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Politics : ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THE FIGHT TO KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (1374)	1/23/2007 12:56:17 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3197

Ariz lawmaker complains of threats in response to Minuteman bill 09:20 AM MST on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 PHOENIX (AP) -- An Arizona lawmaker said Monday that she has received several sexually threatening e-mails in response to her bill that would make armed civil patrols an act of domestic terrorism. Democratic state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema of Phoenix, an immigrants rights advocate whose proposal targets the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and other groups that patrol the border, said she reported the e-mails to the FBI and Arizona Department of Public Safety. There were no immediate responses late Monday afternoon from either law enforcement agency on whether they would investigate Sinema's complaint. Sinema said she has received threats in the past but reported some recent e-mails because, unlike those from the past, they were of a sexual nature. "This is the really frightening extreme part of our community," Sinema said. Sinema said the e-mails came after the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps issued a press release criticizing her bill (HB2286) as an affront to members of the group. The lawmaker said she wasn't accusing the group of being responsible for the e-mails. "It's individuals who are doing this," Sinema said. Stacey O'Connell, the past president of the Arizona chapter who remains a member the group, said the group had nothing to do with the sexually threatening e-mails. "That's not coming from any professional member of the Minuteman organization," O'Connell said. The bill would make such crime a felony punishable by 18 months in prison. If a violator would be given probation, it would carry a six-month mandatory sentence in county jail. Minuteman volunteers have gone to the border to spot and report illegal crossers to authorities. Supporters said group volunteers are performing a valuable service at a time when the government has done a poor job of border enforcement. Critics said the group presents a danger to the country because they are assuming the duties of law enforcement without having any of the necessary training. O'Connell said the bill would violate constitutional freedoms on speech, assembly and bearing arms and would stand as a barrier to neighborhood watch groups. O'Connell predicted Sinema wouldn't make any progress in pushing the bill at the Legislature and that her proposal is an angry response to the enforcement of a state immigrant smuggling law and four immigration ballot proposals that were overwhelmingly approved by voters in November. Sinema proposed a similar bill last year. It never received a committee hearing. This year's version hasn't received a committee hearing in the legislative session that began Jan. 8. fox11az.com

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (1374)	1/26/2007 2:51:40 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3197

POST COLUMNIST LOVES ILLEGALS It is an obvious fact that our liberal media generally support illegal immigration, amnesty, and an open border policy. Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell justifies this media bias by saying that "Journalists tend to be softhearted toward the afflicted or the underdog, which tends to make them less critical of illegal immigrants." But you would think the Washington Post could find a better argument for its advocacy and support of illegal immigration other than trying to make readers feel sorry for those who broke our laws. But on December 7, 2006, the Post provides another example of an illegal immigrant that we are supposed to feel sorry for. This time, however, not only are we to forgive their lawbreaking, but we are supposed to admire their perseverance in breaking more of our laws. A Post column by Marc Fisher purports to tell the story of Marina Alvarez, who illegally came to the U.S. 13 years ago at the age of 16 from El Salvador. The Post tells us that Alvarez "learned English" and bought a house for herself "and her two U.S.-born children" but was arrested last spring just days before closing on the home. Working at a Chesapeake Bay Seafood House, Alvarez was pulled over for "following another car too closely." The officer who pulled her over learned she had a ten-year-old arrest warrant out on her from federal immigration authorities. Alvarez, pregnant at the time, was sent to a detention center. Dem Helps Illegal Alvarez, however, was released from the detention center with help from a U.S. Senator. Alvarez's attorney told the Washington Post that Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) negotiated Alvarez's release. The Post, which identifies Alvarez as a Howard Country (Maryland) resident, even though she is actually an illegal immigrant, will have to wear an ankle bracelet monitored by federal authorities while she awaits a decision on her appeal to avoid deportation. So more taxpayer money will have to be spent to monitor Alvarez. And with a U.S. Senator now supporting her cause, it would appear her chances of winning her appeal have greatly increased. The Post doesn't say why a North Dakota Senator would intervene on the behalf of an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was residing in Maryland. It is all the more strange because Sen. Dorgan does not have a strong record of supporting illegal immigration. In fact, in May of this year, Dorgan was one of only 36 Senators who voted against S. 2611, the Senate Amnesty Bill, and Dorgan has received a grade of B+ on his immigration reduction report card for recent voting on illegal immigration by Americans for Immigration Reform. The U.S. government still plans to deport Alvarez, but she says she will not be taking her children with her, although they could get sent back as well. There is no mention of the child she was pregnant with at the time, and whether that child was granted citizenship because it was born here. Fisher's sympathy for the illegal is evident in statements such as "Marina Alvarez did everything Americans want immigrants to do—except arrive legally. She never got into trouble, she worked, paid taxes, got involved in her children's schooling." Of course, we as Americans want our immigrants to arrive legally. And how was an illegal immigrant able to "pay her taxes" and work here legally as an illegal immigrant? And how was she able to drive a car while being here illegally? Although the state of Maryland does not require proof of citizenship to obtain a driver's license, it does require a Social Security Card. So either Alvarez was driving without a license, or she used a forged Social Security card to obtain a driver's license. Either way, she was breaking the law. Another significant fact, with moral implications, is that she has had three children and that the father is nowhere to be found. Fake Balance The article interviewed Ira Mehlman of The Federation for American Immigration Reform, who was permitted to make some brief comments about the need to end the practice of automatically giving the children of illegals U.S. citizenship if they are born here. But Fisher chimes in that birth-right citizenship "is a big part of what makes this country a land of hope and opportunity." In perhaps the most remarkable example of bias, Fisher romanticizes about Alvarez illegally entering back into the country someday, should she be deported from the U.S., as if doing so would somehow make her more American. She "will surely do what she has to do," Fisher says. "If deported, she will find a way back to her children…In a way, that's the glory of America: The real strivers will find their way here." Breaking the law and entering this country illegally should not be praised, and sympathy should be reserved for those who have been unjustly made to suffer, not those who knowingly and repeatedly broke the law. aim.org