California Conservative

After getting his ass handed to him on immigration reform the first time, John McCain started saying that he’d “gotten the message”. He still insists that his bill wasn’t amnesty, though, making conservatives wary of his immigration ‘transformation’. This information should remove all doubt:

A reader alerted me to the fact that McCain’s “Hispanic Outreach Director” is the same guy who held that job for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox! U.S.-born dual citizen Juan Hernandez was in Fox’s cabinet as Director of the Office for Mexicans Living Abroad and is notorious for having said of Mexican Americans on Nightline on June 7, 2001, “I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think ‘Mexico first.’” Does McCain agree with this? Has he offered Hernandez, a former high-level foreign government official who presumably swore an oath to uphold the Mexican constitution, a place in a future McCain Administration? That’s not a rhetorical question.

I’ve said many times that people didn’t trust McCain’s second attempt because La Raza (NCLR) had veto power over anything brought up. NCLR are open borders advocates. Add the hiring Juan Hernandez as his “Hispanic Outreach Director” to the NCLR debacle and you’ve got an immigration reform disgrace. It’s pretty apparent that John McCain hasn’t changed his views one iota. He’s still the same pro-amnesty guy he’s always been.

McCain’s actions tell us what his position is. His actions don’t agree with his words, which is a polite way of saying that McCain shouldn’t be trusted with immigration policy. He’s as stubborn and prideful as anyone I’ve ever seen in public life. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust him on immigration policy if my life depended on it. (more…)

It’s difficult to have a civilized debate on the topic of illegal immigration because of the hateful rhetoric that infuses the issue. To even question the situation leaves one open to charges of nativism, xenophobia and racism.

But the truth is neutral; truth cannot be nativist, xenophobic or racist.

Here are some of the inconvenient truths about illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration depresses wages: An inconvenient truths is that whenever an illegal immigrant takes a job for below minimum wages or without benefits, the entire workforce suffers. Why would an employer hire legitimate workers when illegals are so much cheaper? The entire system of using illegal immigrants for labor smacks of the old plantation system of slavery.

Illegal immigration takes jobs from legal residents: An inconvenient truth is that every job held by an illegal immigrant is a job a citizen or legal immigrant does not hold.

Illegal immigration increases crime crime: The inconvenient truth is not whether illegals commit more crime than other groups. The truth is that every crime committed by an illegal immigrant is a crime that would not have been committed if they weren’t here. Whether it’s murder or shoplifting, these are crimes that did not have to be committed.

Illegal immigration harms the education system: This is a huge inconvenient truth. Would there be overcrowding in our local school systems if illegal immigrants were not in those classrooms? How does the lack of English skills impact overall school performance? Even higher education is adversely affected. Every illegal immigrant admitted to a college or university deprives a citizen or legal resident of that educational slot. (more…)

Despite the fact that US citizens have repeatedly told both states and federal governments not to do it, illegals are now to be given a huge step towards US citizenship. Illegals are to be given drivers licenses in New York State. In a joint Saturday news conference, Democrat NY Governor Eliot Spitzer and Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff were all smiles. It appears that Congressional Democrats and the pro-illegals Bush administration have found yet another way to bypass We-the-People.

Although federal law provisions are quoted in order to stop states from enforcing illegal immigration laws (you know—the ‘only the feds have the right to enforce stopping illegals’), now Chertoff is saying that he can (or will) do nothing to stop any US State from issuing drivers licenses to anyone—which essentially make illegals legal. Apparently, issuing said licenses to illegals, gang-bangers and terrorists is also not an issue for our US government “leaders.” This way the pro-illegals/pro-North American Union contingents can have their cakes and eat them too!

US citizens told their Senators and Representatives they didn’t want and wouldn’t accept any illegals’ amnesty bill. So, our state and federal leaders have apparently decided to avoid passing any laws, in order to bypass the US legal electorate, and just do it! Note: It would strongly appear that members of our government have learned a great deal from Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez. Or, perhaps they were the ones who taught him. (more…)

Tom Curry has written a good article on the defeat of the DREAM Act. Mr. Curry thinks one of the lessons people should take from this defeat is that the immigration issue has staying power:

Illegal immigration remains at a legislative impasse, and that may be a good thing for GOP chances since the party’s base in the South and West tends to be vehemently opposed to any accommodation with illegal immigrants.

In his post-vote assessment, the Dream Act’s chief sponsor, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said, “In a campaign year, it is a very difficult issue. If it’s a tough this year, it’s tougher next year.” Some senators, he said, “are running scared” on the illegal immigrant issue.

They should be running scared. Illegal immigration is costing states, counties and school boards tons of money. When an illegal immigrant visits an E/R, we pay for it in the form of higher premiums. When illegal immigrants attend school, taxpayers foot the bill in the form of higher property taxes, higher tuition and bigger state budget outlays.

Naturally, Dick Durbin started spinning this the minute it was defeated:

“Switchboards light up, the hates starts spewing, and people get concerned, to say the least,” Durbin told reporters.

It hasn’t dawned on Sen. Durbin that the reason why the “switchboards light up” is because we don’t like the additional costs and security risks that come with the illegal immigrants. It also hasn’t dawned on him that support for making citizens out of illegal immigrants is strongly opposed by Republicans, Democrats and independents. If Sen. Durbin continues saying that opponents to amnesty are haters, then I’ll point out that he’s talking about Republicans, Democrats and independents. Here’s proof that I’m right: (more…)

Tue Sep 11, 7:39 PM ET - HOLD FOR RELEASE 12:01 AM EDT; map shows statistics on education and commuting; 2c x 6 5/8 inches; 96.3 mm x 168.3 mm (AP)

This is a fascinating image. An interesting choice. It depicts the tens of millions of people on the road, driving to work alone. Makes you wonder why environmental groups don’t speak out more against unchecked immigration, as the steady inflow simply means more drivers on the road, greater consumption of our natural resources, and more impact on our infrastructure. It is an environmental issue.

AP reports: “Nearly one in five people living in the United States speaks a language at home other than English, according to new Census data that illustrate the wide-ranging effects of immigration.”

The number of immigrants nationwide reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006, affecting incomes and education levels in many cities across the country.
. . .

In most states, immigrants have added to the number of those lacking a high-school diploma, with almost half of those from Latin America falling into that category.

Doing the work that others…are too smart to do?

The Census Bureau on Wednesday released a host of demographic data about the nation, including statistics on immigration, housing, education and employment.

Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau analyzed the differences in education levels among immigrants from Asia and those from Latin America. Together, the groups account for about 80 percent of all immigrants.

80%? You can’t call that “diversity.”

47 percent of adult immigrants from Latin America lacked a high school diploma, compared with 16 percent of Asian immigrants and 13 percent of people born in the U.S.

Those numbers are fueling overall increases in the number of high-school dropouts in four states: Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Dropping out and doing what? Not exactly adding value to our nation’s cultural fiber, regardless of race. It’s about education.

Among the other highlights from the 2006 data released by the Census Bureau:

California led the nation in immigrants, at 27 percent of the state’s population, and in people who spoke a foreign language at home, at 43 percent.

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On The Net:
Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov

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attracting members fast
Democrats Shortcircuit Border Enforcement,
Demand Path to Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants
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and Control Act of 1986

Read all on immigration.

Showing once again that the will of the American people and the laws of the United States of America mean less than nothing to them, liberals and leftists have found a viable way to accomplish their continuing planned destruction of America—without the pesky practice of including the voting electorate. They have declared and established “sanctuary cities”, where the rule of law is no longer practiced or even encouraged. In fact, if certain laws are followed, said law-followers are subject to firing—if not arrest. New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco*, Denver, Cambridge, Baltimore and a growing number of other liberal and leftist-run cities have now been joined by the defiant pro-illegals faction in New Haven, Connecticut. And no one from the federal government appears to be doing anything—whatsoever—about these growing lawless and anarchistic hordes. In fact, as many members of the current administration seem to strongly support the illegals’ position, it is the illegals—not US citizens—who are given special considerations to not be required to uphold the laws of this country.

Note: When lawmakers and law enforcers refuse to adhere to and support the laws of a country, said country’s very existence will not long be an issue. Instead, it will fail and fall into the dusty pages of history as a ‘once-was’ entry.

Due to the unchecked and growing revolutionary contingents within our midst getting away with all manner of law-breaking, the chances of the United States of America surviving as a nation has—once again—taken a very large step backwards. As an example, speaking of the recent New Haven succession from sanity, Immigration Attorney Susan Church said of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement): “…ICE is an agency that’s under funded, that’s irrational, that when they deal with immigration, they deal with it in an irrational and incompetent manner!” Because Ms. Church and others of her ilk believe that ICE is “incompetent and irrational”, they do not feel bound to uphold laws against the illegal multitudes’ entry into the USA. That’s their excuse and they’re sticking to it. Liberals believe—and are now very vocal about it—that if they don’t like and don’t agree with a law, they don’t have to follow it. Even those in the legal community—like Ms. Church—seem to believe they can now disobey the laws of the land rather than working to change them. (more…)

Just when I thought politics in New Mexico could not possibly become any more bizarre—they did. The police department for the state capitol—Santa Fe—has made the decision to hire Mexican Nationals (NOT US citizens) as “law enforcement” officers. In this way, the new Mexican (not US) police officers can ensure that illegal immigrants are given the special privileges the anarchistic hordes have decided they deserve. And, New Mexico has begun the secession from the US, in order to no longer have to adhere to its pesky laws.

Considering US Senators and Congressional members’ penchant for flouting any and all US immigration laws, why shouldn’t individual states begin doing the same? Santa Fe Police Sgt. Marvin Paulk reinforced the “we don’t need no stinkin’ immigration laws” attitude, when he stated: “I know that there are state and federal laws that prohibit hiring officers who aren’t U.S. citizens, but I think that we should consider the possibility of changing these rules! A high percentage of our community is made up of Mexican citizens [note that these are not US citizens but, beholden to their Mexican citizenship], men and women who have lived a large part of their lives in this country. I don’t see why they can’t be good candidates to become police officers.” In other words, who cares about US law? An individual who has been given the responsibility of upholding the law [Police Sergeant Paulk] openly voices that he no longer cares about following the law of the land. After all, the new and improved leftist way of thinking and addressing any and all US laws is to follow them only if you agree with them—then ignore them when you don’t. Note: When law enforcement officials say they will not uphold laws, doesn’t complete chaos follow? It does.

After this new policy is adopted and passed—with the current illegals-have-more-rights-than-US-citizens position held by our “leaders” there is nothing to suggest that it won’t be—New Mexico will have taken the first official step toward ceding a US state back to Mexico and becoming its first official colony. Mexican Presidents Fox and Calderon, La Raza, MEChA, the Mexica Movement and all of the other “the United States belongs to us” foreign groups should be dancing in the streets over this proposal. Perhaps the Santa Fe PD is considering hiring MS-13 gang members. After all, they entered the US illegally—via its southern border—too. But, MS-13 members were originally from El Salvador. Will only Mexican nationals and Mexican gang members be considered? (more…)

I just finished reading John Hinderaker’s post about how Democrats put a higher priority on political gains than on national security. Just thinking about how they’ve undermined the NSA’s Terrorist Surveillance Program is enough to get me fuming. When I think of how they gave NCLR veto power over major provisions in the ‘Grand Bargain’ negotiations, I get even more furious. Let’s start with how Democrats have crippled a valuable tool in surveilling the terrorists’ communications:

This has turned out to be an enormous mistake that has unilaterally disarmed one of our best intelligence weapons in the war on terror. To understand why, keep in mind that we live in a world of fiber optics and packet-switching. A wiretap today doesn’t mean the FBI must install a bug on Abdul Terrorist’s phone in Peshawar. Information now follows the path of least resistance, wherever that may lead. And because the U.S. has among the world’s most efficient networks, hundreds of millions of foreign calls are routed through the U.S.

That’s right: If an al Qaeda operative in Quetta calls a fellow jihadi in Peshawar, that call may well travel through a U.S. network. This ought to be a big U.S. advantage in our “asymmetrical” conflict with terrorists. But it also means that, for the purposes of FISA, a foreign call that is routed through U.S. networks becomes a domestic call. So thanks to the obligation to abide by an outdated FISA statute, U.S. intelligence is now struggling even to tap the communications of foreign-based terrorists. If this makes you furious, it gets worse. (more…)

I’m sure that somewhere, someone has polled the issue of giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship because Democrats wouldn’t force the issue of citizenship over border security. That said, I can’t see them being on the right side of this debate:

Senate Democrats yesterday defeated a Republican effort to authorize $3 billion for new border security and immigration enforcement. Instead, the Democrats proposed a new agriculture workers program to bring in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers and grant legal status to illegal aliens now working in the fields.

It was the first major skirmish on immigration since President Bush’s bill collapsed last month, and members of both parties are filing piecemeal measures to deal with various aspects of the crisis and leave for another day the issue dealing with the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens already here.

“We’re now moving to Plan B,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who took a bruising last month for his support for the broader immigration bill, and who was the chief sponsor of yesterday’s border-security amendment. “That will require us to address the major changes that must be made a piece at a time. Today, we’re addressing border security, visa overstays, sanctuary cities and other important issues.” (more…)

Much was made about the $4.4 billion enforcement package to the latest version of the Open Borders Act. (I refuse to call it immigration reform because that implies that its objective is to secure the US-Mexico border.) At the time, I voiced my skepticism that this money would be used on enforcing the border. The increasingly indispensable Jim DeMint has issued a press release that shines the light of truth on this despicable piece of legislation. Here’s what it says:

According to the CRS report provided to Senator DeMint, the mandatory spending in the bill could immediately be used for Z visas. It says, “(r)eceiving, processing, and adjudicating applications for the Z visa authorized by Title VI of the Act is one of the trigger mechanisms outlined in Section 1; this means that funding from the Immigration Security Account could be used for this purpose.”

In addition, the report says the funds could be used for Y visas and other programs once the trigger mechanisms have been met but it does not require the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify the trigger. The report says, “S. 1639 does not explicitly stipulate whether the certification required by Section 1 would have to take place prior to funding being made available for the additional purposes outlined in Section 2(C).”

This memo should be circulated before the vote to every Republican senator and every Democrat up for re-election next fall. If Kennedy’s and NCLR’s disinformation hits the airwaves, the wobblies will vote against cloture.

This has Ted Kennedy’s fingerprints all over it. If I were a millionaire, I wouldn’t bet a penny that he has an ounce of integrity. He’s a lying scumbag who should be treated like he’s radioactive. He isn’t the only deceitful person or organization involved in this mess. I can’t say that NCLR wants open borders but I’ll confidently say that they’d love seeing the federal government to expand the visa program to such an extent that it wouldn’t be appreciably different.

Here’s the link to the PDF file that CRS sent to Sen. DeMint. It’s well worth reading.

Most importantly, fill the senators’ inboxes and dial the phone until your fingers are numb.

Technorati Tags: Border Enforcement, Sovereignty, Jim DeMint, Ted Kennedy, President Bush, La Raza, Illegal Immigration, Amnesty

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog