Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Unbelievable! Homeland Security works with Sci-Fi Consultants to Scare LATINOs out of Emergency Rooms!

Had this report not been in the "National Defense" news magazine I wouldn´t have believed it myself! The Department of Homeland Security is working with Sci-Fi writers to develop outlandish ideas to scare the Latino Community. Also, note in the article how they DO NOT distinguish between Latino and those they term Illegal Aliens. Notice all the negative economic assumptions then all the consultants worry about is whether they are labeled "politically correct." These are scare tactics against ALL LATINOS in a Dept of Homeland Security Conference! Read it for yourself. Filed under "Read it and Weep:"
Science Fiction Mavens Offer Far Out Homeland Security Advice :
Now a fixture at Department of Homeland Security science and technology conferences, SIGMA is a loosely affiliated group of science fiction writers who are offering pro bono advice to anyone in government who want their thoughts on how to protect the nation. The group has the ear of Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen, head of the science and technology directorate, who has said he likes their unconventional thinking. Members of the group recently offered a rambling, sometimes strident string of ideas at a panel discussion promoting the group at the DHS science and technology conference. Among the group’s approximately 24 members is Larry Niven, the bestselling and award-winning author of such books as “Ringworld” and “Lucifer’s Hammer,” which he co-wrote with SIGMA member Jerry Pournelle. Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants. “The problem [of hospitals going broke] is hugely exaggerated by illegal aliens who aren’t going to pay for anything anyway,” Niven said. “Do you know how politically incorrect you are?” Pournelle asked.“I know it may not be possible to use this solution, but it does work,” Niven replied.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

AZ Gov Napolitano Vetos Immigration Bill - Some Say Due to Arpaio´s Racial Profiling!

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has vetoed AZ´s lates immigration bill. This is upsetting many of the local AZ ANTI politicians.
YumaSun.com reports:
Napolitano vetoes bill on enforcing immigration
April 28, 2008 - 10:35PM
PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed legislation Monday to require police departments and sheriff's deputies to do more to crack down on illegal immigration despite its bipartisan support. On one hand, Napolitano said HB 2807 is unnecessary because nothing in state law precludes local police agencies from entering into agreements with the federal government to have their officers certified to stop, question and detain people not in this country legally. She said the only thing they need is the proper federal training. "Many of these have already entered into these agreements on a voluntary basis,'' the governor wrote. "A legislative mandate to that effect is unnecessary." She also said the legislation could end up being a $100 million drain on the already overtapped state treasury. The measure mandated that police agencies have some sort of program to deal with violations of federal immigration laws...
Prezelski said he believes Napolitano's real reason for vetoing the bill had less to do with what it says and more to do with the politics surrounding the whole issue of illegal immigration and the role of local police agencies. "I don't think there was any problem with the bill legally, any problem with what the bill said in black and white,'' he said. But Prezelski said there were "larger political implications'' at hand. "It's happening in the context of what (Sheriff) Joe Arpaio is doing in Maricopa County,'' he said. The sheriff, who has had many of his officers certified to enforce immigration laws, has done a series of "sweeps'' of certain neighborhoods, looking for minor traffic violations as an excuse to pull people over and question them about whether they are in this country legally. In some circumstances that has occurred over the objections of officials of the cities where he is operating. Napolitano has repeatedly refused to take a public position on whether she believes the sweeps are legal or even good public policy. But Prezelski said this may be her way of expressing her concern. "Maybe this was an opportunity to say, 'No, this is not a local matter,'" he said. The activities of Arpaio clearly were on the minds of Hispanic activists who urged Napolitano to veto the legislation. "Racial profiling and targeting a sector of the population based on race, color of skin and national origin will only multiply as has been demonstrated in the Maricopa County Sheriff Office's operations,'' officers of Somos America wrote to the governor last week. The group, whose name translates as "We Are America,'' said the legislation "will amplify sweeps of this style, violate (individuals') civil liberties and often result in costly litigation.''

Monday, April 28, 2008

Soap Opera Politics Vol 1, Issue 8: Rev Wright & Obama

I am trying very hard to be neutral on this. Please share your views. I was hoping the Rev Wright controversy would die down and Obama and Hillary would have a nose to nose race to the finish. Then, at the convention, they would kiss (like the pix on the side of my homepage) and make-up, both be on the same ticket (either way) and they would bring all the Dems together for a win in November. A real kumbaya moment.
Now, I think Rev Wright may be disrupting my dream! Please let me know your thoughts. I am worried now about the Dem´s ability to elect a President in November especially given the obvious Black vs White divisiveness Wright appears to be creating. I am wondering whose side is Wright on? Could he be an undercover Right Winger?
Last Thursday. Rev Wright was on Bill Moyers on PBS. Yesterday he was on CNN speaking during an NAACP dinner. Today, he was speaking at the National Press Club. He is on every cable news Channel answering questions before the Press. He is everywhere!
First, Jeremiah Wright often speaks of himself in the 3rd person.
Rev Wright says he is descriptive when he speaks about racial injustice -- not divisive, as his critics say. Yet in his next sentence he says criticism about his speeches were not an attack on him but on the Black Church. He said the black religious tradition, despite its long history, is in some ways “invisible to the dominant culture.” He does attempt to bring the message together by saying, "this means rooting out any teaching of superiority, inferiority, hatred or prejudice and recognizing that each person is one of God’s children … no better, no worse. Only then will liberation, transformation and reconciliation become realities and cease being ever-elusive ideals.”
Flabs Blogger quoted these comments from Rev Wright:
. This Wasn’t an Attack on Me, It Was an Attack on the Black Church
. Hits those who “worship Sunday mornings in a black clergy robe, then burn crosses on Sunday evening with a white Klan robe.”
. “The Christianity of the slave-holder is not the Christianity of the slave.”
. On Farrkhan: “How many people do you know who could get one million people on the mall? Farrakhan is like E.F. Hutton. When he talks, black America listens. Whether they agree with him or not, they listen.”
. On Obama’s reaction: “We both know that if Obama had not said what he said, he would never get elected.”
. “We have never apologized for slavery. We have never apologized for Japan.”
. On the Government created AIDS: Have you read “Medical Apartheid”? I read different things.. Cites the Tuskeegee Experiments. “I believe our government is capable of doing anything.”
Early Reaction to the Reverend´s words:
. Juan Williams, a Black Commentator on Fox News, said Reverend Wright confirmed the worst.
. Tamaran Hall, a young, female, black commentator on MSNBC said “Rev Wright came across as Arrogant and Cocky."
. Christian Broadcasting Network: "Jeremiah Wright did Barack Obama no favors. A lot has been made about why Jeremiah Wright would come forward now at such a sensitive time for the Obama campaign. I think we got our answer today. As much as he cares for Obama, he cares much more about defending his Church. He came to the National Press Club to get a few things off his chest and take some digs at the media must have felt good."
. Joe Watkins, Black media pundit on MSNBC, "He´s killing Barack Obama." "What poor timing! A good Pastor does not throw their members under the bus. Rev Wright was trying to set the record straight for the sake of Rev Wright." "Obama is trying to bring in the White Working Class Voter and every time Wright speaks, its guilt by association and Obama is losing these voters because of Rev Wright."
. David Axelrod, head of Obama Campaign, "Rev Wright is doing what Rev Wright feels he must do. We have no ability to influence that. I dont think we would have encouraged him to go on this "media tour."

Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Tree of Knowledge - Food for Thought!

"And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil....And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.-- Genesis 2: 9, 16-17 "
The concept of "knowing" good and evil can be best understood as being emotionally entangled with the struggle of determining the difference.
Prior to Eating the Fruit:. Adam and Eve were not aware of their own nakedness.
Fast forward to current times - Some say, the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is made available to the Masses:
Prior to Television/Internet:
. Families Content to stay in hometowns or farms.
. Children obeyed their parents, stayed outside and played.
. Children worked at home or in town.
. Living in Poverty Acceptable (e.g. trailerparks, innercity, farms)
. No need for Computers, TV, Cellphones, Videogames
. Sexual and Spousal Abuse remained family secrets.
Prior to the Civil Rights Movement:
. Jim Crowe laws were the law of the land. Back of the bus. Separate Eating, Drinking, Entertainment.
. Minority Voting Supressed.
. Hate Groups thrived and openly wrought violence against Blacks and other minorities.
Prior to the Woman´s Right Movement:
. Unequal Pay
. No right to own property
. No right to Vote
. No Sexual Revolution, Free Love
. Mothers stayed at home with their children
Prior to a thriving Multi Cultural Society:
. Sheriff Arpaio´s Racial Profiling Sweeps, Tent City, Chain Gangs
. Latino Citizens harassed and racially profiled.
. Heinous, Crony Owned Detention Centers, Entire families as prisoners.
. Exploitive Employers chaining workers to machines, refusing breaks, stealing pay.
. Backlogged, Broken and Corrupted Immigration policies.
Some could say, prior to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge being introduced to the masses, the White Male controlled the Earth. However, as more and more people, male and female, become educated and knowledgable, the more people realized that all People are created equal and the fruits of All the Trees are available to All of us. The key is in understanding we can thrive in a multi cultural, male and female society as long as we understand we are All Equal and treat each other with Respect.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Arpaio´s Dirty Tricks Training is Costing Taxpayers Big Bucks!

I came across the weirdest news story about Sheriff Arpaio today. It is unbelievable. The country of New Zealand is asking the Sheriff for his advise about his Tent Cities and the inhumane way he treats prisoners. In case you are not aware, New Zealand is having numerous problems with their prison system and the way they treat the Native Maoris and Asian Immigrants. I just cannot imagine why anyone would want to mirror the tactics of the sheriff unless they want to instill fear, pain and injury to their inmates. The sheriff is well known for his poor treatment of prisoners. He has lost $41Million in court cases for wrongful deaths and abuses. As I read through this case, I reminded myself of some investigations underway regarding the misuse of county funds by the sheriff and his deputies for their trips to Central America. I´ve listed these articles (with links) below.

Maori Party Avoids Debate On Maori In Prison
Policy makers are destroying Maori and the Maori Party are underwriting the failure by refusing to front a Television debate on this important issue – says the Sensible Sentencing Trust. Trust Spokesman Garth McVicar was commenting after Maori Party co-leader, Dr. Pita Sharples declined an invitation to appear on a TVNZ Marae program looking at whether the New Zealand Justice system would benefit by adopting the Arizona Tent City prisons and chain gangs. Mr. McVicar said by avoiding the debate the Maori Party were failing to debate an extremely serious issue, “Maori are currently overrepresented in our Courts and Prisons, if any one race has been failed by the current system it is the Maori people.” The Marae program included a live interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has been labeled the toughest Sheriff in America after implementing Tent Prisons and chain gangs. Ron Mark from NZ First, Garth McVicar from Sensible Sentencing Trust and Dr. Pita Sharples had been invited to participate in a debate following on from the interview with the Sheriff. Dr. Sharples declined and was replaced on the program by the Director of Prison Fellowship, Kim Workman who immediately accused the Sheriff of misrepresenting the re-offending rates and proceeded to call the Sheriff a liar.
Mr. McVicar said for someone who professes to be a Christian to blatantly call a Law enforcement officer of Sheriff Joes standing a liar was astounding.
“We may all have varying opinions, but to call someone a liar in my opinion brings into question the credibility of the Director of Prison Fellowship and whether it is appropriate for Kim Workman to be in charge of the newly established Rethinking Crime and Punishment organization.” The Sensible Sentencing Trust are promoting a return to compulsory Military training combined with the Tent City prisons and chain-gangs as a means of combating a rising violent crime rate and escalating prison population.


Article 2:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio pays for the training of Honduran cops with RICO funds to the tune of around $32K, and counting
After obtaining 108 documents of MCSO expense reports through a public records request, it's now obvious from the notations on the reports themselves that the training of Honduran cops is being paid for by the MCSO through tens of thousands of dollars in RICO funds -- monies obtained through asset forfeiture proceedings under the state laws mirroring the Federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, the law which allows law enforcement agencies to seize assets and property from those involved in offenses such as money laundering, extortion or the drug trade. According to Arizona law, there are two revolving funds: one overseen by the Attorney General's office; and one handled by the County Attorney. The statutes involved also state that "Monies in any fund may be used for the funding of gang prevention programs, substance abuse prevention programs, substance abuse education programs and witness protection...or for any purpose permitted by federal law relating to the disposition of any property that is transferred to a law enforcement agency." I don't know how the training of foreign cops fits into that definition, but throughout the paperwork I received, expenses such as plane travel, luggage handling, hotel stays, dry cleaning, meals and in one case the flight of Honduran cops to Phoenix, are noted as being paid for by state RICO funds, and are approved by MCSO Chief of Business Operations Loretta Barkell and by Chief Deputy Hendershott.
At least nine members of the MCSO traveled to Honduras for weeks at a time, costing a total of $31,777.82 in expenses reimbursed by RICO funds. The cost to the taxpayer is likely higher. The official nature and detail of the expense reports suggests that these deputies were on official duty and on-salary during their extensive stays in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, or in the Caribbean paradise of Honduras' Bay Islands. I'll be looking further into whether or not overtime was paid to the officers during their stays, though this seems likely as their junkets to Central America often included weekends.

Citizenship For Sale...to the Highest Bidder!

It looks like Citizenship is available afterall, to the highest bidder!

Palatka, FL: A Central Florida entrepreneur is scheduled to pitch his revitalization proposals to downtown Palatka merchants on Monday afternoon. Marty Cummins of Altamonte Springs will provide Downtown Palatka Inc. members with the details of his project centered on numerous bookshops and book-related festivals.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. in the conference room at the Chamber of Commerce, 1100 Reid St. It is open to the public.“It will be an extensive question-and-answer session,” Downtown Palatka Inc. President Sam Deputy said.Cummins proposes to lead the rebirth of the downtown area through a theme aptly named “Booksville.” The idea has been successful in several European downtown redevelopment projects, he said. Initially, Cummins wants to establish core businesses consisting of a dining and bookshop business, a nonprofit banquet hall, a deli and book recycling shop.....
To attract the attention of foreign investors, Cummins would like to take advantage of the EB-5 Visa Immigrant Investor Program. It allows foreigners to obtain permanent residency through investing in U.S. businesses.EB-5 investors must provide $500,000. To meet the requirements of the program, that investment must create 10 jobs within two years. Immigration and Naturalization Services sets aside 10,000 visas annually for the program, Cummins said.
Reader Question:
This may be an opportunity to enable those wishing for immediate Legal Status to obtain it via EB-5 Visas.
Readers, what do you think?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Letter from a Latino Veteran to the Governor of Arizona: "PLEASE STOP THE RACIAL PROFILING IN ARIZONA"

An Arizona Veteran, Latino blogger, and my new friend, George Velez, wrote the following letter to Az. Gov. Janet Napolitano:

My Angry Letter to Encourage Change
April 24, 2008 – 5:24 am
Dear Governor Napolitano,
I am first and foremost a proud American. I was born in America. I served in the Armed Forces for 6 years. My dad is a retired military veteran with three tours of duty in Viet Nam. Both of my parents legally immigrated from Peru in the sixties. I pay my taxes, and I exercise the right to cast my vote regularly. My two kids are both honor’s students in school. Our entire family has never been in any sort of legal trouble, and we love living in Arizona (since 1989).
However, and it’s a big however, I am beginning to question if I wish to continue living in Arizona. Namely the actions of Joe Arpaio’s saturation raids are forcing me to examine if living in Arizona might deter my family’s pursuit of happiness. Because of my Hispanic heritage, I have a fear that my kids, my brother, or I might get caught up in Arpaio’s dragnet. I find myself ensuring our vehicles are washed and clean at all times. I intentionally avoid any potentially ethnic areas of the city, and I am constantly preaching to my family to make sure they don’t forget to bring any ID cards along– just in case.
Having to live like this with the threat of getting racially profiled by officers of the law distresses me.
I don’t mind complying with the law. In fact, my best friend from my military days in Georgia moved to Arizona in the early 90’s and presently is an officer in MCSO. I just don’t want my kids exposed to this sort of racism. The ends do not justify the means - especially to innocent, law abiding Arizona citizens.
I have read in news articles of your opposition to Arpaio’s tactics, and I applaud it. The purpose of this letter is to add one more voice of opposition and ask for your continued leadership in making Arizona a great state.
Respectfully,
George M. Velez

Consider the Blessed Children! They are the Lilies of the Field!

As children, we attended Catholic School. Our Dad wanted us to receive a good education. He worked for the church as a painter-handyman after his factory job in order to help pay tuition. Our church was a beautiful Cathedral. Every day we attended Mass in the morning before starting school.

When I was in 2nd grade, our class made our 1st Communion. It was a special time for all of us. During the month of May, our class was honored by allowing each of us children who were receiving our First Communion to crown the statue of the Blessed Virgin which graced a beautiful altar at the front of the church. Each of us was designated a special day to crown her. My day was Monday, May 20th.

All of us children were nervous in anticipation of our special day. We knew what an honor it would be to walk up the special steps, lined in linens and silks, to crown the Virgin. Each day, as classmates and family members looked on watching their son or daughter climb the steps, I saw how more beautiful, ornate and expensive the crowns were becoming. Being so very poor and the only Latino child in class, I started to become nervous. Each day I ran home to my mother.

“Oh, momma, momma. The crowns. They are so beautiful. They are made of flowers and gold and silver. Oh so beautiful! Momma. What should we do? How can we make such a beautiful crown to honor her?”

Momma always responded, “Don´t worry. The crown we make for your day will be very beautiful. God will help us. It will be fine.” Mom often quoted bible verse. One of her favorites was, “why are you anxious about what to wear? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed like one of these.”

My mother loved to make crafts and sew. We searched and searched her sewing basket but we just couldn´t decide upon the right materials. About a week before my day, she took me to the local dime store. I knew we didn´t have much money, but she had scraped together her change and we went to the store. We searched up and down the aisles. Finally, in the back of the silk flowers she leaned over and found one single thread of Lilies of the Valley.

“Look Mija, it is a sign.” She picked up the flowers and a string of Baby´s Breaths, all within our meager budget, and we headed home. Momma and I carefully weaved the flowers together into a crown. When we finished we both knew it was nice. It looked so delicate and sweet. Just beautiful. Mom hugged me and said, “Consider the lilies of the field, and even Solomon in all of his glory is not arrayed like one of these.”

On my day, I woke up early. Mom had wrapped up the crown in special tissue for me. She came with me to church that day. When we arrived, my nun schoolteacher brought me next to her so she could put me in the procession. I don´t know if she was worried for me, but she looked almost sorry for me when I handed her my tissue covered crown. As she peeled back the tissue, her eyes blinked back her shock. “Oh, Dee! This is a beautiful crown! Perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen.”

I beamed with happiness and said, “My mother helped me… she said “The Lilies of the Field….”

The sister nodded immediately, smiled and hugged me, and guided me to my place in the procession.

As I leaned up and placed the crown on the Virgin´s head, it slid on very snugly, a perfect fit.

As I climbed down to the bottom step, I looked into my mother´s eyes. She was so proud. My teacher and the kids, they smiled too. I genuflected in front of the Virgin and looked into her eyes. I could tell she was pleased. She looked so happy with her beautiful crown.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Latino Children Facing the New Trail of Tears!

As the restrictionist laws continue in Oklahoma, more and more Latino citizen children become the victims of racial profiling, bullying and harassment. This harassment continues with no penalties to the abusers!


Many Hispanic students are targets of bullying in state
By Devona WalkerStaff Writer
Mayra Sigala lives in a two-bedroom mobile home on a remote road behind Frontier City. The door to her room is wrapped in red and pink Valentines Day paper. Cupids and hearts encase her name. At times, she seems amazingly mature for her age. At others, she seems more insecure than most 15-year-olds. "We try to ignore it as much as we can, but it just gets worse and worse,” Mayra said about the racist slurs yelled at her in the crowded hallways of Edmond Memorial High School. The first incident occurred in early November, within a week of the passage of House Bill 1804, Oklahoma's stringent immigration enforcement statute. A fellow student, a football player, yelled at her in the hallway. "He kept calling me names,” she said. "He kept telling me to go back to Mexico. I tried to tell him that I was born here, but he didn't believe me.” Other students laughed. "I guess they all agreed with him,” she said. Mayra did not tell the principal. She feared he would not believe her. Instead, she told her Spanish teacher. A few other Hispanic students were experiencing the same thing, she said. They were told by the teacher that something would be done. But the behavior continued, Mayra said. School officials say the information was not passed on. They say if they had known, something would have been done. But they conceded there have been issues in the past.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Driving While Black or Brown - Racial Profiling in Arizona

Recent Arizona studies have proven Racial Profiling is blatantly occurring in Arizona. We are all aware of the Racial Profiling by the heinous Sheriff Arpaio, but this thoroughly researched report proves Racial Profiling is occurring all across Arizona. Here is the Executive Summary:
Executive Summary of Findings
1. Arizona Department of Public Safety Officers made more than 500,000 stops between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007. Just under 200,000 stops were made on Arizona’s interstate highways during this period.
2. Of those 200,000 interstate highway stops, approximately 13,271 resulted in searches.
3. African Americans and Hispanics stopped by DPS officers were more likely than whites to be searched on all major highways included in this analysis. Native Americans and persons of Middle Eastern descent also were more likely than whites to be searched on most highways.
4. On average, Native Americans stopped by DPS officers were 3.25 times more likely to be searched than whites stopped by DPS officers. African Americans and Hispanics were each 2.5 times more likely than whites to be searched by DPS.
5. Higher search rates for minorities were not justified by higher rates of transporting contraband. In fact, on average, whites were more likely to be carrying contraband than Native Americans, Middle Easterners, Hispanics and Asians on all major Arizona highways. African Americans were at least twice as likely as whites to be searched on all six interstate segments, despite the fact that the rate of contraband seizures for African Americans and whites was similar.
6. Minorities, including African Americans, Hispanics and Middle Easterners, were consistently stopped for longer periods of time than whites traveling on all interstate highways in Arizona.
7. In sum, this report concludes that DPS officers treated persons from different racial and ethnic groups unequally between July 2006 and June 2007. Minorities were more likely than whites to be searched and stopped for longer periods of time. This unequal treatment was not justified by higher contraband seizure rates from minority motorists.


Note: Study results are based on statistical analysis of the State of Arizona´s Department of Public Safety reports. DPS is legally required to document all data from traffic stops and this documentation is housed in the DPS database. Please click on link above for the entire study.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Road to Dystopia! Another Reason to SAY NO to the SAVE ACT!

This is one amazing op-ed! All in a nutshell! This New York Times article tells the story of WHY we should not be forcing BAD IMMIGRATION BILLS and instead opt for Comprehensive Immigration Reform!
The search for a silver bullet to slay illegal immigration continues. Hard-liners are turning the country upside down looking for it. They are looking in Washington, where Senate Republicans last week offered more than a dozen bills to further enshrine mass deportation as the national immigration strategy. It is a grab bag of enforcement measures that will be useful for tough-talking campaign commercials, but will not actually solve anything. Republicans and some Democrats in the House are trying to force a vote on a bad bill called the SAVE Act, which among other things would force all workers, including citizens, to prove they have a right to earn a living — a bad idea compounded by the notoriously bad state of federal government records. The error rate in just one database, the Social Security Administration’s, is believed to be more than 4 percent, making it likely that many thousands of Americans would face unjust firings and discrimination, and waste a lot of time and effort trying to clear their names.
The harsh-enforcement virus has spread far beyond the Capitol. In states like Oklahoma, laws have been enacted to force illegal immigrants further underground, off official registries and into anonymity, by denying them identification like driver’s licenses. In a growing number of states and counties, politicians are offering up police officers to the federal government for immigration posses. From Prince William County, Va., to Maricopa County, Ariz., officers who pull people over for minor traffic infractions are checking immigration papers, too. Many law-enforcement professionals say this is reckless and self-defeating, because it sends a deep, silencing chill into immigrant communities. Citizens and legal residents will inevitably be hassled for looking Latino. And it is expensive; Prince William’s new law is expected to cost $26 million over five years, plus a few million more to outfit police cars with cameras, as a hedge against lawsuits.
Maybe some people do not mind that immigration zealotry is sending the country down a path of far greater intrusion into citizens’ lives, into a world of ingrained suspicion, routine discrimination and economic disruption. Is that what we want — to make the immigration system tougher without fixing it? To make illegal immigrants suffer without any hope of ever becoming legal, because that is amnesty? Could it be that tightening the screws relentlessly on illegal immigrants, even if some citizens suffer in the process, is all for the greater good? Which is — what exactly? To drive a large cohort of workers out of a sputtering economy? To take more people off the books? To prop up the under-the-table businesses that inevitably evade such crackdowns? To worsen wages and working conditions for all Americans, since nobody works more cheaply and takes more abuse than a terrified, desperate immigrant? (the author of this op-ed is a genius!!! He spelled out the core issues in a nutshell!!)
This is a country that runs on routine amnesties. Where would the courts be without plea bargains, or state budgets without periodic tax forgiveness? Are illegal immigrants the one class of undesirables for whom common sense, proportionality, discernment, good judgment and compassion are unthinkable?
It is frightening to think that this country’s answer could be an emphatic yes.
Note: Dystopia - a dystopian (ANTI) society’s dreams of improvement are overshadowed by STIMULATING FALSE FEARS of the supposedly “ugly consequences of present-day reality”.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

No Longer ANTI vs PRO...Now, Economy vs ANTI-Immigration

The two sides of the Immigration Debate are changing faces. It is no longer ANTI vs PRO or America vs Mexico, now, the two sides are depicted as Economic Prosperity vs Anti-Immigration. The side whose strategy is to Improve the Economy is winning, hands-down!
Immigration Fight Has a New Target
Stewart Hurts Pr. William's Prospects With Harsh Rhetoric, Some Say
By Kristen MackWashington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 20, 2008
When Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman
Corey A. Stewart dressed down the police chief for hosting a public meeting with the Mexican consul to discuss the county's controversial immigration policy, Elena Schlossberg-Kunkel was appalled. Schlossberg-Kunkel, a Haymarket activist who had supported Stewart since 2006, and several other county residents showed up at a recent board meeting and demanded Stewart apologize to Chief Charlie T. Deane. Her voice pleading, Schlossberg-Kunkel admonished Stewart for his harsh rhetoric on immigration, which she said threatened to ruin the county's reputation. "You were in my home for a fundraiser. I felt like I knew you," she said. "I don't know the person you are anymore, Corey."
She is not alone in her concern. Elected officials and business leaders in Prince William say they are worried that the county's focus on illegal immigration is hurting Prince William's image at a critical time in its growth and effort to remake itself.
Virginia's second-largest county had been known for years as a center of cheap housing and bargain shopping. But in recent years, Prince William leaders have tried to change course by attracting high-tech employers, building luxury homes and supporting good schools much as neighboring
Loudoun and Fairfax counties have done. Now, several supervisors in both parties and business leaders said, those efforts could be set back if county officials do not shift their focus from illegal immigration, which has divided the community and brought Prince William negative national exposure. ("The Road to Dystopia," one newspaper said of the crackdown.)
After a bitter, months-long debate, the eight-member board voted unanimously in the fall to increase law enforcement and deny some services to illegal immigrants. Although no one wants to repeal the policy, some supervisors and other officials said they wish the county -- especially Stewart -- would stop dwelling on it.
County business leaders have created "image committees" to examine the direction Prince William is heading. Now, some analysts said, the economic downturn makes it a bad time to carry out the immigration measures.
"It undermines the image of the county as a good place to invest," said Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University. "The political environment has made people feel unwelcome."

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon asks FBI to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Arizona newspapers and Television stations are reporting Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is calling on the FBI to investigate whether Sheriff Joe Arpaio has violated any civil-rights laws. In an April 4 letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Gordon asked the Justice Department's civil-rights division and the FBI to probe what Gordon calls a "pattern and practice of conduct that includes discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches and arrests."

Gordon's four-page letter details Arpaio's recent sweeps through predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix and Guadalupe. "Over the past few weeks, Sheriff Arpaio's actions have infringed on the civil rights of our residents," Gordon wrote. "They have put our residents' well-being, and the well-being of law enforcement officers, at risk."In his letter, Gordon says he was moved to write after Arpaio pledged to bring his sweeps to other Valley cities on an ongoing basis. Gordon, who is an attorney, asks that Arpaio be investigated for possible violations of four laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Gordon declined to discuss his letter in detail. "The letter speaks for itself," he said.The raids, which Arpaio has described as efforts to suppress crime in problem areas, have won the sheriff praise from residents fed up with government inaction on illegal immigration. But they have been harshly criticized by civil libertarians who say the sheriff's raids have led to racial-profiling and the illegal detainment of U.S. citizens.The American Civil Liberties Union and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund have said the raids are likely to spark civil-rights lawsuits against the sheriff.Last week, the Arizona Ecumenical Council and American Jewish Committee issued a joint letter saying the raids had "evoked a 'police state' atmosphere" and led to "detainment on the basis of a racial profile and dehumanization of innocent people."They were joined on Friday by the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, which echoed calls for a Justice Department investigation."We're not saying the sheriff's guilty," said Bill Straus, the chapter's executive director, who described himself as a friend of Arpaio's. "All we're saying is, if the sheriff's department continues operating under this cloud of allegations and they're not true, that's really unfair to the sheriff's department. If in fact they are true, it needs to stop."A Justice Department investigation could lead to civil or criminal proceedings. Civil charges could result in a restraining order preventing certain aspects of Arpaio's raids, officials said. Criminal charges could lead to prosecution.In his office, Gordon has a pair of posters held by protesters at the recent sweep that took place near Cave Creek and Bell roads. Given to him by a Phoenix police officer who was on the scene, one refers to Latinos with an expletive and a slur. Another says "Hooray for the slaughtering of the illegals!" and is adorned with a swastika. Arpaio insists Gordon is taking the opportunity to play political games and said the series of letters, whether they come from ministers or politicians, don't bother him."I don't think any of them carry any weight cause I have nothing to hide," he said. "(Gordon) did this on his own because he's taking the heat. Now he's degrading my office and my deputies by insinuating that they're violating all these civil laws. We don't profile." The city of Phoenix's response to illegal immigration has focused on finding violent criminals and human smugglers. Arpaio wants his deputies to ask about immigration status for the most minor offenses and says business owners and city leaders ask for his deputies to come into their communities.On March 28, in a widely publicized speech, Gordon came out against the sheriff's tactics, calling them "made-for-TV stunts." Arpaio said he was "outraged" at Gordon's remarks but would not be deterred from his efforts to enforce immigration laws.One week after his speech, Gordon wrote his letter to the attorney general.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Mesa braces for unrest! Mesa Police Chief Pleads for Help from Community Leaders: "Save me from Arpaio!"

Sheriff Arpaio is planning on conducting more Racial Profiling sweeps, this time in Mesa. The city is now anticipating racial unrest & is bracing itself after a few gun toting pro-Arpaioists demonstrated & their animals lunged at police. Mesa Police Chief is begging Arpaio to provide him 2 days notice & begging community leaders for HELP!
Mesa Police Chief George Gascón, citing growing concerns over possible civil unrest tied to anti-illegal immigration sweeps by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is stepping up efforts to ensure public safety, including reaching out to clergy and the legal community for help. Gascón told his staff in a memo Thursday that the department is developing a plan to handle potential civil unrest or demonstrations tied to sweeps by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. The memo came after a Thursday morning demonstration by 15 pro-Arpaio demonstrators at Gilbert and Broadway roads in a heavily immigrant part of Mesa. During what Gascón called a “mostly lawful demonstration,” one of the protesters got into a verbal altercation with a Black male. The argument escalated and Gascón said the demonstrator called the man “homie” and used the “N” word. Another demonstrator had a pit bull dog that lunged and snapped at officers, he said. It is unclear whether the demonstrators, who were mostly male, belonged to an organized group. “This incident, as well as others during prior sweeps, are clear indications of the volatility that can be visited upon our city as these events continue to unfold,” Gascón wrote. “Counter demonstrators have been observed carrying firearms, and tensions are escalating.”
Gascón's plan would include clergy and members of the legal community serving as mediators with the crowds. He said demonstrations would be videotaped. Sgt. Fabian Cota, head of the Mesa Police Association, one of two police unions, said Gascón is preparing for the worst, “but we are hoping for the best.”
“If you look at the potential for violence with people showing up with guns on both sides of the aisle in such an emotional issue and you add racial overtones, that is all the ingredients for civil unrest,” he said.
Cota said officers were recently told to make sure all their equipment was working properly including gas masks in the event of demonstrations. MCSO Chief of Enforcement Brian Sands said the office is offended by Gascón's reaction. “Why is he editorializing in a memo and then releasing it to the media and not calling the sheriff,” Sands said, adding he has not seen any unruly protesters or major incidents in eight crime suppression patrols. On Tuesday, Gascón wrote to Arpaio after eight state legislators invited the sheriff to conduct immigration sweeps in the East Valley. Gascón asked for at least two days' notice, including time and location, before the sheriff conducted sweeps. He also requested liaisons between the two law enforcement agencies. Arpaio on Wednesday said he would take the chief's letter into consideration but said he already notifies agencies in advance of any crime suppression sweeps. However, Arpaio's deputies made two unannounced visits to Mesa in November, touching off a brief war of words between the agencies.

Readers: I pledge to keep you posted of the events occuring in Mesa!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Girl Makes False Accusations! ANTI Blogs Rage suggesting Racist Attacks Against Latinos! Now, NO APOLOGIES!

A teenager made false claims against 21 Latino Citizen Students and incited ANTI Blogs across the nation to rage with Racist Attacks against all Latinos.
(Click Here to See Melanie LIE on Video)
From the start, it was obvious the girl was fabricating the story. She conducted media interviews and the videos and news articles were ripe with discrepancies. First, she made a claim that her Social Studies teacher required she complete an assignment to design a protest sign. Texas schools are participating in state testing, the TAKS test, in three weeks. If the class is a core class, she should be spending class time reviewing. If it’s an elective, those teachers know students need to be focused on their testing and aren’t assigning random projects.
Next, she said her poorly made protest sign, "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration" was somehow magically passed around the cafeteria. She had no idea how it got passed around, she said. Then she said Latino children became angry. She did not know why. Then she claimed three of them jumped her in the hallway. She went to the assistant principal to report it. The asst principal saw no marks on the girl when the student asked to go home and instead kept her in school. The following Monday she came to the school with red scratch marks on her cheeks and bruises and scratches up her arms. She then picked out 21 Latino student pictures she alleged were involved in the incident and brought in new claims that students threatened her with rape and death threats.
Today, the investigation was complete. An independent analysis was completed of the school videotapes. School surveillance video captured Bowers injuring herself. Bowers parents have signed a letter of apology for Bowers' false accusations.

I started seeing reports of the girl´s allegations on Monday. The story was picked up immediately by the local newspaper. Various ANTI blogs got wind of it and spread it to Michele Malkin, Beck and Dobbs who published the accusations as facts and encouraged their commenters to post hateful comments towards not only illegal immigrants but to ALL Latinos in general. Some of these comments included sending all citizen Latinos back to Mexico. Most recommended putting all the 21 children on suspension and or jail immediately and the deporting of many of them although all were citizens.
I joined some of the comments and attempted to bring reason and logic back to the discussion.
My quotes: "Innocent until proven guilty", "let the police investigate" were my words the angry commenters did not want to hear. Instead they called me the usual names ANTIs toss at anyone with different opinions than theirs including "ethno-centric" "la raza" "rule of law" and names much too profane to print here.

My last comment on one of the blogs was:
"The Latino Community wants an APOLOGY for all of these False Allegations, anger, racial verbal threats, etc by the commenters here and on other forums. But don´t worry. We won´t hold our breath waiting for it!"

This story falls in line with the Arpaio article and all others that blame all the ills of our Nation on Latinos and Illegal Immigration. I blame the ANTI Community, Bloggers, Websites and her parents for this CRIME! Yes, False Allegations are a CRIME. Many in the ANTI Community constantly promote anger, hate and a RACE WAR against Latinos!
I Pray that this story will prove as an excellent example as to why we need to Stop the HATE and the Anger in these discussions. It is clear, WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER IN OUR NATION, AS A COMMUNITY! STOP THE ANGER AND THE HATE! WE MUST SUPPORT COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!

I´m going back to all of these discussion boards and to DailyKos to post the update to this story.

Here are some links to some of the very racist ANTI Latino Comments:
(I wonder how long these sites will keep them up now that the allegations were proven false?)
Houston Chronicle:
lccat wrote:
These ILLEGALS and Anchor Babies are upset in "their" free schools when the SUBJECT is mentioned about the ILLEGALS invading the United States. And of course Mexico Complains Of Too Many Repatriated Mexicans. Heck, the mexican government doesn't even want their OWN ILLEGALS to return to their HOME COUNTRY, can you blame them for not wanting all the additional madness! The ILLEGALS and their Anchor Babies are wanted only by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS!


Michele Malkins Dumpsite:
On April 8th, 2008 at 11:56 am, geminicontender said:
If those mexican kids have illegal parents here and they are babies born here, send them all back. This is where there needs to be change. Remind these ‘illegals’ that we appreciate our Constitution and if they want any of what we have they need to do it right

On April 8th, 2008 at 12:11 pm, yt1300inHtown said:
Another macho latino takes down a girl from behind. Useless punks.

On April 8th, 2008 at 12:12 pm, tgusa said:
Anyone who has ever pissed off Mexican nationals (BB’s, borderbrothers) knows that there is a good chance they will come after you after dark with a carload of buddies, fair warning. Its sop, sorry pcmc’s but that’s the way the tortilla crumbles. Attacking whitey is dangerous unless you have a ten to one advantage that’s how I see it anyway.

On April 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm, Soliel said:
I hope justice prevails and those who attacked her get punished severely. And maybe deported. Perfect. Jerks.

On April 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm, feeler said:
Our “educators” have been teaching brown and black children for decades that white people, collectively, “owe them” something.Now those children want to cash-out! Who can blame them? It’s a lot easier to indoctrinate children with hatred for their national heritage than it is to actually teach them to think.God forbid, what if a student ever asks why today’s white people hold a collective responsibility for crimes against blacks, for slavery, which happened 150 years ago. Yet today’s black people hold NO responsibility for crimes against whites, for the one-hundred white women they rape EACH DAY here in America alone? Why so bass-ackward?Why should whites hide their heritage, while browns and blacks get their “History Months” and TV channels? In areas where non-whites excell, it’s because of their skill, but in areas where whites excell, it’s because of RACISM!Anyone else tired of the scam?

On April 8th, 2008 at 12:29 pm, orlandocajun said:
If I were her father, I would be celebrating and congratulating her and not whining about the assignment.
Her next sign should read, “save our nation and deport latino illegal alien punk students first”, or “end the anchor baby rule”.

On April 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm, brooklyn red said:
Hmmmm, me thinks this might just be the one that sets it off…“Remember Athens!”

"Arpaio Out of Control" : The NY Times calls for Congressional Hearings and a Subpoena for the Out of Control Sheriff! Where is McCain?

The Mainstream Media has finally heard my plea! The New York Times is calling for Congressional Hearings. Says Chertoff (ICE) is botching Immigration Policies and allowing the "unhinged sheriff" to run amok!
Immigration, Outsourced
Published: April 9, 2008
Not content to botch immigration policy all by itself, Congress has handed large parts of the job to others to mishandle. It gave the homeland security czar the czarist powers to overturn any law and ignore any court to seal the border. Now Michael Chertoff is clear-cutting a forest of regulations to wall out Mexico by the end of the year. And through the program known as 287(g), his agency is parceling out duties to a growing number of local police and sheriff’s departments, raising an army of junior deputies in the war on illegal immigrants. To see how unhinged things have become, it pays to zero in on the squalid doings in Maricopa County, Ariz. It is home to Phoenix, the country’s fifth-largest city, and the largest 287(g) program anywhere. It is run by the county sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who has built a national reputation for toughness through years of cruelty to prison inmates and an insatiable appetite for publicity. Where most departments have only handfuls of officers trained to enforce federal immigration laws, Sheriff Joe, as he is known, has 160. Their efforts are supplemented by what the sheriff says, without apology, is a 3,000-member “posse.” For months now, Sheriff Joe has been sending squads of officers through Latino neighborhoods, pulling cars over for broken taillights or turn-signal violations, checking drivers’ and passengers’ papers and arresting illegal immigrants by the dozen.
Because he sends out press releases beforehand, the sweeps are accompanied by TV crews and protesters — deport-’em-all hard-liners facing off against immigrant advocates. Being Arizona, many of those shouting and jeering are also packing guns. Sheriff Joe, seemingly addicted to the buzz, has been filmed marching down the street shaking hands with adoring Minutemen.
If this doesn’t look to you like a carefully regulated, federally supervised effort to catch dangerous criminals, that’s because it isn’t. It is a series of stunts focused mostly on day laborers, as Sheriff Joe bulldozes his way toward re-election.
The sheriff says he is keeping the peace, but it seems as if he is doing just the opposite — a useless, reckless churning of fear and unrest. Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix has denounced him, saying the raids are interfering with undercover city police officers and federal agents. The mayor of Guadalupe implored him to leave her community alone. State and county officials have pointed out that Sheriff Joe has ignored tens of thousands of outstanding criminal warrants while chasing day laborers and headlines. They say he has grossly violated the terms of his 287(g) agreement — which calls for federal oversight of local police — and have called on Washington to rein him in. “Do you think I’m going to report to the federal government?” he said. “I don’t report to them. If they don’t like the contract, they can close it up. That’s all.”
By the way,” he said, “we do have a 3,000-person posse — and about 500 have guns. They have their own airplanes, jeeps, motorcycles, everything. They can only operate under the sheriff. I swear ’em in. I can put up 30 airplanes tomorrow if I wanted.”
The federal government so far seems unconcerned. “He has stayed within the bounds of the agreement,” Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of immigration and customs enforcement in Arizona, told The Arizona Republic. Jim Pendergraph, an I.C.E. official from Washington, told the paper that after driving to Guadalupe to watch Sheriff Joe in action: “I saw nothing that gave me heartburn.”
It’s past time for Congress to hold hearings on these agreements, starting with a subpoena for Sheriff Joe.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Arpaio´s Racial Profiling Rampages Continue, Despite Arizona Mayors´ Pleas for Help!

As the Arizona Mayors pleas for help go unanswered, Arpaio´s Racial Profiling attacks continue. Yet, Arpaio has no apologies. He is after publicity. He welcomes the press. He says any publicity is better than no publicity.
This morning, I searched "Arpaio" on Google News, here are the latest reports.

Arpaio shirks peace with faceoff ploy
Apr. 7, 2008 12:00 AM
Just wondering: If any other ordinary citizen set up a confrontation, such as occurred when Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently set up the confrontation between immigrants and the motorcycle-club members, then invited the press, would that be considered "inciting a potential riot"? It almost looked to me like Arpaio was unhappy that no violence occurred so he could blame it on the immigrants.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is pretty clearly not engaging in saturation policing for general crime suppression. Instead, he's conducting sweeps for illegal immigrants disguised as general crime suppression. It's one thing not to turn your back on illegal immigration, as most of the Valley law enforcement agencies have done. It's entirely another thing to be conducting labor-intensive manhunts for illegal immigrants. If the primary object of an exercise is to find illegal immigrants - as is clearly the case in Arpaio's saturation patrolling - then it's impossible to avoid targeting enforcement action in part on ethnicity. And that crosses a dangerous line. Part of the problem with electing law enforcement officials is that no one can hold them in check when they run amok. Arpaio thinks he is one with the people and no one, except a court, has the authority to tell him to knock it off. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's condemnation of Arpaio.
The only comparison to a lawless egomaniac is reserved for one of the Valley's best-known public figures. A round of seemingly unprovoked sweeps were carried out by Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in the town of Guadalupe, stirring up outrage from immigrant and civil rights groups.Did I say unprovoked? That's the wrong word. Being an immigrant, looking like an immigrant, living among immigrants — these are three egregious provocations for Sheriff Arpaio. He is an ugly, mean, stupid idiot that likes to be on television.But back to telling jokes, though Sheriff Joe claims he was asked to carry out the roundup, Guadalupe officials deny that he was ever invited. "It's completely unwarranted," said an anonymous Guadalupe employee, who added, "Get it? 'Unwarranted.'"But "unwarranted" is not exactly the right word. Many of the arrests were just follow-ups on outstanding warrants — though the tactics used are a bit more than questionable. In many of the cases, drivers were pulled over for minor traffic violations, asked for identification and then assumed to be illegal immigrants if they could not provide a license.A similar sweep was carried out in the Palomino neighborhood in North Phoenix. While only a handful of people were arrested for being in the country illegally, thousands of dollars in business were lost, and more than 500 children were kept home from school by their parents, out of fear. Arpaio, without irony, claims the Palomino operation a success.Arpaio also insists that his actions are entirely legal — though he's certainly willing to bend the law; using ordinarily banal traffic codes to check immigration status is a fairly large leap. Sheriff Joe hopes that the laws are changed to make it easier to find illegal immigrants, like a hunter who asks that game animals be painted bright orange so that they won't be confused with an other animals.Though he has no legislative authority, Arpaio is nevertheless working on a bill — in slanted letters and poor spelling, no doubt — which will legally change the sound of his name to rhyme with "Robespierre."
'April 7th, 2008 @ 6:47am - by Sandra Haros and J.W. Cox/KTAR
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crackdown on illegal immigration may have only just begun in the East Valley, with last week's patrols in the town of Guadalupe. State lawmakers from the East Valley, led by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, have sent the sheriff a letter inviting him to their district, and Arpaio said Mesa might be next on his list. Arpaio said he is not bothered by accusations of racial profiling that have come from protesters of his special patrols at two Phoenix locations where day laborers gather and in Guadalupe. `We got other enforcement that we are doing, not just illegal immigration," he said. ``That's just a small part of our operation... We stop everybody. I'm an equal opportunity guy. I lock up everybody."
Barkley says he's frustrated that politicians won't do anything about illegal immigration, but that he admires the immigrants. `First of all, illegal immigrants are bustin' their behinds, they do the work that whites and blacks don't want to do, so that's what you've got to respect and admire," Barkley said on the Jay Lawrence Show on News/Talk 92-3 KTAR. "Asked about Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crime supression efforts in areas where illegal immigrants gather, Barkley said, ``As a black man, I don't think you can ever have racial profiling. I don't ever agree with that.''

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Mayors Across Arizona Beg for someone to STOP the Heinous Sheriff!


Arpaio´s Heinous Racial Profiling Sweeps Continue while Mayors Pleas fall on Deaf Ears!
The Arizona Republic Reports:
Leaders fear Arpaio sweep disrupting Palomino
Michael ClancyThe Arizona RepublicApr. 6, 2008 12:00 AM
For more than 10 years, Phoenix police, neighborhood residents and area businesses have been working together to turn around north Phoenix's Palomino neighborhood. The neighborhood for years was known for its gangs, drug dealers, blighted buildings and crowded conditions. It was home to illegal immigrants and became known as a place to find cheap day labor. But through cooperative efforts, neighborhood leaders felt they had made improvements in the area. Now they fear much of that work could come undone as a result of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's recent immigration sweep of the neighborhood - a square mile bounded by Cave Creek, Bell and Greenway roads and 32nd Street. Neighborhood leaders say the sweep resulted in thousands of dollars in lost business, hundreds of schoolchildren staying home and not enough arrests of illegal immigrants to justify the disruption. "His efforts have taken away from all of the positives that we have created," said Vice Mayor Peggy Neely, who represents the Palomino area. "I'm afraid that if he keeps this up, someone is going to get hurt."

e-Verify Flaws

AZ Bill 2779, effective Jan. 1, 2008, requires mandatory E-Verify participation for ALL new employees hired!

FLAWS WITH E-VERIFY:
"E-Verify has at least one significant flaw – its treatment of naturalized U.S. citizens. Between October 2006 and March 2007 about 3,200 foreign-born U.S. citizens were initially improperly disqualified from working by E-Verify. Their status was later corrected. Because many did not register their citizenship with the Social Security Administration, they are often listed as possible illegal workers.That's what apparently happened to Ochoa, 47, who became a citizen in 2000 but has since lost his naturalization certificate. He quit his job as a car salesman at the end of last year and got hired by a local Dodge dealership in February. Days later, his new employers called him with bad news – E-Verify classified him as a possible illegal immigrant. He only had a couple of days to convince the Social Security agency otherwise.Ochoa took his U.S. passport, Social Security card, driver's license and Arizona voter identification card to the local Social Security office, but was told he'd still have to request new papers from the Department of Homeland Security, which could take up to 10 months."I love this country, I'm happy in this country," said Ochoa, a father of two, who escaped eviction this month only because a church group paid his rent. "The guy who made this law, I don't know him. He's started destroying a lot of families."Katherine Lotspeich, acting chief of the agency that runs E-Verify, said officials will introduce a number of changes, starting in May, to make it easier to fix the problems that Ochoa and other naturalized citizens have encountered."The last thing we want is to have people who are naturalized citizens deal with this cumbersome process," Lotspeich said of the lengthy wait to get proper paperwork. She added that Social Security should have accepted Ochoa's passport as proof of citizenship."

Friday, April 4, 2008

Gestapo Arpaio Resurrects Operation Wetback Part 2

AZ Maricopa County´s Heinous trigger happy Gestapo Sheriff Arpaio has resurrected Operation Wetback again as he Racial Profiles innocent Latino neighborhoods and towns in his area. Under the pretext of "Crime Suppression Sweeps" Sheriff Arpaio and his band of overzealous cops strip away the Civil Liberties of anyone Brown. All people of color are stopped and harrassed. A reported example: A Yaqui Indian woman (the town is half Yaqui, half Mexican) was stopped as she was walking to the protest and asked for her I.D. She has lived in Guadalupe all her life. WWB, "Walking While Brown", is considered probable cause by the Gestapo Sheriff. These deplorable sweeps are happening as we speak. Last night and today, the city of Guadalupe, AZ Mayor Rebecca Jimenez is bravely standing up to Herr Arpaio. Let´s pray for her safety throughout the face off this weekend!

Last night was a night of high drama as Sheriff Joe brought his illegal immigrant dragnet to the small town of Guadalupe, and the citizens and the mayor of that city demanded Joe leave. Last night around 10:30, Guadalupe Mayor Rebecca Jimenez personally presented Joe a statement to this effect in the parking lot of the Family Dollar where the MCSO was stationed. According to Jimenez, Joe accused her of inciting a riot and informed her she had 90 days to cancel Guadalupe's contract with the MCSO to provide law enforcement to the town. Jimenez and other town council members present said they would be reviewing the MCSO's contract. Jimenez's release states in part: "Sheriff Arpaio's attempt to push his own political agenda, from the State's largest municipality to the state's smallest municipality, shows that he disregards his statutory obligations to provide unbiased law enforcement to the residents of this county and should not be based on legal status. We are asking the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to cease their operation immediately."
Jimenez told me that the MCSO had informed the city that it would be doing an anti-graffiti operation and that she was promised that it would not be one of Joe's anti-illegal sweeps. If that's the case, I'd say she was a little gullible on that front considering Joe's recent activities. However, she bravely made up for this with her defiant press release and by insisting to Joe in person that he leave. This capped off an evening of spirited protest by about 200 or so demonstrators, and many drivers-by who honked their horns in agreement. While I was there, Rusty Childress' United for a Sovereign America was nowhere to be seen. People were angered by the MCSO's harassment of their fellow citizens, and many of those present had walked from their homes to be there. I think the demonstrations will be even larger today, as city leaders had initially asked residents to attend prayer vigils being held in different churches rather than protest the Sheriff on site. But obviously, all bets are off now.
The MCSO's stops were petty and pathetic. I rode along with one loosely organized group that monitors the MCSO and videotapes the traffic stops they're making. One lady was stopped and cited for "improper use of horn" (a favorite citation of the evening) because she had honked her horn in solidarity with the demonstrators. Another guy was stopped and cited for a cracked tail light right in front of his house. Still another fella was pulled over because the little light over his license plate was out. Back at the Family Dollar on Calle Guadalupe, another lady, a full-blooded Yaqui Indian (the town is half Yaqui, half Mexican) told me she was stopped as she was walking to the protest and asked for her I.D. She has lived in Guadalupe all her life. I guess WWB, Walking While Brown, is considered probable cause by the MCSO. For the Guadalupe operation alone, Sheriff Joe should have his 287g agreement with ICE jerked. That's the agreement that allows specially-trained MCSO to enforce immigration law under limited circumstances. How much more obvious can it be that Arpaio is abusing this authority and terrorizing Valley communities with these bogus and illegal anti-immigrant dragnets? When will the Feds wake up and halt Joe's reign of terror and error?

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Governor Speaks: "It is a "Big Mistake" To Blame Budget Deficit on Illegal Immigration!"

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks the truth about Illegal Immigration in his state.

Report From the Sacramento Bee:
Governor refuses to blame illegal immigrants for budget problems By Kevin Yamamura - Thursday, March 27, 2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it a "big mistake" Wednesday to blame illegal immigrants for the state's looming $8 billion budget gap, just as Republican lawmakers have proposed a rollback of benefits for illegal immigrants to save money..."There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants," Schwarzenegger said. "I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don't think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in."..
Schwarzenegger said he believes the United States should pursue immigration reform and have tougher border controls. But he added that blaming illegal immigrants "because we have a budget problem would be a big mistake. I think we have to look at ourselves in Sacramento. We in Sacramento have the responsibility to come up with a coherent budget system, and we haven't done that."

Herr Congressman Terrill Pushing Official English in Oklahoma Next!

Herr Terrill is at it again. He is the Oklahoma Congressman, part time Minuteman, who pushed through (with NO popular vote) the restrictionist HB1804 Immigration Bill which promotes racial profiling, has caused many Latinos (legal and illegal) to leave the state and has had a significant negative impact on Business and State Revenue. Now he is pushing an Official English Bill.
English is and continues to be the National Language of our Great USA. All loyal Americans support English, learn know and understand English as our National Language. As new people immigrate to our nation we know, in general, it takes one generation to assimilate and learn the language fluently. We also realize that many older citizens who immigrated here may have difficulty in adapting as quickly to English to the level needed in complex situations. Therefore, many businesses and government offices support the use of Spanish and other languages
Many people ask me, "Why do so many ANTIs constantly insist on the passage of an Official English bill when the government has already passed English as our National Language bill?"
There are two reasons the ANTIs insist on passage of the Official English bill:
1. The bills say: "all government business must be conducted in English and prevent the government from delivering government services in any language but English." Many ANTI groups are pushing this bill NOW. Why? Because many ANTI groups DO NOT want any Voter materials printed in Spanish. They do not want translators available to assist Spanish Speaking voters. These bills are specifically aimed against Latino voters. Notice the language in the Oklahoma bill being presented by Herr Terrill. His aim is purely to pass an ANTI Latino bill. (see article below)
2. Many ANTIs believe once a National bill is passed, all states will be forced to enforce the Offical English bill´s within their states to the letter of the National Law. Approximately 30 states currently have an "Official English" bill within their states. Some states do not enforce and some states do not require the printing of materials in English only, particularly California does not. The ANTIs want this changed, with forced National Enforcement. Additionally, once these bills are strictly enforced, they look for more stringent measures going forward, as in the Judge´s ruling in my other post.
Remember America, as with the Patriot Act, once we open the door to the passage of these types of bills, the Flood-Gates will be open for even harsher measures and enforcements! This is only the beginning of the loss of our Civil Liberties and we should be aware of the impacts.
As reported in the Norman, OK Transcript:
TIM TALLEY Associated Press - March 18, 2008 04:05 pm
The author of Oklahoma's sweeping anti-illegal-immigration law said Tuesday he plans new legislation that would ask voters to make English the official language of the state. Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said the measure will seek a constitutional amendment requiring that all official state government business be conducted in English similar to proposals adopted by 30 other states that have made English the official language. The legislation addresses government speech and recognizes the state's right to control the way it communicates with citizens and how citizens communicate with it, Terrill said. If approved by voters, the measure would prevent the state from having to deliver taxpayer services in a language other than English and avoid the cost of providing services in multiple languages by using translators and publishing state documents in various languages. "Translation costs money," Terrill said. "We know the costs are significant." The measure also adopts a federal government policy that encourages immigrants to assimilate into American society by speaking English. The bill carves out exceptions for American Indian languages and would not interfere with tribal language programs. English-only legislation died last year after it was opposed by tribal officials.

Page Hits