Illegal Protest

This needs to be filed under “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” Sadly, it is actually going to spur HEARINGS from the House Judiciary Committee because now Rep Zoe Lofgren apparently does NOT understand how the laws in this country work and that you cannot claim ignorance of the laws and escape punishment. That fact is codified in the statement I have heard ALL MY LIFE from law enforcement and it goes like this :

IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE

If this is allowed to go as far as HEARINGS by our so-called political representatives in Congress, it will be yet another blow to the rule of law in this country, as our so-called political representatives debate whether or not we need to hold illegal aliens to the same legal standards as citizens. Yes folks, that is the only thing that can come from this. It really could happen that even at our highest levels of government, illegal aliens will be excused from their illegal behavior “because they didn’t know it was illegal”. Meanwhile, you and I are held to the standard of “ignorance of the law is no excuse”.

We need to NIP THIS ONE IN THE BUD folks and I provide contact information for the culprits behind this farce as well as a link to contact info on ALL the House Judiciary Committe members and let’s get the phones ringing off the hook. Make no mistake about it, if these Postville illegal aliens are allowed to say that they “didn’t know it was illegal to use the Social Security Card with someone else’s name on it” it will open the door to all illegal aliens claiming ignorance of our laws as a way to escape punishment. Rep Zoe Lofgren SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF. But then again she comes from San Francisco where there are very few laws which are followed apparently.

Thanks to Michael Cutler for alerting me and others to this article in the New York Times.

An Interpreter Speaking Up for Migrants ( where’s my tiny violin? )

In 23 years as a certified Spanish interpreter for federal courts, Erik Camayd-Freixas has spoken up in criminal trials many times, but the words he uttered were rarely his own.

Then he was summoned here by court officials to translate in the hearings for nearly 400 illegal immigrant workers arrested in a raid on May 12 at a meatpacking plant. Since then, Mr. Camayd-Freixas, a professor of Spanish at Florida International University, has taken the unusual step of breaking the code of confidentiality among legal interpreters about their work.

In a 14-page essay he circulated among two dozen other interpreters who worked here, Professor Camayd-Freixas wrote that the immigrant defendants whose words he translated, most of them villagers from Guatemala, did not fully understand the criminal charges they were facing or the rights most of them had waived.

In the essay and an interview, Professor Camayd-Freixas said he was taken aback by the rapid pace of the proceedings and the pressure prosecutors brought to bear on the defendants and their lawyers by pressing criminal charges instead of deporting the workers immediately for immigration violations.

He said defense lawyers had little time or privacy to meet with their court-assigned clients in the first hectic days after the raid. Most of the Guatemalans could not read or write, he said. Most did not understand that they were in criminal court.

“The questions they asked showed they did not understand what was going on,” Professor Camayd-Freixas said in the interview. “The great majority were under the impression they were there because of being illegal in the country, not because of Social Security fraud.”

During fast-paced hearings in May, 262 of the illegal immigrants pleaded guilty in one week and were sentenced to prison — most for five months — for knowingly using false Social Security cards or legal residence documents to gain jobs at the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in nearby Postville. It was the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace.

The essay has provoked new questions about the Agriprocessors proceedings, which had been criticized by criminal defense and immigration lawyers as failing to uphold the immigrants’ right to due process. Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee, said she would hold a hearing on the prosecutions and call Professor Camayd-Freixas as a witness.

“The essay raises questions about whether the charges brought were supported by the facts,” Ms. Lofgren said.

Bob Teig, a spokesman for Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, said the immigrants’ constitutional rights were not compromised.

Read more

Here is contact information for the two main culprits in this ridiculous fiasco as well as a link to the House Judiciary Committee so that you can contact and perhaps find some on that committee with some COMMON SENSE and urge them NOT TO HOLD HEARINGS ON THIS SUBJECT!!!

Erik Camayd-Freixas - Florida International University
Phone: 305-348-6222
Second Phone: 305-348-2851
Email

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
Washington DC Phone: 202-225-3072
CA District Phone: 408-271-8700
Email

House Judiciary Committee Members

Democrats:

* John Conyers (Mich.), Chairman
* Howard L. Berman (Calif.)
* Rick Boucher (Va.)
* Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.)
* Robert C. Scott (Va.)
* Melvin L. Watt (N.C.)
* Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)
* Sheila Jackson-Lee (Texas)
* Maxine Waters (Calif.)
* Martin T. Meehan (Mass.)
* William D. Delahunt (Mass.)
* Robert Wexler (Fla.)
* Linda Sanchez (Calif.)
* Steve Cohen (Tenn.)
* Hank Johnson (Ga.)
* Luis Gutierrez (Ill.)
* Brad Sherman (Calif.)
* Anthony D. Weiner (N.Y.)
* Adam B. Schiff (Calif.)
* Artur Davis (Ala.)
* Keith Ellison (Minn.)

Republicans:

* Lamar S. Smith (Texas), Ranking Member
* Jim Sensenbrenner (Wis.)
* Howard Coble (N.C.)
* Elton Gallegly (Calif.)
* Bob Goodlatte (Va.)
* Steve Chabot (Ohio)
* Dan Lungren (Calif.)
* Chris Cannon (Utah)
* Ric Keller (Fla.)
* Darrell Issa (Calif.)
* Mike Pence (Ind.)
* J. Randy Forbes (Va.)
* Steve King (Iowa)
* Tom Feeney (Fla.)
* Trent Franks (Ariz.)
* Louie Gohmert (Texas)
* Jim Jordan (Ohio)

Related posts on Postville Iowa raids here and here

Wow there is actually a judge left who has some common sense and is not completely on the side of open borders globalists? Patriotic Americans everywhere should celebrate this victory! It shines a harsh light on those who sought to squelch the free speech and rights of the San Diego Minutemen as well as shows that their efforts to brand the SDMM as “racists” has failed miserably.. because.. well.. there is NO PROOF. You cannot just make claims like that without facts and proof and I hope SDMM takes Caltrans to the CLEANERS and then puts that money to good use in taking back this country for AMERICANS!

Caltrans officials are reviewing a federal judge’s decision ordering it to reinstate an Adopt-A-Highway permit for the San Diego Minutemen to conduct highway shoulder cleanups on Interstate 5 next to the Border Patrol’s San Clemente checkpoint.

Meanwhile, the anti-illegal immigration activists, who sued the transportation agency alleging free-speech discrimination in February over the removal of their Adopt-A-Highway sign and their reassignment to another location, are awaiting permission to schedule cleanups along the two-mile stretch of northbound I-5 it had adopted.

“We can’t do a cleanup unless we have a permit to encroach upon the freeway,” said Howard Kaloogian, the group’s attorney. “There has to be a permit issued and a sign acknowledging the permit.”

Caltrans has 30 days to restore the sign. Meanwhile, the activists are celebrating their court victory as they wait.

“We were hoping that the fight would be worth it,” said Jeff Schwilk, the group’s leader. “It really comes down to free speech. We’re thrilled.”

The San Diego Minutemen were granted the stretch of I-5 by Caltrans in November, after first applying for a spot on state Route 78, which was taken. After being assigned the spot by the immigration checkpoint – a coincidence, according to Caltrans – Schwilk sent out messages to members about their luck.

“How great is that?!” Schwilk wrote in one e-mail.

The proximity to the checkpoint was disturbing to local Latino groups and some state legislators, who criticized Caltrans for granting the permit. According to Caltrans guidelines, the program bars groups that advocate “discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry,” among other things; the group has maintained that it does not discriminate.

Citing safety concerns that might arise if the group were targeted by opponents, Caltrans reassigned the activists to a stretch of state Route 52 near Santee, which they refused to take.

Yesterday, local critics of the San Diego Minutemen said they were disappointed by the ruling, which the judge issued last week.

“Although I understand it, we remain with the opinion that the Minuteman organization is using the Adopt-A-Highway program as a method of advertising their extremist agenda,” said Bill Flores, a retired San Diego County assistant sheriff who is now a spokesman for El Grupo, a North County coalition that includes local chapters of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the NAACP and others.

Hey idiot! What exactly is EXTREMIST about wanting our country to NOT BE INVADED BY FOREIGNERS WHO COME HERE ILLEGALLY? You want to see EXTREMIST take a nice look at the Reconquistas in Los Angeles and the racists politicians who are promoting the “Latino agenda” to the exclusion of ALL OTHER RACES EXCEPT LATINOS. That is what I call EXTREMIST.

Kaloogian said yesterday that while the group is pleased with the ruling, a preliminary injunction in the First Amendment case, it will pursue the lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages.
“The preliminary injunction having been issued is a very good sign for us,” he said.

Full article at SignOnSanDiego  (you can comment there)

Here is what I have to say about this. The most important point to realize here and to expose the blatant lies and finger pointing of the pro-illegals in this situation, is that CALTRANS WAS THE ONE WHO GAVE I-5 TO THE SDMM. They did not campaign for that stretch of highway. It was just a stroke of pure luck. So how in the WORLD can that be using that stretch of highway to further “their extremist agenda” WHEN IT WASN’T EVEN THEIR IDEA?????

Hold the phone people - but new best friend of Barack Obama, Al Gore, has a FATHER who as a Senator, voted AGAINST the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So as Drinking with Bob aptly puts it [video]- if Al Gore’s father had his way, Barack Obama would have been picking cotton and sitting in the back of the bus instead of running for President of the United States in 2008. How strange that Barack Obama feels that people like Al Gore are his friend and that he tries to portray Republicans as racists when in fact, the majority of people who voted FOR the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were REPUBLICANS.

I thought this little tidbit was important enough to post on my Illegal Alien Protest site.. because .. frankly, we are in DEEP DO DO if Barack Obama becomes our next President. Not only does he have very little experience in general - he’s only been in the Senate for ONE TERM and most of that term he spent running for President. Do we REALLY want such inexperience in the White House??? Do we really want someone like AL SHARPTON for our next President??? Here is a handy link to his voting record - starting in 2005… According to one tally he has spent 143 DAYS in elected office.

Here are the GOREY details - muahahahah

It is easy to control the minds of a people. All one has to do is change history by lying about the past. This is exactly what has happened with the legacy of former Democratic U.S. Senator Al Gore, Sr. of Tennessee - the father of our current vice president - and his mythical “support” of civil rights.

In a recent speech to the NAACP, Vice President Gore said his father lost his Senate seat because he supported civil rights legislation. Fellow black Americans, let me set history straight. Al Gore, Sr., together with the rest of the southern Democrats, voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Congressional Quarterly reported that, in the House of Representatives, 61% of Democrats (152 for, 96 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act as opposed to 80% of Republicans (138 for, 38 against). In the Senate, 69% of Democrats (46 for, 21 against) voted for the Act while 82% of Republicans did (27 for, 6 against). All southern Democrats voted against the Act.

In his remarks upon signing the Civil Rights Act, President Lyndon Johnson praised Republicans for their “overwhelming majority.” He did not offer similar praise to his own Democratic Party. Moreover, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, an Illinois Republican, collaborated with the White House and the Senate leadership of both parties to draft acceptable compromise amendments to end the southern Democrats’ filibuster of the Act. It was Dirksen who often took to the Senate floor to declare, “This is an idea whose time has come. It will not be denied.” Dirksen’s greatest triumph earned him the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award, presented by then-NAACP Chairman Roy Wilkins, for his remarkable civil rights leadership.

Read more

Good news for all Pennsylvania residents…. I wonder if Reading, Norristown and Philadelphia will get the memo that their days as “sanctuary cities” are numbered? I urge you to call your PA rep and tell them you support the entire legislation package sponsored by Daryl Metcalfe… It’s ALL good as they say and is a BIG step in the right direction for Pennsylvania.

I live near Norristown and it makes me SICK to see an entire section of the “West End” turned into a Little Mexico. The sign at the bottom of the strip says “Historic Shopping District” but it should say “Historic Puebla Mexico” instead. Several blocks of West Marshall Street are now exclusively Mexican restaurants, Mexican bodegas and even their own little indoor Mall called La Plazita.. A big real estate guy in the area even advertises his rentals IN SPANISH in that area. What is wrong with this picture???? Norristown USED to be Germans and Italians for the most part. Now it is almost 35% Mexican!!! And we are more than 2000 miles from the southern border. If I wanted to live near a border town I’d move to Texas or Arizona for crying out loud.

I have approached the Norristown Town Council and the Montgomery County Commissioners. All of them have felt it is “not their yob” to solve the invasion of illegal aliens into Norristown. One particular councilman, Bill Procyson, makes the point that the Mexicans are “nice” and why should it be his problem to pick out who is here illegally? My point - we shouldn’t have to wonder at all - that is if our GOVERNMENT was DOING ITS JOB.

Now with this legislation package - people like Bill Procyson won’t get to say - “not my yob” and they will be forced to deal with the growing problem of an increasing TAX BURDEN without an increasing TAX BASE from the invasion of illegal aliens into our state and our towns.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

_____________________________________________

News Advisory
Office of State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe
June 10, 2008 FOR INFORMATION: Ty McCauslin (717) 772-9979

State Lawmakers to Unveil “No Sanctuary” Legislation to Offset Increasing Taxpayer Costs Fueling PA’s Illegal Alien Invasion

WHAT: State Representatives Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), Tom Creighton (R-Lancaster), Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny), Scott Perry (R-Cumberland/York) and Harry Readshaw (D-Allegheny) will introduce the newest additions to the National Security Begins at Home package.

Sponsored by Metcalfe, both pieces of legislation would provide legal and economic sanctions against any city, municipality or other local government entity that adopts ordinances, policies or informal procedures to encourage illegal aliens to reside within its borders or otherwise hinders law enforcement activities.

WHO: Offering support for this bipartisan legislation and providing insight on the ever-increasing social and taxpayer costs resulting from Pennsylvania’s ongoing Illegal Alien Invasion will be Kathleen Appell, research and media coordinator, Citizens for Immigration Control and Enforcement; Marianne Davies, Esq. vice-chair, You Don’t Speak for Me; and Yeh Ling-Ling, executive director Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America.

Other state lawmakers scheduled to attend include: Reps. Jim Cox, (R-Berks), Rob Kauffman, (R-Cumberland/Franklin), Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) and RoseMarie Swanger (R-Lebanon).

DATE: Wednesday, June 11
TIME: 10 a.m.
WHERE: State Capitol Rotunda
LIVE WEBCAST: Log on to www.RepMetcalfe.com, www.RepCreighton.com, www.RepMustio.com or www.RepPerry.com beginning at 9:55 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

_______________________________________________

Last summer, Digger and I attended a press conference in Philadelphia with many of the people leading this charge. Read about it here on Digger’s Realm

Here is an excerpt from a 2003 article in The Times Herald which tried to answer the question - Why Norristown?

Puebla and Acapulco are the two largest sending cities, officials said. But nobody is sure who was first or why Norristown was chosen. Officials only have assumptions. The most widely accepted beliefs are:
1. Immigrants arrive in larger cities and towns such as Philadelphia and West Chester, naturally sprawling to Norristown.
2. Inexpensive housing in Norristown encourages immigrants to establish lives here, rather than more expensive surrounding townships.
3. The abundance of service jobs in landscaping, retail, restaurants and hotels creates a demand that immigrants supply. Mexican immigrants are most often single men working in these jobs six to nine months of the year, who return to Mexico for the rest of the year.
4. Once immigrants establish homes here, they send for their families and friends, and in turn, these families and friends tell more people, creating a domino effect.
5. Less than 500,000 immigrants each year stay in the country. Though it looks like many immigrants are here, what people mostly see are immigrants in the country using temporary visas.

The journey is not easy.

Some people have visas and other proper documentation to live in the United States, but about half of the Mexican population does not.

“It’s not easy to make that decision - to leave behind everything you know,” said Miguel Dones, president of Conecciones, a social services and economic organization serving the Norristown community.   Officials from the United States and Mexico agree that the reason for the great wave of immigration is money. “The opportunities are on this side of the border,” said Deputy Consul Jacob Prado of the Mexican Consulate of Philadelphia. “Nobody wants to leave their hometown or families. If they come here, it’s because economic opportunities are available in this country.”

There you have it. Remove the ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES for illegal aliens and they will not come here!

More on how the population of Norristown has changed from the same article:

Between 1990 and 2000, Norristown’s Hispanic population jumped nearly 400 percent, with most of the expansion within the last five years.

Nobody is exactly sure why thousands have chosen to live here, but Norristown has the largest population of Hispanics in Montgomery County.

While the Hispanic population increased by nearly 2,500 individuals, the total population of the borough only increased by 500 people.

This means at least 2,000 non-Hispanics moved out of Norristown, while 2,000 Hispanics moved in.

In the early and mid 90’s, Puerto Ricans were the largest Hispanic minority in Norristown, but now Mexicans have taken over that distinction.

The entire reason for controlling immigration and enforcing immigration laws in ANY country is to prevent the cultural hijacking of any part of a country through large numbers of “immigrants” - legal or illegal - to a community. The reasoning behind immigration control is to PRESERVE the cultural identity of our towns and cities. But instead we have allowed the population of Norristown to be INVADED through a 400 PER CENT INCREASE in Hispanics - most of whom are here illegally. I hold the leaders of Norristown fully responsible for allowing this to happen and I whole heartedly support the efforts by Daryl Metcalfe and others at our state government level for leading the charge to turn this tide and reclaim Norristown and other places in Pennsylvania for the native population.