The Two Faces of Joanna Conti -- The Illegal Alien Lobby Poster Girl

The Two Faces of Joanna Conti -- The Illegal Alien Lobby Poster Girl

BY WILLIAM G. HERRON, PH.D.
(Reformatted for HTML and posted on the American Patrol Report October 24, 2004)
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Dr. Herron, a resident of Evergreen, is a former executive in the Space and Communication Group of the Hughes Aircraft Co. and an expert on space-based national security systems and intelligence. He is currently the chairman of the registered Defend Colorado Now Issue Committee (defendcoloradonow.com), which will place a Colorado constitutional amendment (restricting the provision of government services to persons lawfully in the United States) on the 2006 ballot. In 1997-98 he held the position of Director of the Immigration Public Policy Center at the Golden-based Independence Institute. For the last 15 years he has been a frequent speaker to civic, service and political groups on immigration history, politics and public policy. His e-mail is drwgh@aol.com. To the best of my knowledge, all that is written here is true, and events are presented accurately as they occurred.

POLITICIANS, they say, are not always who they seem. I guess it has been that way since the beginning, especially for those who really don't hold the same values as their potential constituents but never the less want to appear as if they do. In modern-day American politics, that ability to make political candidates appear as someone they are not has been raised to a very refined art form. I thought about this when I attended the recent Evergreen Lake House Political Forum, which allowed us to hear from candidates vying for key offices.

FIGURE 1. As the band [in back] played Mexican- style music and the revelers clapped their hands and stomped their feet, riders from the buses made their entrance and ran the gauntlet of well-wishers to an area reserved near the band. The few Anglos present - practically all union members, like the long-haired blonde man on the left - seemed to congregate at this table seen in the foreground. Conti's "campaign table" is to the left across the aisle. [The faces of others undercover are blurred in this printing.] The Denver Catholic Archdiocese, at the highest level, made it clear that all were welcome, regardless of immigration status. Representatives of the City of Denver and several union organizations spoke of justice, solidarity, and, of course, that "No Human is Illegal." While a single American flag can be seen near the band [center- right near top], Mexican flags of various sizes were seen in the hall. This event was for the "community," mainly a mix of legal and illegal Hispanic immigrants, where in many case, the legals are aiding and abetting the illegals, with the full support of the Catholic church and pandering politicians (in attendance) from the sanctuary city of Denver. This was a meeting more anti-American than any most Americans have attended. And the newspaper reporters assigned were "friends" of the event.

Meanwhile outside: The Illegal Alien Freedom
Riders Arrive in Denver and Conti is There Campaigning
...as they play Let's Drag the American Flag

FIGURE 2. The two Gray Line Freedom Rider buses from Seattle via Salt Lake City arrived late at St. Joseph's church, in the dark. The group shown exiting the lead bus laughs and speaks mainly in Spanish, as one of the riders drags the American flag along the sidewalk and then into the hall to approving cheers from the crowd. Food was served, freedom riders first, and the speeches went on and on.... - PHOTOS: W. G. Herron

I take my politics seriously, and this leads me to dig a little deeper to understand the true nature of the people and the issues I support and vote for - it was not always that way. So, at the Lake House forum, I was very interested in hearing firsthand Joanna Conti state her position on illegal immigration, an issue that negatively impacts, directly and indirectly, almost all other issues. I proposed a question on illegal immigration and it was selected; and in a simplified form, it was asked of both Conti and Congressman Tancredo's representative (Congress was in session).

I looked at the audience as my question was asked and the answers given. I wondered if anyone there, based on what I heard, had the slightest clue of what is truly at stake in the Conti-Tancredo race. Did the people in the audience know the true nature of the candidates or were the potential voters to be guided, e.g., by the simplistic criteria of a metro newspaper writer who wrote, "the pictures [on the candidates' respective Web sites] say it all." I think pictures, especially those offered by the candidates or their handlers, most often don't say it all, but I guess there are exceptions. For example, I have a few photos that come very close to saying it all. I took these photos when I went undercover at an event held September 26, 2003, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church Recreation Hall on 6th Avenue (see Fig. 1). The event was the Denver layover rally for the so-called Freedom Riders who were making a cross-country bus trip to lobby for amnesty and civil rights for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens now in the United States. Locally the event was cosponsored by the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver (not unexpected), several local service unions and some self-declared pro-illegal immigrant groups, all intent on celebrating illegal immigrants and attempting to blur the line between legal and illegal status with mantras such as "No Human is Illegal." The event was by invitation only (no press photographers allowed inside)and union members provided forceful security, but I was able to gain entry. I stayed until the end of the event, talking with the people there and shooting photos, until I was challenged and told to stop. The event was the most anti-American demonstration I have ever witnessed firsthand, a building filled with both the prominent and the lowly, praising illegal aliens, damning Western Civilization and our nation's history, glorifying open borders - now that makes for pictures that say it all. Both the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post portrayed the event through the distorted lens of that small group of reporters who receive the immigration- related assignments and who are often in solidarity with the large, fast-growing "undocumented immigrant" community in Colorado. These reporters, little more than press agents for the illegal-alien cause, did accurately report the one clean American flag in the recreation hall, but they were blind to the many Mexican flags also displayed there and to the other American flag, tattered and badly soiled, dragged on the dirty sidewalk in front of my camera (see Fig. 2) and into the hall where the shouting crowd gave its approval - and that is also a picture that says it all.

Into this radical but illegal alien-friendly venue, Joanna Conti chose to initiate her congressional campaign. She placed her campaign table in the most prominent position in the hall: first table to the left past the double-entry doors. She had piles of literature defining herself and a sign-up sheet for those wishing to support her campaign to unseat Tancredo - that "bigoted, racist, xenophobic, nasty man" who wants to see the immigration laws actually enforced, like the large majority of Americans. Conti was in her element, among her people, smiling and comfortable as we talked that evening about Tancredo and her positions on immigration public policy. While talking to one of the reporters about illegal immigrants, Conti said "They are afraid to...be good citizens because they are undocumented." Apparently, she not only wants to blur the line between legal and illegal immigrants, she also wants to blur any distinction between citizens and illegal aliens.

After several other opportunities to observe Conti in campaign mode, I conclude that she has two faces: the attractively packaged but false Conti so often presented in basic pearls, and then there is the true Conti, the darling of the multifaceted pro illegal alien lobby - where she derives much of her financial funding and other sup port. She has certainly captured the support of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which aggressively lobbies for more immigrants (legal and illegal are both OK) from whom they make their money. And Charlie Fote's Western Union unit embraces illegal immigrants and supports Conti big-time because money transfers of immigrant funds to their home countries is a major profit source for their business. There are so many willing to sell out the future of our country and that of our children for a piece of gold. But the pro illegal alien lobby is not only driven by greed, they often flirt with treason - and they have all joined together in this election to defeat Congressman Tancredo. Supporting illegal immigration in a business environment may only reflect unhealthy greed, but when the same support is offered by an elected official who has sworn an oath of office, the offense rises toward treason. I believe that Joanna Conti is both unfit and unqualified to take the oath of office for Congress.