Thread: RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST ILLEGALS

Noella Oberlin sought to have the Bradley County Commission in Cleveland, TN address the illegal immigration issue. When they had no desire she decided to hold her own illegal immigration forum.

There is audio of Ms. Oberlin on the link.

(quote)

Residents speak out against illegals

Saturday, September 01, 2007 -

By Randall Higgins
Cleveland Bureau

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Many people attending a public forum here Thursday said it is illegal aliens, not legal immigrants, who are causing local concerns.

"Real immigrants don't come here and say 'accept my culture,' " said Noella Oberlin, the forum organizer. "Immigrants come here to assimilate."

About three dozen people attended the "open mic" forum in the Bradley County Commission's meeting room. No public officials spoke, but Commissioner Jeff Yarber was in the audience, along with a sprinkling of Hispanics.

Those who did step up to the microphone had some advice for local officials.

City and county government officials who have been asked to block illegal aliens from coming here have said that immigration is a federal issue.

But resident Ralph A. Rogers said a group should be created to monitor employers.

"Let's stop their jobs. If we stop their jobs, they have no reason to be here," he said. "If you're legal, you have a perfect right to be here. If you're not, you don't."

America is a welcoming country, said Wesley Parks. "We haven't been inspired to enforce our immigration laws until 9/11. That's what this is about."

But that is not as easy as it sounds, Rafael Lastra said.

Mr. Lastra is an American citizen and son of a Church of God minister who came here from Mexico many years ago to attend Lee University.

He was trained to be an interpreter for Spanish-speaking inmates appearing before now-retired Judge Andrew Bennett. Now he commutes to a Japanese company in Dalton, Ga., where he works in personnel.

Mr. Lastra said about 30 percent of that company's workers speak Spanish.

"The government says stop illegal people. But at the same time, we can't say 'show us your green card' because that is illegal too," he said.

Mr. Lastra told the audience he was glad to see them come to the town hall meeting to learn more.

He pointed to a series of posters displayed across the front of the room concerning gangs like MS-13. About half the Mexican people in Bradley County come from the state of Chiapas, he said, and have nothing to do with the infamous gang from Central America.

Those people come here, he said, because they have learned that the people are friendly and the country resembles their home, an impoverished state in southern Mexico.

Ms. Oberlin, an American citizen who immigrated from New Zealand, organized the town hall meeting after she said her comments to local officials were ignored.

She urged Cleveland and Bradley County to become part of a federal program known as 287g. The program allows the Department of Homeland Security to enter agreements with state and local officers. After training, those officers have more latitude to pursue crimes involving illegal immigrants and are allowed to transport them to federal facilities, according to information from US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In Tennessee, Davidson County is the only law enforcement agency listed on the 287g program.

Sheriff Tim Gobble said recently that illegal immigration is "more of a federal issue" than a local one. But during his own, separate town meetings in recent weeks, he told local residents he had asked for two new detectives in his budget who could be assigned 287g training. He said those positions were not funded by the County Commission.

Meanwhile, he said, the program has become so popular that ICE notified his office new applications are not being accepted at this time.

E-mail Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfreepress.com

(quote)

http://www.timesfreepress.com/absoluten ... &zoneid=77

Psalm 91

"The government says stop illegal people. But at the same time, we can't say 'show us your green card' because that is illegal too," he said.




Maybe someone who knows more about this than I, can answer this question for me:

When did it become illegal for someone to have to provide proof of eligibility to live and work in this country? If that's the case, then why are there green cards and visas? Was there a law passed, court decision made, etc. ?

I realize that we have a multitude of laws that prohibit discrimination on any grounds, including national origin, but what I don't get is how, when the law prohibits certain things....such as hiring illegal aliens, or providing social services benefits to illegal aliens.....it just makes sense that it is necessary to determine someone's legal presence here.

It also seems that someone from another country who is legally here, and say, eligible for work here, would have the proof of that with them and be more than happy to show a potential employer.

Can someone explain just what is going on with this?

Originally Posted by azwreath

"The government says stop illegal people. But at the same time, we can't say 'show us your green card' because that is illegal too," he said.

Maybe someone who knows more about this than I, can answer this question for me:

He is trying to cover his butt. Every employee has to provide some document proving legal residence, and it has to be recorded on what is called an I-9 form. Generally at my company the document is a Social Security Card, but it could also be a green card, especially if you think the employee is an immigrant. You could also tell prospective employees "we don't hire illegal aliens, we verify all documents with the federal government database".

And now ICE is to busy to take more people into the 287g program, why am I not surprised!



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Originally Posted by Bowman

Originally Posted by azwreath

"The government says stop illegal people. But at the same time, we can't say 'show us your green card' because that is illegal too," he said.

Maybe someone who knows more about this than I, can answer this question for me:

He is trying to cover his butt. Every employee has to provide some document proving legal residence, and it has to be recorded on what is called an I-9 form. Generally at my company the document is a Social Security Card, but it could also be a green card, especially if you think the employee is an immigrant. You could also tell prospective employees "we don't hire illegal aliens, we verify all documents with the federal government database".

Thank you Bowman.

This has confused me for some time now. All we've been hearing......particularly from the Latinos and pro-illegal groups......is that it's "illegal" and "discrimination" for anybody to require proof of citizenship or legal status to live and work here. It doesn't matter if it's a potential employer, the social services office, the police, a motor vehicle office, etc.....nobody, and I mean nobody, according to these people, is permitted to do that without it being an illegal or discriminatory act.

It made no sense to me, at all, that expecting people to provide the proof required by law could be illegal or considered discrimination.

I suppose it's just another one of those things that, although untrue, has been stated so often and for so long by groups like LaRaza that people just started to believe it, especially when it was combined with the intimidation of being threatened with lawsuits.