Thread: California congressman lashes at Chaffetz's plan for immigra

California congressman lashes at Chaffetz's plan for immigrant camps
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:09/05/2008 06:06:59 PM MDT

Posted: 5:42 PM- A Democratic congressman, who spent years imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, unleashed on Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz's plan to detain undocumented immigrants in tent cities, calling it an "odious reminder" of a shameful period of the past.
"Jason Chaffetz's comments are more than just offensive and embarrassing to all Americans; they demonstrate a blatant disregard of the need to be vigilant in remembering the lessons learned from a disgraceful chapter in U.S. history," Rep. Mike Honda of California said Friday in a statement.
Honda said Chaffetz's statements will only "fuel resentment towards targeted ethnic groups."
Chaffetz, who is running for Utah's 3rd District seat, took offense at Honda's criticism, saying he never singled out any ethnic group in his immigration proposal and demanded an apology from the congressman.
He said his immigration plan is built around a bipartisan proposal from the Western Governors Association. That plan says the federal government should pay for regional correctional facilities to detain immigrants convicted of crimes in state courts.
Chaffetz said he added the idea of housing them in prison camps ringed by barbed wire - an idea he took from the sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who houses prisoners in tent cities - while they await deportation because it is a cheaper way to do it.
Chaffetz's plan also goes further than the governors' proposal in that it starts by targeting undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, but extends to all of those in the country illegally. In his plan, there is no "path to citizenship" and all of the inmates would be deported if they don't return home voluntarily.
"Where these guys are overstepping the line is saying that it has anything to do with ethnicity. They absolutely should apologize for that. That has never been my position and it is terribly unfair and inaccurate," Chaffetz said. "If you're breaking the law and you're a fugitive, I want to go after you and put you in jail. I don't care if you're from Russia, Japan or Guatemala, it doesn't matter to me."
Chaffetz's Democratic opponent, Bennion Spencer, said Chaffetz's immigration plan is "abominable."
"It makes me sick," Spencer said. "This is way off the charts. His position on tent cities does not fall into the mainstream of what people of Utah believe, it does not fall into the mainstream of what Utah is about. . . . We're better than that. We represent different values than that."
He said that, Chaffetz's complaints notwithstanding, immigrants with dark skin would be singled out and targeted, and those from European countries would not.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that in 2004, 81 percent of undocumented immigrants in the United States were of Latino origin. Nine percent were from Asia, 6 percent from Europe and Canada, and 4 percent from the rest of the world.
Honda was born in California but spent several years of his childhood in a Japanese internment camp in Ameche, Colo.
The Topaz camp, located outside Delta, Utah, housed more than 8,000 detainees during the war. Last year, the camp, located in the 3rd Congressional District, was designated a national historic landmark.
"Chaffetz's call for the use of detention facilities is an odious reminder of the Japanese American internment camps where my family and I were detained," Honda said.
He said that America has been a "nation of immigrants" who made great contributions toward building the country.
"Looking toward our future with our aging workforce, we need the contributions of immigrants, now more than ever," Honda said. "To the contrary, Mr. Chaffetz's comments serve only to fuel resentment towards targeted ethnic groups, and do nothing to promote the collaborative, industrious spirit upon which this country was founded."
Honda said Chaffetz "intentionally used intolerance to promote his own political agenda."

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10392324

I agree with Chaffetz, I think it's an excellent idea! Unlike WWII, these will not be camps based on race or ethnicity. During WWII, it was the japanese, germans and italians who were put in these camps.

If American criminals can be jailed in tent cities, I don't see why illegal aliens can't. This would definitely be a deterrent to illegal alien families.

WHY DO WE ALL NEED TO FEEL SO BAD ABOUT THE JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS? WE WERE AT WAR. JAPANESE WERE BOMBING US. HOW WERE WE SUPPOSE TO BE ABLE TO KNOW IF ANY OF THE JAPANESE CITIZENS THAT WERE HERE AT THE TIME WERE "PLANTS" BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT?

HOW DO WE KNOW IF THE INTERNMENT CAMPS NEVER EXISTED THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ATTACKED FROM WITHIN? IT WAS WARTIME.

PC CAN KILL US NOW...AND IT COULD HAVE KILLED US THEN TOO. I DONT THINK WE SHOULD FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT. IT MAY HAVE BEEN SAD, BUT IT WAS NECESSARY UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

I KNOW THIS IS NOT A VERY POPULAR OPINION, BUT REALISTICALLY IN WARTIME YOU HAVE TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES.

Originally Posted by miguelina

I agree with Chaffetz, I think it's an excellent idea! Unlike WWII, these will not be camps based on race or ethnicity. During WWII, it was the japanese, germans and italians who were put in these camps.

If American criminals can be jailed in tent cities, I don't see why illegal aliens can't. This would definitely be a deterrent to illegal alien families.

I AGREE MIGUELINA. THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO USE TENT CITIES AS LONG AS THEY ARE WELL RUN. I SEE THIS AS A NECESSITY AS THERE ARE SUCH A HUGE NUMBER OF ILLEGALS IN OUR COUNTRY. TENT CITIES ARE THE APPROPRIATE SOLUTION AT THIS TIME. SURE THEY WILL END UP BEING MOSTLY MEXICANS IN THESE TENT CITIES. BUT THAT IS BECAUSE MEXICANS HAVE BROKEN OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS AT A MUCH GREATER RATE THAN ANYONE ELSE.

....um, our American service men and women live in tent cities in Iraq, Afhanistan and in many, many places around the world. If American GI's can live in tents in the desert.....illegal aliens should be made to do so as well. They need to quit whining.

Utah Latinos React to Comments on Immigration Policy

Last Edited: Saturday, 06 Sep 2008, 9:36 PM MDT
Created: Saturday, 06 Sep 2008, 8:49 PM MDT

Utah Latinos are reacting to current comments made by Jason Chaffetz, Republican candidate for the Third Congressional District. In a recent statement posted on the candidates official Web Site, Chaffetz said illegal immigrants with criminal records should be placed in military style tent camps.
Now, representatives of the Utah Latino community are calling the statement racist, saying he is targeting Latinos and Mexicans in particular.

Chaffetz, on the other hand, says he comment have nothing to do with race or ethnicity but about enforcing the law. He says many illegal immigrants are breaking current immigration laws.

www.myfoxutah.com

Put them in the tents and let them WORK for their illeglness, until deportment.

Honda is my Congressman. Pro-illegal through and through. The next time I fax him I'll tell him how much I liked Chaffetz's tent city idea.

Originally Posted by Buzzm1

Honda is my Congressman. Pro-illegal through and through. The next time I fax him I'll tell him how much I liked Chaffetz's tent city idea.

Be sure to remind him that the Supreme Court upheld Japanese-American internment as necessary in order to preserve the US Constitution and territory. California was a war zone at the time, Jap subs were cruising right off the coast sinking US ships and shelling military and oil installations.

I think illegal internment camps are necessary today for the same reason, to preserve the US Constitution and territory. Honda is a traitor for opposing immigration law enforcement, maybe he should be put back in his internment camp.

Jean wrote:

Utah Latinos are reacting to current comments made by Jason Chaffetz, Republican candidate for the Third Congressional District.

The heck with the latino opinion--we already know what that's going to be. What about the other ethnic groups' opinion? I want to hear what the REAL opinion of citizens is.