Thread: Illegal immigration big issue in Calif. election

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California congressional election featuring the dark-horse candidacy of border-control activist Jim Gilchrist has thrust the issue of illegal immigration to the political forefront.

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Gilchrist became a lightning rod in the immigration debate by founding the local Minutemen volunteer border patrol and is a long-shot candidate in Tuesday's special election in one of California's most solidly Republican districts.

But political analysts say his presence on the ballot forced Republican Party favorite John Campbell and others to take a hard line on immigration -- or risk alienating voters frustrated over the issue.

Gilchrist, running as an American Independent Party candidate, drew 14 percent of the vote in the October 5 primary.

"Some of Gilchrist's vote was a protest vote. Voters sent a message that immigration was an important issue for them and they anticipate that the Republican Party will pay attention to it in the future," said Luis DeSipio, a political science professor at University of California, Irvine.

Gilchrist campaigned on a platform that holds the nation's porous border with Mexico and the influx of illegal immigrants responsible for California's crowded schools and bankrupt hospitals and for threatening national security.

On a national level, President George W. Bush has had to balance the demands of his conservative base for tougher immigration policies and the Republican Party's desire to court the fast-growing Hispanic vote.

He sparked divisions in his own party by proposing a "guest worker" plan that could allow illegal workers to remain in the United States. In his radio address on Saturday, Bush promoted his plan to toughen border security.

VOTERS BURNED OUT

Interest in the California contest has faded since the primary, with voters burned out by the state's divisive special election in November and distracted by the Thanksgiving holiday.

Although there have been few public opinion polls, Campbell -- a rich, churchgoing entrepreneur and former California Republican state senator -- is expected to win on Tuesday.

The victor will fill the seat vacated by Christopher Cox, who was appointed chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Gilchrist raised awareness of illegal immigration and made it the front-burner issue. But it is not everyone's No. 1 issue, and you can't get 51 percent of the vote on one issue," said Matt Cunningham, an unaffiliated California political strategist.

"Campbell is way, way ahead. He will win overwhelmingly," said Cunningham, saying he expected very low voter turnout.

An estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live and work in the United States and more than 1 million migrants every year try to slip across rivers and deserts on the U.S.-Mexico border in search of mostly low-skilled jobs.

The Minuteman volunteers, who take their name from a militia in the American Revolution, first turned up in the Arizona desert in April to patrol for illegals crossing the border from Mexico. At least two competing groups started similar patrols in San Diego in July.

Bush last week tried to balance differences within the Republican Party by calling for stronger border controls with Mexico, while vowing the United States would remain a "welcoming society."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051203/us_nm/california_dc

"Gilchrist raised awareness of illegal immigration and made it the front-burner issue. But it is not everyone's No. 1 issue, and you can't get 51 percent of the vote on one issue," said Matt Cunningham, an unaffiliated California political strategist.

Hmmmm...according to Lou Dobbs poll, over 50% ranked Broken Borders their No. 1 concern.

An estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live and work in the United States and more than 1 million migrants every year try to slip across rivers and deserts on the U.S.-Mexico border in search of mostly low-skilled jobs.

REUTERS--where do you get your figures? That 11 million number is over 6 years old...and according to US Border Patrol, 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 come in annually, not 1 million. WHERE do you get your sloppy inaccurate figures? There are 50,000,000 illegal aliens already in the US.

Bush last week tried to balance differences within the Republican Party by calling for stronger border controls with Mexico, while vowing the United States would remain a "welcoming society."

"welcoming society"....WHO TOLD HIM we were a welcoming society? We've been funding US Immigration CONTROL activities for almost 100 years. We are not a "welcoming society"; we have never been one. We've done everything within our power to control the entry of foreign nationals into the US since its inception. This is critical to our survival as a nation to only allow a certain number that can be absorbed and sustained successfully without jeopardizing American interests or subjecting the immigrants to substandard low lifes. It is mutually beneficial to Americans and Immigrants and ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to our survival as a nation.

Who does this Wackident think he is: The Welcome Wagon for the US Chamber of Commerce? Then get his ass down to the border with pom poms and bundt cakes and OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

What this reporter FAILED to mention is that in a low voter turnout election. Anything can happen!

W

Jill Serjeant at http://Www.reuters.com wrote the article
if you go to their site and scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Contact us, you will have the option of tellling the editor what you think of her article-

Thanks Thelma,

BTW, you don't have to use the URL feature to have an active link to another website. Just type it in one of two ways.

www.alipac.us

or

http://www.alipac.us

Our software spots links and activates them for you. The URL feature can help you shorten links or make them say something else. Brian, JP, and some others know how to do that better than I do.

W

Judy,

I keep seeing the same unique figure you give in your posts and wonder how you arrived at it. I remember now how you did that you are confusing the two terms household and family. If you assume that each household is a family of the average size for a family then it comes out at 50 million.

R

Interest in the California contest has faded since the primary, with voters burned out by the state's divisive special election in November and distracted by the Thanksgiving holiday.

There was nothing divisive about the last election. It was the public employee unions, politicians, and the media against the citizens.

The citizens lost, big time.

It's just business as usual in California.

No Richard, I'm not confusing family with household.

This is again how I came up with the number AFTER I discovered through the US Census in 2000 that we had an extra 50,000,000 people in the United States. Trying to find out who these people are led me to wondering if they were illegal aliens.

First I found a report by Bear Stearns that said there were 20,000,000 or MORE.

Second I found a report from the Social Security Administraiton in the NYT and NY Daily News that on April 15, 2005, illegal aliens filed 7,200,000 tax returns. Tax returns are filed by Household, Mom, Dad, kids. Assume 4 per houshold on average x 7,200,000 and there are 28,800,000 just in this group that files tax returns.

That leaves 22,000,000 of the extra 50,000,000 unaccounted for. At least half of the illegals in the United States work off the books, so that was easy.

Families do not file tax returns because a family could consist of cousins, grandmas, aunties and uncles, grandpas. A legal household for tax purposes is a married couple and their children or a single person. The average household size for Americans is 2.7 or rounded to 3. I added 1 for the illegals because they are younger and having families so there would be at least 1 more per household on average.

Then you add the incarcerated and it's at least 50,000,000....one-sixth the US Population which is why they are so visible from coast to coast town to town and the problem so massive.

The powers that be are boldly lying about the 11,000,0000. There are 11,000,000 just in the state of California.

One day soon, you'll hear the real number. The government already knows what it is and just isn't telling us because well...think how upset people will be when they learn one-sixth our population is foreign nationals in the US illegally in violation of our US Immigration Laws and they LIED to us report after report after report. This would include the US Congress, our Press, and the White House and the Cabinet.

Tom Ridge when he was Secretary of Homeland Security said he couldn't do anything about illegal immigration because:

1. We don't know WHO they are

2. We don't know WHERE they are

3. We don't know WHAT they are doing

Well....liar, liar pants afire. The IRS and Social Security Administration know for at least 30,000,000....WHO they are, WHERE they are, and WHAT they are doing. Tax returns include name, address, telephone number, employer, W-2, or location of business or enterprise. They mail the refunds after they issue the Child Care Credits so they have their address and contact information along with spouse and dependants.

Which means the PEW CENTER has been lying for the government. The PEW CENTER is the one that keeps using the same number year after year after year when they KNOW their number is absolutely false.

As a resident of California, the problem is that Californians dont care enough or they are simply to ignorant to realize or care. They simply dont see it has a problem from my view. It is sad, you stand up for something i get branded a racist!

P

Judy,

NO!

Furthermore you have just proved my point that you are equating household and family. I am considered a household for tax purpose, that is a household of one person.

Equally erroneous as your error in the opposite direction would be extrapolating that every household is composed of one person.