Saturday, November 24, 2007

Bill would end 'sanctuary' for illegals

I truly truly pray that this is made a law. Why do these people enjoy a level of privilege that is meant for the citizens of our nation?

Please tell me any other nation in this world of ours which is so kind to those not of their own citizenship. I truly want to know.

Why do we have sanctuary for these criminals?

Apply this to any other crime in our nation and you would see how absurd it really is. Perhaps we should have sanctuary cities for murderers where they are released under a "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. Or perhaps a city where rapists are released because we could not ask or tell about their crime. Maybe drunk driving should have a sanctuary city also. How about theft, fraud, kidnapping, burglary, or slavery?

Seriously, lets just throw in the towel and give up on all of our laws. Who are they protecting anyways? Good people, law abiding people, people who vote, people that are citizens, or just no one?

What does the rule of law do for you? Anything?
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Bill would end 'sanctuary' for illegals
By Precious Petty
The Express Times (Easton, PA),
November 20, 2007
http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-14/119553521794050.xml&coll=2

Bethlehem, PA -- U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent has introduced a bill that would prevent illegal immigrants charged with felony offenses from being released on bail.

The law would require local police to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials whenever an illegal immigrant is arrested on state felony charges, he said.

Federal detention of such suspects would be mandatory under the law, even if bail is posted on the state charges, Dent explained during a news conference Monday at his city office.

He said the Aug. 4 shooting deaths of three college students in a Newark schoolyard led him to introduce House Bill 4201. Jose Carranza, the first suspect arrested in the case, was free on bail stemming from felony aggravated assault and child abuse charges when the shootings occurred.

Newark police did not inquire about Carranza's immigration status during his earlier arrests because the city employed a 'don't ask don't tell' policy, said Dent, R-Pa.

Many of the nation's big cities have adopted these so-called 'sanctuary' policies, where police are discouraged from notifying ICE when an illegal immigrant is in custody, he said.

His bill would put an end to that practice, Dent said. 'We cannot have an interior enforcement policy of catch and release.'

The congressman said he hasn't yet discussed his proposal with party leaders but remains confident it will garner bipartisan support.

Several Democrats co-sponsor the bill, including U.S. Reps. Jim Marshall of Florida and Tim Holden of Pennsylvania. U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey is also a co-sponsor.
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Do we next allow sanctuary cities in our nation for child porn to be available on every corner, or do we allow a city to ignore child rape?

What are you willing to allow? Would you allow this in your own home? How would you feel if your local police let your daughters rapist out the same day because they allowed such to be ignored?

I bet your tune would change if it was you that was the victim, or the parent of a victim.

Do any of you remember Dru Sjodin from Grand Forks, North Dakota? Perhaps that town should be a sanctuary for kidnapping, raping, murdering criminals. No punishment, no rules.

We still need true Enforcement, but this is a nice start.

Since this is a recent and new turn of events, I am not completely sure this will stick. I hope that this will become permanent, but until that time, this is a dog and pony show.

Our local labor market is still overrun with Illegal Immigrants. However an interesting event recently happened. Our local major employers were unable to bring in any H2B Visa workers. Since that had happened, many there screamed that they were not going to fill the jobs and all hell would break loose. It didn't happen, as a matter of fact, they got swamped with applicants who all were locals. In addition to that, the jobs which only paid $8.00 an hour now has gone up to $10.00 an hour, and is rumored to rise as high as $12.00 an hour.

So, in the absence of the non-citizens, the wages have climbed and many citizens now have jobs. Another interesting aspect of this is that H2B Visa workers are supposed to be paid the prevailing wages of the jobs they are doing (which they were not) and only brought in to fill jobs which there were no, I repeat, NO citizens which would take the jobs.

I am amazed by the fact Americans are fighting to get these jobs that many in the media and or government say Americans "Will Not Do!"

So where is the truth? I think it is what I have seen with my own eyes. We have been lied to. Point blank and boldfaced LIES.

It really is this simple, if we remove Illegal Immigrants and their cheap labor, the same would happen nationwide. Wages would rise, jobs would get filled, and the American People would see the benefit and truth of true Immigration Enforcement. We all would be doing better.

Here is the story which got me going on this.
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Border Patrol goes zero tolerance End of 'catch and release' strains courts and jails, but proponents applaud effort
By James Pinkerton
The Houston Chronicle,
November 20, 2007 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/5315873.html

Laredo -- After pleading guilty to entering the country illegally, the Mexican immigrant from Veracruz told a federal judge here last week he came to the U.S. to earn money to pay for his mother's funeral.

''It doesn't matter if you're trying to pay off funeral expenses, or take care of a sick family member,' explained U.S. Magistrate Diana SaldaƱa, referring to the plight of another immigrant. ''When you cross the Rio Grande, you're going to be spending time in prison if the Border Patrol finds you — that's the bottom line.'

The frank courtroom exchange has become a daily occurrence since Oct. 30, when the Border Patrol launched Operation Streamline-Laredo, a zero-tolerance campaign that prosecutes, jails and deports nearly every adult illegal immigrant that border agents catch.

The controversial operation has jammed local jails to capacity, strained the staff of the federal public defender's office and sparked charges that immigrants' due process rights are being violated. But it has been applauded by those favoring strict enforcement of immigration laws.

Before the crackdown, agents with the Laredo patrol sector routinely allowed illegal immigrants from Mexico to return home voluntarily. And a lack of detention space resulted in a ''catch-and-release' policy that allowed non-Mexican illegal immigrants to post bond pending a hearing, but few showed up for their court dates.

But at the Laredo federal courthouse last week, a mere two weeks after the program began, scores of ordinary people shared the halls where crooked officials, drug kingpins and human traffickers are brought to justice. They included bricklayers, construction workers, dishwashers and waitresses, all snared by agents after crossing the Rio Grande illegally.

The immigrants, in the same rumpled clothing they wore when arrested, were escorted up to the judge's bench in groups of 18 or 20. After a Border Patrol officer read a charge that applied to the entire group, each immigrant called out ''Culpable' — the Spanish word for guilty.

Limited legal resources

The judge repeatedly warned the immigrants — some of whom had been detained up to 10 times but not charged — that an arrest for a second offense could result in a more serious felony charge and a longer jail sentence.

''This whole thing about them catching you and sending you back isn't going to happen anymore,' the magistrate warned.

During one morning session, it took about three hours for 79 immigrants to make their first appearance before the magistrate, plead guilty and receive sentences ranging from time served to 45 days in jail. Most of them pleaded to illegal entry, a misdemeanor.

''If you ask me, they don't come over here to commit crimes,' said Francisco Valcarcel, an assistant federal public defender who represented most of the immigrants in the session. ''I don't think this should be an enforcement priority. Families are being torn apart.'

The immigrants are being detained crossing the border or are caught elsewhere in the Laredo area.

At the U.S. District Clerk's office in Laredo, deputy clerk Ben Mendoza said the magistrate's docket has doubled since Streamline began. ''I'm getting calls constantly from families about where their relatives are being held,' Mendoza said.

Arthur Thomas, deputy U.S. marshal in Laredo, said beds in Laredo jails are full, forcing immigrants to be sent as far away as Waco and East Texas.

Kathleen Walker, an El Paso immigration attorney and president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the zero-tolerance operation and the limited legal representation available to immigrants denies them due process, especially those with potential claims of asylum or U.S. citizenship.

''We are throwing away the Constitution for expediency, and we're reducing our security by not prosecuting crimes that deserve more attention, felonies like narcotic and human trafficking,' she said, referring to the crowded magistrate's docket.

But many applaud the new emphasis on enforcement at the nation's busiest inland port.

''We're pleased because basically they're enforcing the law,' said Louise Whiteford, president of the Houston-based Texans For Immigration Reform. ''It's long overdue.'

Border Patrol officials in Laredo say it is too early to gauge the operation's effectiveness and declined a request for conviction statistics.

Laredo is the third Border Patrol sector on the Southwest border to implement zero-tolerance, and so far it is under way only in the metropolitan areas of Laredo.

Ramon Rivera, an assistant Border Patrol Chief at agency headquarters in Washington D.C., said the program will be assessed in a couple of months after the number of apprehensions is compared to the same period last year.

In the Yuma sector in Arizona, Operation Streamline eventually resulted in a 68 percent reduction in apprehensions between fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and during the same period the Del Rio sector registered a 46 percent decline, Rivera said.

Hoping word spreads

During a tour of the river front last week, the challenges of enforcement were evident. Squads of Border Patrol agents, guided by surveillance cameras on observation towers, played a cat-and-mouse game with small groups of immigrants crossing the Rio Grande. After reaching the Texas side, the immigrants hid in impenetrable stands of cane lining the riverbank for miles, waiting to walk into adjoining neighborhoods and jump into a smuggler's car.

''If you were going to completely shut it down, you'd have to establish some kind of buffer, 100 or 200 yards from the river, and clear it all,' said Border Patrol supervisor Jesus Chan. ''But that's not going to happen.'

Instead, they hope immigrants like Sylvia Licona Garcia will warn their friends about the new mandatory jail time. She was one of 70 immigrants, some from as far away as Kosovo and Sri Lanka, who were in holding cells last week at the Border Patrol's north Laredo station.

Heard, but didn't believe it

Licona, a 21-year-old Veracruz native, said she heard about the operation before arranging for human traffickers to transport her to Houston. The price was $1,500, and another $1,000 for a flight from Houston to Washington state where she planned to rejoin her husband.

''I heard about it, but I didn't believe it,' said Licona, as she awaited deportation at the detention area inside the station. ''But now, after being locked up in jail for two days, I believe it.'

After swimming the Rio Grande, she and two friends were picked up by smugglers. They left Laredo and drove toward San Antonio. They were quickly stopped, but the smugglers jumped from the moving car, which crashed.

In the same holding area was Jaime Pinto Aguilar, a 38-year-old Nuevo Laredo man who waded the Rio Grande on Nov. 11. Pinto, who has a college degree in international commerce, said he had been unable to find a job for the past four months.

''I told my wife I had to go,' he said. 'Christmas is coming, and I'm not going to leave my children without anything, and there were bills.'

Instead of finding a job washing dishes in a Laredo restaurant relatives told him about, Pinto spent four days in jail.

''I will not come back illegally, not for anything in the world,' Pinto said. ''I was in jail with a bunch of felons.'

Pinto's wife, his mother and sister Anna Maria Pinto watched him receive his sentence in court.

They were elated when he returned home Thursday, and predicted news of the crackdown will spread in Mexico. But they were not sure of its effect on the flow of illegal immigration.

''People will hear of these cases, but in this community every day people are crossing,' said Anna Maria Pinto. ''Immigrants are trying to get across to live the American dream, to find a job, to build a better life. But the consequences are very grave.'
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Why do they always say "They are tearing families apart"? We didn't bring them here and then decide to keep part of a family. This is a self imposed sentence. Their actions earned it.

Try this, if I robbed a bank with my family and my son was shot, could I complain that it wasn't fair? Or would it be all my fault to begin with because of my original act? In criminal law they have what they call Felony Murder. This is a murder which happened because of someones criminal act. If you robbed a store and shot the clerk and they died, that would be felony murder. Another example is if you and a friend commit robbery and a guard shot your friend and he dies, you would be charged with felony murder.

What I am trying to show and explain here is that if these Illegal Immigrants suffer punishment or another loss due to their original crime, why is any of it our fault? It isn't. No more is it your fault that someone robs your bank where you put your money. If you do believe it is our fault that Illegal Immigration exists I am betting you believe women get raped for wearing sexy clothes.

Another recent story I heard is about a Visa Overstay which is now getting deported. Many are upset, but do not know the law. If this nurse had left the United States and went home, she and her family could have renewed their Visa's, but instead ignored the law and stayed here Illegally. I am not sorry for people who do not play by the rules. I am seeing this as the same as hiding in a movie theatre to see the next show free. As a matter of fact, the Visa Overstay is far worse than cheating a movie theatre, for they cheat all of us citizens.