Thread: At Risk...

Being here in the silicon forest near Portland, OR

I live in Gresham, gateway to the many nurseries where these illegals work. Gresham is fast becoming a cesspool, take a drive through West Gresham, also known as Rockwood. On the outside it appears to be ok, but drive down the back streets and you will see a fast approaching degredation and as well lots of gang graffiti.

My husband and I used to live there, years ago and cannot imagine it now.

Now we live in an apartment complex (we live in one of the duplexes unattached, our only bit of sanity), that within the last year has become a haven for illegal aliens (they all know each other and/or are related to each other and got their friends and family to move in), and all of our American neighbors are gone. The landlord rakes in the rent, but never puts a penny into these places, as well the apartments (not us) are so overrun with cockroaches, and the landlord refuses to take care of it all, that even many of the illegals with a little more time in the U.S. have moved out in disgust, yes he is one of those landlords.

I have seen Gresham police come and go frequently here, certainly not to my liking. We stay only because we simply cannot afford to move. We have seen police stand by while they were enforcing an eviction of gang members. About in October, a young man, about 24, approached my 13 year old son and asked him if he wanted to buy a "tamale", now he did not have one of the usual "tamale buckets" we see them with, he had a shaved head, baggy pants with his blue bandana folded just so hanging from his pants pocket, and on his earlobe my son saw "S 13) tatooed (he said there was something else he just could not see it at the angle this guy had his head turned, "MS 13?)

No Oregon is not yet as hard hit as say California (my nephew is attending BIOLA down there and he said it is so scary there), but do we in Oregon want to igonre it until it does resemble California? I do not. Maybe where you live in Beaverton (?) it is not so noticable, yet (I have a friend who lives off of Capitol Hwy and 43rd), but it is over here, and in many other places, and if it is left unchecked it will get worse and reach lovely Westside, thus bringing down those $500,000.00 property values to as little as some of Portland inner Eastside homes.

And let me say this, it is not so much about what racial group we are talking about, but it is about having an enormous influx of already dysfunctional people who hail from third world countries where public urination and drunkeness, as well as it being commonplace to deal with corruption every minute. How can these people assimilate? So far I have seen almost none who have or will, as well they seem content to live as they had in their respective nations, and simply do better financially here at the cost and detriment of Americans/Oregonians.

My personal opinion is this, I know why Oregonians are not ready yet to really dig their heels in and fight, they are still too comfortable, and have yet to be hard hit in most areas, especially where you are, even my friend is all for enforcement, but does not see it as a big deal to get involved as it has not affected her yet.

Justfred, come over to this area, and see how bad it has become. The only grocery store (Fred Meyers) had to close because of the excessive amount of theft, it is now sitting empty in the middle of this already blighted neighborhood. Better yet, don't just drive through, get out and walk around. Then check with the Gresham Police Department about all the problems they have in that particular area and talk with the Gang Enforcement officers (ask for Tom Walker) and ask them the demographics of crime in Gresham by ethnicity.

I think you will see why I have entered this fight. Good luck.

(P.S. I grew up in Sandy,and have lived in Gresham since I was 19 (20 years) and have seen the progression of this once nice berry and cabbage farming community turn sour, it has been sad)

To 2ndamendsis, I will be happy to go into greater detail on my tax plan at a later time/date, but need to get ready for work, now. It is actually a rather simple twist to the current tax structure which would give tax breaks to all business and individuals earning less than $192,000/year while encouraging long term investment, rewarding sweat equity and penalizing those who receive obscene compensation (yes, I have taken the liberty of creating my own definition of 'obscene compensation).

I don't know fred..........seems like I've heard this 'plan' a time or two.

Personally, I resent anyone putting a $figure on my income as that simply takes my desire to be creative and produce more - and deflates it. Shoot, why should I work hard only to have you take my money and give it to ILLEGALS and lazy American folk?

** Let me add here, for complete understanding, that I don't consider taking care of our elderly {Legal} our cronically ill and occassional hardship case {Legal} an entitlement.

Now, personally, I don't mind paying fairly but I so very much mind YOU taking MY income, made by the sweat of my brow & the brains in my head..........and INCREASING even more, my tax burden............to pay for entitlements to do nothing, know nothing, greedy, lazy folks. And especially those same thieves that are in my country ILLEGALLY.

Before we consider implementing your TAX PLAN, why don't we begin to close the off shore tax gaps for say...........Klinton, Bush, Pelosi and maybe even you? Let us force, through whatever plan is appropriate, for all those whose fortunes exceed ? {what number should we pick here?} to redistribute their wealth to the less fortunate.

Now that sounds like a plan. What do you guys think?

Originally Posted by CCUSA

Hi Justfred,

Illegal immigration touches all aspects of some other major concerns of this country.

The undeclared open borders policy our government has blindly turned an eye to is overwhelming our country. Increasing local and state taxes, 2.1 Billion in NJ because of 372,000 illegals, the threat of terrorists coming over our border or who have flown in , some of which may already be hear, drunken driving accidents by illlegals is a grave problem and in California alone, 20-30% of the prisoners are illegal and figure could be higher now that they are screening ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

Increase in street gangs from South America, MS-13, salvadors gangs. Voter ID fraud, IDENTITIY THEFT Social Security fraud, social services fraud, school overcrowded with children who DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH, won't assimilate, sending 45 Billion dollars out of this country to South America that is not taxed, Our treasonous government trying to create the NORTH AMERICAN UNION AND NAFTA HIGHWAY WITHOUT GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT. (BY FLOODING OUR NATION WITH FOREIGN NATIONALS AKA ILLEGAL ALIENS) WHILE TRYING TO MERGE OUR COUNTRY WITH MEXICO AND CANADA THROUGH SPP WHILE 85% OF THE NATION IS AGAINST IT.

Here are some informative articles:


http://link.toolbot.com/cnsnews.com/59681

http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/2006poll.html

http://link.toolbot.com/statesmanjournal.com/59682

AMERICANS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION PAC

Hi, CCUSA...

I had the (personal) bandwidth to look at your links and found some informative.

The first link, concerning the Senate bill for amnesty was something I was not even aware of, it was completely off my radar screen. I am not a proponent of amnesty for illegals. I think that history has shown that it did not help the problem, only worsened it by encouraging more illegals to come across the borders.

The information provided in the second link I am skeptical about. what concerns me is the source (cyberlink news service) which I am somewhat familiar, and know it's reputation for being a sorce of salatious news stories designed to elicit a desired reaction with less concern about accuracy than agenda. I understand where someone might be concerned about terrorists coming across the border, but if memory serves me, the terrorists we know about have all come into the country legally, albeit that they sometimes overstayed their visas.

The third link was concerning legal immigration, and I have to agree. I don't think we need to be concerned about importing new workers (especially into high level skilled jobs) until we employ ALL our citizens and make arrangement to train new people.

The fourth link didn't work.

Originally Posted by AmericanElizabeth

Being here in the silicon forest near Portland, OR

I live in Gresham, gateway to the many nurseries where these illegals work. Gresham is fast becoming a cesspool, take a drive through West Gresham, also known as Rockwood. On the outside it appears to be ok, but drive down the back streets and you will see a fast approaching degredation and as well lots of gang graffiti.

My husband and I used to live there, years ago and cannot imagine it now.

Now we live in an apartment complex (we live in one of the duplexes unattached, our only bit of sanity), that within the last year has become a haven for illegal aliens (they all know each other and/or are related to each other and got their friends and family to move in), and all of our American neighbors are gone. The landlord rakes in the rent, but never puts a penny into these places, as well the apartments (not us) are so overrun with cockroaches, and the landlord refuses to take care of it all, that even many of the illegals with a little more time in the U.S. have moved out in disgust, yes he is one of those landlords.

I have seen Gresham police come and go frequently here, certainly not to my liking. We stay only because we simply cannot afford to move. We have seen police stand by while they were enforcing an eviction of gang members. About in October, a young man, about 24, approached my 13 year old son and asked him if he wanted to buy a "tamale", now he did not have one of the usual "tamale buckets" we see them with, he had a shaved head, baggy pants with his blue bandana folded just so hanging from his pants pocket, and on his earlobe my son saw "S 13) tatooed (he said there was something else he just could not see it at the angle this guy had his head turned, "MS 13?)

No Oregon is not yet as hard hit as say California (my nephew is attending BIOLA down there and he said it is so scary there), but do we in Oregon want to igonre it until it does resemble California? I do not. Maybe where you live in Beaverton (?) it is not so noticable, yet (I have a friend who lives off of Capitol Hwy and 43rd), but it is over here, and in many other places, and if it is left unchecked it will get worse and reach lovely Westside, thus bringing down those $500,000.00 property values to as little as some of Portland inner Eastside homes.

And let me say this, it is not so much about what racial group we are talking about, but it is about having an enormous influx of already dysfunctional people who hail from third world countries where public urination and drunkeness, as well as it being commonplace to deal with corruption every minute. How can these people assimilate? So far I have seen almost none who have or will, as well they seem content to live as they had in their respective nations, and simply do better financially here at the cost and detriment of Americans/Oregonians.

My personal opinion is this, I know why Oregonians are not ready yet to really dig their heels in and fight, they are still too comfortable, and have yet to be hard hit in most areas, especially where you are, even my friend is all for enforcement, but does not see it as a big deal to get involved as it has not affected her yet.

Justfred, come over to this area, and see how bad it has become. The only grocery store (Fred Meyers) had to close because of the excessive amount of theft, it is now sitting empty in the middle of this already blighted neighborhood. Better yet, don't just drive through, get out and walk around. Then check with the Gresham Police Department about all the problems they have in that particular area and talk with the Gang Enforcement officers (ask for Tom Walker) and ask them the demographics of crime in Gresham by ethnicity.

I think you will see why I have entered this fight. Good luck.

(P.S. I grew up in Sandy,and have lived in Gresham since I was 19 (20 years) and have seen the progression of this once nice berry and cabbage farming community turn sour, it has been sad)

Hi, Elizabeth...good to see a fellow Oregonian.

I do live on the west side (Aloha) and my office is in Hillsboro/Tanasbourne, for the record. I actually do get out quite a bit in my job and visit all parts of town (including Gresham) occasionally, but do not get there as often as I did five years ago and previously - and I know, personally, of what you're talking about.

However, when I was perusing that neighborhood on a more frequent basis I didn't see a large hispanic population, but did notice the blight of 'tagged' businesses, strip clubs, bars, lingerie 'modelling' shops, prostitution and drugs and really nothing attractive about Gresham - but chalked it up to poor economic conditions more than issues of citizenry or race.

You see, that is how it is with urban blight - not so much race driven as it is economic driven.

Okay 2ndamendsis, do you think I should post the tax plan here, start a new topic or email it to you?

Try checking with the Rockwood Neighborhood Association (believe it or not they do have one) about the demographics of that neighborhood.

When we lived there, about 6 years ago, it had become predominantly Hispanic (manily illegal) and most of the complexes have a lot of indentured illegals, working peddling drugs during the day while trying to pay off their debts to cartels for getting them here. The Oregonian had an article about this, oh...I think it was in late 2005.

I can tell you right now, the percentage is most likely 75% Hispanic and then there are the Russian immigrants who have moved into that neighborhood, maybe a few black and white, but not many.

In fact, I myself will try to find out what that particular neighborhoods ethnic demographics are for you, and you could even go as far as calling Gresham police if you'd like to find out which neighborhood they spend most of their time in, and who the majority of their arrests are in that neighborhood.

As for Greshams economy, not much different than the Westside. Most of the homeowners over here do not work here, they travel downtown and westside as well to jobs, maybe some to Vancouver.

Neighborhoods here in the metro area reflect gentrification. North Portland now is becoming the new "hip" area for the up and coming artist types and non-consumeristic intelectuals to live. What happened a while back to gritty NW Portland. SE is still pretty gritty and highly blue collar, and unfortunately, known as "Felony Flats" for a reason. Gresham was once a nice little tonw just beyond Portland, and was really a great place for families to live and not have to be in the city. Now it is turnign gritty, but also becoming a haven for illegals and the gangs which have followed that "migration".

I cannot complain, Gresham is nowhere as bad as some place are, and that is why I decided to get involved now.

We cannot force you to feel like we do. This is very important to us, and it will remain so, no amount of talk or debate will change what we see as an absolute failure of our government to enforce our laws, and even share in the responsibility of encouraging illegal immigration. We also hold accountable the governments of the illegals, and their blatant encouragement to come here against our laws, and last, but not least, the illegal aliens themselves for thinking they and their families are the ONLY ones that matter, along with their race, and they will cheat, lie and steal their way into the American dream, while leaving honest Americans out in the cold.

Justfred, there is only so much room at this table we call America, and when uninvited guests come in and shove aside those already here, it is wrong.

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

To 2ndamendsis, I will be happy to go into greater detail on my tax plan at a later time/date, but need to get ready for work, now. It is actually a rather simple twist to the current tax structure which would give tax breaks to all business and individuals earning less than $192,000/year while encouraging long term investment, rewarding sweat equity and penalizing those who receive obscene compensation (yes, I have taken the liberty of creating my own definition of 'obscene compensation).

I don't know fred..........seems like I've heard this 'plan' a time or two.

Personally, I resent anyone putting a $figure on my income as that simply takes my desire to be creative and produce more - and deflates it. Shoot, why should I work hard only to have you take my money and give it to ILLEGALS and lazy American folk?

** Let me add here, for complete understanding, that I don't consider taking care of our elderly {Legal} our cronically ill and occassional hardship case {Legal} an entitlement.

Now, personally, I don't mind paying fairly but I so very much mind YOU taking MY income, made by the sweat of my brow & the brains in my head..........and INCREASING even more, my tax burden............to pay for entitlements to do nothing, know nothing, greedy, lazy folks. And especially those same thieves that are in my country ILLEGALLY.

Before we consider implementing your TAX PLAN, why don't we begin to close the off shore tax gaps for say...........Klinton, Bush, Pelosi and maybe even you? Let us force, through whatever plan is appropriate, for all those whose fortunes exceed ? {what number should we pick here?} to redistribute their wealth to the less fortunate.

Now that sounds like a plan. What do you guys think?

Well, the way I look at it is simple. When I decide to give some of my money to the needy, it is charity. When someone else decides to give some of my money to the needy, it's larceny. It's a pretty simple concept that seems to get lost these days in the euphimisms and rhetoric. For 150 years, American took care of her own, personally and individually. Then socialism took hold in the 20th century and some people forgot that the power to tax is the power to destroy. A government can always fond some "needy" class to justify the cleptocracy.