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Hundreds rally against illegal immigrants
July 3, 2010
By ERIKA I. RITCHIE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO With a rally cry to stop illegal immigration, to equally apply the law to all, and to promote free enterprise, the SJC Americans used the July Fourth weekend to discuss what they think being American is about.

"We want to celebrate the wonderful country we live in and voice our freedom of speech," said group co-founder Orrie Brown. "We want to give people hints on what they can do to stand up and protect our freedoms."

The three-hour rally was held in San Juan's Historic Town Center Park and drew about 350 people. People sat on beach chairs and blankets – many with picnic baskets – cheering comments made by speakers that included Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, Cheryl Burns, a community activist from San Juan Capistrano, and Ted Hilton, a San Diego activist who supports the proposed California Taxpayer Protection Act that targets sanctuary cities.

Calvert said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to go, and reminded the group of President Obama's call for comprehensive immigration reform earlier this week.

"I doubt there will be much traction heading into November for amnesty but the plan may be to bring up a bill during the lame-duck session after the election," Calvert said. "This would mean that after many Democrats are thrown out of office, Obama and Pelosi, with the help of elected officials no longer accountable to their constituents, will force through legislation to provide citizenship to 12 million people whose first action was to break our laws."

Calvert said he supports building a double-layered fence along the entire southern border and has been pushing for all employers to adopt E-Verify, the government program that verifies a job applicant's eligibility to work. He said when Americans are out of work any available jobs should go to American citizens and legal residents.

"Our nation is truly a land of immigrants, but is a land of legal – not illegal – immigrants," he said.

Deborah Craig, 40, from Mission Viejo liked what the speakers said, including a warning about an influx of Muslim terrorist groups at local universities.

"I came here to meet people who are concerned about illegal immigration and the trend that the country is taking toward socialism," she said. "It's encouraging that others are stepping up to do something. Instead of going to fireworks and barbecues, you're participating in the American experience."

While the event was mostly peaceful, a small group of anti-TEA party protestors gathered at the back of the park to engage in political discussion with the TEA party activists.

Alex Galindo, 23, from San Juan Capistrano, said the reception from the TEA party supporters was not friendly.

"It's gone exactly as I expected," the Saddleback College sophomore said. "I was arguing about the North America Free Trade Agreement and how it asks migrant workers to obey two unjust laws. Those would be the current immigration policy and the North America Free Trade Agreement. Only one person agreed with me.

Galindo said the rally's speakers had nothing important to say.

Adrian Castillo, 22, who met Galindo at the TEA party event, said he has felt discrimination since he was a child in elementary school.

"I want people in South County to know there is an opposition and that it's not just old, white, rich people," he said.

Galindo later got into an argument with members of the American third Position, a group based out of Westminster that wants to halt all immigration and expel illegal immigrants, after they started taking pictures of Galindo and his friends.

Mitch Stevens, 37, a member of the American third Position, said he and nine others came to the TEA party rally to pass out fliers and to hear what the San Juan group had to say.

"I think they are good even though they represent a conservative agenda," Stevens said. "We support a protectionist agenda, which means protecting America by enacting tariffs on foreign goods which compete with American industry. We oppose mass immigration and oppose our monetary system. We are just regular folks here out of curiosity."

Hundreds rally against illegal immigrants (http://www.ocregister.com/news/people-256314-immigration-american.html#article-photos)

It's good to see hundreds instead of just dozens. It will be even better when the thousands come out instead of the hundreds. Then the tens of thousands instead of the thousands.

Pro illegal rallies always seem to have more supporters at their rallies. But.......... Americans generally have to show up to work, and when you have house payments, utilities, huge taxes to pay, you can't spend all your time and money going from protest to protest like the pro-illegals can do.

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 4, 2010

Advocates demanding stricter rules against illegal immigration -- including those backing Arizona's new law clamping down on undocumented immigrants -- have long argued that state lawmakers have been forced to act because of Congress's reluctance to take the lead.

But with little sign that Congress will act on comprehensive immigration reform this year, advocates for immigrants are also taking matters into their own hands. Like their political opponents, they have turned to their state legislatures to fight back.

In states from Pennsylvania to Utah, a battle of bills has been taking place between those who want to reproduce the Arizona law, which hands police more power to detain anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally, and those who want to extend further rights to immigrants.

Lawmakers have been using employment, health and anti-discrimination bills to counter a wave of anti-immigrant legislation. Others have introduced measures specifically designed to keep an Arizona-style law from ending up on their governor's desk.

Most are members of State Legislators for Progressive Immigration Policy, a group of 54 legislators from 28 states pushing pro-immigrant measures. Membership has jumped 50 percent since the Arizona law was enacted.

In Pennsylvania, state Sen. Daylin Leach (D) introduced a bill designed to block an Arizona-style law. Leach's measure would specifically bar police officers from accepting responsibility for enforcing federal immigration laws.

"Local police are supposed to stop street crime, which becomes more difficult to do if the people in the neighborhood you're policing don't trust you because they fear you will be investigating their immigration status," he said. "They're less likely to cooperate and offer tips, and adversely impact on the police to do the job they've always been entrusted to do."

He said there is too little time to pass his bill this year, but it would help block legislation designed to copy Arizona's example. That rival bill, which has also been introduced, would direct police to "attempt to verify the immigration status of suspected illegal aliens" who have been stopped for a separate reason.

Another tussle has emerged in Utah, where Republican lawmakers have pushed an Arizona-type bill. More-liberal lawmakers are fighting back. State Sen. Luz Robles (D) said she will reintroduce a bill next year designed to boost health-care coverage for immigrant children.

Currently, they have to wait five years to qualify for publicly funded health care. Her bill would remove the waiting period.

"We framed it as a health-care issue," Robles said. "We faced a budget problem, but not one on the policy itself. It's important for us to have all the children in the state covered."

But she was pessimistic about the direction in which her state was traveling on immigration. "Sometimes the state wants to make a strong signal to Washington," she said. "I, unfortunately, have to say I foresee the state of Utah running with an Arizona copycat-law bill."

Joe Bolkcom, a Democratic lawmaker in Iowa's Senate, has championed tougher employment laws to make his state more immigrant-friendly. His bill would require employers to put in writing the wages they agreed to pay workers and would increase fines against businesses who fail to pay those earnings. Bolkcom said the measures would have a major impact on the meatpacking industry, a major employer of immigrant labor.

"This legislation really targeted those employers who would take advantage of any Iowan workers, including newcomers," he said. "It's essentially a zero-tolerance policy, so we don't become a state where people are taken advantage of, whether they're new to our state or long-term Iowa workers."

A Michigan lawmaker provoked a war of words with her Republican counterparts in March after proposing pro-immigrant legislation. Democratic state Rep. Rashida Tlaib's bill seeks to protect undocumented immigrants from being denied compensation should they be injured at work.

Republican state Rep. Dave Agema, who has been pushing since last year for further anti-illegal immigrant measures, immediately castigated her. "I have been working for years to prevent illegal immigrants from getting jobs, benefits and driver's licenses," he said. "Now the Democrats have proposed workers' comp benefits for illegal aliens."

Members of the state lawmakers group welcomed President Obama's speech Thursday, in which he acknowledged that Washington had been slow to act on immigration reform. But the legislators have also called on the president to take firm action.

"Comprehensive immigration reform lies squarely in the hands of the federal government," the group said in a statement Thursday. "SLPIP will continue to advance forward-thinking state-based approaches to immigration. But this leadership from the states is not enough. Congress and the president need to step up to their responsibility to craft common-sense immigration reform that honors our American values."

Advocates for immigrants turn to state legislatures to block Arizona-style law (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/03/AR2010070302558.html?hpid=moreheadlines)
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We are all advocates for immigrants.

ILLEGAL "immigrants" are a different story.

They scoff at American law. They have no respect for American law. They are chronic lawbreakers. They want to cut to the front of the line. Why would any sane person want to reward such people?? This shouldn't even be debatable.

I am tired of the dictator Pelosi and Obama-nation talking about a comprehensive plan for immigration when they know the majority of Americans are against it. They just want the Hispanic vote come Nov. If they choose to go ahead with a bill, they better plan on a roller coaster ride for their party next election. They'll see a lot of their cars skidding off of the roads and into the sewer.