Tancredo Pulling Out of Presidential Race

The AP is reporting:

Tancredo to Abandon Presidential Bid
By GEORGE MERRITT – 1 hour ago
DENVER (AP) — Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, whose forceful opposition to illegal immigration vaulted him to national prominence, plans to announce he is abandoning his long-shot bid for the presidency, a person close to Tancredo said Wednesday. The five-term Colorado congressman planned to make the announcement at a news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Tancredo or his campaign.

Tancredo's campaign would only say he planned a "major announcement" Thursday.
Tancredo has consistently polled at the back of the nine-person GOP field. He has based his campaign on opposition to illegal immigration, a top issue in many areas of the country. He has run television ads that link lax border security to terrorist attacks, rape and other crimes.

I wonder who the ANTIs will vote for now? Many sites are saying Romney, but didn´t we all just agree he is a Flip Flopper?

Mitt Romney, Immigration and Flip Flops

My husband and I watched Mitt Romney on Meet the Press today. My husband is not impressed by any of the candidates for President and today´s interview did not change his mind. At the end of the interview he said, "I will not vote for anyone who tries to pander to all sides of these issues." I agreed with him.

I was particularly puzzled by Romney´s so called "hardline" on Immigration. After hearing then reading this portion of the interview, I am still puzzled.

As the NY Times reported on this interview:

"On immigration, Mr. Russert raised a 2005 Boston Globe interview in which Mr. Romney called proposals by Senator John McCain and others on illegal immigration that would have offered a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants “reasonable,” which seemed to contradict his hardline stance today.

But Mr. Romney said he had been careful to say in the interview that he had not endorsed any of the proposals that were out there and not had formulated his own policy, adding that he still believes the 12 million illegal immigrants already here should be allowed to apply for permanent residency or citizenship, provided they are not given a “special pathway.”

Mr. Romney also defended himself from accusations of hypocrisy on his tough rhetoric on the issue in light of the recent embarassing revelations that a yard service company he used at his Massachusetts home was found for a second time by the Boston Globe to be employing illegal immigrants.

He said that his son Tagg, now a senior adviser to the campaign, met with the owner of the company after the Boston Globe revealed a year ago that the company was using illegal Guatemalan immigrants and got assurances that they would henceforth make sure they were using only legal workers.

But in his initial statement after the company was found for a second time to be using illegal immigrants, Mr. Romney had seemed to imply that he had met with the company personally after the first incident.

“After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions,” he said in a statement. “They were instructed to make sure people working for the company were of legal status. We personally met with the company in order to inform them about the importance of this matter. The owner of the company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in total compliance with the law going forward.”

What do you think?

Holiday Music: Border Song

Border Song

A Trek through the Political Immigration Swamp!

I came across this interesting article from the Washington Post:

The Immigration Swamp

As the presidential campaign intensifies, so does the nativist ferocity.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
THE IDEA that 12 million illegal residents of the United States can be induced to quit the country en masse within four months is absurd on its face -- a non-starter in logistical, humanitarian, political, diplomatic, commercial and economic terms that would leave an indelible stain on this country for years. Yet that is the wrathful centerpiece of Mike Huckabee's "Secure America Plan," which the Republican presidential candidate issued the other day in the course of his party's escalating enthusiasm for nastier-than-thou prescriptions to deal with illegal immigrants.

Never mind that Mr. Huckabee, when he was governor of Arkansas, actually pursued a pragmatic policy in regard to illegal aliens, urging that exemplary youngsters be eligible for scholarships to public universities even if they were undocumented because, as he put it, "we are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did." Having lately surged enough in the polls to sniff the sweet smell of success, he is not about to let experience, common sense or simple decency get in the way of short-term electoral advantage.
Mr. Huckabee was promptly rewarded for his reversal with an endorsement from Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, a group of xenophobes who spend their time videotaping and harassing day laborers wherever they find them. The candidate, apparently once fazed by the Minuteman group's vigilantism, said he had undergone a conversion and cravenly apologized for his past skepticism; Mr. Gilchrist, for his part, said of the Huckabee immigration program: "It was a plan I myself could have written."

It's a fair guess that this cruel campaign of immigrant-bashing will eventually turn toxic for the Republican Party itself, whose own strategists (Karl Rove, among others) have long grasped the growing electoral clout of Hispanics. Those Hispanic voters, native-born or not, are anxious and angry about the intensifying nativist zeal in political rhetoric, which many are rightly blaming on the Republicans. In a new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, half of all Hispanics in America reported that the debate on immigration has had a specific negative impact on their lives; 41 percent said that they or someone close to them had suffered discrimination in the past five years -- up from 31 percent in 2002. The new data undercut the Republicans' frequent protestations that their targets are not legal immigrants but illegal ones. The attacks have become so venomous, and the policy proposals so pernicious, that, predictably, they have caused collateral damage among Spanish-speaking and non-native-born people generally. The anti-illegal-immigrant crowd would have us believe it honors and admires legal immigrants; in fact, it is making America a less hospitable place for them.

The candidates are stepping into a breach left by the colossal failure by Congress in June to enact comprehensive immigration reform, which held out the promise of calming a turbulent national debate. The bill would have tightened security at the borders; cracked down on employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers; established a legal mechanism for immigration for the hundreds of thousands of workers who enter the country each year to fill low-skill jobs; and provided a path to legal status for the illegal immigrants now living in America. It was a sensible response to a problem that will not be fixed by grandiose and far-fetched schemes such as Mr. Huckabee's -- cadged from an anti-illegal-immigrant think tank -- which goes heavy on enforcement and security but suggests no realistic plan to address the economy's appetite for immigrant workers in the future, let alone those here now. Virtually all the presidential candidates now tip their hats to tougher enforcement of existing laws, with the Democrats generally differentiating themselves by saying or hinting that illegal immigrants might subsequently be offered a shot at legalization. But in Congress, some Democrats, mostly from red or purple states and wary of being attacked as insufficiently fierce on illegal immigration, are also going the enforcement-only route. A bill co-sponsored by freshman Rep. Heath Shuler, a North Carolina Democrat, which seeks to purge undocumented immigrants from the work force, would probably drive millions of them further underground; nonetheless, he has attracted a few dozen sponsors from his own party.

Such measures, in addition to state and local legislation that would deny some benefits and services to illegal immigrants, are a response to understandable and legitimate concerns that the nation's borders are porous; that illegal immigrants are straining government services and budgets; and that neighborhoods are being degraded by flophouses, day laborers and immigrant gangs. But the rhetorical excess that has accompanied the proposals, and the suggestions that millions of people might be expelled or hounded from the country, not only respond to popular disquiet; they also whip it up. According to the latest FBI statistics, from 2006, hate crimes against Hispanics had increased by more than a third since 2003. America has had its paroxysms of anti-immigrant fervor in the past, also accompanied by spasms of violence and persecution. Today, as in the past, the national atmosphere is subverting the discussion, drowning out reason. Look at the uproar that overwhelmed New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's sensible, safety-minded proposal to make illegal immigrants eligible for driver's licenses, and you will see logic defeated by posturing, political cowardice and the poisonous diatribes of talk radio. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who championed comprehensive reform, is now chastened by the ferocity of the demagogues who mischaracterized it as an "amnesty"; he says he "got the message" and will now speak only of enforcement in the near term. In such an ugly environment, the best one can hope for is candidates who can appeal to the nation's self-interest as well as its better instincts; who can explain that resolving the immigration mess through a comprehensive approach is not only an economic imperative but also the only realistic way out of a political swamp.

Jobs Americans Won´t Do!

Are there Jobs Americans Won´t Do? If you listen to the employers in areas where strict restrictionist Immigration laws have been imposed, they are telling us they cannot find employees to do these jobs.

ABC News reports:

The Role of 7.2 Million Undocumented Workers

Mitt Romney Fired His Landscapers, but What About Your Waiter, Maid and Contractor?

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMESDec. 11, 2007

The dirt under Mike Mendenko's nails reveals more than his 52 years at Village Nurseries in Hightstown, N.J., where he has worked since he was a teenager. As owner of a seven-acre tree farm and landscaping company, he's facing the toughest job of his life — finding workers. And if Mendenko challenged the fragile documentation of the workers he's got, he might have no business at all.

Immigration advocates say he is not alone. If all small-business owners did the same, whole industries — landscaping, restaurants and construction — might collapse. For Mendenko, it's hard to compete against big-box retailers, and, it's even harder to find labor, especially as the debate over the role of immigrants has escalated in the presidential nomination campaign.

"Very few American folks are willing to do this kind of work anymore," said Mendenko, whose son left the nursery to study white-collar science at Cornell University. "We're desperate for the help." Mendenko has stopped trying to find teenagers to do the backbreaking physical work. These days, he says he relies on a legal — "if you believe what people tell you" — immigrant work force.

A Migrant Child´s Christmas

At Christmastime, Mom taught us to celebrate Christmas in a special way. We were Catholic and we believed Christmas meant we were celebrating the Birth of Christ. Starting two weeks before Christmas through to January 6 of the New Year (the Feast of the Epiphany), every evening at 7:00 pm, our family gathered in the living room and said the Rosary.

As in most Hispanic family homes, we always had a crucifix and a small altar in our Living Room. During Christmas time, mom decorated the altar with the Nativity scene. My mother loved ceramics and so our Altar was always very special. Each figure was made of hand painted porcelain ceramics standing about six to ten inches tall. Mom would find straw either from a farm or craft store. She used the Christmas lights to string across the top of the roof. The baby Jesus had a beautiful, radiant face and was carefully layed in a manger, filled with straw. He lay atop a handmade silk blanket and mom hand sewed his silk baby gown. Mary kneeled on his right, Joseph on his left. The Shepherds and their sheep were on the right, the three wise men on the left. An Angel perched from Heaven above as if to say “Hosanna in the Highest.”

At exactly 7:00pm, our parents and all of my siblings stopped whatever we were doing, picked up our rosaries, found our favorite spot facing the altar, knelt down and started to pray. Usually our Mom led the rosary, saying the first half of each prayer as the rest of us contributed the last half, in unison.

For those not familiar with the rosary, it is said in five sections, with the leader reciting the appropriate “Mystery” of the rosary after each section. We followed the tradition and added a song after each mystery.

Our Dad was so strict about our speaking English at home, but he did make an exception for the Rosary. While we said the prayers in English, Mom often read the Mysteries from her Spanish prayer book. She also taught us a special song to sing at Christmas during the Rosary. It was in Spanish. It was a song her mother taught her as a child. It went like this: “Ya rompió el alba del día, nacio el Niño Manuelito. Cantemos con alegría, Alalu, Niño Chiquito. Alalu, Niño Chiquito.”

It was a short, simple song with a very beautiful melody. Two of us rocked the baby Jesus as we sang it.

It´s funny. When I think about my childhood Christmases, I don´t think about toys or gifts of any kind. Instead, I think of the rosaries we always said. Each year, as I put up my Christmas decorations, I make sure to put my Nativity scene right over the fireplace. As I am putting it up, I keep hearing that beautiful melody playing, “…Alalu, Niño Chiquito. Alalu, Niño Chiquito.”

Those are the memories you never forget!

Minutemen Leaders Turning on their Followers!

Unbelievable events are occuring in from the Minutemen Ranks. The "Heinous MM Leaders," as I´ve often reported, have their own agenda and it is called Personal Power and Media Attention. Now their followers are seeing this for themselves.


First, MM Founder Gilchrist endorses Mike Huckabee, much to the chagrin of their largest ANTI group Leaders. (e.g. Alipac´s William and American Patrol´s Spencer).


Now, the Arizona Daily Star is reporting Simcox is saying he has been misunderstood and we do need to institute some Comprehensive Immigration Reform Policies.

"I had pretty much written him off," Rios said of Simcox. Rios and Flores were willing to concede the border needs to be secured for a guest-worker plan to work. And earlier in the day, Simcox, a controversial figure who is credited and criticized for being the first to organize a citizen border patrol, made what some found to be stunning statements: He supports public education for the children of illegal immigrants and sees the fix as not just an issue of enforcement, but of reforming Mexico's economy and basing the number of U.S. visas on the nation's labor supply. "People have never really listened to the entire scope of what our organization stands for," Simcox said. "

The day, filled with panel discussions and retorts from county sheriffs and lawmakers from around the state, was not devoid of disagreement. Some questioned the accuracy of academic studies portraying immigrants as a net gain for the economy — not a drain. Others wondered whether those who want to stem the flow of illegal immigrants are really standing behind the rule of law — or are just scared about the "browning of America," as Rios put it. While this group of about 70 was able to find consensus, there was an acknowledgment of political reality: Congress has failed to institute federal immigration reform. The location — downtown Phoenix — was fitting. Less than six miles away the immigration debate is unfolding in a vivid way at M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings. The Phoenix store has attracted national attention because of a standoff among immigration activists, sheriff's deputies and the store owner, who has hired off-duty deputies to catch day-laborers.

"That's not the way to go about it," Simcox said, admitting he'll take flak from border activists for standing against the action. "My followers end up criticizing me because I'm too soft," he said at one point in the day.

Arizona Daily Star Publisher and Editor John Humenik stressed immigration is a local issue, pointing to the impact it has on the Tucson economy and culture. "I think our role here in Arizona and as communicators with the newspaper is to help the rest of the country understand what is a very local issue," Humenik said. "It can't be done in Washington. It has to be done in groups like this. It has to be done in communities like Tucson and Phoenix."

Some of the recommendations out of the forum included asking legislators to form a bipartisan immigration caucus, and one break-out group suggested "eliminating the word amnesty from the dictionary." But bridging the gap from a policy meeting controlled by moderators to the partisan halls of government — either Congress or the state Legislature — is a challenge. "It's very concerning to me — the rhetoric," said State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Phoenix Democrat. "Our discussion around the issue of immigration has never been able to be focused on real pragmatic and practical solutions. We really need to have a well-rounded set of options on the table."


My Gosh! Ultima, Liquid, and all ANTIs, what´s next? Is your side really softening towards Comprehensive Immigration Reform? Can we come together as a Nation? Will this issue be resolved in time for the 2008 Elections?