It’s official! According to President Bush, speaking Monday in Tucson, Arizona:
“One of the most effective tools we have in this effort is a process called expedited removal. Under expedited removal, non-Mexicans are detained and placed into streamlined proceedings. It allows us to deport them at an average of 32 days, almost three times faster than usual. In other words, we're cutting through the bureaucracy. Last year we used expedited removal to deport more than 20,000 non-Mexicans caught entering this country illegally between Tucson and Laredo. This program is so successful that the Secretary has expanded it all up and down the border. This is a straightforward idea. It says, when an illegal immigrant knows they'll be caught and sent home, they're less likely to come to the country. That's the message we're trying to send with expedited removal.”
Oh yeah?
The Commander In Chief is referring to the expedited removal provisions of Immigration Act Section 235(b) — which his own administration has still failed to implement to the fullest extent granted by Congress almost ten years ago.
The Section 235(b) authority as written by Congress allowed the summary removal of illegal aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States — within two years of entering illegally.
This expedited removal authority was created by the 104th Congress in amendments to the Immigration Act called the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996." The IIRIRA, known as the 1996 Act was signed by President Clinton on September 30, 1996, and became effective on April 1, 1997. The IIRIRA cut back on relief available for criminal aliens and known foreign terrorists, and called for the mandatory detention of more classes of convicted criminals who are foreign nationals.
So far, Immigration Act Section 235(b) has managed to withstand the legal onslaught of the pro-alien lobby in the federal courts.
But immediately after passage in 1996, the Clinton Administration, through then-INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, shamelessly mothballed most of Section 235(b). The Section 235(b) authority was only put into effect for immigration inspectors at ports of entry, not for any immigration officers in the interior of the country or outside of airport buildings.
But the Bush Administration has added its own stamp on crippling the expedited removal authority. It has implemented it slowly, partially and grudgingly—adding geographic restrictions, time restrictions, and also exempting Mexicans from the process entirely.
- In November, 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced regulations to cover illegal aliens arriving in the United States "at sea" under Section 235(b). I applauded the effort.
- In August, 2004, the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush Administration announced regulations allowing the Border Patrol to summarily remove illegal aliens found within 100 miles of a land border . . . if discovered within two weeks of their illegal entry.
The game of "pass the border and you’re home" with illegal aliens had gotten harder, but the Section 235(b) non-implementation scandal continued.
Remember that Congress has already given the federal executive agencies the absolute authority to summarily remove aliens found anywhere in the United States— within two years of entering illegally!
Alluding to Immigration Act Section 235(b) might make for some great (and desperately-needed) speech material right now.
But until the Bush Administration implements expedited removal law to the fullest extent of the law, that’s all it is — speech material.
Remember . . . you heard it here first:
[Original posting from the Juan Mann Archive on VDARE.com]
The amnesty-free TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act of 2005 made its official debut in the House of Representatives as H.R. 4313 last week, ending the suspense created following its unveiling by Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Virgil Goode (R-VA) as "the border fence bill."
The text of H.R. 4313 has yet to appear on Thomas. But a VDARE.COM reader kindly sent me an advance copy [PDF] after reading my last column.
So — does TRUE Enforcement live up to its advance billing?
Well, compared to the amnesty-filled garbage legislation now in Congress—whether packaged as "temporary worker" and "guest worker" programs—the 189-page collection of items in H.R. 4313 is certainly much closer to what’s needed.
TRUE Enforcement is the antidote to the Bush Administration’s Big Lie that another massive illegal alien non-deportation scheme and foreign worker importation program is necessary to make America more secure. This propaganda was peddled most recently by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff to the Senate Judiciary committee and to his own employees. In contrast, TRUE Enforcement looks like a knight in shining armor.
But what is "true" immigration law enforcement anyway?
Answer: Real immigration law enforcement is arresting aliens, deporting them, and making sure they stay out.
That means summary removal, not perpetual federal litigation. That means officers with guns removing as many interlopers and criminals as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This past July 4, I wrote about a "look-out-the-window" reality check for judging Congressional immigration proposals. It applies now more than ever:
"Until the time comes when Americans look out of their windows one morning and see vans, trucks, buses and trains filled with illegal aliens and criminal alien residents streaming outbound toward the border, or to the nearest airport out of the country . . . ONLY THEN will we know that something is being done.
"But until that day comes, Americans can know with absolute certainty that the federal government has done NOTHING to halt the illegal alien invasion of these United States . . . But until then, you’ll know that all of the "solutions" emanating from Congress—including the ghastly specter of another "amnesty"—are all just a lot of hot air."
So does TRUE Enforcement actually deport aliens?
Answer: Yes . . . well, some of them.
There are some excellent summary removal provisions in the bill. But unfortunately, there are other parts of the bill that work in the exact opposite direction, expanding and perpetuating the worst elements of the federal immigration litigation bureaucracy.
For example, the bill features three excellent summary removal amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that take jurisdiction away from the Immigration Court bureaucracy of the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
And that’s a good thing. Bravo!
But the bill then turns right around and authorizes the hiring of at least 250 more government attorneys—including 50 EOIR immigration judges to fuel the immigration litigation factory even further!
Remember there’s an important distinction among government lawyers. Hiring more Assistant United States Attorneys to actually prosecute immigration crimes and put criminal aliens in federal prison (for crimes such as reentry after deportation, alien smuggling, or for the newly-criminalized "illegal presence" grounds in the bill’s Sections 503 and 504) is GOOD.
But hiring even more EOIR immigration judges? . . . that’s BAD!
The internationalist faction in Congress would love to hack TRUE Enforcement to pieces. But there is hope.
The last two major immigration bills from 1996 (the AEDPA and IIRAIRA bills) actually established the important concepts of Expedited Removal and Reinstatement of Removal for the first time.
And those bills—America’s last attempt at real immigration law enforcement—passed both the House and Senate and were signed into law by none other than President Clinton.
So stranger things have happened, folks. A groundswell of popular support for "the border fence bill" could cause it to carry.
Click here for my section-by-section highlights of the TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act of 2005 (H.R. 4313) . . . which just might become law someday.
[Original posting on VDARE.com]
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is creating something called the "Office of New Americans Policy and Advocacy". And:
In addition to the new state office, Illinois officials plan to convene a 15-member advisory panel of business, religious, labor and other representatives that would provide recommendations on education, health care and other policies for immigrants.
The panel will be led by Juan Salgado, president of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Ricardo Millett, executive director of the Woods Fund of Chicago; and Ngoan Le, senior program officer for the Chicago Community Trust.
The ICIRR was last mentioned here in relation to the Jim Oberweis DVD; see that post for more links about them. Salgado was a panelist at the 7/22/04 "immigration reform" forum organized by First Data where a member of the audience was allegedly attacked by an "immigration" supporter. First Data is the parent company of Western Union, which makes a large amount of money off sending remittances from Mexicans in the U.S., no doubt a large number of whom are here illegally.
Is Blagojevich sure that this panel will represent America's best interests? Or, will it simply advocate even more illegal immigration into Illinois?
UPDATE: On 11/19, the ICIRR held an "Immigrant Justice Convention" where they showed the video of two illegal aliens working in Oberweis Dairy stores and demonized that gubanatorial candidate. Recommended blog coverage of this here and here, with more discussion here.
In tonight's episode of Law & Order, NBC will be featuring the Minuteman Project - by name. And, it looks like a smear job. From their summary:
MURDER OF SMUGGLING TRUCKER COULD BE LINKED TO BORDER PATROL GROUP -- When the owner of a big-rig trucking company is shot to death, Detectives Fontana (Dennis Farina) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) learn that the victim was hauling illegal aliens and suspect a member (Daniel Roebuck) citizen's border patrol group -- but their only witness is an undocumented Hispanic woman (Aixa Rosario Medina) who risks deportation if she testifies. Meanwhile, prosecutor McCoy (Sam Waterston) is incensed when the witness is physically intimidated as he tries to turn one organization member against the other in court.
Over on the right side you can watch their short promo, and the following is below the video:
Cold-blooded murder or Minutemen vigilantes on the border?
Chris Simcox of the MMP responds, demanding that NBC remove their name from the episode and air as many apologies as they have promos for this show:
The promotion NBC has been airing on its network for the Law & Order episode describes “twelve immigrants, cooked alive in a boiling hot truck” and asks, “was it murder, or Minutemen protecting our borders?” as the word Minutemen is flashed on the screen.
In the promotion, NBC promises the episode “will enrage America.”
...It is outrageous and unacceptable that NBC is using November sweeps to pump up its ratings and profits by smearing the Minutemen as murderers and placing our members’ safety in jeopardy in its attempt to ‘enrage America...
While an episode like this might temporarily boost ratings, it might also have the long-term effect of causing many people to tune out NBC and their advertisers.
Everyone might want to send a short, polite email to the president of NBC Entertainment letting him know what you think: Jeff.zucker *at* nbc.com
UPDATE: In the show, NBC featured the "Countrymen Project". However, in the text of their website and in the downloadable promo, they mentioned "Minutemen". Comments here and in "'Minuteman'-like murderers convicted on 'Law & Order'".
The TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act of 2005 was announced on November 3 by Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Virgil Goode (R-VA) and is currently “moving toward introduction this week or next”, according to FAIR’s Stein Report.
Right now, other than some talking points, the details of what’s actually in the bill are nowhere to be found in Thomas — the Library of Congress’ valuable legislative information site. Nevertheless, radio talk show host Terry Anderson already raved about “TRUE Enforcement” last week.
I’m a great fan of Terry. But I’m still waiting with bated breath for the details. I’m a great fan of Congressman Tom Tancredo too, but I didn’t like everything in his H.R. 3333 when I saw it.
Still, I have to admit that, judging by the talking points released so far, some of the “TRUE Enforcement” provisions are absolutely tantalizing for an Immigration-and-Nationality-Act-ophile like yours truly.
Consider the following teaser about the TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act of 2005, Title V – Penalties and Enforcement – Detention, Removal, and Departure:
- Streamlines removal of aliens incarcerated for criminal offenses
- Broadens the Expedited Exclusion statute to allow removal of illegal aliens in the U.S. less than five years
- Broadens scope of offenses subject to expedited removal
- Allows reinstatement of removal orders for illegal aliens reentering the U.S. illegally
- Increases penalties for illegal reentry
- Bars illegal aliens in the U.S. for more than 180 days from seeking cancellation of removal in court
Wow, I can’t wait!
But it gets even better. When I translate these talking points back into Immigration Act-speak, the sections of law targeted by “TRUE Enforcement” would warm the heart of any immigration law enforcement fan!
Some of my all-time favorites are here: expanding Section 235(b) expedited removal, restoring Section 241(a)(5) reinstatement of removal for previously-deported aliens, and shutting down the EOIR’s rolling amnesty for illegal aliens in the ridiculous Section 240A(b) “cancellation of removal for certain non-permanent residents.”
Now you’re speaking my language!
Although the devil is in the details, the concepts unveiled so far are right in line with what I’ve been beating the drum about for four years now . . . namely, taking jurisdiction away from the litigation bureaucracy of the EOIR (the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review) in order for the federal government to actually deport aliens.
Here’s a sample of my past efforts on these topics:
Summary Removal
Section 235(b) Expedited Removal
Ninth Circuit – (Morales) – reinstatement of removal
So stay tuned, immigration law enforcement fans. There just might be some amnesty-free “TRUE Enforcement” right around the corner.
[Original posting in the Juan Mann Archive on VDARE.com]
Jim Oberweis is a former primary challenger for Senate from Illinois, and he's now running for governor of that state. In the Senate primary last year he faced off against Jack Ryan who departed after a scandal involving his wife, actress Jeri Ryan from Startrek. Chiefly because Oberweis came out against illegal immigration, the GOP ignored him and embarked on a wild ride seeking another candidate: Mike Ditka, Ted Nugent, Bozo the Clown, and various others were considered before they finally settled on Alan Keyes, who proceeded to lose to Barack Obama by 43 points. My coverage of that starts here.
Now, Oberweis is having troubles from the "other" side. He also owns a large dairy and two illegal aliens were hired by a Florida subcontractor that cleans his stores. Those illegal aliens have filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor alleging that they were paid only half their wages, ending up with $3.23 an hour.
It doesn't sound good. Unless, of course, you look at the other facts.
First, it's unbelievable that someone who's campaigned against illegal immigration would knowingly hire illegal aliens or foster an environment where they could be hired. And, everyone seems to agree that Oberweis himself didn't know anything about the two illegal aliens.
And, the two illegal aliens worked in May, but the complaint was filed just recently.
And, there are two "immigrant's rights groups" involved in the case.
And, there's a DVD with footage of them working in one of his stores. That's a bit odd, no?
You add all that together, and it certainly sounds like a set-up, does it not?
One of the groups involved is the Chicago Workers' Day Laborer Collaboration, and the other is the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. The latter group's executive director is Joshua Hoyt. They also organized a march in Aurora IL recently. They support the AgJobs amnesty. And, the Chicago Tribune ran some pro-illegal immigration propaganda in which they were involved.
The Tribune has now offered an editorial discussing this matter and supporting immigration "reform". Unbelievably, they suggest that he stop complaining about "smear tactics" and watch the DVD of the illegal aliens at work. Perhaps they should consider doing a bit of journalism and looking into the circumstances of that DVD. Could the makers of the DVD have committed a crime by knowingly harboring or transporting illegal aliens?
For more on this story, see this and this.
Obviously, it's interesting that groups that make illegal immigration possible are complaining about what happens as a result of their actions. And, it's interesting that groups that support illegal immigration now want the government to investigate the type of abuses that illegal immigration makes possible.
Oberweis wants to stop illegal immigration, and if the U.S. did what he wants things like this wouldn't be an issue. He's against exploitation of illegal aliens; the other side makes it possible. How ironic.
And, although it's an editorial I think the circumstances make the above link fall in the purview of the Tribune's Public Editor. You can contact him here.
11/20/05 UPDATE: Oberweis has fired the subcontractor involved. And:
But an internal investigation conducted earlier this week by employees of Oberweis Dairy concluded that the complaints were "totally baseless" and that the workers in question were never employees of the dairy.
Rather, they were paid out of pocket by an employee of Patmar Janitorial Services without the knowledge of that company or Oberweis.
In a statement this week, Oberweis questioned whether the odd arrangement was evidence of a deliberate attempt to derail his campaign for governor.
"If we are able to contact (the worker), we will inquire as to whether he sought the services of (the two illegal immigrants) or, if by chance, (they) approached him to propose the unauthorized work on Oberweis property," Oberweis said...
It certainly sounds suspiciously like a setup. And, if you watch the video, you'll see one of the illegal aliens with a big smile on her face as she cleans a window at one of his stores, with the camera trained on the store's name all the while.
And, from 11/10's "Oberweis ends pact with immigrants' firm":
The workers have acknowledged that they had worked in the past with the immigrant advocates who helped to pursue the complaint and had previously criticized Oberweis for his stances against illegal immigration. But the advocates deny that they were trying to set up Oberweis.
How ridiculous is our immigration policy? Grandmas are taking up arms to secure a border that our government won't defend. Grandmas.
The "Granny Brigade," Carmen Mercer and Connie Foust, sits silently in the pitch-black desert night at their Minuteman observation post just a few yards from the dirt road and four-strand barbed-wire fence that separates the United States and Mexico.
With the temperature dropping into the low 40s and the wind whipping across the high desert, they wrap their legs in warm blankets. As sector bosses for more than two dozen Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers on the night shift along what is known as the Naco line, the women, who have a combined eight grandchildren, scan the area with a night-vision scope.
Suddenly, a dozen black-clad illegal aliens, some wearing scarves over their faces, scurry out of Mexico, having crossed silently under a railroad trestle near a dirt road about a half-mile south of the border -- using the rugged terrain and the area's brushy mesquite trees as cover.
"They were on us before we knew it," said Mrs. Mercer, a petite woman with a large .38-caliber revolver strapped to her hip. "They couldn't have been more than 10 feet from us, and we were looking right at them.
"We dropped to the ground, and I don't think they saw us," she said, gesturing with her arms as she relived the moment. "We whispered into the radio to report their position, hoping someone would hear us. It was very scary, but that's what we came out here to do."
The women's call had been heard by their Minuteman colleagues and several of the illegals later were rounded up by the U.S. Border Patrol, which responded after being called by the volunteers.
One of the grannies hits the proverbial nail on the head.
Mrs. Mercer who is divorced, met and married a U.S. serviceman stationed in her native Germany in 1979, later coming with him to the United States and becoming a U.S. citizen. She said the U.S. government's inability to keep massive numbers of illegal aliens out of the country is unfair to those legal immigrants who spend years trying to become U.S. citizens.
"I love America and all that it stands for," she said. "For those of us who stood in line and waited to become a part of this great country, it is unfair that others can ignore the process and the government doesn't seem to care."
Indeed. Read the rest.
The Bush Administration’s ongoing public relations offensive for its massive illegal alien non-deportation plan was resurrected recently with the testimony of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 18. Now Secretary Chertoff is bringing the "Secure Border Initiative” (SBI) propaganda push to a new audience—his own DHS employees.
It’s not working.
Secretary Chertoff addressed the DHS organization through a memorandum dated November 2, peddling the Bush Administration’s Big Lie that a "temporary worker program” would "help us strengthen interior enforcement” and "increase our security.” A VDARE.com reader provided a copy of the memo via e-mail on November 4. [PDF]
Chertoff’s DHS memorandum claims that the SBI "is built on a foundation of border security, interior enforcement, and a temporary worker program.”
Chertoff pays lip service to "a comprehensive view of immigration that aims for nothing less than to gain full control of our borders.” He goes on to mention the components of "border enforcement” and "interior enforcement.” But then he delivers the kicker—"the Temporary Worker Program.” Astute readers will now realize that the "Secure Border Initiative” is nothing more than a smokescreen for selling this renamed amnesty program.
Secretary Chertoff wrote:
"The Temporary Worker Program, proposed by President Bush last year, will help us strengthen interior enforcement. [Translation: by making deportable illegal aliens legal, there won’t be anyone to arrest!] The Temporary Worker Program will enable migrants to work in regulated, legal channels and will increase our security by giving us a better idea of who is entering our country and for what purpose.” [Translation: the "better idea” about who is here will be apparent only after the fact, when illegal aliens are given legal status through employment authorization.]
The danger in this latest propaganda effort is that, if Congress believes the Big Lie of SBI, then America may one day wake up with:
- more broken promises of border enforcement
- more broken promises of interior enforcement,
- and a massive, fully-implemented illegal alien amnesty free-for-all by stealth under the guise of a "temporary worker program."
"SBI" is the thinly-veiled harbinger of another disastrous amnesty betrayal.
Read the full story in my latest column on VDARE.com -- 11/07/05 - Even Federal Employees Revolt Against Bush’s "SBI" Big Lie and the Chertoff memo [PDF].
Nine states (CA, NM, WA, UT, TX OK, KS, IL and NY) have laws allowing certain illegal aliens to get college tuition at the discounted, in-state rate. Bills have been proposed in other states (for instance, Massachusetts) and even in the U.S. Congress (Orrin Hatch's DREAM Act), and they're supported by dozens of politicians. The news media does its job, publishing what amounts to pure propaganda: an endless series of sob stories and completely biased reporting (two very similar examples side-by-side).
One way to fight this is through the courts: here, here. Those states listed above are probably in violation of a federal law; the catch is that a judge recently ruled that only the DHS can enforce that law. That ruling is being appealed, and the DHS has so far refused to do their job despite repeated requests.
A perhaps easier way to fight this is by discrediting anyone who supports it. As it turns out, that's quite easy, since in-state tuition for illegal aliens is completely indefensible. All you need to do is ask a supporter:
Why do you support taking discounted college educations away from U.S. citizens and giving them to citizens of other countries?
There are only a finite number of colleges and only a finite number of discounted college educations available. And, there will always be more applicants than discounts. Every discount given to an illegal alien represents a discount that could have gone to a citizen or legal immigrant, but did not. In effect, this results in taking educations away from citizens and legal immigrants, and giving them to people who are not citizens and are not here legally. While some might certainly try, no one is going to be able to successfully defend doing that.
The only problem now is getting the word out. For that, I suggest you visit forums where candidates speak and ask them the question above. And, if you see a newspaper publishing a sob story in support of the DREAM Act or similar, send their ombudsman that question. Let's see how their emotionalism stands up to the facts.
The Mexican government, through its consulates in the U.S., has been routinely violating American sovereignty regarding immigration matters. Operating on the premise that migration to the U.S. is a fundamental human right possessed by all Mexicans, Mexican officials here and abroad oppose the enforcement of immigration laws and seek to import Mexican culture to American schools and communities. Naturally, the Bush Administration turns a blind eye to these diplomatic incursions. I write about this growing Mexican cheekiness in the latest City Journal.
As the illegal alien invasion of these United States continues—with the Bush Administration and the bulk of Congress doing everything in their power to frustrate any effort to actually deport aliens—the mood of the American people continues to deteriorate.
It’s very clear from the e-mail in my VDARE.com and Deport Aliens.com in-box that more and more Americans are getting desperate, angry and really wondering what to do.
In my latest column on VDARE.com, I posted this chilling e-mail on the fallout from the MS-13 gang in Virginia:
10/17/05 – I have been frantically trying to get the right phone number necessary in order to report and have an illegal alien deported from Virginia who is now in jail on 12 counts of different charges, who has threatened my daughter's life twice, and was locked up because he was trying to break into her house in —, VA.
I have talked to the Loudoun County police and they said they do not have any kind of INS office down there that they are in contact with. They didn't know anything about INS. I need to have this man deported for my daughter's safety. He is from El Salvador, and has been living in Leesburg, VA, in the MS13 corridor down in Leesburg, VA.
Somehow, my daughter met this Hispanic male at a neighbor's house. This Hispanic male became infatuated with my daughter, who was getting a separation from her husband. When my daughter tells this man she does not want to have a relationship with him, he becomes violent.
My daughter has two young children, ages 3 and 5, and this Hispanic male has told my daughter that her babies were not going to have a mother. My daughter admitted to me that he had threatened to kill her even before that. He keeps calling the house every 5 minutes, even now that he is in jail, from a charge of assaulting my daughter with a knife and malicious wounding, my daughter's leg was cut and he held a knife to her throat saying he was going to kill her.
When the police came that night, because a neighbor called after hearing her screaming, he jumped over the balcony and he ran away. There was a helicopter search and the Loudoun County police were looking for him all night but he evaded them. He was finally picked up by the police one night after he tried to force his way into my daughter's house. He will not take no for an answer and tells my daughter he will kill her and himself because he is so much in love with her.
This is a very violent and malicious man who needs to be deported. My daughter owns her own home and this man is trying to latch on to her. He has nothing, just a car in somebody else's name that he drives.
I have been on the internet looking for the right number to call and I have called INS and there is no button to push for this kind of issue. I need to find a number to call to report this matter.
- To report an illegal alien or criminal alien resident, please read the information at this link. To make a report, contact the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security by calling (866) DHS-2ICE to "report suspicious activity" (866) 347-2423
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