Thread: WA:Kennewick City Council candidate wants to ban all illegal

Kennewick City Council candidate wants to ban all illegal immigrants
By John Trumbo, Tri-City Herald
Published: 08/10/11 1:43 am | Updated: 08/10/11 1:43 am

Kennewick officials should oust all illegal aliens and turn the city into an English-only language community, said Loren Nichols, a 55-year-old candidate for city council.

"I'm a hawk on this, but that's how much I value America," Nichols told the Herald on Tuesday after being contacted about his comments during a recent radio interview calling for capital punishment for illegal aliens.

The candidate, who is running against mayor Steve Young, also said illegal aliens should "be shot at the border."

Nichols revealed his hard-line views about illegal immigration during a 15-minute interview Friday morning with KONA radio's Jeff Phillips.

If elected, Nichols said he would push the city council to ban illegal immigrants and order them to leave town in 30 days.

He told Phillips: "If they value their lives, they would leave."

"I told him that sounded like a threat against individuals who come into this country illegally," Phillips told the Herald.

"I'm not promoting killing anyone," Nichols replied during the interview, explaining that anyone who enters the U.S. illegally shows they don't respect "our values."

"I know that is a very drastic stand, but let me put it this way: I expect illegal invasion of our country by foreign entities to be met with deadly force. That's how I expect to see my country protected, and I feel the same way about our city," Nichols explained to the Herald.

The audio recording played for the Herald confirmed Nichols' hard-line attitude, which has him describing illegal immigration as rape.

"Rape of our city and rape of our country is something that should be dealt with by the highest penalty," he added.

"(Illegal aliens) should be shot at the border. That's how much I value America," Nichols said.

A Navy veteran who served in the mid-'80s in the Mediterranean and said he had top security clearance in connection with his work involving the Russian language, Nichols said illegal immigration is a high offense.

"We sent troops to Kuwait because Iraqis were invading their borders. It doesn't show much value for our country to let (illegal aliens) cross our borders," he said.

Nichols told the Herald that allowing one month for illegal aliens to clear out of Kennewick was generous.

"They would be lucky to have that," he said.

Nichols also believes there should be only one language in Kennewick -- English.

He said language is the glue that binds a community, regardless of what language it is. But in the U.S., that language should be English.

Nichols said he bears no personal animosity toward non-English speakers, and in particular toward people from Mexico. He said his concern is about illegal immigration into the U.S. from any country.

"I know I'm putting this on the line, but it is important," he said.

Phillips said he gave Nichols several opportunities to "clarify or change course."

"I asked him if he was saying we should have capital punishment for people who come into this country illegally. He said that was what he was saying. He just affirmed it," Phillips said.
Tri-City Herald reported this story at www.tri-cityherald.com

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/08/1 ... z1UdeeDyXB

well in my book you will say any thing just to be Vote in ? just like obama did
No amnesty

I'm afraid his extreme statements are going to be turned against all who advocate closing the border.

Candidate: Illegal Immigrants Should Get Death Penalty
Story Published: Aug 10, 2011 at 6:37 PM PDT

KENNEWICK -- A would-be Kennewick councilman campaigning that illegal immigrants should get the death penalty.
Loren Nichols told KEPR he thinks the crime is worthy of capital punishment.
Nichols first talked about his strong views during a radio interview, and has quickly gained attention since then.
Action News got the candidate's views first hand.

Loren Nichols hopes to represent the eastern part of Kennewick on city council.
And while that seat would have nothing to do with immigration issues, he feels strongly that the federal government doesn't take a hard enough line on illegal immigration.

"Illegal aliens should have been shot when they crossed the border," says Nichols.

You heard him right.
Shot at the border.
Nichols likens entering the U.S. illegally to a rape of the country.
He thinks it's a crime punishable by death.
If the feds won't go that far, he believes Kennewick should.

Nichols: "Kennewick needs to do what's best for Kennewick. We need to take jurisdiction for ourselves and mandate that as the penalty"

KEPR Question: "Mandate death as the penalty if you get caught in Kennewick?"

Nichols Answer: "correct"

Nichols also feels strongly about making English the official language of Kennewick.

He'd like to ban Spanish from any public signs or communication as a way of promoting social unity.
But he's quick to say, he's not racist.

"This is an issue that doesn't deal with race so I hope it's not interpreted that way. It has to do with violation of our country," says Nichols.

He also says he's not alone in his stance.
He claims to have received support from community members who want to post campaign signs.
Positive comments about Nichols on the Tri-City Herald's website worry incumbent and mayor Steve Young, who says Nichols goes too far.

"I think his comments are inappropriate. I think it's embarrassing. However I agree with the fact that we have to resolve the immigration issue that we're dealing with, but we have many other issues that we have to deal with now, too," Young told KEPR.

Young says the city's budget is his top priority.

Nichols agrees the budget is a concerns as well, but that comes after his commitment to getting every illegal immigrant out of Kennewick.

"I still want all illegal aliens out of here," says Nichols


To keep this story balanced, KEPR also contacted the other candidate in the race William Miller.

He says Nichols position on capitol punishment for illegal immigrants is going too far and could alienate voters.

http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/127495733.html

Nichols advances to general election
kvewtv.com
By Josh Peterson.
Published Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

A Kennewick man running for city council who wants to rid the city of all illegal immigrants, advances to November's general election.

Loren Nichols received 27% of the vote in his district in last night's primary, beating out William Miller, who received 12% of the vote.

Nichols has created quite the controversy with his stance on illegal immigration.

Many people say his ideas are extreme, but Nichols says he's doing what he believes is right.

"The country's not healthy when there's a cancer in the country, and that's what I equate illegal immigrants to. And they need to be removed" said Nichols.

It's comments like that that are stirring debate amongst Kennewick voters.

Some people are behind Nichols.

"I think his views is right" said one resident.

While others want nothing to do with him.

"He's too radical" said another resident.

Either way, Nichols just secured himself a spot in November's general election.

His recommendation to shoot immigrants that cross the border into the U.S. has put him in a controversial spotlight.

"I don't personally want to see anyone killed, but I want them to leave peaceably, but we need to have something to back that up that says, we mean business" said Nichols.

Pasco immigration lawyer Tom Roach, says illegal immigrants actually stabilize our economy, as they do the dirty jobs nobody else will do.

And even though crossing the border is illegal, Roach says it's not a felony, nor a reason to kill.

"These people are here doing us a favor, and all we have is people like Loren Nichols kicking them around, talking about shooting these people for a misdemeanor?" said Roach.

Nichols is running against Kennewick's sitting mayor, Steve Young, who earned more than twice the number of votes as Nichols in last night's election.

Young says illegal immigration is certainly a issue, but not one that can easily be solved by the local government.

"The problem is we at the city council have no authority to solve the problems, our only authority is to put pressure on the state and the federal government to solve the problem" said Young.

Young also tells us the comments being made about illegal immigrants are concerning to him, because they can potentially drive away new businesses interested in coming to the area.

Nichols tells us he's pleased with the outcome of yesterday's election.

He plans to bring other issues to the forefront of his campaign in the coming months.

Turnout for last night's primary election was fairly low in Benton County.

20% of registered voters returned their ballots.

http://www.kvewtv.com/article/2011/aug/ ... -election/