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Can’t file a visa petition to immigrate your homosexual or lesbian lover? No problem! 
As previously discussed, the "Unite to Fight Against Illegal Immigration" conference is being held in Las Vegas this weekend. The L.A. Times offers a report in "Immigration Activists Gather". The AP has a variously-titled and bylined story (non-bylined in "Anti-illegal immigration conference opens in Nevada", "Anti-illegal immigration conference opens in Nevada" from Christina Almeida, then apparently rewritten by Adam Goldman as "Protests Hit Illegal Immigration Summit"). All three briefly mention around 200 protesters outside: they called those inside Nazis and racists (LAT), and waved either American and Mexican flags (Almeida) or just Mexican flags (Goldman). You can see a picture of the protesters here. While it might be a case of selective cropping, I don't see any American flags in that picture, just Mexican ones and, in the background, a Guatemalan flag. The non-bylined AP story quotes the president of the RAZ/Pac (full name: "Raza Political Action Coalition" or "Race/Group Political Action Coalition") as saying that opposition to the costs of illegal immigration "is a cover for racism". An interesting article comes from Riverside's Press-Enterprise, entitled "Immigration showdown seen". It tells a tale of two conferences, combining the AP report with reporting on the "La Tierra es de Todos" ("The Land is Everyone's") conference held at University of California at Riverside: ...The UCR event drew students, union activists, attorneys, civil rights advocates, communists, socialists and a member of Union del Barrio, a group that says the southwestern states were stolen from the Mexican people and should be separated from the United States...
From the AP report "Anti-immigration conference in Las Vegas spurs plan for protest": A conference on the dangers of illegal immigration has drawn calls for protests from a coalition that claims the weekend meeting is designed to stir racial bias. This AP report appears to be based on the Las Vegas Sun report "Illegal immigration forum protested". Unlike the AP report, the LV Sun article quoted Torres as calling the event organizers "Nazi white supremacist(s)." However, the LV Sun story left out Torres' affiliation. Thankfully, a quick search turned up the May 6 report from the same reporter in the same paper entitled "More Mexicans in Las Vegas lead dual lives": Alan Torres, a local mortgage broker who is secretary of the Civil Association of the State of Durango, a civic group that helps Durango natives in Nevada... Perhaps the AP, the Las Vegas Sun, and the Review-Journal should look into this protest in a bit more depth. What are Torres' affiliations and who exactly is he protesting on behalf of? In brief, which country does he represent? Please ask the AP to look into this matter: feedback *at* ap.org
Sing along--"We have no border control strategy todaaaaaay." To the tune of "Yes, We Have No Bananas", in cheesy MIDI style. I know, the meter needs a little work. Could use a verse or two. But as it is it's less embarrassing than our actual border policies.
Last night Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project spoke in Garden Grove, CA (in Orange County south of L.A.) Left-wing supporters of illegal immigration protested, and it got ugly. A group of protesters surrounded a car that was trying to enter the meeting and began beating it with their signs and other objects. The driver apparently tried to slowly drive through the crowd and struck a few protesters. From the L.A. Times report "Violence Erupts at O.C. Protest": [Garden Grove Police Lt. David Kivler] said protesters gathered around one of their cars. Note that, contrary to what the LAT says, this incident apparently happened before the meeting, not afterwards. However, this report is at least better than their incredibly biased report (from two different reporters) about the similar protest in Baldwin Park. And, this article doesn't go into such things as how all those protesters got there, what groups they were affiliated with, what their signs said, and other details that might give the LAT's readers a clue to the goals of these groups. Please give faint praise to readers.rep *at* latimes.com Reportedly, the driver was not charged and was released a few hours after the event. From the slideshow for this NBC4 report, the driver said: "They converged onto my car, started banging with their posters and with other objects I'm not sure of... I start fearing for my life and so I went through them and some of them had to scatter out of the way." The KCBS video report is short, but slightly less biased than the LAT report. You can view that video and find links to other reports currently on the front page of this site. Unfortunately, the OC Register article "Immigration event turns hostile" doesn't even mention the violence of the protesters. I had seen a notice of this protest and I sent an email to the NYT suggesting that they cover this, but apparently they chose not to. Send an email to their ombudsman if you think this falls in their purview. And, from the other side, there are additional reports and pictures linked to from the front page of this site, such as these pictures. What does the first picture of two protesters on the ground remind you of? And, if this protester report is to be believed, most of those protesting were Chicano(a) and at least one leader of MEChA was there. The AP report downplays the violence perpetrated by the protesters: feedback *at* ap.org If you live outside Southern California, you might want to realize that trends and such tend to start here and radiate outward. Protests like this might be coming your way sooner than you expect. UPDATE: According to the Garden Grove P.D., they found at least one soda can that had been filled with marbles, and the full soda cans were brought along for throwing and not for the usual purpose. Also, the protesters surrounded several cars as they were entering the event. The police were near the van that was surrounded but didn't do anything to remove protesters from the van because there were 300 protesters and 60 police. UPDATE 2: Slow as a snail, the Los Angeles Times is moving towards slightly non-biased coverage of this issue. Their follow-up report "After Minuteman Melee, Protesters Have New Beef" actually mentions a couple of the organizations involved in the protest. It doesn't give background information on them, but at least it's a start. And, of course, there's the protester-centric title. And, one gets the impression that the reporters think of people like Gilchrist as representing the fringe, and the NLG as representing the center. Nevertheless, we're informed that the van driver will not be charged: ...police watched a videotape that showed protesters surrounding the vehicle, banging on it and refusing to move, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield. About 300 protesters at the scene were "trying to intimidate him and refused to let him pass..." And: James Lafferty, director of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles, said he was among those struck by Netkin's van. He said staging protests at Gilchrist's events was necessary, even if it increased his profile. Yes, it's good to "say something" and have a "debate". Perhaps next time, however, the protesters might consider leaving the latex gloves, the soda cans filled with marbles, and all the rest at home. BTW: If you've never heard of the National Lawyers Guild, please click the link. And, consider sending that link to the L.A. Times so they might perhaps give a bit more information on the organizations they quote.
The recent post "Other than Mexicans" briefly mentioned Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. Yesterday the Washington Times published "Army base plagued by illegals' intrusions": Fort Huachuca, a 150-square-mile U.S. Army base in Arizona just 20 miles north of the Mexican border, is home to the country's premier military intelligence school and, despite the sensitive nature of its assignment, has become a popular corridor for illegal migrants headed to America. You can probably imagine what would happen to you if you tried to traipse across a military base. (For entertainment purposes, here's an example from Area 51.) While Fort Huachuca is very large and it's located in rugged country, I'm sure more could be done if there were the will to do it. Apparently, not stopping the flow of "good-hearted", cheap, and exploitable labor is more important to Washington than things like securing a military base against incursions.
A Framingham man who was piloting a Cessna aircraft carrying five illegal immigrants was arrested last week after making an emergency landing at a military base in New Mexico. Charles Bueno, a 28-year-old Brazilian pilot who is also an illegal alien, was arrested the afternoon of May 16 and faces alien smuggling charges. His five passengers, all from Brazil, were also arrested. Follow-up story here.
Eleven Texas Senators have signed on to a resolution that "urge[s] Governor Rick Perry to oppose the plans of the Minuteman Project to come to Texas and to ask Minuteman Project representatives not to begin patrols of the Texas border with Mexico". The AP report is here. The current text of SR 970 is here. You can get the full information on this resolution by going here and entering SR 970 in the "Bill Action & Vote History" search box. The lead author appears to be Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen). Another is Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio). In addition to being featured in "S.A. Lawmaker Wants to Grade Children on Weight", here's one of her quotes from 2003: "It is unconscionable that these white Republicans would attempt to hurt our constituents, even while we are making our stand to defend Texas." The resolution says the MMP might interfere with legal crossings and trade, which is probably not true. It also says some parts of the TX-MX border are urbanized, but I doubt whether the MMP will patrol in El Paso. It also mentions a civil suit and assault charge, yet that case predates and had nothing to do with the MMP. And, oddly enough, like nearly every MSM report about CA Gov. Schwarzenegger's support for the Minutemen, it mentions that Bush stated his opposition. It also brings up the opposition of the leadership of the Border Patrol and the charge from them that the MMP had tripped motion detectors. Previously:
Advocates for illegal immigrants in Colorado assert that "immigrant-bashing" in on the rise in Colorado. "Immigrant-bashing." Sounds scary. The Denver Post article describing concern about this trend, however, cites only one example of said bashing: Organizers did not want to focus on the recent outcry over the illegal status of 19-year- old Raul Garcia-Gomez, the man suspected of killing Denver police Detective Donald Young, but they acknowledged it was part of the recent bashing. It appears there has been no physical "bashing" of immigrants in Denver, just common-sense speech by citizens fed up with lax immigration enforcement.
You know the tide has turned when even Clarence Page is calling for enforcement of immigration laws: If ever there was a time for Mr. Jackson to play his long-standing role as black America's burr under the saddle of the corporate establishment, this was it. At a minimum, Mr. Jackson, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and other mainstream black leaders in both parties should be holding Mr. Fox accountable for encouraging illegal migrants from Mexico to make the often-dangerous trek toward U.S. labor markets.
You thought it was bad news that the REAL ID Act allows illegal aliens (that is, anyone with a "pending application for adjustment of status") to obtain "temporary" state driver’s licenses? Read the full story in my latest column -- Treason Lobby Sabotages REAL ID Act -- on VDARE.com.
The more I read and study, the more I understand the dangers that are surrounding all of us throughout this nation. The illegal invasion brings criminals of every sort, including those who come to America carrying diseases. One such disease is leprosy. According to Ben Whitford, Columbia Journalism, leprosy is being imported to the United States by immigrants, some who come here for free treatment. Experts fear it is going to spread into the native-born population. Another disease that is running rampant now is tuberculosis. In an article written by Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post, health care workers are so worried about the spread of this terrifying disease, they are making house visits to ensure that the illegal aliens are taking their daily pills. The brutal truth is that immigrants bring diseases. When immigrants landed at Ellis Island, they were screened for various sicknesses. If anything was detected, these people were not allowed to enter the states. Too bad we don't have the same policies in the 21st Century. Stopping the illegal invasion WOULD curtail many diseases being spread through our nation. However, we couldn't do that....that would infringe on the non-citizens...never mind the rights of legal citizens. We are only good for paying the bills!!!
The titular phrase (usually just "OTM") refers to border crossers who come from countries other than Mexico. About 60,000 OTMs were detained after crossing the border last year. Some were originally from countries like North Korea, Iraq, and Libya. While most might be "good-hearted people who are coming here to work", certainly there are some who are not. And, unlike Mexican illegal aliens, a large number of OTMs are released into the U.S. and are never found again. The report "Officials: OTMs 'a very grave problem'" describes how many such OTMs cross in Texas because they know that due to the lack of detention space they'll be given orders to appear in court and then sent on their way. And, many of these OTMs are more or less giving themselves up, because news of the lack of detention space has been covered in the sending countries. For background on this issue, see the following: Chapter 3 of the 9/11 Commission Staff Report included the following: ...Thus, abuse of the immigration system and a lack of interior immigration enforcement [prior to 9/11 attack] were unwittingly working together to support terrorist activity...
From this: Tuesday night [5/17/05], in a vote of 15-4, a majority of the Madison Common Council signed off on a resolution allowing undocumented workers to apply for low-interest housing loans through the city Community Development Block Grant programs... These "undocumented workers" need to have an ITIN ("Individual Taxpayer Identification Number"), which is similar to a Social Security number. SSNs are, of course, not available to illegal aliens, but ITINs are. Note that this isn't just an isolated case of a "liberal" city deciding to support illegal immigration. As with other issues related to illegal immigration, it gets worse the more you look into it. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority already guarantees home loans to illegal immigrants. Here's a quote from their director, Antonio Riley: "We don't see what can be so controversial about helping people realize the dream of homeownership." Thankfully, WI Sen. Glenn Grothman has introduced legislation that would put an end to Madison's loan program as well as WHEDA guaranteeing such loans: [Grothman] says the idea is "almost comical". He says it's absurd to offer assistance to people who are in the country illegally. "What type of message are we sending to people?" He says. "We're telling the border guards we don't appreciate their job. We're telling the people that inspect local business that we don't care what they do. We're telling anybody who is waiting to get into this country legally that they're a bunch of suckers for trying to obey the law. It's absolutely comical." Now, here's where the story gets even worse. Not only are Madison, the WHEDA, and several banks involved, but so is the (U.S.) federal government. And, they're working with the Mexican government to get loans to illegal aliens. The FDIC is "independent agency of the federal government", and last year they continued a pilot program they started in 2003: ...Under this pilot program, which is located in Chicago, the FDIC, the Mexican Consulate, more than 63 banks, credit unions, community organizations and government agencies have come together to form this New Alliance Task Force... One of its efforts is reaching out to persons who send money in the form of remittances to other countries... When asked about the propriety of the FDIC helping banks give loans to illegal aliens, an FDIC spokesman replied: "A home might be the ultimate dream, as with any other family. The important thing is that they have access. There might be some criticism, but immigration issues are not our purview." For more information, see:
Homeland Security--the words sound as though the United States of America has taken care of all the major problems.........however, nothing could be further from the truth. Arrests were made by the federal authorities this past week in Texas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma of 60 illegal aliens working in sensitive infrastructure locations. These illegals from Mexico, Guatamala, and Honduras were all working for Brock Enterprises and they had access to power plants, air cargo facilities, and pipeline facilities. I am sure this information will make all of us sleep better tonight knowing our homeland is secure.........NOT.
A week ago, Vicente Fox said: "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..." In response, Jesse Jackson called Fox's statement "a spurious comparison... [with] ominous racial overtones." 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." Jackson even visited Mexico. From "Fox 'expresses regret' to Jackson for remark": ...During a 40-minute meeting, Fox said he was sorry the statement had offended Americans, Jackson said. 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... MALDEF was more or less created by the Ford Foundation, and they've received millions from them as well as from other left-wing foundations, such as George Soros' Open Society Institute. Much more about them at the link. The post "Mexico might sue Sgt. Patrick Haab" discussed how Mexico was considering suing that U.S. Army reservist with the help of a Los Angeles "human rights group", and, while I don't know the actual group, MALDEF would be the chief suspect. Wait, it gets worse: 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... For just a small example of what MALDEF might mean by "voting rights", in 2003 UCLA professor Joaquin Avila (bio) issued a report claiming that not giving the vote to non-citizens amounted to political apartheid. It turns out that Avila worked at UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center, which was started with a grant from... the Ford Foundation. He was also a former president of... MALDEF. In contrast, the latest from Rev. Al Sharpton is this: ...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...
In an earlier post, I quoted Norwegian blogger Fjordman on Sweden's trouble integrating its (mainly Muslim) immigrant population.
Dr. Ole Jørgen Anfindsen, editor, HonestThinking.org, believes that Norwegian authorities have cheated* with prognoses for the number of immigrants. According to his numbers, ethnic Norwegians will become a minority in their own country before 2050 if the current trends continue. The number of Muslims in Norway over 15 years has quadrupled, meaning an annual growth of more than 9%. A Norwegian researcher warns that ethnic gangs can give Norway the kind of immigrant-related organized crime that accompanied waves of migration to the USA. Dr. Inger-Lise Lien concludes that the ethnic groups themselves are worried. Oslo, which used to be a safe Scandinavian city, today looks more like New York City pre-Giuliani. Native Norwegians are quietly moving out of the immigrant ghettos in inner-city Oslo in large numbers. Tensions with immigrants have spread even to smaller towns. The trend is identical to what can be seen in neighboring Sweden, where several cities are now on the verge of collapse. Norway has already experienced what seems to have been an attempted Islamic terror attack. At the same time, there is new legislation proposed against "discriminating" statements made about specific groups, even on Internet discussion forums and websites. Which means that Norwegians can't say too much about Muslim immigrants destroying the country, because that is racism and thus illegal.
The Wall Street Journal has published several Open Borders editorials over the years. If any of them could be singled out as the low point, it might be the June 17, 2004 editorial "Borderline Republicans" which more or less endorsed U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). This was two days after the Deseret News published "Illegal plea for illegals' cash?" ("As Rep. Chris Cannon sat by, one of his aides urged any illegal aliens listening to a Spanish-language radio talk show to funnel money into his campaign by giving it to U.S. citizens who could donate it legally...") That editorial is also discussed in "Post-Americans". More on Cannon starting here. Perhaps for some balance, or (much less likely) as indication of a sea change, today's WSJ has a guest editorial from Leo W. Banks entitled "Minutemen Are People, Too": ...In the view of most of the reporters who parachuted into Arizona for this story and, disturbingly, local ones as well, you'd get the distinct impression that the Minutemen are the problem along the border. That's right. America needn't worry about the thousands who bust into the country every night. No, the real danger are those yahoos who think calling the cops when they see somebody breaking the law is a good idea...
The cable TV show "What's right with America" attended the recent near riot in Baldwin Park and shot two hours of footage. They plan to air parts of it tonight in the Santa Barbara area on Channel 17. You can view a teaser here. It includes a protester yelling "Go back to Europe" and someone crossing out an American flag. The show's host promises even more in the full footage. It becomes clearer day by day that the L.A. Times reporters appear to have attended a completely different event or something similar (see "Protest Over Art Forces Police to Draw the Line" for their take). Please contact readers.rep *at* latimes.com and suggest that they compare the story they printed with the videos and pictures from those who were on the scene.
Remember the REAL ID Act loopholes creating state driver’s licenses ("temporary" ones, that is) for illegal aliens? I've analyzed the newly-minted federal standards for temporary driver's licenses (benefiting various foreign nationals including assorted illegal aliens) in my latest column on VDARE.com. Who says illegal aliens can't get driver's licenses? REAL ID gives a temporary license for every temporary worker. If John McCain and Ted Kennedy somehow carry the day with another amnesty disaster, the illegal aliens’ temporary state driver’s licenses will be a sure thing for anyone who so much as FILES for immigration status . . . courtesy of the federal government.
With the British elections over, France's upcoming May 29th referendum on the EU Constitution is Europe's next big story. While the US press seems to have hardly got wind of it, the referendum is in fact the most important European news story of the year -- and perhaps the decade. For however the vote goes -- and, in at least two countries, victory for the Constitution is anything but certain -- it will have a hugely important impact on the EU's 25 member states, not to mention the course of European-American relations.
The latter is not an option, at least for the moment. So what to make of the former?
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the UMP, is opposed to Turkey's entry to the EU because, he says, "Europe can't welcome every country in the world". And yet Sarkozy maintains that the increased cooperation envisionned by the constitutional treaty will allow the country's of Europe to better fight againt illegal immigration. The former Foreign Minister thus hopes to convince those on his Party's right -- a priori, the most hotile to the European construction -- to vote 'oui' in the referendum.
"There should have been a referendum on the euro, there should be a referendum on Turkish entry [...] I'm voting against the constitution because politicians cannot tell me why I should be voting for it."
You just can't please Mexico City:
Mexico will send a diplomatic letter to the United States protesting the extension of a wall along the U.S.-California border, officials said Friday.
A Monday round-up of immigration stories to keep an eye on: - Vicente Fox, racist? La Shawn Barber examines and Reuters updates the story. - Bloomberg News' Nicholas Johnston has an interesting piece on the split between Rep. Tom Tancredo and Denver open-borders business, First Data. - The Denver Post's David Harsanyi braves the MSM's pro-illegal immigration waters with a column on the idiocy of sanctuary laws. Bravo. - MS-13 Watch: Officials Fear Spread of Gang Activity From Washington - Joe Guzzardi on the LA mayor's race
The Save Our State organization organized a rally yesterday at the monument in Baldwin Park CA discussed here. A report is here, although I don't know whether it's exaggerated or not: Everything that we argued the monument stood for was reinforced by the hundreds of activists who opposed our presence in Baldwin Park. Numerous times we were told that this land is Mexico and that they were taking it back. Numerous times racists epithets were hurled away. One person even hurled a full water bottle at our side and sent one of our activists to the hospital with bleeding in the brain. Unfortunately, she is now in the intensive care unit and we are all praying and hoping for the best. Several links about this event, including pictures and video, are currently on the front page here. The AP report ("Baldwin Park public artwork angers group opposed to illegal immigration") incorrectly states that no one was injured, and it's probably not a complete picture of the event. I confirmed with the Baldwin Park P.D. that there was the one injury described above and that the victim is in the ICU. The Baldwin Park police are investigating this matter. However, I'm not holding out much hope of local or national political leaders condemning this attack. UPDATE: There are more pictures here. Pictures from someone on the other side are here. So far, I've seen banners from the Los Angeles branch of A.N.S.W.E.R., the San Gabriel Valley Neighbors for Peace and Justice, and the International Socialist Organization. Other, even less reputable outfits may have been involved. Note that not all of those on the wrong side were Hispanic, and that reportedly 1/3 of those on the right side were Hispanic. UPDATE 2: The AP report above appears to have been derived from the extraordinarily biased Los Angeles Times report "Protest Over Art Forces Police to Draw the Line" from David Pierson and Patricia Ward Biederman. The LAT report makes it sound like it was just one big party for peace and justice: ...Opponents of Save Our State consisted mainly of young adults who said they sent e-mails to Latino and immigrant worker advocacy groups. Many were politically active teenagers and college students who skateboarded to the scene... They even describe A.N.S.W.E.R. L.A. as an "antiwar and anti-racism group" without any quotes or hedging. Apparently the L.A. Times didn't get the memo from committed lefties David Corn and Marc Cooper, neither of whom had good words for the parent organization. There's more on the L.A. Times' report and on the groups involved here. You can see a copy of the email that A.N.S.W.E.R. L.A. sent out at these google caches: that of polizeros.com and that of answerla.org . Please contact readers.rep *at* latimes.com and feedback *at* ap.org with your thoughts on their coverage. 5/16/05 UPDATE: The LAT published a blurb from "a Times Staff Writer" stating that the victim had been observed overnight in an ICU. It also says that police are investigating the attack as an assault with a deadly weapon. Also, the second paragraph of the main LAT article says that the protest was announced on the John and Ken Show (KFI 640AM Los Angeles). On their show, John and Ken say that that's false. The protest and the monument were discussed on two other KFI shows, but not theirs. They contacted one of the reporters and were told that a correction would be printed. Apparently the reporter was told that by one of the SOS protesters and didn't confirm it.
The California Mafia blog reports on a voter initiative sponsored by state Assemblyman Ray Haynes to establish a California Border Patrol: The Assemblyman said that the CBP would be a comprehensive uniformed agency with sworn officers that would be charged with enforcing state and federal laws regarding immigration. As he said, one of the major problems right now in California is that the federal Border Patrol does very little beyond the actual border. The CBP would be used for "interior enforcement" of laws.
Sac Bee political columnist Dan Weintraub writes (May 12, registration free):
Haynes holds out little hope that his proposal will be approved in the Legislature, where it would take a two-thirds vote in each house to place it on the ballot. But he has enlisted the help of Rescue California, the political committee behind the 2003 recall of former Gov. Gray Davis, to help him gather signatures. And the consultant who ran that signature gathering operation, David Gilliard, is filling the same role for this effort.
Reader Tim Sumner sent the Social Security Administration the following e-mail:
Here's the response he got: In other words, Sumner explains, employers "never have to submit the accurate social security numbers of their employees. They never have to fire an employee who can not or will not give you evidence they have a valid social security number. In fact, the SSA warns employees against firing, suspending, or laying-off an employee whose number does not match the SSA's records."
So says a blatantly racist monument in Baldwin Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. Details at Blue State Conservatives.
Jerry Seper in the Washington Times has the story in "Border Patrol told to stand down in Arizona". BP supervisors allegedly told their agents to minimize arrests in the area patrolled by the Minuteman Project volunteers last month. An increase in arrests would show that the MMP did their job. This was discussed here last week in the post "MMP organizer denied access to DHS press conference". Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) received an email from "a very credible source within the U.S. Border Patrol" who stated that Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief Michael Nicely had given these orders. Nicely had also given the order to exclude MMP organizer Chris Simcox from a DHS press conference. In their report, the Washington Times says: ...More than a dozen agents, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said orders relayed by Border Patrol supervisors at the Naco, Ariz., station made it clear that arrests were "not to go up" along the 23-mile section of border that the volunteers monitored to protest illegal immigration.
Sens. McCain and Kennedy have introduced the "2005 Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act". They were joined by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ). 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. Reports on the bill are in "Bill would tighten border security, increase information sharing", "Bills could grant legality to 10 million immigrants". Kennedy's press release has a 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. Meanwhile those in favor of the bill have issued their own press releases. (Click the links for background on the groups mentioned.) The press release from FIRM ("Fair Immmigration Reform Movement") contains this statement from FIRM organizer Deepak Bhargava: For too long Americans have benefited from the hard work of millions of law-abiding undocumented workers that have had to endure a life of fear of deportation and discrimination. FIRM is a project of the Center for Community Change, and 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 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 another source: ...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. UPDATE: Continuing our guilt-by-association but entirely-justified tour, 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."
Because they're going to Texas: Chris Simcox, the leader of the controversial Arizona group that is attempting to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from Mexico, says he is considering October for the beginning of patrols along the Rio Grande in South Texas. Other patrols are being considered for New Mexico and California. That is the truth. Depending on which part of the Texas-Mexico border they plan to patrol, the Minutemen could run into anything from murderous death cultists (in the Brownsville-Matamoros area) to drug runners to terrorists--along with the fruit pickers and others who cross illegally for work and whatnot. Whether the Bush administration ever figures it out or not, the Mexican border is one gigantic security hole that drains the US of money while skewing all of our crime stats for the worse.
As promised, some last words on the UK elections. In the weeks leading up to May 5th, I wrote quite a lot about the Conservative Party's decision to put immigration reform at the center of its campaign (see here and here). The Tories' strategy made sound political sense, I argued, and was their best bet for reversing their long slide into irrelevance.
The Guardian 09/05: "Tories say backing off immigration cost 10 seats"
Tomorrow, French Minister of the Interior Dominique de Villepin (better known to Americans from his earlier role as Foreign Minister) is to present a series of proposals to reduce illegal immigration to France. The timing and nature of the proposals are clearly intended to still fears among voters on the right in the run-up to France's May 29th referendum on the European Constitution.
Creating a public agency charged with overseeing immigration, reinforcing the border police, modifying the Civil Code in order to fight against bogus mariages, setting up a national database to oversee residence permits, establishing a list of safe countries in order to more rapidly process asylum applications... With only three to go before the referendum on the European Constitution, immigration continues to worry many voters. With his plan, Dominque de Villepin shows the government's desire to "rapidly and effectively" respond to the problem of illegal immigration.
If European immigration policy is in shambles, it's because the EU has made it that way. French voters must now decide whether to remain with the present incoherent system or instead put their faith in further consolidation. A Pascalian wager if there ever was one.
It's out of the question! The massive amnesties of 1981 and 1997 ended in failure. Each time, they produced a sudden rush of new immigrants.
Here's the summary of the WND article "Feds pay $5.8 billion to jail criminal aliens": - Criminal aliens in federal prisons: 42,000 at end of 2001; 49,000 at end of 2004 The price tag? Around $2 billion per year over the past three years. Note that most of that amount was spent on the federal system, with a smaller portion going to partially reimburse states and local governments. Those reimbursements occur under the SCAAP ("State Criminal Alien Assistance Program") program. Since states and localities are only partially reimbursed, the full price tag for incarcerating those criminal aliens was probably a good bit higher. WND gets their figures from the GAO, and you can read the GAO's report in this PDF file. Note also this: The Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday, March 17 [2005], 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... UPDATE: "U.S. falls short on share of jail cost" has the California-specific details: "Illegal immigrants cost $635 million to lock up in '03, but state got $77 million..."
Hospitals and other health care providers can now get reimbursed by the federal government for unreimbursed emergency care to illegal aliens. Up to $250 million per year will be available for four years. Details in the AP's "Government to reimburse hospitals for emergency care for illegal aliens". (Same AP report here. A more detailed AZ-specific report in "Feds to pay for treating ailing illegal immigrants".) The only problem is that this might not be enough to cover all the costs associated with such unreimbursed care. For instance, Arizona will get $45 million/year under this plan. However: Arizona hospitals spend $150 million annually to provide care to illegal aliens, according to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association Could they by overstating matters? Perhaps. But, by over $100 million? And: Although a national total of annual unreimbursed medical expenses for illegal aliens is not available, it is clear that those costs are more than one billion dollars, given estimates for Texas ($393 million), Los Angeles ($350 million), Florida ($40 million), and U.S.-Mexico border counties ($300 million). And, from thousands of miles away from the Southwest: New Jersey's escalating population of illegal immigrants is placing an ever-growing burden on the state's hospitals, which expect to lose $200 million this year on care to the underground community. More here, here, here, and here. UPDATE: The NYT's "U.S. to pay for illegals' emergency care" crunches the numbers: ...even if the entire nearly $71 million allocated for California were reimbursed only to San Diego County health providers taking care of undocumented patients, the amount would fall $29 million short of covering the basic cost of that care...
There's a massive search on in Denver for the killer of decorated police detective Donald R. Young--"a married father of two and a recipient of the police Medal of Honor and other awards. He was approached from the back and shot multiple times as he worked security for an event at a hall often used for birthday parties and baptisms." Another cop was shot in the ambush and survived. The Rocky Mountain News reports: Police said they were looking for a tattooed male suspect, age 20 to 25. Police Chief Gerry Whitman said he considered the suspect dangerous. AP details: Police are looking for a suspect described as a slightly heavy set Hispanic male, standing between five feet six and five feet ten inches,weighing between 140-150 pounds. He had a shaved head and was wearing a white t-shirt. Denver police ask anyone with any information to call their office at (720) 913-2000. None of the MSM stories dare to point out relevant information: MS-13, comprised mainly of tattooed young Hispanic males prone to violence, has been implicated in cop murders and cop ambush threats before. The manhunt continues. Will keep you updated. Keep Detective Young's wife and young daughters in your prayers. Update: Suspect sketch is here.
The Mexican government might sue the U.S. Army reservist who detained a group of illegal aliens in Arizona last month. Local officials decided that he did not commit a crime. (Backstory here, results of a poll on his actions here.) Mexico is reportedly working with a "human rights group" in Los Angeles on the matter. "Mexico may sue reservist in migrant detention" has a few more details: The lawsuit could argue that reserve Sgt. Patrick Haab engaged in assault or illegal detention of the immigrants or caused them mental anguish, [Geronimo Gutierrez, the Mexican deputy foreign secretary for North America] said. I can think of at least three usual suspects that Mexico might be working with, and I'll update this post if I find out which it is.
Former colonial powers like France and Britain are not the only European countries suffering from the breakdown of assimilation mechanisms consequent upon mass immigration. The countries of Scandinavia are as well. Given their small populations and generous welfare states, the results are, if anything, even more dramatic.
According to some estimates, the rapidly growing Muslim immigrant population may turn Malmö into a Muslim majority city within about ten years. It will be the first major Scandinavian city to enjoy this honor, although perhaps not the last. Native Swedes are leaving the city in droves, as crime is rampant and the police publicly admit they don't control all parts of the city. There are now gangs in Malmö specialized in assaulting old people visiting the graves of relatives. Robberies have increased with 50 % in Malmö only during the fall of 2004. The city is descending into general chaos. Fights in the city's movie theatres have become a recurrent problem. Numbers released in January 2005 indicate a sharp rise in the number of rape charges in Malmö. Thomas Anderberg, responsible for statistics at the Malmö Police, says there was a doubling of the number of reported rapes by ambush in 2004, following what was already a decade of steadily increasing numbers of sexual crimes.
The diversity, individualism and mobility that characterise developed economies - especially in the era of globalisation - mean that more of our lives is spent among strangers. Ever since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, humans have been used to dealing with people from beyond their own extended kin groups. The difference now in a developed country such as Britain is that we not only live among stranger citizens but we must share with them. We share public services and parts of our income in the welfare state, we share public spaces in towns and cities where we are squashed together on buses, trains and tubes, and we share in a democratic conversation - filtered by the media - about the collective choices we wish to make. All such acts of sharing are more smoothly and generously negotiated if we can take for granted a limited set of common values and assumptions. But as Britain becomes more diverse that common culture is being eroded.
Yesterday, the new head of the DHS, Michael Chertoff, visited Arizona for a first-hand look at border issues and gave a press conference. Chris Simcox, one of the organizers of the Minuteman Project, was specifically denied access to the press conference. Neither he nor the Sierra Vista Herald have been able to get an exact answer why. Simcox is also the owner, editor, and a reporter for the Tombstone Tumbleweed, which is a real albeit very small circulation newspaper. Other members of the Arizona press were, of course, allowed into the press conference as the quotes in the previous post shows. The Herald has more in "Simcox denied access to press conference". It says Simcox is considering contacting the American Civil Liberties Union for help, but I don't know exactly how to interpret that. The order to exclude Simcox reportedly came from Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief Michael Nicely. A few days ago there were unconfirmed reports that Nicely had tried to make it look like the MMP was not as successful as it was. This is described here, which includes this: ...Congressman Tancredo, citing an email he received from what he calls "a very credible source within the U.S. Border Patrol," said that Chief Nicely, who, once again, is the Tucson Sector Chief, issued a directive insisting that "apprehensions even are below that that were in progress during the minutemen presence on the border, for the purpose of trying to say, or to prove their point that the Minutemen’s (sic) did nothing, didn’t help, really had no effect on apprehensions." UPDATE: The WashTimes has more in "Homeland Security bars organizer of Minutemen": Chief Nicely has said the Minutemen's efforts against illegal immigration were "negligible" and they should leave border enforcement "to the professionals." ...Border Patrol spokesman Jose Garza in Tucson confirmed that Mr. Simcox was excluded from the press conference on the orders of Chief Nicely, but said it was "because of security reasons." ...He declined to elaborate and would not comment on whether Mr. Simcox was the potential security threat or whether anyone had made a threat against him...
Peter Gadiel is the president of 9/11 Families for a Secure America, a group of 9/11 families that have received less press attention than other similar groups. On April 13's Lou Dobbs show on CNN, he showed Dobbs a "Matricula Consular" card, which is an old form of identification issued by the Mexican government that's lately been reproposed as IDs for illegal aliens. In response, Arturo Sarukhan, Consul General of Mexico, sent Gadiel a letter that includes the following: In this regard, I would kindly ask you to surrender to this Consulate General the forged identification card which you have claimed you purchased in California in order to begin the corresponding investigation along with the federal authorities in New York and California. I am also advising you that our attorneys are currently exploring all legal avenues on this matter to determine responsibilities in the purchase and use of a forged Mexican government issued ID. The PDF file with the letter is here. Gadiel discussed this on Lou Dobb's show last night, and the transcript is here, which includes this: GADIEL: [Matricular Consular cards] are for sale everywhere. They are not at all secure. And -- but the important thing that people should remember is that it isn't the card itself that -- for example, a driver's license can be counterfeited. But it's not the card itself that's the process, the database at the Motor Vehicles Department that makes the card secure. This -- there is no database, according to the FBI, and even if there were a database in Mexico, it's quite likely the Mexican government would not allow our government access to it, because that would reveal the names and addresses of illegal aliens living in this country... Most likely nothing will come of this, however it is certainly a telling incident. Of course, the Mexican government also tried to block the Minuteman project, even hiring an unknown Los Angeles law firm to help them in their efforts. They've taken other legal steps, including suing the U.S. in the International Court of Justice over Mexican nationals being executed for committing crimes in the U.S. And, you can read about a similar threat being made not by the Mexican government, but by Los Angeles County supervisor Gloria Molina. "Consular IDs help illegals evade immigration law" has more on a GAO report on the cards. The FBI does not consider them a reliable form of identification. Despite that, the Bush administration supports them and they're accepted by many banks across the U.S. That last link also details how Mexican consuls drive around the backroads of the U.S. passing out the cards to their citizens, irregardless of whether they're here legally or not. No, really. UPDATE: Not only banks but local governments accept the cards as valid ID. Mexican consuls also attend local city council meetings (frequently with illegal aliens along as a cheering section) pitching the councils on accepting the cards. Here are just two examples: Napa, CA and St. Clair County MI. Nancy Pelosi even tried to get Matricula Consular cards accepted as valid ID at the federal building in San Francisco. Her spokeswoman said it was so Pelosi's "constituents" could visit Pelosi's office there.
Michelle points to Powerline's take on yesterday's British election: Iraq, not immigration, was decisive in reducing Labour's majority. In support of this view, Powerline's Paul Mirengoff points to the percentage of the popular vote gained by each party:
Labour's share of the popular vote declined by 4.5 percent, from about 40.5 percent to about 36 percent. The share of the anti-war Liberal Democrats increased by 4.4 percent. So one can argue that Blair's decision to go to war and/or the way he went about it caused at most one tenth of his voters to defect.
An illegal alien testified before the Wisconsin state legislature earlier this week: "I'm really scared right now, if I get caught without a license," said Angel Porras, 27, of Whitewater, who said he was in the country illegally. "We're not asking for much - just a little bit." (Hat tip: Mark Krikorian)
So the results are now in: Tories up, Labour down, Lib Dems very slightly better off.
Or at least it was obvious to me. MSM coverage of the Howard campaign has been more than usually incompetent, with many pundits blaming Howard for the next "Labour landslide" days and sometimes weeks before the election. Invariably, immigration headlined their list of grievances. Thus the execrable Anatole Kaletsky -- no friend of immigration reform, he -- writing for the Times one week ago:
By the end of next week, if the polls are to be believed, nobody will be interested in reading about the Tories and Michael Howard.
The Conservative party is the worst answer to what is wrong with Britain. Immediately this is because of the damaging and divisive campaign on immigration that Michael Howard has run this time. For this reason alone, it is vital to stop the Conservatives.
The new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, paid a visit to the Arizona border earlier today. Sens. McCain and Kyl and AZ Gov. Napolitano were there as well, and it appears to have been a just a standard first-hand look without much news interest. The AP quotes him as saying "the issue of securing the border is a homeland security issue, it's an immigration issue and it's also a humanitarian issue." And, from this: Chertoff says, "Obviously, we do need more folks. We do need more technology, and then, we need to organize that in a way that gets us the most bang for our buck." For some reason he bypassed the heavily trafficked (and heavily impacted) Tohono O'odham Reservation, which stretches from near Tucson to the border. In Texas, a group of borderland sheriffs have formed the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition to help combat potential criminals and terrorists coming from Mexico: The host of the meeting, Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores, in Laredo, tells VOA that the surge in drug-related violence in Mexico does not stop at the Rio Grande river, which separates the two countries there. (If you now need a laugh, see this almost incoherent guilty liberal report from CBS 5 in the San Francisco Bay Area.)
Exit polls for the UK elections were released a little over two hours ago. They gave Labour a solid -- if diminshed -- victory, with the vote divided as follows: Conservative 33%, Labour 37%, Liberal Democrat 22%.
On May 5, Mass. State Represenstative Marie Parente read the following statement to the legislature on behalf of the members of 9/11 Families for a Secure America
The murders of our loved ones were made possible by this country’s failure to enforce its immigration laws. That failure to limit entry by illegal aliens or to attempt to screen illegals for the purpose of keeping out criminals and terrorists led directly to the 9/11 attacks and the murders of our family members. The 9/11 mass murderers could carry out their conspiracy because there are 10 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Those illegals acted as an ‘ocean’ in which the terrorists could hide in plain sight. That huge population of “undocumented” people guaranteed the hijackers that once inside our borders they could reside here and plan their attacks without any risk of detection. When there are millions of illegals living in communities and moving around the country an additional nineteen are not noticeable…until they murder 3,000 people. Illegal aliens come to the US and are able to remain here only because they know that they can get employment (at low wages to replace citizens), get free health care, free K thru 12 education for their children, housing, etc. Illegals also know that banks will accept dangerously unreliable consular cards as a basis for transacting business and that some states will give them drivers’ licenses. Without these incentives no alien would want to violate our laws and illegally enter or live here. House Bill 1230, offering in-state tuition to illegal aliens, provides an additional incentive to illegals to remain here and will serve only to perpetuate this population of law violators and encourage more to join them. It will preserve the population of lawbreakers that provided concealment for the terrorists. If government itself grants this sort of license to an illegal population, in the process it gives the same license to terrorists to live among us, travel, plan, open bank accounts, explore Logan Airport for security weaknesses, and ultimately to commit mass murder. A nation that permits millions of people to openly violate its laws and actually grants these lawbreakers nearly all the rights of citizens, is one that INVITES terrorism. If you pass this bill your message to millions of potential illegals around the world is clear: “Come to the US. The law in America means nothing. Come live here, work here, bring your parents, in-laws, cousins. Americans don’t care. When you come as ‘undocumented’ immigrants of course we won’t know anything about your real identity, but that doesn’t matter because, if some of you, hiding among the vast communities of other illegals, carry out another 9/11 style attack that’s all right because that’s part of the price of having cheap labor.” Legislators should also be aware that enactment of House Bill 1230 will put the Commonwealth in direct violation of federal law. Enactment of a similar bill in 2004 in Kansas has resulted in a lawsuit by out of state students in the Kansas public higher education system for refund of the difference between instate and out of state tuition rates. Their claim for damages, for only one year, is thirty-seven million dollars in a system considerably smaller than the Commonwealth’s. House Bill 1230 will have one other disastrous effect. Because the space at Massachusetts’ public colleges is limited, the very people who are most dependent on low cost higher education, the poor, will be the ones to bear the burden of this bill. The wealthy will be able to afford to send their children to private schools. However, parents of children from Roxbury and other low income neighborhoods, denied admission in order to make room for illegal aliens, will not be able to pay those costs, and it is these children who will pay the price for this ill-considered legislation. The damage that House Bill 1230 would inflict on the taxpayers and the poor of the Commonwealth is considerable, but we, as relatives of the victims of 9/11, ask you most of all to remember that illegal immigration and terrorism are problems that cannot be separated. We say to the General court, on behalf of thousands of terrorism’s victims and their families: you can help begin the process of ending illegal immigration and the concealment it provides for terrorists by defeating House Bill 1230. On the contrary, if you pass this legislation you are stating that the Commonwealth encourages illegal aliens and the unidentified terrorists among them to continue to ignore our laws. We hope that you will remember the 3000 dead of 9/11 and vote to defeat House Bill 1230 Board of Directors, 9/11Families for a Secure America Bruce DeCell (Det.Sgt. NYPD, Retired), Father in law of Mark Petrocelli, age 29 Bill Doyle, Father of Joseph, age 24, WTC North Tower Peter Gadiel Father of James, age 23, WTC, North Tower 103rd Floor Grace Godshalk Mother of William R. Godshalk, age 35 WTC, South Tower, 89th Floor Joan Molinaro Mother of Firefighter Carl Molinaro Will Sekzer, Detective Sgt (ret’d) NYPD Father of Jason, age 31, WTC, North Tower, 105th Floor Diana Stewart Michael Stewart WTC
California State Senator Gil Cedillo is an inveterate sponsor of bills trying to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He continually repeats the "it's for public safety" mantra, but his past actions and statements make it clear that something else is involved. You can read more about him here and here. The possibility that the federal government might stop illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses seems to have caused him to try a new tack. S.B. 591 would amend the CA Vehicle Code's section relating to impounding vehicles: ...This bill would require a city or county to exempt a person from the impound period where the offense involves a person who has never been issued a driver's license due to an inability to meet the requirement that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law... According to Eric Leonard on KFI 640 AM Los Angeles, the LAPD might come out with an official stance on this bill. The bill is currently going through committees. See the status here and the history here. (Note: all the bill-oriented links might be replaced with later versions at some time. Here's the bill's main page.) If you live in California, please contact your representatives and stress your opposition: Senate, Assembly.
So Irshad Manji, Canada's foremost Muslim-lesbian-feminist, has written an editorial for the LA Times on last week's Schwartzenneger border controversy. Pitching the piece to Michael Kinsley, she must have said something like this: "Look, Michael, Americans are suspicious of Europeans, especially after the Iraq War, so if we suggest that Schwartzenneger (an Austrian!) is following the European lead in calling for tighter borders, we can throw his proposals into populist disrepute."
The point of the editorial is to suggest that the same holds true for the Mexican presence in the US. There's a parallel being drawn here, even if it's never made explicit: America's Mexicans, like Europe's Muslims, are funding the lavishness and reproductive irresponsibility of an aging population. We'll pay for you, say Manji's immigrants, but only on our terms...
We fear Muslim lunatics who bomb train stations and assassinate critics, who kill their own sisters rather than have those sisters marry with one of us. We fear Moroccan boys because they have the highes crime rate of all juveniles. Because they have re-introduced gay-bashing to Amsterdam. Now, I happen to think that in time, these problems will probably go away. But that does not mean it's racist to wish these problems never had come up. Large scale immigration is something you cannot easily undo.
Groundswell makes Clear Channel back down from promoting the Mexican capture of Los Angeles: In response to community feedback, Clear Channel Outdoor spoke with the local advertiser and reached agreement on revised ad copy. That copy is expected to be posted by 5/6/05. Anyone seeking further comment is invited to contact the TV station directly. Channel 62 phone 818-563-5722. The mild phrase "community feedback" has been noted by others. Let's just say "feedback" insufficiently captures the spirit and leave it at that.
Especially in the border states:
The trend is nationwide, federal records show, but bearing the brunt of this sudden surge is the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In the year ending June 30, 2001, the immigration caseload was 965. It skyrocketed to 4,835 cases in the year ending in June 2004.
The titular quote is from Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief political strategist concerning Arnold's recent remarks about illegal immigration. A survey of MSM articles about Arnold's remarks reveals that to be a correct observation. And, most of the commentary about Arnold's remarks assumes that the reader isn't going to have heard the original interview, and reporters and others seem to have offered their own "interpretations" of his remarks. You can read a transcript of the interview here. Further, many of those articles seem to be reading from the same script. Of all the articles described below, all but two point out that president Bush called the MMP volunteers "vigilantes." And, three of the articles include quotes from the Chairman of the California Democratic Party, Art Torres. Here's an older quote from Torres: ...power is not given to you -- you have to take it. Remember: [proposition] 187 is the last gasp of white America in California. Understand that. And people say to me on the Senate floor when I was in the Senate, 'Why do you fight so hard for affirmative action programs?' And I tell my white colleagues, 'because you're going to need them.' The fact that Torres (Chairman of the California Democratic Party) once referred to "the last gasp of white America in California" seems to have escaped the notice of those papers that recently quoted him. The SacBee's "Governor: No political aim in border remarks" includes quotes from Torres and mentions Bush's remark. It also includes the thoughts of Lenard Liberman of KRCA. Please suggest that the SacBee should have put Torres' and Liberman's quotes in their proper context: ombud *at* sacbee.com The PC industry returns in AP's "After praising border patrols, Schwarzenegger claims title, 'champion of immigrants'". The title is presumably meant to be ironic, as if legal immigrants should somehow support illegal immigration. Sorry, we know better. That article points out Bush's stance and includes quotes from Art Torres, as well as the thoughts of the SoCal chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU's press release is here. If you needed any more proof that, at least on immigration matters, the ACLU is a self-discrediting organization, compare their lies about Arnold's statements to the transcript. The AP's May 2 report "Citizens Focus on Arnold's Comments" from Tom Chorneau mentions Bush's opposition to the MMP and includes this: On Friday, Schwarzenegger clarified that he wanted to be a "champion of immigrants," but one of his aides also said the governor would welcome the Minuteman in California. Please ask the AP to give more background on those it quotes, and also educate them about there not being a conflict between supporting the MMP and being a "champion of immigrants": feedback *at* ap.org The L.A. Times editorial "Easy Target, Cheap Politics" is sleazy even by LAT standards. There's more here. The S.F. Chronicle editorial "Governor's borderline ideas" is childlike in its innocent "liberalism." There are massive downsides to massive illegal immigration, and there are even a few upsides. Yet, the Chronicle justs wants to see all those millions of illegal immigrants as cheap janitors without paying any attention to the downsides. It also mentions Bush's opposition to the MMP. Please consider writing a Letter to the Editors of the LAT and the Chronicle. The SDUT's "Schwarzenegger, lagging in polls, may have overplayed his hand" only mentions Arnold's immigration-related comments in passing. Yet, it also manages to work in Bush's opposition to the MMP. The article "Cinco de Mayo festival draws thousands" includes this highly misleading comment from Dolores Huerta: "...the governor is demeaning immigration and supporting vigilantism..." It also describes an official parade participant wearing a Nazi armband as an anti-Arnold symbol. Shades of the LAT Editorial Board. John Wildermuth and Mark Martin of the Scripps Howard News Service try to compare and contrast Arnold with Pete Wilson in "Schwarzenegger pushes immigrant hot button". In addition to other errors, the fact that they don't seem to see a difference between a legal immigrant like Arnold and massive illegal immigration means that their analysis is highly flawed. Please ask Peter Copeland, SH's Editor and general manager, to do a better job: copelandp *at* shns.com The NYT's "Schwarzenegger's Star Dipping as Californians Feel Its Singe" continues reading from the script by pointing out Bush's anti-MMP stance and including the thoughts of Art Torres. Please ask the NYT to give more background on those whom it quotes: public *at* nytimes.com
“Stupid people of America . . . if you ain’t mad, you ain’t payin’ attention!” Astute Immigration Blog readers should recognize this warning as the trademark greeting of radio talk show host Terry Anderson, known to fans as “the prisoner of South Central” [Los Angeles, that is] . . . not to be confused with the former American hostage in Lebanon of the same name. But lately I’ve found even greater wisdom in Anderson’s opening salutation. The truth is that if you’re interested in what’s happening with American immigration law enforcement (i.e…the lack thereof), you should be paying attention by staying up late on Sunday nights and tuning in to The Terry Anderson Show [midnight Eastern, 9 p.m. Pacific, live on various radio stations, KRLA radio over the internet, and on the Cable Radio Network – CRN] . . . at least every once in a while. Terry’s show is a one-stop-shopping weekly nationwide briefing about what’s really going on in the fight against the illegal alien invasion. Want to learn more about this one-of-a-kind show exclusively devoted to blowing the whistle on illegal immigration? Then check out my latest column on VDARE.com, which includes excerpts from Terry’s latest show. Terry discusses the recent “hold their feet to the fire” lobbying effort on Capitol Hill, and makes this (perhaps?) prophetic report: “It’s starting to work, folks!"
The relative calm at the 23 miles of contiguous border with AZ/Mexico will soon be a thing of the past. As the border vigil ends, we must stay focused on the purpose and mission the MMP was involved in. People who live in that southern AZ area were so thankful to "sleep through the night" while their border area was being watched by American patriots. The illegal invaders will return to their familiar and well-trod routes! The rule of law will again be trashed and the choas and travesty will be center stage. BUT the patriots and the mission accomplished one very important fact---THE LIGHT WAS CAST ON THIS NATIONAL DISGRACE!! Drug stories continue to be told across this country. In Mexico, 25 year old reporter Alfredo Mota disappeared April 2, 2005 while investigating government corruption and drug-trafficking cases linked to Arizona. Since 1993, there have been at least 34 Mexican reporters killed by drug cartels/gangs for trying to get the truth out to the public. In Yuma, AZ Border Patrol agents seize 5 R.V.s that were being used for smuggling.....and inside were 109 illegals!!! MORE TO COME.......THIS IS WHY THE ILLEGAL INVASION BATTLE MUST CONTINUE!!!!
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison talks up the MMP:
In a speech last night on the Budget Resolution, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison pointed to the Minuteman Project as underscoring the need for more Border Patrol agents:
The Minutemen have admirers--Gov. Schwarzenegger, the writers on this blog, and about 57% of the American people--and now they have imitators:
An organization of citizens in California, created last year to support the U.S. Border Patrol, will begin its own Minuteman-style vigil in August, using volunteers to spot illegal aliens in areas around San Diego, organizers said yesterday.
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