Thread: Greeley Citizens Speak Up...............

Greeley, Weld law enforcement are doing their jobs to rid us of criminals



Letters to Editor
December 29, 2006


What part of "criminal" does the Weld County citizenry not understand? Assault, menacing, theft, kidnapping (of which I have first-hand knowledge) are all, among others, criminal acts. Included in the criminal category is identity and Social Security numbers theft. It is stealing! If you break the law, you are a criminal, and you should expect to at some point be caught and pay the consequences for choices you have made. Being a citizen, legal or otherwise, has nothing to do with it. If you are an employer who chooses to hire a criminal, you in turn should be held accountable. Illegal activity in Greeley and Weld County, from slight infractions to the most heinous, is beginning to be dealt with, and yet in the entire front section of the Dec. 13 paper all we see are law enforcement people being subjected to obscenities and threats as they do their job.

Face it, Greeley, we have problems here that we must be realistic about, and then we must all work to become part of the solution. To stand by and allow criminal activity to take place while turning a blind eye will make all of us more vulnerable to becoming victims. As a lifetime member of the Greeley community, I applaud those who are making an effort daily to help those who are in need and deserve help, and I applaud, as well, those who are willing to take it on the chin as they begin to clean up our problems.

Our law enforcement agencies must remain transparent, from the district attorney on down, and our citizenry must be willing to accept the fact that we have criminals among us and be willing to stand by our law enforcement agencies as they make the effort to clean up the mess.

Wake up, Weld County. It is up to all of us to help keep our country clean!

Colleen Flack, Greeley

American citizens are the ones who have the right to any employment
This is a comment toward the illegal immigrants that come into the United States and the Tribune articles on the Swift meat company.

I am a born American citizen. The United States is my country, and I stand by it. I do not have a prejudiced bone in my body. I like everyone no matter what color, race or creed. But when it comes to jobs in the U.S., American citizens are the only ones who have the right to these jobs, any job! They look for work to take care of themselves or their families.

Now the illegal immigrants who sneak in or are brought in to the U.S. do this knowing what could happen if they are caught. Even the ones who have been here for a year or more know what could happen if they are caught.

What also makes me upset is the Latino U.S. citizens. They get mad at our police and security forces when their illegal friends or family members are caught and deported. What right do they have to feel this way? They know it's wrong and illegal, but they harbor the illegals anyway. They call it racism when they're caught. Why don't they blame themselves for doing things that are against the law? This is America, and they should uphold America's laws and quit blaming everyone else for their mistakes. If you become an American citizen, then you should act like an American citizen. You are no longer in Mexico. You left that behind.

And all companies or farmers that hire illegals should be punished. They also know they are going against the law.

Jeff Lindsey, Greeley

Raid was a publicity stunt to make us think something was being done
The Swift & Co. raid was nothing but a huge publicity stunt. It does nothing to solve the real problem. You can't hold employers accountable for hiring illegals when a federal program (Basic Pilot) says they're legal. Fear of deportation does not keep illegal immigrants from coming to this country. Rounding up 12 million illegals and sending them home, if it were even possible, would send the economy into turmoil.

It's true that fewer immigrants would benefit the economy in the long run and raise wages for low-income earners. However, there are some jobs that Americans won't do for any price, and immigrants have always filled those jobs.

The real question is just how many immigrants do we need? Reasonable estimates put this number at far more than we currently legally allow. Since most of our immigrant workforce is undocumented, the government has no way to effectively monitor and control the number of immigrants working in this country.

What's the solution? Eliminate the underground system that currently controls our immigration policies by creating a better alternative. A reasonable guest-worker program would create a legal way for employers to find workers for unpopular jobs. A new federal employment verification system (more advanced than Basic Pilot) would make it possible for employers to know who's illegal. (And harder for them to say, "But I didn't know.") This has been known for years, yet our lawmakers have sat on their hands and done nothing. They don't want to upset their corporate campaign contributors by denying them their cheap, undocumented labor. So instead of a real solution, we get a publicity stunt aimed at making you and me think they're doing something about immigration. Yet, illegals keep coming.

No more publicity stunts! Let our lawmakers know that we want the immigration problem fixed!

David White, Greeley

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/2 ... 1/TRIBEDIT

Yes, ordinary citizens are appalled at the situation in Greeley. Powerful forces are working for the illegals, though. The mortgage industry, banks, autodealers, etc. have found ways to cater to them.

I know , but if the citizens stand united for right I believe there is a much stronger force that will stand behind them. I admire them all! I know they are doing it in the face of much adversity.

Of course they are criminals, but our politicans cater to them. They can't vote, at least legally because they are not citizens. But our politicans still cater to them knowing they take entry level jobs our own poor black and hispanic citizens need.

And what really makes me angry is that Bush is leading the charge to legalize these criminals. And I voted for him.

I feel the same way Hawkeye, and I voted for him as well, believing I was voting for the lesser of the two evils.....however evil is still evil, and what he is allowing to happen to our country is pure evil.