More People Join Minutemen After Illegal Alien Protests

"Laurie Lisonbee worried about illegal immigration but figured it was somebody else's issue _ until she saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marching across her TV screen. Soon, Lisonbee had recruited several friends to attend a demonstration by the Minuteman Project, a volunteer group that patrols the border to keep out illegal immigrants. Now, the 51-year-old art professor checks the group's Web site daily and plans a summer trip to the Mexican border to help build a fence," the AP reports. "Since this spring's huge pro-immigrant rallies, 300 people nationwide have applied to start local chapters, according to Eichler. The group's goal is 500 chapters by December and a membership of 1 million within 1 1/2 years, Eichler said. Eichler claimed the organization's membership has climbed to more than 200,000."

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Don't Buy Meat on Monday

A Way to Protest Companies that Support Illegal Immigration

Monday is your chance to participate in a counter-boycott. It's simple - don't buy or eat meat that day in protest of these companies, whose employees knowingly hire illegal aliens, collude with immigrant smugglers, break the law with impunity, and give these same illegal aliens the day off so they can demand amnesty as a reward. Are any companies giving American workers the day off Monday to protest amnesty? Call Seaboard at 1-800-262-7907, Cargil at 1-800-CARGILL (227-4455), and Tyson at (479) 290-4000 on Monday to let them you are boycotting them for supporting illegal immigration.

Correction May 1: At the time this story was written we had heard from activists in Minnesota that Hormel planned on closing a plant there, but Hormel plants are open today. We regret the error.

Meat-packing companies including Seaboard and Tyson are closing plants to allow illegal alien workers there the day off, so that they can participate in protests demanding amnesty. Reuters writes that, "Seaboard Corp. said it will close its Guymon, Oklahoma, pork plant on Monday to allow workers to attend rallies planned for that day in support of immigration reform, the company said." And Dow Jones newswire has more coverage of the meat plants shutdown. "Tyson Foods (TSN) will not operate at five of its nine U.S. beef plants and will have four of six pork plants closed Monday due to a potential shortage of workers and current market conditions, a Tyson spokesman said Thursday. Spokesman Gary Mickelson provided the company's updated slaughter plans to Dow Jones Newswires by email. Immigrant workers have declared May 1 as a day of protest against tough new immigration reform legislation being considered by Congress. The Tyson update puts the number of total U.S. beef plants to be closed Monday to at least 12 and pork plants to at least 14. Slaughter for both species is expected to be reduced to around 50% or less than normal Monday," says Dow Jones.

Update: Dan was on CNBC Friday afternoon and discussed the May 1 protest along with the meat boycott. Watch the video clip (Windows Media).

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New Yorkers Ponder the Un-Thinkable: A Day Without Take-Out

"Anybody who's eaten at one of New York's many big-name restaurants may like to think the food was lovingly prepared by a celebrity chef. The reality is it was more likely made by a poorly-paid Mexican immigrant. If all the city's immigrants walk off the job in a nationwide protest called for Monday against proposals to crack down on illegal immigration, many New Yorkers will go hungry, or at least be forced to eat at home for a change," writes Reuters. "While many immigrants are working legally, a significant number are not, according to managers interviewed by Reuters at several eateries. Most asked not to be identified to avoid unwanted attention from immigration authorities."

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Condi Rice 'Shocked' That Top Aide to Iran's Nuclear Honcho had Green Card . . . Since 1993

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern yesterday about the case of a high-ranking Iranian official who arrived last month in the United States on a green card and said the Bush administration 'will take proper action' once it has established the facts of the case. Mohammad Nahavandian, an economics and technology aide to Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has been a legal permanent resident of the United States since 1993 and did not give up that status when he joined the Iranian government last year," the Washington Times reports. "Mr. Nahavandian arrived from Canada on March 25 on a flight from Ottawa to Philadelphia, a Department of Homeland Security official said . . . He was readmitted into the United States because his green card was legal and he raised no suspicion, the DHS official said. Mr. Nahavandian did not have to show his Iranian passport when entering from Canada, and in both cases, the immigration officers had no indication that he was a foreign government official. Immigrations records show Mr. Nahavandian first arrived in the United States in 1989 on a tourist visa, the DHS official said. He was issued a student visa in 1991 to attend George Washington University and became a permanent resident two years later. His green card was renewed in early 2004."

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New Report: Feds Don't Care If Your Identity Is Stolen, Won't Help Citizens

The Charlotte Observer has a 3-day blockbuster report on illegal immigration and its consequences. According to the paper:

• Illegal workers have received taxpayer money to help build N.C. roads, with neither the federal government nor state agencies requiring contractors to verify workers' documents.
• The IRS and Social Security Administration know of possibly millions of cases in which illegal workers use someone else's Social Security number to get a job -- but they don't let you know if it's your number being used and don't use that information to crack down on the workers.
• The IRS and SSA also don't act upon information that tells them which employers are the most egregious in submitting fraudulent Social Security wage reports -- including one company that used the same Social Security number for 2,580 worker reports.
• Local enforcement officials say they arrest an average of one document counterfeiter every three weeks, and they say there could be hundreds of counterfeit operations in the Charlotte region -- some selling Social Security numbers for as little as $30.

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DHS Will Roll-Back New Passport Rules

"The Bush administration is facing a rebellion by northern border-state lawmakers who want to push back deadlines requiring passports or tamperproof ID cards from all who enter the United States. In a bow to lawmakers whose states neighbor Canada, the Homeland Security Department is considering easing some of the rules for infrequent border crossers. But many in Congress, backed by Canadians, say the compromise isn't enough, and are pushing to delay the restrictions, set to take effect in 2008, by 18 months," the AP reports. "The ID rules were part of a 2004 intelligence overhaul law, overwhelmingly approved by Congress, to tighten U.S. borders against terrorists. They have since pitted lawmakers from border states against those from the heartland, strained relations with Canada, and forced Homeland Security to roll out technology and training under a deadline that may prove too aggressive to meet."

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H-1B Workers Take American Jobs, Use Money to Lobby for More Visas

"Temporary" workers have set up their own lobbying operation to increase the number of laid-off Americans. "Most members and all the core organizers of Immigration Voice hail from India, though Chinese membership numbers in the hundreds and is on the rise. Most arrived on an international student visa or a visa known as the H-1B, reserved for highly skilled workers who can stay for up to six years -- unless an employer sponsors their green cards, which grant immigrants permanent residence in the United States and the right to live and work here freely. Over the past decade, the largest numbers of H-1Bs have been awarded to high-technology workers from India and China," the paper says of the group. "Immigration Voices also enlisted the help of Rick Swartz, who has his own firm and has long been a leading lobbyist for [open-borders] immigration groups. Swartz gathered members of the group at his home one January weekend for a crash course in American politics, teaching them to position themselves as the 'new Cubans for the Republicans.'"

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"Oh Say Can You See, A La Luz De La Aurora" - New Audio of "Spanish Spangled Banner"

"A plan to enlist Mexican pop diva Gloria Trevi, reggaeton star Tito El Bambino and other Latin musicians to record a Spanish-language pop version of 'The Star Spangled Banner' is being touted by organizers as a way immigrants can show their devotion to their new country. But like most every aspect of the immigration debate, the symbolism is in the ear of the beholder. The idea of the nation's anthem in a foreign tongue is beginning to elicit a chorus of dissonant voices," the Chicago Tribune reports. "'I've had more hate mail in the last 24 hours than I've experienced in my whole life,' the recording company's Kidron said." A partial audio clip was made available today. (MP3 format)

Update 4/28: President Bush was asked today if the National Anthem should be in Spanish. He said, "I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English," the AP reported.

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Supreme Court Hearing Immigration RICO Case Today

"In legal cases with potential repercussions for businesses and employees, current and former workers are accusing U.S. companies of violating immigration law and driving down wages. The federal lawsuits — against carpet maker Mohawk Industries, Tyson Foods, retailer Wal-Mart, and others — are winding their way through appeals courts. The Mohawk case will be argued today before the U.S. Supreme Court. The class-action lawsuits were filed by plaintiffs under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) statute, typically used against organized crime," USA Today writes. In the Mohawk case, the former workers allege that the carpet manufacturer conspired with employment agencies to hire undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Mohawk used forged Social Security cards and recruited workers from the border at Brownsville, Texas, the suit alleges. Johnson & Bell attorney Howard Foster, who represents workers in the Mohawk case and similar lawsuits, says, 'The key issue is, can a corporation be sued for engaging in illegal conduct with its recruiters? If we win this case, there probably will be quite a few more cases filed against corporations.'"

[FAIR staff attended the court session today, and FAIR along with other groups filed an amicus brief with the court in support of Howard Foster and the plaintiffs.] [Also see: Slate write-up]

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Guilty: Lodi Man Attended Terror Camp

"A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a 23-year-old man of supporting terrorists by attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan three years ago. Hamid Hayat, a seasonal farm worker in Lodi, an agricultural town south of Sacramento, was convicted of one count of providing material support to terrorists and three counts of lying to the FBI," Reuters reports. "Prosecutors described Hamid Hayat as having 'a jihadi heart and a jihadi mind' who returned from a two-year visit to Pakistan intent on carrying out attacks. Possible targets included hospitals, banks and grocery stores. They presented no evidence to show that such attacks were imminent or even planned. But in closing arguments, a prosecutors said the case was intended to prevent terrorist attacks 'long before anybody is hurt.' Defense lawyers for both men argued that the government didn't have a case against their clients because it had produced no evidence that the son ever attended a terrorist training camp . . . Instead, the case centered on videotaped confessions the men gave to FBI agents and a government informant who secretly recorded hundreds of hours of conversations but whose credibility was challenged by the defense."

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Bush's Secret Backroom Deal With Amnesty Supporters

"President Bush and a group of senators yesterday reached general agreement on an immigration bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for many illegal aliens. But left out of the closed-door White House meeting were senators who oppose a path to citizenship. The meeting even snubbed two men who had been considered allies of Mr. Bush on immigration -- Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and chairman of the immigration subcommittee, and Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican," the Washington Times reports. "'This idea that was being kicked around the Senate about providing some sort of amnesty for those who have been here five years or more, I just think it was a very big mistake,' House Majority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said yesterday. 'You are just inviting more people to come.' Still, the senators in yesterday's meeting were thrilled with where the debate is, and the direction Mr. Bush is headed. 'He hasn't endorsed the Senate bill, but I think it's a big step forward in that direction and gives assurances that if we pass legislation of that sort, that we'll have support from the president when we get into conference,' said Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee."

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Bush: Enforcing the Law "Not Going to Work"

"President Bush had a blunt message Monday for fellow Republicans focusing only on get-tough immigration policies: He said sending all the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries is not the answer. 'Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic _ it's just not going to work,' Bush said. 'You know, you can hear people out there hollering it's going to work. It's not going to work,'" the AP reports. "Well aware that November elections could end GOP control of Congress, Bush is walking a fine line on the emotional immigration issue, between his party's conservative base which wants a clampdown on illegal immigration and business leaders who believe the economy needs immigrants to fill jobs." Asked directly what should be done about illegal aliens overwhelming emergency rooms, "Bush said community health centers are the best place for the poor to get primary care. 'There needs to be a campaign to explain what's available for people so that they don't go to the emergency rooms,' he said." [FAIR comment: In other words, it's ok for illegal aliens to burden the taxpayer, just don't do it so visibly.]

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Phyliss Schlafly: Illegal Alien Boycott A Big Threat for Bush

"The illegal aliens in this country are threatening a massive boycott on May 1, purportedly to demonstrate they are so essential that the U.S. economy would shut down without their labor. On the contrary, such a boycott will expose the lie expressed by President Bush in Cancun, Mexico that they are 'doing work that Americans will not do,'" writes Phyliss Schlafly. "All over the country, American citizens will flip hamburgers in fast-food shops, wash dishes in restaurants, change sheets in hotels, mow lawns, trim shrubs, pick produce, drive taxis, replace roofs on houses, and do all kinds of construction work. Americans are quite willing to work unpleasant, menial, tiresome, and risky jobs, but not for Third World wages."

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Hillary Clinton Endorses Partial Fence and Amnesty

"A barrier at parts of U.S. borders is 'obviously important' as part of dealing with illegal immigration, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said. Clinton endorsed using technology, like a fence that could recognize when people were coming near it while they were still a few hundred yards away, the Daily News reported in Sunday's editions," Newsday writes. 'A physical structure is obviously important,' Clinton told the newspaper. 'A wall in certain areas would be appropriate.' But while in support of border security enforcement, Clinton also reiterated a position she has stated previously, that she supports some kind of [amnesty] process for the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country."

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Sanctuary Cities from 80's Still Want More Illegal Aliens

"In the 1980s, cities scattered across the United States, including Cambridge, declared themselves sanctuaries for [illegal aliens] fleeing the ravages of war in Central America. Now, as the immigration debate heats up in Congress, some sanctuary cities are dusting off their decades-old designations and new ones are springing up to embrace immigrants, regardless of where they came from, why they're here, or if they are undocumented," the Boston Globe reports. "On May 8, the Cambridge City Council will consider joining that list by reaffirming its 1985 resolution declaring itself a sanctuary city. If the resolution passes, the liberal bastion will join at least four cities in California that are taking preemptive stands and declaring they won't enforce proposed new federal laws criminalizing immigration violations."

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Amnesty Debate Echoes 1986 - Deja vu All Over Again

"As Congress returns this week for another try at immigration change, the failings of the 1986 law form the backdrop to the debate. Those favoring more restrictive immigration policies, mostly conservative Republicans in the House and Senate, see 1986 as justification to take a hard line against a new legalization program and focus strictly on border and workplace enforcement," the Star Ledger writes. "Michael Fix of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, an independent think tank, said the 'grand bargain' of the 1986 law was the granting of amnesty to large numbers of illegal immigrants while for the first time making it a crime for employers to hire those here illegally. 'We really only got half of the bargain,' Fix said. 'We got legalization, but we never got enforcement.'"

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Latino Bands Release Spanish Language "Remix" of Star-Spangled Banner to Promote Illegal Immigration

"A group of Latino pop stars have recorded a new version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' in support of undocumented migrants in the United States . . . 'We decided to show our solidarity with the undocumented migrants,' UBO Records President Adam Kidron told the [New York Daily News]." According to UPI, "The song sung in Spanish with urban Latin beats is being released as the U.S. Senate debates an immigration bill."

 

IRS, Social Security Could Slow Illegal Immigration

"Two federal agencies are refusing to turn over a mountain of evidence that investigators could use to indict the nation's burgeoning workforce of illegal immigrants and the firms that employ them. Last week, immigration cops trumpeted the arrests of nearly 1,200 illegal workers in a massive sting on a single company, but they admit that they relied on old-fashioned confidential informants and an unsolicited tip to get their investigation going," Knight-Ridder reports. "It didn't have to be that hard. The IRS and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records and the identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them. But they keep those facts secret . . . The two agencies don't analyze their data to root out likely immigration fraud - and they won't share their millions of records so that law enforcement agencies can do that, either."

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Debbie Schlussel: True Outrage is ICE Release of Criminals to Stage Raids

"While I was away for the last part of Passover, Immigration chieftess Julie L. Myers a/k/a 'The ICE Princess,' did some show raids of aliens and managers at Dutch pallet-maker IFCO, around the country. The outrage, as one high-ranking Immigration and Customs Enforcment (ICE) agent told me, is that criminal aliens were released to make room for these staged arrests," says Debbie Schlussel. "Mr. Burns [Michael Chertoff] told the press that this week's raids took over a year of planning. If it takes a whole year of planning to do one or two days of raids solely on one obscure employer and then release a good deal of the arrested aliens anyway, what is the point? We are in trouble . . . If [Julie Myers] has any respect for the American people and any genuine concern about the hemorrhaging borders (doubtful), she will resign soon."

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Miller Beer: Made the Illegal Alien Way

"In 2004, Miller's PAC donated $2,000 to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), author of the tough immigration bill that passed the House in December. That prompted an immigrant rights group, the Chicago Committee Against H.R. 4437, to announce a boycott of Miller's beers on Mar. 10, the day of a massive pro-immigration rally in Chicago," BusinessWeek reports. "The company immediately sought a meeting to discuss the situation. On Mar. 15, [Miller Chicago marketing manager Matt] Romero joined a five-person team lead by Nehl Horton, Miller's senior vice-president for communications and government relations, to meet with group leaders at a community center in Pilsen, a predominantly Latino [illegal alien] Chicago neighborhood. Miller agreed to run newspaper ads opposing the legislation and helped to facilitate meetings between immigrant rights [amnesty] backers and lawmakers."

DHS Says "This Time We Really, Really Are Going to Crack Down . . . Again"

"The government plans to crack down ever harder on employers who harbor and hire illegal immigrants, pursuing companies that ignore the law so they can exploit cheap labor. ';We are going to move beyond the current level of activity to a higher level in each month and year to come,' Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday. He pledged to 'come down as hard as possible' on violators,'" the AP reports. "'Our nation's communities cannot be a wild frontier where illegal aliens and unscrupulous employees subvert our nation's laws,' said Julie Myers, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

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Howard Dean: Border Security Democrats' Top Priority

"Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean yesterday called border security his party's top immigration priority for November. 'The first thing we want is tough border control,' he said. 'We have to do a much better job on our borders than George Bush has done. And then we can go to the policy disagreements about how to get it done,'" the Washington Times reports. "Mr. Dean said he wants 'immigrants who obey the law and pay taxes to be able to apply for citizenship. We support earned legalization [amnesty] vigorously. And, much to my surprise, so do the American people.' . . . Giving a preview of the kinds of accusations that Republican candidates across the country can expect to face as the elections near, Mr. Dean said: 'We want tough and smart immigration reform, we want border control, and if we have to increase the federal protection along the borders, we will. Don't forget -- the Republicans have been in power for five years. They've had the House and Senate and the White House most of that time. And they have done nothing about immigration.'"

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Argument Draws Near in Supreme Court RICO Case

"As Congress wages a battle over illegal immigration and its impact on this nation, the Supreme Court is about to enter the fray in a context involving one of the law's most powerful weapons -- RICO . . . The high court case stems from a class action against carpet giant Mohawk Industries Inc., most of whose more than 30,000 employees work in northwest Georgia. The suit was brought by Howard Foster of Chicago's Johnson & Bell, who has pioneered the use of RICO on behalf of workers who lost jobs or had wages artificially depressed because of their employers' alleged hiring and concealment of illegal immigrants," the National Law Journal reports. "Mohawk here is asking the court to interpret RICO in a way that would make it extremely difficult to prosecute a corporation or partnership or any business entity, and it also wants to read corporations out of RICO all together," said Foster. "It's hard for me to see how it would be easy for a majority of justices to agree with Mohawk unless they wanted to do fairly radical surgery on the statute."

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Malkin: Politically Timed Immigration Raids Won't Bail Out Bush

"I speak regularly with dedicated men and women who work for the Department of Homeland Security, and especially agents from across the country who work for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement," says Michelle Malkin. "I can tell you based on my reporting over the last five years that the Bush administration's belated efforts to look tough on immigration enforcement at worksites amount to a cynical, politically timed effort to salvage the White House's guest worker program dreams and schemes. I'm referring to this story linked prominently today on Drudge and spread elsewhere."

Update: here is the DHS document outlining the "new, improved" enforcement strategy

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No Takebacks: Illegal Aliens Fret They've Gone a Protest Too Far

"Organizers of the movement that has led hundreds of thousands of immigrants onto the nation's streets are split over whether to press ahead with the next big protest _ a May 1 national work stoppage and student boycott. Backers of the protest want to dramatize the importance of immigrants to the U.S. economy by leaving construction sites and restaurants undermanned, crops untended and hotel rooms uncleaned. They also hope empty classrooms will demonstrate that immigration reform is a major issue for future voters," the AP reports. "But others fear such protests will make immigrants look anti-American, annoy the public and alienate lawmakers who are still wavering over how to reshape U.S. immigration policy. They worry, too, that thousands will get fired from their jobs. Encouraging youngsters to skip school 'just adds fuel to the argument that we don't care about our children's education,' said Jose Lagos, a community organizer with Honduran Unity in Miami."

[FAIR comment: The divide here is between the Marxist groups providing much of the organizing muscle for these protests and the other ethnic and corporate lobbies being taken along for the ride. See this wikipedia entry for some background on Marxist-syndicalist labor organizer George Sorel and his theory of the "myth of the general strike". Also see the reviews of his book "Reflections on Violence" on Amazon.com. One of the leading organizers of the May Day protest, i.e. the ANSWER coalition of front organizations, is still using the playbook developed by the turn of the century Marxist labor organizers like Sorel.]

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Arizona Gov. Napolitano Vetoes Immigration Bill, Says Police Shouldn't Arrest Illegal Aliens

"Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona, citing opposition from police agencies that want immigration arrests to remain the responsibility of the federal government. The proposal would have expanded the state's trespassing law to let local authorities arrest illegal immigrants anywhere in Arizona, the nation's busiest illegal entry point. Congress also had considered criminalizing the presence of illegal immigrants in the country," the AP reports. "Republican Sen. Barbara Leff of Paradise Valley, who proposed the bill, said the governor has painted herself as tough on illegal immigration by declaring a state of emergency at Arizona's border, but has taken little action to back up her rhetoric. 'I don't think the governor wants to do anything about this problem,' Leff said. She said the bill would have been a means to detain illegal immigrants until federal agents can pick them up."

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Judge to ACLU: Get Over It - Voter ID Is Constitutional

"Federal judges normally don't employ phrases like 'get over it' in crafting their opinions. Yet, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker said as much last week in knocking down objections to Indiana's new voter ID law. 'Despite apocalyptic assertions of wholesale voter disenfranchisement, plaintiffs have produced not a single piece of evidence of any identifiable registered voter who would be prevented from voting,' Barker wrote. The judge also described a report written by an expert hired by the state Democratic Party as 'utterly incredible and unreliable.' Ouch," writes the Indianapolis Star in an editorial. The fact that Barker so readily saw through their arguments should have persuaded the plaintiffs -- the Indiana Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana -- to slink away quietly. Unfortunately, an appeal is planned." More detail including the PDF opinion at the Jurist site. [FAIR comment: The voter ID requirement is similar to the one in Arizona's Prop. 200, meant to combat vote fraud by illegal aliens.]

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Mexico's Hypocrisy - Illegal Central Americans Face Abuse in Mexico

"Considered felons by the government, these migrants fear detention, rape and robbery. Police and soldiers hunt them down at railroads, bus stations and fleabag hotels. Sometimes they are deported; more often officers simply take their money. While migrants in the United States have held huge demonstrations in recent weeks, the hundreds of thousands of undocumented Central Americans in Mexico suffer mostly in silence," says the AP. "And though Mexico demands humane treatment for its citizens who migrate to the U.S., regardless of their legal status, Mexico provides few protections for migrants on its own soil. The issue simply isn't on the country's political agenda, perhaps because migrants make up only 0.5 percent of the population, or about 500,000 people _ compared with 12 percent in the United States."

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Supreme Court Knocks Down Another Bad Asylum Decision by 9th Circuit

"The Supreme Court overturned on Monday a ruling that federal law for political asylum in the United States covered a white South African family who faced threats from blacks angry at the racism of one of their relatives. The high court unanimously sided with the Justice Department and ruled that a federal appeals court was wrong to decide the issue on its own, instead of sending the case back to immigration authorities for additional review," the AP reports. [FAIR comment: This was another case were the immigration bar was attempting to drive a truck through the "social group" loophole in asylum law, which they have vigorously litigated for years to expand.]

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Victory in Georgia As Governor Signs New Immigration Reform Bill

"Georgia's governor signed a sweeping immigration bill Monday that supporters and critics say gives the state some of the toughest measures against illegal immigrants in the nation . . . The law requires verification that adults seeking many state-administered benefits are in the country legally. It sanctions employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and mandates that companies with state contracts check the immigration status of employees," the AP reports. "At the bill signing, [Sen.] Rogers said he has been approached by lawmakers from South Carolina and Colorado who were interested in crafting similar proposals for their states."

Congratulations to Georgia State Senator Chip Rogers along with D.A. King of the Dustin Inman Society, who worked to promote the bill. FAIR legal staff provided valuable expertise during the debate on the measure as well. And many thanks to the FAIR members and supporters who contacted their legislators in Georgia in support of the measure.

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Guilty: Terror Prof. Al-Arian to Be Deported

"Former Florida professor Sami al-Arian pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide support to a Palestinian terrorist organization and agreed to be deported from the United States in a deal with federal prosecutors, unsealed in federal court yesterday, that ends one of the nation's highest profile terrorism cases," the Washington Post reports. "The U.S. government claimed a measure of vindication after suffering a stunning setback in December, when a federal jury in Tampa deadlocked on nine charges that al-Arian aided terrorists, found him not guilty of eight other counts -- including conspiracy to maim or murder, perjury, and immigration violations -- and acquitted three co-defendants on all 34 charges against them."

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Alabama Protest Targets Illegal Immigration

"Hundreds of angry demonstrators raised flags, signs and their voices Saturday, blanketing the steps Cullman County Courthouse to protest amnesty for illegal immigrants," the Cullman Times reports. “'We’re here to protest illegal Mexicans in the U.S., living on our tax dollars,' said James Bradford of Cullman. 'They need to get here legally and work like the rest of us.' 'We want our country back. We’re tired of being second-class citizens,' said John Clements of Hanceville. 'We want them out of here.'”

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Amnesty Cost Would Top $60 Billion A Year

If an illegal alien amnesty and guest worker program similar to the one being contemplated by the United States Senate and supported by President Bush were enacted, the cost burden to state and local governments would be staggering, projects an analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FAIR estimates that state and local costs associated with illegal immigration for public education, health care and incarceration, now about $36 billion a year, would balloon to $61.5 billion by 2010 a 70 percent increase and increase to $106.3 billion by 2020. “From every possible angle, an illegal alien amnesty and guest worker program would be a fiscal and administrative nightmare,” said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “Never mind the fact that an illegal alien amnesty is a moral betrayal of the American public and immigrants who played by the rules. It would be an unfunded federal mandate that will bankrupt states, counties and cities all across the United States.”

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More Employers Hire Illegal Aliens Direct From Mexico, Pay Smuggling Cost

"When Pedro Lopez Vazquez crossed illegally into the United States last week, he was not heading north to look for a job. He already had one. His future employer even paid $1,000 for a smuggler to help Vazquez make his way from the central Mexican city of Puebla to Aspen, Colo," the Washington Post reports. His story is not unusual. A growing number of U.S. employers and migrants are tapping into an underground employment network that matches one with the other, often before the migrants leave home . . . 'It started out more explicitly, where (meatpacking) companies used to have buses to transport people to come up, and they would advertise directly in Mexico,' [said Darcy Tromanhauser]. 'Now I think that happens more informally.'" According to the paper, "The few cases that are prosecuted, however, highlight how lucrative a business recruiting undocumented workers has become. In one case, a single smuggler allegedly earned $900,000 over 15 months placing 6,000 migrants in jobs at Chinese restaurants across the upper Midwest."

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Labor Contractors Key Link in Illegal Hiring

"When federal authorities catch illegal immigrants on the job, some U.S. employers have a ready explanation for how they came tobe hired: It wasn't us. It was a contractor. Although these middlemen, including recruiters and temporary agencies, do not figure prominently in the current debate over illegal immigration, they are playing an increasingly significant role in hiring and managing the nation's workforce. Especially in California, an untold number of contractors employ immigrants — legal and illegal — in such industries as construction, janitorial service, hospitality and agriculture," the LA Times reports. "Blaming contractors is not a sure-fire defense, but it has proved successful for some corporations. In one of the most prominent cases, a federal jury in 2003 acquitted Tyson Foods of bringing in illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America to work at its processing plants as part of a strategy to maintain production without raising pay. The government argued that Tyson officials knew the workers were illegal. Tyson's attorneys said a placement agency was responsible for checking the paperwork. The jury sided with Tyson."

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"The Republicans That Are Tough On Immigration Are Doing Well Right Now"

Call it the Backfire Effect. The New York Times reports that politicians responding to the illegal alien marches last week should keep in mind the American public's reaction. "You want to stay here and get an education, get benefits, and you still want to say 'Viva Mexico'? It was a slap in the face," one Arizona resident told the Times. "Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican from another district, said his office had been flooded with angry calls about the recent marches. 'It is one thing to see an abstract number of 12 million illegal immigrants,' Mr. King said. 'It is another thing to see more than a million marching through the streets demanding benefits as if it were a birthright." He added, "I think people resent that.'"

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Employer Sanctions Work, But Business Clout Prevents Enforcement

"As they fanned into the Vidalia onion fields of Georgia, the 45 federal agents were doing exactly what they thought they were supposed to do. . It was 1998, and they had just arrested 21 illegal immigrant farm workers and were about to round up hundreds more. But the raid met with a stinging rebuke from what might have seemed a surprising source: two powerful Republicans from Georgia's Congressional delegation," the New York Times reports. "Indeed, the lack of vigorous enforcement against employers who hire illegal workers has been widely viewed as the main reason that 850,000 immigrants cross the border illegally each year. Facing little in the way of penalties, employers feel few qualms about hiring them for meatpacking, construction, agriculture and janitorial work. 'You had a lack of political will to carry out the enforcement component, and that was in part because of the demands of certain interests to enjoy cheap foreign labor,' said Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican who has long supported strict limits on immigration. 'We are paying the price today for a lack of enforcement for the last 20 years.'"

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John O'Sullivan: Who Were the Illegal Alien Marches Targeted At? Voters

"This week’s demonstrations and marches by illegal immigrants and their supporters pose an interesting question: Who were they directed against?" asks John O'Sullivan. "Not the Democrats or the semi-organized Left. Democrats strongly backed the marches which were actually organized by the usual hard-Left suspects responsible for the antiwar and anti-Bush campaigns — ANSWER, and so on. Well, then, they must have been directed against the GOP, corporate America, and the establishment? Not so. The White House also supports the marches." Instead, "[T]he marches are, in effect, directed against the voters since they stand behind the Republican legislators blocking the bill. If one listens carefully to the rhetoric of the marchers and their organizers, they deny the right of Congress and the voters to control immigration, to expel illegal immigrants, or even to place any conditions on their remaining — the conditions that the voters insist on as the minimum for any genuine compromise."

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Bush Team, Desperate for Political Victory, Plots Amnesty Strategy

"The White House is fast at work recalibrating how best to use the power of the presidency to save immigration legislation from languishing for the rest of the year, eager for a victory in what has been a difficult political season for President Bush," the New York Times reported. "This week, Mr. Bush has placed himself at the vanguard of the issue, publicly lacerating the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, of Nevada, for blocking the legislation last week on procedural grounds. "Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida and an ally of Mr. Bush, helped broker the compromise last week. He said the plan had been to keep the president out of the fight in the Senate so that he could serve as a broker who could pull his party together during what would be difficult negotiations reconciling the Senate and House bills." Interestingly, Bush seems to have been out of the loop regarding the collapse of the Senate "compromise" amnesty. "When White House aides alerted Mr. Bush that last-minute parliamentary procedures had scuttled Senate approval of compromise legislation late Thursday, he met them with disbelief. Impatient with explanations of the technicalities, he wondered aloud how an agreement announced just that morning was suddenly dead, according to a meeting participant who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the encounter."

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Illegal Alien Groups Plot May 1 Boycott

"U.S. immigrant rights advocates called Thursday for a nationwide boycott of work, school and commerce on May 1, seeking to capitalize on the momentum of recent mass demonstrations across the country. 'I don't think we will crumble the economy of the United States on May 1, but we will make a dent,' said New York City Councilman Charles Barron, among those supporting the initiative that was announced on the steps of City Hall," the LA Times reports. "The groups announcing the boycott in New York said they had had the backing of the so-called March 25 Coalition that amassed a huge crowd in Los Angeles. They are calling on immigrant workers, elected officials, labor unions and churches to 'take back' May Day, a public holiday in much of the world but not in the United States, where the international [communist]day has its origins."

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Gallup Poll Shows Support for Immigration Enforcement

"In many respects, the original House legislation is in step with Americans' thinking on immigration. When asked where government should focus its energies on immigration, Americans are more concerned that steps be taken to halt the flow of immigrants slipping in at the border than they are that the government develop a plan for dealing with the illegal immigrants already living here. Americans also favor many of the more severe remedies for thwarting illegal immigration included in the House bill," the Gallup Organization writes. Of those polled, 79 percent said controlling the border this year is "extremely" or "very" important.

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DHS Ordered Agents to Stand Down During Illegal Alien Protests

In past commentary on the mass illegal alien protests around the country, we have wondered aloud where Immigration chieftess Julie L. Myers, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been. We've also wondered aloud why ICE agents aren't converging on the mas protests to arrest the illegals. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel and very efficient," says Debbie Schlussel. "Now, we know the answer . . . We got word from ICE agents in Michigan and Ohio that they wanted to attend the rallies (which, in Detroit, were RIGHT in front of their building, the McNamara Federal Bldg.). They were ordered by their boss, Michigan/Ohio ICE Special Agent in Charge Brian Moskowitz a/k/a "Abu Moskowitz" to stay away from the rallies. Agents are angry that they were not allowed to arrest the illegals who were right in front of their noses, rubbing their illegal presence in the agents' faces. And agents tell us that they are told this was a nationwide policy coming directly from the ICE Princess ordering them to ignore the illegal alien rallies and forbidding them from making arrests. This is a disgrace."

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Illegal Alien Feted by Minneapolis Paper, Pols Arrested for Home Invasion

"From the day early last year when Francisco Javier Serrano was found squatting at Apple Valley High School, the face he presented to the world was that of a shy, gentle young man who wanted nothing more than a new life in Minnesota. Then, he dropped from sight in January, on the day he was supposed to return to his native Mexico," says the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "The Serrano who surfaced last month in Boston allegedly was a violent home invader, kicking in the apartment door of strangers and threatening them with knives. . . . Serrano entered the United States in 2002 on a six-month tourist visa. He said he had been deserted by his father in Connecticut and came back to Apple Valley, where he had attended high school. A janitor discovered him sleeping in the school in January 2005. When Serrano's story came out, he was befriended by Sabri and his family." [FAIR comment: What is left out of the Star Tribune coverage is that the paper all but canonized Serrano and was one of the main critics of deporting him.]

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'Housewives' Longoria to Star in La Raza Immigration Film

"Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is tackling America's controversial immigration issues head on in a new film after learning that fellow Latinos are being roped into slavery. The actress accepts she has become a role model for the Latin community and she wants to affect change in the lives of immigrants living well below the poverty line in the US," says Crosby Media. "She says: 'I work a lot with the National Council of La Raza, which is the largest Latino civil rights organization in the country and I work a lot with the United Farm Workers. I've been in the fields with these people and I've tried to experience a day in the life of these people. I'm producing a documentary on the labour workers.'"

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New Terror Risk Seen In Amnesty Legislation

"Provisions in past bills that have given amnesty to illegal aliens have been used by at least five terrorists to stay in the U.S. while planning or committing deadly attacks, a fact that critics say proves their contention that the 'path to earned citizenship' in immigration bills now before the Senate constitutes a security risk. 'We are just asking for trouble, having a program like that at the moment,' said Janice Kephart, former counsel to the September 11 commission and a private-sector border security consultant," the Washington Times reports. "Five cases are cited -- three of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers; one of the men involved in the related terror plot aimed that year at New York landmarks; and Mir Aimal Kasi, the Pakistani who killed two CIA employees in a 1993 shooting outside the agency's Langley headquarters. All five applied for amnesty under a 1986 immigration reform law, according to the September 11 commission's findings and Ms. Kephart's subsequent research."

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Illegal Alien Organizers Ties to Marxists and Terrorists

"One of the key organizers of the immigration protests and rallies nationwide, including yesterday's in Washington, is a group whose leaders are tied to the Workers World Party, a Marxist organization that has expressed support for dictators Kim Jong-il of North Korea and Saddam Hussein of Iraq," the Washington Times reported. "In a press release celebrating a March 25 rally in Los Angeles against immigration-law enforcement that drew an estimated 500,000 people, ANSWER said it helped organize 'a major contingent in the march' and provided logistical support. The march was co-chaired by Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of Latino Movement USA, who also is a member of ANSWER's Los Angeles steering committee."

Meanwhile, the illegal alien rallies drew support from radical Islamic groups, notes Debbie Schlussel. "When the big pro-illegal alien protests happened, a couple of weeks ago (and again, today), I thought it was common knowledge that Muslims and Arab activist groups urged attendance and attended in not so small numbers. Apparently, it is news to some. After the protests, Monica Piper from Free Republic sent me this photo of members of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in the Detroit protest and linked to some of my work over the years on this group," she writes. "But it was not news to me. I've been writing about ACCESS (See also, here, about ACCESS' sponsorship of the Michigan Divestment Conference regarding Israel) and its work--some of it illegal--on behalf of illegal aliens for years, including Medicaid fraud and evading federal agents looking for foreign students. And, by the way, despite this, top Immigration officials (from ICE-Immigration and Customs Enforcement, like Michigan/Ohio Special Agent in Charge Brian Moskowitz a/k/a "Abu Moskowitz") officials constantly attend ACCESS events and dinners."

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James Lileks: Just Annex Mexico

"The entire illegal immigration problem isn't that difficult. Just annex Mexico. Upside: lots of oil at popular prices. Downside: Once the Mexicans are Americans, they will presumably be unwilling to put up drywall or pick tomatoes, since those are 'jobs Americans will not do.' So maybe that's not a good idea. Try this, then: Build a wall, tall and long. If you really want to horrify the world, put barbed wire on the top; this signals your intention to violate the most basic human right, namely, the right to go to California for dental care at someone else's expense," says columnist James Lileks. "Democratic leaders have a different perspective. They look at the throngs marching in the streets the last few weeks, demanding their host country repay their ingratitude with citizenship, free schools, medical care, housing and an abject apology for the time Ponce de Leon spit on the ground without wiping it up, and the Democrats see votes. Millions of them! No one who shows up waving the flag of another nation and complaining about something that happened in 1492 is likely to vote Republican, after all."

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Sen. Brownback - I Don't Want to Anger Illegal Aliens

“I think everybody sees the immigrant community as an emerging force. I think everybody is quite sensitive that they don’t want to be on the wrong side, politically, of this group," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) in the New York Times. "Even I can’t believe he said this. These are persons illegally present in this country, who have no right to be in this country, who have no right to the vote and no right to any political influence in this country, who are not part of our body politic, and who are, each one of them, subject to arrest and instant deportation under our laws, and this snivelling moron of a U.S. Senator is afraid of them politically!" says Lawrence Auster. "He’s publicly announcing that he’s intimidated by them and their supporters! He’s telling the world that he will back their demands, not because he thinks it’s the best thing for America, but because he thinks they’ve got him by the bodily location where his non-existent brain must follow.

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"As A Legal Immigrant And Naturalized American, I Have Earned The Right To Condemn Illegal Immigration"

Among the many FAIR supporters are legal immigrants who have told us they are very upset with the recent illegal alien protest marches. Here's one letter we've received.

Dear FAIR,

As I got home from work today (after my two jobs) I turned on CSPAN and saw the Immigration Rally.

I am hoping this rally will not deter or intimidate our lawmakers on Capitol Hill on making the right decision to tighten and enforce our policies on immigration. If it does, I will be greatly disappointed in our elected officials for giving in to a small number of Latino Americans who are not representative of America as a whole.

Additionally, I am infuriated at the fact the leaders of the immigration rally continually compare our the African American civil rights movement to what is currently going on at this present time. What a joke!! For once all of the Latinos attending the rally are holding up American flags, on an average day the only pride they hold is with their own country.

Rikki, lobby hard for us Latino Americans whose families have worked hard, followed all the laws of this country, and respected the laws of this country, while still trying to achieve that American dream. That we have learned English, and the American culture while preserving our own heritage.

AND THAT WE DID IT THE LEGAL WAY!! That we too have families in other countries who still are PATIENTLY waiting to receive their visitor visas so that they may one day know the USA and come and visit us. However, our extended family is doing it the LEGAL WAY!!

J. Soriano

And legal immigrant Ian de Silva condemns the marches by illegal aliens in his Human Events column:

"The protests in some cities by thousands of illegal aliens are a stunning reminder of how shameless the lawless have become. It is bad enough that they came illegally and have no right to be here, but imagine their audacity to demand rights! What is even more troubling is that there are politicians who will kowtow to such brazen displays of impudence," he says. "As a legal immigrant and naturalized American, I have earned the right to condemn illegal immigration. I got my green card by following the rules and waiting in line for years, and I view illegal aliens as line-jumpers who respect neither the law nor other immigrants. By coming illegally, their very first act in this country was to break the law. To legalize such people is to reward lawless behavior."

Read the full letter

Michelle Malkin: Viva La Raza on Capitol Hill

"So, my Sony Handycam and I attended the illegal alien demonstration in D.C. yesterday. Here are some of the more interesting momentscaptured on tape of what I saw at the revolucion," says Michelle Malkin introducing her photo essay after attending the illegal alien protest on the Mall yesterday. "There were, of course, no identifiable ICE agents or any other DHS personnel in sight. All in all, it was a great day to be an illegal alien in the nation's capital. As these happy young protesters (perhaps earning school credit?) put it: "Viva La Raza!" (photo via Michelle Malkin)

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Illegal Marchers Say Waving Foreign Flags a "Cultural" not "Political" Statement

"On the Mall yesterday, most of the hundreds of thousands of Hispanics who rallied for immigrant rights had gotten the memo from organizers. Which flag to carry? The correct answer, they were told: the Star-Spangled Banner. American flags outnumbered rivals by thousands to one. CASA of Maryland, one of the organizing groups, had ordered nearly 11,000 U.S. flags (from a supplier in El Salvador)," the Washington Post reports. "'What happens when you leave a country, and you leave it because of various negative reasons, then your nostalgia for the country becomes cultural,' says Joseph Palacios, an associate professor of sociology at Georgetown University. 'It morphs from the political to the cultural.'"

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Public's Awareness of Immigration Issue Rising, And 60 Percent Disapprove of Bush's Position

"People are now about as likely to mention immigration as the economy when they are asked to name the most important problem facing the United States, though both rank behind war in Iraq and elsewhere, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Immigration's rise in the latest survey about the nation's top problems suggests the public is keeping close watch on the immigration debate in Congress and reaction around the country," the AP reports. "When people were asked this past week to name the top national problem that came to mind, 13 percent said immigration _ four times the number who said that in January."

In a separate story, the Washington Post reports on President Bush's sinking approval rating. "Political reversals at home and continued bad news from Iraq have dragged President Bush's standing with the public to a new low and boosted Democratic chances of wresting control of Congress from Republicans in the November elections, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll." The paper notes, "[P]erhaps more ominously for the president, 47 percent say they "strongly" disapproved of Bush's handling of the presidency -- more than double the percentage who strongly approved (20 percent) . . . A third approved of his handling of immigration issues while six in 10 disapproved. And as thousands gather on the Mall today to protest efforts to tighten immigration policy, three in four Americans said the government isn't doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from entering the United States."

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Phone Conference Reveals Illegal Alien Protest Plans

"On Saturday, a number of us patriotic sorts listened in to a conference among reconquistas and their fellow travelers who were planning the nationwide May 1, 2006 “Day Without An Immigrant” events. The conference was at the University of California, Riverside, and people joined in by phone from around the country. I noted callers from New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Florida, and Des Moines. One caller said that he represented the Southern California Anarchists’ Federation and that they would be cooperating on 5/1 by trying to shut down the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach," says Paul Nachman. "The word “amnesty” was used quite freely among the conferees. I think this should be useful for discussions we have with our “leaders” in the Senate, whose diversionary response to our objections has been 'It’s not an amnesty!' Well, if the would-be beneficiaries call it an amnesty, that’s good enough for me."

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S.F. Mayor Promises to Violate Federal Law Against Illegal Immigration

"Mayor Gavin Newsom said Thursday that The City will not comply with any federal legislation that criminalizes efforts to help illegal immigrants. The mayor also denounced a bipartisan congressional proposal that would beef up border security and allow as many as 12 million illegal immigrants to gain legal status," the San Francisco Bay Examiner reports. "Newsom, who has not been afraid to wade into controversial national issues such as gay marriage, appeared with a group of elected officials on the steps of City Hall to support immigrants, 'documented as well as [illegal].' Newsom also signed a resolution sponsored by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, and passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, urging San Francisco law enforcement not to comply with criminal provisions of any new immigration bill."

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Michelle Malkin: Here We Go Again - Illegal Aliens on the March

"They're baaack. Illegal alien public relations experts are advising their followers to put aside the Mexican flags and tone down their radicalism, but many reconquistadors and their friends can't help themselves. Hat tip to John A. for the protest photos today from Dallas," says Michelle Malkin. "Police told counterprotesters [in Dallas] that they could protect them only to a point, and offered to escort them out through an underground parking lot. Six people left with police who were carrying shields and wearing helmets and shin pads."

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House Majority Leader - We Need Border Control, Not Amnesty

"Plans supported by President Bush, and being weighed by the U.S. Senate, to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants are wrong-headed, and the nation should instead enforce tough border controls and crack down on people living illegally in the United States, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said yesterday," the Washington Post reports. "Even if the Senate were to combine a guest-worker program with increased border security -- a hard-fought compromise on such a measure collapsed Friday -- Boehner warned that such a plan would place 'the cart before the horse.' 'I'm for securing the borders and enforcing the laws,' Boehner said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'Until we do that, if you try to create a guest-worker program, all you're doing is inviting more illegal immigration.'"

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Debbie Schlussel: Illegal Alien Protesters Get a Paid Day Off?

"Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reports National Restaurant Association senior vice president of government affairs and public policy (that means he's the head lobbyist), John Gay, said the following about huge illegal immigrant rallies scheduled for Monday, nationwide," says writer Debbie Schlussel. "Hmmm . . . a paid day off for illegal alien restaurant workers to go protest. And you thought they were doing the jobs Americans won't do. Whatever."

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Another Victory in Senate as Hagel/Martinez Amnesty Loses

The Hagel/Martinez amnesty amendment was defeated this morning in the Senate. The vote to close debate on the amendment failed 36-62. Vote total. The Hagel/Martinez amendment offered amnesty for almost all of the illegal aliens living in the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist had worked out the compromise with a limited group of senators through yesterday, but as more learned what the proposed legislation contained, they would not support it. Thanks to all immigration reform supporters who called yesterday and today in opposition to this latest amnesty attempt.

Update: The Frist bill, which would have doubled legal immigration, also failed to get enough votes on the cloture motion. Vote total

More commentary: Diana West - Creeping Amnesty, National Review - Compromised, Newt Gingrich - Hagel/Martinez Compromise a "Cave In"

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With Specter Defeated, Next Up Is Bad "Compromise" Hagel-Martinez Measure

"Conservatives on Capitol Hill are not satisfied with the "compromise" immigration reform legislation that is now being considered on the Senate floor. With the likes of Harry Reid, Barack Obama and other liberals touting its usefulness, how could they be. After the compromise was announced a group of conservatives including Senators John Cornyn, Jon Kyl, Saxby Chambliss, Jeff Sessions and Johnny Isakson held a press conference announcing their opposition to the proposed compromise legislation. owever, Hugh Hewitt, who earlier in the day expressed his disfavor with the legislation, now is hopeful. Hugh is told by Hill sources that there is a provision in the compromise for a fence," the Townhall.com Capitol Report writes. "My sources contradict Hugh's. Rather than containing a comprehensive fence along the southern border, the compromise bill contains the same provisions inserted in the Judiciary committee bill for 'limited Arizona fencing.' Token fencing designed to placate is insufficient to secure the support of conservative critics. I suspect Hugh would agree."

Update #1 - Read FAIR's press release - FAIR Applauds Defeat of Specter Illegal Alien Amnesty, Urges Senate to Reject the Dishonest Hagel-Martinez Substitute

Update #2 - Read Bill Frist's blog site where he defends the amnesty compromise

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Sen. Reid Disavows Moratorium Support In '93

"Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid supports legislation that would enable illegal aliens in the United States to remain in the country and attain citizenship, but a dozen years ago he sharply criticized proposals that could be construed as amnesty, introducing a tough immigration-reform bill that argued open borders increased the threat of terrorism and rewarded lawbreakers who placed a heavy burden on the criminal justice system, schools and social programs," writes Worldnetdaily.

"So yesterday Reid tearfully took the Senate floor and disavowed his 1993 position. He said that he changed his mind after a few days because his wife, whose parents were immigrants, chided him," notes the PowerLine blog. "It turns out, however, that Reid reintroduced his bill and testified for it in the Senate Judiciary Committee the following year, 1994. Confronted with this fact, Reid last night backtracked on his touching story: 'Mr. Reid's office said last night that his conversion occurred after the second time he introduced his bill but couldn't give an exact time line.' They can't give an exact time line, I suspect, until they've done a Nexis search and figured out when Reid last gave an anti-illegal immigration speech that was reported in the press." And Tim Chapman at the Townhall site has more quotes from Reid talking tough on illegal immigration.

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"This Is A Vote . . . About Whose Side You're On"

"Two political parties, two rival plans to deal with the nation's burgeoning illegal immigrant population. And barring a breakthrough, no guarantee that either of them can pass a Senate riven by election-year partisanship. "'This is a vote that for millions of Americans is a question about whose side you're on,' Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Wednesday in advance of a test vote on legislation offering legal status and eventual citizenship to many of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Democrats, led by Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, needed 60 votes to advance the measure. They seemed unlikely to prevail, especially since one-time Republican allies melted away to support a GOP alternative instead," the Washington Post reports. "If so, that would clear the way for a similar 60-vote showdown on the competing Republican measure that Majority Leader Bill Frist unveiled late Wednesday. In general, the measure backed by Democrats would grant most of the 11 million immigrants legalized status and the opportunity to apply for citizenship after meeting several conditions. They include payment of a fine and any back taxes, passing a background check and learning English. By contrast, the Republican approach requires illegal immigrants who have been in the United States between two years and five years to return to their home country briefly, then re-enter as temporary workers. They could then begin a process of seeking citizenship." [C-SPAN is again covering the votes and debate today] Related Washington Post story about GOP "compromise" measure.

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Illegal Immigration Divides Evangelicals

"Evangelical groups released a letter Wednesday advocating immigration reforms, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. But the influential National Association of Evangelicals did not sign it, underscoring divisions among conservative Christians over immigration," the AP reports. "The letter to President Bush and members of Congress was signed by dozens of pastors from around the country and several Latino evangelical groups, including the Latino Leadership Foundation and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. The letter doesn't endorse a specific proposal but embraces the main elements of legislation being debated in the Senate that would create a guest worker program for illegal immigrants."

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More Mass Demonstrations by Illegal Aliens Expected

"Drawing on fear of restrictive immigration proposals that have awakened hundreds of thousands of Latinos to political activism, organizers are using popular Spanish-language radio and networks of community organizations to mobilize protests in Washington and scores of other cities Monday," the Washington Post reports. "Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition, predicted that Monday's demonstration at the Washington Monument would draw 100,000 people and that nationally the turnout, in more than 60 cities, would number 'in the millions.'"

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Tennessee Senate Passes Bill for Training State Police in Immigration Enforcement

"The state Senate passed a bill Monday that paves the way for the Tennessee Highway Patrol to have illegal immigration enforcement authority. The measure requires the commissioner of the state’s Department of Safety to make an agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to train Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers in enforcing 'federal immigration laws, detention and removals, and investigations of the state of Tennessee,' according to the bill and its amendments," the Nashville City Paper reports. "The training would be paid for through grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at an estimated cost of $100,000 in the program’s first year and $50,000 in subsequent years. The state will only fund the operational costs of when a THP officer might be enforcing federal immigration laws that the ICE usually handles. It’s unknown how often a THP officer would enforce immigration, but it’s estimated at less than $100,000 per year."

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New Hampshire Business Groups Attack Bill to Fine Employers

"Representatives of labor and business groups picked apart a bill Tuesday that requires employers to tell the. state if they hire aliens and face up to $2,500 a day in fines if they don't comply with labor laws, including knowingly hiring illegal immigrants," the AP reports. "The intent of the bill, which was introduced and passed in the Senate, is to penalize employers who take advantage of undocumented workers by paying them lower wages and denying them benefits, such as health care, said Sen. Majority Leader Robert Clegg, R-Hudson."

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Terrence Jeffrey: Virtual Fence Is Morally Backward

"The United States has a long and laudable tradition of using its technological superiority to improve the moral character of the means it uses for national defense. This tradition could be reversed, however, by a provision in the Senate immigration reform bill that authorizes the construction of a virtual--rather than an actual--fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. An actual fence running the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border would not only protect would-be illegal immigrants from unnecessary harm but it would also protect the Border Patrolmen whose job it is to secure our frontier. A virtual fence, by contrast, might protect skittish senators from the ill-considered criticism of the liberal media and liberal interest groups but it would also perpetuate unnecessary risks for illegal border crossers and Border Patrolmen alike," says Terrence Jeffrey in his latest column for Human Events. "A virtual fence is specifically designed to force hands-on confrontations between Border Patrolmen and foreign nationals crossing our border. It would cause dangerous situations, where a real fence could deter and prevent them. If your son was a Border Patrolman assigned to watch a remote section of border in the wee hours, what would you rather have standing between him and a group of intruders: A high double fence with a patrol road? Or a motion detector and camera? A real fence would create both a barrier and deterrent to illegal immigrants. Low-tech as it might be, it would be a far more discriminating and proportionate instrument for defending our border than a high-tech 'virtual fence.'”

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Senate Democrats Try to Close Debate on Amnesty

"With Republicans still deeply divided, Senate Democrats moved Tuesday to force a showdown over immigration reform, filing a motion to end debate and vote on a bill that provides the option of citizenship to guest workers and illegal immigrants already in the United States. The move means the Senate will have to vote Thursday on whether to end debate. That in turn could force action on final passage three days later for the bill now on the Senate floor, which has White House support but does not command a majority among Republicans in either chamber of Congress," the LA Times writes. "Even before Democrats filed the motion to end debate, Republicans accused them of being obstructionist and trying to scuttle the bill by blocking debate over amendments. And the atmosphere on and off the Senate floor grew more and more heated during the day, as Republicans realized Democrats were digging in their heels . . . . Republicans were also debating whether to file a countermotion to the Democrats that would force a vote on a competing bill - currently on the sidelines - that would enhance border security but does not include a guest-worker program or legalization."

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McCain Booed By Union Audience for Amnesty Support

"Sen. John McCain threatened on Tuesday to cut short a speech to union leaders who booed his immigration views and later challenged his statements on organized labor and the Iraq war . . . [H]e took more questions, including a pointed one on his immigration plan. McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona. Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain's job offer," the AP reports. McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. 'You can't do it, my friends.' Some in the crowd said they didn't appreciate McCain questioning their work ethic."

Update 4/6: Radio Host Tammy Bruce takes Sen. McCain to task in her blog entry John McCain Thinks Americans Are French. "Let me be blunt. McCain is a self-serving, opportunistic pig. He, like other open-borders, Americans-Are-Lazy politicians, is a man who has grown soft and fat and elitist in Washington, DC, and has developed an obvious contempt for the average working American. Not only does he not deserve to even think about being president, he should not be in the U.S. senate. He is an example of the opportunistic narcissists in Washington whose only concern is their own career as they do whatever they think it'll take to advance themselves."

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AZ Trailer Wreck Latest Smuggling Related Accident

"Customers and workers at shops along Ajo near Mission thought animals might have been hurt. It was natural for them to feel this way. After all, it was a 12' X 8' horse trailer they saw crash into a light pole, one designed to transport two horses at a time. Agents from US Customs and Border Protection say there were a total of 42 illegal immigrants inside the trailer. Witnesses say there may have been as many as 60. In any event, those who could run did, and the border patrol believes it caught all of them," KOLD-TV reports. "Long after the crash, area hospitals will feel the impact as they absorb the costs of treating the injured. Illegal immigrants are causing a monetary catastrophe in America's health care system. From July to December 2005, a six-month period, University Medical Center in Tucson treated 681 foreign nationals at a cost of $6.9 million dollars, according to a study by the University of Texas at El Paso."

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Illegal Alien Gold Rush to New Orleans

"As the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina receded in September, roads filled with residents leaving the city, their cars, SUVs and moving vans jammed with what they had salvaged of their lives. But another mass movement was taking place on the other sides of the highways. Thousands of men from Mexico and Central America were driving into the city. Word had spread throughout the Latino immigrant diaspora in America that the city had plenty of work, construction wages had doubled to $16 an hour and no one was asking for papers," the LA Times writes. "No one knows how many Latino immigrants are here, but John Logan, a Brown University demographer who has studied the city since Katrina, says 'there must be 10,000 to 20,000 immigrant workers in the region by now, and the number is going to grow.'"

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Immigrants More than Half of Federal Cases in Kansas

"Over the past 10 years, the number of federal cases statewide involving at least one person who is not a U.S. citizen has grown from 10 percent to 50 percent, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson attributed the jump in the state's federal cases involving foreign nationals to the huge increase in the population of immigrants living in Kansas and Mexico's growing involvement as a transportation conduit in the drug trade," the AP reports. "While Kansas does see a few cases resulting from nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement criminal initiatives, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wichita by far get the majority of their cases from referrals from local law enforcement agencies." [FAIR comment: Kansas is one of the distribution hubs for meth used by the Latin Kings, MS-13 and other gangs that are now the primary suppliers for the Midwest. The meth market is almost entirely owned by Mexican production due to the new drug controls to stop meth labs in the U.S.]

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Arizona House Passes Bill To Expand Trespassing Law to Illegal Aliens

"The House on Thursday approved a bill to expand Arizona's trespassing law to make undocumented immigrants' presence in Arizona a crime and to enable local authorities to arrest them. Senate Bill 1157, which passed Thursday on a 32-26 vote, had been approved previously by the Senate but now returns to consider changes made by the House. It is considered unlikely to become law because of the likelihood of a veto by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. No Democrats voted in favor of the bill," the Arizona Republic reports. "Under the measure, an undocumented immigrant anywhere in Arizona would be guilty of a felony. Also, a law officer arresting someone for investigation of a crime would be authorized to question the person's nationality and immigration status."

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Michelle Malkin: American Students Punished for Displaying American Flag

Michelle Malkin has a follow-up post about the flag situation in Colorado, where U.S. students were punished for bringing American flags to school in response to demonstrations by illegal aliens. She quotes from a letter sent by a concerned Coloradan about the event: "On Friday, March 24, a group of Skyline H. S. Latino students, some citizens and some not citizens, showed up at school, many wearing or prominently displaying the flag of Mexico . . . Some of the non-Latino students, angry and offended at the display on campus of the flag of Mexico, and angry at the walkout, decided to stage a pro-American "protest." On the following Tuesday morning, March 28, 2006, a group of the 'pro-American' students parked their pickup trucks in the school student parking lot. The American flag was displayed prominently on these trucks. While the students were in classes, members of the Skyline H.S. administration went to the student parking lot and summarily confiscated the American flags," he reports. When the students returned to their trucks later in the day and discovered their American flags missing, they went to the administration building to report the thefts. These students were detained by the adminstration, the students' parents summoned to the school and, by the virtue of the confessions of the students to having brought the American flags to school, they were summarily suspended from school for a period of two days . . . My student is not aware of any student who displayed or carried a Mexican flag on campus having been suspended." Also see: A Certain Slant of Light

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Minutemen Return to Arizona Border

"Minuteman volunteers concerned about the continued flow of illegal immigrants across the border from Mexico gathered Saturday with lawn chairs, binoculars and cell phones for a new monthlong campaign aimed at raising public awareness of the issue. A year after their first watch-and-report operation along the border in southeastern Arizona, members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps embarked on a much larger effort in the busy migrant-smuggling corridor," CNN reports. "At a rally kicking off the effort at a remote southern Arizona ranch Saturday afternoon, politicians and activists opposing illegal immigration gave fiery speeches calling for more border control." [More photos and video will be posted later today.]

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