Thread: Culpepper VA meeting on illegal immigration

http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Sat ... 9192057981

Meeting on illegal immigration tonight


Liz Mitchell
Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 6, 2006


A Bealeton man wants local residents to address illegal immigration beyond keyboard activism or kitchen conversations.

Scott Schreiber, 33, is a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps Virginia Chapter. The group, dedicated to preventing illegal crossings of the U.S. border, documents and reports incidents to law enforcement and anyone who will listen.

At the urging of the chapter’s state director George Taplin, Schreiber is forming a Culpeper division and hosting the first meeting tonight at the VFW Post 2524 on Sperryville Pike.

“It’s a conversation that almost everybody is having about what is going on with illegal immigration,” Schreiber said.

"Nobody really knows what to do or what action they can take. And that is what we are trying to start - the ability for people to take direct responsibility for their community. That is our interest.”

Schreiber encourages everyone to come to the meeting and says there are ways locally that people can affect the national discussion regarding the illegal immigrant population and how to deal with it.

“Go to your leaders, say we want to pass laws saying: if you rent to an illegal, you lose your rental; if you employ an illegal, you can lose your business or at least be fined heavily,” Schreiber said. “Those are the things we want in place.”

The Minutemen group also opposes day laborer sites. Schreiber says documenting contractors hiring day laborers and publishing it could put pressure on those who hire illegal immigrants. He also said if people notice drinking, littering or fighting at the day laborer sites, they should notify police.

“We don’t want to confront individuals and treat them differently,” he said. “We point out there is a problem. We want to create awareness and action. When police show up to deal with the problems, we want them to check immigration status.”

Culpeper County Sheriff H. Lee Hart says his office makes every effort possible to determine if criminals are illegal and notify local prosecutors and federal authorities.

The Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 287 (g), allows the federal government to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that would permit designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions provided they receive appropriate training.

Currently if local law enforcement believes a suspected criminal is illegal, officers or the commonwealth attorney’s office contacts Immigrations Customs Enforcement. If that suspected criminal is convicted and is in fact illegal, he or she is turned over to ICE for deportation after the sentence is served.

Hart said he plans to send two of his deputies to receive ICE training in January.

According to ICE spokesman Dean Boyd, ICE agents are authorized to arrest undocumented individuals. The training would allow local law enforcement officers to take suspected illegal immigrants into custody only as a result of the officer’s daily duties.

Schreiber said immigrants, as a demographic, have the greatest interest in actively participating in the national discussion and local efforts.

“A majority of illegal immigrants are Hispanic,” Schreiber said. “(Legal Hispanic immigrants) have the greatest interest in supporting this because they came here honorably. They stood up; they wanted to be part of this American system. They paid their dues. They worked. They tend to be employed at the lower end jobs and they are going to be the first to be replaced. This is not an issue against them; this is an issue for them.”

Martin Bernal, owner of Mexican grocery El Nopal and member of the Hispanic Committee of Culpeper, said a small group of committee members would attend tonight’s meeting.

“They’ve got the right to be here and we respect them,” Bernal said. “This is a free country.”

Bernal said it’s important for the Minutemen group to know that Hispanics are not the only illegal immigrants in the United States.

“They are going to try to hit the Hispanics, the Mexicans,” he said. “We are just looking for work, for a better life for our families. There are many legal people who are here in Culpeper.”

Regardless of the Minutemen group’s goal, Bernal said he and others would be there to listen.

“They can do what they want,” he said. “We will be over there to listen to their ideas. Everybody is free to go.”

Wonder how this went?

http://www.nbc4.com/news/10484713/detail.html

Virginia Minutemen To Hold Illegal Immigration Meeting

POSTED: 3:35 pm EST December 7, 2006
UPDATED: 3:53 pm EST December 7, 2006

CULPEPER, Va. -- A watchdog group that monitors illegal immigration is holding a town hall-style meeting in Culpeper Thursday evening.

The Virginia Minutemen are an offshoot of Arizona's border-patrolling Minutemen Project.

The group said in a statement that the gathering will give residents information on offsetting the impact of illegal aliens.

The Virginia Minutemen held similar meetings in Leesburg, Manassas and Woodbridge in January.

Last year, Minutemen began monitoring sites in northern Virginia where employers typically go to hire day laborers

The group said the meeting at Culpeper's VFW Post is open to the public. But Minutemen members will be checking picture IDs at the door.

Ok, here is an article on what happened:

http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Sat ... 9192080342

'Minutemen' hold inaugural meeting
Rhonda Simmons
Staff Writer
Friday, December 8, 2006


Illegal immigration stirred up more discussion Thursday night in Culpeper.

About 40 people gathered for the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps’ first meeting at the VFW Post 2524 on Sperryville Pike.

“We are not here to talk about immigration,” said George Taplin, the chapter’s Virginia director. “We are here to talk about ways to alleviate the symptoms and problems that occur as the results of the immigration policies.”

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Taplin explained the reasons residents should attend local meetings and force local elected officials to take action against illegal immigration.

Taplin, a data analyst from Herndon, also spoke on the responsibilities of zoning laws and fielded questions from the audience.

“If you can’t enforce zoning laws to prevent the abuse of the culture in this town,” Taplin said, “then get a new set of legislators.”

Taplin proceeded to read from the Town Council Web site.
“The Town Council, as the governing body for the town of Culpeper, sets policies and establishes ordinances for the general safety, health and welfare of its citizens,” Taplin read.

“Not the illegal aliens,” Taplin argued, “but the citizens. Why are they bending over backward allowing this to go on?”

Instead of talking about immigration, Taplin said, he wanted to discuss what happens in small communities as a result of poor immigration policies resulting from non-enforcement of immigration laws.

“We want to maintain our sovereignty. We want to stop the flow of illegal aliens. We want to stop the importation of terrorists, illegal drugs, gang members,” Taplin said. “We want to enforce all of the laws equally across the board.”

Two Culpeper County supervisors, Steve Nixon of West Fairfax and Larry Aylor of Cedar Mountain attended the meeting. Town Councilman Steve Jenkins was there too.

“I will not in any way, shape or form turn my head and tolerate individuals that are here illegally in this community,” Jenkins said. “I won’t do it.”

Legislation process
Sandra Gunn, a representative from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says her organization is working on a package of legislation, which is planned for a January presentation.

FAIR - a national, nonprofit, public-interest group - seeks ways to improve border security and stop illegal immigration.
Gunn said there are a few concepts behind the immigration-based legislation.

One potential bill deals with legal housing.
“It would make it unlawful to live in Virginia if you are not a legal resident,” Gunn said. “If you can’t prove that you are a Virginia resident, it will be harder to get a bank loan, it’s going to be harder to rent housing and harder to get in-state tuition. It really gets at a lot of the abuses that we find with illegals in this country and in this state.”

The second would require employers to provide workers’ compensation for all employees regardless of legal status, said Gunn. Those who are here illegally and apply for workers compensation or disability would be required to return to their own country in order to receive that disability.

“It provides an incentive for people to return home,” she said. “Those employers who are hiring illegal aliens without worker’s compensation will have an added penalty,” said Gunn. “It protects workers from frivolous employers and protects the workers compensation system.”

The third involves reporting illegal immigrants. This legislation would require schools to request prove of lawful status for students as they enroll and report that information to the State Board of Education.

The system would not deny education to any student; however, it collects and provides information to the state to conduct research.

Gunn said the three bills would be introduced Jan. 11 to state legislators in Richmond.

Taplin suggested that residents attend every town and county meeting, vote, make sure crime statistics are reported and make known any illegal action they witness.

“Telling on your neighbors - very unpopular,” he said. “If I suspect my neighbor is doing something illegal, it is very obvious to me that my neighbor has no respect for me. Why should I feel bad about reporting them?”

During the meeting, Habacuc Diaz Lopez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Baptista Maranatha part of Culpeper Baptist Church, took several notes.

Lopez questioned Taplin, who said that 92 percent of illegals are Mexican.

“How can that be? Lopez asked. “Not more than 40 percent are Mexicans. They are Puerto Ricans. They come from several countries: Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica.”

After the meeting, Lopez said people need to educate themselves.
“It’s very misleading,” Lopez said about Taplin’s statistics.