Radio DJs draw hundreds of petitioners supporting border pol
www.dailybulletin.com
Radio DJs draw hundreds of petitioners supporting border police initiative
By Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer
ONTARIO - Hundreds of people turned out Friday to sign petitions for a ballot initiative that would create a new police force in California to fight illegal immigration.
The turnaround in front of the Ayres Suites in Ontario became a drive-through petition signing, as registered voters from all over the Inland Empire showed up to back the initiative.
"It's out of control," Jerry Witte of Rancho Cucamonga said of Mexican immigration. "I'd be coming through also, if I lived in those conditions."
The event was organized by KFI-AM radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, who have made combating illegal immigration a regular feature of their popular radio show.
The duo, who broadcast their program live from Ontario on Friday, have been credited with spurring voter anger against Rep. David Dreier during the last election. The Glendora Republican won re-election by his most narrow margin after John and Ken listeners held rallies declaring him "soft" on immigration.
Thomas Trimble, who participated in the Minuteman organization's civilian border patrol in April, said the federal government hasn't been able to effectively stop the flow of undocumented aliens.
"The illegal invasion is worse than I thought it was," Trimble said. "I thought it was only 1,000 per night. On a 26-mile area in Arizona, it's 3,000 per night."
The initiative is intended to create a border patrol agency in California that operates separately from the U.S. Border Patrol, which is an arm of the federal government.
Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Temecula, who authored the initiative, envisions a statewide law enforcement organization similar to the Highway Patrol, which would chase down illegal immigrants and transfer them to federal custody.
"Illegals run through my constituents' backyards," Haynes told the radio hosts Friday.
As the initiative is worded, the federal government would reimburse the state for the cost of apprehending and jailing anyone captured by the force.
Organizers have until Dec. 12 to gather about 600,000 valid signatures to qualify the initiative for the June 2006 ballot.
Mason Stockstill can be reached by e-mail mason.stockstill@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-4643.
