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  1. #1

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    City's sanctuary status mocked Cambridge, MA

    The Boston Globe
    City's sanctuary status mocked
    Signs send illegals to Cambridge

    By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | July 5, 2006

    When Cambridge recently renewed its status as a sanctuary city for all immigrants, including undocumented ones, the news barely caused a stir around here.

    But the move has made the city a target for an immigration control group based in Washington , which is starting a national campaign urging undocumented immigrants to flood into the Massachusetts city. ProjectUSA is raising money to pay for a billboard in northern New Jersey that it hopes will be the first of many across the country.

    The proposed billboard would read: ``Attention: Illegal Aliens. Cambridge, Mass. is a sanctuary city. For help getting there, contact projectusa.org/NJ-mass transit."

    The ProjectUSA website also makes mock offers of support for the journey, providing bus schedules and fare information for trips from Newark to Boston. It gives contact details for Cambridge officials in case immigrants need rides from the bus station and help accessing city services. And it invites New Jersey residents and others who would like to be rid of undocumented immigrants to pitch in for their bus fares to Massachusetts.

    ``I hope we have billboards from coast to coast directing people to Cambridge," said Craig Nelsen , executive director of ProjectUSA. ``Cities like Cambridge have made a very public display of their virtue so we're going to give help to people to take advantage of it. We're going to authenticate their virtue by having them exercise it."

    He joked that he would put the billboards, complete with maps, right on the Mexican border if he could.

    The billboard campaign is another sign of how the debate over illegal immigration is increasingly being played out at the local level, in this case over sanctuary status of cities. With Congress deadlocked, cities and towns are increasingly taking on the issue themselves. Some, including Burlington, Vt. , Maywood, Calif., and San Antonio have moved to declare welcomes for undocumented immigrants.

    In some cases, declarations of cities and towns as sanctuaries explicitly state that local law enforcement officers should not involve themselves in immigration matters . Other declarations have been less specific expressions of support for the causes of undocumented immigrants.

    Cambridge's May 8 declaration, which renewed a sanctuary city designation first established in 1985, called for a moratorium on immigration raids by federal authorities pending comprehensive reform, affirmed the human rights of undocumented immigrants, and condemned legislation passed by the US House in December that would crack down on illegal immigration.

    Nelsen said he would like to expand the campaign to target other cities that have declared themselves welcoming to immigrants.

    ``It's outrageous that these localities can just decide they're going to opt out of the law of the land," Nelsen said.

    He wants to start with Cambridge, he said, because the city council has been particularly ``sanctimonious" in its declaration of support for undocumented immigrants. Cambridge Vice Mayor and State Representative Timothy J. Toomey comes in for particular criticism from Nelsen. The website depicts Toomey, who Nelson says was most fervent in his support of the city's sanctuary initiative, with two glowing halos on his head. It provides a map to his house in East Cambridge, and his home number. Toomey did not sponsor the resolution, and it was passed unanimously by the nine city councilors.

    When Cambridge recently renewed its status as a sanctuary city for all immigrants, including undocumented ones, the news barely caused a stir around here.

    But the move has made the city a target for an immigration control group based in Washington , which is starting a national campaign urging undocumented immigrants to flood into the Massachusetts city. ProjectUSA is raising money to pay for a billboard in northern New Jersey that it hopes will be the first of many across the country.

    The proposed billboard would read: ``Attention: Illegal Aliens. Cambridge, Mass. is a sanctuary city. For help getting there, contact projectusa.org/NJ-mass transit."

    The ProjectUSA website also makes mock offers of support for the journey, providing bus schedules and fare information for trips from Newark to Boston. It gives contact details for Cambridge officials in case immigrants need rides from the bus station and help accessing city services. And it invites New Jersey residents and others who would like to be rid of undocumented immigrants to pitch in for their bus fares to Massachusetts.

    ``I hope we have billboards from coast to coast directing people to Cambridge," said Craig Nelsen , executive director of ProjectUSA. ``Cities like Cambridge have made a very public display of their virtue so we're going to give help to people to take advantage of it. We're going to authenticate their virtue by having them exercise it."

    He joked that he would put the billboards, complete with maps, right on the Mexican border if he could.

    The billboard campaign is another sign of how the debate over illegal immigration is increasingly being played out at the local level, in this case over sanctuary status of cities. With Congress deadlocked, cities and towns are increasingly taking on the issue themselves. Some, including Burlington, Vt. , Maywood, Calif., and San Antonio have moved to declare welcomes for undocumented immigrants.

    In some cases, declarations of cities and towns as sanctuaries explicitly state that local law enforcement officers should not involve themselves in immigration matters . Other declarations have been less specific expressions of support for the causes of undocumented immigrants.

    Cambridge's May 8 declaration, which renewed a sanctuary city designation first established in 1985, called for a moratorium on immigration raids by federal authorities pending comprehensive reform, affirmed the human rights of undocumented immigrants, and condemned legislation passed by the US House in December that would crack down on illegal immigration.

    Nelsen said he would like to expand the campaign to target other cities that have declared themselves welcoming to immigrants.

    ``It's outrageous that these localities can just decide they're going to opt out of the law of the land," Nelsen said.

    He wants to start with Cambridge, he said, because the city council has been particularly ``sanctimonious" in its declaration of support for undocumented immigrants. Cambridge Vice Mayor and State Representative Timothy J. Toomey comes in for particular criticism from Nelsen. The website depicts Toomey, who Nelson says was most fervent in his support of the city's sanctuary initiative, with two glowing halos on his head. It provides a map to his house in East Cambridge, and his home number. Toomey did not sponsor the resolution, and it was passed unanimously by the nine city councilors.

    ``If you have any trouble at all, need a ride from the bus depot in Boston, or don't think your basket of goodies is big enough, just get a hold of Tim," the website instructs. ``He'll straighten things out for you."


    Toomey derided Nelsen's initiative, saying he is motivated by racism.

    ``It would almost be comical if it wasn't so scary," Toomey said. ``These people have an agenda, and it doesn't include people of color, and it's as simple as that."

    Toomey said Nelsen is distracting from ``the real issue, which is how to get meaningful immigration reform in this country. This is very divisive, and it doesn't serve any public purpose, and it's sort of sad."

    Others in Cambridge defended the city's sanctuary status.

    ``ProjectUSA is a 21st-century version of the Know Nothing Party," said Council or Brian Murphy , referring to the anti-immigrant, anti-Irish party of the 1850s. ``Cambridge is proud to be a sanctuary city, and we welcome the free publicity."

    Elena Letona , executive director of Cambridge immigrant services organization Centro Presente, which helped push the Cambridge resolution and is moving for similar declarations in nearby cities and towns, called Nelsen's initiative ``ludicrous" and a stunt to attract attention.

    The accusation of racism is ``a wild and baseless claim," Nelsen said. ``It's what people say when they don't have anything substantive to say."

    Nelsen chose to start his campaign in New Jersey because it is one of the most crowded areas of the country, he said, and a magnet for undocumented immigrants. He will not say exactly where in New Jersey he would like to place the first billboard, concerned that publicity about its location might scare off the owner. A company that owns a billboard in Arizona recently rejected his attempt to place an ad critical of US Senator John McCain, who co-sponsored the Senate immigration reform package with Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

    His group has bought advertising on scores of billboards across the country since it was founded in 1997, at an average cost of about $2,000 a month. Some of them have warned about immigration contributing to unchecked population growth. Recently purchased billboards have targeted congressmen in their districts, including Republican Tom Reynolds of New York and Democrat Leonard Boswell of Iowa, saying they support ``amnesty for illegal aliens."

    Nelsen's current proposal is driven in part by what he sees as liberal hypocrisy.

    ``To have the Cambridge City Council get up there and assert their moral superiority when they don't even have an illegal alien population to speak of because it's so expensive to live there," he said. ``It's just grandstanding."
    "What part of illegal don't you understand?"

  2. #2

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    [Just for the record we have enough of these illegals flooding Cambridge, Everett, Medford, Malden, East Boston, Chelsea neighborhoods. The Globe writers are a bunch of liberal pansies who have not lived in nice neighborhoods only to see them destroyed by these illegal animals (ie, gangs, violence, rapes, drugs, no respect for their surroundings, etc.)]

    Maybe it will take something like this mass exodus of illegals to destroy the touristy, college town, fun town of Cambridge for the liberal Mass. politicians to get their heads out of their butts. That will be terrific on the revenue for the city. No one will feel safe to go to the local clubs, Harvard Square, any of the colleges, all the eateries, etc. I guess that is what Cambridge is looking forward to by becomeing a sanctuary for undocumented law breakers

    And to Elena Letona, your declaration has already happened! These illegals have taken over entire cities around Cambridge. Look at Somerville, Everett, Eastie, Chelsea, Lynn. No need to start a declaration in any of these areas. These illegals have already taken over and destroyed these cities
    "What part of illegal don't you understand?"

  3. #3
    Senior Member AlturaCt's Avatar
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    What a GREAT idea! I love it. We need to do this for every "sanctuary city"!

    Thanks for posting this pb.
    [b]Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
    - Arnold J. Toynbee

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    Senior Member moosetracks's Avatar
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    Hey, let's get a list going of these sanctuary cities and post them here...then email their chamber of commerce and tourists depts. and tell them we wanted to vacation there, but heard there were so many illegals, we were afraid to.
    Do not vote for Party this year, vote for America and American workers!

  5. #5
    Senior Member lsmith1338's Avatar
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    Serves them right in Cambridge, let us see how popular those intelligent lawmakers are over there when the city is flooded with illegal aliens,LOL

    And yes Pandabear is right all of the cities around Cambridge, MA are overrun with illegal aliens now, let the rich liberals in Cambridge get a taste of what the rest of us are living with and I am sure it will broaden their horizons
    Freedom isn't free... Don't forget the men who died and gave that right to all of us....
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  6. #6
    Senior Member loservillelabor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moosetracks
    Hey, let's get a list going of these sanctuary cities and post them here...then email their chamber of commerce and tourists depts. and tell them we wanted to vacation there, but heard there were so many illegals, we were afraid to.
    We'd probably need a website bigger than this to post them all. I urge everyone to contact their local government with a few choice questions. I think you'll be really surprised at the scope of the illegal alien advocacy and the weird replies you'll get. But they'll know someone is now watching them.
    Unemployment is not working. Deport illegal alien workers now! Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
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    As a {not so proud anymore} New Jerseyite, this is hilarious! Absolutely love it
    {maybe they'll get em out of NJ and up into Mass - sorry ISMITH
    but I know that they helped get Corzine voted in and now look at the deep doo doo NJ is in!}

    However, it would have been the icing on the cake had they somehow included directions to Ted THE SWIMMER Kennedy's compound
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  8. #8

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    When I heard about that one town in CA (forgot the name) that declared itself as an illegal sanctuary, I wasn't happy. But in light of seeing the points made here, perhaps it isn't such a terrible idea afterall.

    I mean, yes let all the "sanctuary" towns welcome illegals. Now there's no need to worry about how/where to find all the illegals who move in! Let the town's residents experience first hand the financial burden of the illegals moreso than everyone else. Excellent idea.

  9. #9
    Senior Member lsmith1338's Avatar
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    We all in MA are having a great laugh on this as Cambridge has been an embarrassment to the state of MA for as long as I can remember with their liberal views. Let them pay for all the illegals in the state of MA and from other states as well and then we will see how much they want them here. I love watching illegal aliens going around wearing Harvard shirts, LMAO
    Freedom isn't free... Don't forget the men who died and gave that right to all of us....
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  10. #10
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.nj.com

    Billboard's sarcasm is lost on targets
    Friday, July 28, 2006
    By KEN THORBOURNE
    JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
    Perhaps its message is too subtle. Or maybe it should have been written in a language other than English.

    But an anti-immigrant billboard posted on a wall facing the White Castle parking lot at Kennedy Boulevard and Newark Avenue in Jersey City - an intersection teeming with immigrants - is getting little attention from the locals.

    The roughly 8-foot by 10-foot black sign with bold white lettering reads: "Attention: Illegal Aliens. Cambridge, Mass. is a sanctuary city. For help getting there visit projectusa.org/nj-mass transit."

    The sign is a reference to the Cambridge City Council, which recently reaffirmed the city's status as a sanctuary for illegals, meaning their local authorities won't report undocumented workers to the feds.

    Krishna Devireddi, a software engineer from India who came to the U.S. six months ago, walks past the intersection heading to "Little India" twice a day but never noticed the sign until a reporter pointed it out.

    Even when he focused on it, Devireddi, who speaks English and Hindi, was confused about its message.

    "It is a university," said Devireddi, focusing on "Cambridge," a world-class university in England and the Massachusetts city that's home to Harvard University.

    "Are they saying to go to live there - happily?" he asked.

    Spanish-speaking Cecelia Castro, a self-identified illegal immigrant from Ecuador, couldn't read the sign. After it was translated for her, she responded in Spanish.

    "It's no good. Immigrants come here and work very hard, but don't receive government services," she said.

    The billboard's sponsor is ProjectUSA, a Washington DC-based group dedicated to keeping illegal immigrants out of the country, according the group's director Craig Nelsen.

    Having attracted press coverage from CNN, the Boston Globe, and several local Boston TV stations, Nelsen admitted the billboard's target audience isn't necessarily illegal immigrants in Jersey City - although he would love to see Cambridge flooded with undocumented immigrants.

    "We would love for Cambridge to be inundated with illegals to the point they have to pass laws to keep them out - the same kind they are now denigrating," Nelsen said.

    The ProjectUSA Web site provides bus schedules and fare information for trips from Newark to Boston. It also invites New Jersey residents and others who would like to be rid of undocumented immigrants to pitch in for bus fares.

    Right now, the Jersey City sign, which the group pays just under $5,000 every six month to lease, is the group's only billboard, he said.

    Journal Square Councilman Steve Lipski called the billboard "despicable. People come her to realize the 'American Dream' and they get sandbagged."
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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