Thread: MI: Immigrants urge Kalamazoo City Commission to ease restri

Immigrants urge Kalamazoo City Commission to ease restrictions on undocumented aliens

by Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette
Tuesday March 18, 2008, 8:36 AM

By Kathy Jessup
kjessup@kalamazoogazette.com 
388-8590

KALAMAZOO -- More than 50 people, many of them Hispanic, lined the walls of the Kalamazoo City Commission chambers Monday as a coalition of social action groups urged the city to support more rights for undocumented aliens.

Advocates claimed denying driver's licenses to people in the United States without immigration papers prompts them to drive illegally and risk deportation if stopped by police.

Speakers also said the Kalamazoo County Clerk's office is denying marriage licenses to people who lack official immigration documentation. That undercuts the strength of families, according to Monsignor Michael Hazard, pastor of Kalamazoo's St. Joseph's Catholic Church, who said a couple with a young child has been unable to marry here.

The man and woman are both "undocumented" and were unable to obtain a marriage license because they could not produce Social Security cards, Hazard said.

"From my point of view, this couple found themselves unable to get a marriage license and carry out the responsibilities of a father and a mother, only because they met in a country where they are considered aliens," Hazard told commissioners.

"That's state law," Kalamazoo County Clerk Tim Snow said in response to immigrants claims. "If they don't have one (social security card) that's not an excuse."

State law changed Jan. 3, 2007, requiring some form of identification, which states why someone doesn't have a social security number, Snow said.

The push before the City Commissions comes at a time when immigration is a hotly debated issue at the state and national levels. Advocates on the other side of the immigration debate say undocumented residents should not be entitled to official recognitions like drivers' licenses because they entered the U.S. illegally. Illegal immigration creates national security risks and is unfair to people who have entered the U.S. through legal channels, they claim.

Representatives from the Michigan Organizing Project and the Kalamazoo Homeless Action Network cited "four challenges" facing undocumented immigrants and asked Kalamazoo commissioners to throw their support behind change. Besides opposing the denial of Michigan drivers' and marriage licenses, advocates are challenging what they call "raids on immigrant homes" by customs and homeland security officials. Those result in the separation of families and "hard-working people are being taken out of our communities," they claimed.

The coalition also opposes new homeland security rules requiring employers to verify the immigration status of their workers. "Thousands of hard-working people are going to lose their jobs because of new regulations that (homeland security) is about to issue," the coalition alleges.

The city commission received a copy of the coalition's proposed immigrant-treatment statement Monday, but set no date for deciding if it will officially endorse the measure.

Two commissioners -- Don Cooney and Stephanie Moore -- said Monday they will sign their own statements supporting the coalition's position.

"The problem is the lack of federal adoption of an immigration policy that is more than just an iron fist," Cooney said. "Our first responsibility is advocacy with the federal government."

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/200 ... _city.html

Two commissioners -- Don Cooney and Stephanie Moore -- said Monday they will sign their own statements supporting the coalition's position.

Perhaps the good folks of Kalamazoo will put your pink slip in the ballot box when you next appear before them begging to keep your job.

That's state law," Kalamazoo County Clerk Tim Snow said in response to immigrants claims. "If they don't have one (social security card) that's not an excuse."

Somebody gets it!!

I sent the following email:

Ms. Jessup:

Although I am not a citizen of Kalamazoo (nor your state), I belong to several groups who are opposed, not to immigration, but to illegal immigration. Perhaps your paper would be willing to print a follow-up or clarification to this article that would point out several facts.

As the clerk stated, that's the law.

The people who are demanding "rights" in this country are criminals. If you doubt this, see a definition of criminal. They broke the laws of this country when they crossed our border without documentation. They continue breaking our laws by staying here, using false documents, etc., etc., etc. These criminals have no rights of the type they are demanding.

The laws these criminals are protesting were made according to the will of the people - legal citizens.


The media has made much of the protests of people such as those who met with the Kalamazoo council. Unfortunately, the coverage thus far has been biased on behalf of the "undocumented" people who are whining because some of the benefits they are not entitled to are being denied them. (I notice that you didn't use the correct term in your article either. They are not undocumented - they are illegal.)

If, as La Raza and other such racist groups say, these are good people who only want to work and contribute, then let them prove it by returning to their country of origin and entering this country through legal chanels as so many have done before them. Those who do so are welcome here if they want to become a part of our country and not carve out a small country of their own on our lands.

Originally Posted by napanic

I sent the following email:

Ms. Jessup:

Although I am not a citizen of Kalamazoo (nor your state), I belong to several groups who are opposed, not to immigration, but to illegal immigration. Perhaps your paper would be willing to print a follow-up or clarification to this article that would point out several facts.

As the clerk stated, that's the law.

The people who are demanding "rights" in this country are criminals. If you doubt this, see a definition of criminal. They broke the laws of this country when they crossed our border without documentation. They continue breaking our laws by staying here, using false documents, etc., etc., etc. These criminals have no rights of the type they are demanding.

The laws these criminals are protesting were made according to the will of the people - legal citizens.


The media has made much of the protests of people such as those who met with the Kalamazoo council. Unfortunately, the coverage thus far has been biased on behalf of the "undocumented" people who are whining because some of the benefits they are not entitled to are being denied them. (I notice that you didn't use the correct term in your article either. They are not undocumented - they are illegal.)

If, as La Raza and other such racist groups say, these are good people who only want to work and contribute, then let them prove it by returning to their country of origin and entering this country through legal chanels as so many have done before them. Those who do so are welcome here if they want to become a part of our country and not carve out a small country of their own on our lands.

Excellent letter

So based on this perspective:


"Advocates claimed denying driver's licenses to people in the United States without immigration papers prompts them to drive illegally and risk deportation if stopped by police."


I want to go to Mexico, set up a business without documentation (which is against the law) so they really need to ease up on their restrictions or I'll be prompted to continue my business, to make a living, which will put me at a risk of being arrested and deported. That makes sense. Let's ask them (while were at it) to let me vote in the Mexican elections. That seems fair to me.

Quote " They did not have a SS# so they could not get legally married"

I have research this for a long time now and cannot find a real answer, in how do illegals get married in this country.

I have a (not so smart) brother-in-law so alledegy married an illegal and I can't figure how you can do this legally, so are they really married or not.
I do know she uses her sister's SS# to work, so would this mean my brother-in-law is married to the sister, since she has no ID in this country ( Texas) by the way.
The other thing about this that bugs me so much is she and another illegal husband come to this country and spit out a baby as soon as they got here even though her other 2 children are illegal, it has always seemed to me, that even being from a foreign country, they seem to have a better knowledge of how to work around our laws
And yes, I have contacted everyone that will listen, but being the outsider in free loving illegals in my family, I just cannot get the name of the sister, therfore techinally I do not know the name she is using, therefore, I do not know, her name.It's all very frustrating to know all this, but in the family the secret is protected.

Guess you can figure out, I'm not ever invited for dinner

The other thing about this that bugs me so much is she and another illegal husband come to this country and spit out a baby as soon as they got here even though her other 2 children are illegal, it has always seemed to me, that even being from a foreign country, they seem to have a better knowledge of how to work around our laws

Right. They are engaged in virtually no philanthopy outside of their own subculture, don't have to defend their own country or others like we do, and have a veritable grapevine of tips and tricks. Then they can avail themselves of a well organized army of helpers once they do get here.

Good news travels fast.

The poor innocent, hard-working, family loving image, in many cases, is a front for an expert scam artist. They know how to circumvent any law that can be circumvented and get any benefit that can be gotten.