Thread: WA-Foes of illegal immigration place petitions in newspapers

Foes of illegal immigration place petitions in newspapers
by MELISSA SáNCHEZ
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 AT 11:11PM

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Opponents of illegal immigration are paying for their petitions to be sent to newspaper subscribers here and in Skagit County.

The Respect for Law committee -- an umbrella group for Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, Grassroots of Yakima Valley, and So Tired Of Paying pro-taxpayers group -- paid for 6,000 pink petitions to be inserted in Monday's Yakima Herald-Republic.

The group targeted subscribers in the West Valley.

"It was based on more homeowners and more registered voters, percentage wide," said chairwoman Sandi Belzer Brendale. "We're going on X number of dollars so you want to make it as good as it can be. If we do get more money, we'll send out another set."

Initiative 1043 -- which would make it harder for illegal immigrants to be hired and access public services -- needs 241,000 signatures to make the November ballot.

Its statewide organization -- called Respect Washington, based in University Place -- has raised about $10,000 in individual donations and plans to reach about 51,000 total newspaper subscribers throughout Washington, said chairman Craig Keller in a phone interview.

"We're hoping to do more, but at this point, that's what we've got going," Keller said, adding that the group has paid to have its petitions inserted into Skagit Valley Herald and Yakima Valley Business Times. "We definitely do need more support if we're going to advance our outreach, whether it be newspapers or paid signature gathering."

In Yakima, The Repect for Law committee paid about $300 to reach 6,000 subscribers in the 98908 zip code of West Valley. The group hopes to gather about 30,000 signatures locally through the petitions, which each have space for 10 signatures.

While unusual, using newspaper inserts is a cheap and effective way to reach well-informed voters, said Rowland Thompson, executive director of Allied Daily Newspapers, a statewide organization that represents Washington's newspapers.

"It's not a common occurrence but it's legal," he said. "And you're distributing to people who are generally well-informed about these things and have an opinion. You're not just throwing it out there."

The initiative -- sponsored by Yakama tribal member Wendell Hannigan -- would require employers to use the federal E-Verify system. It would also require law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws, and prevent illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses and public benefits.

His measure is identical to Initiative 409, which failed last year.

The group can't afford paid signature gathering, and last year it raised slightly under $10,000, Keller said.

Hannigan said he's decided to leave signature gathering work to Respect Washington.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at msanchez@yakimaherald.com.

Editor's note: The headline on this story has been updated to correct the reference to illegal immigration. The story was also updated to correct the reference to the Yakima Valley Business Times.

http://yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/0 ... newspapers

The group can't afford paid signature gathering, and last year it raised slightly under $10,000, Keller said.

Unlike ACORN, this group isn't receiving federal funding.

Can North Carolina Citizens do the same? Get voters' signatures to get a bill on having E-Verify and using it, and NO IN-STATE TUITION for illegals in Nov. 2009?

vmonkey56 wrote: "Can North Carolina Citizens do the same?"

If I lived in NC, I'd initiate a group and do the EXACT same thing...

What a great idea. Can this be done in Illinois?

Good idea!
How soon can it be started in Nebraska?

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4289--0-0.html

This idea is pure genius! I would love to have the same thing here in DFW. Imagine a full page ad in the Dallas Morning News or Fort Worth Star Telegram. Ahhhh, Such stuff as dreams are made on.

Illegal immigrant initiative drive appears to have fallen short
Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:11 AM PDT
By Chris Bristol
The Yakima Herald-Republic


YAKIMA — A petition drive for Initiative 1043, which would prohibit illegal immigrants from getting jobs, driver’s licenses or public benefits, appears to have fallen short.

On the eve of a key deadline, chief organizer Craig Keller of the immigration reform group Respect Washington said he doesn’t know yet whether the campaign has collected the 241,000 signatures needed to make the November ballot.

“I haven’t tallied it up quite yet,â€

I wonder why they need so many signatures?

In CA we only need 420,000 signatures, which is twice what they need but CA has six times more people than WA. In other words they needs three times as many signatures per capita in WA than we need in CA.