Immigration News

[Soldier4Christ]

Iowa adjusts to flood of Hispanic immigrants

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Even deep in the Midwest, far from the Mexican border, communities like Marshalltown, Iowa, will feel the impact of a nationwide economic boycott planned by immigrant groups on Monday.

"I think a number of services will be shut down because of the lack of labor that day. Of course the whole point of this is to demonstrate to people throughout Iowa the growing importance of this population to our economy," said Mark Gray, an anthropologist at the University of Northern Iowa.

In Marshalltown in central Iowa near Des Moines, Mexican-owned El Vaquero western wear is a few doors down from a mainstay like Barb's Boutique, evidence immigrants are rejuvenating this once-shrinking town of 26,000 people.

Hispanic-owned retailers and restaurants have sprung up in the shadows of the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant, the town's largest employer and one of several plants across the Midwest serving as magnets for immigrants.

Hispanics have established themselves in smaller cities and towns across the Midwest, drawn to the region by what demographers say has been high employment rates and conservative values favoring families.

Polls show most Iowans believe immigrants "take jobs other Iowans don't want," such as cutting and packaging meat where hard work, not education or English proficiency, is required.

Spanish is taught along with English at a Marshalltown elementary school, where two-thirds of the students are the sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants.

Language instructor Tomasa Fonseca said she will not join Monday's protest in what has been billed nationally as a day without immigrants.

"I expect a regular day in Marshalltown," said Fonseca, 38, who immigrated from Mexico in 1993.

"NEW IOWANS"

A university-run program called "New Iowans" aims to acclimate Hispanic immigrants to predominantly white rural Iowa, Gray said. Iowa's Hispanic population ballooned by 150 percent between 1990 and 2000 to 2.8 percent of its 3 million people.

"We've seen more entrepreneurship out of the Hispanic community," said Republican state Sen. Larry McKibben.

"We have Main Street retail businesses that have started in the past five years so you're seeing a transition from people who simply work for somebody else when they came here."

A pipeline opened a decade ago between Marshalltown and Villachuato, a poor village in Michoacan state in west central Mexico. It has changed the character of both.

Former Mayor Floyd Harthun led city leaders on trips to Villachuato to learn about Marshalltown's newest residents.

"We wanted to find out what was driving these people to a foreign land," Harthun said.

Villachuato was very poor, Harthun said, and the major concern was the loss of their young people. Marshalltown launched a campaign to persuade Mexican workers who had been migrating back and forth to stay in Iowa.

"We've worked really hard at including these people in Marshalltown," Harthun said. "We had just gone through quite a change. We went from a relatively small minority population of 1 or 2 percent to nearly 20 percent in a relatively short period of time."

Marshalltown Police Chief Lon Walker said Hispanics do not commit a disproportionate share of crimes but culture differences pose challenges.

Unable to recruit Hispanics, Walker's department relies on a translation service and a dozen bilingual residents. In one recent case, no one was willing to come forward to tell what they knew about the traffic death of an illegal immigrant, Walker said.

County official Gordie Johnson, who runs a restaurant, said the Hispanic influx has not caused government outlays to rise, though his own business suffered.

"I used to draw, for a customer base, from the whole (town) of 30,000. Now I draw from 20,000 because I get very, very, very few Spanish customers. It's not good or bad. I'm just saying."

[Soldier4Christ]

Website targets racist Hispanics
Aims to 'counter the false information dished out by Mexican hate groups'

A website run by opponents of illegal immigration highlights the tactics of Hispanic activists who defend unlawful aliens, including the use of hate speech, profanity and calls for whites to be deported.

WeHateGringos.com begins with a warning that the site "contain graphic examples of hate and racism that has and is occurring in large cities and small towns across America."

States the site: "The website WeHateGringos.com is dedicated to exposing the other side of illegal immigration ... the side our president, many in Congress, the media and especially the racist hate groups do not want us to see."

WeHateGringos.com is meant as a response to the League of United Latin America Citizens, or LULAC, which reportedly created a website called WeAreRacists.com.

"It had photos of our friends, portrayed as racists. We were infuriated and decided to build a website," the newer site states.

While WeAreRacists.com is currently not an active website, records indicate it is licensed to LULAC.

"WeHateGringos.com is online to counter the false information dished out by Mexican hate groups and spoon-fed to Americans by the mainstream media," states the site.

An introductory Flash video includes audiotape of speakers at rallies denouncing whites and proclaiming that Latinos will take power in the United Sates.

States one pro-illegals speaker on the video: "We're here to show White Anglo-Saxon Protestants of L.A., the few of you who remain, that we are the majority; we claim this land as ours. … If anyone is going to be deported, it's going to be you!"

Another protester shouts: "Go back to Europe where you came from; go back to England!"

Many photos of signs used in pro-illegals rallies are included in the presentation, including "Minutemen, you've taken on a fight larger than you can imagine," and "We are standing in Mexico here!" – presumably at a rally in California.

Besides vulgar chants that cannot be reprinted, one crowd shouts in rhythm: "Our land, our continent, we're taking it back!"

Explains the FAQ page on the site:

"The photos and soundtrack (that make up the intro video) are from real events that happened in California and Virginia. It was never shown on the news, talked about on radio, or written in the newspaper. We knew it was about time to let all Americans know what we know. Illegal aliens are not all 'good people looking for a job.' Federally funded racist Hispanic organizations are not simply 'educating' their people, they are inciting illegal aliens to riot and to demand 'rights' that they do not deserve."

The site is run by married couple Nathan and Linda Muller. Linda has worked for the campaigns of Patrick Buchanan and Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., the leading opponent of illegal immigration in Congress.

Included on the site is a message board, with one thread discussing today's rallies in favor of amnesty for illegals across the nation.

Posted Linda Muller: "I put off all my shopping for groceries, gas and other needs until today. I want American business to know we do not need illegal aliens. I almost wish I needed to go to the motor vehicle department, the bank, or even the hospital. What a pleasure it would be not to have to compete with illegal aliens for services.

"The roads will be safer and less congested, too. Maybe other Americans will notice that our country is better off without illegals and decide deportation is not a bad idea after all.

"It's a great day in the USA!"

As WorldNetDaily reported, the Mexica Movement helped organize a large Los Angeles pro-illegals rally in March. The organization believes it is the "non-indigenous," white, English-speaking U.S. citizens of European descent who have to leave what they call "our continent," not illegal aliens.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush 'not a fan' of immigrant boycott
But spokesman says 'people have the right to peacefully express their views'


Asked about the rallies around the nation today in support of illegal aliens, presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush is "not a fan of boycotts."

WND asked the spokesman about "the strongly Democrat vote of the California State Senate to support today's boycott of schools and stores, which they call 'The Great American Boycott 2006.'"

Responded McClellan: "The president expressed his views last Friday in a news conference out in the Rose Garden. The president is not a fan of boycotts. People have the right to peacefully express their views, but the president wants to see comprehensive reform pass the Congress so that he can sign it into law. And he thinks we have a real opportunity to get it done, and that's where he's going to keep his focus."

WND also asked McClellan about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's description of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as a "psychopath of the worst kind, an anti-Semite who speaks today like Hitler."

While the spokesman would not go on the record agreeing that Ahmadinejad is a psychopath, he did say the leader has made "a number of outrageous and concerning statements."

Pressed WND: "So [Bush] agrees that this guy is a psychopath, right? Doesn't he?"

McClellan responded: "He is a leader who has made some outrageous comments."

"Psychopathic?"

"And that should only serve to further underscore the concerns about this regime having nuclear weapons."

[Shammu]

Mexican flag burning on Cinco de Mayo
Man arrested last month to repeat act in protest of illegal-alien flow
Posted: May 2, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


A Tucson man arrested last month after burning a Mexican flag in protest plans to burn another one this weekend during public Cinco de Mayo festivities.

Roy Warden was arrested April 11, the day after he burned a Mexican flag while demonstrating against the flow of illegal aliens into the United States over the southern border. The activist was not arrested on the scene but was picked up the next day – he says because members of the Tucson City Council requested the action after receiving complaints. Warden faces charges of assault, criminal damage and reckless burning. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to the Arizona Star, Warden and members of Border Guardians burned the flag at Armory Park surrounded by hundreds of pro-illegals demonstrators.

"Here in Tucson, Cinco de Mayo is a three-day celebration," Warden told WND, noting he would burn a Mexican flag at the most politically oriented pro-open borders public event, whether Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

"I will be surrounded by any number of Tucson police officers who will provide me with security so I may engage in this First Amendment activity," Warden said, noting he and the police "have a very warm and cordial relationship."

Warden claims the political atmosphere in Pima County is staunchly pro-illegal immigration, with "high-level county officials while on paid county time engaging in open-borders activity."

Added the activist: "It's absolutely the norm here in Pima County."

Warden says his goal is to get the Hispanics who are opposed to open borders to turn up the heat within their own community.

"I've gotten many calls from Hispanics who are lawful," he claimed. "They can't stand the crime; they can't stand the lower-paying jobs because they're getting kicked out of jobs [to make room for] people willing to work for nothing."

Warden added : "I want these lawful Hispanics to drive these people (illegals) out and tell them to go home."

The protester chose the Mexican flag to burn, he says, because it's being waved in demonstrations across the United States "as a symbol of political domination. It's not a cultural symbol; flags are a political symbol."

Warden's message to Mexicans in the U.S. illegally: "Go back to Mexico and overturn your own corrupt government. Don't come here and try to control ours."

Comparing his action to what civil-rights protesters did in the '60s, Warden said, "It's time to take extraordinary measures through the courts and through personal confrontation."

Said Warden: "We're talking about legal but extremely organized and extremely provocative First Amendment activities."

Warden says he does not expect to be arrested this weekend for burning the Mexican flag, saying he's sure he will be acquitted of April's charges after the police officers who witnessed his action testify in court.

[Soldier4Christ]

Not even killer flu to shut U.S. border
Feds to limit international flights, quarantine travelers but do nothing to stem flow of people across boundary
Posted: May 2, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

While nationwide demonstrations focus America's attention on the issue of illegal immigration and U.S. borders, the federal government will apparently not close the border even in the face of deadly bird flu or a super strain of influenza.

That according to a draft of the national response plan obtained by the Associated Press.

The report says a major outbreak of disease could prompt the government to limit international flights, quarantine exposed travelers and restrict movement in and around the country, with the exception of the border.

It notes "a complete shutdown of the border would not be likely, nor would it do more than slow the pandemic's spread by a few weeks," according to AP.

"While we will consider all options to limit the spread of a pandemic virus, we recognize complete border closure would be difficult to enforce, present foreign affairs complications and have significant negative social and economic consequences," the draft report says.

With estimates of up to 40 percent of the American workforce off the job in the case of a pandemic, government officials are preparing for a worst-case scenario of up to 2 million deaths in the U.S.

Since 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has impacted more than 200 people, killing about half. Almost all of the victims had come in close contact with infected poultry or droppings.

The goal of the report is to prepare the private sector, as 85 percent of critical systems such as food production, medicine, and financial services are privately run.

"While a pandemic will not damage power lines, banks or computer networks, it has the potential ultimately to threaten all critical infrastructure by its impact on an organization's human resources by removing essential personnel from the workplace for weeks or months," the report says.

The response plan forecasts possible breakdowns in public order, with state governors deploying National Guard troops or even requesting federal troops to maintain order.

[Soldier4Christ]

Boycott Gives Voice To Illegal Workers
The Day's Impact On Economy Unclear

By Darryl Fears and Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 2, 2006; A01

Through rallies and boycotts of schools and businesses across the nation yesterday, illegal immigrants and their supporters sought to present a case to the American people that they are vital to the country's economy and should not be subject to deportation.

Demonstrators opposed to strict immigration proposals in Congress staged huge marches in Chicago and Los Angeles, curtailed operations at at least one major port, shut down construction sites in the District, forced the closing of crossings at the Mexican border and halted work at meat-processing plants in the Midwest. Although the protests caught the nation's attention, the economic impact was mixed, as many immigrants heeded the call of some leaders not to jeopardize their jobs, and businesses adopted strategies to cope with absent employees.

More than 300,000 demonstrators marched in Chicago, and another 300,000 took to the streets of Los Angeles to shout their disapproval of House measures that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally and to help those who are. In the District, more than 1,000 people rallied at Meridian Hill Park -- also known as Malcolm X Park -- in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, and smaller rallies were held in Herndon, Alexandria and Baileys Crossroads. Immigrants also marched in San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta and many other cities.

The action may have been stronger had the coalition of grass-roots organizations that advises immigrants not been deeply conflicted over whether to endorse a boycott. Some supported the effort to demonstrate immigrant power, but others discouraged it, saying it was premature because Congress has not taken action since the first demonstrations, and because the strike might induce a backlash by those born in the United States.

"I think that for the most part, people in the community understood the reasons why . . . we asked them to go to work and go to school," said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigration Coalition of Washington, part of an immigrant coalition that discourages boycotting before Congress can act. "Rest assured, if we don't have a bill we can live with, we will have a general strike and a general boycott."

Clearly, protesters in Washington did not want to wait that long. More than half of the 1,147 construction workers on projects at Dulles International Airport did not show up, said airports spokeswoman Tara Hamilton. Work on an underground tunnel linking airport terminals continued, but at a slower pace, she said.

Several businesses in the District, such as the Corner Bakery on Vermont Avenue downtown and La Chaumiere in Georgetown, shut their doors because their workers chose to boycott.

"Unfortunately, most of our kitchen staff is Spanish and they decided to be part of the movement," said La Chaumiere night manager Marielle Minges.

Oscar Mendez stayed home in Alexandria with his wife and three children. "We want to show the government that all the work in this country is impossible without us," said Mendez, who is El Salvadoran.

At Davis Construction, a large Rockville-based general contractor, many of the workers were absent yesterday. "We are missing them," chief executive Jim Davis said. "It is having an impact."

The protests drew few counter-demonstrations, though the chief House proponent of tough measures against illegal immigrants said the boycott would help his cause.

"I couldn't be happier, because every single time this kind of thing happens, the polls show that more and more Americans turn against the protesters and whatever it is they are trying to advance," Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) told the Reuters news agency in an interview.

Still, the boycotters tried to make their presence felt wherever they could.

The boycott rippled through Prince George's County schools that serve many Latino immigrant families. About 150 Bladensburg Elementary students -- a quarter of the school's population -- stayed home. About 140 stayed home from Adelphi Elementary, more than one-third of that school's population. One school system official said attendance at several other schools was "way down."

At C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, for example, 143 of 392 students did not show up. And more than half of the Latino students at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas were absent. Prince William school officials saw unusually high absentee rates among Hispanics, especially in high schools.

In Montgomery County, 70 schools reported more than 25 percent of their Latino students absent, said spokesman Brian K. Edwards. A spokesman for Fairfax schools reported higher-than-usual absenteeism but said "it's not spectacular." The principal at Annandale High School said 139 of 609 Hispanic students were absent.

Roxanne Evans, a spokeswoman for the D.C. schools, could not provide absentee figures but said that, according to preliminary reports, several schools appeared to have an unusually high number of absences.

High absentee rates were also reported in schools in other parts of the nation, particularly California. In Santa Ana, the Orange County seat, about 3,000 middle and high school students were absent. The 62,000-student district is about 90 percent Hispanic.

Ricardo Juarez, coordinator for Mexicans Without Borders in Northern Virginia, the most vocal local proponent of the boycott, called the action a success because of the construction slowdown and closed strips of Latino-owned businesses.

"What is happening around this region is a part of all the impact around the nation," he said.

At least a dozen meat-processing plants owned by Tyson Foods Inc. were forced to close, said spokesman Gary Mickelson, "but most of the more than 100 plants were running," he said. But, he added, "there were higher absentee rates than usual." Some of the plants that were closed will operate on Saturday to offset the lack of production.

In Chicago, flag-waving marchers paraded through downtown streets, chanting " ¡Si se puede! " and "Yes we can!" Though there was no boycott called there, businesses were shuttered throughout the city and suburbs as owners of restaurants, stores, insurance agencies, bars, auto repair outfits and other enterprises gave employees the day off, some with pay, to attend the march.

"The biggest message is we have a voice. This is something people have wanted to happen for a long time," said Rudy Martinez, 27, whose mother was born in Mexico. "A lot of us said, 'We have to do something before it's too late.' "

At the country's busiest port of entry, between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Ysidro, Calif., a surge of Mexican protesters heckled travelers coming into the United States and forced the border patrol to slow traffic at the 24-lane crossing. Protests also forced the temporary closing of crossings at Tecate, Calif., and Laredo and Hidalgo in Texas, where representatives of human rights groups, labor unions and Catholic churches, as well as deported Mexican immigrants, chanted, " ¡No va a pasar! " -- "You will not pass!"

The agriculture industry saw some impact in California's Central Valley, where growers are harvesting lettuce and thinning fruit trees. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of fieldworkers elected not to go to work Monday, said Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League.

At the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles -- which, averaging 30,000 truck trips a day, is the busiest combined U.S. seaport -- there was little or no truck traffic as thousands of truck drivers, mostly Latinos, stayed home.

"We have no truck activity," said Theresa Adams Lopez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles port. Demonstrating truckers parked their rigs illegally to block roads leading into the port, but police had them towed, she said.

Art Wong, spokesman for the Long Beach port, said rail traffic was lighter than usual but functioning normally. Freight workers had prepared for the boycott by working overtime last week and throughout the weekend.

Adams Lopez said: "The point was made, but whether it's really going to shut down commerce remains to be seen."

Her refrain was echoed locally -- "It's not affecting us at all," said a harried maitre d' at Spago's in Beverly Hills -- and throughout the nation.

In Las Vegas, the strike's effect seemed minimal, perhaps because of hardball tactics adopted by the larger hotels.

The Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino told its 10,000 employees that "if they called out and were not sick that they would be disciplined up to and including termination," said Arte Nathan, chief human resources officer. As a result, only two workers called in.

"We are amazed. We are thrilled," Nathan said.

The MGM-Mirage, which runs casinos such as the MGM-Grand, Treasure Island and the Bellagio, reported minimal absences among its 60,000 employees, about one-third of whom are Latino, spokeswoman Debra Nelson said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Rock throwing reported in Santa Ana

By CINDY CARCAMO
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA — Police asked other law enforcement agencies for help this afternoon after a group of 1,500 protesters jammed traffic on Bristol Street near 1st Street and Edinger Avenue and some started to hurls rocks, plastic bottles and marbles at officers.

“It’s starting to take a turn for the worse,” Santa Ana police Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo said.

Sixteen officers at the scene were not injured by the thrown objects.

Assistance was requested about 6 p.m. As soon as more officers are on the scene, people who don’t leave the area will be arrested, Carrillo said.

The aggressive crowd members are different from those who marched downtown earlier today, he said.

The Santa Ana Police Department asked for an additional 100 agents from several departments, including Garden Grove, Orange County and Fountain Valley.

Some of the agencies had been called beforehand as the crowds grew larger and unmanageable, Lt. Dan McDermott said.

About 200 Santa Ana police officers, including 19 mounted police officers, patrolled the city Monday.

Earlier in the day, Santa Ana police asked grave-shift officers to come in about 90 minutes earlier than usual. When that wasn’t enough, officers who normally have the day off were called in.

When the crowds were still too large, other agencies were called, McDermott said.

“We’ve overcome our resources, now it’s time for help,” he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Feds Collar 66 in Human Trafficking Raids
    

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J.

Federal agents rounded up 66 people Monday in a series of raids described by officials as smashing a ring that smuggled Mexicans into the United States and may have forced women to work as prostitutes.

Officers with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided 15 locations in New Jersey and New York early Monday after New Jersey State Police pulled over two vehicles containing at least 10 women who had been working in brothels in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, said Kyle Hutchins, special agent in charge of the bureau's Newark office.

None of the alleged prostitution took place in New Jersey, authorities said. Rather, when their weekly or monthly shifts in Washington-area brothels were finished, the women would be driven to northern New Jersey and New York, Hutchins said.

Thirty-six women and 30 men were taken into custody, Hutchins said. Two were charged with illegal money transfer and the rest were being held on immigration charges alleging they were in this country illegally, he said.

It was at least the third major immigrant smuggling ring believed to be operating in New Jersey in recent years.

Authorities said prosecutions involving Russian strippers who were forced to work in go-go bars and young Honduran women forced to work as hostesses are ongoing in federal court.

Hutchins said authorities were trying to determine whether the latest suspected ring was connected to either of the previous cases.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement

By Lou Dobbs
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- We all awoke to headlines in our nation's most important newspapers reminding us that this is "A Day Without Immigrants." Not illegal immigrants, mind you, but immigrants.

USA Today headlined today's demonstrations and boycott "On Immigration's Front Lines." The New York Times headlines its story "With Calls for Boycott by Immigrants, Employers Gird for Unknown." The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times are both calling their coverage "The Immigration Debate."

These major newspapers obviously don't want to disturb their readers with the information that today's demonstrations and boycott are about illegal immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens.

CNN and Fox News are both using a banner calling their coverage "A Day Without Immigrants," while MSNBC is titling its coverage "Immigrant Anger."

Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I'm not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth.

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I've interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.

As Gutierrez told us on my show, "The time has come...where we need to stand up and make a statement. We need to do what the American people did when they pulled away from the British crown. And I am sure that back in those days many people were concerned that was radical action."

Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement? It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and even anarchic organizations.

Supporters of the boycott have made no secret of their determination to try to shut down schools, businesses and entire cities. Much of Los Angeles' Seventh Street produce market, which supplies thousands of local restaurants and markets, is closed today. Many meat-packing companies like Cargill and Tyson are also closing many of their plants.

"The meat packers are confirming what we know," says University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, "and that is that this large group of illegal aliens in the United States is lowering the wage rate of semiskilled workers, people who are high school dropouts or high school graduates with minimal training."

In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That's entirely consistent with what we've been reporting -- that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services.

Radicalism is not confined to Gutierrez and Latino Movement USA. Ernesto Nevarez of the L.A. Port Collective is promising to shut down the Port of Los Angeles today: "[Transportation and commerce] will come to a grinding halt. ...They are going to put a wall along the border with Mexico. We're going to put a wall between us and the ocean. And those containers ain't going to move."

No matter which flag demonstrators and protesters carry today, their leadership is showing its true colors to all who will see.

[Soldier4Christ]

Proponents of Spanish Anthem Point to Rice

By PAULINE JELINEK


WASHINGTON -- President Bush wants people to sing the national anthem in English only. Promoters of singing it in Spanish are pointing to comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice _ and her department's Web site _ as ammunition for their side of the argument.

There are four Spanish versions on USINFO.State.gov, a multi-language Web site.

"I've heard the national anthem done in rap versions, country versions, classical versions," Rice said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation." "The individualization of the American national anthem is quite under way."

The State Department site for some time has offered translations of the U.S. Constitution, pledge of allegiance and other documents in French, Arabic and other foreign languages to help people understand America better.

This is what promoters say they had in mind with the Spanish anthem recording, which has drawn criticism from Internet bloggers.

Weighing in on Bush's side of the argument was Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who introduced a resolution affirming that the song, pledge allegiance to the flag and other "statements of national unity" should be done in English.

When 'Nuestro Himno,' a Spanish version of the anthem, debuted last week, Bush said "people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."

After Bush rejected the idea, British music producer Adam Kidron said, "We instead view `Nuestro Himno' as a song that affords those immigrants that have not yet learned the English language the opportunity to fully understand the character of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' the American flag and the ideals of freedom that they represent."

[Soldier4Christ]

Republicans set sights on aliens' employers

House Republicans called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prosecute businesses shut down yesterday by their illegal alien employees who took the day off to participate in protests of immigration legislation.
    "Too often, we presume that fault lies with the illegal migrant worker, but we need to recognize that the employer broke the law by hiring the illegal alien," wrote Republican Reps. Jack Kingston of Georgia and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. "We believe the federal government has an obligation to enforce the nation's immigration laws and must actively investigate any and all instances where it is apparent industries have knowingly and willingly hired those who entered this country illegally."
    In a letter to ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers, Mr. Kingston and Mrs. Blackburn noted "the multiple reports in the news media today regarding companies which have been forced to halt operations because large numbers of their employees appear to be in the United States illegally and are participating in the protest rallies."
    "ICE has an obligation to use this public information to enforce immigration laws," they wrote. "We respectfully request that you look into this matter and report back to us on your findings."
    Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, meanwhile, observed that the "Day Without Immigrants" would have been a "boon" for taxpayers if they could have taken the day off from paying all the costs associated with the illegal alien community.
    "The activist protesters are trying to confuse the American public by lumping legal immigrants with illegal aliens," Mr. Tancredo said. "A day without legal immigrants would be a day without almost all Americans. A day without illegal aliens, on the other hand, would be a boon to the American taxpayer."
    He said the government pays out more than $10 billion annually in health care, education and incarceration costs for illegal aliens. He also said the government may be forgoing as much as $35 billion in lost tax revenue to the underground labor market.
    "Americans don't respond well to illegal aliens who demand amnesty. As I've said before, that doesn't play well in Peoria," Mr. Tancredo said. "Every time illegal aliens and their supporters take to the streets, it drives home the point to most Americans that illegal immigration is a problem in their hometowns, and that we urgently need to get control of our borders."
    In the Senate, Republicans introduced a resolution affirming that statements of "national unity" such as the national anthem should be recited or sung in English.
    Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican and author of the resolution, said the protesters' message gets "lost in translation" when the "Star-Spangled Banner" is rewritten in Spanish.
    "Ours is a diverse nation, but diversity is not our greatest accomplishment," he said. "Jerusalem is diverse. The Balkans are diverse. Iraq is diverse. What makes America unique is that we have taken all that magnificent diversity and turned it into one nation."

[Soldier4Christ]

Vocal foe of amnesty pushes on
By Steve Goldstein


"Cheap labor is not cheap to taxpayers who support illegal aliens," Tom Tancredo was saying. "Comprehensive legislation is a code word for amnesty. Amnesty for illegals is a slap in the face for those who came in legally. ... It tells them they are suckers."

When Tancredo, a Republican congressman from Colorado, talks publicly about immigration, his voice rises and words jam in his mouth - impatient to get out - so passionate is he on the subject.

On Thursday, speaking to the Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy organization, the short, stocky grandson of Italian immigrants managed in 15 minutes to bash President Bush, Citizenship and Immigration Services, churches that "aid and abet" illegals, and anyone else who doesn't share his point of view.

"Our Southern border is a war zone," he said. "Democrats see illegal aliens as a source of voters. Republicans see them as cheap labor."

There isn't anyone who doesn't know where Tom Tancredo stands on immigration.

And that stance, like it or not, has made an otherwise unremarkable former junior high school civics teacher from the Denver suburbs a major player in the immigration debate roiling Congress and the nation.

His supporters, such as spokeswoman Susan Wysoki, of the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform, say Tancredo is "one of the few congressmen with the guts to stand up on this issue."

Opponents, such as the more liberal National Immigration Forum and National Council of La Raza, insist Tancredo is all talk and little action.

"He talks very loudly, but I'm not sure how effective he is," said Angela Kelley, NIF deputy director. "I know he gets the problem, but he's far off in finding a solution."

Tancredo's first book will be published next month. In Mortal Danger will detail the threat the four-term congressman envisions from granting amnesty to more than 11 million illegal immigrants and failing to adequately protect U.S. borders.

During an interview in his office, Tancredo called Bush a "hypocrite" on the issue of border protection. When the president criticized Minuteman Project activists as "vigilantes," Tancredo praised them as heroes.

"I think the Republican Party needs to be kicked in the butt," he said.

So Tancredo speaks on immigration all over the nation, even visiting the districts of fellow Republicans whom he feels are too soft on the issue.

"The only way I could do it is to go outside this place," he said.

Thomas G. Tancredo, 60, grew up on the north side of Denver. His interest in immigration developed when Colorado passed the nation's first bilingual-education law while he was teaching civics.

"It was obvious we were talking about a political process," he said, "not an educational one."

He campaigned for the state House in 1976 as a reformer, distributing brochures with a family spaghetti recipe on one side and a "good government" recipe on the other. Every year as a state legislator, he tried to repeal the bilingual law.

Beginning in 1981, Tancredo served as regional representative for the U.S. Department of Education and then headed the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank in Golden, Colo.

Tancredo ran for the U.S. House in 1998 supported by the National Rifle Association and National Right to Life, among other groups. He pledged to serve only three terms but changed his mind after deciding his national platform on the immigration debate was too important to give up.

He founded an Immigration Reform Caucus in May 1999 with 16 members that has since grown to more than 90.

Nothing is wrong with immigration, he says, as long as it is followed by assimilation.

He has suggested bombing Mecca if Islamists attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons. He vehemently opposed the original crescent-shaped design of the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pa., "because the crescent's prominent use as a symbol is Islam - and the fact that the hijackers were radical Islamists."

The design has since been altered to the shape of a circular bowl.

In his free time, Tancredo likes to hunt. A few months ago, on an outing with a local deputy sheriff near Texas' border with Mexico, the congressman said he used a .30-30 rifle from long distance to shoot a coyote.

A four-legged one, he quickly added, not the two-legged smugglers.

"The sheriff sent me the ears," Tancredo beamed.

Tancredo in His Own Words

"We send troops thousands of miles away to fight terrorists, but we refuse to put them on our own border to keep them out."

"I believe that what we are fighting here is not just a small group of people who have hijacked a religion, but it

is a civilization bent on destroying ours."

"If Western civilization succumbs to the siren song of multiculturalism, I believe we're finished."

"I just think these things [House caucuses for blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans] separate us instead of bringing us together. What If we had a white caucus?"

"Well, what if you said something like, if this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites."(July 2005, on a Florida talk radio show when asked how the United States could respond to a nuclear attack by terrorists.)

[Soldier4Christ]

Anti-illegals protesters to 'rumble' in Crawford
Event intended to 'wake up' America, ask Bush to enforce immigration laws



Hoping to "wake up" Americans to the crisis of illegal immigration, opponents of President Bush's reform plan will gather in Crawford, Texas, Saturday in an event dubbed "Rumble at the Ranch."

Bush's ranch, the location of many anti-war protests, is located outside Crawford.

The event is being sponsored by the Texas Minutemen and Latino Americans for Immigration Reform, according to the website A Reckoning.

Lou Ann Anderson, executive producer of the Lynn Woolley radio show, is helping to organize the rally and hopes other talk-radio hosts will join in.

"We want hosts all over the country, from local radio stations to the biggest stars of syndication to the faces we see each night on cable TV to come and be a part of the Rumble," said Anderson in a statement. "Talk radio and TV has been heroic on this issue. Without the daily updates from talk show hosts, the American public would be getting only one side of this issue."

Added Anderson: "Many hosts who support Bush administration policies openly question the president's handling of immigration. Terry Anderson is a host on KRLA in Los Angeles who covers immigration on a regular basis. Terry will bring his message to the Rumble: 'If you're not mad, you're not paying attention.'"

Also scheduled to speak in Crawford is Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen border patrol group who is considering a run for president in 2008 representing the Constitution Party.

The organizers' site states the rally, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday next to the Crawford Community Service Center, is seen "as a means of waking the American people, Congress and the media to the willful disregard for immigration law by this president and his Cabinet."

Besides hearing from leaders in the immigration-reform movement, attendees will listen to speeches from political candidates who are in favor of tougher border enforcement and opposed to Bush's guest-worker program and proposal to give illegal aliens the chance to become citizens.

[Soldier4Christ]

Immigrants rally unlikely to break Senate impasse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A nationwide boycott by Hispanic groups and others seeking rights for illegal immigrants was unlikely to help break a U.S. Senate impasse on an overhaul of immigration laws, Republican lawmakers said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters walked off their jobs and held protests around the country on Monday in a display of economic might aimed at persuading Congress to pass a law giving them a chance of citizenship.

"It didn't really affect what goes on the floor of the Senate," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who opposes a bipartisan Senate bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship, said he doubted the protests would have much impact.

"If anything, I think it may have alienated some people," he said.

That assessment reflected commentary on Tuesday in many newspaper editorials, which said the boycott was unlikely to settle the debate.

But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the large, peaceful rallies had a powerful impact and vowed to push for the bipartisan Senate bill.

"I'm not going to roll over," Reid told reporters. "I can't, this is too important an issue."

In an effort to break an impasse over possible amendments that stalled the Senate bill last month, Reid offered to limit the number of amendments to 10 for each party.

But Frist did not accept that and told reporters talks would continue in an effort to bring the bill up for further Senate consideration by the end of the month.

Reid cast doubt on its prospects during this congressional election year.

"My best assessment is they don't want a bill," Reid said about majority Republicans.

Democrats fear Republicans will try to water down the bill through the amendment process.

Reid is also seeking assurances that the Senate would hold its position in eventual negotiations with the U.S. House of Representatives, which has already passed a bill that criminalizes illegal presence in the United States.

The House bill would make illegal presence in the United States a felony instead of a civil offense and calls for construction of a fence along parts of the U.S. border with Mexico. Any Senate bill would have to be merged with the House measure.

The Senate bill includes border security and enforcement measures. It also would create a guest worker program backed by President George W. Bush and would give some of the estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States a chance to earn citizenship. They would have to pay a fine, pay back taxes, show an understanding of English and meet other requirements.

[Soldier4Christ]

Suit: L.A. police cower to illegals
Cops accused of shirking responsibility to protect citizens by not asking status

The Los Angeles Police Department is being sued in connection with its policy prohibiting officers from inquiring about an individual's immigration status, and reportedly restricts them from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

The action has been filed by the public-interest group Judicial Watch, and asks the court to prohibit the LAPD from expending taxpayer funds to enforce and maintain "Special Order 40," claiming it violates both California and federal laws and puts American citizens at risk.

"Special Order 40 is illegal and dangerous," said the group's president Tom Fitton. "It constrains police officers from enforcing the law and places everyone at risk from criminal illegal aliens."

Initiated in 1979 by former L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates, the measure reads, in part, "Officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person. Officers shall not arrest nor book persons for violation of Title 8, Section 1325 of the United States Immigration Code (Illegal Entry)."

According to a Board of Police Commissioners' report in February 2001, in practice, the policies and procedures also "preclude officers from ... notifying the [federal immigration officials] about a person's undocumented status unless the person has been arrested."

The Judicial Watch complaint states: "Special Order 40 and the policies, procedures, and practices arising thereunder ... are unlawful and void, and the LAPD must be prohibited from expending any further taxpayer funds ... to enforce, maintain, or otherwise carry out in any manner the provisions of Special Order 40."

In 1996, Congress enacted legislation which states, " ... a federal, state, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration and Customs Enforcement) information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."

California law also mandates Los Angeles Police officers enforce immigration laws and work with federal immigration officials.

In its complaint, Judicial Watch cites a New York Times article published in late 2004 concerning an illegal alien who went on a rampage in Hollywood, Calif., mugging three people, burglarizing two apartments and attempting to rape a woman in front of her five-year-old daughter.

The unlawful immigrant had previously been deported four years earlier for robbery, drugs and burglary, but had made his way back into the U.S.

"Although he had been stopped twice for traffic violations," the Times reported, "the police were prohibited from reporting him to immigration authorities."