Thread: Del Monte Raid In Portland Oregon- Mayor Potter against it

I wrote my letter yesterday evening. Here it is:

To: mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:40 PM
Subject: How can you support illegal aliens in the workplace?


In your interview, you said: “‘I certainly understand why federal officials executed criminal warrants against three individuals who stole and sold Social Security numbers, but to go after local workers who are here to support their families while filling the demands of local businesses for their labor is bad policy.’â€

LynnS, great letter to the mayor. Good facts and backup of your facts, I simply emailed him about what a putz he was for aiding and abeting illegal aliens and not representing his voters will.

It is interesting to me that Tom Chamberlain's (Oregon AFL-CIO) comments seem to be trying to placate all sides. He remarks about the cost to American workers of outsourcing of jobs to Mexico; but also about how conditions in Mexico have caused a migration to the US.

So how are we supposed to fix all of this, Tom?

I know that unions have for the last decade been on a severe rag against NAFTA. I never really studied the isssue that much....However (hmmmm).....Could opposition to NAFTA (by now a canon of the union creed) be transferred to the next big thing of "globalizing" America: the NAU? I think this would be a very interesting strategy. Hardly anyone gets out and hoops and hollers as much as NAFTA opponents....although I think the US Congress had better get ready for the coming march of United States sovereignty defenders!!

Tom C., like many people on the liberal side, perhaps is quite ill informed about the veritable army of American volunteers who have gone abroad, frequently south of the border, to remedy injustice, i.e. poverty and natural disasters. I handed out some pamphlets recently at a support rally for two Hispanic men who were in a conflict with some teenagers. The literature told about just ONE project , in Guatemala, where US volunteers were fighting poverty. That's one project out of thousands.

Americans are giving so much! Billions of dollars very year! Hundreds of thousands of volunteers! Please stop referring to us as bigots....

Please realize Mr. Potter, Portland City Council, AFLCIO, Change to Win, Immigrant Rights Coalition, et al...
Ameicans are already loaded to the gills with projects to improve the rest of the world. We don't need more people forcing their way in here... and sinking the lifeboat that is the hope of the world!

I think Senor Potter should put his money were his mouth is not only should he share his ssn with some of them like Berfie said how about letting them stay in his home to save them some cash and whoever can't fit in the house just pitch some tents in his yard.

I found this article which describes what kind of help detainees are getting:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/06/360992.shtml

Can you imagine how it would pan out if everyone took mercy on anyone who decried 'but the conditions were horrible!' ?? Just imagine! A defense strategy in the courtroom could include "but, Your Honor, the conditions I was living in was horrible" and the Judge and jury show mercy and do not
convict. This could be THE excuse for all criminals in America and could be used from grand theft auto to breaking-and-entering and even any white collar crime. Anyone having to deal with bad conditions has an excuse now, a reason to be given something that is not theirs, that they do not have a right to take.

We can't even care for those inside our own borders. It's pathetic that we continue to stretch across the world to help others when we can't help ourselves.

Originally Posted by LynnS

We can't even care for those inside our own borders. It's pathetic that we continue to stretch across the world to help others when we can't help ourselves.

It sickens me to know that our government is prosecuting single mothers for fraudulently receiving aid to dependent children, and families for illegally receiving food stamps while providing aid and comfort for illegal immigrants. What has happened to the premise of 'equal protection?'

There's no equality whatsoever. This is a big hot-point issue that people are contesting. It's been shoved down our throats for decades and now THIS ????

Originally Posted by LynnS

Can you imagine how it would pan out if everyone took mercy on anyone who decried 'but the conditions were horrible!' ?? Just imagine! A defense strategy in the courtroom could include "but, Your Honor, the conditions I was living in was horrible" and the Judge and jury show mercy and do not
convict.

I tend to think it already is, LynnS. The prison system has become a welfare system for people who are too dyfunctional to remain in "regular" society. At the opposite end of the spectrum there are so many high rolling businesspeople doing outrageous things who never, ever, get caught: offshore tax havens, safety violations, procuring illegal labor.

This is why I like Lou Dobbs' theme of "War on the Middle Class".... because somebody ultimately pays the bill on all of this. It's the taxpayers. And many of them have resorted to unofficial, black market businesses. I used to believe it was a very small portion of the population that did that but now I know it is very extensive. In working 30 years in construction I have gone from optimistic to very cynical as I observe how widespread cheating of taxpayer funded programs actually is.

If you ever spend much time trying to be a whistle blower ( and I would like to know if you do) I think you will find that law enforcement agencies feel helpless in so many cases because either they don't have the manpower or because such activites are difficult to prove in a court of law.

Even these present ICE deportation are only a drop in the bucket and require extensive investigation I do hope though that they will send a sufficient fear to other law breakers. I was just working on a project, for a beach resort, where the maintenance and cleaning staff had many immigrants. Nobody seems to care because it is not a business with hundreds of employees.