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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    CA. Bused-in immigrants find refuge in Coachella Valley

    Bused-in immigrants find refuge in Coachella Valley

    Tatiana Sanchez, The Desert Sun 10:06 p.m. PDT July 3, 2014

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    (Photo: Omar Ornelas/The Desert Sun )

    As protesters planned how to continue their opposition to the transfer of hundreds of undocumented immigrants into Southern California, residents and organizations in the Coachella Valley on Thursday looked for ways to help the families.

    "They're caught up in the system," said Desert Hot Springs resident Kenneth Horne, the owner of a small bed and breakfast who has reached out to local officials and is willing to provide temporary housing.


    "To the more immediate need, these are human beings that are in an unknown location that are scared, that don't know what's next."


    The city of Coachella, the nonprofit group Raices and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino have all launched initiatives to help families that are being processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at stations in Murrieta and El Centro.


    The first wave of those immigrant families — mostly mothers and young children — arrived this week.


    More are expected to be taken to the Murrieta station on Friday, although details about how they'll get there have not been released.

    Additional transfers are scheduled to happen about twice a week.


    The diocese, which includes churches in the Coachella Valley, will provide transitional centers throughout the region so the immigrant families receive basic care.


    Resources will be provided to help them get in touch with relatives and pay for transportation costs to their final destinations.


    The plan was made after church representatives met with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to diocese spokesman John Andrews.


    "That's when we really learned what it was that they needed from us," he said. "They wanted us to provide transitional spaces for these refugees."


    Raw Video of Immigrants arriving in El Centro Tatiana Sanchez/The Desert Sun

    Andrews said the diocese is still looking to find locations for the transition centers.

    The immigrant families are being transferred to area Border Patrol stations in an effort to help strained facilities in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where officials have been grappling with a massive spike in the number of unaccompanied children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.


    RELATED:Protesters turn back busloads of immigrants in Murrieta

    RELATED:No El Centro, California protest as immigrants arrive

    On Tuesday, the Border Patrol's first attempt to transfer immigrants to the Murrieta station was thwarted by more than 100 protesters. The buses carrying the families were turned away by the raucous crowds.

    Instead, authorities took the families to an undisclosed location in San Diego County.


    Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson addressed the situation during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show."


    "When someone interrupts the ability of the Border Patrol to process a migrant, you're preventing us from conducting basic health screening and the basic background checks on who these people are," Johnson said.


    "I look at those images and they are very disturbing."


    On Thursday, Murrieta City Manager Rick Dudley issued "A message to the community," a statement that appears to try to clarify comments made by Murrieta Mayor Alan Long during a news conference this past Monday, a day before protesters physically blocked the arriving busloads of immigrant families.


    "We have been both celebrated and vilified locally and in the national press — mostly based on inaccurate interpretations of the same issue. ... (Long) recognized people's right to peaceful protest. He also expressed frustration with the federal immigration policy that appears to be encouraging women and children from Central America to migrate to the U.S. via the Rio Grand Valley. ... (Long) was concerned that the Murrieta Border Patrol station would be receiving 140 women and children every 72 hours for processing. This facility is not appropriate for that purpose — it is essentially a jail, designed to hold drug runners and criminals ...," the message stated.


    "When Mayor Long expressed frustration with the federal government and recommended protest, he was suggesting that concerned citizens contact their U.S. representatives and the president to share their thoughts. ... Sadly, too many people took this as encouragement to protest the arrival of buses carrying the women and children to the Border Patrol station in Murrieta. ... In the face of the protest three buses were turned around and the protesters claimed victory. This was not victory. It was a loss for the city of Murrieta, for the community that we live in and love. It made this extremely compassionate community look heartless and uncaring. That is NOT the Murrieta that we all know and love," Dudley's statement continued.


    Protesters stop three buses carrying immigrants, who crossed illegally in Texas, from entering the US Border Patrol Station in Murrieta, CA on Tuesday July 1, 2014. Richard Lui The Desert Sun Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

    RELATED:Feds booed in Murrieta after migrant standoff

    He said those who believed that Long was encouraging a physical blockade as a way of protesting the arrival of these immigrant families were wrong, as are those who believe Murrieta does not recognize that people have the right to try to find better lives for themselves and their families by immigrating to the United States.


    "... we are a compassionate people who want to help," Dudley's statement added. "But we also are a country whose legal system is based on the rule of law, and the people migrating must do so within the boundaries of the law. ... To be clear, the city of Murrieta's primary role is public safety."


    He finished by reiterating Long's plea for people to contact their congressional representatives and the president in order to share their opinions about the ongoing immigration policy debate.


    One of the main complaints of those who object to these transfers out of Texas is that the Southwest can't take in any immigrants when there aren't sufficient services or resources to help U.S. citizens.


    But Coachella Mayor Pro Tem Steven Hernandez has a different view on the issue. He said he has called the Mexican consulate, as well as local organizations this week in an effort to help these immigrant families get the resources they need.


    "These are babies, these are kids and they're stressed out. They've been put through danger," he told The Desert Sun.


    "If we could provide these kids with some clothes or shoes or a little toy — something to calm them down and make them feel at ease and give them a bit of hope — I think that's the right thing to do."


    Rep. Juan Vargas, representing California's 51st congressional district talks to reporter Taitana Sanchez about his visit to El Centro Border Patrol station which is taking on an influx of undocumented immigrants from Central America (July, 2, 2014) Tatiana Sanchez/The Desert Sun

    Hernandez said the city isn't backing down from the issue, despite being a governmental body.

    "We have a different point of view on immigration in our city, so we're certainly not going to shy away from the issue," he said.


    Riverside County officials offered to provide a mobile medical clinic, but Supervisor Jeff Stone said earlier this week that the federal government declined the offer.


    The Rev. Howard Lincoln, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert, said the Fourth of July holiday is a chance to reflect on this country's history and that many Americans wouldn't be Americans if their ancestors hadn't immigrated to this country.


    "The United States, more than any other country in the world, has the opportunity to be in a secular way, what the church is in a spiritual way — not a melting pot but a home in which all people have a place, not just those who are of a certain color or speak a certain language," he said in a statement to The Desert Sun.


    RELATED:Our Voice: Unaccompanied children at US border

    RELATED:Obama to seek border aid, Pelosi visits Texas

    For those such as Desert Hot Springs' Horne, the issue transcends political affiliations or immigration laws.


    "What can we do as American citizens to be present for them? It isn't about whether they're going to get to stay for a week or a lifetime. It's about the minutes that are passing when they're sitting there alone," he said.


    Tatiana Sanchez covers the cities of Indio and Coachella for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at (760) 778-6443, by email at tatiana.sanchez@ thedesertsun.com or via Twitter @TatianaYSanchez.

    http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/...used/12208463/

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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    1. RAICES Immigration Law | San Antonio | Austin | Corpus ...

      www.raicestexas.org/

      RAICES provides immigration legal services, free or low-cost, to unaccompanied refugee minors, asylum seekers, and applicants for deferred action or green ...
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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