Thread: New Alipac'er

Hello everyone! I have been reading on your site for quite some time and thought it was time to make my voice heard. I am about to ask you all for any help you can give me.

I live near Oberlin, Ohio, which is considering becoming a 'sanctuary city'. I have been attending City Council meetings, but because I don't live IN Oberlin, have been referred to as an "outsider". At the last City Council meeting, I was pretty much called (although not directly) a hatemonger and a fearmonger for simply stating facts. The other people who are against the sanctuary resolution being pushed through are from outside Oberlin so far. They have also attended City Council meetings there with me.

I am trying to get Lorain Countians involved in this fight and could use any and all help/suggestions you can give me.

I spoke with William Gheen this morning via telephone, and even though he was about to go on the radio, he was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give me some suggestions. He suggested I look up cities/areas that have enacted 287(g), which Oberlin City Council does not want to touch, and see what successes other cities, etc. have had with this program. I could sure use your help with that if anyone is willing to jump into the fray.

I have used ALIPAC extensively to research and it has been very helpful indeed. Part of my problem is I am physically handicapped with a very limited income, and some of the suggestions William came up with would be very hard for me to utilize.

Also, I am a woman living alone in a fairly small/sparsely populated county, and I don't want to open myself up to any attacks by illegals or their supporters. I'm not trying to make excuses here; I'm just somewhat limited by these things and the fact that I am working, so far, alone locally. The folks who attended the City Council meeting are all at least an hour away from me, if not further, so they won't be much help with passing out flyers, etc.

The local newspapers here did print small articles and one wants to be able to quote me, but without me telling them my 'real' name, they refuse to. I cannot give them my real name, because my first name is an unusual name and I would be easy to find by 'opponents'.

I am hoping that by being a part of a cohesive and knowledgeable group, my fight will be made stronger.

Ah...anyway, enough rambling.

I guess I just wanted to stop by, say hello, and ask/beg for help!

Welcome, welcome PatrioticMe

Boy you have been busy, I am so proud of you. Start calling your Governor and Attorney General offices, too. Asked them to get the 287g Program in the local Sheriff's and County Jails. Check with the State Unemployment Office and asked if they are E-Verifying all I-9s (immigrant form to work in America).

Call your County Commissioners and complain, and complain. This city is in a county.

PatrioticMe,

Welcome to ALIPAC. You are doing absolutely everything you should.

I'll send you a PM about some suggestions. I'm sure others will as well.

Dixie

We have lots of experienced activists here that are from or have been involved in places like Hazelton, PA and Farmers Branch, TX as well as Waukegan and Carpenterville, IL.

I will try to clear my work schedule and post some recommendations for you as well and we may be able to send a letter from ALIPAC to these lawmakers.

W

Welcome PatrioticMe! ALIPAC is the perfect place for you and your situation. If there is anything that I can do to help, just let me know.

Welcome to Alipac we are glad to have you with us.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I am feeling pretty alone here at the moment. I have taken time to cry because I was very upset at the insinuation by a couple of city council members that I was a hatemonger.

I've spent money I could definitely not afford, and I'm tapped out right now. I don't quite know where to fight next, but am thinking of trying to work on my own city council members. I've already talked with my councilman's wife and she is definitely against illegal immigration and is pretty much aware of what is involved with it.

I tried to get some reports ready for Oberlin City Council, but ran out of money and my physical handicap stopped me short after working on the report for days. I am now thinking of continuing, but at a slower, less trying (both physically and financially) pace and just get the report to my city council instead. If I can't stop them in Oberlin, maybe I can stop them at my city or the county level. I just don't know which is best.

Personally, I think Oberlin is a lost cause.

If I understood one of the Council members correctly, Oberlin College students actually wrote this resolution! When did we start letting children make the laws in this nation? In the resolution, Berkly, CA was brought up, so that should let you know what I'm up against here. Oberlin is a very "liberal" town and helped hide slaves 150 years ago, and Mark Farhman of Catholic Charities, used this to compare to helping "undocumented immigrants" today. It's enough to make ya wanna spit!

The Police Chief is against the resolution and stated that he already doesn't question immigration status of people who call for help, so I'm at a loss to understand why they need a resolution for something they already do!

One good thing was, there was a gentleman there who is retired from ICE and lives in the area. I would bet he's the one who got ICE there in the first place...but he also spoke at the meeting and is against illegal immigration.

I'm rambling again! My mind is just racing at this point and I don't know where to start. William suggested looking up how to write press release and send it to the local papers and following up on that. Luckily, I have some writing experience, so I should be able to pull that one off.

I am loosely affiliated with the group that attended the City Council meeting, but very loosely. I only found out about them when the first article about Oberlin hit the papers here. Anyhow, I am supposed to write the news release and send it on to them for approval before I send it to the papers.

I also thought about calling the Assistant Editor of the Oberlin Tribune, who's article regarding the resolution I posted on teh News thread here. Someone in the "group" told me they called him a couple of weeks ago, and he seemed to be against the sanctuary resolution. If he is, he might be a good ally. He could also pose as an ally and be on the side of the opposition, but his article does give those of us who were "anti-sanctuary" equal time in his article.

I spoke with Ms. Leise, from the Chronicle Telegram, who wrote the other article, and she is very ill- or non-informed about illegal immigration and the misery it brings. She said she got back to the office late....about 3 hours after the paper was put to bed that night, and had to beg for a few minutes to write the article and then only had a small amount of space all newpapers leave for any late news to print. She told another of us who attended the meeting that they edited the article to death. My point is, she may also be an ally if I can get her educated about the problem. I sent her a whopping email yesterday with tons of links. I also posted some in the comments section of the Chronicle TElegram and advised her in my email that she could certainly go there to get more information.

Ok...any other suggestions? If you will please, give me your opinion on calling the Oberlin Tribune. They don't have my "real" name...that is, they do, but it's my LEGAL first name, which is quite common and a name I have never used, so I could just continue with that. I want to wait until I hear from the semi-local organization that attended the meeting, but I also want to be able to mention it to him in hopes of rallying Lorain Countians to the group. William suggested putting together a website, but I can't afford it, don't know how to do it myself, and am pressed for time at this point. I can't wait too long to call the Tribune because one of the most important points to get a news article to be news is that it has to be timely!!

Oh! And Steve Salvi was there too! He told them that some cities are being sued...at least, I think he said that! lol He did also say that he believes it is against our Consitution, but one of the City Council members asked the City attorney and he said "no".

The Mayor of Kipton also spoke against illegal immigration. His wife is a LEGAL immigrant from Brazil (I think that's the nation she came from) and his son, who is currently in our military, is also. So, we have some good/smart people on our side but we're all "outsiders"...not as intellectually superior as Oberlin, you know....

Welcome PatrioticMe, we know how frustrating it is.

I hold onto the possibility of this depression being the illegals worst nightmare.
The further "we" (Americans) sink, the less we have of other countries people sucking all our services dry..
Wait till the food, fuel, services, money, and water shortage part of our depression.
This will be some exciting times for this illegal activist.

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

Welcome PatrioticMe, we know how frustrating it is.

I hold onto the possibility of this depression being the illegals worst nightmare.
The further "we" (Americans) sink, the less we have of other countries people sucking all our services dry..
Wait till the food, fuel, services, money, and water shortage part of our depression.
This will be some exciting times for this illegal activist.

One man spoke for illegal immigration and the sanctuary resolution and he read a letter that he said his wife wrote. He claimed she was afraid to attend because she was pregnant and "responsible for two lives" now. I think she is an illegal alien.

Anyhow, her letter said that she knew some illegal aliens in Oberlin and that "they don't want to stay here. They only want to earn enough money to be able to buy a home" in their native country!!

Translation: We don't want to BE Americans...we only want to take everything we can from you. We don't care if dangerous criminals also invade you. We don't care if an American family suffers because we took their job...we want your money!