Thread: Dole and Demint rebut slanderous Charlotte Obs. editorial

Note: Today, both Senator's Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) responsded ( http://www.charlotte.com/409/story/235488.html ) to a ridiculous and slanderous editorial publised August 10 in the liberal-progressive Charlotte "Rag" Observer. At the bottom of this posting, I have re-posted the Observer's inane editorial.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amnesty isn't the answer

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., responding to an Aug. 10 editorial, "Angry, Here's why" :

Your Aug. 10 editorial fails to recognize that amnesty is not needed to secure our borders.

The charges against illegal immigrant Jose Rivera for multiple rapes in Charlotte demonstrate the need for real border enforcement, not amnesty. Yet your editorial strangely attempted to place blame for these heinous crimes on senators who stood against amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Americans overwhelmingly rejected the comprehensive immigration bill because they saw that it guaranteed amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants while only promising border security.

Your editorial continues to push this same argument that failed so miserably during the immigration debate. The editorial claims we should have passed the flawed bill because it contained $4.4 billion in border funding. But America knows border security doesn't have to be held hostage for amnesty. In fact, the Senate recently passed this border security funding before it broke for the August recess, proving that amnesty is not needed to secure our border.

The recent crimes committed by an illegal immigrant in Charlotte should make people angry. But this outrage should be focused on a government that has promised but failed to enforce its immigration laws and on those who continue to call for amnesty as a way to secure our borders.

Dole: Don't repeat mistakes of 1986 law

From U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.:

I am encouraged that The Observer acknowledges that we must strengthen border security to deal with the current immigration crisis. The newspaper's zeal for the twice-defeated amnesty bill, however, continues to cloud its judgment.

I reject the implication that I should have voted for a bill that included some border security provisions -- but in exchange, granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens! The reality is that bill would have repeated, not remedied, the mistakes of the 1986 bill, which granted 3 million people amnesty. Promises to secure our borders and enforce our laws were made then, but not kept, resulting in the mess we face today.

Your editorial praised an amendment to the immigration bill that would have allocated funding for border security. While I agree that we must increase these resources, this funding need not be coupled with highly contentious measures that further delay action on this front. For example, the Senate recently approved an amendment I cosponsored to the homeland security appropriations bill to provide $3 billion for border security and enforcement initiatives. This bill also included an amendment I introduced to require DHS to spend at least $5.4 million to facilitate 287(g) agreements. This program enables local law enforcement to receive authority from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to process illegal aliens who have committed crimes.

Law enforcement officers must have the tools to keep our communities safe. That's why I'm spending August meeting with our state's sheriffs to hear about the challenges they face when fighting crimes -- such as drinking and driving, drug smuggling and gang-related activity -- committed by illegal aliens. Officials say they're frustrated that federal agents lack the manpower to help, and they're fed up with the "catch and release" of dangerous individuals. I'll be talking with our sheriffs about using 287(g), and how I can assist them in their application process.

To address America's immigration woes, we should start where we have a consensus. Folks need to see a significant increase in the number of people deported when courts say they must be removed, a significant decrease in the number of overstayed visas, and a significant decrease in the number of illegal aliens crossing our borders. We must give the American people confidence that their government is serious about tackling this crisis with real proof, not just more promises.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Fri, Aug. 10, 2007
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER EDITORIAL

Angry? Here's why
Felons walk back into U.S. and Washington does nothing
http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/230833.html

If you're furious to learn that a convicted felon and illegal immigrant was deported and walked back into the United States -- only to be accused of committing multiple rapes in Charlotte -- you should be. Just be sure to direct your anger at the right source.

Communities and local governments pay the price for a porous border in compromised safety and additional burdens on law enforcement. Yet the immigration reform killed in the Senate last month would have provided a practical, intelligent way to secure the border. Call the senators who helped slam the door on that common-sense bill -- including three of the Carolinas' four senators -- and tell them you want compromise and progress on immigration, not grandstanding.

Last week officials in Charlotte-Mecklenburg charged Jose C. Rivera, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, in connection with the rapes of three Charlotte women. His story is revealing: He was deported last November after being convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle, then arrested six months later back in Charlotte. He was set to be deported again when police filed rape charges.

He told sheriff's deputies he crossed the border from Mexico into Texas in April on foot. Unfortunately, that's not out of the ordinary. Since last April, Mecklenburg deputies working with federal immigration agents have identified more than 150 illegal immigrants who had been jailed, then deported but re-entered the country.

Mr. Rivera's no-sweat reentry illustrates the danger arising from gaping holes in the nation's immigration policy. It also demonstrates why the border must be secured. The package of immigration reforms that failed in the Senate was not perfect. But it would have improved border security, using a combination of additional guards, electronic surveillance and barricades.

Thanks to a solid amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the bill would have guaranteed $4.4 billion a year in funding to pay for those things. Sen. Graham showed leadership on this difficult issue. But the Carolinas' remaining senators -- Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., chose rigid ideological positions that blocked any action.

Here's why that's wrong: An estimated 300,000 illegal immigrants live in North Carolina, primarily in immigration centers such as Charlotte and Raleigh. An additional 50,000 live in South Carolina. Washington's failure to enact any practical immigration reform only makes it harder on people back home.

If that makes you angry, then act. The best hope for balanced reform still resides in the Senate. Call your senators and tell them you're fed up with gridlock on immigration and want more from Washington than fear-mongering and inflexible politics.

Contact Carolinas' senators

Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. 202-224-6342

Richard Burr, R-N.C. 202-224-3154

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. 202-224-5972

Jim DeMint, R-S.C. 202-224-6121

zeezil, thanks so much for posting the Senators' responses! When I read that original editorial, I was floored that the Observer could be so... so...STUPID!
Very glad to see the Senators took the time to respond and that the Observer printed them!! Burr and Dole heard from me often enough, and I'm glad they listened, unlike that embarrassment Lindsey Graham!

I'm glad that Mrs. Dole and Mr. DeMint responded to this pro-illegal, pro-amnesty piece of litter box liner!!

And touche' Mr. DeMint for showing everyone just how disinterested in facts the paper is that it was not even aware.....or just didn't bother to mention.....that funding for border security had been approved before the recess.

Just who is it that the paper is encouraging to call elected officials.....illegals? Must be, since the majority of American citizens and legal residents don't want amnesty for illegals or any other concessions to this group of blatant criminals.

I think I'll let the paper know just what I think of their "editorial" and remind them.....since they seem to have forgotten.......that the opinions of illegals don't matter in this country.

There are 10 comments posted to the Observer's Editorial at:
http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.a ... harlottetm

All 10 are slamming the editorial and how inane the Charlotte Observer's Editorial is. I love it when these pro-illegal alien, pro-amnesty liberal writers and rags publish this type of drivel. All it does is infuriate the previously sleeping giant...the American people!!!

The editorial reads like it was written by someone who just came in on the turnip truck. There are numerous irate comments posted. Please let them hear from us as well. You have to register but it is simple and will be worth the trouble.

http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/230833.html

added to the alipac homepage with the following note....


ALIPAC NOTE: One of the main reasons ALIPAC was formed was to combat the bias and censorship that the Charlotte and Raleigh News and Observer newspapers engage in on a regular basis. This paper is notorious for politicized articles that do not give the pro enforcement side of the issue a fair shake while heavily promoting the pro amnesty, pro open borders, side. All ALIPAC Volunteers are encouraged to read this exchange and get your calls of support into Senators Dole and Demint and your letters to the editor criticizing the Charlotte Observer on the way!

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... =1&thold=0

These dunderheads in the press floor me. I am sure that liberalism /socialism - progressivism (?) is not the majority in our nation, but it is so well placed - it is like being pecked to death by chickens!