The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Monday, September 03, 2007
Calderon: Not America's Friend
As much as President Bush is to be congratulated for his perserverence and strength in the War against our Islamist enemies, when it comes to his coddling of Mexico, the President needs to take stock of reality: Felipe Calderon is showing himself to be no friend of the United States:
- First there was this...
- ...not satisfied, El Presidente shot his mouth off and said these things...
- ...what's next, Mexican troops at the Alamo?
More here. Infuriating video above.
The President needs to be cognizant of the historical roots of his home state. They say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Labels: Border Protection, Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Mexico
Saturday, September 01, 2007
UPDATED Activist Judge Blocks enforcement of Social Security Laws
In case you aren't reading between the lines, here is what this pathetic excuse for a judge is saying: 'I know the Social Security Administration is catching people committing felonies by using falsified SSN's. But you don't have the right to fine companies who knowingly hire these felons.' Is that clear enough for you?Oh, crikey. A San Francisco federal judge appointed by guess-who interferes with stiffer employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens because she says she needs more “breathing room:”
The Social Security Administration cannot start sending out letters to employers next week that carry with them more serious penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Ruling on a lawsuit by the nation’s largest federation of labor unions against the U.S. government, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the so-called “no-match” letters from going out as planned starting Tuesday…
…Chesney said the court needs “breathing room” before making any decision on the legality of new penalties aimed at cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants.
She set the next hearing on the matter for Oct. 1.
Who’s behind the lawsuit? Big Labor. Yeah, you know, the same lobby that’s supposed to be looking after American workers (or as Miss Teen South Carolina would call them, “U.S. American workers”).
The Department of Homeland Security has vowed to fight the lawsuit, calling it “an obvious attempt to impede the department’s ability to enforce our immigration laws.”
Read the rest here. And resist that temptation to pull all your hair out or to go postal. There is a way to put an end to this garbage: put an end to electing Democrat Presidents. This is why elections matter.
UPDATE: Dan Riehl comments:
Assuming you are a legitimate citizen, or non-citizen worker and your Social Security number is mis-recorded, wouldn't you want, if not need to correct that, or eventually face being unable to draw benefits? So, how is preventing a process designed to set the record straight a protection? Failing to have it corrected would seem to present the greater risk, assuming you are working legally, of course.
Labels: Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Judicial Activism
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Insult to Injury
Mexico's President Calderon has delivered a slap in the face to the United States, and provided what amounts to an endorsement for his citizens violating the laws of the United States. Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light caught the significance of an official photo appearing on Mexico's Presidencia website, showing El Presidente meeting with Elvira Arellano, who illegally entered our country and who illegally used a fake social security number.Of all the things that have happened with our inability to enforce our borders, I do not know why I find this one in particular to be so infuriating--but I really do. This is a knife in the back from a supposed "friend."
There can be no denying that this is a high honor for the citizen of any country. To confersuch a distinction on someone who very publicly flouted the laws of a neighbor implies official endorsement of lawlessness.
Steve asks the important question of how Mexico would regard a neighboring nation encouraging its citizens to flout Mexico's laws, such as its strict immigration laws.
This is not the behavior of an amigo.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, Mexico
This is PROGRESS Protecting our Borders?
If a nation cannot protect its own borders, it cannot defend itself. I keep hearing that we are moving to protect the borders, but from what I can see the only thing that is changing are the faces making those claims. (h/t Allah for the video).
Interestingly, even Mexico protects its borders more effectively that we do.
There is a reason why the lame attempt to ram through the watered down amnesty bill caused an uprising of the electorate such as has not been seen in years. The reason is this: the American people are sick and tired of this crap. The sooner that our so called "leaders" recognize this, the better.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, National Security
Thursday, August 23, 2007
NJ Buckles to Anti-Sanctuary Pressure
How can some of these idiotic politicians even begin to defend purposefully not reporting felons who happen to be in the country illegally to ICE? I am not necessarily advocating that we have to engage in deporting 20 million illegals right now; but it will be a very steep hill to climb for any selfish politician to try and defend not reporting illegal immigrant felons. In fact, what reasonable argument can there be for keeping repeat felons in this country, and continuing to let them commit violent crimes over and over again, and never tell the Feds they are illegals? Franky it is an untenable, unjustifiable postion for any politician who cares about being re-elected.The gangland slaughter of 3 college students in New Jersey and sundry other violent crimes by illegal aliens forced that state’s attorney general, Anne Milgram, to order all police officers in New Jersey to determine the immigration status of the people they arrest. Yes, you should identify whom you arrest.
Sanctuary City, N.J., has been shut down for the summer.
Jackasses like Newark Mayor Cory Booker have been belligerent in defying requests to identify illegal alien suspects as illegal aliens. They are not immigrants. Immigrants go through the front door. These suspects are gangsters who come here, kill people, get deported and come back.
By refusing to cooperate with federal officials even in the wake of the execution of 3 college students in his pathetic city, Mayor Booker is an unindictable accessory after the fact. Only because he is acting in his official capacity is he immune from criminal prosecution.
In short, the law is on his side.
Or it was until this morning when AG Milgram stepped up to the plate. AP reported, in full (my newspaper pays for this):
TRENTON, New Jersey: Shaken by three recent execution-style killings in a schoolyard, New Jersey’s attorney general on Wednesday ordered all law enforcement authorities to notify U.S. immigration officials whenever an illegal immigrant is arrested for an indictable offense or drunken driving.One suspect in the Aug. 4 killings of three college students is an illegal immigrant from Peru who was out on bail for other crimes. The case led to an outcry over the lack of communication between local authorities and immigration officials.
Before the new order, “all police departments in our state had complete discretion as to if, when and how to notify immigration authorities,” State Attorney General Anne Milgram said.
The policy takes effect immediately.
Each state is free to set its own guidelines for reporting illegal immigrants who are arrested.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) keeps no record of which states have statewide reporting guidelines, said spokesman Michael W. Gilhooly. ...
The New Jersey massacre is the perfect opportunity to get this done now: If this issue is raised to a national level now--with elections on the horizon next year--I fail to see how anyone but the most vehemently left-wing zealots could possibly vote against reporting illegal alien felons to the Feds the minute they are arrested.
I have heard O'Reilly advocate President Bush introducing legislation which would deny federal funding for one year to any cities who are caught failing to report an illegal immigrant felon to Homeland Security (ICE). I seriously doubt that a majority of the cowards in either house of Congress would have the courage to show their true colors and vote against such a bill. So why not force that vote now with grassroots pressure--while these murders are fresh on everyone's mind, and while the do-nothing PC Dems have the Congressional reins. Let's force them to either back their political base or else to enforce the will of the overwhelming majority of the American people.
So what do you say, Mr. President--how about making Congress walk this plank? This is about terrorism and violent crime, not about ethnicity. It is a question of criminal law and counterterroism, and--as much as the La Razas will try to make it so--it is not discrimination against Hispanics, it is discrimination against felons who are a danger to society. And if mayors want to continue play this bullshit leftist game of political correctness, and they willingly continue to purposefully withhold the names of undocumented felons from ICE, then the cities they represent should not get one penny of the Federal taxpayers' money. The time to act is now.
Write the President and write your Congressmen with this message: The notion of "Sanctuary Cities" is endangering the public and our national security. It is time to withhold federal funding from any city or municipality who is found to have failed to report any arrested person who is not in this country legally.
Labels: Border Protection, Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Sanctuary Cities
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Rant #2: Another Arrest in NJ: Immigration Status is "Undetermined"
Who in the hell hired and trained these people in ICE and the Newark cops? Who are the people who erected the bureaucratic walls that is keeping our men on the street from sharing valid law enforcement information. That would be a start. They should all be gone--like yesterday.
Just think about it: in a post 9/11 world--where 4 of the 19 hijackers on that day could have been identified as hostiles in advance--if only our federal, state, and local agencies been sharing information instead of playing 18th century "power games", four kids with their entire lives ahead of them would still be alive. And who knows how many other of thousands of deaths from drunk drivers, robberies, rapes, murders. Why not just open the prisons and let everyone go free? What's the difference? I know a lot of this "wall building" happened during the Clinton years--but how in the world could even they have allowed us to get to a place where we cannot do anything to stop serial killers because we are might hurt some politician's feelings. or ruffle some pencil-pushing Democrat bureaucrat's feathers? Or maybe the local chapter of La Raza. George Tenet?? even the NY Times is portraying the Clinton appointee as an incompetent boob at the CIA; but the fact that President Bush gave him the Medal of Freedom is a JOKE--it adds insult to injury.
But it goes further. How can this still be happening--5 years after 9/11??? What is so sacrosanct about these government "stovepipes" that they are more important than innocent kids on a playground? And now they try to tell us that they don't know this latest guy's status?? Yeah right.... And what I don't know is how the hell they ever got their jobs in the first place.
And what about the sick Judges that want to keep cities from enforcing anti-immigraion laws. The latest bozo was also a Cllintonista. There is a special place in hell for these people.
Yes friends, perhaps I need to be medicated--two rants in one night, who would have thunk it? Well, yes. And the word "boiling over" is apt at the moment. Because this is dispicible, unconscionable, and unforgiveable. And the worst of it is: the Dems want to keep "Sanctuary Cities" in place. These judges. Ted Kennedy. Reconquistas on parade. In what universe is not enforcing our immigration laws NOT a good thing for America's national security? Better get Stephen Hawking on that one, because it certainly can't be a part of the universe I am sitting in.
And the sick irony is: this is all so transparent--obviously with all the bad pub they have already rightfully gotten, these prima donnas just don't want to admit that this murderer suspect too is an illegal--who knows maybe they already had him in custody before too...
One thing is certain: The mighty ICE and Newark's finest are a big 0 for 3, and I am not even certain we have seen the bottom of the batting order yet... The entire NJ ICE office should be relieved of duty on the spot, as should every single link in the chain that did not make this connection before these crimes occurred. An example has to be set somewhere--it might as well be here, in the heart of Democrat blue-state darkness.
I am not sure what makes me madder: the fact that the third suspect is illegal too--or the fact that ICE can't bring itself to admit that fact even when they know. But it really is moot, because folks, we simply cannot continue to stand for this. It starts with us--and we have got to raise hell until someone in a position of authority gets their head out of the sand.
How about this for starters: take Newark, New York, San Francisco, Houston, and other Democrat-mandated "Sanctuary Cities" and stick them where the sun doesn't shine. If ever there was a need for a guy like Patton to come in and kick major ass, this would be it. Fire ICE supervisors en masse and hire a new bunch who gives a damn about our security. And any cop who does not inquire or share an illegal's status becomes fodder for termination too. It is time for a housecleaning, folks.
My apologies about all this anger tonight--I guess I have just really had it, and I am way beyond disgust and contempt at this point. Maybe sleep will help.
But in Iraq when the present Generals weren't getting it done, Bush kept replacing them until we had the right one. Lincoln did the same thing in the Civil War--until he found take no prisoners Sherman. Well guess what: our law enforcement and Immigration Services are NOT getting the job done, and that fact does not have one damn thing to do with Bush not getting his immigration bill--it has to do with the lack of spine, backbone, and will on the part of our elected leaders. As mentioned earlier, the LAWS are already on the books. Except our police are seemingly too petrified of our bought and paid for Democrat hack mayors to do their jobs. And ICE doesn't want to share what it knows either.
Sorry but this problem needs a BIG jump start at a federal level: I like President Bush, I am with him on most issues--but this is beyond incompetence. It is high time that the Bush Administration paid as much attention to the atrocious state of Immigration enforcement in our own country. And what these people don't get is that if we don't do something about this quick, we may not have a country to secure.
Somebody out there--just help us out, please.... We really, really need it.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, Undocumented Felons
Monday, August 20, 2007
Undocumented Felons: the Outrage that keeps on Giving
And while we are on the subject, just when in the hell did the "rule" kick in that Cities, States and Federal Government should care more about political correctness than it does about protecting the citizens who gave them their jobs. Here's a news flash--this only pisses the people off more, and makes them want to change leadership sooner rather than later; especially when its end result is allowing rapists and serial killers to go about their foul deeds undetected.
In short, here's a clue for the seemingly clueless: how about enforcing the freaking laws??? I really could give a damn if it breaks up some "extended family" if a murderer goes away for a few years--or better yet, if he never gets the chance to murder in the first place--because he's illegally in the country. How about doing your freaking jobs and sharing information--even if it may not be popular with the Hispanic community or on-the-take Democrat politicians? The law is the law, right? I mean, when I was in Civics in High School--the law wasn't about "constituencies", it was about doing the right thing--has something changed? And--if we aren't going to enforce laws that are on the books out of some guilt-ridden PC "look the other way" Sanctuary pile of shit, then why have the freaking laws in the first place?? Just curious...
But don't listen to me; let the master tell it:
Read the whole thing. And try to say calm..."They" are Miss Hightower, Dashon Harvey and Terrance Aeriel, three young citizens of Newark, New Jersey, lined up against a schoolyard wall, forced to kneel and then shot in the head.
Miss Ali poses an interesting question. No one can say why they "had" to die, but it ought to be possible to advance theories as to what factors make violent death in Newark a more-likely proposition than it should be. That's usually what happens when lurid cases make national headlines: When Matthew Shepard was beaten and hung on a fence in Wyoming, Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times that it was merely the latest stage in a "war" against homosexuals loosed by the forces of intolerance. Mr. Shepard's murder was dramatized in plays and movies and innumerable songs by Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc. The fact that this vile crucifixion was a grisly one-off and that American gays have never been less at risk from getting bashed did not deter pundits and politicians and lobby groups galore from arguing that this freak case demonstrated the need for special legislation.
By contrast, there's been a succession of prominent stories with one common feature that the very same pundits, politicians and lobby groups have a curious reluctance to go anywhere near. In a New York Times report headlined "Sorrow And Anger As Newark Buries Slain Youth," the limpidly tasteful Times prose prioritized "sorrow" over "anger," and offered only the following reference to the perpetrators: "The authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive. Three suspects – two 15-year-olds and a 28-year-old construction worker from Peru – have been arrested."
So, this Peruvian guy was here on a green card? Or did he apply for a temporary construction-work visa from the U.S. Embassy in Lima?
Not exactly. Jose Carranza is an "undocumented" immigrant. His criminal career did not begin with the triple murder he's alleged to have committed, nor with the barroom assault from earlier this year, nor with the 31 counts of aggravated sexual assault relating to the rape of a 5-year-old child, for which Mr. Carranza had been released on bail. (His $50,000 bail on the assault charge and $150,000 bail on the child-rape charges have now been revoked.) No, Mr. Carranza's criminal career in the United States began when he decided to live in this country unlawfully.
Jose Carranza isn't exactly a member of an exclusive club. Violent crime committed by fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community is now a routine feature of American life. But who cares? In 2002, as the "Washington Sniper" piled up his body count, "experts" lined up to tell the media that he was most likely an "angry white male," a "macho hunter" or an "icy loner." When the icy loner turned out to be a black Muslim named Muhammad accompanied by an illegal immigrant from Jamaica, the only angry white males around were the lads in America's newsrooms who were noticeably reluctant to abandon their thesis: Early editions of the New York Times speculated that Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were being sought for "possible ties to 'skinhead militia' groups," which seemed a somewhat improbable alliance given the size of Mr. Muhammad's hair in the only available mug shot. As for his illegal sidekick, Malvo was detained and released by the INS in breach of their own procedures.
America has a high murder rate: Murdering people is definitely one of the jobs Americans can do. But that's what ties young Malvo to Jose Carranza: He's just another killer let loose in this country to kill Americans by the bureaucracy's boundless sensitivity toward the "undocumented." Will the Newark murders change anything? Will there be an Ioefemi Hightower Act of Congress like the Matthew Shepard Act passed by the House of Representatives? No. Three thousand people died Sept. 11, 2001, in an act of murder facilitated by the illegal-immigration support structures in this country, and, if that didn't rouse Americans to action, another trio of victims seems unlikely to tip the scales. As Michelle Malkin documented in her book "Invasion," four of the killers boarded the plane with photo ID obtained through the "undocumented worker" network at the 7-Eleven in Falls Church, Va. That's to say, officialdom's tolerance of the illegal immigration shadow-state enabled 9/11. And what did we do? Not only did we not shut it down, we enshrined the shadow-state's charade as part of the new tough post-slaughter security procedures.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, PC, Undocumented Felons
John Gibson shouts down "Reconquistador"
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, Reconquistas
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Where the Surge Isn't Working
For Newt Gingrich, the senseless execution-style murders in New Jersey is a "wake up call" that we all need to pay attention to; like it or not, we are being invaded:
The night of Saturday, August 4, four young, college students were forced to kneel against a wall in a schoolyard in Newark, New Jersey.Read the whole thing.
They were then shot, execution-style, in the head. Three were killed and a fourth survived.
Just as the entertainment and free barbecue of the Iowa presidential beauty contest was getting underway, the news broke that the shooter in the Newark killings was an illegal immigrant who had recently been indicted for repeatedly raping a five-year-old relative and threatening the lives of her and her family.
He had also been arrested ten months ago for assaulting patrons at a bar. Fox News reported that the man’s illegal status had been known to officials since his previous arrests. And yet he was still out on the streets of America, free to kill, on a Saturday night in Newark.
For everyone who cares about the future of America, these killings of innocent Americans are a wake-up call.
There is a war here at home, and it is even more deadly than the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far more Americans are being killed by violent, evil people here in America than in our official military “combat zones” overseas.
Americans are killed by violent criminals all too often, of course. But the senselessness and tragedy of these killings and too many others is that they were completely preventable. Their perpetrators were men who should not have been in the United States to begin with and, after multiple previous arrests, shouldn’t have been on the streets. Instead, they should have been in jail awaiting trial, sentencing, prison, and eventual deportation.
The contrast between the empty politics of our endless presidential-election process and the total failure of our government to protect the four young victims in Newark could not be more stark. No matter how big, painful, or urgent the problem — be it failing levies in New Orleans, failing schools in Detroit or failing bridges in Minnesota — we are trapped in politics as usual and partisan wrangling as usual.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, Newt Gingrich, The Long War
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Illegal Alien mows down Pedestrians
Michael Chertoff was not available for comment...
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration
Monday, August 13, 2007
Non-Deportation Madness: Newark Suspects tied to MS-13 Gang
How much of this disgusting nonsense do we have to read before our lame politicians start doing something about it?Meanwhile here is more from Michelle Malkin:
In the latest developments, the NYPost reports on the suspects’ illegal alien gang ties:
As Newark cops yesterday continued hunting for three people suspected in a grisly schoolyard massacre there, residents said several of the men were part of a notorious street gang.
It also emerged that one of the fugitives, Rodolfo Godinez, obtained a green card in 2001 and was allowed to stay in the United States despite later robbery and assault arrests, immigration authorities said yesterday.
Godinez pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
His fellow fugitives include his 16-year-old brother and another youth, both of whom attended Mount Vernon School, the scene of the Aug. 4 triple slaying.
Recently, Godinez’s brother and another youth already nabbed in the murders “started bragging on how they were part of this gang, MS-13,” said a classmate of the duo.
Also known as Mara Salvatrucha, the ruthless MS-13 gang operates in the United States and Central America.As I’ve reported over the last several years, MS-13 has thoroughly penetrated every major metropolitan area of the country. Just doing the gang-banging no one else will do. The Newark Star-Ledger has more on the MS-13 penetration of Newark’s Ivy Hill neighborhood. And in the latest issue of City Journal, John Robb writes on urban terrorism waged by foreign criminal enterprises.
We discussed the same City Journal piece earlier.
Labels: Border Protection, Gang violence, Illegal Immigration
Friday, August 03, 2007
UPDATED AND BUMPED House Republicans walk out to protest jury-rigged vote on Immigration (plus video)--DEMS ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE A VOTE AFTER THE FACT
UPDATE: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) made a pretty impassioned speech of his own (video here)
UPDATE: Republican Whip Roy Blunt addressed the outrage that occurred last night in an address to the House this morning (video here).
UPDATE: John Hinderaker has more from a "Washington source":
************ Original Post **************A Washington source writes:
An outrage was committed on the House floor tonight. I still can't quite believe what happened.While voting on a motion to recommit for the agricultural appropriations legislation, the presiding chair (who is a Democrat member) gaveled the vote closed. The tally was clear and the vote was over. The Republicans had won. Then, realizing what had happened - the Dems allowed just their people to keep voting to change the result. Let's be clear, this wasn't holding the vote open - they changed the results of a vote that was legally declared over.
Rep. Eric Cantor wrote a blog post describing what happened.
This is an insult to our democracy, something that Stalin would recognize. It is an unprecedented violation of our democracy that can not be allowed to stand. Do we live in a democracy or a dictatorship?
And, what was so important that the Dems went to all this trouble -- it was a vote to ensure that illegal immigrants couldn't get taxpayer funding in the agriculture bill. The Dems are so opposed to this, that they would violate our democracy.
We need to spread the word. The American People need to know what is happening in their government.
As Drudge would say--Developing...
Wow, those Democrats really know how to govern (via The Politico):
In a massive flare-up of partisan tensions (video link courtesy Breitbart.tv), Republicans walked out on a House vote late Thursday night to protest what they believed to be Democratic maneuvers to reverse an unfavorable outcome for them.
The flap represents a complete breakdown in parliamentary procedure and an unprecedented low for the sometimes bitterly divided chamber.
The rancor erupted shortly before 11 p.m. as Rep. Michael R. McNulty (D-N.Y.) gaveled close the vote on a standard procedural measure with the outcome still in doubt.
Details remain fuzzy, but numerous Republicans argued afterward that they had secured a 215-213 win on their motion to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving any federal funds apportioned in the agricultural spending bill for employment or rental assistance. Democrats, however, argued the measure was deadlocked at 214-214 and failed, members and aides on both sides of the aisle said afterward.
One GOP aide saw McNulty gavel the vote to a close after receiving a signal from his leaders – but before reading the official tally. And votes continued to shift even after he closed the roll call - a strange development in itself.
Whatever the final tally, acrimony quickly exploded between lawmakers on either side of the aisle as Democratic leaders tried to plot a solution, while parliamentarians on either side argued over protocol.
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) eventually offered a motion to reconsider, according to floor staff on either side, ostensibly giving members a chance to recast their votes. But the maneuver sparked a chorus of angry protests from the Republicans, yelling “shame” on Democrats, while they returned fire with angry volleys of their own.
When Democrats finally moved to consider the spending bill as the last vote of the night, furious Republicans left the chamber en masse to protest the maneuver. The House eventually recessed at 11:18 p.m. But Republicans quickly discovered that there was no longer any record of the controversial vote and immediately charged Democrats with erasing the bad result.
“Obviously, the Democrats don’t want to stand up against illegal immigration – so much so that they’re willing to cheat in order to win a vote,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said in an e-mail. “They’re desperate – and it shows.”
The official House website did not show a record of the vote as of 1 a.m. Friday.
Labels: Congress, Democrat Sabotage, Illegal Immigration, Unbridled Partisanship
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Clinton appointee rules against Hazleton, PA Anti-Illegal immigrant measure
(photo: Hazleton, PA)For those who have not heard, a Federal judge--appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton--and with absolutely no understanding of the concept of Federalism has ruled that a law passed by the Pennsylvania town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania which fines landlords and businesses who violate immigration laws "unconstitutional." As if a judicial activist even understands what the Constitution is... :
Meanwhile, Fred Thompson was very quick to post his reaction to this travesty; and every time I read something he says, I like the man more and more:A federal judge on Thursday struck down the city of Hazleton’s tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, ruling unconstitutional a law that has been emulated by towns and cities around the nation.
The Illegal Immigration Relief Act sought to impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that give them jobs. Another measure would have required tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.
It was pushed by Hazleton’s Republican mayor last summer after two illegal immigrants were charged in a fatal shooting…
More than 90 communities across the U.S., frustrated by the Congressional impasse on dealing with illegal immigrants, have considered or approved measures similar to Hazleton’s. U.S. District Judge James Munley’s ruling does not affect those measures.
Most Americans want something to be done about the illegal immigration problem we have in this country. They’ve been expecting the federal government to enforce the immigration laws already on the books. The federal government hasn’t done that, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the governments closest to the people – municipal and state – are looking to take action. This is an entirely proper role for these governments.
Back in 2006, the citizens of Hazleton, Penn., were noticing some troubling signs resulting from an influx of illegal immigrants. They were seeing an uptick in the number of murders, an increase in drug-related crimes and a school district bursting at its seams. In fact the English as a Second Language program reportedly went from $500 a year in 2001 to more than $1 million a year today. The citizens of Hazleton demanded that something be done, and the Illegal Immigration Relief Act was introduced by the mayor and supported by the city council by a vote of 4 to 1.
Let’s be clear about what’s going on here. No matter what some groups may be trying to do to muddy the water and portray Hazleton’s law as something playing to an uglier agenda, this law is not about legal immigration. This law is about dealing with the illegal immigration problem in Hazleton. The town’s mayor and city officials made this clear from the beginning, and it seems like they took a common sense approach.
Our constitutional system allows cities to take reasonable steps to protect their citizens. When the federal government is unwilling to enforce immigration laws effectively, then cities need to be able to act, and take reasonable steps to secure their citizens from the social, financial, and criminal costs of illegal immigration.
No doubt, this ruling will be appealed. And it should be.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration
Reid comes "Hat in Hand" to Cornyn on Border Security
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, US Senate
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
They are CUTTING the number of National Guardsmen on the Border?
The number of National Guard troops along the Arizona-Mexico border will be trimmed in half by the end of next month.As the presidentially mandated Operation Jumpstart mission begins its second year in support of the U.S. Border Patrol, the number of troops is being reduced as planned. It will be trimmed from 6,000 to 3,000 nationally and from 2,400 to 1,200 in Arizona, said National Guard Capt. Kristine Munn. The pullout began July 1 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 1.
[...]The downsizing of the National Guard forces will be detrimental to the Border Patrol's efforts to slow illegal immigration, said agency officials, the local union and a former agency supervisor."If they are going to reduce the number of National Guard on the line it means there are fewer bodies out there to deter and observe and report intrusions," said Dave Stoddard, a former Border Patrol supervisor who retired in 1996 after 27 years with the agency, and lives in Bisbee. "It's going to hurt, but how much we really don't know yet."
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
THIS is why we have to CLOSE the Border
The FBI is investigating an alleged human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that agents say is bringing "Iraqis and other Middle Eastern" individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico.An FBI intelligence report distributed by the Washington, D.C. Joint Terrorism Task Force, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the illegal ring has been bringing Iraqis across the border illegally for more than a year.
[...]
The FBI report, issued last week, says the smuggling organization "used to smuggle Mexicans, but decided to smuggle Iraqi or other Middle Eastern individuals because it was more lucrative." Each individual would be charged a fee of $20,000 to $25,000, according to the report.The people to be smuggled would "gather at a house on the Mexican side of the border" and then cross the Rio Grande into the U.S., the report says.
"Unidentified individuals would then transport them to train stations in El Paso, Texas or Belen, New Mexico," according to the FBI document.
At least 4 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were in the United States illegally. So what part of "this is an issue of vital National Security" does our Government not understand?
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, Islamic Fascism, National Security
Sunday, July 01, 2007
"The Bill... I Say, The Bill..."
You think it is about time that our elected officials got serious about changing this??Sen. Trenthorn Lotthorn, R-Lottissippi, said: Who cares if they call? They could call 1-800-BLOWHARD (and leave off the "D" for "Deal's already done") 24 hours a day, and he still wasn't going to listen to them. "To think that you're going to intimidate a senator," he scoffed, "into voting one way or the other by gorging your phones with phone calls – most of whom don't even know where Gulfport is." (Gulfport is a port in the Gulf emirate whose grateful people Sultan Trent has ruled o'er lo these many years.)
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For "the world's greatest deliberative body," this was a much more ominous popular insurrection than the conservative backlash against the president's nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Time and again, the remote insulated emirs were offered the opportunity to rise above their condescension and declined to do so. Sen. John McCain, R- Maverickistan, confidently asserted that he'd worked hard on this bill and knew it better than all these no-account nonentities riled up about it and then had to have it explained to him – by bloggers on a conference call – that he'd misunderstood a key provision of his own legislation: There was no requirement for illegal immigrants to pay back taxes. Their amnesty would come tax-free. Blustering senators who claimed to have drafted this thing had to be told what was in it by critics who'd actually taken the trouble to look at it.
Immigration isn't going away: Human capital is the great issue facing all advanced societies. But it's unbecoming for a mature democracy to discuss a critical matter in such a fraudulent way. It's insulting to tell people that to oppose this bill is to oppose border enforcement. There are immigration laws on the books right now, and they are flouted with impunity by "sanctuary cities," states and the federal government itself. The political class tells us that a nation on permanent "orange alert" at ports of entry can't enforce its borders, and a broken immigration bureaucracy that can't process existing levels of applicants can reliably handle another 20 million people.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, US Senate
Friday, June 29, 2007
Finally, a Good Day; Now it's time to Get Real
Meanwhile, the Editors of National Review have written a spot-on op-ed about yesterday's result, including this:
For months, the establishment dismissed those of us opposed to amnesty as a tiny minority of the public and the Congress. On Thursday, that “tiny minority” outnumbered the pro-amnesty forces in the Senate, dealing a humiliating and well-deserved defeat to President Bush. The same White House that insisted that there was no realistic alternative to “comprehensive immigration reform” had better recalibrate its realism now. There always were better alternatives, and the president and his party have no way out of the immigration morass he has created unless they pursue them.Read the rest here. As the Editors suggest, there is a way out; but how 'bout we start with baby steps first: prove to the people our leaders really are taking this seriously--something we have not really seen since 1986. (One would have thought that 9/11 just might have moved up protecting our Border a bit on the priority scale, seeing that 4 of the 19 were here illegally; yet the band plays on... )
Nor does the country. The public is rightly dismayed at our incapacity to exercise a key attribute of sovereignty: control of the borders. For decades, our elected officials have passed immigration laws that they lack the political will to enforce. Among the fallacies of “comprehensive reform” was the notion that this situation could be fixed instantaneously. It cannot. But by rejecting a solution that would make the problem worse, we may have taken the first of many steps toward a better immigration system.
Glenn Reynolds offers some very pragmatic suggestions for regaining the trust of the American people:
What's wrong with starting there? Enforce the laws already on the books! Punish loudly and openly employers who traffic largely in illegals. Imprison anyone supplying false documents to illegals. That's a start. If you stop employers from hiring illegals, guess what--the problem will solve itself: because if the money well dries up, there won't have to be mass deportations. Water always flows via the path of least resistance.(1) Make the process open, transparent, and timely, with hearings, drafts on the Internet, and no last-minute bills that no one has read;
(2) Earn people's trust, don't demand it, and treat enforcement like it matters;
(3) Respect people who follow the law, and make legal immigration easier, cheaper, and simpler, rather than the Kafkaesque nightmare it is now;
(4) Don't feel you have to be "comprehensive" -- address the problems you can deal with first. The trust needed to deal with other problems will come later, after you've shown some success and some good faith.
Meanwhile, for you politicians who are shocked, shocked that the American people actually want you to act responsibly from time to time, here's a clue: if you want our trust, and want your constituents to keep you in office, how about show us you mean it about protecting our border? Enforce the law and lock down the floodgates! That has to be priority one. Because if you can't accomplish that one, anything else is just "pissing in the wind" as we say here in Texas.
Another step needed quickly would be to create foolproof and tamper proof ID cards for citizens and legal immigrants. We must fix the legal immigration system so that people who do belong here can be identified as such.
And finally--when those things have been achieved--then we can look at what to do about those already here--(meaning the ones who didn't go home after the money well dried up...). But in the meantime I would emphasize Glenn's 4th point: don't put the cart before the horse. We are a nation of laws: enforce them.
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration, US Politics
Thursday, June 28, 2007
UPDATED Snakebit Pols reveal their REAL target: Talk Radio
This rankles on many levels, but when you cut through it all it comes down to this: the concept of governing according to the will of the people doesn't seem to fit with these guys; the elites obviously believe that to have things their way, an informed public is a barrier and/or impediment. They may crow like so many primping roosters about "Democracy" and use catchy slogans like "power to the people", yet the end of all their actions is the furthering of the cause of totalitarianism.
By silencing talk radio--thereby leaving the electorate clueless about what is really happening behind the scenes--the "do as I say not as I do" playbook of the Marxist nanny-state is: what the people don't know won't hurt them (the elites). And at the very heart of this world view is the corollary that if we the people aren't aware of their treachery, the repercussions of that treachery won't come back to haunt them. This doesn't exactly sound like the party of "the common man" to me...
For example, it is quite clear that all of the recent hyperbole about the "danger" of talk radio is related to the impact the grassroots have had on this Immigration bill: the real danger here is that the people are becoming educated about the fraud going on under their noses in Congress and the Senate. Twice now (in two days) Harry Reid has paraded to the microphones to blame "talk radio" for his and his fellow Senators' inability to put together a bill that the people want. And--although one expects this sort of thing from the Left--when people like Trent Lott join the chorus of usual suspects on the Democrat side, calling for the regulation of free speech in the guise of "fairness," then we are very close to the precipice my friends.
My suggestion for those who want "fairness" is to insist that it must first start with the public-funded airwaves: how about demanding "equal time" for the likes of Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh on NPR and PBS? When my tax dollars are paying for Limbaugh's views to the extent they are already paying for the views of Bill Moyers and Garrison Keillor--or some anonymous lefty editor of "All Things Considered"-- then I might have some confidence they could be "fair" with other media. But we all know that is a pipe dream. And what of the editorial decisions of TV and Newspapers and Radio as far as which stories get edited in and which stories get left in shreds on the cutting room floor? Admitted leftists routinely make those very decisions for Big Media every single day: who is going to police that?
The very thought of some pencil pushing bureaucrat monitoring content of TV, Radio, the Internet, and other media to ensure "balance"--as opposed to the natural democratic selection of the free marketplace--is enough to make the thought of hell itself palatable. And any representative of the people who advocates wanting to control the information that you can to read, view, or listen to is evil incarnate. What differentiates this behavior from that of Stalin? Or Hitler for that matter; in the 1930's Hitler's SS burned books in an attempt to eradicate ideas that were not compatible with National Socialism. Today the Thought Police of America, led by Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Diane Feinstein--(and now Trent Lott and Lindsey Graham..)--want in effect to do exactly the same thing. Will we be saying "Sieg Heil" to them next?
This column has been edited and changed for the sake of improved readability.
UPDATE: Good news; the House sends a strong message about the "Fairness Doctrine."
Labels: Congress, Illegal Immigration, Media Bias, Media War, Talk Radio, The "Fairness" Doctrine, Thought Police, US Senate
UPDATED: DOWN GOES CLOTURE! DOWN GOES CLOTURE!
If I am reading my Allahpundit robotics correctly, Cloture for Amnesty has failed in the Senate! Unless Harry Reid breaks his word (not an unprecedented event) about not bringing the bill back up, this sucker is DEAD.
YOU did this. This is a victory for the blogs and for the citizen taking back ownership of our government. Congratulations and well done!
UPDATE: Fox News has more details plus some video. And don't miss Mr. Roboto over at Hot Air....
UPDATE: Senator Jim DeMint nails it:
“When the U.S. Senate brought the Amnesty bill back up this week, they declared war on the American people. This act created a crisis of confidence in their government. Thankfully, the American people won today,” said Senator DeMint. “This is remarkable because it shows that Americans are engaged and they care deeply about their country. They care enough for their country to get mad and to fight for it, and that’s the most important thing of all. Americans made phone calls and sent letters, and convinced the Senate to stop this bill.”
“The Senate rejected this bill and the heavy-handed tactics used to ram it through. Americans do not want more of the same – amnesty and broken promises on the border. Americans want legislation to be written in public – not in secret – and they want Congress to engage in an open and fair debate.”
“There is a better way forward without this bill. The President has said that the border security measures can be implemented over the next 18 months, and they can be done under current law. Now the Administration needs to prove it and stop holding border security hostage for amnesty.”
“Once we have secured the border and restored trust with the American people, we can begin to take additional steps.”
Labels: Border Protection, Illegal Immigration
