Glenn Beck Gets Joe Arpaio to Admit he IS Racial Profiling Latinos!

Glenn Beck's ONE Good Thing: While interviewing Joe Arpaio, skillfully got him to out himself as a RACIAL PROFILER! Beck's Motivation? My guess is, he sees that Arpaio is "going down" and as we know, Beck will do ANYTHING for ratings! Even attack his own side!

From the video: (at minute: 4:30)
"I'm just trying to understand this," Beck wonders at one point. "They say you can't enforce the federal laws. So how are you going to enforce it and still be a man of your word?"

"Because I'm going to enforce the state laws," responds Arpaio. "And there is a federal law that they don't seem to understand is there, that I will enforce also."

"Which is what?" asks Beck.

"Which is, if local law enforcement comes across some people, that have a erratic, or scared, or whatever, you know, they're worried," Joe responds, "and if they have, their speech, what they look like (Latino), if they just look like they came from another country, we can take care of that situation. But I don't need that anyway, Glenn, I can still do the job."

"Hang on," says Beck. "When was that law written? Because all I hear about is that sounds like profiling. And the government is saying you can't profile anybody."

at minute 6:30: Beck: What are they doing, wearing sombreros??

Reference:
Joe Arpaio on Glenn Beck

Prison Riot Underway Due to Inhumane Treatment & Death! GEO Group Cited for Worst Prisons Ever!

A Prison Uprising is underway at the Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC). This is the second uprising in 2 months. The detainees say prison conditions are inhumane and they lack needed medical treatment. The trigger setting them off in December was a prisoner dying.

This center is located in Pecos, Tx, an extremely "out of the way" location. It houses approximately 2,400 minimum security inmates and immigration detainees. It is operated by the GEO group. GEO attempted to cover up the reason for the prisoner's death by saying the young prisoner died of natural causes. The detainees, risking their lives, protested.

As I have previously reported, the GEO Group, is an international corporation that operates prisons around the country and is frequently in the news for its abuse of prisoners in its care resulting in many preventable deaths. At least eight people died at the Geo Group-operated George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates.

GEO, based in Florida, also has been under fire in Texas, where it operates more than a dozen correctional facilities. Last fall, the Texas Youth Commission abruptly canceled its $8 million contract with GEO after investigators found unsanitary living conditions at its juvenile facility. Several of the teens said they were sexually assaulted by a guard who was a convicted sex offender, according to lawsuits. GEO lost its contract at an adult facility in west Texas last year after an inspector reportedly characterized the prison as "the worst correctional facility I have ever visited." The inspection was sparked by an inmate's suicide.
Texas legislators have called for a review of all of GEO's contracts with state and local agencies.

Message to Janet Napolitano: Please investigate the conditions in Detention Centers operated by the GEO Group.

Background:

The Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC), built in 1998, is publicly owned by the Reeves County Detention Center Trust and is the largest employer in Reeves County.

The center is funded based on per diem (charge per inmate/per day) paid by the Board of Prisons (BOP).

In 2003, most of the beds were empty and the center was going bankrupt. The County was in trouble. Federal contracts with county facilities do not stipulate how many prisoners are to be housed at a facility, and the 1000 beds in the latest addition to the RCDC remained empty. The BOP stated the problem was the location (out in the middle of nowhere) and it was far too costly to transport prisoners there.

In the summer of 2003, when default seemed imminent, county Judge Jimmy Galindo wrote a letter to his friend, President Bush, asking him to intervene and save the local economy by providing BOP prisoners for the facility. In November, 2003, the GEO Group, a large RNC contributor, was brought in to operate/manage the prison.

References:

1. Dec. 12, 2008 Uprising: Texas: Detainees Protest Death, Seize Hostages, Inmates protesting medical care give up, release hostages

2. Jan. 31, 2009 Uprising: Recent Uprising, Officer: Inmates riot again at West Texas prison

3. GEO Group Abuses - Wikipedia

4. Public Bonds

5. Jail Overcrowding (Randy DeLay (brother of Tom DeLay) hired)

ANTI Leader Mark Krikorian Says to the GOP it is time to STOP THE HATE!

Hmmm... The ANTI Leader Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center of Immigration Studies and author of the ANTI's "Rule of Law" argument said to the RNC, if they ever hope to gain leadership again, they must change their approach towards Immigration. He says the Current Approach (Hate Talk/Animosity) "is both incomplete and counterproductive."
While I agree the Hate Talk must end (meaning ANTIs MUST STOP using the terms: Anchor Babies, Mexifornia, 3rd World Country, Illeegal Aliens, etc.) and some softening on the judges' ability to allow Legal Immigrants with deportation orders to stay, I do not see changes from the current argument, including no change to Mass Deportation through attrition/enforcement which results in Racial Profiling and Hate Crimes.
The only changes I see he is making is using more politically correct language and significantly reducing overall (legal and illegal) immigration in the future. In addition, the changes he is recommending will be adamently opposed by the many extremist and angry ANTIs who I think will continue with their angry rhetoric.
Readers, what do you think of the changes Kirkorian is recommending?
Excerpts from Mark Kirkorian's article in the National Review: (click on link for complete article)
With Republicans shut out of power, now is the time to take a new look at their approach to immigration, to develop a new and distinctive alternative to the majority party on immigration, what is needed is not so much a reversal in specifics but a different framework within which to fit the specifics.
For too long the Republican story line has been “Too Much Lawbreaking,” when instead the real problem is “Too Much Immigration” — only one part of which involves lawbreaking. This exclusive focus on illegal immigration — opposing amnesty and pushing for more enforcement — is both incomplete and counterproductive.
1. Incomplete because the effects of illegal immigration aren’t that different from those of legal immigration — an illiterate Central American farmer with a green card is just as unsuited for a 21st-century economy as an illiterate Central American farmer without a green card.
2. Counterproductive because the focus on criminality can seem punitive and serve to polarize the debate, potentially alienating not just immigrant voters, who really aren’t that numerous, but the native-born, who want less immigration but don’t want to feel bad about themselves for holding such a view.
A new approach would retain the widely popular, and morally compelling, support for more consistent application of immigration laws and opposition to legalization — but make them part of a broader push for a more moderate level of future immigration overall.
If the debate focuses solely on legality, ultimately there’s no real argument against amnesty and open borders. You just legalize the whole thing and the issue goes away — no illegals, no problem. In the appropriately larger context, amnesty is bad not only because it rewards lawbreaking (which it does), but also for the same reason that the Visa lottery is bad: it leads to excessive immigration. A new GOP approach to immigration would also recognize that there are two components to the debate — immigration policy and immigrant policy, the first governing who and how many we take, the second how we treat people once they’re here...
The ..option .. most Americans (of whatever party) intuitively support — a pro-immigrant policy of low immigration, one that seeks a smaller number of future admissions but extends a warmer welcome to those admitted. Ironically, such reductions in immigration could actually drain away some of the venom from the immigration debate by allowing a more relaxed approach to those immigrants we do let in. For instance, something called “cancellation of removal” can be used by a judge to allow a legal immigrant to stay despite a deportation order, because of hardship to his family. Because of mass immigration, causing the system to be a sieve, Congress raised the bar in 1996, from “extreme hardship” to “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship.” A lower level of immigration, allowing us to reestablish control, would permit Congress to trim back a couple of adjectives, because the problem wouldn’t be as acute. The same could apply to other areas, such as welfare eligibility, where tough standards are required in the face of massive numbers, but more flexibility is possible when the tide ebbs. Thus a pro-immigrant policy of low immigration can serve two purposes — it puts the illegal immigration question into a larger context, providing more than simply a gut-level opposition to amnesty. And it can allow a more flexible and less punitive approach to management of immigrants already here, making a policy that will necessarily involve a certain degree of sternness be somewhat less severe.

Prez pays off Cronies before Leaving Office! Chertoff Authorizes Seven Miles of Fence for $37M

As the Prez is leaving office, he is making his list and checking it twice! He wants to be sure all of his friends and cronies are taken care of before he leaves office.

Bush To Do List before he leaves Office:
1. Mortgage Co. Bailout
2. Gas prices through the roof ($5)
3. Nafta-Cafta extended to other countries
4. Filling up Crony Owned Private Prisons

5. Hiring Cronies to build the Border Fence in 3 sleepy little towns along the border! 7.6 miles of fence = $37M to cronies!

(List will be updated as the Prez updates it)

Who will build the fence?
U.S. government awards 3 contracts for border barrier construction - September 23, 2008 - 10:14PM
Contracts to build the border fence in Cameron County were awarded to three private companies Monday, after Congress approved a $378 million appropriations request to continue the barrier's construction.
Despite longstanding opposition from the county's residents and politicians, construction could begin soon on the Texas border's southernmost stretch. The contracts are for fence segments in Bluetown, Los Indios, El Calaboz and La Paloma, all rural communities established by 18th century Spanish land grants. The communities are now home to some of the border fence's most vociferous opponents, many of whom have been fighting the barrier in court for nearly a year.

Clute, Texas-based Jaco Construction, Colorado-based MCC Construction and Omaha-based Kiewit Corporation were each awarded contracts to build a total of 7.6 miles of fencing for almost $37 million. The government must now clear mounting judicial obstacles in order to meet Congress' mandate to build 670 miles of fencing by Dec. 31. So far, 340 miles of fencing have been constructed along the southwest border. Ninety-seven landowners in the Rio Grande Valley have refused to sell their property to the federal government, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Sept. 10. Some of those property owners, including Eloisa Tamez of El Calaboz, wonder how contracts can be awarded before lawsuits have been resolved. "(Homeland Security Secretary) Chertoff is going completely outside of the Constitution, not allowing the federal court to make its decision before he moves on," Tamez said. Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said he had always maintained that DHS was going to build "something" if the county did not offer an alternative to them. "I still think that the border/levee combo project was a viable alternative, and I'm just saddened that DHS thought it was not," Cascos said. "For now, we are just going to wait and see what the fence is going to look like." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not announce when construction is expected to begin in Cameron County.

Rand Study Mischaracterized by LA Times Op-Ed and Blog

A Rand Study is being mis characterized by an LA Times Op-Ed and LA Times ANTI Blog. The study says "Deportable immigrants released from the Los Angeles County jail system were no more likely to be rearrested than similar nondeportable immigrants released during the same period" yet the LA Times Blog and an LA Time Article say: "Illegal immigrants who have been deported at least once from the United States are far more likely than other immigrants to repeatedly commit crimes." The LA Times Op-Ed and Blog took one bullet from the study and spun it in order to create their mischaracterization. See both articles below.
RAND.org Reports:
Recidivism No Higher Among Deportable Immigrants Than Similar Nondeportable Immigrants
Deportable immigrants released from the Los Angeles County jail system were no more likely to be rearrested than similar nondeportable immigrants released during the same period, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. Researchers say the findings suggest that illegal and other immigrants subject to deportation who are released into the community from a local jail do not pose a greater threat to public safety than non-deportable immigrants released at the same time. Researchers studied nearly 1,300 male immigrants released from jail over a 30-day period and followed them for a year to see whether there were differences in recidivism between the deportable and nondeportable immigrants. Immigrants who were deportable — deemed so because they entered the United States illegally, overstayed their visas or committed other violations — were no more likely to be rearrested during the study period when compared to similar legal or naturalized immigrants. “Our findings run counter to the notion that illegal immigrants are more likely than other immigrants to cycle in and out of the local criminal justice system,” said Laura Hickman, assistant professor with the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute at Portland State University and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
The LA Times took were able to SPIN their articles based on one line in this report.
Hickman and co-author Marika Suttorp of RAND found that a higher percentage of deportable immigrants were rearrested at least once during the following year — 43 percent compared to 35 percent. But when researchers compared deportable immigrants to similar nondeportable immigrants — considering factors such as age, ethnicity, country of birth, and type of criminal arrest — the differences disappeared. Criminal justice research has shown that some groups are more likely than others to be rearrested. For example, younger people and those jailed on drug charges have higher rates of recidivism than other groups.
The results of this study are significant because the researchers were able to show that the difference in the simple percentages of rearrest between the groups (43 versus 35) was due to the influence of the other factors like age, ethnicity, and criminal history related to recidivism. When these factors were accounted for in the analysis, immigration status had no influence on rearrest.
Here is the LA Times Article. It takes one Leap from the point of the article and begins the mischaracterization:
LATIMES.com Op-Ed:
Illegal immigrants who return after deportation commit more crimes, study finds
In L.A. County, 75% of inmates who reenter the U.S. engage in more criminal activity within a year. The rate is less for illegal immigrants who have never been ordered to leave.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 8, 2008
Illegal immigrants who have been deported at least once from the United States are far more likely than other immigrants to repeatedly commit crimes, according to a study by the nonprofit Rand Corp.The data indicated that illegal immigrants, overall, were not a greater crime risk, according to the study, which looked at all inmates released from Los Angeles County Jail for a month in 2002.
Here is the LA Times Blog that totally skews the actual Study:
LA Times Blog writes:
Title: Illegal immigrants in our jails: Fuel to the fire
L.A. law enforcement officials have focused increasing resources on identifying and deporting illegal immigrants in the jail system. Now, there is some fresh evidence on the problem: According to a Rand study, illegal immigrants deported from the jail are highly likely to commit more crimes.
Anna (OpEd Author) did an interesting story this summer going inside the jail and looking at the process for deporting illegal immigrants. The report is likely to add to the debate over Jamiel's Law, which would permit Los Angeles police officers to arrest gang members for breaking U.S. immigration law.

It is no wonder that Arizonian, a commenter on my blog brought the LA Times Blog to me and asked me to blog about it. The entire study is mischaracterized and spun in an opposite direction. If we are going to use studies in our discussions, we need to look at the studies, make sure they are unbiased then discuss them from an open, honest perspective.

Laurel ICE Raid Update: The Politics of the Employer´s Exploitation of Workers and Their Connection to the Administration-ICE!

It is just amazing! The reason ICE performed the raids was because the illegal immigrants were starting to join the Union. This is what happened at Agriprocessors too!
When the heinous employers saw the end to their exploitation, they called in their cronies at ICE to bring in the Raids!
The primary REASON for the Raid in Laurel was to teach the workers who attempted to join a Union, "IF you try to join a Union, WE are so connected to the Administration then we will shackle you and send you to a Crony Owned Detention Center!"

The Employers can now say (as the W Administration so often says) "Mission Accomplished!"The racist Union Members cheer as the attempted Latino union members were marched out in shackles, unaware that they were in sync, lock step, to management plans, making this a racist issue vs a union issue.

What is most amazing is the so called Union Supporters now feel vindicated. They believe by removing these hard working Latino workers who were attempting to stop management exploitation and attempting to join the union that their Mission is Accomplished.

How little they know! The workers were NOT their enemy! Their enemies were the exploitive employers who will continue to exploit! Perhaps move out of state! And squelch Union activity every chance they get! The Employers and their Administrative Buddies!!

newamericamedia reports:
LAUREL, Miss. -- On August 25, immigration agents swooped down on Howard Industries, a Mississippi electrical equipment factory, taking 481 workers to a privately-run detention center in Jena, Louisiana. Some 106 were also arrested at the plant, and released wearing electronic monitoring devices on their ankles, if they had children, or without them, if they were pregnant. Eight workers were taken to Federal court in Hattiesburg, where they were charged with aggravated identity theft. Afterwards Barbara Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated the raid took place because of a tip by a "union member" two years before. Other media accounts focused on an incident in which plant workers allegedly cheered as their coworkers were led away by ICE agents.
The articles claim the plant was torn by tension between immigrant and non-immigrant workers, and that unions in Mississippi are hostile to immigrants. Many Mississippi activists and workers, however, charge the raid had a political agenda - undermining a growing political coalition that threatens the state's conservative Republican establishment. They also say the raid, which took place during union contract negotiations, will help the company resist demands for better wages and conditions.
Jim Evans, a national AFL-CIO staff member in Mississippi and a leading member of the state legislature's Black Caucus, said he believed "this raid is an effort to drive immigrants out of Mississippi. It is also an attempt to drive a wedge between immigrants, African Americans, white people and unions - all those who want political change here." Patricia Ice, attorney for the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA), agreed that "this is political. They want a mass exodus of immigrants out of the state, the kind we've seen in Arizona and Oklahoma. The political establishment here is threatened by Mississippi's changing demographics, and what the electorate might look like in 20 years."In the last two decades, the percentage of African Americans in the state's population has increased to over 35%, and immigrants, who were statistically insignificant until recently, are expected to reach 10% in the next decade. Mississippi union membership has been among the nation's lowest, but since the early 1980s, workers have joined unions in catfish and poultry plants, casinos and shipyards, along with those at Howard Industries. Evans, other members of the Black Caucus, many of the state's labor organizations, and immigrant communities all see shifting demographic as the basis for changing the state's politics. Over the last seven years their growing coalition has proposed legislation to set up a Department of Labor (Mississippi is the only state without one), guarantee access to education for children of all races and nationalities, and provide drivers' licenses to immigrants. MIRA organized support in the state capitol for those proposals and Evans, who sponsored many of them, chairs the MIRA's board. Earlier this year, however, the legislature passed, and Governor Haley Barbour signed, a law making it a state felony for an undocumented worker to hold a job, punishable by 1-5 years in prison and $1,000-10,000 in fines. Employers are given immunity for employing workers without papers, so long as they vet new hires through an ICE database called E-Verify. It is still not known whether the people arrested at Howard Industries will be charged under the new state law. Evans says the law and the raid serve the same objectives. "They both just make it easier to exploit workers. The people who profit from Mississippi's low wage system want to keep it the way it is," he alleged.
In the week before the raid, MIRA organizers received reports of a growing number of ICE agents in southern Mississippi. They began leafleting immigrant communities, warning them about a possible raid and explaining their rights should people be questioned about their immigration status. When agents finally showed up at the Howard Industries plant, many workers say they tried to invoke those rights, and warn others that a raid was in progress. One woman, later detained and then released to care for her child, began to call workers who had not yet come to the factory on her cell phone, warning them to stay away. "She first called her brother, and then began calling anyone else she could think of," explained her mother, who works in a local chicken plant. Both feared being identified publicly. "An agent grabbed her arm, and asked her what she was doing, so she went into the bathroom, and kept calling people until they took her phone away."
Howard Industries, like most Mississippi employers, has a long record of opposing unions. Workers there chose representation by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on June 8, 2000, by a vote of 162-108. Employment at the plant, which manufactures electrical ballasts and transformers, grew considerably after the election, and the company now employs over 4000 workers at several locations in Mississippi. In 2002 it received a $31.5 million subsidy for expansion from the state government, and at one point state legislators were all given HI laptop computers. "The company is very well-connected politically," says Evans, who noted that its owners donated to the campaigns of former Democratic governor Ronnie Musgrove, and then to Mississippi's current Republican governor Haley Barbour.
As it grew the company hired many immigrant Mexican and Central American workers, diversifying a workforce that was originally primarily African American and white. The company has declined to comment, and released a press statement that said, "Howard Industries runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for jobs. It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants." (We really believe this!) During the organizing drive the union filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging intimidation and violations of workers' rights. After the union and company agreed on a contract, more charges followed. NLRB Region 15 issued a complaint against the company for violating the union's bargaining rights. Roger Doolittle, attorney for IBEW Local 1317, says other charges allege that the company threatened a union steward for trying to represent workers in the plant. In June the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it intended to fine the company $123,000 for 36 violations of health and safety regulations at the Pendorf plant, where the raid took place, and another $41,000 in fines for a second Laurel location.Tension between the company and union increased after the collective bargaining agreement expired at the beginning of August. According to one immigrant worker, who was not detained because he worked on swing shift and did not want to be identified, the union was asking for a wage increase of $1.50/hour and better vacation benefits. Company medical benefits are also an issue among workers, he said, because family coverage costs over $100/week, putting it out of reach for most employees. Mississippi is a right-to-work state, and labor contracts cannot require that workers belong to the union. Instead, unions must continually try to sign workers up as members. In past years, according to other union sources, IBEW Local 1317 had a reputation as a union that did not offer much support to its immigrant members. According to the swing shift worker, who did not belong to the union, there were just a few hundred members at the Pendorf plant, and in negotiations the company used that low membership as a reason not to sign a new agreement. To increase its ability to negotiate a contract, Local 1317 began making greater efforts to sign up immigrant members. Spanish-speaking organizers were brought in, and they handed out leaflets in Spanish explaining the benefits of membership. They visited workers at home so they could talk about the union without being overheard or seen by company supervisors. According to the swing shift worker, many began to join, especially the immigrants who'd been hired most recently. IBEW's national newspaper, Electrical Worker, reported that over 200 had signed up last April, according to Local 1317's African-American business manager Clarence Larkin. "It's a constant process to keep the union alive and growing," he told the paper. That's when the plant was raided. Local 1317 will now have to try to negotiate a contract after the loss of many of its members, who were among those detained. Those members, who joined the union in hopes of better wages and treatment, instead have been imprisoned for days in Jena, Louisiana, a two-hour drive from Laurel. ICE spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez would not provide an estimate of how long they might be jailed, but said "the investigation of their cases is ongoing."The day after ICE agents stormed the factory MIRA began organizing meetings to provide legal advice, food and economic help. According to MIRA director Bill Chandler, Howard Industry representatives told detainees' families, and women released to care for children, that the company wouldn't give them their paychecks. On August 28 MIRA organizer Vicky Cintra led a group of workers to the Pendorf plant to demand their pay. Managers called Laurel police and sheriffs, who threatened to arrest her. After workers began chanting, "Let her go!" and news reporters appeared on the scene, the company finally agreed to distribute checks to about 70 people.The swing shift worker was so frightened by the raid that he hadn't gone back to work after almost a week, and wasn't sure he'd have a job waiting if he did. "Everyone is still really scared," he said. The Hattiesburg American reported Friday that Howard Industries sent a letter to customers two days after the raid, assuring them that production would be back to normal by the end of the week, and noting that the company has not been charged. Spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez claimed ICE waited two years after receiving a call from a "union member" before conducting the raid, because "we took the time needed for our investigation." She declined to say how that investigation was conducted, or what led ICE to believe their tip had come from a union member. The picture of a plant in which union members were hostile to immigrants was reinforced after the raid by media accounts of an incident in which workers "applauded" as their coworkers were taken away.

"It's hard to believe that a two-year old phone call to ICE led to this raid, but whether or not the call ever took place, that possibility is a product of the poisonous atmosphere fostered by politicians of both parties in Mississippi," says MIRA director Chandler. "In the last election Barbour and Republicans campaigned against immigrants to get elected, but so did all the Democratic statewide candidates except Attorney General Jim Hood. The raid will make the climate even worse."

Note 1: Howard Industries and CEO Billy Howard Jr. contributed a total of $25,000 to state campaigns in 2007, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonprofit organization that runs a comprehensive campaign finance database based on files from state disclosure agencies. Of that, $10,500 went to the campaign of Gov. Haley Barbour, R, with $4,000 donated by Howard Industries and Howard Trucking. The remaining $6,500 was made by Howard Jr.

Note 2: Department of Homeland Security agents began descending on different work sites in Mississippi to unleash another brutal immigration raid. According to Mr. Chandler, DHS began renting hotel space over the past few days, indicating the presence of hundreds of Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

ICE placed the Southern Hens poultry plant under lockdown, which employs nearly 2,000 people in Mossell , Mississippi . Mossell is between Hattiesburg and Laurel on I-59.

RACIAL PROFILING: And on Sunday night ICE set up roadblocks near the Wal-Mart in Hattiesburg , an illegal detentive stop to check for immigration status of passersby’s.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Why Largest ICE Raid in US History Happened Monday!

Another ICE Raid occurred on Monday. This time at Howard Industries in Laurel, MS. Nearly 600 workers were detained, far larger than the previous largest raid of Agriprocessors in Postville (400). I was curious about why! Why would ICE suddenly ramp up their RAID Activities, so close to the end of George Bush´s tenure in office?

In order to find the answers, my instincts told me to "Follow the Money! Follow the Money!"

About Howard Industries:

Howard Industries, a producer of electrical power products, does big business with Government. From 2000 - 2008, Howard received $15 Million in government contracts. Of course it helps that CEO Billy Howard and his family are big time GOP Contributors. Howard Industries is similar to Agriprocessors in that they have a history of OSHA failures. This year they were cited for 54 violations of federal safety rules at the company’s two manufacturing locations in Laurel.

In Monday´s raid, nearly 600 workers were identified by ICE as being "illegal immigrants". The first question comes to mind, "How can a company hire this rate of illegal immigrants without knowing they were undocumented?" So far, Howard is claiming innocence. Witnesses are saying Howard recruited them and provided them the documentation. ICE says they are still investigating this aspect.

One recipient of PAC Monies from Howard Industries has stated for the record: State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, co-authored the Mississippi Employment Protection Act said enforcement is done through state agencies - the Attorney General's office, Secretary of State's office, Department of Human Services, State Tax Commission and the Department for Employment Security. But McDaniel said the state may not have a case against the company because of when the law was passed. "Unless Howard Industries had violated the provisions of Senate Bill 2988 after its enactment date of July 1*, the state legislation would not be implicated," he said. "The possible penalties facing Howard appear to be federal in nature." McDaniel received a $2,000 donation during his 2007 Senate campaign from Howard Industries and Howard Trucking.

The Raid:

ICE´s approach humiliated all Latino workers in the plant with their Racial Profiling. Witnesses said ICE provided all White and Black workers Blue Armbands. All the Latino workers were put in line and forced to prove their legal status. ICE, in their uniforms and wearing side arms, caused ALL Latino workers to shiver in fear as they went through this ritual. The exits were sealed. Some Latino workers were sprayed with Mace.

500 workers were provided "swift-justice" and herded off to the Jena Detention Center. This is one of many centers owned and operated by the GEO Group, George Zoley is their CEO.

More about Crony CEO of Jena Detention Center:

GEO Group operates private prisons across the country, this includes many Detention Centers. In the year 2007 alone, GEO Group won contracts for a prison in Eagle Pass, Texas; an immigration detention facility in Jena, La. and a detention facility for U.S. Marshals service in Laredo, Tex. After the Jena, La., immigration detention facility reaches full occupancy with 1,160 inmates in 2008, GEO expects $23.5 million annually in revenues**. GEO, whose major shareholder is Zoley, donated $100,000 to George Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004. Texas has some of the Most Notorious Migrant Prisons GEO Group, with headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., received a 10-year contract in January, for the detention of 2,407 “criminal aliens” at the Reeves County Detention Complex in Texas. GEO took over the county’s contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. GEO said it believes that the facility in Reeves County, with the county seat in Pecos, is the largest privately-operated prison in the world.

Meanwhile back in Laurel:

The families, the churches, and the local Latino community are in an uproar. With the Racial Profiling that occurred at the plant, legal Latino citizens live in fear they will be whisked away into the night to the Jena Detention Center. Howard Industries was back in business the day after the ICE raid, scurrying to backfill the swept away employees. Time will only tell the impact in the days, weeks and months ahead. As one member of the community said, "“There’s a ripple affect to all of this..This is just the beginning."

In the meantime, GOP Contributor GEO Group is raking in millions as their privately owned Detention Center is filled to capacity, right on schedule, as predicted in 2007!

References:

Fear Grips Immigrants after Miss. Plant Raid

Nearly 600 Detained

Feds Hold 595

GEO Group - Privately Owned Prisons

About Howard Industries

Ripple Affect Continues

Employers Seal Off Escape Routes

Howard Contracts at Stake

So in answer to my own question, WHY NOW?

1. Employer will NOT be Penalized due to Timing! *

2. Detention Centers need to be filled prior to Bush leaving Office!**

Readers, I will be following this story and the Agriprocessor story and keep you informed of what happens next!

Trail of Fears : Illegal Immigrants Heading Home in Record Numbers Due to Fear and Soft Economy!

Record numbers of Illegal Immigrants are returning to their home countries. Many of their American Children prefer to stay in the U.S.

While this may mean some families are torn apart, perhaps this is their only recourse versus staying in the U.S. living in Fear.

May God guide them to make the right decision for themselves and for their families!
Illegal Immigrants Returning to Mexico in Record Numbers
By Kris Gutierrez 08/22/2008 --
Illegal immigrants are returning home to Mexico in numbers not seen for decades — and the Mexican government may have to deal with a crush on its social services and lower wages once the immigrants arrive.
The Mexican Consulate's office in Dallas is seeing increasing numbers of Mexican nationals requesting paperwork to go home for good, especially parents who want to know what documentation they'll need to enroll their children in Mexican schools. "Those numbers have increased percentage-wise tremendously," said Enrique Hubbard, the Mexican consul general in Dallas. "In fact, it's almost 100 percent more this year than it was the previous two years." The illegal immigrant population in the U.S. has dropped 11 percent since August of last year, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Its research shows 1.3 million illegal immigrants have returned to their home countries. Some say illegal immigrants are leaving because a soft economy has led to fewer jobs, causing many laborers to seek work elsewhere. Others argue that a tough stance on immigration through law enforcement has spread fear throughout the illegal population. "There's no question there's a variety of suggestions that people are in fact returning," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "Remittances, which is the money immigrants send home to Mexico, have gone down dramatically over the past year. Again, probably part the economy, but also part enforcement, leading to fewer people being here." Advocates for immigrants are disturbed by the trend. Albert Ruiz, an organizer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, agrees that more undocumented immigrants are going home — but says families are being torn apart in the process. If a father is deported, Ruiz says, his family members in America are forced either to fend for themselves or follow him to a country where they've never even lived. "So the mother is saying we should return home with the breadwinner of the family to Mexico, and the children are saying, I don't want to leave, I'm a U.S. citizen, I don't know that country," said Ruiz.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon plans to help returning nationals by providing food, medical care and temporary shelter if needed. But reports are already out in Mexico that the large number of illegal immigrants returning home could drive down wages and put pressure on social services — the same concerns many Americans have with illegals living and working in the U.S.

Peaceful Marchers Demonstrate at "Kick In the Head" Hate Crime Hearing Causing Some Delays! BREAKING NEWS: JUDGE ORDERS MURDER TRIAL!!

About 30 Peaceful Marchers, believing in their 1st Ammendment right to protest, gathered outside the courthouse chanting their call for Justice!

The Reading Eagle Reports:

Hearings for three in Shenandoah beating interrupted briefly by Latino demonstrators in Pottsville

Chanting by demonstrators from Latino groups temporarily interrupted hearings this morning in the Schuylkill County Courthouse for three Shenandoah teenagers accused in the fatal beating of a Mexican national. About 30 demonstrators were outside the courthouse in Pottsville, but their chanting could be heard inside the courthouse and the hearings were stopped. Sheriff's officials went outside and spoke to the demonstrators, who stopped their chants. Prosecutors say the defendants and another teen who has been charged as a juvenile kicked and punched Luis Ramirez into a coma on West Lloyd Street on July 12.Ramirez lived mostly in Shenandoah since he entered the U.S. illegally six years ago. According to prosecutors: The defendants, some of whom had been drinking, began the confrontation by taunting Ramirez with racial slurs.They continued to yell ethnic insults during the attack and kept beating Ramirez after he was unconscious.Ramirez died two days later in Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.Brandon Piekarsky, 16, and Colin Walsh, 17, were charged with homicide, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. Derrick Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses.Charges are pending in juvenile court against another 17-year-old from Shenandoah.

Read the Timeline of Event from the Warrant (From Previous Article)

More Updates Posted HERE as the hearing continues.

TRUTH COMES OUT DURING HEARING!!!

Pa. teen testifies at hearing in immigrant killing
A Pennsylvania teenager has testified against two friends charged in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant in a small Pennsylvania town. Seventeen-year-old Ben Lawson is a football player at Shenandoah Valley High School. He says 17-year-old Colin Walsh sucker-punched Luis Ramirez and 16-year-old Brandon Piekarsky kicked the victim in the head while he was down. Prosecutors charged Walsh and Piekarsky in the illegal immigrant's death and say they also shouted racial slurs at the victim. A third suspect is charged with aggravated assault. A judge is deciding if there is enough evidence against the three to send the case to trial.
Ramirez was attacked July 12 when he crossed paths with a group of teens in the town of Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

More Court Testimony from Football Player friend of the Accused:

Testifying in a low, mumbly voice, (football player) Ben Lawson said he had been drinking malt liquor in the woods with Walsh, Piekarsky, Donchak and other friends a few hours before the attack. He said he drank two 40-ounce bottles and was intoxicated. Lawson, 17, said the group encountered Ramirez, 25, and a teenage girl in a park. He said another teen, Brian Scully, goaded the girl, saying, "Isn't it a little late for you to be out?"
Ramirez replied in a threatening manner in Spanish. Scully began yelling racial slurs at Ramirez and a fight ensued, Lawson said. He said Ramirez was fighting with Donchak when Walsh ran up and (sucker) punched him in the face. Ramirez fell to the ground and hit his head on the macadam, leaving him unconscious, after which Piekarsky kicked him in the head (fatal blow), Lawson said. The following day, he said, the group met at Piekarsky's house and hatched a plan to lie to police about what happened. "We made up a plan that we we're going to tell the cops that nobody kicked him, that there were no racial slurs, there was no booze, and Brian got hit first," Lawson said.

BREAKING NEWS - AP REPORTS :

3 Pa. teens ordered to trial in immigrant's death

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM – 19 minutes ago
POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A judge has ordered three teenagers to stand trial on charges related to the beating death of a Mexican immigrant in a small eastern Pennsylvania town. A judge in Pottsville said Monday that prosecutors have enough evidence to try 17-year-old Colin Walsh and 16-year-old Brandon Piekarsky on counts of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. Eighteen-year-old Derrick Donchak has been ordered to stand trial on aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. Luis Ramirez was attacked July 12 when he crossed paths with a group of teens in the town of Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. All three defendants were football players at Shenandoah Valley High School.

Final Update (It breaks my heart):

Also testifying was Elizabeth Schlack of Shenandoah. She said she heard noise and looked out her window. From about 80 feet away, she said, she saw three people kicking a man on the ground. The kicking went on for about two minutes, she said.

As our President chastises China for their Human Rights Abuses,Americans familiar with Migrant Detention Centers are asking "What has America become?"

As all of America learns more and more about Crony owned Detention Centers, they are appalled and outraged, asking themselves "How can this be happening in America?"
What Have We Become?
Medical Neglect in Immigrant Prisons Reveals America at Its Worst
New America Media, Posted: Aug 17, 2008
BOSTON -- On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, while Bush was preparing to express his "deep concerns" over China's human rights record, Chinese immigrant Hiu Lui Ng was dying in the custody of our great nation's own U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. For months 33-year-old Mr. Ng had complained of excruciating back pain. Officials accused him of faking it. When a judge finally ordered that Mr. Ng be brought to a hospital, it was discovered that he had a fractured spine, cancer all over his body, and very little time to live. He died five days later, leaving behind a wife and two young sons. Even as President Bush scolds the Chinese government for its human rights abuses, he is presiding over a humanitarian disaster in his own country. Millions of migrants, authorized and unauthorized, have come to the U.S. in recent years to exercise their unalienable rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What many of those migrants have encountered is a society that is unrecognizable from its founding ideals.If a U.S. citizen were to die of medical neglect in a Chinese prison it would be an international incident. The death of Mr. Ng is just business as usual for the Bush administration. Mr. Ng is just one of dozens of migrants in the past few years who have died from apparent medical neglect in ICE's sprawling detention system. In a case very similar to Mr. Ng's, Salvadoran migrant Francisco Castaneda went for almost a year in detention without treatment for a very painful penile lesion. When finally allowed to go to a hospital, Castaneda had to have his penis amputated, and he eventually died from cancer that had spread all over his body. A federal judge described the treatment of Castaneda as "beyond cruel and unusual".While Bush was expressing his "firm opposition" the detention of dissidents in China, his administration was imprisoning migrant children in family detention centers like the Don Hutto Residential Facility. In 2007, then Kevin Yourdkhani, wrote this in crayon from Don Hutto: "I don't like to stay in this jail. I'm only nine years old. I want to go to my school in Canada. I'm sleeping beside the wall...his place is not good for me. I want to get out of the cell. Just pleace give visa for my family."It's cases like these that have led many U.S. citizens like myself to ask, "What have we become?".

Many Oklahomans Having 2nd Thoughts about HB1804!!

As businesses continue to go out of business, Latinos tired of Racial Profiling leave the state and as the Economy worsens, many are voicing their concerns about the restrictionist laws and the pandering politicians pushing them.

Tulsa World reports: (summary)

House Bill 1804 is among the most onerous anti-immigration laws in the country. Its principal author, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, will certainly run on his dubious accomplishment of throwing suspicion on every Hispanic — legal and illegal — in the state. The illegals have, of course, broken the law. But a porous border and a lack of a legitimate and enforceable federal immigration law over decades has caused the problem. Add to that the temptation of jobs for a huge segment of Hispanic poor and the willingness of companies to employ them, often without benefits and with low pay, and what results is the mess we find ourselves in now. Into that disastrous mix step politicians such as Terrill, willing to make political hay on the backs of not merely illegal Hispanics but all Hispanics. Inflammatory rhetoric and bad law have cast a shadow over every Hispanic in the state, many of whom are citizens of the United States and many even second- and third-generation Americans. Terrill is not alone in this debacle. HB 1804 was passed by an overwhelming majority of the Legislature and signed by Gov. Brad Henry. Only a handful of leaders, such as Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, have recognized the folly of 1804 and have attempted to rectify the mistake. And you can bet that Terrill and too many like him will exploit the issue, an issue they helped create. Never mind that Oklahoma is last or near last in every important category from education to health care. Illegal immigration is a hot-button issue that sounds like an easy fix. But it is not an easy fix. Laws such as 1804 only make matters worse. Illegal immigration always has been the purview of the federal government. That is where the problem must be solved. If you want some progress made on the subject, then press your candidates for the U.S. House and Senate. When you do, however, keep in mind that we are talking about human beings. People who are trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. People who are enticed here by jobs. People who are able to get here because of poor federal law. A fair and honest debate needs to take place concerning illegal immigration. As the economy worsens the problem will only deepen. It might be naive to expect, but this political season let's force politicians who are running for state offices to deal with the issues that are sinking this state. Let's not allow politicians to exploit fear and divert our attention from the important issues. That, sadly, isn't likely to happen. So, in the meantime, buckle your seat belts and get ready for some divisive and mean-spirited campaigns from politicians intent on beating up on and getting elected on the backs of a defenseless minority.

Massive Identity Theft Scheme Illustrates the Difference Between TRUE Identity Theft and Someone Making Up an SS Number so They Can Work!

Americans are afraid of Identity Theft, TRUE Identity Theft not Migrant Workers using a made up number. The ANTI Immigration Reform groups are constantly misusing terms such as "Identity Theft" and "Amnesty" all in support of their agenda, to scare the American Public.

TRUE Identity Theft: Schemers, Spammers and Scammers are busy trying to gain access to your identity. eMail Scammers overload your emails with Spam just in case you slip up and give away access to your personal files. They want to set up a fake credit card in your name, gain access to your bank accounts and drop your credit score down to the single digits, all so they can enjoy the high life on your dime.

The Top 10 Identity Theft Scams are: 1. Check Scams, 2. Advance Fee Lenders, 3. On-Line Employment Offers, 4. Lottery-Sweepstake Notifications, 5. Overpayment Scams, 6. Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scams, 7. Marketing-Investment Scams, 8. Inheritance Scams, 9. Phishing Scams and 10. Nigerian Scams.

Special Note: Not One Mention of "Illegal Aliens" on the Top 10 List!!

Breaking News Today: Yet another example of TRUE IDENTITY THEFT:

11 Charged in Connection with Credit Card Fraud By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO – 17 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it had charged 11 people in connection with the hacking of nine major U.S. retailers and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers. It is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. The charges include conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft.
The indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Boston alleges that the people charged hacked into the wireless computer networks of retailers including TJX Cos., BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW. The indictment alleges that the hackers installed programs to capture card numbers, passwords and account information, and then concealed the data in computer servers that they controlled in the U.S. and Eastern Europe. "They used sophisticated computer hacking techniques, that would allow them to breach security systems and install programs that gathered enormous quantities of personal financial data, which they then allegedly either sold to others or used themselves," said Attorney General Michael Mukasey in a press conference. "And in total, they caused widespread loses by banks, retailers, and consumers." Mukasey said the total dollar amount of the alleged theft is "impossible to quantify at this point." Sullivan said officials still haven't identified all the victims who had a credit or debit card number stolen. "I suspect that a lot of people are unaware that their identifying information has been compromised," he said. Sullivan said the alleged thieves weren't computer geniuses, just opportunists who used a technique called "wardriving," which involved cruising through different areas with a laptop computer and looking for accessible wireless Internet signals. Once they located a vulnerable network, they installed so-called "sniffer programs" that captured credit and debit card numbers as they moved through a retailer's processing networks.
The information was stored on two servers in Ukraine and Latvia — one with more than 25 million credit and debit card numbers and another with more than 16 million numbers, Sullivan said. The heist was a black eye for retailers like TJX. The company, which initially disclosed the data breach in January 2007, said a few months later that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems that began in July 2005. Court filings by some banks that sued TJX put the number of cards affected at more than 100 million, based on estimates by officials with Visa and MasterCard, who were deposed in the suit. In May, TJX said it won support from Mastercard-issuing banks for a settlement that will pay them as much as $24 million to cover costs from the data breach. A similar agreement reached last November with Visa-card issuing banks also was overwhelmingly approved. That agreement set aside as much as $40.9 million to help banks cover costs including replacing customers payment cards and covering fraudulent charges. Under the indictments unsealed Tuesday, three of the defendants are U.S. citizens, citizens from other countries include: one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, two are from China and one is from Belarus. One individual is only known by an alias online, and his place of origin is unknown.

FINAL KICK IN THE HEAD: Teens charged in beating that killed Mexican National in Race Hate Crime!

Officials charged the high school jock football player murderers in the Mexican National Hate Crime in Pennsylvania case. As we said, the final "kick in the head" murdered him.
OFFICIAL TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

Officials say taunts preceded killing

Court documents give this account of the July 12 fatal beating of Luis Ramirez, 25, of Shenandoah:
Ramirez had been traveling in a vehicle with friends Arielle Garcia of Shenandoah and her husband, Victor Garcia-Cruz, about 11:15 p.m.
Ramirez requested to be dropped off at Vine Street Park so he could walk home.
They also dropped off a 15-year-old female relative of Crystal Dillman, 24, of Shenandoah. Dillman is Ramirez’ fiancee.
The 15-year-old walked to her home on nearby Lloyd Street while Ramirez waited at the park.
As she was heading back to the park, a group of six male teens, some of whom had been drinking, began yelling at her and Ramirez.
The comments included, "You should get out of this neighborhood," and "Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here."
Among the teens were Derrick Donchak, 18, Brandon Piekarsky, 16, and Colin Walsh, 17, all of Shenandoah, and a 17-year-old Shenandoah male whose name was not released.
Ramirez walked away on Lloyd Street and called Arielle Garcia on his cell phone to say he was being harassed.
The teens followed him and one of them called Ramirez a "spic."
Ramirez asked him what his problem was.
Piekarsky, Walsh and the 17-year old then ran toward Ramirez and a fight broke out.
Donchak joined the fight.
Ramirez fell to the street and the teens punched and kicked him repeatedly.
Ramirez got back on his feet and the fight moved west down Lloyd Street.
Arielle Garcia and Victor Garcia-Cruz arrived. Garcia-Cruz tried to break up the fight but was punched from behind.
Walsh punched Ramirez in the face, causing Ramirez to fall back and hit his head on the macadam street.
As Ramirez lay unconscious, Piekarsky kicked him in the left side of his head.
The teens ran away.
Ramirez was taken to St. Catherine Medical Center in Ashland, then flown to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he underwent surgery for head injuries.
His condition worsened and he died July 14 at 6:38 a.m.
On July 13, the youths involved in the beating had met to plan how to conceal or limit their involvement in Ramirez’s beating.

Do Not Blame the Crimes of the One on the Many!

All felonious criminals should be prosecuted. Any felonious criminals who are illegal immigrants should be deported after their punishment is served. That said, we all must be clear, the ethnicity, age, race, status of the criminal does not indict all people within that group. To do so would be like saying since John Gacy and BTK were middle aged white males, therefore all middle aged white males are guilty of their crimes. Of course this is ludicrous, as it is ludicrous to indict all minorities or all illegal immigrants for the crimes of the few.

Over the last few weeks two horrendous crimes occurred, one in Pennsylvania (the Hate Crime I reported) and one in San Francisco (on June 22). Fox News and many of the ANTI websites are reporting on the San Francisco crime.

The San Francisco Chronicle and Fox reports:

Edwin Ramos, now 21, is being held on three counts of murder in the June 22 deaths of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. They were shot near their home in the Excelsior district when Tony Bologna, driving home from a family picnic, briefly blocked the gunman's car from completing a left turn down a narrow street, police say.

Though an investigation was still ongoing, police have stated the shooting occurred after a traffic altercation involving Bologna's car and as many as three people in another car.

The victims´ wife and mother was understandably upset. My sympathies go out to her and to the remaining members of her family. I cannot imagine her devastation right now and her drive to see that justice prevails.

When she appeared on Fox News this morning, she demanded justice and is upset that San Francisco does not pursue the Death Penalty. I agree to the extent that if Ramos is found guilty of the crime he should be punished, serve his time, then deported.

The Fox News commentator and the ANTI sites however are focused on San Francisco being a "sanctuary city." Fox and the ANTIs are saying Ramos is in illegal status. They are using this as an excuse to indict ALL illegal immigrants for these crimes and to indict San Francisco for being a Sanctuary City. They are wrong on several counts. First, they should not indict All for the crimes of the One. Second, Ramos is currently in "Pending" status. Third, the San Franciscos sanctuary policies have recently changed:

The San Francisco Chronicle Reports:

Ramos came to the United States at age 13 from El Salvador, where he had been raised by his grandmother.
Authorities familiar with his background said Ramos wanted to be near his mother, who had abandoned him when he was 4 months old; she was living with two of her other children in San Francisco...

(Recently) Ramos had married a woman who is a U.S. citizen and applied again to immigration officials to stay in the United States, this time as a permanent resident. That request was pending at the time Tony Bologna and his sons were shot to death.

Apparently Ramos was not "wanted" by his mother, joined a gang and committed several crimes as a juvenile. Prior to his "pending" status, he was convicted and served time in a juvenile facility. Since he was in a "sanctuary city", the authorities did not notify ICE and deport him.

My view is, all felonious criminals should be punished, serve their time and, if an illegal immigrant, should be deported. Mayor Gavin Newsom rescinded the old sanctuary policy regarding notifying ICE of illegal immigrant status for those committing felonious crime earlier this month. I am in agreement with the Mayor´s actions.

As for Ramos, if he is found guilty, he should be punished, serve his time and be deported since obviously, if guilty, he will no longer be in Pending status and instead be denied permanent residency.

But let me make one thing clear. If Ramos is guilty, he alone is responsible and accountable for his crimes. The Scales of Justice in our Country do not allow indicting an Entire Group for the crimes of the One.

UPDATE: The Sheriff and ICE are in dispute regarding the March arrest and release. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department is going toe-to-toe with federal immigration officials over the release of a suspected gang member who is accused of killing a San Francisco father and his two sons last month in a road rage incident. As the suspect appeared in court Monday, the question that lingered was how he fell through the cracks. Immigration officials say Edwin Ramos was mistakenly released by San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, last spring and quite possibly could have been in custody instead of on the streets during last month’s triple homicide. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officials in Los Angeles say they have an electronic log between their office and the sheriff’s office in San Francisco that shows deputies released Ramos from custody before they were contacted. But San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennesy disputes ICE’s claims and says the federal agency is trying to deflect blame. “They’re saying this because they’re feeling some heat,” says Hennessey. “For example, in the past 18 months I’ve turned over 1100 people to ICE, so it’s not like we have a system that doesn’t work.” Ramos was arrested last march on weapons charges. Those charges were later dropped.
ICE officials say their log shows Ramos was released at 1:49 a.m. on April 2nd. Almost two hours later, San Francisco Sheriff’s officials sent an electronic query to Los Angeles ICE officials concerning Ramos’s immigration status. At 5:12 a.m., ICE responded Ramos was in deportation proceedings. Later that morning, ICE says it placed a “detainer hold” on Ramos, but by then he was already back on the streets. Sheriff Hennessey doesn’t buy ICE’s version of events.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon Calls Joe "Shakiest Gun in the West!"

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has laid down the gauntlet! He said, "I think with law enforcement, the last thing anybody wants is somebody with a gun, both that is angry and shaking... Arpaio is increasingly engaging in bizarre behavior, erratic ramblings and misstatements, contradicting himself within the same statement." This is quite a statement from the honorable Mayor. Will Joe take this sitting down or is he bent on revenge. We will see (and I will report) in the days and weeks ahead!

KPHO News Reports:Gordon-Arpaio Feud Escalates, Debate Swirls Over Enforcement Of Immigration LawsPOSTED: 1:05 pm MST July 15, 2008

PHOENIX -- Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio squared off again Tuesday in their ongoing battle over enforcement of immigration laws. Gordon said the sheriff has lost his focus and is not helping the county at all with reducing crime. "The continuing bizarre behavior of the sheriff, including last night's demonstration of anger and sarcasm, is continuing evidence that the stress and criticism of the office is affecting the sheriff's judgment," Gordon said. Arpaio said Gordon is not an expert on law enforcement and represents only one vote on the City Council. He also said Gordon lies and misrepresents statistics.

Asked whether he would have Arpaio working for him if he were the sheriff's boss, Gordon said no. "I think with law enforcement, the last thing anybody wants is somebody with a gun, both that is angry and shaking," the mayor said. "You'll see Arpaio is increasingly engaging in bizarre behavior, erratic ramblings and misstatements, contradicting himself within the same statement."

Arpaio said Gordon has no business criticizing him for doing his job and that he has overwhelming public support compared with the mayor. "He constantly criticizes me with my 48 years of law enforcement," Arpaio said. "A poll came out today. It said 86 percent support me, 14 percent support the mayor. He better look at what the people think. We are politicians. We serve the people." "I don't know when he became an expert on law enforcement," Arpaio said. "He's just a mayor with one vote."
Gordon said Arpaio, who continued another one of his controversial crime suppression efforts in Mesa on Tuesday, is putting too much emphasis on immigration issues. "You see rising crime rates in the county. You see the response times that have gone sky high where he's responsible. And you see the arrest rates going down," Gordon said. "Any other chief wouldn't be there."
Arpaio said his deputies have made thousands of felony arrests and conducted thousands of investigations and that 3,000 members of the Phoenix police union have endorsed him for re-election in November.
He said Gordon has attacked him with "petty statistics." "I'm not going to debate this guy," Arpaio said. "I'm going to keep doing my job. The people support me. I'm the elected sheriff and I back up my officers."

Postville Update: Agriprocessors Free to Stir Up More Trouble in Postville!

Postville was left "absolutely shattered" after last month´s heavily armed worker raids. The workers received swift, cattle barn justice. The employers, however, were left free to continue their abuses, despite hiring a GOP crony-pal "compliance" officer.

The Star Tribune Reports:

"There´s Something Bad In This Town"

Why the raid occurred - from warrant (pg 3):

The federal raid this spring came about based on information from an informant inside the plant who reported witnessing plant managers hire and help workers with fake identity papers. Up to 76 percent of workers did not have correct Social Security numbers, according to the search warrant. The informant also reported seeing managers abuse workers, including hitting one with a meat hook. One manager also ran a scam in which illegal workers were coerced into buying cars from him, the warrant said. Some female employees also have alleged they were sexually coerced by managers, according to St. Bridget's Sister Mary McCauley.

Abuses Continue (page 2, 5):

. New replacement worker Josephina Ortiz, near tears, telling strangers that she came from California based on promises by Agriprocessors of free rent, food and a good job. Instead, she claims, she found a filthy, expensive apartment and mandatory 14-hour days. "Please God, somebody help us," said Ortiz, who is in the United States legally. "There's something bad in this town. I don't know how this can happen in the United States of America."

. Agriprocessors' new hires, whites and African-Americans, who arrived on the bus. They said they'd been promised a $100 advance, but few of them got it. So their first stop was the food shelf (free food bank).

. Diane Morris, who was living in a Texas homeless shelter, said the company promised a free furnished apartment for a month. Instead, she was put in a four-bedroom house with 10 men, she said. "Everywhere I've been I've been sexually approached," she said. She claims she was fired after two days when she went to the company clinic for medications for a mental illness.

. Some new hires have already caused enough trouble at bars that city officials and police have met with the company to demand better screening.

Why protesters are angry (page 3, 4):

"Workers openly say they were advised by the plant on how to get false documents," he said. "Now if the government does not take action on that and charge the owners, then this was strictly a raid to threaten and terrorize people. The situation at Agriprocessors reveals "a lack of respect of human dignity of people other than you," Ouderkirk said. "Politicians who should have been leading the way did nothing."

After the Raids, Only Positive (page 5):

"I'd say the relationship between Hispanics and people who grew up around here has gotten stronger because of this," he said. "The people who have grown up around here suddenly realized [the workers] were real people, too." The town even put up red ribbons on lampposts in support of plant workers. While he abhors the tactics of immigration officials, Ouderkirk says some good may come of their raid. "They brought out the cracks in the dam and the folly of our immigration policy," he said.

What Happens When One of the Pretty People Get Caught Up in the Immigration Raid-Detention Center Debacle?

Imagine you are Northern European, young, beautiful and caught up in a Detention Sweep? You are here on business, making a movie or parlaying stocks, and you had an oversight and your visa expires. Should you be caught up in sweeps? Should you be swept away to a heinous Detention Center along with the rest of the riff raff?

Here is just such a story:

From the Texas Civil Rights Review:

Shackled, Detained, Deprived, Depressed: European Visitor meets ICE

In my recent columns a theme has emerged: how ICE, Border Patrol and other Homeland Security agencies have been criminalizing the immigrant population, from raids in Iowa's meatpacking plants to "Operation Streamline" in Brownsville. Yesterday I received a call from a colleague of mine, Caren Smith. She wondered if I would be interested in another little story about our bureaucratic, mean-spirited, governmental operations. "Surely," I said.
Ms. Smith, who is also the new president of the Unitarian Universalist Church in San Juan, got an email request from a Unitarian in Europe: Could someone contact a young fellow who is being held unfairly? He is in a Raymondville, Texas detention center, run by ICE (Immigration/Customs Enforcement). I interviewed Ms. Smith. Nick Braune: Yesterday you mentioned that this young fellow from Europe is an artist, travelling around the country to network with fellow artists.
Caren Smith: Yes, his name is Dutch [not his real name], and he's a 26-year-old who came here to travel and learn more about independent film-making. His visa had expired recently and he was intending to renew it when he was picked up in western Texas and shuttled to Raymondville early in May. Dutch was actually waiting for a check from home, as I understand it, to pay the fee to extend the visa. He was on his way to a youth hostel in New Mexico.
Dutch has been incarcerated now -- excuse me, they use the word "detained" -- since that time. Those of us at the church did not know him -- we only got wind of his presence in Raymondville from the Unitarian overseas who emailed me -- but our group wanted to help, so off we went from the church trying to at the least support this young man through visits.
Braune: I have protested outside that Raymondville (Willacy County) center several times, and last year there was a tornado of bad publicity about it: spoiled food, mismanagement, financial shenanigans, etc. But I've never been inside -- what's it like?
Smith: The visitation environment is utterly ridiculous: Dutch was kept behind a glass wall that holds a malfunctioning microphone -- it all looks like something out of a black-and-white film noir -- you expect Edward G. Robinson to appear any minute.
Braune: The glass wall separating visitors is more evidence that Homeland Security is off kilter. When someone is out of compliance on their visa, it has always been a civil offence not a criminal offence. These detention centers -- Raymondville's holds two or three thousand people at a time -- are not for convicted criminals or even accused criminals awaiting trial.

I remember the 1960s and '70s, when there used to be thousands of European young people traveling around the country. One would see them at tourist places and universities. Now apparently they are treated as criminals.

Smith: Yes, and it has really depressed Dutch, of course. He told us that when they took him to the airport, ICE officers had him handcuffed and foot-shackled. He had a visa, remember, and was simply late renewing it. He wasn't arrested for assault or accused of stealing something. He felt totally humiliated. My son, a Galveston Police Detective, once transported a murderer from Pennsylvania back to Texas for arraignment, and he did not shackle him in the airport. Trying not to draw attention to the convict, they purchased a sweat-suit top with a front pocket where he could hide the fact that he was handcuffed. This protected their mission from the press, the general public, and so forth, and the arrested party was respected as a human being.
Braune: Any other signs of mean-spiritedness?
Smith: Yes. Thanks for letting me vent. First, Dutch is discouraged and was supposed to have been sent home on June 18th -- he has a ticket -- but they have postponed it until they can have a marshal available to escort him. Second, Dutch's mother in Europe has been worried about his psychological state -- he is depressed and had a brother who committed suicide. Our fellowship includes one of the Valley's finest psychologists, who asked to visit Dutch, but the detention center has been stalling his visit. Why?

Third, despite filling out the proper forms, Dutch has not been to the library -- nothing to read for six weeks -- nor has he seen the chaplain. Fourth, we saw a sign, as we entered the Raymondville center, warning people not to come in if they were susceptible to chickenpox. (Exposure to chickenpox can severely affect the unborn.) We saw several pregnant women visitors, and we've heard that pregnant women are detained there.

Braune: Thank you. And I applaud your activist church group.