved by county supervisors last month...

Previous coverage in "Zev Yaroslavsky goes semi-sane".

Posted at 12:00 PM | Comments (1)

"Undocumented Immigrants Buying Homes With Fake IDs"

From this:

...How is it that an undocumented immigrant can use a phony Social Security number to get a government-backed loan to buy property in Colorado? 7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia has been tracking cases involving Federal Housing Administration loans and said the homeland security implications are dramatic...

"To have a false number -- a Social Security number -- and have the realtor be able to take them all the way through the application process, there has to be something that that realtor or the mortgage company is doing to doctor those documents to show this is a legitimate Social Security number," [Jeff Copp, the regional special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE] said...

7NEWS wanted to talk to the people who issue the FHA loans at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD officials were clearly concerned about our findings and refused an on-camera interview. Officials wouldn't answer our questions but in a written statement, they said in part, "FHA loans are originated and processed by FHA-approved lenders who certify that the mortgage is eligible for FHA mortgage insurance ... If irregularities are revealed, appropriate action is taken..."

That illegal aliens are able to sail through the process shouldn't come as much of a surprise. See, for instance, "Who is the FDIC? And, why are they working with a foreign government to subvert our laws?", "Tax-number loans help immigrants buy homes", "Their money or your safety", or "Mexican Consulate helps locals with their papers".

Posted at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)

Like Michael Myers, AgJobs is back

"Bill to support farmworkers reintroduced":

This year it could be different as support has grown for the Agricultural Job, Opportunity, Benefits and Security (AgJobs) Act.

The legislation has been reintroduced in Washington, by Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and How ard Berman, D-Calif. The bill would overhaul the H-2A guest worker program and give experienced undocumented farmworkers the chance to become legal residents in the United States... [...BS from Ted Kennedy and growers...]

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson [says] "We can't find people who will do (hand-picking) anymore in the United States..."

Bronson should take a look at "In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines". Some Florida orange growers are getting smart and using machinery instead of serf labor. That article also describes how political forces have prevented some farm mechanization.

Regarding guest worker programs in general, see "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers"

Regarding AgJobs, see this. Rep. Cannon received thousands of dollars from AILA lawyers, and that organization also helped Cannon draft AgJobs.

The other Naples News article Farm union, religious leaders laud federal farmworker bill has the details on the bill. As you read it, you will probably get the feeling that its requirements sound an awful lot like indentured servitude. You aren't alone: see Miami Herald "endorses indentured servitude". That post also contains a list of the organizations that support AgJobs.

And, to those who complain that lettuce would go to $10 a head without serf labor, see "How Much Is that Tomato in the Window?"

Posted at 12:14 AM | Comments (1)

"Unlikely activist a lifeline for immigrants"

Now here's a bit of strange article. It describes a driver's licenses for illegal aliens advocate and it also describes two separate occasions where that advocate was driving like a nut. Drive from L.A. to San Jose on two hours of sleep? Anyone who's familiar with the 5 knows that's a crazy idea.

In addition, it also describes as "recent" a protest that took place almost a year ago: Gil Cedillo: using a horrible crime for political purposes.

Was the SJMerc just digging around in their rummage bin and found a space-filler?

Posted at 12:02 AM | Comments (1)

"Arizona wants feds to deport criminals"

From this:

Arizona prison officials say taxpayers are paying more than $28,000 a day to incarcerate hundreds of undocumented immigrants because the federal government hasn't filed the paperwork necessary to deport them to Mexico.

Arizona Department of Corrections Director Dora Schriro said deporting such criminals should be a "no-brainer" given the money that could be saved and the beds that could be freed in the state's overcrowded prison system.

Formal deportation orders for 46 of the 526 eligible inmates have been on file for several months, but state prison officials can't get Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick them up, Schriro said.

Posted at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

Tom Ridge and... home improvement?

Ridge to join Home Depot board:

..."We are honored to have [Ridge] join our board, where we expect that his unique global experience and perspective will make a profound contribution to our company and our shareholders," said Home Depot Chief Executive Bob Nardelli...

As covered here in the past (1 2 3 4 5...), Ridge was not exactly a good friend to those who believe that the U.S. has borders.

For its part, Home Depot has helped create several day laborer centers near its locations and, of course, many or most of those day laborers are illegal aliens.

Here's just one example:

The Home Depot contacted Catholic Charities and other social service nonprofits, the local police department, and city leaders, asking them to work together to create a solution that each part of the community felt good about and that included getting services to people who needed work. As a result, the group worked together to plan a new day laborer center, to be operated by Catholic Charities in conjunction with several social service and employment agencies. The store donated land across the street for the center and helped provide start-up funding. The city helped put up fencing and spread leaflets to day laborers throughout the area. The company, nonprofit, and city worked together to create a win-win solution for everyone...

Now, maybe this is not a payoff for his support of wide-open borders. Perhaps, as the first article discusses, it has something to do with the run on duct tape that Ridge caused...

Posted at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)

"Conservatives, GOP Split on Illegal Workers"

Fox has a roundup of immigration-related opinion at CPAC. Summary: almost everyone on the ground level was opposed to Bush's guest worker plan except... the Libertarians. They're just .0005% of the electorate, but they're an influential .0005%.

Posted at 01:13 PM | Comments (1)

More straw, Tamar?

Cheap labor cheerleader Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute - last discussed in "Tamar Jacoby, CPAC, immigration, and not yet clued-in bloggers" - now offers us "Law and Borders":

[BP Agent Lee Morgan] criticizes the apprehensions as a waste of time and resources. "They're just poor people trying to feed their families," he shrugs... "What if the bastards come across here in Arizona and I don't catch them because I'm so busy chasing a busboy or a gardener that I don't have time to do my job--my real job--catching terrorists?..."

Morgan's personal nightmare is one urgent reason why all Americans, no matter what their politics, should support President Bush's plan to retake control of our southern border. The White House proposal, introduced in early 2004 and allowed to drop from sight during the election year, is back on the table. The president laid out his ideas again in the State of the Union and is reportedly planning a major initiative to take the issue to the public later this spring...

Let's pause here and examine Morgan's choice of words. Don't they sound a bit familiar? What he says sounds an awful lot like what Bush has said on several occasions, and consider this bit from a Wall Street Journal editorial:

"Somehow draining the terror swamp in the Middle East seems a lot more vital to U.S. security than stopping busboys from crossing the Rio Grande."

And, this bit from Bush ("Bush now self-parody"):

I want to remind people that family values do not stop at the Rio Grande river. People are coming to our country to do jobs that Americans won't do, to be able to feed their families.

Is it just a coincidence that Morgan spouts the administration's lines and uses the same examples as the WSJ? He's a frequent quote source for reporters, but, not to impugn his credibility, I suspect there's something we're not being told. Note also that this bit about Morgan was repurposed from an earlier Jacoby speech.

Continuing on:

...But the question is what to do about this other, illegal America--and the fact is that the president has the best idea, arguably the only idea that can possibly work. Many of his critics believe that the answer is to turn off the immigrant influx. We should, they say, make the necessary economic adjustments and do without the imported labor. It's an option; with enough resources, we probably could stop the flow. But are the American people prepared for the changes that would come with that decision? The likely economic sacrifice is incalculable: not just a few extra pennies on the cost of lettuce, but forfeited growth all across the economy, on a vast scale. In many industries today, growth depends on foreign laborers, who filled one in every two new jobs created in recent years. Then there would be the cost of enforcement--a cost in dollars but also in the way we live. Just ask experienced agents like Lee Morgan: Cutting off illegal immigration would require thousands more men on the border, routine sweeps in every city, roadblocks, roundups, massive deportations, a national ID card, and more...

Whoa! That's a lot of straw you've got there. Most of those wouldn't be needed if we'd just enforce the laws against hiring illegal aliens. As pointed out many times, if there were no jobs (and perhaps no public services) for them, most illegal aliens would simply self-deport. Those in the same class as Tamar can hire citizen or legal immigrant nannies, busboys, and gardeners.

Fisking the rest of Jacoby's piece is left as an exercise. Dan Stein of FAIR offers this:

(FAIR comment: The difference between rum smuggling and alien smuggling is that the latter involves people rather than a commodity. These are people whose effects on our society may last for the rest of their lives and represent a major cost to the nation's taxpayers, distorted labor market conditions that harm the poorest Americans, a drain on the economy because of money sent home as remittances, deterioration of services and unsustainable population increase. It is also important to recognize that, unlike with prohibition, there has been no real effort to enforce our immigration law since it was made unlawful to hire illegal aliens in 1986.)

Posted at 12:34 PM | Comments (1)

"English-immersion foes hold children back"

Jill Stewart:

... Under Proposition 227, immigrant children were only supposed to stay in special immersion for a year or so, then go to mainstream class. But [California Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell] has refused to credit English immersion for soaring English literacy rates. His silence emboldens the anti-English ideologues who still strive to keep Latino kids in a separate world.

Again this month, O'Connell refused to credit English immersion, telling The San Francisco Chronicle he won't guess why kids are learning English so well...

...The State Board of Education finally ordered O'Connell to produce a study with that in mind. While we wait, I did my own study. I found that school districts like Los Angeles Unified -- where moderate Democrats stamped out failing "bilingual" education amidst fierce lefty resistance -- are producing big, lasting gains in English literacy.

By contrast, districts controlled by left-wing Democrats with an attitude of "they won't be able to talk to grandma!" are producing smaller gains...

Posted at 12:24 AM | Comments (2)

"Tulsa Senator Proposes Immigration Reform Legislation"

TULSA, Okla. -- A Tulsa senator is sponsoring what proponents are calling a groundbreaking approach to a dire economic problem by penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants.

The Oklahoma Fair Employment Act, by Sen. Tom Adelson, would penalize employers who hire illegal aliens and give employees who are displaced because of those hirings legal status to sue.

Since appearing on Lou Dobbs "Moneyline" on CNN, Adelson has been drawing praise from national immigration reform groups, who contend the influx of illegal immigrants is suppressing wages and threatening the American middle class.

"This is first-of-its kind legislation in the country. It is a bellwether and I am sure we will see similar bills like this," said Dan Stein, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, known as FAIR...

Posted at 08:53 PM | Comments (2)

"[Maryland] delegates seek cost of illegals"

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland taxpayers deserve to know how much the state is paying to subsidize education, housing and health care for illegal aliens before it breaks the budget, two Republican delegates from Baltimore County say...

What's more, Mr. McDonough and Delegate Richard K. Impallaria said, they agree with immigrant-advocacy group CASA of Maryland's claim that Illegal aliens are being exploited by local employers, but said the problem goes deeper...

Earlier this month, CASA asked the Montgomery County Council to crack down on people who neglect the immigrants they hire by establishing a living wage of at least $10.50 an hour. The group also is requesting paid holidays, sick leave, vacation time and family and medical leave.

The delegates, who are co-sponsoring legislation for a study on illegal immigration for the second year, said last year CASA fought their bill, which would have provided basic numbers and exposed the economic impact and the exploitation of illegal immigrants.

"It seems like they wanted to cover up the problem that many of these people are illegals," Mr. McDonough said.

CASA officials did not return repeated calls to comment...

CASA was last discussed in this post, and there's more on them here.

Posted at 01:37 PM | Comments (1)

"Job data should give pause to immigration advocates"

From Steven A. Camarota of CIS:

The recovery from the recession of 2001 is often described as "jobless." But this is not entirely correct. My analysis of Census Bureau data shows that between March 2000 and 2004, the number of adults working in United States actually increased.

What's interesting, however, is that all the net growth in jobs went to immigrant workers. In fact, while the number of unemployed adult native-born workers increased by 2.3 million over this time, the number of employed immigrants rose by 2.3 million.

Significantly, about half the growth in immigrant employment was from illegal immigration.

It would be a mistake to assume that each job taken by an immigrant is a job lost by a native. Still, such statistics should give pause to those who want to legalize illegal aliens and increase immigration still further...

Posted at 11:23 AM | Comments (1)

'Minutemen' to Patrol Arizona Border; DUmmies to support corrupt big corporations

The DUmmies have a thread on the ABC report "'Minutemen' to Patrol Arizona Border". Quite suprisingly, there are a few posters who agree with the idea that illegal immigration is a bad thing. However, as can be expected, there are also a few explicitly anti-American posters, and there's even someone named "Redstone" whose arguments sound very similar to those from FreeRepublic's own bayourod.

For your entertainment, here's the most explicitly anti-American comment:

37. What you call "Arizona" should rightfully be called Mexican soil Edited on Mon Feb-21-05 09:51 PM by wuushew So one could argue that a certain poetic justice exists when our southern brothers reclaim their birthright.

1840's Amerika could easily be compared to the to the tendencies of our modern hegemonic empire. Oil and Israel replaced gold and slavery with the meaningless label of Manifest Destiny serving as that century's terrorism buzzword.

Posted at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

But... they're just here to do the jobs illegal aliens won't do

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Importing workers from Asia to help harvest state fruit is a new trend based on a decades-old federal program -- and it's growing.

Last season, 170 Thai workers were imported to harvest Yakima Valley apples and cherries. This year, there could be at least 1,000...

Global said 95 percent of the local workers it hired in Washington last year didn't show up for a second day.

Several of them, represented by Columbia Legal Services, are seeking to intervene against Global to stop further use of H-2A workers in the Yakima Valley...

One man, a farm laborer for 20 years who was employed briefly by Global, said the company imposed unrealistic standards to get rid of local workers.

"The company wanted us to prune 100 to 150 trees a day and do a good job," he said, asking that his name not be used. "A worker could do that many trees, but not do them well."

Erik Nicholson, United Farm Workers' Pacific Northwest regional director, believes the Asian workers are the latest part of a historic cycle in farm labor.

"There's a subtle race card being played here, which is the legacy of agriculture. One hundred years ago, we were bringing Chinese workers onto our farms. They were replaced by the Japanese, who were considered harder workers. Then it was the Filipinos and then the Mexicans," Nicholson said.

"We have a similar trajectory here. As Mexican workers become more organized, one of the responses is to replace them with workers from Thailand."

Posted at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)

"Gingrich urges action against illegals"

WashTimes:

Newt Gingrich is demanding that the Bush administration get serious about stopping illegal immigration.

The former House speaker wants the United States to completely seal off its border along Mexico and Canada, deport illegal aliens within 72 hours of their arrest and exclude U.S. courts from reviewing such deportations.

"Let's be serious about sealing off our borders or [else] have open borders," Mr. Gingrich told more than 1,000 cheering conservatives on Saturday...

...Some skeptical conservative leaders interviewed after his speech noted that Mr. Gingrich did not explain how the "open green-card" program would work, or what more the administration should do to seal thousands of miles of border to the south and north.

Nor did Mr. Gingrich say whether he backed some form of President Bush's guest-worker program to allow illegal aliens holding jobs in the United States to remain — or whether such aliens eventually could apply for citizenship.

Many in the audience booed and hissed Manhattan Institute analyst Tamar Jacoby's defense of the guest-worker proposal. In a panel titled "Immigration Reform: Recognizing Reality or Surrendering Principles?" she clashed with Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly...

Posted at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

"[NE Gov.] Heineman Says No To Illegal Immigrant Bill"

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Gov. Dave Heineman rejected a call Saturday to publicly support a bill that would offer in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants.

Heineman's decision came during his first meeting with the Mexican American Commission... Commission director Cecilia Olivarez Huerta [supports the bill]... [...bill was sponsored by Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek...]

The backstory about Nebraska seems to focus on meat packers and other large employers of illegal aliens. See Ag Sec'y nominee "Fought to Protect Giant Meatpackers from Immigration Law Enforcement" and Bush's Open-Borders nominees, which are about former NE Gov. and current U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns' efforts on behalf of those employers:

...The president's choice for Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, while Governor of Nebraska, used the power of his office to protect large meatpacking and agricultural interests in his state who employ thousands of illegal aliens and violate countless other labor and occupational safety regulations.

During 1998 and 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service launched a campaign known as Operation Vanguard in which they conducted audits of Nebraska meatpacking plant personnel files. The operation successfully drove-off many illegal aliens who were employed in these processing plants. Gov. Johanns, who has accepted large campaign contributions from large agri-businesses (2002 Campaign Finance Statement), stepped in on behalf of these contributors and pressured the U.S. Department of Justice to end these enforcement efforts...

There's more about Huerta, Johanns, and Operation Vanguard in February 1, 2000's Immigration Overload, this October, 1999 report, and, from the far-left side of things comes late last year's hysterically titled The Nightmare Continues and a 1999 report from the same author with a slightly less hysterical title: INS Declares War on Labor.

Posted at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

"Anti-illegal immigrant column stirs up college"

*Sigh* If you've visited this blog before, you probably know the drill. If you're a newbie, keep reading.

So, anyway, here's a scan of the "controversial" essay, which was printed in a San Diego-area college newspaper. (Another scan is here.)

The SDUT's story on this is "Anti-illegal immigrant column stirs up college", also discussed here.

While there are a few problems with the essay, especially the part about the leeches, almost every American citizen would consider it well within the bounds of polite discourse. Despite that, one can imagine how this all played out. The race pimps didn't just whine:

[...someone saw] MEChA members crying and angrily denouncing the piece as they read it. MEChA called for a meeting with both the Sun staff and the college administration.

"We made it clear at that meeting that it was an individual opinion," said Sun faculty adviser Max Branscomb. "It was on the Viewpoints page, and it did not come close to reflecting the point of view of the staff as a whole..."

Robin McCubbin, a faculty adviser for Students For Community Action, attended the meeting. He later wrote in a statement to the college's faculty that the piece was "a racist attack and call for violence (How else should the recommendation of the application of fire to the body of a living organism be characterized?)."

In an interview, McCubbin said, "Even if it's legal, is there any justification for it appearing in a newspaper for our campus?"

But MEChA faculty adviser Margarita Andrade-Robledo was won over by Branscomb's defense of freedom of the press.

"I don't like the article, but the First Amendment gives them that right" to publish it, she concluded.

Because Andrade-Robledo would not support the club in continuing to call for a retraction and an apology, the MEChA board ousted her as adviser...

(Please note the link to discoverthenetwork.com. If you're a blogger or similar, I suggest you link to such organizations using a similar construct so that they can be easily found by those searching with google. Here's an alternate link for that organization. Or, use this.)

Posted at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)

Tamar Jacoby, CPAC, immigration, and not yet clued-in bloggers

There was an immigration panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, and a few bloggers have reports. Unfortunately, none of those bloggers have yet seen the light, but that might change.

First up we have "Anti-Immigration = Anti-Capitalist" from Ryan Sager. His bio:

...a member of the editorial board of The New York Post... worked and written for the Cato Institute, Reason magazine, The Wall Street Journal [,...less objectionable outfits...]

At his post I left the following comment:

There's so much in this post that's incorrect, so it's difficult to know where to begin.

Let's start with those quotes and them not being taken out of context. They were indeed taken out of context: the context being these are the same AILA slogans that Bush keeps repeating over and over.

Your concept of what constitutes a "labor market" is skewed as well. Illegal labor is also massively subsidized labor. If you support illegal labor, you also support subsidies to those who employ that labor. How much would companies have to pay their workers if those workers didn't have access to free schooling, free (emergency room) healthcare, discounted college educations, etc. etc.

The final comment is "liberal"-level race-baiting. We already admit 800,000 legal immigrants per year, many or most of whom are like "them."

For more on Tamar Jacoby and Bush's bracero program, see this.

You can hear an interview with her here. Let's just say she didn't win the argument. ;)

Moving on, we come to "CPAC Shadow Blogging*, Part I: Immigration". It quotes from Sager's post and offers a few misconceptions of its own. PrestoPundit leaves a comment, and this is the one I left:

...[Sager's] quotes were indeed taken out of context: the larger context of those being the same AILA slogans Bush repeats on the rare occasions when immigration is discussed...

In addition to PrestoPundit's argument, let's consider your quote about "entice Americans to do the back-breaking work involved in strawberry picking".

Let's think about what that means for a moment. What you're suggesting is that we can either give up strawberry production, or we can invite in a foreign serf class to do our nasty jobs. Isn't that the way they do things in Saudi Arabia and Japan? And, hasn't America already been down this road before a few times? Slavery, indentured servitude, coolies, etc. etc. Is that really the model we should follow in the future?

How about we either mechanize strawberry production, or we let it die. I'm sure it could be mechanized if necessary. Plenty of other crops are, and in some cases mechanization has been hindered for political reasons. Isn't that the better way to do things?

Other less worthy and virtually content-free posts about the immigration panel are here, here, and here.

Posted at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

Tamar Jacoby gets her arguments shredded into tiny bits of straw

A couple weeks ago, John & Ken of KFI 640am interviewed cheap labor cheerleader Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute. I just noticed that audio of that interview is available here. Let's just say she didn't come off too well.

Posted at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)

I can't believe it's not a free weekly

Andrew McCarthy in NRO brings our attention to the latest open borders screed in the Wall Street Journal. In the WSJ editorial, they complain about the Real ID Act and say the following: "The last thing a terrorist would want to do is apply for asylum."

McCarthy provides his own examples of past terrorists doing just that. For other examples, see "Reading the 9/11 Commission Staff Reports: Chapter 3".

Posted at 08:00 PM | Comments (2)

Arizona legislators move to cut off funding to day laborer centers

From this:

Eleven Republican state lawmakers want to ban Arizona cities and counties from spending tax money on undocumented immigrants who line the streets waiting for jobs.

The legislators say day-labor centers are a failure and encourage illegal immigration. Rep. Colette Rosati, a Scottsdale Republican and main sponsor of House Bill 2592, said Arizonans are clamoring to curb illegal immigration, not to encourage it...

Posted at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)

"[Mexican Interior Secretary] Creel lashes out after CIA report"

I don't know whether to put this in the Immigration or WackyHumor category. Here's what their Interior Secretary had to say:

"The CIA analysis is wrong, it's erroneous and it's false... It's also reprehensible for an agency of a foreign government to be expressing opinions about Mexican affairs... I reject interference in affairs of an internal character ... in which the CIA has no reason to be making opinions... We know that (the CIA) frequently is mistaken and makes erroneous decisions..."

Posted at 12:28 AM | Comments (1)

"Liberals" get "liberalism" fed back to them by the shovelful

The previous post "PBS's Hypocrisy Revealed: PBS station opposes day-laborer center" discussed WETA's reaction to a day-laborer center that was located near their headquarters in Shirlington in Arlington County, Virginia.

There have been several reports on this center and on WETA's reaction to it. See also "Heights of hypocrisy" and this bit of socialist indoctrination as part of a class from George Mason University.

The center is partially paid for by taxpayers, and partially by unnamed foundations. Whether the Rockefeller Foundation is one of those benefactors is unknown. From August 2003:

WETA chief executive officer Sharon Percy Rockefeller attended Tuesday night’s board meeting, and was deeply critical of the final decision.

“It would absolutely complicate our lives,” said Rockefeller, who noted that the new facility is to be located adjacent to WETA’s broadcast center.

Rockefeller predicted that a “pretty hostile environment” would quickly develop between her employees, who now walk between the various facilities, and the day laborers. “I don’t want the incidents to happen,” she said.

Rockefeller also complained that the location of a day-laborer camp would complicate security around the studios of the “NewsHour,” public broadcasting’s signature daily news program. High-profile guests begin arriving at the studios shortly after noon each day, Rockefeller said, and would likely be met by the day laborers who did not find work that day.

“She’s part of the liberal establishment that created the mess, now she wants to protect elite liberals from it,” [Republican-leaning activist Robert Molleur] said. "Liberal hipocrisy at its best..."

The latest report about the center contains more about what happens when "liberals" get "liberalism" fed back to them:

..."I almost hit somebody again yesterday," [Jeff Rathner, a cameraman for WETA but who was only speaking for himself] said. "You have to slow down to turn onto that street, and they'll sprint after any car that comes by."

..."The very first day it was opened, some guy who was obviously drunk ran out in front of my car,” Rathner said. “When I stopped, he blurted something at me in Spanish."

..."Trash is left all over the place,” he said. “It has become a haven for scavenger birds and the most ungodly amount of bird poop that you'll see all over your car if you happen to park near there. It also brings rats."

..."People from our building will be walking by the job site, and they'll verbally harassed in Spanish,” he said. “Of course, some of us can understand it. We know what's being said."

..."Whenever anybody cries foul, they're told this they have some 'not in my backyard' attitude, but that's just not the case,” Rathner said.

..."We're working hard here with SEEC to find a solution that is good for the community,” said Pat Williamson, director of the station's administration, who declined further comment.

Build a few of those centers in the Capitol area of DC and see how fast the laws and the enforcement of them start changing.

Posted at 08:28 PM | Comments (2)

Save Our License failed to get enough signatures

The Save Our License initiative - which would have permanently prevented illegal aliens from getting California driver's licenses - fell 150,000 signatures short of getting on the ballot.

They made a few mistakes, but they also apparently didn't get the help they were promised from Rep. Darrell Issa and others.

As far as I know, only this blog and three others discussed this initiative. While other blogs have been more than willing to complain about illegal immigration in the past, they didn't want to help promote this initiative for one reason or another.

The blogs that covered the initiative are:

DiggersRealm

Res Ipsa Loquitur

XRLQ

UPDATE: I found one more blogger that covered this. That makes five!

Posted at 05:53 PM | Comments (2)

Guide for the Yucatecan Migrant

First there was news about the Guide for the Mexican Migrant. Then, there was news of Colorado's guide for illegal aliens.

The latest guide comes from the Mexican state of Yucatan:

The Guide for the Yucatecan Migrant, published by the southeastern state of Yucatán, comes with an accompanying DVD in Spanish and Mayan. It tells migrants how to apply for U.S. work visas but also gives detailed safety advice for crossing illegally, including where to find water in the desert and how to avoid the most dangerous areas. The guide includes a section specifically about Arizona...

The Yucatán government plans to show the DVD and distribute the books at community centers across the state...

The guide warns repeatedly that undocumented migration is a crime and that migrants routinely die crossing the border...

The state sends few migrants to the United States. Most of them, about 50,000, live in the Los Angeles area.

But the number has been rising, and the amount of money migrants sent back to Yucatán doubled in 2001-04 to about $9 million. On Dec. 28, the government held its first Day of the Yucatecan Migrant ceremony to honor expatriates...

The Guide for the Yucatecan Migrant is filled with photographs and maps, and the cover shows a man in traditional Yucatecan dress standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco...

It devotes 11 pages to U.S. visas and how to apply for them. The guide published by the Foreign Ministry in December contained none of that information and was widely criticized for it.

An additional 21 pages are about crossing the border illegally, including descriptions meant to help migrants avoid the most dangerous routes through Arizona, California and Texas.

Eight pages deal with crossing the Arizona desert...

"After passing through Lukeville, you will cross through a national park where you will find tanks of water," one section says. "If the smuggler decides to walk beyond the park, you will travel on paths where there is no Border Patrol but in places where military exercises are conducted."

...The rest of the book is devoted to life in the United States: how to send money home, where to find health care, differences in U.S. and Mexican laws and driving tips...

"There is an agreement between the governments of Mexico and the United States so that, no matter your migration status, you can study in elementary, secondary and preparatory schools," it says. "Don't stop studying; there is always an option..."

UPDATE: The 7Meg PDF of the guide is available here.

Posted at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

"License Denials for Immigrants Are Blocked"

The NYT's Nina Bernstein is back with another misleading advocacy piece masquerading as a "news" report.

From "License Denials for Immigrants Are Blocked":

A judge ordered yesterday that the state stop taking away the driver's licenses of immigrants in New York who do not have Social Security cards, saying that the Department of Motor Vehicles is not authorized to enforce immigration law or to make new rules without public notice...

[seven paragraphs deleted]

...Most are in the country without legal authorization, the court papers say, but two who are in the United States legally also were denied licenses by clerks without notice or chance for redress, the lawsuit said...

It took nine whole paragraphs until the NYT gave you a hint that they weren't talking about "immigrants" so much as "illegal aliens".

Nina Bernstein and her editors think it's OK to try to bury the fact that these "immigrants" are in fact "illegal aliens".

Please contact Daniel Okrent and ask that the NYT stops trying to mislead you: public *at* nytimes.com

[similar comment also posted here]

Posted at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)

"True and patriotic immigrants"

LOWER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY -- This area dominated largely by immigrants for two centuries is a good place to think about America's growing immigration debate. This month, dominated by two welcoming but challenging presidents -- George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- is a good time to do so...

But two differences stand out [between then and now]. One is that, in the past, leading institutions strove mightily to Americanize students...

Those who come to America to tear it down or live off of others should not be welcomed. Those who are "true and patriotic" should be. This means that we must toughen our tests for citizenship and not allow dual citizenship. It particularly means that our schools and libraries should do their part to communicate patriotism, rather than politically correct anti-Americanism, and that all children should learn to speak English, so that we do not end up with a bifurcated culture.

I mentioned that there are two differences from the semi-good old days, and here's the second: Then, almost all immigrants came by boat through fixed entry points, and now we have porous borders with immigrants coming by land illegally, some potentially threatening national security. Now, we are also stuck with a coalition of liberals who think immigrants can be their political salvation and corporate conservatives who see their economic usefulness...

Posted at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

"Borderline Insanity - Part IV: Globalized Insanity"

Diane Alden in NewsMax:

...In fact, Rice and former Ridge were only following the Department of Homeland Security Mandate and Bush Administration policy, when they have made such statements. The establishment and the Bush White House refuse to view the invasion through Mexico as an issue more important then trade or commerce. In fact, ultimately it IS all about trade, commerce and the globalization process. Those are the reasons nothing will get done to change a chaotic immigration or visa policy, nor will anything worthwhile be done about borders out-of-control...

It is beyond comprehension that Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush and Tom Ridge don't understand that most LEGAL trade and goods entering the U.S. come in through distinct approved entry points. The flow of legal goods, trade and commerce and legitimate human traffic do not creep or skulk into the United States via unfriendly deserts, across the Rio Grande, through Pipe Organ National Monument or trespassing on Indian Reservations. Legal goods and people don't climb security fences or race through small border towns and back roads chased by Border Patrol. Neither does legal traffic in people or products arrive in small, unregistered aircraft crammed with illegal Chinese flown by a Mexican trafficker in human beings...

There's much more at the link, including the first three parts of the series.

Posted at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

"Adding migrants could help Social Security, report says"

AZ Republic's article, AZ Republic's title:

...Decreasing the number of foreigners admitted to the country - the current annual limit is 800,000 - would cost the program $207 billion to $611 billion over the same period, according to the report by the Virginia-based National Foundation for American Policy.

"The bottom line is that legal immigration benefits the Social Security system," said Stuart Anderson, the report's author and executive director of the foundation...

..."The idea that we can solve the long-term problems of our Social Security system on the backs of millions of low-wage immigrants simply doesn't add up," said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates restricting immigration.

"Anderson's plan also begs the question of what happens when all these new immigrants paying into the system reach retirement age themselves," Stein said. "Who will pay for their benefits?"

He also said the foundation that paid for the report "promotes mass immigration."

The report was funded by the California-based Merage Foundation for the American Dream, which was created last year by Paul Merage, a California businessman who came to the United States at age 16 as an immigrant from Iran.

See also FAIR's statement "Long-Term Social Security Deficits Cannot Be Solved on the Backs of Low-Wage Immigrant Labor".

Posted at 12:26 PM | Comments (1)

[Sen. John] Cornyn [R-TX] supports work visa

WashTimes:

Senate Republicans' new point man on immigration said that it is unrealistic to assume that the 10 million illegal aliens in the United States can be deported and that the only alternative is to create a temporary worker program that has them come forward on their own...

At this point in time, you're probably thinking "same strawman, different suit." See the similar strawman argument made by the last suit, Asa Hutchinson, in the WashTimes interview Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'.

..."The question is what about people who are here, have been here for 20 years, who have American children born in this country, who maybe have American spouses, and of course, we're going to need to work our way through that based on current law," he said...

*cough* amnesty *cough*

"In some respects, the closest analogy I can think of is Prohibition " Prohibition was passed, it was a law that did not enjoy the support of the masses, so people found a way to get around it by making gin in a bathtub or whatever, and so then we repealed that law and said 'OK, the best way to handle this is not to prohibit it but to regulate it,' " he said. "That seems to have worked reasonably well when it comes to alcohol consumption."

The same goes for heroin and PCP. John? Where'd he go? Anyway, employing illegals isn't like making bathtub gin. Those who employ illegal aliens have their speakeasys out in the public view, and they (most of the time) abide by other regulations like safety codes. If they don't, they know what happens. If there were enforcement against the large employers of illegal aliens, there wouldn't be such a problem. Sure, there would still be people making their own gin in their own bathtubs, for instance by hiring day laborers off the street. However, most of the prospective illegal aliens would take a hint and not try to sneak over our border.

But Mr. Cornyn said he thinks there are jobs out there that no American would fill because much of it is "hard, backbreaking manual labor that a lot of Americans are not interested in performing."

First, that's wrong as anyone who's been outside of their gated community can attest. And, it's un-American to assert that Americans are afraid of a little hard work. And, it's also un-American to depend on cheap stoop labor when we should be mechanizing and automating those labor-intensive industries. Remember: progress is ahead, and manoralism is away back there.

Previous Cornyn coverage here. He did, however, sign the letter to Bush complaining about his cutting of the SCAAP program.

UPDATE: I mistakenly identified him as a Representative in the title, now corrected.

Posted at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

"Proposal would house prisoners in Mexico"

Drudge is linking to the AP article "Proposal would house prisoners in Mexico" about Arizona trying to pass a law under which illegal alien or other Mexican citizens who are in our prisons would be imprisoned in Mexico. The U.S. would, of course, continue to pay for those prisoner's upkeep:

The idea was promoted as a way to reduce the state's heavy costs in imprisoning the 3,600 to 4,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona prisons who have been convicted of crimes. Opponents questioned whether the state has the legal authority to move the foreign prisoners to Mexico.

In any event, a proposal (HB2709) to have the state seek proposals for such prison cleared its first hurdle Wednesday at the Arizona Legislature in a 4-2 vote by a House committee...

(The story is also here.)

Sounds... interesting.

But, perhaps we should look at the backstory a bit here. From Jill Stewart:

...But the Mexicans do nothing but double talk on illegal immigration. On the prisoner issue, Mexico strictly limits the number of prisoners it takes back -- yet comically insists it has no limits. Pathetic. According to the California Board of Prison Terms, "all other nations accept all of their prisoners for transfer." Except Mexico.

In 2003, Mexico took back only 109 prisoners from the U.S., even though in California alone, 17,500 prisoners are Mexican nationals -- including more than 14,000 illegal aliens. And get this: Mexico won't take back those who've been here longer than five years. Just because...

Posted at 09:27 PM | Comments (2)

Mexican government makes startling discovery: jobs

Mexico has job plan for deportees:

The Mexican government hopes it has found a way to tackle its economic and immigration crises with a program to link its deported citizens with jobs in cities on the Mexican side of the border.
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The pilot project, dubbed Repatriados Desalentados, or Despondent Deportees, will seek to match migrants who fail in an attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border with employers willing to give them jobs or paid training in Mexico...

If a two-year experimental period is deemed successful, the program will be expanded along the entire border, he said.

The objective is to find a new way to curb the increase in dangerous illegal border crossings while pumping local economies with reliable workers.

"A lot of people bring with them the American dream in their heads," said Julian Anzaldua, who heads the labor department for Coahuila, which includes Piedras Negras. "But we want to show them that they still have a reason to dream about staying in Mexico..."

Posted at 10:56 AM | Comments (1)

More on Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. [R-VA]'s attempt to prevent social security for illegal aliens

Most "liberals" won't touch this issue, but at least a few conservatives will. From "A new immigration dispute":

WASHINGTON -- A Virginia Republican and some other foes of President Bush's immigration policy are seizing on a hot issue -- Social Security solvency -- to wield on the immigration front.

5th District Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. of Franklin County last week introduced a resolution telling President Bush not to submit for congressional approval an agreement with Mexico.

The pact "negatively impacts the Social Security system . . . and puts America's seniors at risk," the resolution stated. Goode was backed by 27 co-sponsors...

See the previous coverage of social security for illegal aliens.

Posted at 08:22 PM | Comments (1)

Former MX Prez Zedillo accused of crimes against humanity

From this:

Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo GRD '81, the director of Yale's Center for the Study of Globalization, denied on Sunday accusations that surfaced late last week that he committed crimes against humanity by supporting murderous paramilitary gangs during his six-year term as president.

Yale officials are standing behind Zedillo, supporting the economist who served as president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000 before taking over the directorship of the Globalization Center in 2002. A human rights organization in Mexico has accused Zedillo of secretly sponsoring the creation and training of paramilitary groups to mitigate the threat to his government posed by the anti-government Zapatista National Liberation Army...

...Yale officials called the claims groundless and said they will not take any action against Zedillo...

...early in his presidency, Zedillo reneged on an Indian rights agreement he had reached with the Zapatistas -- a move likely prompted by "tremendous pressure" from conservative elements in the country -- and thus set the stage for a prolonged conflict with the Zapatista revolutionaries, said Harvard professor John Womack, a leading authority on Mexican history...

Although Womack said he does not believe Zedillo is personally responsible for the actions of paramilitary groups in Chiapas, he said Zedillo, in ordering the military to occupy the region, facilitated paramilitary operations...

An AP report is here, here, or here.

The Hartford Courant's "Yale Not Planning Action Over Zedillo Accusations" informs us that Amnesty International is not investigating these claims but does not outright dismiss them either.

MexiData has backstory here.

Meanwhile the Financial Times is recommending Zedillo for director-general of the WTO: "The cause of world trade demands a powerful patron". (Remember: the accent is on the last syllable.)

Californians might remember Zedillo's negative impact on our state, with the help of local lider Antonio Villaraigosa. From this:

On August 4, 1999, the page 1 headline in the LA Times read "Zedillo Key to End of Prop 187." It should have read - “Heads of State Impose Their Will on Citizens of California.” But no, instead Mexican President Zedillo gets headline kudos for playing a key role in ending Prop. 187. A foreign leader working to thwart the will of California voters?

And, if you go here, you can see Zedillo at a National Council of the Race conference saying the following:

"I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders..."

"We will not tolerate foreign forces dictating and enacting laws on Mexicans."

Moving on to the humorous bit from the first article:

The Mexican Student Organization at Yale declined to take an official stance on the allegations on Sunday. Irma Mejia '06, president of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, a Chicano student group at Yale, was unavailable for comment.

She was probably out building Aztlan.

Posted at 08:17 PM | Comments (1)

Irony on the Border, Part 4

Tucked at the very end of Copley News' "House OKs bill aimed at paring illegal immigration" comes this bit:

Far from the raging debate over the Sensenbrenner bill, an article in the Mexican newspaper Milenio yesterday offered a different perspective. The paper noted that while the driver-license provision "has been seen by some Mexican political parties as an affront against Mexicans, in reality Mexico applies a similar requirement to foreigners who want to obtain driver's licenses."

See also the previous Irony on the Border pieces starting here.

Posted at 02:06 PM | Comments (3)

SaveOurLicense didn't file their financial paperwork

** LONEWACKO WORLD EXCLUSIVE. MUST CREDIT LONEWACKO.COM **

From the article "State has no campaign finance documents for 'Save our License'":

A committee trying to bar undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses has failed to report how much money its campaign has raised, according to the California Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State's Political Reform Division is investigating the Save Our License committee, an organization that has collected money and signatures since October 2003 to place various anti-illegal immigration measures on the ballot.

The group, which claims it has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since it organized in October 2003, has not filed a single campaign finance report with the state - a violation of state campaign finance rules, according to the Secretary of State's office...

I just called Save Our License, and, according to Mike Spence, no filing was done, due to a miscommunication between their treasurer and the company doing the filing. They've sent a letter saying they'll file the necessary paperwork. He said that they aren't under investigation.

I said, "so this isn't a Shelley shenanigan." He said no, but that might change depending on how the Secretary of State handles this matter.

NOTE: The AP has a similar report under the title "Anti-illegal immigrant group may have broken state finance rules". As one would expect, it uses "anti-illegal immigrant" instead of "anti-illegal immigration" and, naturally, "undocumented" instead of "illegal."

Posted at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

Who exactly does Gloria Molina work for?

I'm left wondering after reading the article "Supervisors tangle over ID card fraud":

In a rare dramatic exchange between Los Angeles County supervisors, board Chairwoman Gloria Molina said Tuesday she was insulted by a colleague's contention that matricula consular cards can be misused for fraudulent or even terrorist purposes...

[...Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants to rescind acceptance of the cards...]

"I find it personally insulting that Supervisor Antonovich wants to load this issue up with every ill and problem in our society," Molina said. "There is no doubt, I know, that you find this as an opportunity to pounce on certain individuals."

Molina also accused Antonovich of violating the law by possessing a fraudulent ID issued by the Mexican consulate...

...The board defeated Antonovich's motion, voting instead to continue accepting the cards at libraries, health clinics and other county facilities. The motion also calls on the county to train its employees to recognize fraudulent cards...

As detailed in "Their money or your safety" whether someone is here legally or illegally is of no interest when they apply for a Matricula Consular card.

That post also contains the following:

Last June, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Steve McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, said that the bureau and the Justice Department have concluded that the card is not a reliable means of identification. McCraw warned that the "ability of foreign nationals to use the matricula consular to create a well-documented, but fictitious, identity in the United States provides an opportunity for terrorists to move freely in the United States without triggering name-based watch lists that are disseminated to local police officers. It also allows them to board planes without revealing their true identity."

Note that that excerpt is from the same paper that published the current article.

And, for a blast from Molina's past, here's part of a speech from 1996:

...Because tonight we are organizing across this country in a single mission, in a plan. We're going to organize like we've never organized before... we are politicizing every single one of those new citizens that are becoming citizens of this country.

And what we are saying is by November we will have one million additional Latino voters in this country, and we are going to march... And our vote is going to be important. But I gotta tell you that a lot of people are saying, 'I'm going to go out there and vote because I want to PAY THEM BACK!'...

There's much more information about her at the last link.

It's extraordinarily rich - to say the least - that Molina would seek to make something about Antonovich possessing a card someone else sent him when her rules will allow thousands of illegal aliens to live and work in L.A. County just as if they were here legally.

Is Molina confused over which country she's working for?

Posted at 12:40 AM | Comments (1)

New Border Agents: 10,000 promised, 210 proposed

Budget scraps 98% of new border agents: Less than two months ago, President Bush signed a law to add 10,000 new Border Patrol agents... Bush's proposal to fund just 210 agents will result in an actual loss of agents...

See also the longer article "Belt-tightening cuts border plans":

...The law signed by Bush had a loophole that went virtually unreported at the time. A summary, published by the Senate Government Affairs Committee, required the government to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by at least 2,000 per year "subject to available appropriations."

Democrats were unhappy that the proposed budget used the escape clause so soon after the president approved the huge boost in border agents.

"We know we must do more to shore up security along our borders, " said Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, top Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. "The president's budget does not even attempt to meet this challenge."

Some Republicans also were displeased.

"This is an area of homeland security that needs to be ramped up in order to increase surveillance and patrols of our nation's vast and often remote borders," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee...

They apparently think we have short memories, but at least they're singing a new tune, albeit probably temporarily.

Posted at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)

Mexican official: Mexico violates migrants' rights

From this:

[Mexico's] human rights ombudsman said Tuesday that Mexico is guilty of abuses toward undocumented migrants bound for the United States, contradicting the recent positive appraisal by a U.N. official.

"Examinations of immigration facilities reveal that some of those installations display anomalies that are so serious they constitute an open assault on the dignity and fundamental human rights of the people held there," said a statement from the Human Rights Commission, or CNDH.

That agency, headed by José Luis Soberanes, said its view differs from a recent upbeat assessment of the treatment of migrants in Mexico offered by the U.N. special rapporteur for immigrants' rights, Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro...

That rapporteur was last featured here in the post "Mexico files human rights complaint against U.S. to the United Nations".

Based on the small amount of research I did in that post, I'm not surprised to find that there's a "discrepancy."

See also the two "Irony on the Border" posts. Mexico already has a law similar to Arizona's Prop. 200, and residents of a Mexican state aren't happy with migration by Indians from other parts of Mexico to... do the jobs Mexicans won't do.

Posted at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)

Tucson Citizen: Bush budget shirks border responsibility

"Our Opinion: Bush budget shirks border responsibility":

Yes, drastic steps must be taken if the burgeoning federal budget is to be brought under control.

But the $2.6 trillion budget proposed this week by President Bush shirks a major responsibility of the federal government - the responsibility to control the border.

Instead of cutting costs, Bush has proposed that the costs be shifted - to the states, counties and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border. That is blatantly unfair to Arizona, to Pima County and to Tucson...

Posted at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)

"[CA] should not pay to clean up immigration"

OCRegister:

It seems only fair that if the federal government can't or won't stop illegal immigration, it should at least help states pay for the costs that its failure imposes on them. And yet, every year the feds seem to do less about controlling illegal immigration while at the same time trying to fork over less money for the problems it causes.

Consider the Bush administration's proposed budget that would eliminate funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, was designed to help reimburse state and local governments for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants who are convicted of state crimes after entering this country...

...Last year, Congress and the administration cut the funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program by almost half, to $301 million nationally, with $120 million going to California. Last year, the California Department of Corrections received just $77 million from SCAAP - which was only a little more than a tenth of what criminal aliens cost our state prison system.

Now in his proposed budget, President Bush wants to eliminate the SCAAP money...

Posted at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

How Much Is that Tomato in the Window?

The next time someone suggests that we need illegal aliens to pick our produce or lettuce would go to five dollars a head, please refer them to this 1996 study by a Professor of Economics and Agricultural Economics at Iowa State University:

How Much Is that Tomato in the Window?
Retail Produce Prices Without Illegal Farmworkers

The removal of illegal workers from the seasonal agricultural workforce would increase the summer-fall supermarket prices of fresh fruits and vegetables by about 6 percent in the short run and 3 percent in the intermediate term. During the winter-spring seasons, prices would rise more than 3 percent in the short term and less then 2 percent in the intermediate term. Imports would increase about 1 percent...

Posted at 12:09 AM | Comments (1)

Prop. 200 for Colorado

From this:

Twenty-one House Republicans signed on to a bill introduced Monday that would bar illegal immigrants from state benefits such as lower college tuition and health care.

House Bill 1271 would allow state or county services only to people who are legal U.S. residents...

See also the similar effort in Arkansas.

Posted at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

"DeLay Sees Chance of Immigration Deal"

Time to phone, FAX, and email:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 - Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, said Tuesday that conservatives might be able to compromise with President Bush on his proposal allowing illegal immigrants to work in the United States legally.

Such a compromise could entail, for example, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their native countries to apply for the program, Mr. DeLay said...

Posted at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)

Social security for illegal aliens meeting resistance

WashTimes:

...Two members of Congress will try to block an agreement that the Bush administration signed with Mexico that would allow Mexicans who have worked in the United States, including some illegal immigrants, to receive Social Security payments.

Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., Virginia Republican, will introduce a resolution today calling on the president not to submit the agreement to Congress.

And Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, has prepared another resolution to block the deal, called a totalization agreement, if and when the administration submits it to Congress...

...C. McClain Haddow, chairman of the policy council for the Seniors Coalition, said his organization has collected 387,000 petitions from its members opposing the deal with Mexico...

See the previous coverage of social security for illegal aliens.

Posted at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)

Feds try to stiff Arizona; Arizona sends Feds bill

From 2/8's "Budget sticks county with migrant costs: President Bush proposes cutting all federal reimbursement for detaining illegal immigrants":

Pima County taxpayers would have to shoulder all the local costs to detain illegal immigrants under President Bush's proposed budget.

The budget, released yesterday, kills the $305 million program that helps states and counties offset the costs of keeping illegal immigrants behind bars.

Last year, Pima County received just under $750,000 from the program.

The cut adds "insult to injury, the injury being we don't get reimbursed nearly at cost," said Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry...

From that same day's "Arizona governor demands reimbursement for immigrant criminals":

PHOENIX – Gov. Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that she has billed the federal government for nearly $118 million in unreimbursed costs for imprisoning illegal immigrants who committed crimes in Arizona.

If the federal government doesn't pay, it should take custody of some 3,600 immigrant criminals now in state prisons, Napolitano said in a letter sent last week to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Napolitano released the letter – and copies of two invoices sent with it – one day after President Bush proposed eliminating funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. The program is supposed to reimburse state and local jurisdictions for costs involved in incarcerating immigrants convicted of a crime.

Justice Department spokesman Eric Holland had no immediate comment on Napolitano's demand...

Posted at 05:48 PM | Comments (1)

Tying up the loose ends on Colorado's guide for the illegal alien

Colorado recently removed from its website a guide that gives tips for illegal aliens living in Colorado. Those involved in producing the guide included, to varying degrees: the Mexican government, the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Gov. Owens, various "immigrant's rights" groups, and First Data/Western Union.

Rep. Tom Tancredo complained about the guide and caused it to be removed from Colorado's site. This, of course, caused the other side to fire up their race-baiting and strike back. From a group called ProgressNow:

Colorado Department of Education Vice-Chairman asks:
Does Gov. Owens Support Rep. Tancredo's anti-immigration/anti-Bush policy?

The same week that Rep. Tom Tancredo took his anti-immigration pledge on the road to New Hampshire, Governor Owens played lackey to Rep. Tom Tancredo, jumping to action when Rep. Tancredo demanded that a guide for immigrants be taken off the Colorado Department of Education's website. The Congressman demanded, and Gov. Owens did as he was told...

Coloradans, including Jared Polis, Vice-Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education found the Governor's action unwarranted. "Governor Owens' action furthering Congressman Tancredo's far right agenda was completely inappropriate," stated Polis. "Tancredo's hateful venom is now affecting his Republican colleagues," Polis added.

Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNow.Org , said because of the Governor's actions concerning the website, Owens needs to clarify his stand: "Does Governor Bill Owens join Rep. Tancredo in his extremist views on closing American borders and using the military to enforce that closure? Does Gov. Owens support Rep. Tancredo's racist, anti-immigrant agenda? Does Gov. Owens really believe that Latino and other immigrants are 'coming across our borders to kill you and your children.'" [Footnote 2]...

...ProgressNow.Org Executive Director Michael Huttner calls for the Governor and the rest of Colorado Republicans to make their positions clear: Either they disavow Tancredo and what the Wall Street Journal Editorial board called his "exploit[ation of] the terror attacks to advance [his] anti-immigration agenda...." [Footnote 3] or their silence stands as tacit approval of Tancredo's extremist views...

Footnotes:
2: Tancredo quoted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution 2/03/04
3: Wall Street Journal Editorial 3/18/02

First, let's put Tancredo's statement from Footnote 2 into its proper context:

Paper: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA)
Title: Panelists denounce illegal immigrants
Author: RICK BADIEStaff
Date: February 3, 2004
Section: Gwinnett
Page: JJ2

..."If Republicans don't do something about the border, Republicans can't say we're doing all we can to protect you," U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo told a standing-room-only audience at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta.

"They are looking for jobs, yes, but there are people coming into this country to kill you and your children. Maintaining the borders are essential to our survival."

Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, joined U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Gainesville and Rick Oltman, a field representative for the Federation for American Immigration Reform to talk about illegal immigration before about 300 people...

Obviously, his full quote shouldn't be shocking to anyone with any sense. Given ProgressNow's baseless smears and selective quoting, is there any reason to believe anything this organization says?

And, why would a supposedly "progressive" organization be on the same side of as issue as the Wall Street Journal, a paper that wants open borders in order to keep the price of labor as low as possible? The Wall Street Journal's goals certainly seem closer to feudalism than "progress." However, they and ProgressNow do share something in common: yellow journalism.

To tie all of this together, Colorado's guide for illegal aliens was produced by the Colorado State Board of Education, of which Jared Polis is the Vice-Chairman. Jared Polis is an internet m/billionaire who founded ProFlowers.com and BlueMountain.com, two sites that you might want to avoid. (Assuming pending further information that he's still involved with them). Polis apparently spent a great deal of money to gain his seat, and is trying to bring others with him.

For more information on him, see Polis's Eminem Fan Letter Embarrasses Democrats and Millionaires' Initiatives Fall With A Thud

There's apparently some connection between Polis, Huttner ("Executive Director of ProgressNow.Org"), and the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network. Polis appears to be a contributor to ProgressNow.org.

So, it all kind of ties together nicely, doesn't it?

This isn't the first time that Tancredo has come under attack from these people or their associates. See Tancredo now in cross hairs of attack ads

Thankfully, as can be seen above, showing the readers of ProgressNow that they're being misled should be particularly easy, akin to excercising with half-pound weights. They don't seem to have many facts on their side and are forced to simply call names.

As of now ProgressNow.org's blog accepts comments, so please visit their site and reacquaint their readers with the truth.

UPDATE:
From this blurb:

Lawyer-about- town and political pundit Mike Huttner has a new gig.

He's left Foster, Graham, Huttner and Calisher, the law firm he helped form. Now he's running ProgressNow.org (formerly the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network), whose mission statement "is to be a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems."

Huttner, who's been a bachelor forever (just ask his mom, Diane Huttner) also is getting married to Debbie Herz, a New York City attorney, and moving to Boulder.

From the longer article "It's Not Easy Being Green":

...To gain a larger national presence, its name has been changed [from the RMPN] to Progressnow.org; it's hired the technophile behind Howard Dean's much-lauded Internet campaign to launch the new electronic crusade; and executive director (and former Westword intern) Michael Huttner ditched his law firm to run the organization full-time. But the biggest change was moving into the network's new digs on the second floor of the Alliance Center, a hugely ambitious project in LoDo that will soon house 23 progressive-leaning nonprofits.

The $5.25 million center is operated under the umbrella of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, a nonprofit founded last year by John Powers. As a longtime boardmember of the Colorado Environmental Coalition...

...he took the first step by purchasing the historic Otero building, at 1536 Wynkoop Street, from the Tattered Cover Book Store and the Wynkoop Brewing Co.; half a dozen nonprofits had already set up shop there. That's not surprising, because the building was part of a project developed by Mayor John Hickenlooper and Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis...

[tenants include] Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, Colorado Common Cause, Historic Denver, the Center for Native Ecosystems and the Latina Initiative...

Posted at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

"The Everymigrant's Guide to Crossing the Border Illegally"

NYT Star Reporter Charlie LeDuff offers us an article named "The Everymigrant's Guide to Crossing the Border Illegally".

About 80% of the article consists of real-world tips for border crossers, culled from illegal aliens Charlie interviewed in front of the Home Depot on Sunset in East Hollywood. Those illegals call Mexico's Guide for the Mexican Migrant useless, and offer up tips like renting an innertube to cross the Rio Grande instead of crossing by swimming.

What exactly Charlie is getting at is unclear. Is he mocking the Mexican government for producing a worthless booklet? Is he mocking pro-American U.S. citizens for complaining about the booklet? Is he mocking the left/right alliance that refuses to enforce our laws?

What exactly does Charlie mean with this:

To help prevent death and deportation, the Mexican government has published a guide that advises its citizens on the intricacies of sneaking into the United States. It also gives tips on how migrants should conduct themselves after reaching the streets of the promised land.

The 31-page pamphlet, "Guide for the Mexican Migrant," has infuriated some American politicians and citizens who say the Mexican government is effectively encouraging a criminal activity that is fraying the American cultural fabric and draining state and local municipalities...

...Apparently there are people waiting at the riverbanks to rent flotation devices to the traveler...

It's certainly a step up from a PIIPP, but one wonders exactly what Charlie intends with this report. Or, maybe he doesn't really intend something specifically and he is just providing a slice of (wacky and corrupt) life.

(Comment about this article posted here.)

Posted at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

"Border Patrol Releases Immigrants at [Harlingen, TX] Bus Station"

From a TV report:

Action 4 News undercover cameras catch Border Patrol agents dropping off illegal immigrants at a local bus station by the van load...

[...some of those dropped off are from] special interest countries - countries like Brazil and Argentina...

[...those dropped off at the station get money wired to them via Western Union so they can get on their way...]

...Several U.S. Border Patrol agents who don't want to be identified tell Action 4 News they want people to know they're being told to drop off the immigrants at the bus station...

..."The immigration police gave me the information fast so I could quickly get my permission to stay in the U.S.," said [illegal alien Fernando] Tello-Huila.

Fernando's talking about his walking papers. Border agents say federal jails are so overcrowded, illegal immigrants without a criminal background may be released.

They're given a future court date to appear before an immigration judge and if they promise to appear, they're set free.

Fernando's court date is March 30 in Houston.

"I'm thankful for the services and information the agents provide to help me travel freely through out the United States..."

[...Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) is going to show the videotape to Congress...]

Posted at 11:08 AM | Comments (6)

A partial translation of Colorado's guide for illegal aliens

An unverified partial translation is in post #10.

Just a few of them:

"There are various ways to send money to Mexico: electronic transfers, money orders, check or automatic deposit. There are various companies that transfer money electronically, such as Western Union.” [p. 20. Included in the guide was a "sample budget" for Jose and Ana Maria which shows $200 per month allocated to "family in Mexico." )

"There are some clinics who serve people without insurance and without enough money to pay. It is important to bear in mind that you can apply for Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus for your children if they were born here or are residents even if you are not a permanent resident." [p. 22-23]

[I guess they could be here on a guest visa... -- LW]

"Regardless of your economic or immigration status, you have the right to receive medical attention if you go to the ER." [p. 23]

"You can receive medical services at the community clinic closest to you. Doctors do not deport." [p. 22]

"Here, they feed [your children in school]...If your child’s school does not have a program for students who are learning English, the district must provide transit services to a school that does. The fact that your children do not speak English should not be a reason for them to stay behind in their abilities or knowledge. Ask that your children be evaluated in Spanish..." pp 38-40

"Regardless of your immigration status, it is possible to go to the university. There are scholarships for Hispanics, legal or illegal aliens. The financial aid offices for colleges and universities can help students find the best options to pay, as well as to find and apply for these scholarships." [p. 41]

Previous coverage starts here.

Posted at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)

Mexico Declares 'War' On Arizona

From this:

...During a January 28 radio interview, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez has threatened the State of Arizona with legal action through the international courts in order to overturn Proposition 200, a ballot initiative lawfully passed last fall to curb state expenditures on illegal aliens.

Derbez plans to initially use the "legal capacities" of the United States to achieve his goal. But if that doesn't work, he will resort to the intervention of "international tribunals."

Momentarily sidestepping the absurdity of granting any legal capacity to an international organization regarding strictly internal issues, consider the larger picture of what is actually being attempted, as a foreign power now makes threats against an individual American State.

The Constitution, in its original form, was never designed to put the federal government in charge of regulating minute details in the lives of Americans. Basically, it had two purposes, which were to act as an arbiter between the individual states, and to collectively represent those states in the face of foreign challenges, whether diplomatic or military.

Yet the federal leviathan, which grew monstrously beyond its original boundaries, has become an overwhelming burden of bureaucratic entanglements to the citizenry. Meanwhile the Mexican government, a foreign entity, seeks to intimidate and ultimately dictate the policies of an individual American State...

Posted at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)

"Colorado again offering tips to illegal border crossers"

AZ Republic:

State officials plan to repost an edited version of a controversial guide for immigrants on its Web site, a document that was yanked after critics said it provided tips for illegal immigrants.

State Education Commissioner William Moloney said Thursday that staffers were reviewing the guide and would remove parts deemed objectionable. He didn't have any details on what would be removed but said most people agree that "99 percent" of the guide contains good information and should be available to immigrants.

"Whether you do it or you don't do it, people are going to be upset. There's no sure path to making everyone happy," Moloney said...

Obviously you aren't going to make the pro-illegal immigration forces happy unless you pass out free topo maps to desert crossings. Nevertheless, I believe we can say it's possible to make everyone else happy, and that they're the only ones who count. However, based on the previous report, I doubt whether it's just 1% that's objectionable.

Note also that this is an AP report, but the AZ Republic provided their own headline. It's not news that the Arizona Republic goes too far. However, it's truly man-biting-dog time when they err on the other side. If Colorado makes the proper edits, this won't be a guide for illegal aliens, and the headline would be wrong.

Most of the other versions of this AP report are available under some variant on "Colorado education department plans to repost". Also "Immigrant Guide" and "Immigrant info revived".

UPDATE: Google's cache of the HTML version of the guide is here.

Posted at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)

"Focus on Freedom of Information"

From this:

By law, illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes — rape, murder, child molestation — are to be deported once they've served their jail terms. But lately, thousands of them have simply been let go. And Justice Department officials have refused to release a government database that could help journalists and private citizens find these aliens...

The Justice Department refused to provide any of the data sought by [Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau journalists Eliot Jaspin and Julia Malone]. Why? For three reasons, according to Rachal Madan, Office of Justice Programs' general counsel: (1) the grants data are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA because it concerns matters "of internal significance in which the public has no substantial interest," (2) processing the data "would place an unjustifiable administrative burden" on the Office of Justice Programs, and (3) releasing the data would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of (the convicted illegal aliens') personal privacy."

In other words, the government refused to make the data available because the public — that's you and me, our families and neighbors — wouldn't benefit, the agency can't be bothered and it would be wrong to violate the criminals' privacy!

Such "reasoning" defies understanding. It is the most outrageous violation of the concept underlying the FOIA — taxpayers have a right to know what their government is doing with their tax dollars — I've seen in my two-decades-plus as a journalist in our nation's capitol...

Posted at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

Gallup immigration poll

From this:

Fewer than 3 in 10 Americans say immigration is an "extremely important" issue for Congress and the president to deal with over the next year, while an additional 38% say it is "very important." At the same time, immigration has become a more important issue to Americans over the past several years, increasing from a 17% "extremely important" rating in 2001 to the current reading of 27%, in a poll conducted this past December.

[so, over 50% say it's extremely important or very important -- LW]

Although the perceived importance of immigration has increased, it remains near the bottom of a list of issues in terms of the priority the president and Congress should give it... The importance that Americans say should be given to dealing with immigration is roughly equivalent to the importance of dealing with poverty and homelessness (29%), energy policies (27%), taxes (26%), and the environment (24%) in the next year...

According to a Jan. 3-5 Gallup Poll, a slight majority of Americans, 52%, say the level of immigration in this country should be decreased. Nearly 4 in 10 adults nationwide (39%) say it should remain the same, and just 7% say it should be increased...

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Jan. 7-9 found that only about a third of Americans, 34%, approve of the way President George W. Bush is handling immigration, while a majority of Americans, 54%, disapprove...

Posted at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

"President pushes changes in 'outdated' alien policy"

WashTimes:

President Bush last night called for reforming U.S. immigration laws, saying that the current system is "outdated" and that lawmakers need to create a new policy that accepts "hard-working people" while protecting America's borders...

But the president has a tough sell with many members of his own party, who said that what he is proposing is an amnesty.
"He is the only person around that I know of that does not think what he is talking about is amnesty. He is creating a new Webster's dictionary definition," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus...

Americans support some sort of vehicle to accept illegal aliens now in the country, a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found. More than 60 percent of those surveyed think undocumented, noncitizens already living and working in the United States should be allowed to keep their jobs and encouraged to apply for legal status. Thirty-six percent favored automatic deportation for those people found working illegally in the United States...

I doubt whether the ABC poll asked whether they would support such a plan given that it would almost certainly increase the number of illegal aliens coming here to take part in that and future plans.

Posted at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)

"Guest-worker plan a mockery of U.S. principles"

Rep. J.D. Hayworth:

Regarding "Realistic reform" (Editorial, Jan. 23):

The Arizona Republic thinks the mess on the Arizona-Mexico border was produced by, "a dearth of good sense, coupled with an abundance of sheer nonsense." It then exhibits both by promoting a guest-worker plan that will make the situation worse.

The Republic says the guest-worker proposal "recognizes the necessity of extending legal status to those currently working illegally in this country." It says opponents, like me, "mischaracterize" that as an amnesty...

The Republic argues that the guest-worker approach can't be amnesty because it requires "a hefty fee for undocumented immigrants who want to legitimize their status." The "hefty fee"? Just $1,500...

In a stranger-than-fiction twist of irony, The Republic reported in February 2004 that, "smugglers typically charge $1,500 or more to guide migrants across the border." If $1,500 isn't too hefty a price to come here, it's certainly not too hefty a price to stay...

Finally, The Republic says the "success of a guest-worker program also depends on enforcing laws against those who hire" illegals. But we've heard it all before...

Posted at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

Tancredo on the SOTU

"The Presidents comments tonight regarding immigration raise several questions in my mind. Why is it so difficult for the President to integrate the concept of border security into homeland security? Is there anyone on the planet who does not realize that terrorists take advantage of porous borders? Is it possible that any President would put the economic interests of corporations addicted to cheap labor ahead of the safety of American men, women and children?," said Rep. Tom Tancredo (CO-06), Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.

"Until President Bush tells us he is willing to do everything possible to stop illegal immigrants from crossing our borders - including the commitment of military assets to the task - I can only assume the worst with regard to his motives. When the President tries to make us believe that open borders equals national security he loses all credibility..."

Posted at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)

"Snipers target border agents"

WashTimes:

Snipers working as "lookouts" for drug traffickers and illegal-alien smugglers are targeting U.S. Border Patrol agents from vantage points across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Within the past week, agents assigned to the Douglas station in Arizona's southeastern corner — one of the nation's busiest illegal-entry points — have been fired at on at least six occasions, according to federal authorities, and although none of the officers was injured, several reported near-misses...

The rise in assaults comes as the Bush administration reportedly has decided not to hire the 2,000 new Border Patrol agents that were authorized for each of the next five years in the recently passed intelligence-overhaul bill. Most of them would have been assigned to the Tucson sector.

Instead, President Bush is expected to seek an increase of only about 200 agents for the new fiscal year, according to law-enforcement authorities and others...

In a letter, Mr. Sensenbrenner asked Mr. Bush to fully fund the authorized increases. The letter was signed by all five House Republican leaders on the intelligence bill: Mr. Sensenbrenner and Reps. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, chairman of the House International Relations Committee; Duncan Hunter of California, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, chairman of the House intelligence committee; and David Dreier of California, chairman of the House Rules Committee...

Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

Colorado unplugs online guide for illegal immigrants

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has removed an online pamphlet from the state Web site that offered advice in Spanish to illegal immigrants on living and working in Colorado.

Titled "¡Entérese!" which means "Inform Yourself," the 50-page pamphlet was posted on the Colorado Department of Education Web site until Monday, when the governor's office had it removed after criticism from advocates for tighter borders.

The 2003 guide, which included a welcome message from Mr. Owens and the Mexican consul general, was intended to offer advice to legal immigrants, said Mr. Owens' spokesman, Sean Duffy...

The guide was copyrighted by two Colorado organizations, Salud Family Health Centers and Focus Points Family Resources Center. Neither organization could be reached for comment. The credits page also lists the Mexican consulate-general of Denver.

The guide, which was "made possible" by the First Data Western Union Foundation, also offers advice on how to send money back to Mexico by electronic transfer by using companies "such as Western Union." A sample budget for "Jose and Ana Maria" budgets $200 per month to "family in Mexico."

[...seven examples of the guide trying to help illegal aliens get services like health care, education, etc...]

Let me briefly compose myself here.

The VDare article on this is here.

For more on First Data/Western Union, see "The Fastest Way To [profit from illegal immigration]".

UPDATE: Thinking about this some more, one wonders if some laws have been broken. And, one wonders if they've been broken in such a way that charges could be made to stick and an enterprising DA would be willing to bring them.

For instance, should non-profit organizations be working with a foreign government? Should those non-profits and foundations be providing information that can be used to break our laws? Would they need to explicitly harbor or assist a specific illegal alien, or is providing information enough?

And, what of the Western Union Foundation's non-profit foundation status? Have they crossed the line by inserting what seems to be an ad for the corporation which presumably founded them?

Would, for instance, the Ford Foundation underwrite a driving pamphlet for the Third World in which all the cars were Fords? Wouldn't other car makers try to get the Ford Foundation stripped of their non-profit status or force them to pay a fine?

If anyone knows a lawyer who's familiar with foundation or non-profit laws, please ask them.

Posted at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

Welcome open borders apologists!

Dear open borders apologists:

Could you please go read "What is it about Mexicans?" by Salvador Reza of the "Tonatierra human rights group" and then come back here so I can ask you some questions?

....

Welcome back!

I'm not going to concentrate on the race-baiting, the lies, or the false attributions of hatred to those who simply seek to reduce illegal immigration.

No, I'd just like to ask if you think the ideas expressed in that article fly in the face of your continual statements that today's massive wave of immigration is just like prior waves.

Can you imagine an Italian or other prior immigrant writing this?

Maybe being Mexican is the realization that we have been part of this land way before Hernan Cortes trampled "Americas" sacred lands. The realization that we have traversed the imaginary border thousands of years before some lunatic thought of borders.

Being Mexican is to know consciously or unconsciously that we will never be "Anglos," yet, we will be willing to share our lands with the Euro-American, learn his language, and communicate with him. It is knowing there are certain cultural traits that we will never change to please the newly arrived European pilgrims...

With laws some will continue to try to carve us into their own image or eject us beyond the dividing imaginary line...

Can you imagine an Italian or prior immigrant assuming that the U.S. border is just an "imaginary line"?

Posted at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

"Infighting Cited at Homeland Security"

WaPo offers this three-screen article:

As its leadership changes for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security remains hampered by personality conflicts, bureaucratic bottlenecks and an atmosphere of demoralization, undermining its ability to protect the nation against terrorist attack, according to current and former administration officials and independent experts...

[...list of problems...]

...The department's investigative arm, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has operated under severe financial crisis for more than a year -- to the point that use of agency vehicles and photocopying were at times banned. The problem stems from funding disputes with other DHS agencies...

[...getting the bureaucracy humming smoothly...]

"It's very thinly staffed at the top of DHS, and there's no policy vision . . . thinking through the main threats," Stodder said. In the absence of such strategic thinking, he added, "DHS practices management by inbox, getting distracted by daily emergencies" such as a congressman's complaint about a late-arriving passport...

[...bureaucratic infighting... ...Asa Hutchinson was a "consensus-builder who had difficulty demanding an end to the turf fights"...]

Maybe there's more in the print version. If not, Drudge really oversold this article.

See also "Red Alert", which covered the same ground a few months back.

Posted at 12:23 AM | Comments (1)

"Los Angeles Police to Check Immigration Status of Convicts"

As previously blogged, L.A. County sheriff's deputies will be trained to ask about the immigration status of inmates and contact the feds when necessary.

This report discusses it and has some interesting quotes:

Over protests from immigrant rights groups, Los Angeles County sheriff's personnel will be trained by federal authorities to conduct jailhouse interviews to report on convicted inmates' immigration status.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 last week to approve the proposal, which Sheriff Leroy Baca had been attempting for several weeks to put on the Supervisor’s agenda...

[Dissenting L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke] said she heard the impetus behind the agreement was a desire by federal officials to collect data on every foreign-born inmate — guilty or innocent — before a court could release them.

Sheriff Baca’s representative, Chuck Jackson, did not confirm what Burke heard, nor did he have an answer when Burke asked him, “What if (foreign-born inmates) don't want to answer questions?"

...“We believe this is a first step in the wrong direction because we think it will lead to a further blurring of the line between local law enforcement and the federal immigration authority,” said CHIRLA's Alvaro Huerta...

Earlier this week, Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) said that his group would urge Latinos not to cooperate with sheriffs or to support any tax increase to pay for the hiring of more police officers if the proposal was approved.

“We will launch a broad intensive campaign in the Latino community to not cooperate with the local police under any circumstances — to report crime, come forward as witnesses, provide information, attend police-community events — if this proposed MOU is approved by the L.A. County Supervisors,” said Lopez...

For the scoop on CHIRLA, see "Los Angeles is the Ellis Island of the West Coast". Note that they weren't just a quote source for the L.A. Times in that case, they were also a quote source for the City of L.A.: The "L.A. Opens Office of Immigrant Affairs" story just gets worse and worse.

And, see "Your Nativo Lopez summary" for more on that fine community leader.

Posted at 10:51 AM | Comments (1)

MALDEF getting "moral support" from Mexico

The earlier post "Mexico may ask international courts to block Proposition 200" discussed Mexico's latest plans to interfere in our laws. Mexico's Foreign Secretary said "We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself" as well as a couple other prime things.

His statement prompted me to ask whether they're involved in MALDEF's various suits against Prop. 200, and the AZ Republic got out their teaspoon and did a little digging. From "Mexico threatens to take Prop 200 to court":

...The Mexican government has provided "moral support" but has not contributed any money to the legal challenge filed by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said Danny Ortega, a Phoenix attorney who is helping the group with the lawsuit...

The rest of the article has a quote from Mexico's foreign ministry confirming their Foreign Secretary's statement and discussing how Mexico appealing to an international court might be a futile gesture. (On the plus side, perhaps they might eventually be declared a vexatious litigant.)

Once again, it would be nice if someone would look into this. Has Mexico given something beyond "moral support" to any of the groups trying to challenge Prop. 200? Based on the case of Pedro Marin that question isn't as far-fetched as it might seem.

Posted at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

WND and the WSJ on Rush, Bush, and illegal immigration

WND and the WSJ discuss Rush's recent conversion to slightly critical of Our Leader. See this post for Rush's remarks with links to the underlying stories.

From WND:

Limbaugh has not been an outspoken critic of the president on this issue in the past. Neither has he focused much of his broadcast attention on the border and immigration issues during his nearly two-decade career as a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. Instead, Limbaugh is perceived as a champion of many Bush policies.

But, clearly, Limbaugh sees Bush as out of step with the public in his continued calls for implementation of a guest worker program...

As one might suspect, the WSJ is a bit more "nuanced" in their treatment. However, at least they don't try to smear Rush or call him a crypto-Nazi. From John Fund:

...Rush has 20 million listeners a week, so if he decides to attack President Bush's plan to regularize immigration flows through a guest-worker program, he could help kill the idea...

[...at about this point he enters stock WSJ open borders mode, albeit "nuanced"...]

Approaches like [Political Human Sacrifice], or Pat Buchanan's idea of a reverse Berlin Wall, are neither desirable or politically possible to implement (barring another major terrorist attack that is the work of illegal aliens). But the pressure to "do something" on immigration is mounting. While no incumbent is likely to lose his seat on the issue, three pro-guest-worker incumbents from Arizona and Utah faced primary challenges last year. As a result, many congressmen don't even want to hear about Mr. Bush's plan.

A clear-eyed analysis would tell them the political clout of anti-immigration activists is limited. The best showing by any of the anti-immigrant primary challengers was by state Rep. Randy Graf in Arizona, who won 43% against Rep. Jim Kolbe, a gay Republican who has always had difficulties with social conservatives. And more than 44% of Arizonans voted against Proposition 200, the initiative denying public services to illegal aliens, even though the state's border with Mexico has become the crossing point of choice for smugglers...

...Even though the political impact of anti-immigration sentiment can be exaggerated, Mr. Bush would be wise to take steps to ensure that immigration doesn't become what crime and abortion became for the Democrats: wedge issues that drove many voters to the other party. He will not come close to passing a guest-worker program until he proves his bona fides in areas of legitimate concern on immigration...

...Immigration is certainly more complex than many border-control advocates would have you believe. But supporters of rational reform that would regularize the flow of immigrant labor should recognize that it must be accompanied by measures to address the legitimate concerns of Americans who worry the federal government has completely lost control of the borders. Many voters don't trust any plan coming out of Washington, whether it's by Mr. Bush or anyone else. It's that concern that is driving Rush Limbaugh and other supporters of the president to send up political warning flares...

How "nuanced." Note the use of three instances of "anti-immigrant." And, referring to "reform" as "regularization", the same term used by the Bush and Fox administrations.

I sent the following response (see the links at the end of the article; there are no reader responses at post time and most reader responses to WSJ open borders articles are quite critical):

Rush finally speaking out about an issue that millions of Americans have been concerned about for years could certainly give the open borders advocates at the WSJ a run for their money. Perhaps that's why the article is so "nuanced": throw a few bones to the 75% of the American public who oppose illegal immigration and perhaps we could finally get our new and improved bracero program. Hopefully Rush supports real reform and not the quasi-"reform" offered by the WSJ.

Also, could I suggest you update your style guide? The article uses "anti-immigrant" three times, when what's being discussed isn't "anti-immigrant," simply anti-illegal immigration.

And, I note you use "regularize" twice. That's the euphemism used by the Bush and Fox administrations to refer to "massive illegal alien amnesty."

Posted at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)

"Crossing Over: Bush's Other Battle"

Newsweek offers a short roundup of the state of Bush's guest worker plan. If you've been following this blog there's little new information there.

Posted at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

Arkansas congressman wants to train police in immigration enforcement

I know a governor who's not going to be happy with this:

State Rep. Michael Lamoureux has proposed legislation aimed at reducing illegal immigration problems in the state.

Lamoureux, a Republican from Russellville, is a sponsor of House Bill 1012, a proposal that would allow local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws. The bill will likely be assigned to the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee this week when the 85th Arkansas General Assembly convenes in Little Rock...

State Reps. Jeremy Hutchinson of Little Rock and Timothy Hutchinson of Lowell also sponsored the legislation. They are nephews of Department of Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson...

That last bit has me scratching my head. Was Asa Hutchinson just following orders that he didn't agree with? Do his cousins have their own minds about things? Is this a fake bill designed to fail or do the opposite of what it's billed as?

Posted at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

Rush... disagrees with Bush?

Let's go to the tape:

...And as I look out there across the great wide spectrum that is this country and its electoral politics, you look at things -- realistically here, not looking for negativism, just looking realistically, things --- that might present a problem to the good guys, the conservatives, the Republicans in all this. And to me, there's one issue out there -- well, maybe two. Spending. This is something and I'm glad to see the president finally trying to get hold of it, but there's one real issue here that could break up the so-called Republican-conservative coalition, and that is immigration.

If something is not done, my friends, it simply is untenable. We cannot maintain our sovereignty without securing and protecting our borders. We simply can't. Not in an era where terrorists around the world seek entry to this country to attack from within. It is simply something -- you know, all these arguments that we've heard, "Well, you got to let immigrants in because they'll do jobs that the American people don't want to do," and there was a time I believed that. [Bush on Wednesday: "People are coming to our country to do jobs that Americans won't do" -- LW] There was a time economically that that was persuasive with me. But I think it's gotten to the point here where it runs the risk of defining downward a whole lot of pay scales on different jobs simply because we'll let people who will do it for next to nothing into the country do it, then it ends up depressing various pay scales or can if something's not done about this. [read up on the hideous ideas behind Bush's guest worker plan: Bush "guest worker" program to be "open to any type of employee" -- LW] There were two things recently that sent me to this. I've got one of them in my hand here. The other one, we laughed about it, but when the story cleared the wires that these 30 Hollywood people, these actors, writers and producers, tried to make the case that illegals ought to be given driver's licenses. What good are our laws? If we're going to send people to jail for avoiding taxes, for breaking the law, whatever we send them to jail for, why don't we look askance at people violating immigration law? And say, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We're just going to grant them temporary status and give them a chance to be good citizens and eventually become full-fledged." [See the interview with Asa Hutchinson: Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic' -- LW]

You see, these Hollywood people out there, they would revolt, they would literally revolt if the immigrants became camera operators and writers and producers for two bucks an hour. They wouldn't put up with that for a minute, or actors for minimum wage, but let them come in as caterers and limo drivers and nannies or whatever else the Hollywood people want them for and then it's perfectly fine for them to be illegal.

Now, get this story. This story comes today from the San Francisco Chronicle. At least that's where I found it. "Foreign Secretary Says Mexico May Ask International Courts to Block Proposition 200 -- Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens, said Mexican foreign secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez. He said this on Wednesday on an interview on W radio, that Mexico might take such a step after it's exhausted all possibilities under US law to halt Prop 200." Now, these are not the first of these kinds of stories. It's just the latest, where the Mexican government is attacking the United States for enforcing our own immigration laws against its illegal citizens, entering our country illegally. [See this or this for a start -- LW]

"Mexico's foreign department lawmakers have repeatedly complained about Prop 200 which took effect this week. It requires proof of citizenship to vote or to receive state benefits and Mexico is demanding that international courts overturn this." Mexico is essentially sending illegal citizens, its own citizens, to this country illegally and now attempting, through international courts, to stop us from enforcing our own laws!

Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. This issue, if not handled properly by this administration, it could be the issue that severs the existing Republican coalition and could see to it to create the rise of a new Perot or somebody, where a president only needs to get 43% of the vote to win, a'la Bill Clinton, because some of the Republican coalition breaks away and votes for the newcomer. This is the issue that could cause that to happen if they're not careful...

Posted at 07:49 PM | Comments (1)

AR Gov. Mike Huckabee goes on the attack

From this:

[AR] Gov. Mike Huckabee on Thursday heaped criticism upon immigration legislation in the Arkansas Legislature, describing it as "inflammatory . . . race-baiting and demagoguery." He also challenged the Christian values of its main sponsor.

Huckabee said the bill, seeking to forbid public assistance and voting rights to undocumented immigrants, "inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there's a real problem. But there's not..."

...He singled out [Republican Sens. Jim Holt, one of the bill's sponsors], who often talks of his strong Christian beliefs, saying, "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice. My faith says don't make false accusations against somebody.

"In the Bible, it's called don't bear false witness."

In response, Holt said he was hurt by the governor's questioning his faith.

"I just want to uphold the law and protect the benefits that apply to citizens," Holt said.

Originally I thought this guy was an illegal immigration supporter because he was on the take, given that major illegal alien employers are based in the state. Now I just think he's nuts.

Previous coverage of Arkansas' illegal immigration problem starts here.

Posted at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)

Bank of "America"

From this:

Bank of America plans to eliminate wire transfer fees for customers who send money to Mexico - the latest effort in the battle among big banks to win Hispanic customers.

Starting first in Chicago, the bank is eliminating a 3% foreign exchange fee and a $10 transfer fee for those who have checking accounts, and will roll out the program to New York and the rest of the country by year-end.

Until the no-fee program hits New York, the bank is also dramatically reducing so-called remittance fees to a flat rate of $8. That could result in a savings of $11 when a customer sends $300. The bank said it eventually will roll out similar plans to other countries.

The bank is doing this to "demonstrate a commitment to the community," said Marcos Rosenberg, a senior vice president of multicultural marketing. "It's important for us to build deep, long-standing relationships with them..."

Many of "them" are illegal aliens who have been given Matricula Consular cards by Mexico in a scheme to get around our laws. See "Their money or your safety" for all the details.

Posted at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

"Mexican archdiocese criticizes Arizona law limiting migrant benefits"

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Mexico City has joined the nation's politicians in criticizing a new Arizona law that restricts illegal migrants' access to some public services.

"We have already said many times that (illegal migrants) are not criminals," Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera told reporters following Mass Jan. 16. "They merely leave their ... country in search of work and ... governments (should) respect their human rights."

An editorial in the Mexico City Archdiocese's weekly newsletter was more blunt in its criticism, saying the Arizona law "was another example of political arrogance and social selfishness that has characterized some governments in the United States."

Cardinal Rivera expressed concern that the new law could be adopted in other states.

"Fortunately, this is an isolated case up until now," he said...

Fortunately, he will probably be proved wrong shortly.

Posted at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

Bush now self-parody

From yesterday's press conference:

...QUESTION: Mr. President, the Senate Republicans recently listed their priorities, and immigration reform wasn't on it. Do you think this means it's dead for this year?

BUSH: No, I don't.

QUESTION: And why are you having so much trouble with your own party...

BUSH: No, I appreciate that question. It'll be one of my priorities. I believe it's necessary to reform the immigration system.

I'm against amnesty. I've made that very clear.

On the other hand, I do want to recognize a system where a willing worker and a willing employer are willing to come together in a way that enables people to find work without jeopardizing a job that an American would otherwise want to do.

BUSH: I also happen to believe immigration reform is necessary to help make it easier to protect our borders.

The system right now spawns coyotes and smugglers and, you know, people willing to break the law to get people in our country. There is a vast network of, kind of, shadowy traffickers.

And I believe by making -- by advancing a program that enables people to come into our country in a legal way to work for a period of time for jobs that Americans won't do will help make it easier for us to secure our borders.

And so...

QUESTION: Why the resistance in your party so much to this?

BUSH: Well, you know, I think -- I'm looking forward to discussing it with members of both parties.

BUSH: I believe it's a very important issue that we need to address. I've had a lot of experience with dealing with borders as the governor of Texas. I know there's a compassionate, humane way to deal with this issue.

I want to remind people that family values do not stop at the Rio Grande river. People are coming to our country to do jobs that Americans won't do, to be able to feed their families. And I think there's a humane way to recognize that, at the same time protect our borders, and at the same way to make sure that we don't disadvantage those who have stood in line for years to become a legal citizen.

And I'm looking forward to working with people of both parties on the issue...

I'd comment on how many dozens of times he's said these exact same things, except due to our "competent" press corps and his overall distance from them he hasn't been asked about immigration matters that much. However, each time he has he recites these same old lines. Pull his string and he plays back AILA slogans.

Now, over to our friends on the other side of the Rio Bravo:

Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens [sic], Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday... "It's sad and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans about why it is important that these proposals are not accepted..."

And:

There's nothing secret about this effort. President Vicente Fox once referred to himself as president of all 118 million Mexicans - the 100 million in Mexico and the (then-)18 million in the United States, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. And this is a long-term proposition for them: In June 2001, Juan Hernandez, former head of Fox's cabinet-level office for relations with Mexicans abroad, said on ABC's "Nightline," "I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think, 'Mexico first.'"

For more on Bush's guest worker plan, see The Big Show on the Border.

Posted at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

Rep. Chris Cannon is off the immigration subcommittee

Oh happy day:

...today it's being announced that Rep. [Chris] Cannon, the "point man" in Congress for the White House on immigration, is off the immigration subcommittee...

For the tens of thousands of American families already devastated by Chris Cannon's work in Congress, e.g., on H-1b visas, it's too late, of course, but the news of Cannon's exit has to be seen as another enormously encouraging sign that the transnational ideologues running the show at the White House will be unable to do much beyond duping the president.

The big losers with Cannon's exit are the immigration lawyers and the Wall Street Journal...

ProjectUSA has filed four formal complaints so far with the House Ethics Committee asking for an investigation into Congressman Chris Cannon, and we're working on a fifth. Requests for investigations are also pending or active with at least three federal law enforcment agencies. Chris Cannon, in other words, won't likely fade from the scene and we'll keep you updated on the progress of those investigations...

(Via this)

Posted at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)

Zev Yaroslavsky goes semi-sane

L.A. County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky:

"I don't want to see anyone deported who has been acquitted for a crime, even if they are here illegally," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. "But I have no sympathy for aliens who do commit crimes."

Here's the context:

LOS ANGELES -- Immigration authorities can train county sheriff's personnel to conduct jailhouse interviews to learn whether convicts are in the United States illegally, county supervisors ruled Tuesday.

The policy, approved in a 3-2 vote, also will allow county employees to learn to use a federal database of immigrants the government is seeking to deport...

You'll recall that Zev - together with his "liberal" buddies Yvonne Burke and Gloria Molina were the guiding lights behind capitulating to the ACLU's letter demanding that the county seal be changed.

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments (1)

"REAL immigration reform"

WashTimes:

What's most remarkable about the top Senate Republican priorities for the new congressional session, announced Monday, is what was left out: not one mention of immigration reform. We're not talking about President Bush's doomed guest-worker bill. Even the agonizing energy bill made the list at No. 10. One would think that on an issue which unites Republican voters as much as immigration reform, that Republican senators would pay attention. We speak from firsthand experience. No one issue so enflames the passions of our readers, as evidenced by heated letters to the editor, than the country's backward immigration laws. Have Senate Republicans gone deaf?

...At their annual retreat later this week House Republicans have a chance to place immigration reform high on their list of priorities for the new session — and for the sake of the nation, we trust they will. Yet the difference in priorities between the Republican leadership on the Hill is unsettling. If Republicans aren't united on how to best protect the homeland, then it won't take the Democrats long to figure out that they should be.

Posted at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

Mexico may ask international courts to block Proposition 200

Maybe it's time to start constructing a 100' high wall:

Mexico may turn to international courts in efforts to block a new Arizona law limiting services to undocumented aliens [sic], Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday.

He said in an interview on W Radio that Mexico might take such a step after it has exhausted all possibilities under U.S. law to halt Proposition 200.

"We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself and ... if that does not work, bringing it to international tribunals," Derbez said...

He expressed regret that, according to polls, about 40 percent of Mexican-Americans in Arizona had supported the measure.

"It's sad and it gives an idea of how we have to work to educate even our own Mexican-Americans about why it is important that these proposals are not accepted," Derbez said...

Someone needs to do some research on this bit: "We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself."

What exactly is he referring to? Something in the future, or something they've done in the past?

If he's referring to something they've done in the past, has Mexico brought suit in U.S. courts about Prop. 200? Or, could they be saying that their proxies have brought those suits? MALDEF has brought several suits. Could MALDEF be working with Mexico? Or, could some other U.S. group be working with Mexico?

There's the possibility he's just referring to something they're going to do in the future, but there's also the possibility U.S. groups are working with a foreign government. Someone needs to find out exactly which it is.

And, of course, note that he's claiming ownership of part of our population. Let's say Mexico's "education" program is successful with a certain number of U.S. citizens. Won't those citizens then simply be foreign agents?

Posted at 10:19 PM | Comments (8)

"Border drone program being stopped for evaluation"

More "Sun to shine tomorrow" news:

MESA, Ariz. – Aerial drones patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border will be grounded after the current contract expires next Sunday so the federal government can evaluate the program's effectiveness, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection says.

Immigration authorities have been testing unmanned drones on the border for months, using them to help agents spot illegal immigrants and smugglers.

"It's undetermined when the program will start back up," said Mario Villarreal, spokesman for agency. "I would say sometime this year..."

Posted at 11:07 AM | Comments (1)

President won't add 2,000 border agents

Ah, today's "Sun to shine tomorrow" post:

Despite his signing a bill authorizing 2,000 new border agents, President Bush will not ask Congress for enough money to fund them.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told USA Today yesterday that the administration's new budget will propose "good incremental increase" in the number of agents but would not approach the 2,000 level...

"The notion that you're going to have 10,000 is sort of a fool's gold," Ridge told the paper. "It's nice to say you're going to have 10,000 more Border Patrol agents in five years, but what other part of Homeland Security do you want to take the money from?"

One of these days I'm going to have to go to the library and copy the Mother Jones article "Red Alert." I'm sure that lists several places where money could be found. If not, perhaps we can ask Clark Kent Erwin.

Posted at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

"Abuses Against Workers Taint U.S. Meat and Poultry"

Human Rights Watch:

Workers in the U.S. meat and poultry industry endure unnecessarily hazardous work conditions, and the companies employing them often use illegal tactics to crush union organizing efforts, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
In meat and poultry plants across the United States, Human Rights Watch found that many workers face a real danger of losing a limb, or even their lives, in unsafe work conditions. It also found that companies frequently deny workers’ compensation to employees injured on the job, intimidate and fire workers who try to organize, and exploit workers’ immigrant status in order to keep them quiet about abuses...

The report is here.

Posted at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

"No more border games"

Lou Dobbs:

resident Bush has again vowed to spend his political capital to grant legal status to the millions of illegal aliens who live and work in this country. The president rationalizes his guest-worker program by constantly referring to the nation's need to match willing workers with willing employers. The president's "proposed reform" has already met stiff resistance from the 109th Congress, which is apparently ready to finally take on the critically important issue of illegal immigration.

Many from the president's own party say they'll fight his guest-worker proposal, and many of our elected officials are finally grasping the importance of representing the views of working Americans--which, after all, is their responsibility. The latest USA Today /CNN/Gallup poll shows only 34 percent of those surveyed approve of President Bush's immigration policies...

After ignoring the realities of illegal immigration for nearly all of his long tenure in Congress, Republican [David] Dreier [R-CA] now says he will introduce legislation to stop American businesses from hiring illegal aliens, using a photo-embedded Social Security card, which employers would be required to check with a national database to determine whether the job applicant is legal or illegal.

It is unclear to me just why Dreier believes that any one of the 3 million illegal aliens who entered this country last year, or the people in businesses who hire many of them, would turn law-abiding. At this point, while we should welcome Dreier's conversion, his proposal amounts to nothing more than a diversion from the profoundly important reforms that must be enacted. We must take control of our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and ultimately take responsibility for our first line of defense in the war on terrorism, specifically our borders and ports...

FYI: Dobbs had a recent testy interview with Dreier on his show.

Posted at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

Utah's loose Cannon is "working like crazy"

WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon says he is determined to help President Bush reform the nation's immigration laws, despite resistance from Republicans and a barrage of attacks Cannon endured from immigration foes in his recent re-election.

The Utah Republican said reform-minded members of Congress are “working like crazy” with the White House to put together a broad immigration reform package to be introduced early this year.

Bush has also put immigration reform near the top of his agenda...

...Cannon said the punishment for undocumented immigrants should fit the crime. He compared it to traffic violations, where offenders could pay a penalty and remain in the country unless they are guilty of a serious offense...

Rep. Chris Cannon is truly a great American, and previous coverage of this great American starts here and here.

For instance, see Aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) solicits campaign contributions from illegal aliens.

Posted at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)

Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor

"Actors, writers and musicians push for immigrant drivers licenses":

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood stars are joining the fight to get driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants in California with a new ad featuring a mock award for "Best Nanny."

More than 30 actors, musicians and writers, including Diane Keaton, Carlos Santana and "Million Dollar Baby" writer and producer Paul Haggis, took out the ad Monday in the entertainment industry trade paper Variety.

The group urges Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve a new bill that would allow illegal immigrants to get a license as long as background checks found they had no criminal violations.

In a nod to the Academy Award nominations, which will be announced Tuesday, the ad features a picture of a Hispanic woman and two young children with the caption, "Nominated: Best Nanny in a Supporting Role Rosanna Perez..."

...The ad was orchestrated in part by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, who has led the effort in favor of the licenses...

OK, first let's deal with the media bias. This is an AP report and the headline is a lie: these aren't "immigrants", they're illegal aliens. Likewise with the phrase "undocumented immigrants": they're illegal aliens.

Since these Hollywood stars have so much money, why are they unable to hire legal workers? Why do they want the rest of us to foot the economic and social costs of illegal immigration?

Do they support Gil Cedillo's real goals? Remember, Gil is a former member of the racial separatist organization MEChA, and he said we should give driver's licenses to Mexican citizens because "they were here first." Do these actors, writers and musicians support Aztlan and irredentism? Do they even know what those words mean?

Please contact the newspapers that published this AP report and suggest they review AP reports for accuracy.

Here's a list of papers that printed this report. The report's URL is first, followed by the email or contact form:

S.J. Merc
dsatterfield@mercurynews.com

SDUT
readers.rep@uniontrib.com

KNBC
knbc.news@nbc.com

Monterey Herald
cgarcia@montereyherald.com

Contra Costa Times
clopez1@cctimes.com

KESQ
contact form

SLO Tribune
contact form

Also, try feedback@ap.org

UPDATE: I posted a scan of the ad here (126k JPG).

UPDATE 2: KRON from Frisco titles their version of the same AP report "Stars Pushing Licenses for Illegals". That's the good news. The bad news is their accompaning graphic of a California driver's license with Arnold's picture on it. Cute.

Posted at 11:01 AM | Comments (4)

Gosh, and he worked so hard to represent America's interests

"Asa Hutchinson to resign from Homeland Security Department":

Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, in charge of border and transportation security issues, submitted his letter of resignation to the White House early Monday morning, said a DHS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been announced.

Hutchinson is a former Arkansas congressman and former federal drug czar who is believed to be considering a run for Arkansas governor next year. His resignation is expected to be effective March 1.

"It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which first reported his plans...

Hutchinson has not been looked upon kindly by those of us who think the U.S. has borders. However, he was basically just a symptom. The underlying disease is "compassionate conservatism" and the main carrier is Our Leader who, unfortunately, will not be resigning.

Maybe Hutchinson believed the things he said or maybe he didn't but Hutchinson was basically just doing what he was told.

Previous coverage starts here. See especially "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'".

Posted at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

"The new grapes of wrath"

SDUT:

For the past century, raisins in California's Central Valley have been harvested in exactly the same way: a monthlong frenzy of hand picking that required more workers than almost any other crop.

Last season, many raisin growers turned to machines to do the work. Although they had long held out, they are now joining growers nationwide in embracing mechanization to fend off global competition.

But the switch to mechanical harvesting is taking a heavy toll on the Mexican migrants who fill most of the state's lowest-paying farm jobs. With machines picking more crops, the need for field hands is falling sharply. Where 50 men once were needed to harvest a field of raisins, five now suffice...

See also "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers" and "In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines".

Posted at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

"The Guide for the Mexican Migrant" to go for its second printing

From this:

The [Mexican] Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE) will reprint the [The Guide for the Mexican Migrant], in spite of prompting from the U.S. government and claims by U.S. legislators and NGOs who classify it as a document that could promote illegal immigration.

While a date for the reprinting of a still undetermined number of the booklets has yet to be set, the guidebook can be found on the Internet page of the Foreign Ministry where it is listed as a recommended link to visit.

The first edition of the Mexican Migrant Guide was handed out free, plus it was included as an insert in two popular Mexican publications...

...the Mexican government decided that it would reprint the guide without modification, as it is convinced that it does not promote or induce undocumented immigration...

Posted at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

"Efforts against illegals broaden" (in Arkansas)

WashTimes:

Immigration-control activists announced a bill to crack down on benefits available to illegal aliens in Arkansas, the first in what is expected to be a wave of initiatives and bills following the success of a similar proposition in Arizona in November's election.
Arkansas state Sen. Jim Holt yesterday said he will sponsor a bill in the legislature this year to deny benefits and inhibit the ability of illegal immigrants to register and vote. And state resident Joe McCutchen promised to lead a grass-roots effort to support the bill.
Mr. McCutchen said he thinks it's up to citizens to take action on illegal immigration.
"If our republic's to be saved, we'd better," he said. "It's obvious the president has no intention to secure the borders, and I think this is by design. I think they're dedicated to destroying the sovereignty and heritage and culture of this nation for their own purpose, whatever that may be..."

The new organization is called "Protect Arkansas Now", but they don't appear to have a website.

Previous coverage of illegal immigration in Arkan$a$ $tart$ in "[AR Gov.] Huckabee plan would give aid to illegal aliens".

Posted at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

Five Stooges Watch

"McCain urges Bush to make immigration reform a priority":

Arizona Sen. John McCain stressed immigration reform as a top priority for the start of President George W. Bush's second term and encouraged the Republican White House to focus on the issue.

McCain, business groups and Arizona U.S. Reps. Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe want to create some kind of federal guest worker program to license and document immigrant workers...

The Arizona Republic, in a completely unshocking turn, agrees in "Realistic reform: Arizona delegation positioned to push for a sensible border policy":

Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, along with Rep. Jim Kolbe, have a lot of insight to share with the president. McCain and Kolbe co-sponsored a thoughtful guest-worker proposal last year.

Etc., etc. It all depends on how you define "reasonable," "thoughtful," and "reform."

Posted at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

"Mexico's Undeclared War on America"

From this:

If a foreign country was sending more than a million of its people to illegally enter the United States every year surely that would be grounds for war. Mexico is doing that. It is no stretch of imagination to say that Mexico in engaged in an undeclared war on the United States of America...

[...massive illegal immigration, drug smuggling, etc...]

...All this was happening as the Mexican Foreign Ministry was publishing "The Guide for the Mexican Immigrant." It is a guide on how to enter the U.S. illegally. It is an act of war. It is part of a long-term plan to flood the U.S., particularly California and the Southwest, with illegal Mexicans in the belief that, once again, the U.S. will grant amnesty to them, thus putting into motion yet another human wave to follow. There must be no amnesty.

President Bush doesn’t see it that way. He calls illegal Mexican aliens "undocumented workers." That is just pure sophistry. It’s spin. He calls the flood of illegal Mexicans "a problem", but it is much more than that. It is an undeclared act of war...

The author is Alan Caruba.

Posted at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

"The border remains the problem"

Joseph Farah:

President Bush will be inaugurated today for a second term, pledging one of his highest priorities will be the creation of a new guest-worker program with no provisions for securing the border that brought them here.

Americans will grow weary of these foreign wars designed to defeat the threat of Islamic terrorism when they know the border is wide open and inviting those same enemies into our own country...

Posted at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

The liberal case against illegal immigration

Welcome liberal visitors!

From Victor Davis Hanson's Illegal immigration is a moral issue:

...The hallowed assimilationist formula has too few overt defenders these days - even though measured, legal immigration, English emersion, multiracialism instead of multiculturalism, and integration have ensured that past legal immigrants from Mexico are among America's finest citizens.

The laissez-faire right still lectures on open borders as if it were a matter of robust lawful immigration - emphasizing global competitiveness that accrues from cheap labor. The minimum wage, not illegality, supposedly is its only problem: if only the self-correcting market could be set free to adjudicate wages, $2 an hour might not tempt any more from rural Mexico.

The therapeutic left will not even talk of "illegal immigration" - taboo nomenclature that supposedly denotes racism. "Undocumented workers" is the politically correct terminology, even though not all aliens are working or simply misplaced their certification.

If employers count on inexpensive industrious laborers in the shadows, chauvinists envision a revolving, but still permanent unassimilated constituency to enhance their own agendas. In response to the tired rhetoric, perhaps it is better to envision illegal immigration from Mexico not as a question of divisive politics, but of collective morality. Is it ethical for the Mexican government to export annually 1 million to 2 million of its unwanted citizens to avoid long-overdue reform - hoping to free itself of dissidents and earn $12 billion in subsidies from its poorest abroad? No wonder Mexico talks of the problem in terms of U.S. imperialism in lieu of its own cynicism.

Is it moral for employers to count on illegal industrious workers, usually without English or education, to undercut the wages of American citizens - as if a laborer remains youthful and hale in perpetuity with no need of social entitlements when disabled or impoverished years later? No wonder employers claim that they are only providing a service to Mexico's poor...

Now please see "The liberal case against illegal immigration, Part 2" for more.

Posted at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

America's "amigo"

Presented in all its absurdity and overt threat to the U.S. is this Vicente Fox speech that he made in Madrid in May 16, 2002. Please take a moment and read it, noting that some parts have been omitted:

In recent years a new International System has been developing, oriented toward the establishment of norms and principles of universal jurisdiction, above national sovereignty, in the areas of what is called the New Agenda, such as human rights and democracy, questions of gender and discrimination, the protection of the environment or the war on organized crime and corruption.

.... The construction of new rules of international co-existence must continue.... we are actively participating in various forums in the construction of this international architecture.

Mexico is closely linked with the European nations for historical reasons and because of cultural affinity.

.....it is logical that Mexico approach Europe. We have an identity of values which unites us with the European nations, even more than with our neighbors of North America.

The second axis of Mexico’s foreign policy has been the construction of a strategic association for prosperity with the United States and Canada....

The density and complexity of the themes of our bilateral agenda with the United States.... has a particular dimension for the presence of large Mexican communities settled in that country, more than 20 million Mexicans.

In the last few months we have managed to achieve an improvement in the situation of many Mexicans in that country, regardless of their migratory status, through schemes that have permitted them access to health and education systems, identity documents, as well as the full respect for their labor and human rights.

All this has meant, in the past year, an extraordinary conceptual advance on the subject of immigration and in the importance of moving gradually toward the regularization of the migratory situation of our fellow Mexicans in the United States, a number that is estimated at between 3 and 4 million Mexicans.

Eventually, our long-range objective is to establish with the United States, but also with Canada, our other regional partner, an ensemble of connections and institutions similar to those created by the European Union, with the goal of attending to future themes as important as the future prosperity of North America, and the freedom of movement of capital, goods, services and persons.

The new framework we wish to construct is inspired in the example of the European Union...

....we have to confront ..... what I dare to call the Anglo-Saxon prejudice against the establishment of supra-national organizations.

Nevertheless, I believe that with realism we can overcome the obstacles and construct a more prosperous and secure community for our peoples.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you will probably have been fisking as you read. However, if you aren't familiar with this topic, I now suggest you read this article, which includes inline commentary on this speech and a large number of explanatory links.

According to the Cato Institute and many American politicians, there is no security threat from allowing millions of Mexican illegal aliens to settle in the U.S. To anyone who is intellectually honest, Fox' comments make it patently clear that that's false.

Posted at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

"I like being his amigo."

The titular quote is from:

1. A six-year-old George W. Bush.

2. A hopelessly naive and differently-abled eight-year-old.

3. Tom Ridge, yesterday.

#3 is, of course, correct:

[LOU] DOBBS: The Mexican government has made yet another outrageous demand of the United States. A top Mexican government official told Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Mexican workers have the right to work in the United States, to receive benefits and return to their home country. Mexico, in fact, is demanding the United States relax its immigration policy and standards.

Casey Wian has the report from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the last scheduled meeting between U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel before Ridge leaves office in two weeks.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I like being his amigo.

WIAN: For advocates of tighter border controls, the chummy relationship can't end soon enough, as both officials continue to push for a freer flow of people and goods across the U.S. border with Mexico.

SANTIAGO CREEL, MEXICAN INTERIOR SECRETARY (through translator): The government of President Fox will continue to work with his American counterpart until we can come to a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) agreement. We have proposed as a government five central points.

WIAN: Those demands are what he calls the regularization of Mexican undocumented workers in the United States, a temporary worker program, an increase in the number of visas for Mexicans, better economic development of the border region and proper human rights for migrants...

Previous coverage in Recapping the 1/17/05 giveaway.

Posted at 09:50 PM | Comments (1)

Analyzing Rep. Chris Shays' questionnaire results

Rep. Chris Shays [R-CT] sent questionnaires to his constituents and got over 24,000 responses. Some of the results are discussed here:

His question #23. Do you support deportation of illegal aliens?

Answers: Yes 70.5%, Not sure 14.7%, No 13.3%, n/a 1.5%

24. Do you support amnesty for illegal aliens?

Answers: No 60.3%, Not sure 20.9%, Yes 17.0%, n/a 1.8%

...28. Illegal aliens should be entitled to public health services.

Answers: Strongly disagree 49.4%, Somewhat disagree 18.8%, Somewhat agree 17.4%, Strongly agree 9%, No opinion 4.2%, n/a 1.2%

29. Illegal aliens should be entitled to public education and access to higher-education benefits.

Answers: Strongly disagree 56.1%, Somewhat disagree 17.7%, Somewhat agree 13.3%, Strongly agree 7.8%, No opinion 3.8%, n/a 1.3%

You can download the results in this 800k PDF file.

On the downside, "Immigration" only got 5.6% of votes for the third-most important issue for Congress to address.

However, the results above and some of the other results might give our favorite Mayberry Machiavelli pause. Most of the responses to the other questions show that these constituents seem much more likely to be Bush voters rather than, for instance, Kerry or Dean voters.

For instance, "Would you have voted to support the use of force in Iraq?" got support from 53% vs. 36%. A similar question involving Afghanistan was 75% in favor, 15% against. I'll leave a deeper analysis to others.

Posted at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

She's a team player!

From Condi Rice's testimony:

Rice said immigration reform would be an important issue for Bush, both for economic and security reasons. ‘‘But if we are not asking our border guards and our border personnel to deal simultaneously with immigration that comes out of economic circumstances and dangerous border infringement that comes out of terrorism, and they have a more regularized way to deal with the former, we think that that will make it easier to deal with some of the terrorism and concerns about bad people coming to do bad things,’’ she said.

Note for those just joining us: "regularization" is the euphemism that the Mexican government and the Bush administration use to denote "a massive illegal alien amnesty." For instance, here's team player Colin Powell using that word. And, here's America's favorite amigo Vicente Fox from just four days before 9/11:

...What we want. We want some agreement on migration, taking into considerations two universes: One has to do with those Mexican workers that are here in the United States but are contributing to the U.S. economy, that are paying taxes, that are behaving; those right now are illegal. We want to regularize their situation so that they can be here without having to hide away, without having to have their rights violated, and that they would have a status of regularization that will permit them to have all the rights, and keep on working hard, and at the same time go back and forth to Mexico...

The intentionally misleading terminology our leaders and our "friends" use is described here:

...Amnesty supporters have been working overtime to avoid the "A" word. Unlike in Al Kahn's playful approach, the result has been euphemisms only a policy wonk could love: "regularization," "legalization," "normalization," "permanence," "earned adjustment," and (perhaps most ludicrous) "phased-in access to earned regularization." Focus groups conducted by the National Council of La Raza, a leading supporter of amnesty, found so much resistance that the organization advised Mexican president Vicente Fox never to utter the word.

Other amnesty supporters have gone farther, challenging the very concept of amnesty and seeking to legitimize illegal immigration. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.), for instance, rejects the concept altogether: "Amnesty — there's an implication that somehow you did something wrong and you need to be forgiven." Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza makes the same point in a more sophisticated fashion; the word "conveys a sense of forgiving someone for a crime," she says, when in fact, crossing the border illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal one. A quick look at Title 8, Section 1325 of the U.S. Code shows this to be false: Illegal entry into the United States is a misdemeanor on the first offense, and a felony afterward...

Posted at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

MALDEF turns attention to most popular provisions of Prop. 200

Like an evil Energizer Bunny:

PHOENIX – Opponents of Arizona's new immigration law – stymied in their initial court challenges – are taking aim at the law's election mandates, claiming they'll virtually eliminate voter registration drives and place too many obstacles in front of minority voters...

"It hurts minorities, particularly Hispanics and Native Americans that do have a language barrier," said Democratic Rep. Steve Gallardo...

A separate objection filed by MALDEF said the polling-place identification requirement amounts to an illegal poll tax because low-income, minority and elderly voters – especially those living on Indian reservations and in extended households – are less likely to have the types of identification required by the law.

"With no vehicle, there is no need for a driver's license. With no plumbing, there is no water bill. With no telephone, there is no telephone bill," MALDEF attorney Steven J. Reyes wrote. "American citizens should not be denied the right to vote because they are poor..."

Methinks it's not the poor he's thinking about so much as illegal aliens who are of the same race as he is.

In polls, support for Prop. 200's voting provisions was above 90%. So, hey, good luck there.

More on MALDEF here, here, and here.

Posted at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

280 voted "No"?

Lou Dobbs' current poll says: "Do you believe the Bush Administration should inform Mexico's interior secretary that there is no 'right' for Mexican citizens to work in the United States?"

Current results:
4713 (94%) Yes
280 (6%) No

One might wonder who those 280 people are. Relatives of administration officials? Mexican consuls? Members of the California Assembly? "Liberals"? Perhaps it's just people who misunderstood the question.

And, of course, the very fact that such a question is being asked should be shocking but unfortunately isn't.

Posted at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)

More Kato-Aid, senor?

The libertarian Cato Institute has emitted their latest "Handbook on Policy."

From the immigration chapter:

To better defend ourselves against terrorism and promote economic
growth, America’s border-control system requires a reorientation of mission.
For the last two decades, U.S. immigration policy has been obsessed
with nabbing mostly Mexican-born workers whose only ‘‘crime’’ is their
desire to work, save, and build a better life for their families. Those
workers pose no threat to national security.

Yes, the quotation marks are there in the original. And, yes, the rest of it is just as bad if not worse.

(For those just joining us, allowing a foreign country which used to own part of our country to resettle its old territory is a really bad idea. In addition, massive immigration from one country leads to more power for racial ideologues. I'm sure there are some libertarians who would consider that a clear "threat to national security."

Posted at 07:15 PM | Comments (1)

"Immigrants Hail Mexico's Migrant Guide"

The reviews are in, and 9 out of 10 illegal aliens praise the Guide for the Mexican Migrant. Note also the confirmation that the guide is available in the U.S.:

Many Mexican immigrants say that a 32-page comic book doesn't encourage more people to cross the border, but it saves the lives of people who do.

Mexico's Department of Foreign Relations distributed more than a million copies of the 'Guia del Migrante Mexicano' (Guide for the Mexican Immigrant), which gives advice and suggestions for those who have decided to cross the border into the United States.

The guide can be obtained at Mexican consulates in the United States. Representatives of the Mexican Consulate in Fresno said they didn't have copies of the guide but would probably receive some in the following months...

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a guide showing how to illegally immigrant is being released into the target country. The State Department isn't going to complain.

Posted at 07:08 PM | Comments (1)

"Guest worker program promoted"

From this:

Hours after being named chairman of the Senate subcommittee on immigration, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he would work on immigration reform that would help legitimize the millions of illegal immigrant workers in the United States.

As head of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, Mr. Cornyn will be responsible for advancing President Bush's immigration reform proposals...

... Mr. Cornyn says he would like to continue a project he started in 2003 to create a guest worker program that would give temporary legal worker status to illegal immigrants in the United States... [...an interview was conducted...]

Question: What are the options?

Answer: During the last 20 years, we've done a very poor job of controlling our borders. In a post-9/11 world, we must do a better job at controlling them. Ten million people are living here outside of our laws. Some people suggest we ought to have massive deportations. But I don't believe that the American people have the stomach for that, nor have we calculated the damage [that would cause] to our economy.

In case you are right now having a case of deja lu, you're probably thinking of "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'":

Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson also said taxpayers "might be afraid" to learn how much it would take in manpower and resources to control the nation's borders and described as "probably accurate" a statement that no law-enforcement officials are looking for the vast majority of the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the country...

"It's not realistic to say we're going to reduce that number... But I don't think America has the will... I think they have too much compassion to tell our law-enforcement people to go out there and uproot those 8 million here..."

Continuing with Cornyn:

Question: What do you think of the role Mexican officials have played in shaping this debate?

Answer: Mexico has been very active on this front. I've enjoyed our meetings with colleagues from the Mexican government. But they need to understand how controversial the subject can be here and not add to controversy...

Not just diplomacy but friendly tips for our "friends" to the south.

Posted at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)

"Guest Worker Plan in Doubt"

The LAT has a rather uninteresting article on the guest worker plan's chances of passing. Their tone does seem to be a bit upset, but there's nothing overtly objectionable about it.

Posted at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

Recapping the 1/17/05 giveaway

As previously mentioned, Tom Ridge met today with Mexico's interior secretary. The AP offers this roundup of what was promised or just given away:

Mexico will continue to press for an immigration agreement establishing a right for Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States, the country's interior secretary, Santiago Creel, said Monday at his last meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Creel also used the occasion to denounce [Arizona's Prop. 200]...

...Ridge, for his part, said an immigration agreement was a "high priority" for President Bush in his second term, but added that a temporary worker program would be an uphill battle in Congress without provisions for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

He emphasized that the United States would reject any amnesty proposal for Mexicans who are currently living in the United States illegally or any plan that gives priority to temporary workers when they apply for permanent residency.

He avoided criticizing the Arizona ballot measure, saying that states have a right to deny state but not federal aid...

...Ridge said other states were unlikely to follow Arizona's lead if the United States introduces a program for temporary workers.

"There will probably be far less inclination by any states to vote a similar way again ... because the people that will be here will be here legally and they will certainly be in a much better position to support themselves without relying on any public funding," Ridge said...

These guys are simply out to space. I have no idea what he's talking about.

We've already covered the first part of Ridge's statement on this blog, but I have some bad news: "President Bush To Fix Illegal Immigration Problem By Removing Immigration Laws" was a satire. Yes, that's right, it was, in effect, a joke. In other words, they were not serious.

As for the second part, that's something that some enterprising reporter should really quiz him about. How exactly would waving a magic wand and changing someone's status affect their costs and benefits? And, if he's suggesting that our erstwhile illegal aliens would be given higher wages, wouldn't their cheap-labor-loving employers simply cause cheaper labor to be imported?

Posted at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

What the NYT isn't telling you (Part 1 of an infinite series)

You have to start somewhere, so, let's start with August 19, 2004's "Immigrants Face Loss of Licenses in ID Crackdown" by Nina Bernstein. Please read the following description of one Margaret Stock:

...But critics say the enforcement [of driver's licenses only for citizens and legal residents] will fall mainly on illegal immigrants who are hard-working members of society - and to local D.M.V. clerks with no understanding of complicated immigration laws.

"Nobody has considered the bureaucratic nightmare that they're creating," said Margaret Stock, an associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, who is writing a paper on the driver's license issue. "It's actually harmful to national security to deny licenses to people on the basis of immigration status."

Ms. Stock, who is also a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Army Reserves, said there was a better chance of tracking a terrorist with a driver's license than one without. Moreover, she said, "immigration status is a moving target - someone legal today can be illegal tomorrow and someone illegal today can be legal tomorrow," so motor vehicle offices can end up issuing and denying licenses to the wrong people.

Yet thousands of illegal immigrants denied driver's licenses will continue to drive, she said, and probably add to the number of hit-and-run accidents and uninsured drivers already on the road.

The real problem, she said, is that since 9/11, officials have been trying to turn the driver's license into "a backdoor national identity card." But, she added, "driver's licenses are really about road safety."

From the NYT, we learn that Margaret Stock is an "associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point" as well as being "a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Army Reserves". All fine resume points. And, she gets five whole paragraphs in the New York Times to state her views.

However, Nina Bernstein and her editors failed to inform us of a couple other of Stock's resume points, highlighted here in her Congressional testimony:

Mr. Chairman and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Margaret Stock. I am honored to be here in two capacities: on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and as an expert in the field of constitutional, military, national security, and comparative law. I am an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The statements, opinions, and views expressed herein are my own, and do not represent the views of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense...

...I am an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where I teach National Security Law, Constitutional Law, Military Law, Comparative Law, and International Law to future military officers. As an attorney and a graduate of the Harvard Law School, I have practiced in the area of immigration law for more than ten years, and have written and spoken extensively on the issue of immigration and national security. I am also a lieutenant colonel in the Military Police Corps, United States Army Reserve. Over the years, I have represented hundreds of businesses, immigrants, and citizens seeking to navigate the difficult maze of US immigration law...

To recap, the New York Times' Nina Bernstein and her editors failed to disclose that Stock was not just an immigration lawyer, but a member of the AILA or had testified on their behalf.

I already sent an email about this, but I urge you to do so as well: public@nytimes.com

Posted at 08:03 PM | Comments (2)

"Que Ud. quiera, Senor?"

From a 1/17/05 DHS press release:

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge joined Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel today at the Calexico port of entry to formally open dedicated lanes for cargo trucks enrolled in a key U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative to counter terrorism, improve compliance and facilitate trade on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Free And Secure Trade (FAST) lane leading from Mexico into the Calexico port’s east cargo facility is the result of a bilateral initiative that seeks to ensure security and safety while facilitating commerce between the two nations.

“Mexico [989] is one of our largest trading partners and [1034] it is critical that we prevent terrorists from [1149] infiltrating the commercial chain to launch [1327] an attack,” said Secretary Ridge. “This lane will enhance [1438] the security and safety of the commercial flow of goods along the Southern border, [1572] while enhancing the economic prosperity of both countries.”

Please pardon the numbers in emboldened brackets. That's just the running total of illegal aliens who had snuck over the border while Ridge was giving his speech.

Meanwhile, in parimutuel news:

Tom Ridge, the fastest trotter of all time, will stand in 2005 at Nandi Farm, New Freedom, Pennsylvania, under the management of Walnut Hall Ltd., Lexington, Kentucky.

The announcement was made today by Alan J. Leavitt, president of Walnut Hall Ltd., which is owned by his wife, Meg Jewett.

A son of leading sire Muscles Yankee, out of the great producer Astoria Lobell, by Joie De Vie, Tom Ridge earned $886,144 at two and three, setting a new all-time world trotting record of 1:50.2 in the second heat of the $530,000 World Trotting Derby, after reducing the previous record to 1:51 in the first heat.

Trained by Jimmy Takter and driven in most of his starts by Ron Pierce, Tom Ridge raced in the ownership of Banjo Farm, Peter Heffering, Ken Ross, and Christina Takter...

Posted at 04:19 PM | Comments (1)

Bush's Open-Borders nominees

Michelle Malkin discusses recent nominees Gonzales and Johanns. I was considering writing something similar based on the comments I left on this thread (redstate.org/story/2005/1/15/94511/6703):

From the Border Patrol union: White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, President Bush's nominee for attorney general, got the backing of a group that promotes driver's licenses for illegal aliens, no immigration law enforcement by local and state police and amnesty programs broader than the administration's proposal. The National Council of La Raza ["National Council of the Race" -- LW], which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., welcomed the nomination of Gonzales to succeed John Ashcroft... La Raza supports legislation such as the Civil Liberties Restoration Act, which would roll back policies adopted after Sept. 11 designed to protect national security. It supports the 'DREAM Act,' which would mandate states to offer in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens � thus providing them with benefits not available to U.S. citizens from other states. The group opposes the 'Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003' and the 'Homeland Security Enhancement Act' would give state and local police officers the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

As described at the link, Gonzales was on the board of an affilate of the National Council of the Race.

Regarding LULAC, "there were legitimate grassroots Latino and Mexican- American organizations, like LULAC, the League of United Latin-American Citizens, a 1925 patriotic group, promoted the idea of simulation into the American ethic... [the Ford Foundation] bought them basically in the 1960s, and they were transformed."

The Ford Foundation also more or less founded the illegal immigration supporting MALDEF as well as the National Council of the Race.

So, what we have are "conservatives" consorting with and being supported by Ford Foundation-funded race hustlers...

...I note that the National Council of the Race has a downloadable Immigrant Access to Driver's Licenses: A Tool Kit for Advocates. "Why ever", you might be asking yourself, "Why ever would immigrants need to worry about getting a driver's license?" The reason, of course, is that they aren't talking about immigrants, they're talking about illegal immigrants.

And, here's a quote from AG's confirmation hearing: Personally, I would worry about a policy that permits someone, a local law enforcement official, to use this authority somehow as a club to harass -- they might be undocumented aliens, but otherwise lawful citizens. That would be troubling. That would be troubling to the president who, as a governor of a -- former governor of a border state understands and appreciates the roles that immigrants and undocumented aliens play in our society...

Posted at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

Immigration lawyers in the news

From this:

A full-page advertisement in today’s News & Record paid for by backers of Greensboro lawyer Manlin Chee claims the criminal case against her sends a “threatening message” to other defenders of immigrants...

The ad also asserts that the government was suspicious of Chee because she had a large number of Muslim and Middle Eastern clients with whom she showed “solidarity” by wearing Muslim dress to work one day a week...

Chee pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by submitting false paperwork on behalf of immigrant clients. She admitted to arranging a sham marriage so one client could remain in the country and falsely depicting another in legal paperwork as a homosexual who would be persecuted if sent back to Egypt...

I'm as opposed to government overreach as anyone, but in the case of immigration lawyers... Chee's viewpoint of this matter is amply demonstrated in the messages here.

Posted at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)

Dude, they're just here to do the jobs Americans won't do, dude

One of the top 100 most influential newspapers in Southern California, the Hermosa Wave, reports on the recent kerfluffel involving illegal alien day laborers in Redondo Beach. It continually uses the phrase "anti-immigrant" and "illegal" only appears twice. One instance of the latter is in a quote.

Normally, I'd just ignore inconsequential reports in inconsequential newspapers, but it does have this absolutely hilarious bit:

Thomas Saenz, one of the MALDEF lawyers arguing the case on behalf of the day laborers, said that in his experience at least some anti-immigrant sentiment is usually behind the enactment and enforcement of anti-solicitation ordinances. The day laborers, he said, are “a visible manifestation of what they are uncomfortable with, which is immigrant presence in their community.”

Saenz said 50 communities in California have such ordinances, but few are enforced because of their questionable constitutionality. He suggested that even if Redondo Beach had no intention of stirring anti-immigrant emotions, its actions have inevitably had that effect.

“The city should reflect on who its allies end up being,” said Saenz. “It will tell them a great deal about what their actions have sanctioned. It does embolden people to engage in acts they otherwise wouldn’t – some of these fringe groups feel the city has officially sanctioned their cause by abusing the rights of these guys.”

Redondo should indeed watch who they're dealing with. They should start with MALDEF, a non-grassroots far-left pro-illegal immigration organization that was basically created out of whole cloth by the Ford Foundation.

You can contact the advocacy piece's author at news@easyreader.info

Posted at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2005

"Activist wins national human rights prize [from Mexico]"

The subtitle is so funny I hope all my bloggees are sitting down:

President Fox honored Olga Sánchez Martínez on Monday for helping Central Americans who cross illegally into Mexico on their way towards the United States.

El Universal
Lunes 10 de enero de 2005

Mexico, which often complains about the treatment by U.S. authorities of its undocumented citizens who cross the border northbound, eloquently acknowledged Monday that its officials are often cruel, arbitrary and abusive with Central Americans entering from the south.

The admission came as Olga Sánchez Martínez, an activist on behalf of the Central Americans who cross Mexico en route to the United States, was honored by President Vicente Fox with the 2004 National Prize for Human Rights...

"Now, unfortunately, being an immigrant can equate to having to bear not only the burdens of social misfortune and inequality, but also the indifference of others and the enormous risk of being treated as a criminal," [Luis Soberanes, head of the governmental National Commission on Human Rights] said...

The official lamented that Central Americans transiting Mexico are subject to "discrimination, race hatred, mutilating injuries from falling off moving trains, robbery by bands of assailants, fraud by those who sell them transport that's never safe..."

Of course, if she were helping those same heroes stay in Mexico and take The Jobs Mexicans Won't Do, she probably would have gotten something far worse than a medal and a certificate. As long as they're transiting through to the U.S. - spending money along the way - it's OK.

See also the two earlier Irony on the Border posts here and here.

technorati tag, ignore: immigration

Posted at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

Now that's an apologist!

From Robert D. Knight, of Murrieta, who's "an associate faculty member in the political science department at Mt. San Jacinto College in Menifee":

Ethnocentrism appears to be alive and well at The Press-Enterprise. In the editorial "Migration mania" (Our Views, Jan. 7), you argue that the Mexican government is promoting undocumented migration to the United States. You further suggest that such efforts are irresponsible by your use of the term "mania," and demand that the Mexican government cooperate with the U.S. government in order to make immigration reform possible.

This position views the issue of undocumented immigration only from the perspective of those north of the border. The administration of Mexican President Vincente Fox has pursued dialogue with the Bush administration over immigration as one of its major initiatives since taking office in December 2000.

It has been the Bush administration that has not been cooperative, despite an initial move in this direction before 9-11. From the perspective of Mexico, failure of the U.S. to formulate an immigration policy that recognizes the reality of the labor market has put its citizens at risk. Mexicans view with indignation a policy by its colossal northern neighbor that results in unfair labor conditions for its citizens.

They also understandably resent their fellow citizens being subject to the indignity of being treated as criminals, when they are simply meeting the demand for labor in the U.S. market. When these workers die in the desert, not only do their families and communities back home suffer, but also a sense of moral outrage aggravates the long and difficult history of U.S.-Mexico relations...

[...etc..., continually evokes the phrase "barely useful complete idiot"... ...etc...]

The Mexican Migrant's Guide represents what any responsive government would do for its citizens under similar circumstances...

Here's the offending editorial, "Migration mania":

From Mexico's Foreign Secretary comes a dubious addition to the self-help genre: The Mexican Migrant's Guide. At best, the 36-page comic book-style pamphlet offers a mixed message: We don't condone crossing the border illegally, but since you're going to do it anyway, here are a few safety tips...

[...etc... describes the comic book, mentions remittances... ...etc...]

Congress has said it will make immigration reform a priority this year, as it should. But any reform will founder without cooperation from Mexico City. It's time for the two nations to start working from a common page, and it won't be found in a comic-book pamphlet.

The P-E's editorial is very close to those from the Arizona Republic, Dallas Morning News, and the Long Beach Press-Telegram, as linked to by Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant". As with the other papers, they basically appear to support so-called immigration "reform" and they also appear to be mainly upset with Mexico for committing a tactical blunder. Apparently the P-E editorial doesn't go quite far enough for the taste of the associate faculty member.

technorati tag, ignore: immigration

Posted at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

"Dumb Like a Fox"

Kathleen Antrim:

Mexican President Vicente Fox is figuratively thumbing his nose at Washington, D.C., our sovereignty, our laws and the Bush administration. No doubt emboldened by the increasing number of illegal immigrants allowed to live in the United States, in December the Mexican government published a 32-page book titled “The Guide for the Mexican Migrant.”

...One reason this manual exists is because weak-kneed U.S. politicians won’t stand up to President Fox for fear of losing the ever-increasing Hispanic-American vote. But like most things in life, the truth can be found by following the money trail. And illegal immigration means money – big money. Unfortunately, that money doesn’t benefit us, the American citizens. In fact, it’s costing us dearly...

See Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant" roundup for more.

technorati tag, ignore: immigration

Posted at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2005

Canada, pizza, and a stripper

What ever could those have in common? This:

A failed refugee claimant convicted of crimes in India and found civilly liable in a credit-card fraud against Canada's five major banks finally forced embattled Judy Sgro to resign yesterday as immigration minister.

Ms. Sgro, already under investigation by the federal Ethics Commissioner for granting a Romanian stripper a temporary resident permit, became the first minister to resign amid controversy since the Paul Martin government took office last June...

Harjit Singh, a 49-year-old Sikh pizza-parlour owner from Amritsar, accused Ms. Sgro of reneging on a promise to help him resolve his immigration problems in exchange for free pizza and garlic bread from his Brampton, Ont., business, and for providing Ms. Sgro with campaign volunteers. He has spent 16 years exploiting Canada's immigration system and its numerous loopholes in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to stay...

More here.

A Reuters report ends with the following, so perhaps there's a bit more to this story than just a wacky tale of strippers and pizza:

...Sgro triggered headlines almost from the day she was appointed in December 2003, first by opposing the tradition of churches sheltering asylum seekers and then by saying that Canada's refugee system was being abused.

Posted at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

Gosh, what could the race hustlers be worried about?

MALDEF - the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund - continues trying to block Arizona's Prop. 200.

Apparently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals - surprise! - has turned down MALDEF's request for a preliminary injunction against 200.

At the same time, MALDEF appears to be attempting to complain to the DOJ about Prop. 200 violation the federal Voting Rights Act.

Their reason? Their attorney says "the identification requirements [of 200] will put an end to drives in which individuals can be certified to go into communities and register voters. He said that will harm Latino communities that, until now, have managed a sharp increase in voter registration." Perhaps it will. However, somehow I think that explanation is disingenuous at best.

In local news, L.A. mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg is a board member of MALDEF. There's more on MALDEF here.

Posted at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)

Ag Sec'y nominee "Fought to Protect Giant Meatpackers from Immigration Law Enforcement"

FAIR:

In coming months, President Bush will be trying to convince the American people that U.S. immigration laws just cannot be enforced. In truth, though, they will not be enforced—and his choice for Secretary of Agriculture demonstrates the point...

...The president's choice for Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, while Governor of Nebraska, used the power of his office to protect large meatpacking and agricultural interests in his state who employ thousands of illegal aliens and violate countless other labor and occupational safety regulations.

During 1998 and 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service launched a campaign known as Operation Vanguard in which they conducted audits of Nebraska meatpacking plant personnel files. The operation successfully drove-off many illegal aliens who were employed in these processing plants. Gov. Johanns, who has accepted large campaign contributions from large agri-businesses (2002 Campaign Finance Statement), stepped in on behalf of these contributors and pressured the U.S. Department of Justice to end these enforcement efforts...

Posted at 05:01 PM | Comments (1)

"Bush taps Ariz. trio for border reforms"

Remember the Woody Allen movie 'Bananas'? Specifically, this part:

It is Allen's time in San Marcos when the political satire of Bananas really begins to kick in. Allen takes shots at all forms of government and war, and often to greatly humorous effect. In typical Allen fashion, he stumbles upwards in the movement, without particularly meaning to, and soon finds himself the unwillingly president of San Marcos. San Marcos realizes it's in need of a new leader, since their current leader has gone crazy and has used a recent public speaking event to announce that from now on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish, and that every one will have to change their underwear every half an hour. Of course, they will also be forced to wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes, so the government will be able to check.

Forward to someone's reality:

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday said he's enlisting the aid of three Arizona lawmakers [McCain, Kolbe, Kyl] to come up with a detailed immigration-reform plan for Congress to consider, an effort he says will benefit undocumented workers and employers and improve border security.

"I can flesh out quite a few of the details. I can't write the bill for you right now," Bush told The Arizona Republic and other newspapers during a round-table interview at the White House. Other topics he touched on included Iraq, Social Security reform, Major League Baseball's tougher new steroid-testing program and next week's inauguration festivities...

"We haven't come up with the actual tactic," Bush acknowledged when asked to provide new details of what he would want in such a guest-worker bill beyond the broad principles he has floated for about a year.

However, Bush was emphatic that he is not talking about amnesty or automatic citizenship for the estimated 8 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants working in this country...

Bush also said, "I think once we get this in place we've got to help enforce it by holding people to account who illegally employ somebody."

...There also are questions about whether Bush's plan would include labor protections, such as minimum wage or benefits, and how many workers would be allowed to participate in such a program as well as whether they would be able to bring their family members with them.

Bush on Thursday declined to provide answers to such specifics...

Like it says in our official slogan, "Don't blame me, I wrote in Tancredo."

Posted at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)

"Feds Find Millions Wasted On Border Camera System"

Just great:

A Team 7 Investigation into a defective camera surveillance system along the U.S.-Canadian border has sparked a massive federal probe.

Now, the results are in: Auditors say taxpayers paid millions of dollars for "phantom" cameras, missing parts and fraudulent repair bills...

According to the federal probe, straight north of Seattle, taxpayers paid for 36 remote video camera sites, but only 32 actually exist. Just that is $1 million in over-billing...

...KIRO Team 7 Investigators were also the first to expose how a Texas congressman's daughter grabbed a $200 million no-bid contract to install the camera surveillance systems first in Blaine, then nationwide...

That congressman is Sylvester Reyes (D-TX). There's more on his daughter's company here.

Posted at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Florida's Sun-Sentinel: the newspaper that reads minds

Don't believe it? Here's an example:

...The meeting, called by the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board, did little, however, to quell mounting fears in the Hispanic and Haitian communities or satisfy their leaders...

That's from an article about immigration sweeps in South Florida. And, the excerpt raises several questions: are those "communities" comprised of legal residents, or of illegal aliens? How exactly do we know there are "mounting fears" among the legal resident communities? And, who exactly elected these "leaders"?

Continuing:

...While advocates say most immigrants are too afraid to come forward and report the problem fearing further action, some are speaking out...

And, what exactly would that "further action" be? Are illegal aliens afraid of being deported? What, they should be welcome to stay here?

Continuing our stay in Wacky World:

...Nationally, some police departments have been reluctant to take on immigration functions saying it often scares immigrants from reporting crime or providing information to law enforcement.

Moreover, some cities with large immigrant communities such as Los Angeles have drafted special ordinances to ensure police don't act as immigration agents...

The bottom line is this reporter has her own worldview which would seem to be inconsistent with, like, legal vs. illegal immigration. Please contact the Sun-Sentinel and suggest they change their coverage to reflect the truth and the laws rather than the wacky world of potentially ethnic-based advocacy. Their "reader liaison" is gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com .

I note that this type of coverage is similar to that that lead to the ending of the immigration sweeps in Temecula. Why spoil a perfectly good formula?

Posted at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)

January 13, 2005

"Top Mexican official to meet with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Ridge in California"

AP:

Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said Thursday he will fly to a California border town to meet with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and again push for a plan granting legal status to millions of undocumented Mexicans living and working in the United States.

Creel said the meeting would take place Monday in Calexico, across the border from the larger Mexican city of Mexicali, 1,350 miles (2,160 kilometers) northwest of this country's capital, and would likely be his last face-to-face encounter with Ridge before the outgoing Homeland Security Secretary leaves his post.

He said the meeting would "pave the road to a prosperous migration accord," and added that sweeping reform in that area would help guarantee security along America's southern border...

So, what happens if we refuse to give them their "migration accord"? Does that mean they'll turn a blind eye to terrorists trying to sneak over the border? Is the last phrase a threat?

Posted at 11:33 PM | Comments (1)

"Illegals and the State Department"

The Washington Times tried to get the State Department to condemn the Guide for the Mexican Migrant or to complain to the Mexican government.

Here's the result:

...Well, the State Department has responded. Apparently the answer is no. A spokesman said no action has taken place, and declined to tell us whether the department plans to take any measures outside routine meetings with the Mexicans. "We have regular communications with them on illegal immigration," he told us, "and we hope they continue to work with us on the need to use safe, legal and orderly means as the only way to migrate to the United States." Beyond those regular communications, the official wouldn't tell us about any department plans to discuss the migrant guide and its effect on illegal immigration. That's because there aren't any.

Given the State Department's lenient record on immigration, we can't say we're surprised. But does the department at least recognize that the "migrant" guide is a problem? To find out, we asked whether the department thinks the migrant guide is good or bad for the control of illegal immigration. The official didn't go so far as to tell us he thought it was good, which is reassuring. But he told us, in effect, that he doesn't think it's bad. "The Mexicans have made it clear publicly that this document was not intended to promote illegal immigration," he said. Apparently the department's policy is to believe them. Another spokesman offered this: "Both the United States and the Mexican government have a strong commitment to ensuring that migration into the United States is safe, orderly and legal..."

Posted at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2005

"[Tancredo] to Lead Immigration Revolt Against Bush"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican member of the House of Representatives vowed on Wednesday to lead a revolt against President Bush's immigration reform proposals and predicted that up to 180 party members would support him.

Bush in an interview with the Washington Times published on Wednesday said he plans to force a debate in Congress this year on his proposal that would allow some illegal immigrants to obtain legal work permits in the United States.

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who heads the House Immigration Reform Caucus, said he was determined to block the legislation. The caucus, which had 71 members in the last Congress, argues for stronger action to stop illegal immigration and a reduction of legal migration.

"Why is this so important to the president?" Tancredo said. "Is it just the corporate interests who benefit from cheap labor? Do they have such a strong grip on our president so that he is actually willing to put our nation at risk, because open borders do put our nation at risk?

"Is it petulance, because we were able to stop it in the last Congress? Why is it so important to give amnesty to people who have broken the law?" Tancredo said.

"I'm willing to lead a fight against this and I would say there are at least 180 members of our Republican caucus who are willing at least to stop amnesty for illegal immigrants," he told Reuters in a telephone interview...

Bush insists he is not offering amnesty to illegal immigrants but Tancredo said that was a "manipulation of language, the kind of thing (former President) Bill Clinton would have done. There is an issue of integrity here and an issue of honesty," he said.

Posted at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

"[AZ Gov. Janet Napolitano] critical of Mexican manual"

PHOENIX - A pamphlet put out by the Mexican government that purports to be a safety manual for those who cross the border illegally is harming Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano said Tuesday.

The government of Mexico is interfering with the state's security, she said in a telephone interview with the Herald/Review.

"It's a how to illegally cross, not how to legally enter (the United States)," she said...

See Your "Guide for the Mexican Migrant" roundup for more.

Posted at 08:34 PM | Comments (1)

"[AR Gov.] Huckabee plan would give aid to illegal aliens"

From this:<