IT'S FINALLY ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE ASBURY PARK PRESS!!! I ALMOST FELL OFF MY CHAIR!! FINALLY FAIR COVERAGE!!


Anti-alien protest in Lakewood called off
Organizer cites safety concerns
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/16/07
BY ZACH PATBERG
TOMS RIVER BUREAU


[b]LAKEWOOD — The organizer of a scheduled rally against illegal immigration has canceled the event, deciding there was not enough security to protect the crowd and speakers.

Diane Reeves of Lakewood, who planned the protest for Aug. 25 at the town square on Clifton Avenue, pointed to rumors that such gangs as MS 13 and the Latin Kings, as well as some out-of-town militant groups, would disrupt the rally. That, coupled with the conflict that occurred at a similar protest last month in Morristown, convinced Reeves that the handful of officers Police Chief Robert Lawson promised to provide would not be enough protection.

"I was nervous that if something happened, what were we supposed to do?" Reeves said.

She and other rally supporters voiced resentment that the township had not agreed to assign more members of its 125-strong police force. They pointed to Morristown, which supplied a strong police presence at the protest over the same issue in late July. Five people were ar-rested and two were slightly injured at that event.

"I was very upset when I heard," said Carmen Morales, vice chairwoman of the advocacy group You Don't Speak For Me, who was supposed to speak at the rally. "I feel Lakewood is like a sanctuary for illegal immigrants . . . and (the police) seem to protect them."

Officials relieved

Mayor Raymond Coles stressed that the Morristown rally was municipally sponsored, as opposed to the privately organized one in Lakewood. Lawson said he could not justify taking more officers off patrol duty, and the township could not afford the overtime.

Beyond that, Coles and Lawson agreed with Reeves' decision to cancel.

"I'm relieved," Lawson said. "Lakewood has a large number of undocumented residents . . . and now you're going to have a group in the center of town speaking out against illegal aliens. So it's possible there'd be friction between the two factions that could lead to confrontation."

Coles said, "This is a very emotional, heated issue and bringing two very emotional groups together might cause problems."

Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in Lakewood range from 5,000 to 20,000. A 2006 estimate by the U.S. Census bureau put the township's population at almost 70,000.

Lawson added that it was common for organizers to pay for off-duty police officers as protection at rallies. The Lakewood rally was expected to draw up to 500 people and was to have five speakers, including two family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Reeves, who has never organized a rally before, now plans to find an indoor venue in another town to hold the protest, saying that since the cancellation she has heard from angry supporters offering contributions toward the cost of a demonstration.

"Look at the 100,000 illegals getting protection to march down the street everywhere else," she said. "But me, a citizen, has no right because of safety issues."

Zach Patberg: (732) 557-5739 or zpatberg@app.com

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blue guy- well, at least you can impound their cars. I am curious- under what circumstances can a car be impounded in NJ? probably more detailed than you want to get into here, but can you give us a basic idea?


revolver-

a huge part of lakewood's pandering to the illegals has to do with the orthodox jewish community.

first, let me put my disclaimer out there: I am not an anti-semite.

the overwhelming majority of landlords in lakewood are from the orthodox community. they therefore have a vested interest in the illegals, as the illegals comprise a significant number of their tenants.

the orthodox community is headed up by "the vaad" which is a small group of VERY influential men in lakewood. they have their hands in many cookie jars and have the power, through various channels, to get their way on just about anything they want. they always push for whatever is most beneficial to their own interests.

anything important that goes on in lakewood, you can rest assured the vaad has been involved.

the vaad has pushed lakewood's mayor, council, and police force to take a "hands-off" approach to the illegal immigrant problem for years. and guess what? they get their way.

Posted by: HeavyW on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:34 pm

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Revolver44,
I wonder if the landlords helped push for the muster zones. HeavyW reminded us about the lawsuit and who the landlords are.

Always follow the money trail.

Diana hasn't shown much courage to be so easily intimidated by rumors. Which doesn't reflect well on the citizens militia. Is their motto? "If the going gets tough, we run."

Maybe, they need a new leader in Lakewood.
Posted by: Bern on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:27 pm

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"Diane Reaves is a local member of a national citizens militia..." Now that's disturbing. I have an idea. How about these folks devote all this energy to a solution (instead of reinforcing the status quo) like getting these people docmented so that we can track suspected terrorists and make sure taxes are being paid. Those are the concerns right?

Posted by: mrd on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:24 pm

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HeavyW,

I applaud that somebody wants to do something to combat the problem of illegals, it is a definite problem and I don't have the answers on how it should be handled.

As far as the rally itself, if they wanted more security, they could have hired police for the rally. As I believe was mentioned, to staff the rally would have drawn officers away from other assignments and possibly affected the other residents of the town as officers assigned to the rally would not be available for emergency calls. I don't think that the town is going to spend the money to hire officers on overtime for a private rally.

I don't know of any police who "cater" to illegals. We do our best to treat them humanely and fairly but it is certainly aggravating dealing with them sometimes. Where I work, we often deal with them for driving offenses and being that they don't have licenses, we can only ticket them and impound their vehicle, knowing that most times they will not appear in court. There are no laws that we can enforce to detain them and in the past I called INS (before they were reformed to ICE) to let them know what we had and was basically laughed at. There's not much locals can do unless they commit a serious crime and even then, if a judge lets them go on bail, our hands are tied.

I do hope some law changes are made so we can deal with this as we are most often the ones out there (not ICE) who are.

Posted by: Blueguy on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:20 pm

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You're not suppose to call them "illegal aliens" in Lakewood. The mayor has determined that the term is demeaning to them and the term "undocumented worker" is a more sensitive one. He also said the term "employment services area" is more humane than "work muster zone". Lakewood is a trail blazer in accommodating illegals. It makes you wonder how many local politicians own rental property in Lakewood and just what the word deleted the code enforcement officer has been doing.


Lakewood approves muster zone plan

Vote follows a spirited debate
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/7/06
BY RICHARD QUINN
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
LAKEWOOD — Diane Reaves is a local member of a national citizens militia whose self-appointed mission is to monitor immigration into the United States.

Stan Organek is an advocate for the day laborers who crowd the streets of Freehold and Lakewood, regardless of their immigration status.

The Township Committee's debate on how to solve its day laborer issue can't please them both.

Consider Organek the happy one.

The committee Thursday night approved a resolution to spend $37,500 to build a muster zone — officially called an "employment services area" — on roughly 2 acres in the Lakewood Industrial Park.

Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said the move is to protect downtown merchants — who complain about the men who line Clifton Avenue — and day laborers, who need a safe site to gather for per-diem work.

The proposed zone, Lichtenstein argues, would draw the workers out of the downtown — where merchants complain about the image they project — and give contractors a central place to pick their helpers up.

Since publicly funded Job Link buses already loop from downtown to the industrial park, the mayor added he expects no problems with transportation.

"We believe we have found what will work at this point," Lichtenstein said. "I expect our employment center to work out very well."

Lichtenstein emphasized the township will not get embroiled in the larger issue of immigration, even if many day laborers are undocumented immigrants.

"We don't want to wait anymore," he said. "We can wait and wait and plan and look and in three years still be dealing with the same issue."

Reaves, though, views Lakewood entirely through the national immigration prism.

"No matter where they move them, they're still considered illegals," said Reaves, a member of the New Jersey chapter of the Minuteman Project. "That doesn't change."

Reaves and her group travel to Clifton Avenue on Saturday mornings to photograph and monitor day laborers, then send their pictures and stories to federal agencies.

Organek, a Freehold Township resident, instead lobbies for Lakewood's day laborers.

"I feel as though Lakewood Township is ahead of the curve," said Organek, who has asked Lakewood for months to provide a muster zone.

The proposal to start what is believed to be the first government-sanctioned muster zone in Ocean County left a lot of people at Thursday night's committee meeting as divided as Reaves and Organek.

Patricia DeFilippis, who owns a commercial building on Fifth Street, said the zone is a mockery of tax dollars that could be better spent elsewhere. In jest, she questioned why the Township Committee didn't offer more amenities at its proposed site.

"Why not a beauty parlor, a barbershop, some stores?" asked DeFilippis, who wore an American flag scarf. "How about a print shop for their false IDs?"

Even day laborer advocates questioned the committee's plan.

MaryAnn Allacci of Mi Casa, a housing advocacy group in Lakewood, wondered whether the zone's location would doom it to failure.

"I'm concerned that we're going to be wasting $37,000, plus more, on something that ultimately does not work," Allacci said. "It's three miles out of town. You're asking people to walk three miles out of town to stand under an umbrella?"

Lichtenstein said the committee decided on the Industrial Park site after meeting with day laborers who agreed they would go there. He added that because transportation is available — and contractors are likely to go where the workers are — he is confident the site will lure the workers from downtown.

"Whatever way they get to the downtown, they can get to the new center," the mayor added. "I think this is a pretty smart idea."

Posted by: Revolver44 on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:14 pm





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