Thread: ALIPAC Activist Research Help Needed!

Friends,

We will be hard pressed this week considering that the Employer Employee flyer has been placed in front of two important projects.

Project 2 is to do a national release to our network to be forwarded to every City, County, law enforcement, and state elected official we can locate.

Please help us by searching through the Discussion Boards in the News area and the ALIPAC Archives and abroad to locate any story you can find about what City, County, and State governments are doing to address illegal immigration along with local law enforcement.

Place the title of the article, a short description, and the link in this thread.

We would like to be ready to launch this collection to the nation by Thursday.

Thank you all for your hard work.

William

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Forum: News Stories from ALIPAC Members Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 3:24 am Subject: SheriffÂ’s policy may have unintended consequences

http://www.butlersheriff.org/geninfo/ne ... aliens.htm
[/b][/color]

http://www.journal-news.com

(the first of two stories- this one is about the Sheriff office encouraging citizens to report illegal immigrants to the INC- women at domestic violence shelters etc et all- are against this)
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office recently announced plans to “crack down on illegal aliens,� encouraging residents to report “suspected� undocumented immigrants through its Web site and threatening to report them to immigration authorities. This proposition to involve county officials in the enforcement of immigration law, a role not traditionally held, poses an unintended but very real threat to victims of domestic violence and their children.
Batterers â€â€

nation's interior


http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3322121

Article Last Updated: 12/18/2005 10:08 PM

Soft in the middle
Immigration laws largely unenforced in nation's interior
(( note this is an edited version _ by me- iI highlighted all the important points, leads, and names)
Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun

ICE is in the midst of an ambitious effort dubbed Endgame, which has as its goal the deportation of all "removable aliens" in the United States by 2012.

A removable alien is, theoretically, anyone who entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. But in practice, ICE's Detention and Removal Office focuses mostly on those who have committed crimes or been ordered deported by an immigration judge. .....

"Not only have U.S. policies failed to deter Mexicans from migrating to the United States, they have promoted a more rapid growth of the nation's undocumented population," Massey wrote in a study for the libertarian Cato Institute earlier this year. ......
.

.

Now, however, the population of illegal immigrants has exploded, and some local agencies, believing the federal government has fallen down on the job of enforcing immigration law, are looking for ways to do it themselves. ....


Getting it done locally


San Bernardino County is one of three counties in California where officials are getting ICE training in how to check for deportable illegal immigrants in local jails. The federal agency performs jail checks on a regular basis but not frequently enough to catch everyone, a spokeswoman said.

"The fact is, those facilities have significant turnover," said ICE's Virginia Kice. "Because of that, it's possible we are not identifying every deportable criminal alien going through those jails."

Los Angeles County has been participating in the program for several months, under ICE's supervision, and Riverside County plans to follow suit. San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod believes the program will save his jails close to $1 million each month. Although illegal immigrants won't be deported immediately after they're identified, having an accurate accounting of how many undocumented aliens the counties have jailed will make it easier to get more money from the federal government, said Carolyn Bondoc, a financial manager for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Federal reimbursements are available for local agencies that hold illegal immigrants in jails. Pending legislation would allocate $950 million for the program next year, though nationwide, such costs are estimated at $2 billion annually.

"There are more and more agencies that are applying for (federal) money," Bondoc said. "We're not getting full reimbursement not even half."

In Florida and Alabama, state police have reached agreements with ICE that go one step further. A handful of officers in both states have gone through training with ICE and have become certified to enforce federal immigration laws, meaning they can arrest undocumented immigrants simply for being here illegally.
Officials said those officers aren't conducting raids on agricultural fields or labor camps, trying to root out anyone and everyone here illegally. They're mostly taking illegal immigrants encountered during the course of criminal investigations into custody themselves, instead of calling ICE and waiting for federal agents to respond, said E.J. Picolo of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Calling the program a success in his state, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, wants to expand it throughout the country, because ICE's limited enforcement personnel can't patrol all of the United States.

"There is no way those 2,000 officers can ever adequately patrol our streets for immigration violators and do a good job of handling these problems," Sessions said on the Senate floor this summer. "But we have 750,000 state and local law-enforcement officers who are on our streets and in our communities every single day."


Overwhelming numbers


Even if they don't choose to enforce immigration law, local police and sheriff's departments are still dealing with the effects of weak borders.

Some illegal immigrants commit new crimes after entering the United States like trespassing on border ranches, stealing food or turning to prostitution to survive. Some commit more serious crimes, like sexual assault or murder. Others make easy targets for thieves and scam artists because new immigrants often are afraid to contact authorities out of fear of deportation.

Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, wants the Department of Homeland Security to cover the cost of hiring additional deputies for sheriff's departments in border towns. He said local law-enforcement agencies need more resources to deal with crimes caused by illegal immigrants and drug traffickers.

The problem is acute in the Texas border town of Laredo, Culberson said, where drug cartels with superior firepower terrorize residents in the United States and Mexico. "The sheriff and the local authorities are outgunned and overmatched," the congressman said on the House floor.

Culberson also has legislation pending that would allow the governor of any border state to create an armed citizens' militia empowered to prevent illegal border crossings.

In California, Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, isn't waiting for that proposal to get off the ground. He's launched a signature drive for a ballot initiative that would create the California Border Police, a statewide law-enforcement agency with immigration violators as its only focus. "Quite simply, it's going to do what the federal government's not doing, and that is comprehensively enforce immigration laws in the state of California," Haynes said.

Haynes envisions a police force of up to 3,000 officers who work in the interior of the state, as well as at the border and other ports of entry.

The Border Police would cost millions to start up and operate. But Haynes said California would recoup its money, and then some, by no longer paying for services used by illegal immigrants, such as free public education or food stamps.

"We would basically have nine dollars in social-welfare savings for every one dollar in costs of enforcement," estimated Haynes, who hopes to have the initiative on the ballot in 2006.

Other agencies across the country have tried more creative moves. A county in southern Idaho unsuccessfully attempted to sue several companies for hiring illegal immigrants earlier this year.

Regular citizens are itching to get involved, too. ICE receives thousands of calls each month to its hot line, (866) 347-2423, where callers can report illegal immigrants, human smugglers, employers hiring undocumented workers and other immigration-law violations.

Hundreds of regular people have already gotten involved through the much-hyped Minuteman patrols, a civilian project that stationed volunteers along various sections of the nation's border. Their intent is to assist the Border Patrol in finding those crossing into the country illegally.

Even if the Minuteman effort accomplished little other than increased media attention and a temporary slowdown in border crossings near Arizona, the group's leaders say the movement showed growing frustration over what they see as the government's failed policies.

"This is a cavalier attitude our lawmakers have taken that has jeopardized our security and put our country at risk," said Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project. "America is not interested in rhetoric or empty promises. Americans are interested in results, and we will not stop until those results are realized."

Staff writer Sara A. Carter contributed to this report.
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:04 am Post subject: Gangs pose border threat

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http://www.wfaa.com

Gangs pose border threat

07:01 AM CST on Sunday, November 27, 2005
By DAVID McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News
(((((( my note - again I edited and highlighted the important parts of this article

Sheriffs want help

This year, the sheriffs of 16 Texas counties joined forces to form the Texas Border Sherriffs' Coalition to lobby state and federal officials for help. They recently received a $500,000 state grant from Gov. Rick Perry.

"We know that border violence has escalated in Nuevo Laredo, and we have heard about activity pushing west towards El Paso County," said Rick Glancey, interim executive director of the group. "With the presence of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition, we hope to intercept those problems before they make a hard push in any direction."

The coalition enthusiastically endorsed a bill introduced Nov. 17 by U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, and John Culberson, R-Houston, which would authorize $100 million to pay the direct costs of training and equipping additional deputies and pay overtime costs. It would also direct some funds to build detention beds to house illegal immigrants taken into custody.
The Homeland Security Department recently addressed another major complaint of border sheriffs – the loophole in immigration law that allowed illegal immigrants from nations other than Mexico, known as OTMs, to be released with a "notice to appear," pending deportation proceedings.

This month, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a temporary stop of the notice to appear – known derisively along the border as "catch and release" – as part of a new border security initiative that includes funding for additional Border Patrol agents.

"If they want to fix it, they need to make it permanent," Sheriff Jernigan said. "The OTMs were coming through in droves from all over the world. They'd come up to us, asking where to find a Border Patrol agent. We'd see them later, waiting to hitch a ride along Highway 90. And no one had any idea of where they were going or what they might do once they got there."


It's not just drugs

Not all the border concerns stem from drugs or illegal immigration. In Vega Verde, a neighborhood along the river west of Del Rio that borders a major smuggling route,thieves come across the river, hit the homes there and get back to Mexico before deputies can arrive.

"They're taking guns, jewelry, air conditioners, anything they can get on a raft and get across," Deputy Faz said. "Landowners are frustrated. And my concern is that people will start taking the law in their own hands. What's going to happen if residents take up their hunting rifles against some Zetas bringing a load of dope across?"

Recently, deputies frustrated with the inaction of Mexican authorities staged an impromptu raid, taking boats across the river and seizing stolen property.

The border sheriffs say their main concern is the safety of their residents. "We don't want to be immigration officers," Sheriff Jernigan said. "We just want to make sure our counties are safe. To do that we need help, and that help has to come from the federal government.

"My nightmare is that it will take another 9-11 attack to wake up this country about the vulnerability of the border," he said. "And some border sheriff is going to have to say it came through his county."

Staff Writers Alfredo Corchado in Mexico City and Diane Jennings in Dallas contributed to this report.
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 5:30 am Post subject: Undocumented worker issue may go to voters

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http://www.gjsentinel.com

Undocumented worker issue may go to voters

By By DANIE HARRELSON The Daily Sentinel Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Voters may be asked next year to decide whether Colorado should deny state services to undocumented workers.

The proposed constitutional amendment failed to make the 2005 ballot, but supporters aim to gather the necessary signatures to get it on the 2006 ballot.

Republican lawmakers who support barring illegal immigrants in the state from getting such government services as food stamps say the time is right to change the way the state handles undocumented workers within its borders.
“The political climate wasn’t there (last year),� Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose said.
He and other lawmakers foresee a slew of immigration-related bills on the horizon for the Colorado Legislature to work through next year.

Helping to lead that charge is Rep. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, who met this fall with Arizona lawmakers who pushed through Proposition 200, which prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving government services and benefits.
Schultheis said it’s too early to give details about legislation he intends to push in 2006 to crack down on illegal immigration.

There’s no reason to have a guest-worker program, said Rep. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, “if residents in other countries can just stroll across the border illegally.�

Tighter borders must come first, Penry said.

“The path of least resistance is to walk across the border,� he said. “Ultimately, there has to be a deterrent present.�

He wants to look at those who come to the United States illegally so their children may be born on U.S. soil.

“Citizenship is not a birthright,� Rose said. “The intent of this country is to openly embrace immigration, but the key word is legal. It was never designed for people being in our country illegally.�
The former Denver District Attorney said he can recall many instances in which illegal immigrants were arrested and convicted of felonies but not deported. More money is needed to expedite their removal, Ritter said.

Congressman Bob Beauprez supports a citizen-led initiative in Colorado to cut off illegal immigrants from state services.

The proposed initiative, which needs 68,000 signatures to secure its place on the 2006 ballot, would require people have proof of legal residency to receive public services with the exception of legally mandated emergency services and K-12 education.

Dick Leggitt, campaign manager for Marc Holtzman, said his candidate supports the state following the lead of other states in declaring a state of emergency to qualify for federal assistance or waivers to shoulder the cost of illegal immigration.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:14 pm Post subject: Dozens of Brewster parents ask for action on illegal immigra

--This one is about mayors joining to force the feds to tighten Federal immigration laws and to reimburse communties for the cost . a petition is being circulated

[b]http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/p...601050344/1020

By MARCELA ROJAS
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(hosted by the Brewster Central School District to continue the emotionally charged discussions about illegal immigration

Degnan said he also had joined [color=red]Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, a committee co-founded by Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton that calls on the federal government to tighten its immigration laws and to reimburse communities financially burdened by illegal immigrants. Since December, residents have collected 141 signatures on a petition to get the mayor, Dunford and County Executive Robert Bondi to join. The petition's co-author, Rachel McLaughlin, presented the signatures to officials last night. Dunford said he was 95 percent on board but needed more research.

W- I know this is your story - but I thought I would put it here for easy access!By the Associated Press
January 1, 2006

MANASSAS, Va. -- Manassas has passed a new zoning ordinance that restricts who can live together in a household, a measure that overwhelmingly affects the city's growing Latino population and is coming under harsh criticism by civil-liberties advocates.

Under the ordinance, the City Council narrowed the definition of "family" to mean that extended families can't live in a home. The former definition allowed virtually any relatives to live in a single-family house, as long as the total didn't exceed the occupancy limit.

The city acted within its right to control residential occupancy and the new rule was adopted in response to "broad-based community concerns about overcrowding," city officials said in a statement. "The suggestion that changes in the zoning ordinance reflect any other intent on the part of City government are absolutely false."

Although the city says the measure, passed Dec. 5, was aimed narrowly at dealing with overcrowded housing, Vice Mayor Harry "Hal" Parrish said earlier this month that the law also was aimed at addressing illegal immigration and the problems the city associates with it--including parking, garbage issues and tight school budgets.

"I know there's frustration out in the community from the people we talk to, our citizens, and largely they believe, as do I, that the federal government hasn't followed through with enforcing its (immigration) laws ...," he said.

The new definition restricts households to immediate relatives, plus one unrelated person, and excludes aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and other members of the extended family.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said that it is "strongly inclined" to challenge the ordinance and is examining its legal vulnerabilities, which, some legal experts say, are many.

"It's hard to describe how many parts of the U.S. Constitution this law actually violates . . . " said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. "It interferes with constitutional guarantees regarding contracts (to rent rooms), families, equal protection, even First Amendment issues like freedom of association. ... It's hard to believe any attorney actually reviewed this law."

Legal experts say the ordinance might be challenged under the Fair Housing Act on the grounds that it disproportionately affects Latinos. Whether a challenger would have to show an intent to discriminate is a question the courts haven't settled.

Generally speaking, though, the main problem is that it may violate 14th Amendment protections regarding "family" as described in a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar law. In that case, a woman who lived with two grandsons successfully challenged a ordinance in East Cleveland, Ohio.

"Ours is by no means a tradition limited to respect for the bonds uniting the members of the nuclear family," Justice Lewis Powell wrote in the majority opinion. "The tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins, and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition."

City Attorney Bob Bendall was out of the office on Friday and didn't return a telephone message left at his office.

Council member Judith Hays, however, said it's possible the city went too far.

"I admit we're legislators," she said, "part-time legislators. We do the best we can, and if we made a mistake with this, we will reconsider."

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/vi ... s-virginia
_________________ illegal immigration news in America
_________________http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/27/AR2005122701216.html

another article on the same subject

Manassas Changes Definition Of Family
Activists Criticize New Housing Limits As Anti-Immigrant
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 28, 2005; Page A01

Page 1 of 5-- (QUOTE paragraph from page 4-)


The inspector slid into his Crown Victoria, a police radio on his belt, addresses in hand. It was after 5 p.m., and he and his interpreter rolled into Manassas, down a street of benign ranch houses strung with lights. They parked, walked to a door and knocked.

"Mrs. Chavez?" Victor Purchase asked in the quiet evening.

Victor Purchase, an assistant fire marshal, and interpreter Adriana Vallenas question Jose Ortiz about the number of people living in his townhouse. A new law in Manassas essentially limits households to immediate relatives. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Defining the Family***
A new Manassas ordinance narrows, for zoning, what the city considers a family:

A. An individual;

B. Two or more persons related to the second degree of collateral consanguinity by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship, or otherwise duly authorized custodial relationship, as verified by official public records such as driver's licenses, birth or marriage certificates, court orders or notarized affidavits, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, exclusive of not more than one additional unrelated person;

C. A number of persons, not exceeding three, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit though not related by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship; or

D. Not more than two unrelated persons and their dependent children living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit.

SOURCE: City of Manassas
GRAPHIC: The Washington Post



www.oregonir.org
A man who would tell the truth should have a fast horse" Russian proverb

Thelma already included Ohio links (good job Thelma!) Here's an article from my own archives (no link).

Hudson continues to use trespass law against illegal immigrants
June 11, 2005
HUDSON, N.H. --Police continue to arrest illegal immigrants on trespassing charges, despite pending legal challenges to the practice.
In the latest case, Hudson police pulled over Bernarda Gallego, 32, of Nashua, on Thursday night. She initially was charged with driving with a suspended license, but when officers learned that she was not a legal United States resident, they charged her with trespassing as well.
The arrest of Gallego, who originally is from Colombia, marks the fifth time in two months that police in southern New Hampshire have charged illegal immigrants with trespassing.
New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain was the first to use state law in an attempt to enforce a potential federal immigration violation when he charged Jorge Mora Ramirez, a 21-year-old Mexican, with trespassing in April.
Hudson police since have used the same tactic four times, charging three men and now one woman who couldn't prove they were in the country legally.
Hudson police Chief Richard Gendron says arresting illegal aliens is an important part of national security, but the practice has been a lightning rod for how to deal with illegal immigration on a national level. Last month about 35 people showed up at the New Ipswich and Hudson police stations to protest the arrests.
In May, Sergio Ruiz-Robles, 21, and Margarito Jaramillo Escobar, 23, both undocumented Mexican immigrants living in Nashua, pleaded innocent in Nashua District Court to criminal trespassing in Hudson.
Hudson Police stopped the men for having defective equipment on their car.
The men's lawyers said they plan to challenge the charges on constitutional grounds. In a motion to dismiss, their attorney argued the federal government is responsible for regulating immigration.
A court hearing is scheduled for July 22.
Luiz De Amorim, 42, a Brazilian immigrant living in Hudson, also was cited last month for criminal trespassing and for driving without a valid license after a traffic stop.
De Amorim was unable to produce a valid driver's license at the time. He had a Brazilian driver's license and told the officer that he was not in the country legally, police said.
Gallego is scheduled to be arraigned on June 23 in Nashua District Court.

LINK:
http://www.usimmigrationlawyers.com/res ... rbing.html
HEADLINE:

Florida State Congressman, Curbing Illegal Immigration
Weldon Speaks at Press Conference to Promote Illegal Immigration Reforms

SUMMARY: Weldon recently introduces the Truth in Immigration Act (TRIM) which would penalize countries that fail to cooperate with the U.S. in curbing illegal immigration into the U.S. [Note: What article says the bill does, not my analysis]


DATE: Washington, D.C., Dec 8, 2005

Sheriff Beck

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-11293-sherrif.html+beck