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October 31, 2006

George Bush intentionally misleads about John Kerry Iraq comment

Speaking in Georgia about an hour ago, president Bush intentionally distorted John Kerry's earlier comments about Iraq. Yesterday, speaking at Pasadena City College, Kerry said this:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

The explanation is that he meant to say this:

"I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq."

Under that explanation, the ones who are uneducated are not our troops, but those in the Bush administration.

While that puts me on the same side as Taylor Marsh (who?), I strongly favor this interpretation, and not the interpretation offered by GOP hacks (also: 1,2,3,4,5,6)

Here's Kerry video reply.

There's dirty campaigning, and then there's being outright misleading to your readers. Hopefully those who didn't learn about this BushBot tactic in 2004 will remember it now and will remember who's engaging in it.

UPDATE: Insty continues to push what is clearly a lie. Note also that his first link above goes to this article. While I don't quote everything here either, one might expect Insty to have quoted this bit:

Do Republicans really believe that Kerry wasn't talking about Pres. Bush? (We believe that Kerry was referring to Bush because he's used a similar formulation in our presence before and quite clearly meant to call Bush a dummy.)

Posted to Politics at 02:47 PM | Comments (7)

"Heavy coverage at midterm favors Democrats, study says"

From this:

Network news coverage has favored Democratic candidates in the midterm election, and the page scandal involving former congressman Mark Foley has been the main story line, drawing almost as much coverage as Iraq and terrorism combined, a new study finds.

An analysis by the Center for Media and Public Affairs of midterm election stories aired on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts Sept. 5-Oct. 22 found that 2006's coverage has been almost five times as heavy as in the 2002 midterm elections: 167 stories, compared with 35 four years ago.

The study found that three out of four evaluations of Democratic candidates' chances of winning — such as sound bites — were positive, compared with one out of eight for Republicans...

Posted to Politics at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

Debbie Stabenow voted for Social Security for former illegal aliens

This site reprints a press release from the Michigan Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

On May 18, 2006 Senator Debbie Stabenow cast the deciding vote to kill an amendment, No. 3985, to the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Bill S.2611. That amendment would have prevented illegal aliens from collecting Social Security benefits on wages earned using fraudulent numbers. Using fraudulent numbers is a common practice among illegal aliens and is a crime.

The vote to table this Social Security protecting amendment to the amnesty bill passed 50-49. Senator Stabenow cast the deciding vote to prevent this amendment from being part of the bill. There is no question that Stabenow voted to allow illegal aliens, those who commit identity theft, to gain access to our Social Security funds.

The purpose of the amendment to S.2611, the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006," as stated by the Secretary of the Senate, was as follows:

"Reduce document fraud, prevent identity theft, and preserve the integrity of the Social Security system, by ensuring that persons who receive an adjustment of status under this bill are not able to receive Social Security benefits as a result of unlawful activity."

Posted to Immigration at 01:00 PM | Comments (1)

Hazleton sued by far-left illegal immigration supporters (Part 2)

This page has a round-up with links to the ordinances, complaint, etc.

UPDATE: That was quick. A federal judge (James Munley of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and a Dem) has issued a temporary restraining order forbidding Hazelton from enforcing their new laws. It extends for two weeks, and:

In a 13-page opinion, Munley said immigrants risked "irreparable injury" by being evicted from their apartments if the law is enforced. He also said he was not convinced by the city council's argument that illegal immigration increases crime and overburdens social services... "Defendant offers only vague generalizations about the crime allegedly caused by illegal immigrants but has nothing concrete to back up these claims," Munley wrote...

Previously: Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission party to Hazleton suit?

Pahrump anti-illegal immigration ordinance; bucks rotting in the banks?

Local immigration news: Cook County, Mesa, Houston, Beaufort County, Carpentersville

Posted to Immigration at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2006

New York Times wrong about immigration (Part #4952234, "The Fence Campaign")

The New York Times offers an editorial called "The Fence Campaign". Let's take a quick look at just three misleading statements that the NYT makes:

A. Whatever they want to call it, the Senate bill would be perceived as an amnesty by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world, and they'd come a-running. Saying "it's not an amnesty" doesn't mean a thing if everyone else thinks it is.

B. Those "immigrants" wouldn't get to the back of the line: they'd still get to live here and they'd be ahead of those in foreign countries who've been (legally) waiting to come here.

C. The MSM has been quite successful in painting those who support our laws as "extremists" (e.g., Randy Graf) and those who want to reward law-breakers with "comprehensive" "reform" as "moderates" (e.g., Gabrielle Giffords). If you actually look at what, for instance, the Senate bill would do, it's clear that those who support it are in favor of a truly radical policy that would do tremendous damage to the U.S.

It should be noted that I in no way wish to give the impression that the NYT only made three misleading statements; no doubt there are many more.

Posted to Immigration at 08:27 PM | Comments (5)

A smarter voting policy (Andrew Sullivan)

Sully offers a letter from a reader that says in part:

...Our country is certainly headed in the wrong direction, our spending has spiraled out of control, we have brave young men and women dying in Iraq, and those in power only want to talk about illegal immigration (and not seriously reform it) and wedge issues like gay marriage that only further divide these "United States..."

After the letter, Sully offers the following advice:

Next Tuesday, as part of that process of reform and renewal, whether you are a conservative or a liberal or sick of both labels, vote Democrat or abstain.

First of all, the letter gives an inaccurate portrayal of the "immigration debate". On the one side you have those who favor a quasi-open border (Bush, the Dems, Big Business, churches, far-left/racial power groups, etc.), and on the other side you have a few House Democrats, a fairly large number of House Republicans, and 75% or so of the American public. The latter group doesn't want to just talk about illegal immigration, they want to do something about it. And, they would if it weren't for those on the other side who offer a strong opposition. While those on the other side occasionally somewhat oppose illegal immigration (such as Bush with the fence bill), that decision is only to advance their wider aims. So, what the letter writer tries to claim is just hot air is actually a bit of a struggle.

As for Sully's voting advice, you can do better. There are several GOP members that oppose those who do not have America's best interests at heart, and they deserve your support.

UPDATE: That wacky Sully! Right after the letter, he had a sentence encouraging voters to vote for Democrats or just stay home, and that's what my last paragraph is refering to. But, now it's gone. I guess it was a technical glitch, or something. Luckily, this other blogger replied to it too.

Posted to Politics at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)

Senator Barbara Mikulski sneaks H-2B visa increase into defense bill

This site has part of a FAIR newsletter containing this:

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) used back-room negotiations to slip language into the Department of Defense Authorization bill, signed into law on October 18, 2006, that potentially doubles the H-2B visa cap for unskilled workers. This language added to the defense bill is similar to the H-2B amendment Senator Mikulski offered to S.2611, the Senate guest worker amnesty bill that the House refused to take to conference committee. Senator Mikulski was successful in including the H-2B language to in the Defense Authorization bill despite statements from Armed Services Chairman John Warner (R-VA) that he would not allow any extraneous provisions to be added to that bill. In contrast, before Congress adjourned for the November elections, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) waged a public battle to attach his own immigration provision to the same defense bill. Speaker Hastert’s provision would have prohibited alien gang members from entering the U.S. and allowed for the detention and deportation of alien gang members already within the country. Chairman Warner, however, refused the Speaker’s request to include the alien gang language. Last week, as the President signed the Defense Authorization bill into law, Senator Mikulski released a statement stating she would not have been successful in her effort to pass the H-2B provision without the help of Senator Warner.

Posted to Immigration at 12:53 PM | Comments (3)

Dave Mejias on immigration (Peter King, NY-03)

Democrat Dave Mejias (daveforamerica.com) is running against Republican incumbent Rep. Peter King in New York's CD-3. The unattributed (not even a free email) site mejiaswatch.blogspot.com points out that back on April 30, 2006 he stood in solidarity with the foreign citizens who marched through our streets demanding rights to which they aren't entitled:

"Some politicians say they will support the [May 1] boycott. Nassau County Legis. David Mejias (D-Massapequa) said he plans to close his law office in Hempstead out of respect for the Latino community."

Mejias is the son of Cuban refugees, and thus has little in common with those who snuck over our borders or who overstayed their visas.

And, from this article with an unknown date:

As more and more Hispanic and Latino immigrants move to the suburbs and lack the ability to access transportation, a disproportionate number have been involved in car-pedestrian and bike accidents... That is why for the past several years, Legislator Dave Mejias has launched a drive to collect donations of bike helmets to be dispersed to various community-based organizations to educate and assist new immigrants.

There's no indication given of the legal status of those "new immigrants", but one might imagine that a large number are illegal aliens. The better solution would be to discourage very low-wage workers from moving to his area. Instead, Mejias wants to help them, which has the ultimate effect of helping their employers continue to employ them at low wages. If child labor were still an accepted practice, people who think the same way wouldn't want to stop it, they'd just want to give the kids nice lunchpails.

And, in the included picture he's standing next to Reverend Allan Ramirez. Mexico's local consul (Arturo Sarukhan) declared him to be a "friend" for his defense of the local day laborers. Ramirez also refered to Steve Levy's attempts to shut down day laborer flop houses as "ethnic cleansing". It's not known whether the picture was taken before or after those statements. Others involved in the bike equipment giveaway are: La Casa Communal, Marianela Jordan, Executive Director of Nassau County's Coordinated Agency for Spanish Americans ("CASA"), and the Central American Refugee Center.

And, you can see Mejias' stock spiel on immigration around the six minute mark of the interview WABC's Diana Williams did here. Although her questions weren't that bad, she didn't call Mejias on the finer points of what he said.

He says he'd give citizenship to illegal aliens who've been here for five years.

Five years? Not even Teddy Kennedy wants to go that quickly.

Let's assume that he just wants to put illegal aliens on the "path to citizenship" as long as they've been here for five years.

That will lead to people coming here illegally or overstaying visas knowing that all they need to do is keep their heads down for five years, and they'll be started on the "path to citizenship" by Mejias. And, it will also lead to illegal aliens getting fake documents showing they've been here for five years.

But, it may all be moot because the Senate immigration bill lets "guest" workers stay here at least three and as much as six years, and they can start on the "path to citizenship" after four years. Not really what most people would call "guests".

And, Mejias says those illegal aliens should pay back taxes. In fact, the Senate bill forgives 2 out 5 tax years, and in any case many of them will end up receiving a tax refund because of the EITC.

And, Mejias says those illegal aliens should go to the back of the line. That's also highly misleading. The Senate bill allows them to continue to stay in the U.S. *and* puts them ahead of those in other countries who've been patiently - and legally - waiting for their chance at citizenship.

Posted to Immigration at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)

Let's help Andrew Sullivan use Google! (Casey, Sudan)

Andrew Sullivan's post "The Desperation of Santorum" directs us to this article in which Sen. Rick Santorum says the following about his opponent Bob Casey, the current Treasurer of Pennsylvania:

"Bob Casey has invested Pennsylvania pension funds in companies with ties to terrorist-sponsoring states and states that engage in genocide... Bob Casey is aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide."

Now, certainly, "aiding and abetting" might be a bit strong, but one wonders what those who happen to live in, say, the Darfur region of Sudan or Iran might think. Would they care that Santorum's language is too strong, or would they care that some U.S. states - perhaps including Pennsylvania - are in effect helping to prop up those regimes?

So, feel free to help Sully look into this matter by trying to determine which countries PA has directly or indirectly invested in, what if anything Bob Casey has done about this, and so on.

As for me, I took a look through a couple Google searches. First, the group mentioned in the article is the Center for Security Policy; they might have a link to a software company that sells products used to determine links to terrorism-sponsoring companies, but as long as that's disclosed and there are no associated shenanigans I don't see an issue.

Then, we've got this:

Nonetheless, the Sudan divestment push is making inroads... Harvard University, which was slow to rid itself of investments in companies doing business in South Africa, has led the way in the academic world with regard to Sudan. Its $23 billion endowment agreed last month to sell its stake in PetroChina, a Chinese oil and gas company with operations in Sudan... Student-led divestment campaigns have begun on campuses including Duke University in North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania...

And, from April 2006:

In Pennsylvania, State Rep. Josh Shapiro is pushing to toughen a 2003 law requiring state authorities to report on state holdings in companies operating in terror-sponsoring countries. Similar bills have been introduced in Alaska and Tennessee; lawmakers in Arizona passed a bill requiring the state’s pension funds to report on all their holdings in American companies active in terrorism-sponsoring countries.

Then, we've got something quite interesting. While Bob Casey became Treasurer in 2005, issues have been known since at latest January 2001:

Last Sunday's edition [1/21/01] of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran a blockbuster expose of the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System -- "one of the nation's oldest and largest public pension funds" -- for causing, according to the article's opening sentence, "The retirement savings of more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians [to help] enslave Christians in Southern Sudan, build long-range missiles in Iran and smuggle automatic rifles from China to the United States." ...Under the headline "Pennsylvania Pensions Bankrolling Violence," Tribune-Review reporter Thomas Olson reveals the ways in which "global bad actors" have been penetrating the Commonwealth's SERS portfolio thanks to the Retirement System's woefully inadequate political risk assessment and its over-reliance on the flawed judgment of external fund managers -- including, in many cases, representatives of the same Wall Street firms that are responsible for bringing these bad actors' stock and bond offerings to the U.S. market...

So, if this issue has been known about for over five years, and Bob Casey is still investing in such companies, is Santorum's language too strong or not strong enough?

Related: See my video about Bob Casey.

UPDATE: One of the benefits of being a GOP insider is you get access to all the best information. Reporting on the press conference which had not yet happened, the "Captain" says:

Santorum will point to a bill passed by the Pennsylvania House in 2003 (HR 263), a direction from the legislature to PSERS, SERS, and the State Treasury to identify those investments that had any connection to companies or nations doing business in Iran, as well as Libya, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, and North Korea. It's clear that the legislature wanted Pennsylvania to redirect their investments away from such companies and projects. However, Casey apparently has done nothing to keep Pennsylvania funds from supporting companies that do business with the same nations that threaten us.

Posted to Politics at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

Ron Brynaert of RawStory downplays NAU

Taking anything found at RawStory with a very large grain of salt is recommended, but aside from that one wonders why Ron Brynaert would seek to downplay the NAU (10/25/06, "Minutemen 'expose' Bush's 'shadow government'"). Skepticism is generally good, and fact-checking is great. But, cheerleading is definitely something to wonder about:

SPP was launched in March of 2005 as a trilateral effort by the United States, Canada and Mexico to increase the security and improve the quality of life of North Americans through greater cooperation and information sharing. Many conservative critics view the trilateral initiative as a threat to U.S. sovereignty...

The documents can be viewed on the Minuteman Project's Stop the Security and Prosperity Project page, but there's no mention of any particular "smoking gun" which could proves the contention that the White House has created a shadow government. The anti-immigration group appears to consider the mere existence of communications among bureaucrats from the three countries as proof of their assertions...

...A RAW STORY examination of documents related to the "steel strategy" as presented at the Minuteman Web site did not turn up anything untoward...

While it doesn't matter that much, I wonder what their game is. Is it because they reflexively oppose the MMP or Jerome Corsi? Or, is it something else?

Posted to NAU at 09:51 AM | Comments (4)

October 29, 2006

Anti-North American Union resolution introduced

Republican Reps. Virgil Goode Jr. (VA), Tom Tancredo (CO), Walter Jones (NC), and Ron Paul (TX) have introduced a resolution (487):

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada...

...Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That--

(1) the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System;

(2) the United States should not enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada; and

(3) the President should indicate strong opposition to these or any other proposals that threaten the sovereignty of the United States.

Jerome Corsi is working with Howard Phillips (Conservative Caucus Chairman) and Phyllis Schlafly as part of a coalition that wants a Congressional investigation of the NAU. Says Corsi:

"We'd like to see both the House and the Senate in the 110th Congress conduct a serious investigation and get full disclosure from SPP of all documents... If the Bush administration wants to continue to deny that we're on the same track that Europe went on to create the European Union and the euro, then there should be no harm in full disclosure... [otherwise] I'm charging they are secretly on the path to create a North American Union, a new currency – the amero – along the same stealth path that was used in Europe, keeping everything below the radar, by administrative decree, making it to late to stop before the American people finally realize what's gong on."

Posted to NAU at 10:25 PM | Comments (3)

Stop the SPP releases more FOIA documents

The new site Stop the SPP has more documents on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (precursor to the North American Union) obtained under a FOIA request.

Posted to NAU at 04:11 PM | Comments (1)

Peter Wallsten: the GOP can't win without opening the borders

Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times offers "Latino and black voters reassessing ties to GOP". As with another article he wrote, it contains conventional "wisdom" in support of illegal immigration. While he's to be commended for bringing George Bush's Aztlan video to our attention, the non-corrupt wing of the GOP might want to consider whether his advice is in their best interest.

The Latino backlash has grown so intense that one prominent, typically pro-Republican organization, the Latino Coalition, has endorsed Democrats in competitive races this year in Tennessee, Nebraska and New Jersey. The coalition is chaired by Hector Barreto, the former administrator of the Small Business Administration under Bush; its president is a former strategist for the Republican National Committee...

But in recent months, Democratic activists watched with amazement as Republicans pushed into law a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border and tried to make it a felony to migrate illegally or to help undocumented immigrants. The latter provision did not become law, but it especially angered some church leaders, who said it would have criminalized their religious duty to help the least privileged in society.

Despite Bush's lobbying for an immigrant guest-worker program, favored by many Latinos, conservative lawmakers in the House refused to bend, forcing Bush to endorse the fence legislation and dimming his popularity among Latinos...

Needless to say, Wallsten takes at a given that the problem is with those House Republicans and not with Bush or those "many Latinos". Perhaps those Latinos who don't support our immigration laws out of racial power grounds or similar should be considered the outliers, and not those elected U.S. representatives who want to enforce our laws. And, his statement that HR4437 would make it a felony to "help undocumented immigrants" is false. Rather than calling those far-left "religious leaders" on their lies, Wallsten repeats them.

The article also contains this misleading statement:

Bush won an estimated 44% of the Latino vote in 2004. While polling numbers vary, many analysts said that represented about a 9-percentage-point improvement from 2000, suggesting that Latinos might become a substantial pillar upholding a durable Republican majority.

Posted to Immigration at 02:04 PM | Comments (1)

Tim Dickinson/Rolling Stone's misleading, pro-illegal immigration propaganda

Tim Dickinson of Rolling Stone offers his list of the 10 worst Congressmen. As you might expect from that publication, it's biased (9 of 10 are Republicans) and their complaints consist mainly of lightweight analysis and smears. Let's take a look at their entry on Rep. Tom Tancredo. It includes a great deal of name-calling, and it starts with a quote from the Council for Conservative Citizens supporting him; the reader will note that the recommendation is not reciprocated and this is thus the logical fallacy of Guilt by Association. (RS readers: did Dickinson not know this argument was fallacious, or did he think that you wouldn't know it was fallacious?)

Then:

Elected to the House in 1998, Tancredo has not only led the fight to deport every undocumented worker in America -- a proposal that would cost at least $200 billion -- but has called for halting all immigration, legal and otherwise. In one unforgettable move, Tancredo wanted to deport the family of an undocumented high school boy who was profiled in The Denver Post for his perfect grades.

* Tancredo doesn't support the mass deportations that Wilkinson implies that he supports; he support attrition through enforcing our laws.

* The $200 billion figure refers to the Center for American Progress study "Deporting the Undocumented". That study uses a highly-flawed methodology described at the link.

* The word "halting" might be misleading; Tancredo has called for a moratorium, not a permanent end to all immigration.

* And, there's much more to the last sentence than Wilkinson lets on; for instance, the Denver Post collaborated with the Mexican government to run a profile of said high school student.

Rolling Stone readers are encouraged to get their news from a more accurate source.

Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)

Robert Rector: "Importing Poverty"

Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation has a long article entitled "Importing Poverty". Here's just one paragraph, read the rest for much, much more:

[...] ...the roughly six million legal immigrants without a high school diploma will impose a net cost of around a half-trillion dollars on U.S. taxpayers over their lifetimes. The roughly five million illegal immigrants without a high school diploma will cost taxpayers somewhat less because illegal immigrants are eligible for fewer government benefits. However, if these illegal immigrants were granted amnesty and citizenship, as proposed by the Bush Administration and legislated in a recent Senate-passed immigration bill (S. 2611), they could cost taxpayers an additional half-trillion dollars. In total, all immigrants without a high school education could impose a net cost on U.S. taxpayers of around one trillion dollars or more. If the cost of educating the immigrants' children is included, that figure could reach two trillion dollars... [...]

Posted to Immigration at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)

Ramos/Compean: smear? CBP head won't criticize prosecution

The latest on the case of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean - who appear to have been railroaded by our government - includes the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Ralph Basham, refusing to "criticize [their] prosecution" (link). Regarding the letter that twelve House members sent asking for an investigation, Tony Snow says:

"Let's wait and see what the hearing produces... I believe you have 12 people who want to have a hearing, and we'll be interested in seeing what those hearings provide."

On Friday, Snow also said this regarding his earlier "nonsensical" comment:

"I wasn't trying to embarrass anyone," Snow told Joseph Farah, editor of WND. "It's just that I am not permitted even to discuss pardons – to comment on them. This is the president's call alone."

And, from the "most likely a sleazy smear" department comes "Report: Agents 'out to shoot Mexicans'".

Department of Homeland Security officials told four House members last month that two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler admitted to supervisors that they were "out to shoot Mexicans" the day of the shooting, but have yet to provide proof the agents made such statements.

In an effort to convince four concerned congressman that the El Paso, Texas, trial, conviction and sentencing of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were warranted, representatives of the Homeland Security Office of Inspector General met privately with the congressmen to assure them of Ramos' and Compean's guilt.

...Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, one of the congressmen at the private meeting, said he and three of his House colleagues were told by the OIG's office that the agents "were out to shoot Mexicans" and that the Department of Homeland Security had other damning information about Ramos' and Compean's actions the day that Aldrete-Davila was wounded.

...Those officials, however, did not provide proof of the agents' supposed confession. Instead, they said they would provide the information after last week's sentencing hearing, according to the congressmen.

Two of the congressmen, along with National Border Patrol Council President TJ Bonner and Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based Friends of the Border Patrol, now are demanding that the OIG immediately provide the evidence promised. Both organizations have publicly supported Ramos and Compean.

Officials at the DHS Office of Inspector General did not return phone calls for comment.

"They will provide us the information we requested," Poe said. "They will either provide it informally or they will be doing it formally." ..."These outrageous fabrications were clearly intended to derail the congressional investigation into the circumstances underlying the prosecution of two innocent Border Patrol agents," [National Border Patrol Council President TJ Bonner] said...

There's even more, including the possibility that prosecutor Johnny Sutton was caught in a lie.

Previously:
Ramos/Compean case: sentenced to 10+ years, no mistrial
Send an email about Ramos/Compean Border Patrol case
Justice for the Border Patrol (Compean/Ramos)
"Legal defense fund started for convicted Border Patrol agents"

Posted to Immigration at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

Tan Nguyen: Sanchez did first translation; given heads-up on raid

This is completely and utterly unsourced, but at a rally for Tan Nguyen yesterday this was reportedly "announced at the rally by Tan and some other speakers"

* Loretta Sanchez' office produced the initial, incorrect translation. When asked about it, she smiled and said "oops."

* Loretta Sanchez' office was give a heads up of the raid on Tan's office so it could be photographed.*

Although nothing incriminating has been found, state police refuse to return the computers, which have important campaign information on them.

And, Nguyen is reportedly "calling for an investigation".

Isn't it odd how candidates who oppose illegal immigration tend to have major problems like this?

UPDATE: From this:

...Then the candidate – dubbed "The Tan Man" by one supporter – hopped onto a pickup and declared that the letter at the center of state and federal investigations wasn't meant to intimidate Hispanic voters and wasn't illegal.

He also accused his opponent, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, of possibly having a hand in the Oct. 20 raid on his home and campaign office during a criminal voting rights investigation.

"Ms. Sanchez's fingerprints are all over this," Nguyen declared. "… Ms. Sanchez then stood by smiling while the campaign office of her opponent – who was winning the election – was raided."

Sanchez's campaign was unable to field a response by press time. The Democrat is widely believed to be well ahead of her opponent...

Posted to California at 06:11 AM | Comments (1)

October 28, 2006

How many silver dollars would it take? (Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein picture)

nancy pelosi dianne feinstein mint coins

Their caption: SAN FRANCISCO / Dawn of shiny new life for Old Mint / Feinstein, Pelosi preside over ceremonial minting of coins to fund its reincarnation
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Nancy Pelosi each struck a commemorative silver dollar and told a bit of the Old Mint's rich history. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor

Your caption will no doubt be different. There are other Nancy pics here.

Posted to WackyHumor at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)

Will James Webb oppose illegal immigration?

The sometimes-credible Weekly Standard offers "Tangled Webb", discussing how Democratic senatorial candidate Jim Webb (running against incumbent Republican George Allen) is a bit more conservative than one might think from the "D" beside his name. It ends with this:

...Webb's right-wing populism and the liberalism of today's Democratic party make for an abrasive fit, and hints of it showed the other morning at Cecilia's, a Latin restaurant on Columbia Pike, in Arlington. Walter Tejada, Arlington's leading Hispanic politician and the man responsible for making Democrats of the county's growing immigrant population, arranged for Webb to attend a small rally with what Tejada calls "the community." [He's also a former LULAC leader; 1, 2, 3;waltertejada.blogspot.com]

...Webb's views of immigration, like many of his positions on questions of domestic policy, are unformed. It's not hard to imagine where his populism and ethnic allegiance would lead him, though. One thing that all economists agree on--those who favor the present influx of immigrants and those who don't--is that mass immigration lowers the wages of unskilled, uneducated native-born workers; "my people," as Webb calls them. A quick way to raise those wages would be to cut off the future flow of unskilled immigration. Yet this step toward "economic fairness" is not available to a Democratic candidate these days (or to many Republicans either).

In a brief and uncomfortable stump speech, Webb told the Hispanic crowd that he was against a guest-worker program. "We must first define our borders," he said. "And then we must ensure corporate responsibility, because a lot of this is going to come down to the employers."

The crowd seemed puzzled. Later reporters asked Webb to clarify his position. With Tejada next to him, he said he favored some path to legalization and citizenship for the illegals already here. Tejada nodded solemnly. But what about the future? a reporter asked. Would Webb favor tough economic sanctions against businesses that employ illegals, as a way of drying up the tide of immigrants?

"Yes," Webb said, "there needs to be corporate enforcement. We've had no corporate enforcement for six years! There's got to be employer sanctions, otherwise you're going to keep wages down. We have got to get a handle on this."

Tejada glanced at the ceiling. Punishing employers who hire illegals is not, needless to say, part of the game plan for the community, or for Arlington Democrats...

Posted to Immigration at 01:05 PM | Comments (2)

October 27, 2006

Houston Chronicle does part against border fence

The Houston Chronicle's James Pinkerton offers "Border barrier could put chill in Valley ecotourism, wildlife". It features the thoughts of just four people predicting disaster for the fence itself, the region, wildlife, and various other calamities.

Farmer Fred Schuster says the fence will wash away in the rains. Oliver Bernstein from the Sierra Club handles the wildlife section of the article, without mentioning the environmental disaster of all the trash left behind by illegal aliens. Similar thoughts are expressed by Jimmy Paz, manager of the Sabal Palm Audubon Sanctuary. Nancy Millar, VP of McAllen's Convention and Visitor's Bureau, handles the tourism chores.

While we're told that "[t]ourist bureaus, wildlife refuges and farm and ranch operations" had worries, those are the only ones quoted in the article.

Posted to Immigration at 09:41 PM | Comments (2)

John DeStefano linked to Mexico collaborators (CT governor race)

New Haven mayor and Democrat John DeStefano [1] is running for governor of Connecticut against Republican incumbent M. Jodi Rell. DeStefano has several links to a New Haven group called "JUNTA for Progressive Action" [2], a group which is collaborating with the Mexican government. [3] That group also has links to several other organizations and community leaders.

Perhaps the closest link is that DeStefano's campaign manager is married to the head of JUNTA [4]:

The headquarters of Mayor John DeStefano Jr.'s gubernatorial campaign is beginning to resemble City Hall, with the announcement Monday that another former City Hall staffer will be joining the campaign... Henry Fernandez LAW '94 will become the mayor's campaign manager, after his resignation in March from his position as New Haven's economic development administrator, a position he had held for seven years. Fernandez joins Derek Slap, who in February switched from serving as the mayor's spokesman in City Hall to become the mayor's campaign trail spokesman... [...Fernandez] also helped bring IKEA to the city and was responsible in part for the expansion of Tweed-New Haven Airport. His wife, Kica Matos, is executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, an antipoverty agency based in Fair Haven...

From the Yale Daily News (link) (April 27, 2006, "Candidates court growing Hispanic vote"):

DeStefano's campaign has formed a group named Amigos de DeStefano, whose first house party at the home of Kica Matos, the director of New Haven's JUNTA for Progressive Action, drew 90 guests... the DeStefano-led City Hall is generally considered responsive to the needs of the city's Latino population, Yale professor Alicia Schmidt Camacho said. Camacho, who teaches in the American Studies Department, also serves on the board of Junta, a local Latino service agency... Camacho said her colleagues at Junta appreciate that the mayor is working on a plan to give municipal identification cards to all city residents. New Haven also launched "Hablamos Espanol" last year, a program that translates city documents into Spanish...

From this city page:

The New Haven Economic Security Coalition (NHESC) was formed in 2002 in partnership with Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., the IRS, and local organizations to provide free tax preparation and raise awareness about the Earned Income Tax Credit. Partners include: Community Action Agency, JUNTA for Progressive Action, Yale University, Spanish American Merchants Association, Empower New Haven, National Student Partnerships, and NewAlliance Bank.

More groups are listed here:

The New Haven Economic Security Coalition (NHESC) is a coalition of the Office of the Mayor of the City of New Haven [DeStefano's office], the Internal Revenue Service, Fleet Bank, Yale Law School, Quinnipiac Law School, Community Action Agency of New Haven, Student Health OUTreach, JUNTA for Progressive Action, Community Builders, the Spanish American Merchants Association, with support from the City of New Haven, Empower New Haven, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

JUNTA also received a $25,000 grant from Citizens Bank of Connecticut and WTNH-News Channel 8 [5]

From the New Haven Register [6]:

Junta is working with city police and Mayor John DeStefano Jr.'s administration on convincing banks to allow the undocumented to open savings accounts so they won’t be such easy prey for thieves.

He also spoke an illegal immigration rally in New Haven on 4/10/06 [7]:

"Amnistia para todos" — "Amnesty for All" — read a sign affixed to the onstage public address system as an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people, many of them Latin American immigrants, listened to Latin-Ka, a Latino rock band, a Mexican-American mariachi band and dozens of speakers ranging from immigrant rights and union leaders to Mayor John DeStefano Jr. to Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.

His plan to give city IDs to illegal aliens was announced, withdrawn, and then studied [8]:

Over the past year or two, Junta has worked with Unidad Latina to promote rights for the undocumented, encouraging Mayor John DeStefano to issue a municipal identity card, among other ideas... That proposal slipped out "prematurely" last year, said Rob Smuts, DeStefano's deputy chief of staff and another member of last night's panel. He promised that the mayor is still planning to issue the cards, once the administration works out some of the bureaucratic kinks involved, because DeStefano believes it's not good to have a shadow population...

That proposal continues [9]:

...Immigrant rights groups, such as Fair Haven-based Junta for Progressive Action, are working with the city's police department to establish a policy that would forbid police from asking about the legal status of immigrants who are crime victims or turning over any such information to federal immigration authorities. And City Hall has spent the past year slowly developing a plan to provide all New Haven residents with city ID cards, which would allow immigrants to open bank accounts and avoid carrying the large amounts of cash that often make them targets of violent crime... [... "Danbury Eleven" matter...] ...The plan to provide ID cards is still being developed, as are plans, also announced last year, to develop an order for the New Haven Police Department that would forbid officers from asking individuals about their immigration status, according to officials in City Hall who have been working on the proposals. The police policy is already practiced, for the most part, by officers, said John Buturla, the city's chief administrative officer, and the challenge now is just to clarify it and put it in writing... [Matos] said Junta is also working on a program with Southern Bank, located just down the street from the organization's Fair Haven headquarters, on a program to offer financial literacy education to immigrants and help them open accounts... DeStefano policy analyst Kate McAdams worked on the project until she left New Haven three weeks ago; since then, the mayor's legislative assistant, Paul Nunez, picked up where McAdams left off, though [John Buturla, the city's chief administrative officer] said no meetings have yet been held on the subject. Nunez said he is planning to meet with the city's new budget director at the end of this week to discuss funding options, and he hopes that the program will be in place by January... Chief Franciso Ortiz was unavailable for comment, but NHPD spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester confirmed that Ortiz is working on the proposal...

Junta also advises or funds the Tides Foundation's "Death Penalty Mobilization Fund" [10]

[1] destefanoforct.com
[2] juntainc.org
[3] From newhavenindependent.org/archives/2006/10/id_for_life.php ...Laura Huizar, the program coordinator for economic development at JUNTA, greeted one of the nearly 100 people who came to the auditorium of the Fair Haven Middle School on Thursday night for a meeting with Mexican consular officials... Mexican consular official Eduardo Penalosa presented a kind of workshop in how to obtain the MCAS. The MCAS (Spanish initials for matricula consular de alta seguridad), Huizar, explained, is recognized by hundreds of cities, police departments, and financial institutions across the country as a valid ID. It's the Mexican government's official ID for its nationals living abroad, incorporating holograms and other embedded technology designed to prevent forgery. Which is why JUNTA has been cultivating a relationship with the Mexican Consulate; in past visits to Fair Haven in 2004 and 2005 the consulate provided approximately 400 Mexican nationals with these consular IDs. However, many other applicants were turned away. After such informational sessions, Huizar hopes the consulate will return in the months ahead and many more consular IDs can be issued...
[4] "DeStefano names campaign manager", 4/4/06, Sarah Mishkin, link
[5] From citizensbank.com/au/news/ctz/2005/07_08_05_ct_champion.aspx Citizens Bank of Connecticut and WTNH-News Channel 8 today named Junta for Progressive Action, Inc. (JUNTA) as its first Champion In Action the new name given to the program formerly known as the Community Champions Program. As a champion, JUNTA will receive a $25,000 grant, media coverage and extensive promotional and volunteer support for its outstanding work in the area of youth support programs... As the Champion in Action, JUNTA will receive... A $25,000 contribution in unrestricted funds from the Citizens Bank Foundation... Media coverage from WTNH-News Channel 8, including public service announcements and television profiles... Volunteer support from Citizens and WTNH-News Channel 8 employees... Extensive public relations support... Promotional support, highlighting the "Champion in Action" in all Citizens Bank branches and on its ATMs; and... Exposure on both Citizens Bank and WTNH-News Channel 8 Web sites... Citizens Bank of Connecticut is a $4 billion bank with 48 branches and 60 ATMs in Connecticut It is headquartered in New London. It is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $137 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I.
[6] "City aldermen hear of immigrants' needs", 9/19/2005, Mary E. O'Leary, NH Register: juntainc.org/en/news/Register_09.19.05.php
[7] "Politicians, Residents, Bishop Rally for Immigrant Rights", 4/11/06, Mark Zaretsky, NH Register: juntainc.org/en/news/PoliticiansResidentsBishopRallyforImmigrantRights.php
[8] "Living in the Shadows" juntainc.org/en/news/LivingintheShadows.php
[9] "Activists lobby for immigrants", 10/4/06, Sarah Mishkin, Yale Daily News: juntainc.org/en/ActivistsLobbyforImmigrants-10.2006.php
[10] link

Posted to Immigration at 01:12 PM | Comments (2)

Bob Casey: $50 billion in benefits for illegal aliens

Pennsylvania Senatorial candidate Bob Casey is trying to unseat Rick Santorum and is issuing highly misleading statements as part of his attempt. One of those is the claim that he doesn't want to give Social Security benefits to illegal aliens. If you parse that statement in the legally-correct, Clintonian way it's true.

What he fails to note is that under the Senate amnesty bill (which he supports), many millions of current illegal aliens would be suddenly declared to be legal residents, and then they'd suddenly be eligible for up to $50 billion worth of "federal benefits such as the earned income and child tax credits, Medicaid, and Social Security" (WaPo on the CBO estimate).

Please send this video around:

UPDATE: In an earlier version I said "all" current illegal aliens would be legalized under the Senate bill. That actually wouldn't include "all", just the vast majority. And, it would also most likely include new illegal aliens who came here and obtained falsified documents "proving" that they were covered under the Senate amnesty.

Posted to Immigration at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

"Doubts linger on feasibility of barrier" (border fence)

From this:

Both proponents and opponents of 700 miles of fences along the U.S.-Mexico border question whether the Bush administration can deliver the barriers -- whose exact location, price tag and construction start date remain unknown.

The Secure Fence Act, signed yesterday by President Bush, does not require the government to show any results of fence construction until May 2008 and while it does specify where along the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border the barriers should go, there's no guarantee they ever will.

State legislatures, governors, and city and county governments, along with Indian tribal councils, have veto power over fencing locations...

T.J. Bonner of the National Border Patrol Council says it will "do nothing" and will act only as a "speed bump". One possible motivation for his remarks is that he wants to get more BP agents. And, of course it will do something, and have a deterrent effect, especially if advertised correctly in Mexico.

Posted to Immigration at 06:52 AM | Comments (5)

David Broder offers conventional wisdom on Arnold Schwarzenegger's left turn

I think this column might be a week or two old, but it's just now being printed in the Houston Chronicle, so let's take a look at the thoughts of David Broder in "California's model for the middle":

...In 2005 [Arnold Schwarzenegger] declared war on the Democratic legislature and the public-employee unions and forced a special election on four initiatives designed to cripple the unions' influence and strengthen his hand as governor. Voters rejected all of them and drove his approval ratings into the basement.

Oddly enough, Broder doesn't mention that Arnold's campaign for his initiatives sucked. He let the unions define him as a meanie and about all he could reply with were a few TV ads at the end of the campaign. I might be wrong about this, but in one of them he was dressed in a sweater. In any case, those commercials were indeed Carter-esque.

Arnie's Bush-linked advisors think "moderates" like Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney could compete for California using the same corrupt formula:

...The contenders would not have to go as far as Schwarzenegger has in embracing Democratic issues. The state might respond to a candidate who combines fiscal prudence and avoiding higher taxes with a progressive attitude on the environment and such social issues as immigration and civil rights...

Of course, immigration is much, much more than just a "social issue", but one wouldn't expect someone who defines "progress" as encouraging illegal immigration and collaborating with extremist-linked groups to understand that.

Posted to Politics at 03:30 AM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2006

NBC report on border fence features Juan Jose Gutierrez

Tonight's NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams featured a report on the border fence bill being signed. For the thoughts of the Hispanic community, they turned to... Juan Jose Gutierrez. You know, the guy who organized a 1996 march that was led by the Mexican Army's band. In 1994, he took part in a protest - along with current CA Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez - that included a U.S. flag with just 13 stars. Nowadays, he's still organizing marches and he's linked to ANSWER.

The footage looked like it was shot in a studio, and it also looked like it was provided by an affiliate. Nonetheless, are NBC's NYC producers unable to use those search engine things?

There are at least two levels to this: the fact that JJG is a bit of a Hispanic "leader", and also the fact that NBC considers him to be a leader and presents him as such. In order to do something about the first, please do something about the second by contacting your local NBC affiliate and suggesting that they contact their HQ with some constructive criticism.

Posted to Immigration at 07:27 PM | Comments (1)

Bush signs border fence bill; on to "comprehensive immigration reform"!

Our president George Bush has signed the "Secure Fence Act", which might result in 700 miles worth of fencing on the Mexican border. A White House fact sheet is at whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061026-1.html

In case it wasn't clear already, that "fact sheet" shows that the fence is just an excuse to get what Bush really wants. Be suspicious of those questionable sources (Bill Frist and other politicians, GOP hacks such as Insty, Cap'n Ed, etc.) who promote the fence, because they only see it as one part of the equation:

"This bill will help protect the American people. This bill will make our borders more secure. It is an important step toward immigration reform." - President George W. Bush, 10/26/06

Today, President Bush Signed The Secure Fence Act - An Important Step Forward In Our Nation's Efforts To Control Our Borders And Reform Our Immigration System. Earlier this year, the President laid out a strategy for comprehensive immigration reform. The Secure Fence Act is one part of this reform, and the President will work with Congress to finish the job and pass the remaining elements of this strategy.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Begins With Securing The Border. Since President Bush took office, we have:

...This Act Is One Part Of Our Effort To Reform Our Immigration System, And We Have More Work To Do

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Requires That We Enforce Our Immigration Laws Inside America. It is against the law to knowingly hire illegal workers, so the Administration has stepped up worksite enforcement...

Up from 4 to 8 cases! (numbers approximate).

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Requires That We Reduce The Pressure On Our Border By Creating A Lawful Path For Foreign Workers To Enter Our Country On A Temporary Basis. A temporary worker program would meet the needs of our economy, reduce the appeal of human smugglers, make it less likely that people would risk their lives to cross the border, and ease the financial burden on State and local governments by replacing illegal workers with lawful taxpayers. Above all, a temporary worker program would add to our security by making certain we know who is in our country and why they are here.

Since he admits that that situation is unsafe, why has he allowed it to get worse by refusing to do real workplace enforcement?

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Requires That We Face The Reality That Millions Of Illegal Immigrants Are Here Already. The President opposes amnesty but believes there is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation...

Whatever he wants to call it, it will be perceived as an amnesty by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world, and they'll come running. Note also the stock false choice; another choice would be to start enforcing our laws, encouraging many illegal aliens to return home and discouraging others from coming here.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Requires That We Honor The Great American Tradition Of The Melting Pot. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language. When immigrants assimilate and advance in our society, they realize their dreams, renew our spirit, and add to the unity of America.

Meaningless blather. Karl Rove has shown a willingness to reach out to far-left forces that oppose assimilation.

UPDATE: There's a handy list of who voted against this bill here.

Posted to Immigration at 10:20 AM | Comments (4)

Mexico, 27 OAS nations declare opposition to border fence

From our who cares department:

Mexico, supported by 27 other nations, made a declaration at the Organization of American States slamming U.S. plans to build hundreds of miles (kilometers) of fence on its southern border.

The declaration, read aloud Wednesday at the OAS headquarters in Washington, said the barriers would not solve the immigration problem and urged the U.S. government to rethink its position, according to press releases from the OAS and Mexican foreign ministry.

The 28 nations express "deep concern regarding the decision adopted by the United States of America to build and extend a wall on its border with Mexico, considering it to be a unilateral measure that goes against the spirit of understanding," it said in the declaration, which was read out by Mexico's Ambassador Alejandro Garcia Moreno...

In a surprisingly gutsy move, the U.S. representative to the OAS decided against supporting the declaration. Mexico will also take its complaints to the United Nations.

Mexico's co-signers are:

Antigua, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, San Kitts and Nevis, San Lucia, San Vicente, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela

Posted to Immigration at 10:14 AM | Comments (4)

October 25, 2006

"Clarification" letter sent to Hispanics (Tan Nguyen, MALDEF, NCLR, NALEO)

california secretary of state mcpherson maldef nclr naleo

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson's office has sent a letter to the 14,000 people who had been sent the Tan Nguyen letter. It's good that he's clearing things up. It's not so good that he's carrying the water - in an official state document under the California state seal - for far-left groups that support illegal immigration. From the PDF file with the letter:

The official election information letter, in English and Spanish, was mailed by the Secretary of State's Office in collaboration with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).

Why is the Secretary of State "in collaboration with" far-left groups, at least two of which have supported illegal immigration in the past? Isn't this in effect an endorsement of those group's agendas? The SoS didn't really need any others to be involved, but if they were going to enter into collaborations shouldn't they have also sought out more conservative Hispanic groups that haven't supported illegal immigration?

Why is the State of California carrying these groups' water?

I called the number given in the letter trying to get answers and I was told that the person listed would call me back. If anyone has better luck, let me know.

UPDATE: The MSM hacks who've discussed this story have not once to my knowledge offered a legal analysis of the letter from qualified experts. Hopefully eventually someone will do that, and they might even be able to answer whether this "Memorandum of Agreement" regarding the "Help America Vote Act" ("HAVA") qualifies as the computerized match system mentioned in the original letter: usdoj.gov/crt/voting/hava/ca_moa.htm

Also, Bruce McPherson is up for re-election on Nov. 7, and I'm reluctantly urging everyone to vote for Debra Bowen. She's the only one with a chance to beat him, and as the letter he sent shows he is unfit for office. If you can't bring yourself to do that, choose anyone else from this list.

Posted to Immigration at 02:22 PM | Comments (4)

October 24, 2006

Tan Nguyen: the Manchurian candidate?

BoiFromTroy raises the possibility (at the site run by Chris Nolan) that Tan Nguyen is a Democratic plant designed to increase their GOTV effort:

I say that Nguyen's letter was either the stupidest or the most nefarious political act this year because part of me wonders whether he's some sort of "Manchurian Candidate" planted by Democrats to pull this October stunt - and have it dragged out by the media going into the election. (Of couse, that's Cold War thinking - Vietnam, where Nguyen was born isn't the same as China for all kinds of reasons.)

OK, now that he's gone first, I'll admit that while I had thought of similar things before, I hadn't given them much weight because there's still the possibility that he might be charged or sued. And, it's going to be difficult for him to run again as either an R or a D.

However, what I have considered is that the shadowy office manager or the shadowy LAPD officer involved in the letter might have been plants. And, since illegal immigration is a multi-billion dollar industry, it's not just the Democratic Party that would profit from a possible attempt to smear the CCIR or those opposed to illegal immigration in general. All the facts aren't available yet, and there's no guarantee at all that CA AG Bill Lockyer - a Democrat - will perform a full investigation and look at all possibilities.

Bonus: La Opinion (Spanish-language rag in Los Angeles) misquoted part of the letter, trying to make it look worse than it was. Wrap these lines to read the details:
blogs.ocweekly.com/blotter/
why-is-la-opinion-changing-the-tan-nguyen-letter

The publisher of La Opinion, Monica Lozano, has links to MALDEF and the National Council of La Raza ("The Race").

Posted to California at 02:38 PM | Comments (8)

Michael Bloomberg: possible illegal alien taxi drivers isn't dangerous

Michael Bloomberg has yet again let his outright support for illegal immigration interfere with his job of protecting New Yorkers. Via this we find this:

The city's plan to stop asking prospective taxi drivers to provide proof that they are legal residents will not endanger the security of New Yorkers, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.

Cab drivers would no longer need to show immigration documents under changes the Taxi and Limousine Commission is set to vote on tomorrow. Instead, they will need to provide a Social Security card and driver's license...

His spokeswoman informs us:

"To suggest that this regulatory streamlining effort in any way represents a risk to the public is erroneous"

Social Security cards and numbers can, of course, be faked. And, several states give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. NY used to be one of those states, and there were hundreds of thousands of questionable DLs issued. The New York Times' Nina Bernstein and other groups fought tooth and nail to continue allowing illegal aliens to get New York driver's licenses, but that was blocked in July (PDF file):

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court this week upheld new regulations adopted by the State of New York that make it extremely difficult for illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. The decision was a victory for the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), which filed a brief urging the court to uphold the regulations.

Posted to Immigration at 02:02 PM | Comments (2)

Jennifer Talhelm, Arthur Rotstein, Terry Tang mislead about Randy Graf

Jennifer Talhelm, Arthur Rotstein, and Terry Tang (reporting from... Scottsdale) of the AP offer a superficial, misleading, pro-Democratic Party article called "GOP Shuns Immigration Hardliner in Ariz." The headline is the first part that's wrong in that Graf is opposed to the illegal variety of immigration and wanting to enforce our laws is not a "hardline" position. It continues:

Randy Graf is a tough-on-immigration [a false statement] Republican in a district that is fed up with people pouring illegally across the border and hasn't elected a Democrat to the House in two decades... Yet Graf's national party is turning its back on him, the retiring Republican congressman he wants to succeed has disavowed his candidacy and he's finding trouble getting traction beyond the most secure GOP voters _ and a border militia that's backing him.

Calling the Minuteman Project a "militia" is an attempt to conjure up images of compounds in Idaho and the like. I hadn't seen an MSM source say something similar for a while, but either I haven't been paying attention or they're repurposing their old smears for the 2006 season.

And, prominent GOP members have not "turned their back on him." While the pro-illegal immigration Kolbe has not supported him, McCain and others have, and Hastert will be campaigning for him next week.

As for why the national GOP leaders would "turn their backs on him", Talhelm, Rotstein, and Tang don't try to find out what might really be behind that. Is it because of the stated reason that they think he can't win? Or, is it because they think he might win and if he does he'll cost those companies - GOP donors - that profit from illegal immigration money?

Then, flanked by an AP picture of Gabrielle Giffords, we get this article's "man-on-the-street/voice-of-reason":

Voters such as Sue Malusa, a mother of four from Tucson, think Graf and his supporters go too far. Graf is backed by the Minutemen, self-appointed border-watchers. Malusa will vote for a candidate who supports "a humane and fair way of controlling the border," she said. "That's important."

As detailed in the past many times, anything that allows illegal immigration to continue is not humane, and what Giffords supports will allow illegal immigration to continue. Malusa needs to think with her head and not buy what those who hide behind "compassion" try to sell.

Then, we get to the smears:

Graf made waves last week defending a state lawmaker who endorsed reinstatement of a 1950s federal deportation program called "Operation Wetback" and sent supporters information from a white separatist group... In a candidates' debate, Graf said the lawmaker, state Rep. Russell Pearce, is a friend and they agree on how to control the border.

As previously discussed just recently, the word "reinstatement" is a lie. As for the second smear, he realized the error right away and sent a followup email. Only the most delusional Democratic hack could think that he would have sent that article if he'd read the whole thing or knew about the group involved.

It continues, but it's clear that Jennifer Talhelm, Arthur Rotstein, and Terry Tang of the AP are willing to mislead in order to support either Giffords or illegal immigration. And, it's clear that they aren't willing or able to dig into a story and discover what's really going on.

Posted to Immigration at 01:46 PM | Comments (2)

Atlanta: Radio hosts fired after lawsuit by Hispanic DJs

"The Regular Guys Show" - previously featured on WKLS-FM in Atlanta Georgia ("96Rock") and consisting of Eric Von Haessler and Larry Wachs - has been taken off the air and the hosts fired after two Hispanic hosts of a sister station show filed a lawsuit. The animosity between the two shows stretches back to the pro-illegal immigration marches, when the Regular Guys invited "Yogi and Panda" (Juan Tapia and Jose Carias from Viva 105.7) to appear on their show and discuss the rallies. Yogi and Panda were apparently encouraging their listeners to join the boycott (one of the organizers of that boycott is a former Mexican consul general). Those hosts complained to their employer repeatedly that they were "disrespected", then:

...Tapia and Carias said in the suit that Regular Guys co-host Larry Wachs secretly taped their conversations while they were in restroom stalls in the Clear Channel office building Oct. 9, then aired them Oct. 10.

Tapia and Carias also said they complained to management on numerous occasions about "incendiary comments" the Regular Guys made about their "alleged sexual orientation, race and nationality" but "these complaints have largely been ignored."

Wachs says they knew he was there and were "yelling insults" at him.

This probably isn't about the money and despite outward appearances it probably isn't personal either. It's probably an attempt to obtain racial power and try to prevent other hosts from opposing illegal immigration and associated marches. If anyone has any information on whether any politicians or similar are involved in the lawsuit or have links to Yogi and Panda, please leave a comment.

Also, please forward this news to any local talk show hosts that oppose illegal immigration.

Posted to Immigration at 11:43 AM | Comments (4)

Former Border Patrol agents: no amnesty

Around two hundred members of an apparently new organization called the "National Association of Former Border Patrol Agents" have issued a position paper calling for:

* securing the border and tight screening of those permitted to enter;

* opposition to any legislation that would allow aliens to remain in the country who have entered illegally and remained illegally;

* meaningful employer sanctions;

* a guest worker program with tight restrictions.

As for the latter, the restrictions would have to be very tight in order to avoid the issue of "guests" having U.S. citizen children, making deporting them very difficult. And, I'm a bit worried that the Pence amnesty scheme sounds like it could be hammered into their framework. Nevertheless, I'm willing to listen, but I haven't been able to find their site.

I'm also concerned because on June 6, 2006, John Tierney of the New York Times wrote a paean to the Bracero program ("Securing the Border (Again)", tinyurl.com/yyp4fz), using NAFBPA member Buck Brandemuehl as a starting point. Another member of the organization is Hugh Brien.

And:

Many of the signers participated in the administration of the 1986 amnesty program. They say the problems with it included:

* Rampant fraud

* Judicial extension of the program

* The effects of chain migration – whereby six family members ultimately follow to join each alien who achieves legal status.

Posted to Immigration at 06:34 AM | Comments (1)

Tony Snow asked about Ramos/Compean case, dodges question

On Monday, Les Kinsolving asked Whitehouse spokesman Tony Snow about the case of the two Border Patrol agents who appear to have been railroaded by our own government. He specifically asked whether Bush would give them a pardon. Here's Snow's response:

"That's an unanswerable question, Les. The president is the person who is responsible for pardons. You can tell the network, which made you ask that question, that it is nonsensical."

Posted to Immigration at 02:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2006

Democrats offer Tan Nguyen letter of their own [satire]

The latest from the Tan Nguyen campaign is that he says the infamous letter was mistranslated from English to Spanish; a copy of the stated original version is here.

In response, the Democrats have come up with their own version of the letter that they're demanding be sent to all Democratic voters in California:

---------------------------------------
Dear voter:

You are receiving this letter because you recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the U.S. we encourage you to participate in the democratic process.

However, if you are here illegally or are just a resident with a green card, you should be advised that voting in any Federal Election is a crime and may result in imprisonment, and WILL result in deportation.

Also, do NOT register your pets. There's almost zero chance that voting on behalf of "Fluffy" will get you into trouble, but just do not DO IT. Also, if you have multiple personality disorder, DO not register each of your personalities. For all you know, they might vote for non-Democrats!

And, DO not register space aliens, fictional characters, dead people, names you just made up, words you saw on billboards, or anagrams of any of the preceding. They check these registrations closely (except on Wednesdays), so be very careful. Once again: you might get caught. There's almost zero chance of anything bad happening to you, but you never know. If you're the one in a billion people that they prosecute for supporting our cherished causes, it could happen. It just has almost zero probability of happening.

Signed,

/sig/
The Mexican Consul General of La Habra

/sig/
Dr. Gov. Howard Dean M.D.
---------------------------------------

Posted to WackyHumor at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

Yvonne Wingett: "Language used to sway voters in immigration debate"

Yvonne Wingett of the Arizona Republic offers the titular article, which contains the seeds of its own evisceration. Let's see how she uses language to try to sway the voters in an open borders direction:

...The tipping point came last month, when Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, suggested that "Operation Wetback," a 1950s mass-deportation program, be reinstated to help combat illegal immigration.
The term "wetback" is offensive to Latinos and is typically used to refer to a person who is an undocumented immigrant...

Pearce's use of the word and suggestion that the program be reinstated insulted minority, religious and community leaders who called for lawmakers to reject such divisive language...

Here's what Pearce actually said:

"We know what we need to do. In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower, put together a task force called 'Operation Wetback.' He removed, in less than a year, 1.3 million illegal aliens. They must be deported."

So, Wingett is lying about him wanting to "reinstate" that program. "Reinstate" is defined as "to put back or establish again, as in a former position or state", and specifically refers to the previous program. What Pearce suggested was something similar to OW. He wasn't calling for taking OW and starting it over again.

And, one can find thousands of cases of Mexicans or Spanish-speakers using the word "mojados", the equivalent of "wetbacks".

And, of course, "undocumented immigrants" are actually illegal aliens.

As for those who were "insulted", that's highly questionable considering that all of the media reports discussed at the second link were based only on the remarks of the Arizona Democratic Party and two people from the same group (Somos America, a group that organized some illegal immigration marches in Arizona).

Posted to Immigration at 04:02 PM | Comments (2)

Bill Winter on immigration

Bill Winter is running for Congress against Rep. Tom Tancredo. Like other Democrats, he supports the Senate amnesty, and thus everything said about that horrible bill applies. Moreover, his page on immigration has several questionable or misleading statements:

1. His page twice refers to the "INS", an agency that hasn't existed since March 2003. While this might seem like a minor error, if whoever wrote that page doesn't even know that the INS no longer exists it tends to raise questions whether the other proposals on that page have been thought through as well.

2. He complains about the Republican leadership cutting funding for the Border Patrol and ICE, without disclosing that the Republicans are split into two camps on this issue: the more open-borders Bush camp (which is aligned with the Democrats) and the pro-borders camp, including Rep. Tancredo.

3. The page includes a picture of - and references - China's Great Wall, without stating that what Winter calls a "wall" is not a wall but a fence, and the fence is similar to fencing already in place on the border.

4. The page falsely states that "Tancredo maintains that we need to corral all 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and deport them". As Tancredo has pointed out, he prefers attrition and not mass deportations. In fact, the article that section links to ("CBS4 Examines Illegal Immigrant Costs In Colorado") does not state what Winters claims, and instead refers to Tancredo's attrition plan. Under that plan, increased border and workplace enforcement would lead to a large number of illegal aliens leaving voluntarily as well as prospective illegal aliens deciding not to come.

5. The page refers to a study concerning the costs of deporting all illegal aliens from the liberal Center for American Progress. The page does not discuss the ludicrous methodology used in the study, which assumed that the deportations for one year represented a best-case effort, and then divided the number of aliens deported by the agents' salaries. Obviously, the enforcement being done now is not in any way a "best-case effort".

6. The page claims that failing to pass "comprehensive immigration reform" - what most refer to as an amnesty and which would result in somewhere between 20 and 60 million new legal immigrants over 20 years - makes the U.S. more vulnerable. However, the GAO admits that the USCIS is already stretched to the limit and won't even have a fraud management program in place until 2010. And, considering that most of those former illegal aliens who would be made legal workers under the plan Winter supports come from countries with high levels of corruption and low-tech record keeping, the "reform" he supports is a massive recipe for disaster not just because of fraud but also because of the possibility of terrorist infiltration.

7. Winter claims that raising the minimum wage "will take away the incentive to hire illegal workers in the first place". In practice, that's false because that will make illegal labor more attractive and allow current and future illegal aliens to underbid legal workers. (Maybe he got this idea from the Drum Major Institute or from... Michael Dukakis.)

Winter also blogs at... bill-winter.dailykos.com.

Tags: Bill Winter, Tom Tancredo, Tancredo

Posted to Immigration at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)

October 21, 2006

Arnold Schwarzenegger gives power to far-left (immigration letter)

Shortly after the now-infamous Tan Nguyen letter warning "immigrants" against voting surfaced, our Rove-influenced governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, completely capitulated to demands that had not yet been made:

[Arnie] called the letters "racist" and "despicable," and argued the perpetrators should be tried for a hate crime.

Now, he's had his words regurgitated by those who don't have the U.S.'s best interests at heart:

State Democratic Chairman Art Torres said party leaders were planning a rally for Orange County on Tuesday. "It's a hate crime as far as we are concerned," Torres said.

(If the letter is a "hate crime", I wonder what we should call Torres' decade-old quote that "[Proposition 187] is the last gasp of white America in California.")

This incident shows the folly of the GOP trying to be like or giving in to or trying to play the same game as those on the far-left. If Arnold had issued a more moderate statement that included all possibilities and had not included the "hate crime" bit, racists like Torres might still say the same things, but Arnold would not have preemptively given their statements legitimacy and might have even been able to appear as the voice of reason.

Now, he appears to be the same as the racial demagogues on the far-left. And, this will make legitimate attempts to point out that non-citizens can't vote even more difficult and tarnish attempts to investigate possible cases of non-citizens voting. And, it will make the GOP even more beholden to far-left, self-appointed Hispanic "leaders".

For more on the far-left feeding frenzy, see "Many parties pitch tents in Nguyen opposition camp" or "Governor may try to mend fences after G-O-P letter scandal".

The Torres quote is from yet another biased AP article by Peter Prengaman, and its biases might be featured here later. So too with "Nguyen's campaign office raided" by Norberto Santana Jr. and the LAT's "Raids Widen 'Immigrant' Letter Probe" by Jennifer Delson, Christopher Goffard and Mai Tran. The latter contains this intriguing bit:

According to a source close to the investigation, the attorney general's office has determined that an LAPD officer, who is a friend of a worker in Nguyen's office, paid $4,000 on a credit card for the bulk mailing of the letter and used an alias.

Posted to California at 11:49 AM | Comments (6)

Democratic Texas/Mexico/Aztlan flyer confirmed?

I'm sure you all remember this classic:

texas democrats return texas to mexico aztlan

That flyer - showing Texas and Mexico rejoined - was supposedly passed out at the April 9, 2006 illegal immigration march in Dallas. At the time, I wondered whether it was a real poster or a fake.

Now, someone has sent an email to one Sarah from dallasdemocrats.org and says they've received the following reply:

"Yes it is likely one that we produced. I can't seem to get to the part of the site that explains the context of why they showed it though."

Not exactly a full admission, and they might backtrack, but at the very least we can say they haven't disowned it.

Posted to Immigration at 10:55 AM | Comments (2)

Kafka-Wiener race down to wire

From this:

Lydia Wiener is running under the Republican ticket for the job of state representative, 8th Norfolk District. When asked what drove her to make this choice Wiener says it all began with the vote on immigration by current incumbent state Rep. Louis Kafka, D-Stoughton.

Could you please make your own joke in comments? Feel free to insert as many literary allusions as possible, since someone from the GOP or the Democratic Party or even the MSM might accidentally stumble across this blog and I want them to think this is a classy site. Thanks.

Posted to WackyHumor at 07:59 AM | Comments (4)

October 20, 2006

Tucson Citizen endorses former MEChA member Raul Grijalva

The Tucson Citizen has endorsed U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva in his reelection bid for Arizona's Congressional District 7. He's running against Ron Drake (Republican) and Joe Cobb (Libertarian).

Grijalva is not just a former MEChA member, he's proud of his membership in that group. MEChA wants to "liberate" "Aztlan" (the supposed homeland of the Aztecs, which just happens to coincide with the U.S. southwest and parts of Mexico). And, of course, he's a Democrat.

Even Los Angeles' "Mayor Reconquista" Antonio Villaraigosa has (somewhat) renounced that group, saying that he doesn't support their goals. Apparently Grijalva does support their goals.

Grijalva's past affiliations might be a good conversation starter if anyone ever runs across Howard Dean or another leader of the Democratic Party somewhere.

Posted to Immigration at 05:22 AM | Comments (4)

October 19, 2006

ICIRR in suit against Terry Goddard over Western Union wire transfers

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights ("ICIRR") is "sponsoring" a class action lawsuit against Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard over that state's program that tries to stop human smuggling by seizing Western Union wire transfers that meet certain criteria. ICIRR is "sponsoring" three nobody plaintiffs - at least one of whom is a legal resident - who had money seized and couldn't get it back because they couldn't prove that the transfers were legitimate. The attorney is Matt Piers; another attorney who may have just filed the papers is Tim Eckstein (azstar).

As detailed at the first link, ICIRR was one of the organizers of the big March 10 Chicago illegal immigration rally as well as of the one on May 1. And, after the first rally, their president Juan Salgado spoke at Los Pinos, the Mexican White House. They were also involved in the smear against Jim Oberweis. Salgado was also appointed to a state commission by Chicago governor Rod Blagojevich. Another group involved in the suit is the Instituto del Progreso Latino, whose Executive Director is Juan Salgado.

But, wait, there's more:

[ICIRR Executive Director Josh] Hoyt acknowledged his organization has received grants in the past from Western Union, and confirmed that some of the information for the lawsuit came from the company. But he said the interest of his group is solely to protect the rights of individuals.

It's like a giant spider's web of sleaze, isn't it? From this:

...Goddard said the company also sent letters to clients, asking those who had funds seized to contact Instituto del Progreso Latino... "They solicited people" for the federal lawsuit, Goddard said. "It's Western Union trying to protect their profits." ...Sherry Johnson, corporate director of media relations for Western Union, said in an e-mail that "while we do have a long-standing relationship with this group, I can assure you that this is a completely independent action by the ICIRR."

As for the POV of "our" representatives, State Rep. Steve Gallardo - naturally a Democrat - nuances his way into supporting illegal immigration (azstar):

"We should not just be using the $500 threshold," he said, but instead require proof of some sort of pattern or other evidence of criminal activity... Goddard said the state provides that proof to the judge who issues each of the damming warrants... Gallardo also said the state's offer to refund funds improperly taken is insufficient because it requires people to go to a government office to prove their ownership in order to get their money back... "That's intimidating for those folks who perhaps may be here undocumented," he said, and simply want to send money home to relatives.

As for Matt Piers, he appears to be a civil rights-style attorney from Chicago. In 2000 or so he was on the other side: suing money transfer companies over hidden fees. He defended the Benevolence International Foundation on a terrorism-related charge. Daniel Drezner appeared on a TV show with him in relation to that. He was involved in another terrorism-related case in the late 90s (ncarl.org/newsletter2004.html). And, in 2001 he was apparently planning to sue both the U.S. and Mexico over monies due Bracero Program workers that had disappeared.

On a slightly related note, see "Maricopa County Attorney: Mexico trying to block Arizona law".

Posted to Immigration at 09:16 PM | Comments (1)

Ramos/Compean case: sentenced to 10+ years, no mistrial

The two Border Patrol agents who appear to have been railroaded by our own government have been sentenced to 10+ years each. Before the sentencing, they filed a last minute motion:

...Mary Stillinger, the lawyer for Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos, filed a motion Tuesday to have the verdict set aside and a new trial ordered for the two agents after three jurors said they were coerced by other jurors into finding the agents guilty.

The Daily Bulletin interviewed two of the jurors in late August, after Ramos and his family broke their 18-month silence about the case in an exclusive interview with the newspaper. Robert Gourley and Claudia Torres told the Daily Bulletin they voted guilty because they did not believe Judge Kathleen Cardone would accept a hung jury.

A third juror, Edine Woods, told Stillinger that the three were still voting not guilty after two days of deliberations. The three said they were misled into finding Ramos and fellow agent Jose Compean guilty, according to Stillinger's motion...

This will most likely be a part of whatever appeal is planned.

Posted to Immigration at 03:45 PM | Comments (3)

Western Growers gives Senator Feinstein a big green thumbs up

From their press release:

Western Growers, one of California's largest and most prominent agricultural trade associations, today announced its endorsement of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for reelection to the United States Senate.

"Senator Feinstein has represented California with great integrity, honor and skill," said Tom Nassif, President and CEO of Western Growers. "She has been an outstanding member of the United States Senate and has proven that she is a true friend of our industry. Senator Feinstein has consistently supported California agriculture and has been a strong leader for the industry on critical issues such as immigration reform..."

...Western Growers is an agricultural trade association whose 3,000 members grow, pack and ship 90 percent of the fresh vegetables and nearly 70 percent of the fresh fruit and nuts grown in Arizona and California, about one-half of the nation's fresh produce. For more information, visit wga.com

Meanwhile, in older news:

Shortly before Thanksgiving last year, Tom Nassif did something few law-abiding citizens would ever think to do: He called the U.S. Border Patrol here and suggested agents stop manning a highway checkpoint intended to keep illegal immigrants out of the country.

A former U.S. ambassador and currently the president of a powerful farming association, Mr. Nassif told officials that the agency couldn't have picked a worse time to beef up enforcement. Didn't they know it was lettuce season?

Dianne Feinstein, valiantly protecting the U.S. from the specter of mythical $10 a head lettuce by trying to make the Senate amnesty even worse.

In addition to Nassif, a few other favorites serve on the board of the Western Growers Association: Luawanna Hallstrom of Oceanside's Singh & Sons (what harm could illegal aliens do on a Marine Base anyway?) and perennial "crops rotting in the fields" quote source Jon Vessey. Use the search function to find many more quotes from Dianne Feinstein's strong supporters.

Posted to Immigration at 09:10 AM | Comments (3)

ACLU, PFAW, businesses sue Riverside NJ over immigration law

Riverside, New Jersey is one of the cities that have adopted "Hazleton-style" ordinances, and like other cities they're being sued by far-left, pro-illegal immigration organizations such as the ACLU. While this does cost those cities money, and the far-left foundations that support those far-left organizations have very deep pockets, at the end of the day the ACLU and their fellow travelers can only file so many suits.

In the current case, one of the ACLU's helpers is People for the "American" Way. Let's hope that their legal filings are a bit more precise than their misleading press release:

A coalition of Riverside business owners and landlords and residents will file a lawsuit today against the Township of Riverside in state court, contending that the recently adopted Illegal Immigration Relief Act oversteps the city's authority, is too vague, unfairly puts businesses at risk and violates civil rights under state law.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, People For the American Way Foundation, Spear Wilderman, P.C, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants' Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Ragonese Albano & Viola.

The ordinance is one of the most restrictive of the recent wave of anti-immigrant legislation passed by local governments across the nation. It attempts to ban immigrants from renting, residing, using property or being employed in Riverside. The ordinance, in very broad terms, applies to actions that "aid or abet" undocumented immigrants anywhere in the United States.

"This ordinance is so vague and overbroad that it's virtually impossible to obey and appears to ban a large amount of innocent conduct," said Elliot Mincberg, Vice-President and Legal Director for PFAW Foundation. "Even a hospital or church that allows an immigrant on its premises could be charged with a violation."

Come on, it's OK now, we're all friend here: you can say "illegal".

New Jersey Appleseed and the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice will be filing amicus briefs, and another person involved is David Verduin, "a Riverside business owner and a plaintiff". He's identified here (also here) as the president of the "Coalition of Business Owners and Landlords". That also says that Franco Ordonez, owner of the "King Chicken" (probably "Chicken King") restaurant is another member. (See the "ghost town"-style propaganda piece here from Summer Harlow of Delaware Online in which an employee of that company is quoted and the Coalition is mentioned, but no link between the company and the Coalition is noted.) This page identifies another member as Steve Marino; he's identified as a "landlord" here. A copy of an earlier letter identifies one of the lawyers for the ACLU-IRP as Omar C. Jadwat, Esq., which rings a bell for some reason. And, this page says:

O empresário americano David Verduin lidera uma coalizão de empresários americanos e brasileiros que entrou na Justiça contra a lei antiimigrante de Riverside. Ele morou 20 anos no Brasil e se considera brasileiro de coração. Também sofreu ao ver os brasileiros serem ofendidos.

I take that to say in part that he lived in Brazil for 20 years and considers himself Brazilian in his heart, but I'd appreciate an accurate translation.

I don't know about the members of the CBOL, but obviously a fair number of business owners and landlords in Riverside are making money off illegal immigration. And, if the ACLU wins that would help said business owners and landlords to keep making money off illegal immigration.

I wonder what your average donor to the ACLU thinks of their constant support for illegal immigration? While the ACLU is infamous for accepting a few very unpopular clients, when they're always on the same, wrong side of one issue people have to begin to wonder what's going on.

Posted to Immigration at 05:25 AM | Comments (1)

October 18, 2006

Hispanic voter suppression letter: from a Republican???

This is Part Three of the story of Hispanics in Orange County having received a supposed voter suppression letter, the "WTF Edition".

Looking at the limited amount of evidence available and the attempts by Democrats and illegal immigration supporters to take advantage of it, it seemed very unlikely that the letter could have come from the GOP or an opponent of illegal immigration. Yet, Attorney General Bill Lockyer is now saying that he's focusing on "one or more Republican candidates for office", and sources tell the LAT and the OCR th