Friday, December 13, 2002

The Truth vs. A Flake Arizona Congressman Applauds Lawlessness Tancredo on O'Reilly, Dec. 9, 2002 Tancredo: "We are going to plug Afghanistan's borders. We are not going to plug our own." Our Comment: Tancredo is right. Our elected representatives have actually turned against the people. Proof: Republican Jeff Flake is actually applauding lawlessness!  Listen Flake on O'Reilly, Dec. 11, 2002 Flake: "The U.S. taxpayer as a whole is better off because of illegal immigration. They have paid into fraudulent Social Security numbers, for example. Our Comment: So the government encourages fraud to make money. Let's all take that lesson to heart. -- Anyway, that whole line of reason is pure bunk. Most of these illegals work under the table. Others use Taxpayer ID numbers. Still others get tax refunds through Earned Income Tax Credits. Illegal aliens are costing us billions. E-mail this Flake  Listen Past Features   ABP Updates

Media Watch

Tom Tancredo on the Peter Boyles Show Friday Sometime between 5 and 9 AM MST -- KHOW - 630 AM -- Denver  Listen Live

Sacramento Bee -- Jose L. Soberanes, Mexican Consul Another meddling Mexican pushes to 'regularize' scofflaws More than 1 million people cross the border daily for tourism, commerce and work. Most crossings are legal, but too many are not. Hard-working Mexicans come North to meet the demands of U.S. companies that cannot otherwise find enough employees. The result is a Mexican diaspora of approximately 4 million undocumented workers going to work, raising families, paying taxes and contributing to their communities in the United States - but largely under the radar screen of U.S. immigration authorities. [Also check out this pack of liars and this Omaha nuisance.]

Associated Press Gift-shop tycoon indicted in federal court Orlando gift-shop magnate Jesse Maali was indicted Wednesday in federal court in Orlando on 55 counts of hiring illegal aliens and laundering money to pay them. -- Also indicted were five associates involved in running Maali's seven Bargain World stores in Orange and Osceola counties. -- The case drew widespread attention after the millionaire Palestinian-American businessman's Nov. 14 arrest when a prosecutor accused him of having financial ties to groups advocating violence in the Middle East.

USA Today We need 'guest workers'?: U.S. manufacturing jobs fading away fast ...Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. employees worked in factories, making everything from clothing to lipstick to cars. Today, a little more than one-tenth of the nation's 131 million workers are employed by manufacturing firms. Four-fifths are in services. -- The decline in manufacturing jobs has swiftly accelerated since the beginning of 2000. Since then, more than 1.9 million factory jobs have been cut - about 10% of the sector's workforce. During the same period, the number of jobs outside manufacturing has risen close to 2%. -- Many of the factory jobs are being cut as companies respond to a sharp rise in global competition.

Sierra Vista Herald  [Short-lived link] Citizen patrols not opposed By a 4-3 vote, the Town Council chose not to join Tombstone, Douglas and Cochise County in formally opposing militia groups who plan to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. -- Mayor Nerhan asked the council to support a resolution that mirrored the resolution passed by the county Board of Supervisors. The resolution opposed the formation of militias and vigilante groups, and urged the feds to do more to control the problem of illegal immigrants into the county.

Sierra Vista Herald  [Short-lived link] Border Patrol agents graduate Twenty-three Border Patrol agents ended a grueling five-week course Thursday that prepared them to be border lifesavers. -- The agents, who are from the eight sectors that patrol the U.S.-Mexico border from Texas to California, graduated in the first class of the National BORSTAR, the Border Patrol's Search Trauma and Rescue program. -- The class started with 41 agents. But the course, which is much like a military basic training program, cut the final number down to 23.

Associated Press 3 Mexicans charged with smuggling Middle Easterners into U.S. A criminal indictment unsealed Friday accuses three Mexican citizens of smuggling Middle Eastern immigrants into the United States, including a Lebanese man who died during the journey. -- Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, Patricia Serrano Valdez, and Jose Alvarez Duenas are charged in a 16-count indictment delivered to federal prosecutors by a San Diego grand jury. -- The three allegedly stood to financially profit by smuggling six illegal immigrants into the United States through Mexico over a period of time beginning in 2001.

San Antonio Express-News    Mexican Mafia member gets life in double slaying After a judge sentenced him today to life in prison, Adam Gomez walked out of a Bexar County courtroom to the sound of his victim's grieving mother screaming "murderer." -- Gomez, 28, an avowed member of the Mexican Mafia, was the trigger man who last December shot and killed nightclub owner Jose Manjarrez, 27, and Steve Valle, 18, as they lay helplessly on the garage floor of a South Side home. -- Hours later they were found in an abandoned Lexus, victims of what authorities tagged as drug-related homicides.

Cedartown Standard Six arrested on drug charges ...According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI): An investigation conducted by the the Polk County PD's Drug Unit and the Polk Co.Sheriff's Office involving the trafficking of methamphetamine in Cedartown and Polk Co. culminated in the seizure of more than four pounds of methamphetamine. Special Agent JP Foster reports that on Dec. 5, Victor Hugo Aguilar met with agents and was arrested after delivering some three pounds of meth to the Burger King parking lot... [Also see: St. George, Utah meth bust]

Nogales International  [Short-lived link] Border Patrol shares deterrence policy The Border Patrol's Nogales station played host to a group of 32 representatives of the Tohono O'odham nation on Dec 5. -- The tribal leaders traveled here to learn more about Border Patrol strategies and technology, and how those may be applied to the nation's growing border problem. -- Tribal delegates voiced concerns about increased drug trafficking and illegal immigration through their nation. -- The Nation covers an area of approximately 2.8 million acres.

Associated Press Appeals court hears license case The state Court of Appeals is considering arguments that Minnesota driver's license requirements discriminate against immigrant and foreign visitor applications. -- A coalition of groups say the new rules violate the Constitution's equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment. -- They argue that it's unconstitutional to require drivers who are on temporary visas in Minnesota to list their visa expiration date on their driver's licenses, designating them as non-citizens.

Matt Hayes

Washington Times Visas to the U.S. aren't a bad idea To hear recent broadsides by Muslim advocacy groups, there is almost nothing that the Bush administration can do to improve visa controls that isn't motivated by a desire to discriminate against Muslims. When the Bremer Report was submitted to Congress in 2000, Hala Maksoud of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee criticized its most prescient recommendation, the tracking of international students, as "facilitating abusing behavior by the government."

Sham ID Cards

Richard Salvatierra - Tucson Citizen Mexican I.D. cards new slap at U.S. border policy One has to assume the U.S. government has all but given up trying to control the border with Mexico and otherwise deporting citizens of that country who have entered the United States illegally. -- "And if you're a patsy," says Steven Camarato (sic), research director at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, "people beat up on you and that's what's happening right now to the U.S." What Camarato refers to specifically is the campaign launched by the Mexican government in 1999, and which has picked up speed recently, to issue a special ID card to immigrants who are in this country illegally.

Project USA Update

Guest worker program looming When Congress convenes in January it is almost certain that legislators will finally have to address America's fiercely criticized immigration policies. --  Clearly, the status quo is untenable. More than 11 million foreign nationals now reside with impunity illegally in the United States. Hundreds of foreigners die on our southern border every year attempting an illegal crossing. Armed citizen militia movements are forming to enforce immigration law. And, waiting in the wings, the nearly 5 billion who live in countries poorer than Mexico present an enormous political and security challenge.

Oliver North - Townhall.com Border security: an oxymoron This week, when federal authorities arrested workers at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports for unlawfully possessing security badges, "open borders" advocates were outraged because several of those apprehended were illegal immigrants. Apparently the "rights" of those who break America's laws by entering our country illegally outweigh the safety of law-abiding American citizens. It's nothing new. But it's getting worse. -- Two weeks ago in Atlanta, federal agents caught employees of the Social Security Administration...

Stockton Record Calif. Meltdown: Romero wants booze tax to bail out trauma centers A nickel-a-drink fee on alcoholic beverages would raise $500 million a year for the state's emergency rooms and trauma centers, says a state senator [reconquista Gloria Romero] who wants the liquor industry to help pay the cost of treating alcohol-related injuries. -- Lobbyists for the industry say killing the bill will be their highest priority this year. -- Health experts say about one in three trauma-room patients is there thanks to someone who has had too much to drink. [Related item]

San Diego Union-Tribune  U.S. officials seek end to cooperation with Mexico Fearing that corrupt Mexican officials are undermining investigations into drug cartels, some U.S. law enforcement agents have asked the Bush administration to end a 1999 information-sharing agreement between the two countries. -- That agreement, signed by President Clinton and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, expired in 2000. But the Bush administration has continued to honor the pact and has praised the efforts Mexico is making to fight drug cartels. The administration is negotiating with Mexico on a new partnership.

Cybercast News Service Citizens Patrol Southern U.S. Border to Stop Illegal Aliens The U.S. Border Patrol arrested 955,310 illegal aliens from more than 150 countries in fiscal year 2002, but 96 percent of those caught entering the U.S. illegally were from Mexico. Some citizens along the southern U.S. border say those arrests have done little to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into their homeland and are now taking action themselves. -- Before the 2000 census, the Census Bureau estimated the population of illegal aliens in the U.S. at six million. But.....

Shelby News Aliens are in federal purview Local police sometimes arrest people who turn out to be illegal immigrants, but unless those detainees are suspected of committing a felony, they likely are free to live in the United States without fear of any additional federal investigation. -- Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect life and property, regardless of a person's citizenship status. The Justice Department for years has considered the enforcement of immigration laws a federal responsibility...

Seattle Times Malvo's mom sent packing The mother of accused Beltway sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was deported to Jamaica last night as her 17-year-old son remained jailed on murder charges in Virginia. -- Una James, who once considered the United States "the land of milk and honey," signaled her desire to leave Monday when her attorneys notified the Immigration and Naturalization Service that she would not appeal a deportation order issued by an administrative judge last month.

Denver Post U.S. beefs up firepower of park rangers A generation ago, National Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers carried their guns in old bowling bags or briefcases - because they weren't allowed to wear them. -- Today, the off-season force of 13 armed rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park wear sidearms all the time and have immediate, in-vehicle access to shotguns and M-16 rifles, said Chief Ranger Joe Evans. -- Evans' colleagues along the Mexican border, where a ranger was fatally shot last summer, wear protective body armor and may carry AK-47 assault rifles.

George Putnam

Newsmax.com One Reporter's Opinion: Citizen Militia on the Border It is this reporter's opinion that I found it the height of hypocrisy when I read the headline "U.S. Plans to Seal Afghans' Porous Border." The plan is to slow the flow of illegals, illicit drugs, terrorists and contraband into and out of Afghanistan. The United States will finance the construction and maintenance of 177 checkpoints, staffed by 12,000 border police in that far-off land.

The Arizona Republic Border agents join search, rescue corps Nearly two dozen Border Patrol agents will be leaving their regular posts to span across the Southwest to try to save illegal border crossers' lives. -- After five weeks of intense training, 23 agents, including 13 in Arizona, will join BORSTAR, the Border Patrol's Search, Trauma and Rescue corps, which is typically dispatched on emergency missions involving migrants in distress. -- The new BORSTAR graduates include three women, the first female agents to join the rescue team since it was formed in 1998.

Associated Press Zedillo praises NAFTA NAFTA has done important things for Mexico and the United States but more needs to be done if Mexico is to develop, former President Ernesto Zedillo has said. -- President Vicente Fox and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed in September 2001 to review immigration, but Zedillo said the issue understandably lost priority after the Sept. 11 attacks. -- "But I am hopeful that sooner rather than later Mexico will recover the priority it deserves..."

Modesto Bee Meth lab raided, likely illegals caught Drug agents raided a Merced County dairy and found a large-scale methamphetamine lab, the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency reported Thursday. -- Agents arrested four men. -- Agents arrested Ramon Rodarte Garcia, Aurelio Gonzalez Torres, his brother, Juan Gonzalez Torres, and Manuel V. Padilla. The Torres brothers and Padilla have no permanent addresses and the three men are suspected of being in the United States illegally.

Arizona Daily Star Hispanic group honors Aztlan-cheerleader Isabel Garcia The Hispanic Professional Action Committee honored six Tucsonans Thursday night, including longtime city manager and current UA administrator Joel Valdez who received a Lifetime Achievement Award. -- The organization named Mary Fimbres its Woman of the Year. Fimbres is the director of LULAC. -- Community Service Awards were given to Anna Marie Chalk, UA alumni administrative associate; Isabel Garcia, Pima County legal defender; and folklorist Jim Griffith. -- Garcia, a first-generation daughter of a Mexican copper miner who helped organize industry workers, is director of the Pima County Legal Defender's Office. Garcia is also an advocate of immigrant and human rights and is the founder and co-chairwoman of Derechos Humanos...

Financial Times (UK) Protest supports invading criminal airport workers Immigration rights groups are calling on the U.S. government to stop using terrorism as a cover to crack down on undocumented workers. -- A coalition of pro-immigrant groups met Thursday in Chicago to denounce recent raids at O'Hare and Midway that netted 25 arrests for bogus IDs and deactivated more than 500 access badges. -- Among those arrested Tuesday were two McDonald's workers, a Potbelly employee, three janitors and an exterminator. Almost all were Mexican, and none was found to have ties to terrorism.

San Diego Union-Tribune Truck carrying illegals crashes A pickup carrying about 15 undocumented Mexican immigrants rolled off state Route 94 last night, killing one person and injuring several others. -- It appeared the eastbound driver was going too fast for a curve and went off the highway into a ditch about three miles east of Harris Ranch Road, said Officer Mike Zamora of the California Highway Patrol. He said no law enforcement was pursuing the truck. -- A fire dispatcher said one person was declared dead at the scene.

The Oregonian Illegals found in stolen Suburban Victor Castillo of Canby came home from a trip out of town and found his Chevrolet Suburban missing. He reported it stolen the next day, Dec. 2. -- One week later, the truck was spotted driving into California from Mexico -- packed with 23 illegal immigrants. -- "It's a common practice for smugglers, or coyotes, to use stolen vehicles to transport illegal migrants," said Al Nieto, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman. "We're going to take their cars away, and that can get expensive."

West Point News (Nebraska) Meth bust nets three (suspected illegal alien involved) Two adults and one juvenile who is being charged as an adult were expected back in Cuming County Court today (Wednesday) to hear complaints filed against them after being arrested on drug charges last week in West Point. -- The two adults are Adan Lopez Lopez and Viola Garcia. -- The other defendant is Consuelo Delucio. -- All three were arrested last Tuesday after search warrants and arrest warrants were executed at a trailer house in West Point's Mobile Homestead, where three-fourths of a pound of methamphetamine was found... [Also see: Deputy's Death Emphasizes Meth Problem -- From KOLR - Springfield, MO]