Thread: Tensions high at House hearings

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4017366

Tensions high at House hearings
Instead of resolving rival reform bills in committee, GOP legislators hold field hearings. Democrats call that a stalling tactic.
By Anne C. Mulkern
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Imperial Beach, Calif. - Drug traffickers, violent criminals and potential terrorists cross the nation's southern border with impunity and must be stopped, U.S. House members declared Wednesday as they held their first in a series of field hearings on illegal immigration.

Saying they need to gather more information before working with the Senate on immigration legislation, Republicans on a House subcommittee called in three panels of witnesses to describe the magnitude of problems at the southern U.S. border.

Democrats on the panel scorned the hearing at a Border Patrol station near San Diego as a farce, saying it was intended only to block any bill that offers a guest-worker program or legal status for illegal immigrants.

"These hearings are not designed to legislate. They're designed to whip up public opinion," said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., who called the sessions "dog-and-pony shows."

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the International Terrorism and Nonproliferation subcommittee, called the hearings "a matter of national security."

The Senate and House have passed starkly different immigration bills. Republican House members argue border security legislation must precede the guest- worker program and pathway to citizenship of the Senate bill.

The two bills normally would head to a conference committee to be melded into one. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., was slated to sit in that conference committee. But Republican leaders delayed that step and instead scheduled field hearings.

A Republican active in the immigration debate predicted after the hearing that immigration legislation is dead for this year.

"This issue will be decided in the next three years, not the next three months," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California. "We're not going to solve it before the next election."

The hearing was the same day as another immigration session in Philadelphia, chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and intended to highlight a plan for immigration reform that includes guest workers and a path to citizenship.

Specter backed a Senate bill containing those provisions. In the past two weeks, however, some Republican senators who voted for the bill have hinted that they might accept a bill beefing up enforcement of immigration laws as part of a time table that included other reform provisions.

At Specter's hearing, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg complained that his city's economy would suffer greatly if illegal immigrants were sent home.

The Senate is making plans to hold a hearing in Colorado, a spokesman for Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said last week.

The San Diego-area hearing highlighted tensions over the issue. The site was an immigrant- rich, lower-income community about 2 miles from the border.

Nearby, protesters gathered in competing camps. One group, Border Angels, erected 4,000 brightly colored crosses signifying people who have died in desert border areas since October 1994, when the U.S. stepped up enforcement efforts.

A group opposing legalization of illegal immigrants waved flags and shouted at the other group. Some wore T-shirts that said "Deport All Illegal Immigrants Now."

At the hearing, both parties at times criticized the Bush administration's lack of sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants.

On the other side of the country President Bush used a stop at a suburban Virginia Dunkin' Donuts to say he opposed amnesty and wanted enhanced border enforcement, but also wanted a "rational plan" that would not lead to mass deportations.

At the California hearing, Dramatic testimony came from Rick Flores, sheriff of Webb County, Texas, which includes El Paso. He described fierce gun battles just over the border that the Mexican military did nothing to stop. Drug cartels and human smugglers control the Mexican side of the border, he said.

It would be very easy for terrorists to learn Spanish, blend in among Mexicans and cross into the United States, he said. "It's probably already happened."

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., belongs to the subcommittee that held Wednesday's hearing but did not attend. He leads House Republican hard-liners on illegal immigration.

"I had to choose between a hearing on the border, to which I have been more times than most members of the subcommittee, or spending the time in the district," Tancredo said in a statement. "I chose the latter."

The California hearing was held in a 100-capacity room that allowed entry mainly to lawmakers, their aides, journalists and hearing witnesses.

"This is a farce," said Will Coley, 36, of Santa Monica, who supports what he called humane treatment of immigrants. He grabbed one of the few seats for the public. "You call this a public hearing? It's so un-American. It's so undemocratic."

I agree that supposedly these hearing were for the public to voice their opinions on illegal aliens in this country and all that are speaking are public officials. The voice of the american people is not being heard and they were told not to clap either.

The voice of the american people is not being heard and they were told not to clap either.

Why does this not surprise me

I've run my limit with the word "democracy" being thrown around non stop. We are NOT a "democracy".......we're a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC. The Founders new that a democracy would be a death nell. And that's pretty much what's happened to us.......we're morphing into a democracy without representation! That's another reason why we have electoral votes instead of popular votes which is why so many like Hildebeast are trying to end the electoral college. They KNOW that would really seal the deal.

http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/.../695102005.txt

Immigration hearing draws cheers and jeers

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES and WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writers

SAN DIEGO --- Hundreds of immigration supporters and opponents descended on a congressional field hearing Wednesday at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol station, where law enforcement officials spoke about terrorism and the border.

Groups protested outside the station during the hearing, saying the event was politically driven. It was the first of several nationwide hearings organized by Republican congressional leaders stalling negotiations on opposing immigration reform bills. Human rights activists later held their own "alternative" hearing.

Democrats on the 14-member panel, including San Diego-area U.S. Reps. Bob Filner and Susan Davis, said the congressional hearings were an effort to whip up public support for the House version of the immigration bill, which focuses primarily on tougher enforcement measures. The Senate bill would provide a path to legalize millions of illegal immigrants and would implement a guest-worker program.


"This is a charade," said Filner, whose district includes the patrol station. "It's a cover-up for the fact that they can't produce a bill and they can't secure our borders."

The discussion became heated at times when congressmen on the panel traded barbs. U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, called the hearings a "dog and pony show." But newly elected North County Congressman Brian Bilbray, a Republican, said the hearings were informative and that they exposed the weaknesses in the Senate bill.

"The only dog is the Senate bill," Bilbray said after the hearing. "The Senate bill is so bad that even senators and the president are doing political moonwalks to get away from it."

Activists critical of hearing


The Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism hearing was criticized by local immigrant-rights activists. They said Republicans were trying to frame immigration reform in terms of terrorism while ignoring human rights issues.

Immigrant-rights groups, including the Border Angels and the American Friends Service Committee, held a vigil and march outside the Border Patrol station. About 200 protesters gathered there.

Hundreds of tiny wooden crosses were laid out on a grassy area at the corner near the station. The crosses represented the thousands of illegal immigrants who have died during the past decade trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. A group of about 30 protestors listened as one of the speakers recited the names of nearly 4,000 of those who have died.

As the names were read, San Bernardino County resident Richard Buttress, 33, yelled out from across the street that the use of the crosses was nothing but "a publicity stunt."

When a protester came up to him and said that out of respect for the dead, he should remain silent, Buttress sounded unrepentant.

"They are trying to blame these people's deaths on America's right to have borders and enforce them," he said.

Inside the station, numerous cheers erupted inside the standing-room-only meeting room where the hearing was held. The crowd of about 100 people included many anti-illegal immigration activists, such as members of the San Diego Minutemen, the Vista Citizens Brigade and You Don't Speak for Me.

These groups have rallied throughout North County protesting day-labor sites and the Mexican flag flying at the Del Mar Fairgrounds durng the recent San Diego County Fair.

The hearing was open to the public, but only invited guests were allowed to speak. The speakers included Darryl Griffen, chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector; Andy Ramirez, chairman of the border watch group Friends of the Border Patrol; San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender; and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

All of North County's congressional representatives ---- Bilbray, Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon ---- participated in the hearing.

Enforcing the border


The House version of the most recent federal immigration bill, supported by the local lawmakers, includes a proposal to fund local law enforcement agencies that cooperate with the federal government in arresting illegal immigrants.

Law enforcement officials said they need more money and more officers if Congress wants local agencies to take more responsibility in enforcing immigration laws.

"This is not an issue that can be easily dealt with with a simple solution," Baca said. "We don't have enough jails in America to incarcerate every employer (who hires illegal immigrants) and their workers."

But law professor Kris Kobach of the University of Missouri told the panel that several of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists had broken immigration and civil laws that could have led to their arrest if local law enforcement agencies would enforce immigration laws.

Bilbray asked Border Patrol officials why they didn't arrest illegal immigrants at day-labor sites, including workers who gather outside North County home-improvement stores. Griffen said the agency's primary focus is patrolling the border. Interior enforcement falls under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, he said.

Sherman quipped: "I doubt there are any terrorists at the Home Depot."

The audience responded by booing Sherman.

Immigration-rights activists hold separate meeting


Frustrated at a lineup of panelists they called anti-immigrant, local immigrant-rights advocates held their own meeting later in the day at the Mountain View Recreation Center in San Diego.

"None of the panelists were from our community, so we decided to have our own space," said Consuelo Martinez, the coordinator for the Escondido Human Rights Committee.

Two other North County activists participated at the meeting: Yesenia Balcazar with the Vista Human Rights Committee; and Jose Gonzalez, regional coordinator for the Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations, a group that defends the rights of Mexican Indian migrant workers in North County.

At the meeting, local Latinos were invited to talk about the human rights abuses they said they or their family members had suffered at the hands of local law enforcement agencies or the Border Patrol.

San Diego resident Guillermina Renteria, 44, said that her husband left for work on June 27 and never returned. She said that later that day, she got a phone call from him saying that he had been stopped by the police, who later turned him over to the Border Patrol. She said she has no idea where he is now.

San Diego resident Beverlynn Bravo Balderas told a similar story, of how her husband ---- who is in this country illegally ---- was recently stopped by San Diego police officers and turned over to the Border Patrol.

"I don't know if he is alive or dead," Balderas said.

She said she is an American citizen, who was born in the United States.

She said that she has grown to despise her own country.

"In the Pledge of Allegiance, it says ëwith liberty and justice for all," but I don't see any of that," Balderas said.

On the outside


Outside the hearing at the Border Patrol station, about 14 San Diego Police Department officers kept groups of protesters and counter-protesters cordoned off from one another on Saturn Boulevard at the entrance to the Border Patrol station, Wednesday morning.

A group of about 200 people made up of faith-based groups, labor unions and human rights activists protested the so-called town hall meeting as little more than a political stunt designed to stir up passions.

Christian Ramirez, a San Diego immigrant rights advocate with a Quaker group called the American Friends Service Committee, agreed.

By holding the town-hall meetings across the country, "obviously, they are looking at the November elections," Ramirez said.

"The Republican Party sees this as a hot issue to maintain control of the House and Senate," he said. "By playing on people's fears and using immigration as a tactic, they are obviously trying to hide the fact Republicans are losing the war in Iraq."

A group of about 20 or 30 anti-illegal-immigration demonstrators stood on the other side of the street, waving signs and shouting at the opposing group.

Fallbrook resident Steve Roberts, 58, a member of the anti-illegal immigration group, the California Minutemen, said that when he arrived at the event Wednesday morning, he asked some of the U.S. Border Patrol agents who were present if they were going to check the protestors' identification to see if they were legal residents.

He said that if the government is serious about wanting to stop illegal immigration it has to "hammer" on those who employ illegal immigrants.

"If you take their jobs away and take their benefits away, you'll have to get buses to take them back to Mexico," he said, because they won't want to stay here any longer.

Roberts said he has little sympathy for families who will be split up if the United States ends up deporting the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in this country.

"You come here illegally, you reap what you sow," Roberts said.

At odds


At the rally outside the station, one of the speakers who defended the rights of illegal immigrants was 18-year-old San Diego resident Stephanie Romero. As she started talking about her family, she began sobbing and only was able to continue with encouragement from those in the audience.

Romero, who was born in the U.S. and was recently accepted to study at the University of California Santa Cruz, said that both her mother and her older sister were born in Mexico and are "undocumented immigrants."Ý She said her sister is already in her third year at U.C. Santa Cruz and the family has made a huge effort to help her pay for her studies. Until recently, Romero's mom helped pay for her sister's education ---- she is paying out-of-state tuition rates ---- out of her meager earnings at a fast-food restaurant.

But recently, their mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer and can no longer work, and it will be very difficult for Romero and her sister to complete their educations. She said she is torn about whether to go to school or get a full-time job.

As Congress prepares to pass laws to crack down on illegal immigration, "they don't realize how many people they are hurting," Romero said.

As President Bush pushes for legislation that would allow for many of the illegal immigrants living in this country to begin a path to legalization ---- one that he says would make them go to the end of the line behind those who have been waiting for years to receive visas ---- one woman expressed her outrage Wednesday.

Philippines native Elizabeth Wellner said she is a U.S. citizen, whose brother served in the U.S. military, in WWII and was a survivor of the Bataan death march, in which about 10,000 prisoners of war died. She said her father has several siblings and other relatives for whom he first submitted petitions in the mid-1970s, for them to receive visas to the United States.

None of those petitions have been answered and when her father recently died, all of those family members went back to the end of the line, she said.

"We played by the book and they are still languishing in the Philippines, while illegal immigrants are rewarded with citizenship," Wellner said.

Another hearing, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., was held Wednesday in Philadelphia. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in Laredo, Texas.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.

Mary wrote on July 06, 2006 12:10 AM:"When you break the law you take the chance you will get caught. When you marry a law breaker, you take the chance they may not come home. You should have made a better choice in a husband. Kids deserve to raised by law-abiding people - and that includes obeying the immigration laws as well. You should not have selected a father who was a law breaker."

DAN (TEMECULA) wrote on July 06, 2006 12:55 AM:" ELIZABETH WELLNER SAID IT ALL. IT IS NOT FAIR FOR ILLEGAL ACTIONS TO BE REWARDED WHILE OTHERS PLAY BY THE RULES. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PEOPLE BLIND TO THOSE FACTS. LISTEN UP, IN THIS LIFETIME LIFE IS MOSTLY UNFAIR AND FOR SOME DOWN RIGHT MISERABLE. THAT BEING SAID TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND BE THANKFUL FOR BEING AN AMERICAN. WE AS A NATION CAN NOT SOLVE OR PREVENT EVERYTHING WRONG IN THIS WORLD. IF YOU WANT TO HELP THESE UNFORTUNATES GO TO THERE COUNTRY AND HELP AND SEE HOW MUCH YOU WON'T BE APRECIATED. THEY ARE HERE BECAUSE THEY WANT WHAT WE HAVE, BUT MOSTLY NOT WILLING TO LOVE THIS COUNTRY. PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS OBVIOUSLY HAVEN'T BEEN DIRECTLY AFFECTED YET, AND THEY DON'T LOVE ARE COUNTRY AS MUCH AS PEOPLE WHO DON'T SUPPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. (DON'T BEAT ME UP OR TRY TO MAKE IT A RACIAL THING BECAUSE I AM A LEGAL RESIDENT IN AMERICA AND MY RIGHT TO HAVE AN OPINION). PLEASE WAKE UP BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY WAITING TO COME HERE FROM ALL OVER THAT ARE JUST AS UNFORTUNATE AND ARE WILLING TO WAIT IN LINE. GOD BLESS AMERICA, AND GOD BLESS YOU"

This is a JOKE: wrote on July 06, 2006 4:28 AM:"Stop talking about it and DO something."

Robert wrote on July 06, 2006 5:40 AM:"Bravos to Hunter, Bilbray and Issa as without their efforts this hearing would never have occurred. It sure showed those in attendance and C-Span viewers the marked difference in positions of each of the political parties on this critical issue that confronts the entire nation. "

El Guero wrote on July 06, 2006 5:59 AM:"The crosses representing thousands of illegal immigrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border was a nice touch. I wonder if anyone thought to include crosses for all those who died trying to scale Mt. Everest. Are all people who risk their lives doing stupid things entitled to blame U.S. immigration policy?"

Pirate wrote on July 06, 2006 7:38 AM:"Aaaaargh! Any way you slice the turkey, the US is being invaded by Mexico w/the help and approval of Mexico City and WDC! Because of this, President Bush and his co conspirators have put in jeopardy the safety and welfare of all Americans. The Centrall Intelligence Agency repeatedly tells us that we will be hit again w/major terrorist attacks because of our open borders w/Mexico where 12,000 to 15,000 illlegals, terrorists, criminals, etc., flood into our country EVERYDAY and with an aggregate total of aliens exceeding 25 million! Some would call this national suicide, insanity. What would you call it. Many feel that never in the history of our nation have we been put at such risk."

pat wrote on July 06, 2006 8:09 AM:"Regarding your featured photo of the person calling out the names of illegals who have died crossing the border-The list is much longer for US citizens who have died due to illegal immigrants being in this country!"

Stinky Sanchez wrote on July 06, 2006 8:17 AM:"Can Americans illegally sneak into a foreign land and sign up for free health care? No Can Americans sneak into a foreign land and have babies there and have them automatically become citizens of that country? No Can Americans illegally sneak into other country's to live and demand that the teachers give special attention to their children and teach them all in English? No Can Americans illegally sneak into a foreign country and purchase and use fake documents to receive benefits, drivers licenses, bank accounts, etc..? No It's not a human rights issue nor is it a issue of race. Americans are finally becoming tired of these merit less, redundant accusations from the pro-immigrant advocate groups that claim these illegal workers do the work that Americans don't want to do. The truth is, employers choose to hire undocumented workers because they don't want to pay the high cost of insurance coverage and workman comp. If they could get away with paying these illegal workers even less they would. All undocumented non citizens of USA regardless of origin shall be considered to be here illegally and it's about time we as primarily English speaking Americans help see to it that immigration laws are enforced and demand that our borders be secured for our and our children's future. It's a fact that the country's government to the south is extremely corrupt, yet they come here to protest. Why don't these people ever protest their own government? For every one Stephanie Romano story there's 10+ spray painting gang members, 10+ deviant child sexual offenders, 10+ drug dealers, 10+ home invasion robberies, +10 car jackings, +10 Murderers, +10 Rapists etc..."

Harry wrote on July 06, 2006 8:24 AM:"This isn't about immigrant rights it is about illegals. We are deciding what to do with these criminals. "

P in O wrote on July 06, 2006 8:49 AM:"I just saw a story on the news about a group of motorcyclists gathering to protest the helmet law. While they were there, they were all cited by the authorities for not wearing helmets. Why then do the authorities not take advantage of this situation and round up the illegals? Mmmm? "

Ron wrote on July 06, 2006 8:55 AM:"I watched the hearings on C-Span, what a sham! First of all, it was held right after the holiday, when most had to be at work, and was held during business hours. Intentional timing, they wanted to limit the amount of citizens able to attend. Most of the "hearing" was speeches by Congress attendees. They simply repeated their already well know phrases, and positions. The only hightlight, in my opinion, was when Darryl Griffen, chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector said the wall built during Operation Gatekeeper stopped 80% of illegal crossings in the San Diego sector."

Concerned wrote on July 06, 2006 8:55 AM:"I feel no sympathy for those who chose to come here illegally. Sorry, but it was your choice! American needs to enforce the law by punishing employers who hire illegals. Clear and simple. The rest will take care of itself. And, for the girl going to UCSC. I hope that I can send my daughter to a decent college. Of course, being white, paying taxes, and living by the law I don't have much of a chance getting her in the UC system! "

Conservative wrote on July 06, 2006 9:08 AM:"Illegals are a cancer eating at America. Both political parties, led by President Bush are pandering to these criminals to get future votes. It is great to see Americans and the Republicans in the House rising to defeat this threat. Amnesty means open borders and the end to America as we know her. I've never seen such a high percentage of Americans involved and energized on an issue. It is a fascinating time in history; we must all work so that the results preserve America and we defeat this invasion. "

PhotoOP wrote on July 06, 2006 9:16 AM:"A featured photo on the NC Times website shows a man from Los Angeles who is trying to honor those who died in the commission of a crime, sneaking into the United States illegally. I don’t feel sorry for criminals who are shot and killed while robbing a bank. It is hard to feel sorry for those who die committing other crimes. Illegals are criminals and some pay a heavy price, but one of their own choosing, while committing their crimes. "

C.A.Jones wrote on July 06, 2006 9:41 AM:"I watched most of the hearing on C-SPAN. The guest speakers were representatives of law enforcement and large businesses. Law enforcement was represented by the San Diego county Sheriff and the Sheriff of Los Angeles county. Their message to Congress was in essence this: if in the making of new laws you send us, the local law enforcement, new duties and responsibilities concerning illegal non-citizens also send money to support the work. The businesses that were represented sent the message that they relied upon "legal" non-citizen programs to make a profit. If that is true good for them - that is the way it is suppose to be. There were none of the "illegal" business people that use the "illegal" non-citizens for profit at the hearing, they were represented by Ted Kennedy. What I got out of the hearing was this: There are too many illegal non-citizens in the country to even try to deport them. The true answer was brought out at the hearing: Start arresting the heads of companies that are using illegals to make a profit, and do it on a systematic basis and according to a plan that will allow for speeding up and slowing down according to the effect on our economy. It was brought out at the hearing that if the incentive to come to the USA is cut off there will be no illegal non-citizens coming here. STOP HIRING ILLEGALS! "

Tom wrote on July 06, 2006 10:00 AM:"The Senate bill is about commerce, the House bill is about security. The treasonous SPP and resulting North American Union is a root cause of the Federal Government ignoring the Mexican invasion, in my opinion. We can't just treat the symptoms, illegal immigration, but not the NAU disease. Patriots like Lou Dobbs, Michael Savage, Tom Tancredo, Jim Gilchrist, Jerome Corsi and others are trying to get American citizens to wake up to the NAU threat, while the mainstream media is mute on the NAU. It's not surprising since the NAU is an invention of the ruling elite and transnational corporations, including media corporations and corporate customers of the media. Our best patriot leaders need to get together and plan a wake-up-America counter attack on the NAU and those who are promoting it. The Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly, who is a member of a group of conservative organizations against illegal immigration and the NAU, has a good site on NAU. "

To P in O wrote on July 06, 2006 10:17 AM:"One word ... Money."

Thos. wrote on July 06, 2006 10:19 AM:"Can't believe that NCT graced their front page with a discusting picture of a toothlesas paid protester from the Los Angeles welfare pool. Thanks for showing your taste and prejudice."

AlegalAlien wrote on July 06, 2006 10:27 AM:"I have no sympathy for people who broke the law to enter this country and I have no sympathy for the people who hire illegals. Offering the illegals amnesty or ANY path to citizenship is a slap in the face to those who played by the rules, obeyed the laws and earned the right to be in the United States. If we don't have enough prisons to house the law breakers, deport them. Heavily fine employers who blatantly violate the law and hire them. The fines should take into consideration the services used by each illegal worker (i.e.education and health care to start) and the back taxes that should have been paid on the illegal worker's wages. ENOUGH! Remember to vote down any bond measure to continue or extend benefits to non-citizens and vote out of office politicians who are not taking a stand to protect the pocketbooks of taxpaying American citizens!"

American woman wrote on July 06, 2006 10:33 AM:"This is a truly throw-away article. Mr. Sifuentes occasionally comes through for America, but this is just such a lousy representation of what occured at the hearing. I was there. This reporter forgot to mention that the phony Latino radical extremist do-gooders, led by none other than the contemptable Enrique Morones, BUSSED the Mexican protesters in, as is their usual procedure...probably financed by the ever-available funding of the infamous National Council of La Raza (NCLR)...a truly down-and-dirty organization of Latino nasties, funded by GREEDY CORPORATE AMERICA! Wake up, America! In a nutshell, the hearing was your basic collection of political puppets, all trying to out-pee-pee each other. Exceptions were: Representatives Rohrebacher, Hayworth (AZ), Bilbray and Blackburn (TN), each of whom had a grasp on the issues of illegal immigration and open borders. The rest, including my own Congressman, Darrell Issa, are blind and deaf as to their constituents' take on the issues. Issa, a died-in-the-wool GLOBALIST, is useless as a representative of the best interests of the people. His sites are set totally on his own agenda, and that ain't good news for us. It's time for him to GO! Sifuentes' inclusion of the sob-stories of the lawbreakers is so predictable! I'm sick of it! Illegal is illegal, Edward! Mexico has the bucks to fix the problems down there. We need to quit coddling the folks they are sending by the millions to feed off of America and her citizens. The use of quotes by Sifuentes when reporting one protesting California Minuteman's comments on the implementation of the existing RULE OF LAW, is uncalled for, but for whatever reason, this "journalist" feels compelled to take the low road, accentuating the perceiveable negativity and/or violent connotation of the word, h-a-m-m-e-r! Well, it's the perfect description of what needs to be done when attempting to deal with our mislabeled leadership in DC. Thank God for the fact that SOMEONE IN GOVERNMENT has come up with the figures, 10 to 12 million to describe the number of invaders currently living unlawfully in our country, eh, Mr. Sifuentes? It sounds soooo much better than the more accurate 25 to 30 million we all know as closer to the truth. My final observation of the article by Edward Sifuentes is this: Mr. Sifuentes, with all the quotes you could have used, why would you choose the one by Sheriff Baca that claims How devisive is that, Sifuentes? What an un-American dolt you are, Edward! We all know that simply FINING the living b'jeezus out of the offenders would end the problem in a heartbeat. Baca gave you the opportunity and you slopped it up like a pig at a trough, Ed...anxious to get that information to uninformed readers! Bravo!! Way to go! With folks like you providing this kind of garbage reporting, we will continue to go down the tubes even faster than planned! Wooo-hooooo!"

Jorge wrote on July 06, 2006 10:35 AM:"Robert: Were you listening the Issa at all???"

SIMPLE TRUTH wrote on July 06, 2006 10:44 AM:"RIGHT ON STINKY SANCHEZ!! "

Sick and Tired wrote on July 06, 2006 10:56 AM:"Nice going NCT with the big picture in this mornings paper of a Mexican reading names of those who died while trying enter the U.S. illegally. We who support efforts to secure our border with Mexico are supposed to feel somehow responsible for the deaths of illegal border crossers. We are not the cause. The illegals take that chance when they sneak across and are to blame. Why not, NCT, show pictures of schoolrooms, hospital emergency rooms, prisons and welfare offices inundated with Mexicans, many who are illegal? Show pictures of Mexicans loitering in parking lots, of graffiti painted on private and public property. And make sure you show pictures of San Diego County’s 10 most wanted criminals, 8 of who are Latino. I am not a racist nor do I not have compassion for people less fortunate than I, but I am sick and tied of the NCT and others pandering to illegals and those who support illegals who are in the process of dragging down and eventually destroying our great country."

US Citizen in Townsite wrote on July 06, 2006 10:56 AM:"Tom! The NAU is absolutely what this is all about. Multinational corporations operating with impunity to undermine our own economy and sovereign government. I watched and listened to Bob Filner attempt to defend the amendment to S2611, to REQUIRE the US AND Border communites to consult with Mexico for their approval before building the fence. Did you know that amendment,in its' original form, audaciously referenced the SPP agreement? Of course Specter stripped that reference because he doesn't want the average citizen to realize what the corporate run government is doing. Bob Filner is on board with the traitors of the USA."

robert218 wrote on July 06, 2006 10:58 AM:"It is too late. Mexicans are here to stay. Get used to seeing the Mexican flag, get used to hearing Mexican music, and definitely get used to hearing the Spanish lanuage. You are only making it harder on yourselves if you don't."

FairJudgement wrote on July 06, 2006 11:06 AM:"If it were any other country in the world- there would be no doubt to this. There really is no debate- and there also should not be any sympathy nor opportunity towards the illegals. They have a country already to live in. That is their responsibility to make a life and families in. I have imported 2 wives from Europe- legally. There is quite a bit of beaurocracy involved- but it is necessary. Now I dare anyone that has traveled outside of North America to differ with me on these very basi laws. The only problem with the issue is that there is any doubt to it's validity."

Was There wrote on July 06, 2006 11:08 AM:"I was at the meeting and there was a lot more than 20 or 30 anti-immigration people there. The anti- immigration people greatly out numbered the ones there for immigraton. Where was your reporter NTC? He wasn't there!"

RACIST wrote on July 06, 2006 11:11 AM:"Yes I am a racist for America! Anybody or Country against the US and its laws, I am most certainly a racist. Now that we established I am a racist and if you are done calling us names....just what is your point? "

robert218 wrote on July 06, 2006 11:43 AM:"Actually RACIST, what on earth is your point?"

Concerned wrote on July 06, 2006 11:50 AM:"Actually "Robert218" it's not too late. As you can see there is a consensus of Americans who believe that this is a country with one language and one flag. Legal Mexican immigrints are welcome once they go through the process and swear alligience to our country. As for you, you may want to consider moving south. Or maybe to France. "

robert218 wrote on July 06, 2006 11:59 AM:"Get used to it. Viva la Revolucion! Just hope it never escalates to violence. You silly gringos are outnumbered."

Go Robert218 !! wrote on July 06, 2006 11:59 AM:"You are so right! Mexicans are here to stay so all this Bla Bla Bla is just a way for racists to come out of the closet temporarily. "

Taking the show on the road

UNION-TRIBUNE
July 5, 2006

Folks say this border city has been brazenly invaded by an unsavory and disruptive element that opportunistically puts its own interests before the greater good.

I never believed it – until lately. But what can I say now that America's Finest City is crawling with Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who have come here to hold hearings on immigration reform?

San Diego plays host today to the first of a series of public hearings on this combustible issue. Today's hearing – “Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism” – will be led by Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, who chairs the House International Relations subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation.

A second hearing is scheduled later in the week in Laredo, Texas.

These hearings – like the one being held also this week by Senate Republicans in Philadelphia – only have one real purpose. And it's not to hear what the public thinks. If Congress really cared what the public thought, it would hold these town hall-style meetings before considering bills, rather than after a bill is passed. The real purpose of the hearings is to make the case for the views of those who organize them, and to make mincemeat of any alternate views.

Imagine if Congress went out to the public and held town hall-style hearings every time it confronted a thorny subject that was sure to upset people. Have to vote on additional funding for the war? Hold a hearing. Feeling pressure to reform Social Security, and not sure whether to raise taxes or cut benefits? Call for hearings.

By the way, I must have missed the public hearing that was called before House members last month gave themselves a $3,300 annual pay raise to $168,500. Wouldn't you love to have had a say on that one?

It's sad. Americans used to look to Congress for leadership. But now what the institution does best is take direction from a mob.

Today, the crowds are expected to descend on a Border Patrol station in Imperial Beach. A capacity crowd is expected inside the building on Saturn Boulevard. It's supposed to be first-come, first-served. But, having attended similar town hall meetings in the past, I have a hunch that preference will be given to those who prefer the enforcement-only bill approved by the House as opposed to the comprehensive bill passed by the Senate, which includes provisions for guest workers and provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. According to organizers, only invited speakers will be allowed to address the congressional panel.

Outside the building, there is likely to be a circus-like atmosphere with protesters facing off and screaming at each other. There is sure to be lots of posturing and finger-pointing, and very little listening. And there's likely to be the whiff of something else. It's the thing that fuels so much of the immigration restriction movement – the cultural alarm bells that America is changing in ways that a lot of people aren't prepared to handle.

It's ugly, but at least it's honest. The movement even has its own spokesman, and he should figure prominently in the hearings.

If you can count on politicians to sometimes say dumb things, then Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad, is a natural-born politician.

First, Bilbray told USA Today that President Bush ought to be investigated for not cracking down on employers of illegal immigrants. Then he warned supporters that if the United States didn't solve the illegal immigration problem, we'd all end up living in a society where our grandchildren – gasp – have to learn Spanish. Then, during a radio interview on the night of his special election, he criticized his opponent, Democrat Francine Busby, not just for suggesting that one doesn't need papers for voting, but also for what Bilbray considered the real infraction – speaking to voters who “needed an interpreter.”

Now the newest member of Congress suggests that his colleagues are deciding immigration policy based on “the Bilbray factor” – the assumption being that it was Bilbray's hard-line opposition to giving illegal immigrants a path to legalization that sent him to Washington.

Never mind that in Utah, Rep. Chris Cannon beat back a primary challenge fueled by opposition to his support for comprehensive reform, including giving illegal immigrants a shot at citizenship. During the campaign, Cannon repeatedly said to voters, “racism and xenophobia are not Republican virtues.”

Good for him. Let's hope that Cannon is correct – and that the hearings confirm that.

Navarrette can be reached via e-mail at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.

http://<br /> <br /> <a href="htt...arret.html</a>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont..._1n6immig.html


Barnstorming on immigration

House panel's tour in border-control debate begins in Imperial Beach

By John Marelius
STAFF WRITER

July 6, 2006

Congressional Republicans meeting in San Diego County yesterday said tough border controls were vital for national security as House and Senate committees sought to build public support for rival approaches to immigration reform at dueling bicoastal hearings.


NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
The House International Relations subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation convened a hearing on immigration policy yesterday at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station. The panel meets tomorrow in the border city of Laredo, Texas.
“It's elementary that to defend ourselves against our determined and resourceful enemies, our border must be secured,” said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, as he convened an unusual hearing of the House International Relations subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation yesterday at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station.

Democrats denounced the four-hour hearing as a charade.

“These hearings are not designed to legislate,” said Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, the panel's ranking Democrat. “They're designed to whip up public opinion. The hearings that our subcommittee (are) having here today have been swallowed up by this political agenda.”

In Philadelphia, a Senate committee was told the nation's economy would be ruined if immigration hard-liners prevailed in wholesale deportations of illegal immigrants.

“Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told senators, “our city's economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true for the nation.”

The debate has opened deep divisions between the President Bush and congressional Republicans, between the two houses of Congress and between Republicans and Democrats.

In December, the House passed a bill that focuses exclusively on border enforcement. The Senate approved a bill in May that includes some security measures and would create a guest-worker program and develop a path to citizenship for many current illegal immigrants.


PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Emily Miriam Gallegos was outside the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station yesterday to help attach hundreds of crosses representing people who died crossing the border. A House panel met at the station.
Yesterday, Bush reaffirmed his support for a comprehensive approach along the lines of the Senate plan as he made a surprise visit to a Dunkin' Donuts shop in Alexandria, Va., where he promoted a program to help verify that workers are in the country legally.

“I know there needs to be a worker program that says you can come here on a temporary basis and work here legally for jobs Americans aren't doing,” Bush said.

“We cannot kick people out who have been here for awhile,” the president added, saying that illegal immigrants should be “treated with respect and dignity.”

Instead of setting up a committee of members for both houses to reach a compromise bill, House members embarked on two months of hearings and the Senate followed suit. The hearings began yesterday.

“It's a way of pretending to do something without doing it,” said congressional expert Gary Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego. “It's not like they're ignoring the issue, they're taking some action. But the action is not designed to accomplish anything.”

Like other analysts, Jacobson said the delay probably imperils Congress' chances of agreeing on a bill this year.

“In a practical sense, the Senate and the House are far enough apart that it will be hard enough to come up with a compromise as it is,” he said.

The hearing in Imperial Beach attracted demonstrators from both sides. About 100 seats were available for the public, including overflow space outside, where people tried to keep cool as they watched the hearing on a large monitor.

Terry Hoopes, 62, of La Mesa arrived at 7:30 a.m. and nabbed a seat outside. Instead, he chose to stand inside so he could see the panel. He had hoped to speak against anything he regarded as amnesty, but was upset that the public didn't get a say.

“It was a bait and switch,” Hoopes said, to say it was a public hearing when only invited guests could speak.

Outside the Border Patrol station, 160 immigrant-rights supporters prayed and were accompanied by a strolling mariachi band along Saturn Boulevard, demanding citizenship for illegal immigrants and a “more humane” guest-worker policy. Protesters spread out hundreds of crosses representing people who died crossing the border and called out the names of the dead.


NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Darryl Griffen, chief of the San Diego Border Patrol sector, was among the invited witnesses at the House panel's hearing yesterday.
A rival group of 40 people, including members of the Minuteman citizen border patrol, called for a border crackdown.

No one was arrested during the peaceful demonstrations, Lt. Debbie Farra of the San Diego Police Department said.

Inside the hearing, Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad, called for stepped up law enforcement away from the border where undocumented workers congregate to look for jobs.

“The United States has not been serious enough about our national sovereignty, defending our neighborhoods,” Bilbray said. “The problem is coming across the border and not being regulated under a mandate by our federal Constitution.”

But San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said local police and sheriff's departments are spread too thin as it is without taking on immigration enforcement.

“As our governor has said, it is our belief that national security is the responsibility of the federal government and cannot be passed off to local and state governments,” Kolender said.

Baca said, “If local law enforcement is going to be involved in any sort of immigration enforcement, we must be paid for it.”

Baca added he saw little likelihood of that happening because the federal government reimburses Los Angeles County for about one-eighth of the costs it absorbs for prosecuting and incarcerating illegal immigrants, many of them repeat offenders.
“That means radio cars, police officers on the street, are cut back,” he said.

Later in the day, about 75 immigrant-rights supporters from across the county attended a community meeting in San Diego that was intended as a forum for those not invited to address the congressional panel.

The event at the Mountain View Recreation Center became emotional as the people who spoke, most of them Latino, shared their experiences with what they said is a flawed immigration system.

A report from the meeting will be forwarded to the congressional subcommittee next week, said Christian Ramirez, national coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee, which sponsored the event.