Modifying Lady Liberty's Invitation

[Originally published in The Tentacle July 4th, 2008]



Modifying Lady Liberty’s Invitation

Steven R. Berryman

In search of straight talk about immigration law reform, happenstance found me at yet another “Maryland Thursday Meeting” in Annapolis. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center For Immigration Studies (CIS) was the headline speaker.

Mr. Krikorian came prepared to take on all comers and kick off his brand new book, “The New Case Against Immigration – Both Legal and Illegal.” I was able to appropriate and clutched on to an advanced uncorrected proof edition for review. Many others, less quick to see the opportunity, lost out!

The cover shows the Statue of Liberty animated with an outstretched hand facing you like a traffic cop indicating STOP at an uncontrolled intersection.

Being fully prepared for an onslaught of partisan xenophobic and paranoid discourse, I was shocked by what I had stumbled onto: “The New Case” fully fleshed out “newthink” that was way out of the box.

The book is reminiscent of a Pat Buchanan book in terms of highly researched historical framework, factual detail and edge. But where Mr. Buchanan went straight to the worst-case scenarios, Mr. Krikorian kept it alive merely on the merits of his findings.

Prefacing the books overarching concept, “It’s not the immigrants, it’s us.” This is the clue to the open-minded scholarly tone here. The types of people immigrating, the reasons for immigrating, their economic and educational backgrounds…are very similar to what we had 100 years ago, in our great waves of mass migration.

Mr. Krikorian posits that “they are coming to a very different America,” and therein lies all of the difference.

“When you judge the success of immigration as a process, you must observe the rate of assimilation,” he wrote. Some of his metrics involved items such as the tendency to master English successfully and with a sense of urgency, and surveys asking recent immigrants whether they consider themselves to be “hyphenated-Americans” or revert to a generic such as Asian or Hispanic.

The former is obstructed by crutches in the system caused by liberal affirmative action programs under the guise of “diversity.” Bi-lingual signage, Telemundo TV, and a race to multiculturalism are all culprits, depriving immigrants both legal and illegal of much needed incentive to assimilate into American culture. The illegality issue is separate, but related.

The latter indicates that clannish behaviors and social isolation are fully supported by changes in America over the past 100 years. The resulting peer pressure retards the connection to an association with America as a sense of pride.

Another disincentive to assimilation is work and education related affirmative action. To rise out of the system and graduate as Americans means to lose this financial benefit. This is a trap for them, just as blacks have been trapped as a result of the aftermath of slavery.

No more can America assimilate huge waves of immigrants, simply based on our best humanitarian intentions, or on traditions of the past. “The days of mass migration leading to effective mass assimilation are gone forever, as we are a ‘mature country’ and have changed for the good as well as the bad,” Mr. Krikorian says.

Structurally, Mr. Krikorian outlines key differences and impacts to us:

First, in the past we had not just simply been a nation of immigrants, as that is only partly true. We also had settlers that headed straight to homesteads in the Mid-West and West. Now the frontiers are closed.

Second, “trans-nationalism” is possible as facilitated by very cheap transportation and communication prices as compared to the past. A dual identity is thereby supported by more crutches to avoid assimilation. Frequent trips home, and calls or emails cost peanuts by comparison to life in 1908.

Regarding education, we have surely lost our way. Mr. Krikorian notes that our schools were originally focused on lessons and morals related to efficient assimilation into our country. “Schools have become a battle ground between those that want to transmit information and those wanting to transform it,” he writes in the book.”

Recent students tested out on this over time show a remarkable loss of lessons urgently needed from our past history, some obfuscated forever by political correctness.

There are others, but this book is must reading for everyone.

Immigration itself is not “diverse” anymore as it had been in the past. We are primarily seeing Hispanics and Asians as the vast majority of newcomers. Their concentrations allow for isolated communities, some locked in the past. The Hispanic group alone, including Central Americans plus Mexicans is larger than the next 10 national groups combined.

This opportunity allows for Hispanics, as an example, to demand that America come to them, rather than the reverse, which is correct and traditional assimilation. “The cost to all involved is that a strong sense of national identity is lost, including an association with our history, culture, and legends,” Mr. Krikorian says.

Our current immigration system is in a political gridlock as manifested by a loss of political will. Laws remain selectively enforced, and localities are faced with choices of doing federal work themselves.

One last item is that the current system is so broken that even the legal immigrant population flow is riddled by between 40-50% illegals, masquerading via false identity to get here and escape who-knows-what from their past. Perhaps criminal or medical problems…

“The New Case Against Immigration” is a must read for anyone wanting to get to solutions based on the research pointing to what we have gotten ourselves into today. Much of it is self-inflicted.

Followed by the meat of the book that he calls his “unified field theory on immigration,” in a nod to Albert Einstein (another immigrant), the final chapter outlines Mr. Krikorian’s solutions and incremental steps that relate to these outlined issues.

“Until we develop the will and means to enforce current immigration law, changing law will have little effect. Modern America has outgrown mass immigration,” Mr. Krikorian writes.

Lady Liberty, perhaps it should be “Give me some of your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”

Racist MCPD officer gets US war veteran and holocaust survivor kicked off volunteer force

Isiah Leggett
Montgomery County Executive
101 Monroe Street, Second Floor
Rockville, Maryland 20850

July 10, 2008

Dear Mr. Leggett:

This letter is to express my extreme disgust and indignation for your administration’s disrespectful, callous and ungrateful treatment of Mr. Alfred Eisner, in terminating him from service as a volunteer with the Montgomery County Police Department.

I am proud to count Al Eisner as a neighbor and close friend. He is a:

• Holocaust survivor
  
• Immigrant to the U.S. who became a citizen
  
• Retiree from the US Army as a veteran of the Korean and Viet Nam Wars
  
• Retiree from the Maryland State Militia, where he attained the rank of Lt. Colonel
  
• Volunteer with the Montgomery County Police (MCPD), in which he served ten thousand and one hundred (10,100) hours
  

Al’s devotion to the United States, State of Maryland and Montgomery County is undoubted, proven by his actions and can be equaled by very few.

Al Eisner wore his Montgomery County Police identification and entry pass at all times to be ready to respond, as a volunteer, to an emergency, if needed.

On June 21, 2008 Al Eisner attended a legally permitted protest at the Derwood Hispanic Job Center. He wore his MCPD Identification and his Wheaton Swim Center pass on a nylon neck strap with the swim pass facing forward. Due to movement during the demonstration the MCPD Volunteer ID rotated forward, exposing it to the front. Al Eisner was not representing himself as an MCPD functionary, or official.

In response to the legal demonstration, by concerned citizens, at the Derwood Hispanic Job Center there was a detailed Montgomery County Police presence. Present at the demonstration was PO3 Luis Hurtado (shield number 0463), who is the MCPD liaison to the Hispanic community (Community Outreach Officer). PO3 Luis Hurtado has known Al Eisner for approximately ten (10) years and has an office two doors down the corridor from Al Eisner’s office as a volunteer.

During the protest PO3 Hurtado came over to Al Eisner, who was standing in the group of demonstrators. PO3 Hurtado engaged Al Eisner in cordial and jovial conversation; joking that, “The Sheriff said to pick him up”. The light hearted conversation continued for several minutes. At no time during the exchange did PO3 Hurtado inform Al Eisner that his MCPD ID had become visible and that Al should remove or cover the ID. This matter was not an issue until PO3 Hurtado made it one with his superiors. The question is why a Hispanic officer, who is liaison to the Hispanic community, brought this trivial matter to the status of becoming an issue.

PO3 Hurtado and the other officers present turned a blind eye to the illegal aliens at the Hispanic Job Center who were making obscene gestures and calling epithets at the legally permitted protestors. Also, the officers ignored the chaplain for the Hispanic Job Center going over to the Protestors and called them “racists” (the last ditch accusation and resort of liberals).

The reprehensible treatment of Al Eisner by the MCPD and the Montgomery County Government reflects the disdain the County Government has for the citizens who built the county. Instead of coddling the illegal aliens, who break the laws and ordinances, it should be paramount that the County Executive Branch enforces our laws.

Al Eisner deserves to be honored at an award ceremony and presented a certificate for his Ten Thousand and One Hundred (10,100) hours of volunteer service to the Montgomery County Police Department. He has been cheated of this due honor and tossed aside in preference to illegal aliens. These same illegal aliens contribute nothing to the county, take benefits that they have not earned and do not deserve, sap the county’s fiscal strength, clog our hospital emergency rooms and destroy the fabric of our society.

I would like to end this letter with “Respectfully Yours”, but the actions taken; towards Al Eisner; by the County Government and the MCPD administration preclude a respectful sign off.

A citizen who is truly ashamed of the MCPD Administration and Montgomery County Government,

Jerry M.

Examiner: Man gets prison time for illegally re-entering U.S.

Man gets prison time for illegally re-entering U.S.
Freeman Klopott, The Examiner
Jun 27, 2008 3:00 AM WASHINGTON

A violent, drug-dealing, once-deported illegal immigrant who was arrested in July at a popular day laborer hangout in Silver Spring was sentenced this week to seven years in prison for re-entering the country illegally, federal prosecutors said.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1461700~Man_gets_prison_time_for_i llegally_re_entering_U_S_.html

Gazette: Mayor wants mea culpa from Casa and NAACP

Mayor wants mea culpa from Casa and NAACP

by Keith L. Martin Staff Writer

Frederick’s mayor says Casa de Maryland and the local chapter of the NAACP owe the Sheriff’s Office an apology for spreading misinformation about their new immigration initiative.

Neither group, however, is ready to say they are sorry.

Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) called for a public apology at the end of the June 5 meeting with the city’s aldermen, citing ‘‘public misrepresentation” of an arrest detailed during a May press conference in opposition to the 287G initiative between the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

At the press conference, Rosibel David detailed how a sheriff’s deputy arrested her partner, Alejandro Rocha, leading to his detainment and possible deportation as an illegal immigrant. The story was used to illustrate Casa de Maryland’s displeasure with the initiative in which deputies check the immigration status of everyone arrested at the county jail.

A Gazette story on May 22, however, revealed that Maryland State Police, not the Sheriff’s Office, arrested Rocha. Referencing that article, Holtzinger said the group should be as forthcoming with an apology as it was in telling David’s story.

‘‘[The Sheriff’s Office] deserves an apology ... and I don’t think they have done anything that I’ve heard of in terms of a retraction or an apology,” Holtzinger said Friday. ‘‘...The city has a large Hispanic population, and [misinformation] puts a blight on our police trying to reach out to this population.”

Holtzinger also said he found Casa de Maryland’s claim that the ICE program costs the county $3.2 million annually ‘‘flat out disingenuous,” as the group estimated $2 million in salary costs for deputies checking immigration status.

The task, according to the Sheriff’s Office, does not require any additional cost. Deputies volunteered for the program and perform the checks as part of their regular duties.

The combination of misinformation, Holtzinger said, causes concerns with how the city’s Hispanic residents could view the initiative and a possible link to the Frederick Police Department, who are not involved in the initiative.

‘‘They [Casa de Maryland] are the ones causing the scare,” the mayor said. ‘‘...When you come out like they did and say those things, they are raising more fears than the Sheriff’s Office. ... It hurts the ability of our local police.”

In a statement e-mailed to The Gazette Tuesday, Hector Pop Chun, a community organizer who works on advocacy for Casa de Maryland, did not offer an apology to the Sheriff’s Office, choosing instead to praise the city’s efforts with its residents.

Chun has been active in working with the Frederick community regarding 287G, according to Mario Quiroz, communications specialist for the organization.

“We believe that Frederick County's policy is expensive and hurtful to the community,” Chun said. ‘‘On the other hand, we celebrate City of Frederick's policy of community policing as key to protect and interact with all of its residents. We are looking forward to keep building good relationships with Mayor Holtzinger to serve the growing immigrant community in Frederick.“
Jenkins said he appreciates the mayor’s request, and is not surprised that an apology was not forthcoming from Casa de Maryland.

‘‘Frankly, I don’t think I will get [an apology],” he said. ‘‘...I have not gotten one, and I don’t expect to. They are obviously against the program and made that clear up front that they won’t support it, but I won’t come off of it either.”

Jenkins said Casa de Maryland is ‘‘spreading fear” and hopes it does not ‘‘hamper any bridge building” by police with the Hispanic community or any other Frederick resident. ‘‘This is simply criminal enforcement,” he said. ‘‘...Casa paints it as profiling the [Hispanic] population.”
Frederick Police Chief Kim C. Dine said his department will continue its outreach efforts with all the residents of Frederick.

‘‘The real issue, in terms of immigration policy, is much deeper,” he said. ‘‘It goes to what the policies are and how they actually work versus ... the specific agencies involved.”

Dine added that all agencies need to continue outreach efforts. ‘‘The more we do that, the better everyone will be in understanding how things work [in law enforcement],” he said.

While praising his work with city police, Holtzinger also singled out Frederick County NAACP chapter president Guy Djoken, who stood alongside Casa de Maryland at the May press conference speaking out against the ICE program.

‘‘Guy needs to also step up and apologize as well,” Holtzinger said. ‘‘...He was in the middle of this, too, so he owes the sheriff and the Sheriff’s Office an apology.”

On Tuesday, Djoken said he felt The Gazette’s May 22 story was ‘‘inaccurate” because it indicated the Sheriff’s Office had ‘‘nothing to do with” Rocha’s situation.

In the end, he said, Rocha was brought to the county detention center, triggering the check of his residency status. The Sheriff’s Office runs the county jail.

‘‘[At the jail] 287G kicks in,” he said. ‘‘It doesn’t matter who takes you there. ... This policy is having a chilling effect on the people here ... so I stand by what I said that this policy is having a very serious impact from the calls I’m getting from people afraid to drive in Frederick County.”

Frederick News-Post: What to do about illegal immigration

Don Kornreich
What to do about illegal immigration
Originally published June 01, 2008

My last column concerned the constraints our federal system places on state and local governments in dealing with illegal immigration. The following points address some of the things that I believe should be done about illegal immigration.

Elect a president and a Congress dedicated to resolving illegal immigration issues. Without the federal government being willing to effectively deal with these matters, the burdens that state and local governments are facing today will only worsen.

As a first priority, our national leaders must close our borders to the influx of illegal immigrants. Continuing the present rather spotty enforcement of our borders against illegal entry will not deter people bent on harming our nation — including those dedicated to committing acts of terrorism, and those who conduct criminal activities such as drug trafficking.

The criminality that now applies to persons illegally seeking to enter the United States should be prospectively extended to cover: (a) illegal immigrants who are already in the country -- at present successful illegal entry is merely a civil violation not a crime; and (b) immigrants who come here legally, but overstay their visas or other authorizations.

Congress should enact legislation to prospectively deny United States citizenship to children born of illegal immigrants. In my opinion, such denial would be justified both on 14th Amendment jurisdictional grounds and as an extension of criminalizing the status of persons who enter the country illegally. Thus, illegal immigrants would no longer be able to attain citizenship for children born here; nor, as a result of their children acquiring citizenship, obtain various collateral benefits for themselves.

Benefits available to illegal immigrants should be redefined and strictly limited. The fewer benefits available the less attractive it will be for illegal immigrants to remain here.

If it is determined that our in-country workforce needs to be supplemented, the federal government should increase the number of immigrants who can legally work in the United States. The legal entry of new immigrant workers and the retention (based on such factors as no violent criminal record, current employment and demonstrated self-sufficiency) of certain illegal immigrant workers should be carried out under a federal work sponsorship program pursuant to which employers sponsor these workers.

Immigrant workers who violate their work sponsorship agreements should be deported. Sponsors of those workers who violate the agreement should be subject to civil penalties. In effect, employers seeking to profit from the labor of sponsored immigrant workers would be held accountable for these workers.

n Employers who hire non-sponsored illegal immigrants should be criminally prosecuted for aiding and abetting such immigrants.

We should facilitate the teaching of English to immigrants. People who speak the same language are more likely to effectively communicate with and better understand each other, rather than becoming isolated and alienated from one another. Speaking a common language will strengthen our nation and its diverse, multicultural population. Fostering non-English speaking immigrant enclaves within our communities will only Balkanize and weaken our nation.

Driver's licenses (and similar privileges) should be issued only to immigrants with legal status.

Instituting these measures would resolve many of the problems associated with illegal immigration; and stem the tide of societal, economic and political tensions which will continue to rise if the flow of illegal immigrants into the country is not stopped and the large illegal population already here is not effectively dealt with.

Walkersville considers making English official language

TO DESIGNATE ENGLISH AS WALKERSVILLE’S OFFICIAL TOWN LANGUAGE. COMMISSIONER DON SCHILDT SUGGESTED ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO PUTTING THE ISSUE ON THE AGENDA FOR WEDNESDAY’S TOWN MEETING.

By SARAH FORTNEY
News-Post Staff
sfortney@fredericknewspost.com


Frederick County Commissioners recently approved a resolution proclaiming English as the official, primary and common language of Frederick County Government.

However, county commissioners declined to take up a measure requiring all county documents be written only in English.

The issue has become a growing concern amongst town residents, Schildt said Friday.

“I thought it’s time to bring it up rather than just keep brushing it under the rug.”

Town commissioners will discuss whether the municipality should adopt a resolution similar to the county’s and could come to a conclusion during the meeting, commissioner Russell Winch said.

Both Winch and Schildt believe a majority of the town’s commissioners and residents agree with the county’s decision.

“I understand it’s a controversy,” Winch said.

Steve Berryman, Frederick County coordinator for HelpSave-Maryland.com and an online columnist for thetentacle.com, believes Walkersville will take the decision to heart.

HelpSaveMaryland.com is “a grassroots organization that works to preserve the state’s counties, cities and towns from negative effects of undocumented workers,” according to its website.

Berryman, who lives in Frederick, suspects Walkersville would favor a resolution like the county’s. Though some politicians might be more concerned about political correctness when voting against undocumented workers, he said, it would be characteristic of Walkersville residents to base their decision on “doing the right thing.”

Washington Post: Supreme Court upholds photo ID law for voters in Indiana

By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Monday, April 28, 2008; 11:01 AM

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws.

In a splintered 6-3 ruling, the court upheld Indiana's strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. Its backers said it was needed to prevent fraud.

It was the most important voting rights case since the Bush v. Gore dispute that sealed the 2000 election for George W. Bush. But the voter ID ruling lacked the conservative-liberal split that marked the 2000 case.

The law "is amply justified by the valid interest in protecting 'the integrity and reliability of the electoral process,'" Justice John Paul Stevens said in an opinion that was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy. Stevens was a dissenter in Bush v. Gore in 2000.

Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also agreed with the outcome, but wrote separately.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented, just as they did in 2000.

More than 20 states require some form of identification at the polls. Courts have upheld voter ID laws in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, but struck down Missouri's. Monday's decision comes a week before Indiana's presidential primary.

The decision also could spur efforts to pass similar laws in other states.

Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, said he hadn't reviewed the decision, but he was "extremely disappointed" by it. Falk has said voter ID laws inhibit voting, and a person's right to vote "is the most important right." The ACLU brought the case on behalf of Indiana voters.

The case concerned a state law, passed in 2005, that was backed by Republicans as a way to deter voter fraud. Democrats and civil rights groups opposed the law as unconstitutional and called it a thinly veiled effort to discourage elderly, poor and minority voters _ those most likely to lack proper ID and who tend to vote for Democrats.

There is little history in Indiana of either in-person voter fraud _ of the sort the law was designed to thwart _ or voters being inconvenienced by the law's requirements. For the overwhelming majority of voters, an Indiana driver license serves as the identification.

"We cannot conclude that the statute imposes 'excessively burdensome requirements' on any class of voters," Stevens said.

Stevens' opinion suggests that the outcome could be different in a state where voters could provide evidence that their rights had been impaired.

But in dissent, Souter said Indiana's voter ID law "threatens to impose nontrivial burdens on the voting rights of tens of thousands of the state's citizens."

Scalia, favoring a broader ruling in defense of voter ID laws, said, "The universally applicable requirements of Indiana's voter-identification law are eminently reasonable. The burden of acquiring, possessing and showing a free photo identification is simply not severe, because it does not 'even represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting.'"

Stevens said the partisan divide in Indiana, as well as elsewhere, was noteworthy. But he said that preventing fraud and inspiring voter confidence were legitimate goals of the law, regardless of who backed or opposed it.

Indiana provides IDs free of charge to the poor and allows voters who lack photo ID to cast a provisional ballot and then show up within 10 days at their county courthouse to produce identification or otherwise attest to their identity.

Stevens said these provisions also help reduce the burden on people who lack driver licenses.

Frederick News-Post: Frederick Co. debates official language

April 23, 2008 - 7:45am
The Frederick County Commissioners are considering whether to designate English as the official county language.

Commissioner Charles Jenkins, a Republican, proposed the ordinance last week. It would require that all county documents be in English.

They are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to hold a public hearing for possible passage.

This is the latest of several proposals by Jenkins and other Frederick County politicians aimed at illegal immigration, and Jenkins said there will be more coming. He plans to propose a local employment law to reduce illegal immigration, he said.

His previous attempt to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving county benefits, like public education and library use, failed.

Jenkins fears that non-English speakers will demand translations of lengthy government documents like comprehensive plans or solid waste management evaluations.

"I want to be proactive and have a policy in place that says if there's going to be anything written that we produce, it would be in English," Jenkins said.

Commissioner John L. Thompson, Jr., a Republican, supports the legislation, so Jenkins needs only one more vote to send it to public hearing.

Commissioners President Jan Gardner, a Democrat, said she would support designating English as the official language, but would not support an ordinance that prevents county departments from using other languages.

"I think we should encourage people to learn the English language, but I wouldn't want to be prevented from providing written instructional materials to English language learners," Gardner said.

She also believes the county should be able to use other languages for public health or safety reasons.

Jenkins hopes to limit the amount of money spent on services for non-English speakers. He has objected to mandates for interpreters in schools and jails, and wants to draw the line before the county incurs more expenses for translation.

He does not believe the proposal would affect documents prepared through programs with state funding, like materials for foreign language classes in schools or some health department programs.

Currently, the county translates some documents, such as an ad about the Head Start early education program and information on health services. Funding for those translations are not specifically set aside in the county's operating budget.

Jenkins does not favor any ordinance that only offers a ceremonial designation and would not prevent translations of county documents.

His proposal has the support of Help Save Maryland, a group that urges lawmakers to protect the state against the "negative effects of illegal aliens."

Steven R. Berryman, the Frederick County coordinator of Help Save Maryland, said the group believes citizenship should be earned.

"It needs to be a privilege to be a citizen in the United States, and with privileges come responsibilities," he said. "One of the costs of admission to the U.S. should be learning English, as the teachings of America are found in the English language."

The onus should be on immigrants coming to the country to follow the laws and learn the language, rather than on the county taxpayers, he said.

But not translating could be more expensive in the long run, said Maria Shuck, a Spanish interpreter and the coordinator of the Limited English Proficiency program at Frederick Memorial Hospital.

She said the county should encourage the use of qualified interpreters and translators, especially in the legal, medical, social service and educational arenas. It can be difficult to learn a foreign language, and even after a few years of classes and immersion, technical terminology and cultural nuances can remain foreign.

"In my personal opinion, I think when groups get together to demand that a law be passed to make English the official language, it's really more of a mechanism to make some kind of anti-immigration statement," Shuck said.

Copyright 2008 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.by Meg Bernhardt @ The Frederick News-Post

ABC News 7: Commissioner Demands Illegal Immigrant Count in Schools

A Frederick County commissioner wants to count how many illegal immigrants are in the schools, even though federal law requires counties to give all kids an education, so he's turning to the county's school-aged kids.

With 42,315 students in Frederick County schools, Commissioner John Thompson wants to know how many of them are legal residents of the United States. The school board president thinks it is a bad idea, but the commissioner is threatening to withhold some school funding until he gets an answer.

The proposal basically says, if you want to look at a community and understand illegal immigration, look at people's children. "Are they lawfully in the country, or are they not?"

Commissioner Thompson said he wants the schools to count how many students are illegal immigrants, hoping that information will help the county make future laws and influence federal immigration laws.

"The only way you're going to get reform in Washington is from the bottom up, grass roots up."

School Board President Daryl Boffman said the schools don't have that kind of information and he's worried what happens if the county commissioner gathers it. "Is he planning to take these kids out of the school system, go into the homes and deport the parents? What is he intending to do with that [information]?"

Immigrant Lucy Nobel said, "I don't know how they're going to go to schools and say are you legal here? I think it's unfair."

One parent said some kids at her first grader's school have classes in the hallway and the lunchroom. She thinks the commissioner has the right idea. "I think they need to do something because the schools are getting way too overcrowded," said parent Nicole Goodwin.

Commissioner Thompson said the school proposal is just one in a series meant to address illegal immigration. On Thursday, the county is scheduled to vote on whether English should be the official language.

NBC4: Anti-Illegal Immigration Groups Join Forces

Anti-Illegal Immigration Groups Join Forces
Chris Gordon Reports
Activists oppose lawmakers and groups that they say support illegal immigrants.

Click here to watch video

Frederick NewsPost: Legal immigrants: The forgotten people?

Legal immigrants: The forgotten people?

By Don Kornreich

When was the last time you heard about something being done just for legal immigrants?
The New York Times has reported that San Francisco is starting an advertising campaign aimed at a specific target group: illegal immigrants. The advertisements will be in various languages, but all will carry the same message: "You are safe here." The mayor's campaign is fully supported by the police chief who said "We do not work on enforcing immigration laws, only public safety to prevent crime."

San Francisco is, after all, a sanctuary city. The mayor and city supervisors want to assure illegal immigrants that San Francisco will not report them to federal immigration authorities. Instead, the city's approach will be to thwart the application of -- and to the extent possible, nullify -- federal immigration laws and enforcement programs, thereby bestowing a special status on illegal immigrants along with providing them various taxpayer-funded services.

To be fair, most cities (including San Francisco) do provide assistance to legal immigrants, including those who want to become naturalized U.S. citizens. Naturalization is the process by which a person who has legally immigrated to the United States can acquire citizenship, after fulfilling the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

These requirements include residency and physical presence in the United States; a knowledge and understanding of U. S. history and government; good moral character; attachment to the principles of the U. S. Constitution; a favorable disposition toward the United States; and, an ability to read, write, and speak English.

Turning to Frederick, a March 31 FNP article concerning teaching English to immigrants describes the efforts of various local public and private institutions to improve English speaking skills. The article makes it clear that the programs are available to all immigrants. One administrator said: "We don't ask questions about immigration status, we accept everybody."

However, in addition, the article asserts that "Many immigrants are now nervous about driving in Frederick County, since the sheriff's office trained some deputies to enforce federal immigration laws." Just who are these "nervous" immigrants: those who are here legally and learning English to improve their ability to become part of our evolving society and vibrant culture; or, those who are here illegally and not partaking of our society and culture, but, nonetheless, availing themselves of myriad entitlement programs and services?

It is time for those, whether in the city government of San Francisco or the public and private institutions of our city and county, to accept that immigrants fall into two very different categories: legal and illegal. Those who are here legally should be helped to assimilate into our society and culture and attain (when sought) U. S. citizenship, including learning to read, write and speak English.

Furthermore, legal immigrants should not be lumped together with illegal immigrants to satisfy some political or other agenda. Those who seek to help immigrants, regardless of their status, have an obligation to make it clear to legal immigrants that they have nothing to fear from federal immigration laws and enforcement programs that apply to illegal immigrants.
Finally, those who choose to support illegal immigrants should not do so in a manner that is inconsistent with the interests of legal immigrants. For to do so is fear mongering, and denies legal immigrants the respect, dignity and assistance they are entitled to under our federal system of government and our laws.

Maryland Gov. O’Malley Jails Immigration Reform Patriot

Maryland Gov. O’Malley Jails Immigration Reform Patriot
By Joe Guzzardi

For the original article, see:
http://vdare.com/guzzardi/080411_omalley.htm

As richly rewarding as it was to witness New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s collapse, another larger rat is still scurrying around.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is even more passionately enamored with illegal immigrants and more contemptuous of patriotic Americans.

What’s brought O’Malley’s love affair with illegal aliens into the spotlight is the sad and curious case of Walter Abbott—a small businessman driven out of business by competitors who hired cheap labor immigrants. Abbot is now under home detention pending prosecution for an email protest he sent to O’Malley.

During the two years in which the governor’s office ignored Abbott’s pleas for economic justice, the state—with O’Malley’s blessing—indirectly funded day labor centers through its financial support of CASA de Maryland, a radical left-wing, pro-illegal alien advocacy organization.

Among the other subversive activities, CASA de Maryland instructs illegal aliens on how to skirt immigration law and thereby remain in the country to take jobs away from Americans. And it operates at least six day labor centers throughout Maryland.

Here’s more background:

Walter Abbott is a 44-year-old married Baltimore man with two children who owned a once successful drywall business.

But as Maryland became more receptive to illegal immigrants (some residents call the state the "number one destination in America for aliens"), Abbott gradually lost jobs. Builders who preferred unlicensed subcontractors whose labor pool included illegal aliens over legitimate, taxpaying businesses like Walter's slowly drained away his trade. Where Walter used to get $5-8 per sheet to hang drywall, the illegals did it for as little as $2. Abbott lost his business, his house and ended up little more than a handyman doing odd jobs to support his family.

CASA de Maryland is far from the docile organization its name suggests. "CASA" does not mean "home", as you might assume, but rather "Central American Solidarity Association".

Under the direction of the extremist Colombian Gustavo Torres, the organization specifically aids and abets illegal immigration. Among other things, CASA has published a pamphlet (see it here) for aliens telling them that, if they are questioned by immigration authorities, they should not cooperate. CASA recommends instead that aliens carry a card demanding a lawyer.

But because it also provides, largely as a cover, "gang intervention" and "HIV testing" services, the mainstream media routinely refers to CASA as a benign "humanitarian" group. [Immigration Debate Focuses on $2 million in Tax Money Going to Aid Group, By Jason Flanagan, Baltimore Sun, March 31, 2008]

Interestingly, humanitarianism was not one of the subjects covered in a panel discussion entitled "United States: A Possible Revolution?" convened last year in Venezuela and attended by Torres. Rather, the subject was how to "take power" from the American government and place it into anarchist’s hands. (Read the summary from the radical The Militant here.)

Torres has contempt for patriotic Americans. About the Maryland Minutemen who were (legally) photographing aliens being hired by local contractors, Torres said this: ‘‘We are going to picket their houses, and the schools of their kids, and go to their work."

Judicial Watch, a non-partisan group that promotes accountability and integrity in government, has collected and is reviewing several boxes of documents relating to CASA’s pro-illegal immigration activities. Its president Tom Fitton told me: "CASA’s true agenda falls well outside of U.S. immigration law."

Gov. Martin O’Malley, an illegal immigration advocate who condones the state’s policy of issuing driver’s licenses to aliens.

O’Malley insists that state funding for CASA is essential for Maryland’s well-being and calls it "a required duty." [Funding for CASA Needed, Officials Say, by Jason Flanagan, Baltimore Sun, April 2, 2008]

I talked to Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland. Botwin called Maryland’s funding of CASA an "outrageous" use of his tax dollars and an abuse of its 501(c)(3) status. Botwin further noted to me that Maryland recently passed the largest tax increase in its history, yet still did not have money for important Chesapeake Bay projects. Botwin added that CASA "is about to move into a brand new multimillion dollar headquarters."

Events that have boiled over during the past few days.

Abbott, frustrated at a dramatic drop in his income (he earned $22,000 last year), had grown exasperated after e-mailing state and federal officials demanding that someone take action to end the illegal immigration invasion. The only answers Abbott received were automatic, computer-generated responses.

On March 11, when Abbott and his wife testified before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee about illegal immigration’s impact on his life. One observer tells me he was treated with contempt.

According to attendee Paul Mendez, also a member of Help Save Maryland, Committee Chairman Joe Vallario (e-mail) and delegates Ben Barnes (e-mail) and Salvadoran-born Victor Ramirez (e-mail) consistently suggested that "enforcing immigration law" is akin to "racial profiling" and that "the alternative to giving illegals social services and in-state tuition is rounding up and deporting everyone on the street who looked Latino."

What was now crystal clear to Abbott: not only was no-one in authority going to enforce immigration law, but also no-one cared anything about him, his family or their plight.
On or about March 18, Abbott went to his computer and, using his real name, address and phone number, logged on to the Maryland state website where comments are solicited and, according to his attorney Arthur Frank, sent an e-mail message to Governor O’Malley.

Indicating that unfair competition created by an illegal alien work force was the source of his personal and professional reversals, Abbott wrote, in part, to O’Malley that he blames:

"No good f-cking government . . . pieces of sh-t like you. If I ever get close enough to you I will rap my hands around your throat and strangle the life out from you. This will solve many problems for true Americans . . ."

[VDARE.COM note: We censor this language not because we’re prudes, particularly, but because the full version will increase our problems with web filters, already quite serious enough.]

Frank told me that Abbott wrote in the conclusion to his e-mail that he considered O’Malley to be an American sell-out piece of sh-t, hoping that he (O’Malley) drops dead before "I get him."

Finally, Abbott got O’Malley’s attention.

But not in the way he hoped.

Within hours, state troopers arrested Abbott. His bail was set at $2 million—arguably a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, prohibits excessive bail.

Note that an El Salvador native and known MS-13 gang member charged with conspiracy to commit murder was released on $2,500 bail pending his trial—to which he never showed up. For other egregious examples of preposterously low bails set for violent felons, go here.

Abbott spent four nights in jail before he was released on home detention, where he now remains.

Frank explained Abbott’s case to me as follows:

"I don’t fault the Governor's office for at least checking the e-mail incident out to see if there was a real threat or danger. That's what ‘Executive Protection’ does.

"But once officials saw that Mr. Abbott is just an angry citizen venting out about public policy and not a legitimate threat, that should have been the end of it.

"Mr. Abbott would be the first one to say he regrets making such strong comments and that it could have been said in a better way. But he was frustrated and simply vented out with nothing more than words. No one involved in the case could possibly say that this was a real and legitimate threat. It would be almost impossible for anyone to even get that close to any Governor to actually strangle him or her.

"The Court ordered a psychiatric evaluation. The State's own doctor indicates that Mr. Abbott suffers from ‘no mental disorder,’ that he should not be held ‘criminally responsible’ in this case, and that Mr. Abbott is not assessed to be a danger to Governor O'Malley or anyone else. This, under normal circumstances, should just end the case and charges against Mr. Abbott.

"Secondarily, I do believe that Mr. Abbott’s particular comments in this case are protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and to Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

"To hold otherwise would be to suppress a citizen's most basic and fundamental right to the exercise of free speech."

I spoke to Abbott earlier this week. Here’s what he said:

"My case is not just about me. It’s about all the people of Maryland and the United States. What is becoming of our country when illegal aliens can get jobs and Americans cannot?

"When I look at young children on the playground, I wonder what their future holds.

"I’ve contacted U.S. Representatives Elijah Cummings, Chris Van Hollen and Albert Wynn as well as the NAACP to tell them about how illegal immigration is hurting black Americans.
“I guess they don’t care because no one answered me."

Everyone agrees—Abbott most of all—that the vulgar and threatening language he used in his e-mail is wrong.

Probably the real mistake Abbott made was using his full name and current address (in itself proof that his threat was merely rhetorical). Abbott told me that the arresting officers said that O’Malley gets hundreds of similar mails every month. None, however, have accurate personal information.

None of the VDARE.COM Editorial Collective endorse violence in any form or fashion, at any time. But the sentiments about illegal immigration’s devastating impact on American workers Abbott expressed to O’Malley—figuratively but too explicitly—are not wrong.

Abbott’s comments, taken symbolically, represent a courageous expression of what we all feel about government’s failure to act on behalf of Americans and against illegal immigration.
Who really knows what it’s like to be Abbott who has seen his income plunge, his business teeter and his family burdened with the emotional weight of it all?

The day I spoke to Abbott was his 25th wedding anniversary. He and his wife had saved for years for a Maui vacation—a trip they won’t be making because of his current circumstances.
There’s still hope for a positive outcome.

Frank told me that Abbott’s case could go away if O’Malley instructed the state’s attorney to drop the charges.

If that doesn’t happen, Frank is confident that Abbott will prevail in court.
My view: Not only should the state drop the charges but O’Malley should also follow up with an invitation to meet Abbott personally. Whatever Abbott has to say about illegal immigration and American workers, O’Malley should want to hear.

Such an outreach would be the sign of a true leader—something O’Malley is not.

And a compassionate act toward an aggrieved citizen might help O’Malley where he needs it the most—at the polls. O’Malley’s approval rating is in George W. Bushville, a place no politician wants to be.

In the meantime, O’Malley may want to look to the west and to the north at the once glorious careers of his fellow Democrats from California and New York, the now infamous Gray Davis and Spitzer, abruptly unseated governors who also loved illegal aliens and promoted driver’s licenses for them.

To O’Malley, 2010 may seem like a long way off.

But many Maryland voters are counting the days until they can vote him out of office.
Email O’Malley.

(Email sent to Abbott here will be forwarded)

Joe Guzzardi [e-mail him] is the Editor of VDARE.COM Letters to the Editor. In addition, he is an English teacher at the Lodi Adult School and has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.

Join Chief Manger and Councilmember Andrews for a presentation about Montgomery County Gang Activities

The League of Women Voters would appreciate you helping us spread the word about a program we are presenting on Gang Activities in Montgomery County. We realize that the topic is of concern to many school parents and officials.

Gang Activities in Montgomery County will be the timely topic of the League of Women Voters at their April 28 Brown Bag Dinner.

The guest speakers will be Tom Manger, Chief of Police of Montgomery County, an officer from the Gang Unit, and Phil Andrews, County Council member and Chair of the Public Safety Commission.

The program is open to the public and will be held on Monday, April 28 at the Wheaton Regional Library at 11701 Georgia Avenue from 6-8 PM.

Bring your dinner; dessert and drinks are provided. The program is free, but a small donation is always welcome to help cover the costs.

For more information please contact the League Office at 301-984-9585.

Thanks for your cooperation.
Elaine Apter
League of Women Voters of Montgomery County
Communications VP
301-438-8707

ILLEGALS GAIN POWER by DELEGATE PAT McDONOUGH

ILLEGALS GAIN POWER

By DELEGATE PAT McDONOUGH (Baltimore County)

Maryland continues to become the worst state in the nation in terms of protecting its citizens against the invasion of illegal aliens. It is accurate to characterize Maryland as the Number One “Sanctuary State” in America. The Governor and General Assembly leaders support the legislative agenda of CASA of Maryland and other pro-illegal proponents. Once again, in the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly, all of the legislation proposed by lawmakers in opposition to illegal aliens was defeated. Moreover, none of these much needed proposals were allowed to emerge from committee for a full floor vote.

I introduced the Citizens Right Act which many consider to be the centerpiece of any anti-illegals agenda. This initiative would have, for the first time, permitted ordinary citizens to file a complaint against elected officials based on the premise that the official is violating the Federal Immigration Act. The complaint could eventually result in the official being removed from public office.

Another important bill was the Voter Verification and Fairness Act which would require affidavits confirming that an individual is an eligible voter. The bill would prevent illegal aliens from voting, especially the ones that are exploiting the motor-voter law associated with acquiring drivers’ licenses.

I introduced the bill that would mandate English as the official and formal language of Maryland State Government. All of these positive initiatives were defeated by the friends and supporters of illegals that dominate the State Legislature.

I continued my efforts on the floor of the House by attempting to remove a $1 million gift from Governor O’Malley’s budget that was designated as funding for CASA of Maryland. CASA is the 800 pound gorilla in Maryland that supports illegal aliens and appears to exercise unusual control over the Governor and General Assembly. Although the amendment failed, I managed to expose a number of negatives about CASA during the floor debate that helped educate my colleagues and members of the press.

There were nine additional pieces of legislation by other lawmakers that would have assisted our state to fight the battle against illegal aliens and their co-conspirators. The Real ID Act, prohibition of public assistance to illegals, and a ban on sanctuary cities were among the more important initiatives that failed.

The good news is that more bills were introduced on our side and a growing number of legislators participated. There was an increase in the quality of the testimony supporting our legislation and more witnesses travelled to Annapolis to testify.

On the negative side, as was mentioned, all of our legislation was defeated. CASA of Maryland received increased funding, a bill to promote foreign languages, and another piece of legislation that allows CASA to sue or initiate legal actions against employers passed.

Adding insult to injury, a phoney piece of legislation allegedly promoting the idea of studying the impact of immigrants on the State of Maryland was successful. A real and effective bill that was introduced to study the impact of illegal immigration failed. The phoney bill will be used to prove that immigrants are productive and an asset to our state. This study is simply a ploy to justify and move forward the CASA and illegal alien agenda.

Obviously, it was a difficult session. However, we all know that the only way you really fail is when you quit. I am not going to surrender our great state to a group of misguided “lawmakers who support lawbreakers and powerful politicians who are out of touch with the people.”

Thank you for your continued support on this issue. If I may be of any assistance to you or your family in the future, please don’t hesitate to let me know. You may contact me at 410-238-0025.

Pr. William Arrests 41 People in First Month of Immigration Crackdown

Pr. William Arrests 41 People in First Month of [Illegal] Immigration Crackdown

By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008; 11:54 AM

Prince William County Police Chief Charlie T. Deane has provided more details about the county's first month of increased illegal-immigration enforcement, seeking to show how officers are carrying out the measure.

Of 89 people questioned about their citizenship or immigration status since the enforcement began March 3, two were found to be in the country legally, Deane said yesterday, and the rest were thought to be in the country illegally.

Forty-one of those 87 were arrested. Seven people were charged with felonies, among them attempted murder, cocaine possession and shoplifting. Thirty-two people were charged with misdemeanors, which included public drunkenness, domestic assault and lack of a driver's license. Two others were detained on immigration-related charges.

Among the other 46 thought to be in the country illegally, 21 were released without charges and 25 were given citations for minor offenses. Police are referring the 87 cases to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Board of County Supervisors voted last fall to direct officers to check the citizenship or immigration status of crime suspects who they think might be in the country illegally.

Gazette: Open Forum: Where’s the balance in story on illegal immigration?

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Open Forum: Where’s the balance in story on illegal immigration?

The Gazette gave voice to law-breaking, pro-illegal alien advocates like Maryland House (Casa de Maryland) and the NAACP, but did not balance the story with representatives from Numbers USA or the Center for Immigration Studies (‘‘Hispanics feel threat of immigration checks,” March 27).

I would like to thank Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins for myself, my family, my neighbors, my country and all law-abiding Americans, including legal immigrants, for using a common-sense and fair approach to the problem of illegal immigration.

It’s a shame that Maryland House (Casa de Maryland), the same people who live off my tax dollars and publish comic books that encourage illegal aliens to not respond to officers of the law when they ask questions, is also encouraging criminal activity, lying and cheating, and will stop at nothing until the country is overrun with illegal aliens.

When Sheriff Jenkins clearly states that he will return illegal aliens to their country of origin when they commit crimes in our country, Maryland House (Casa de Maryland) engages in fear mongering saying that illegal aliens are afraid to leave their homes.

Please. That kind of nonsense no longer works. Look at how Americans rose up and defeated the amnesty bill that Bush, Kennedy, McCain and many wealthy and powerful Democrats and Republicans tried to ram through the Congress in the middle of the night. Americans are no longer going to fall for this kind of nonsense.

We see the rampant illegal alien crime, the anchor babies, the drug dealing, the murders, the rapes, and we ask, what is going on? Why are my tax dollars supporting these people? Why is my government giving them a driver’s license when they are here illegally? Why should I pay to educate, house, provide health care for, and jobs for these illegal aliens?

Illegal aliens create significant costs for taxpayers mainly because they are unskilled, not because they are illegal. Most lack a high school diploma. Such people pay relatively little in taxes regardless of legal status because they earn so little in the modern American economy.

Research indicates that the net fiscal drain (taxes minus costs) would triple if we legalized illegal aliens. Unskilled illegal aliens are costly, but unskilled legal immigrants cost even more because they can more easily access social programs.

A strategy of attrition through enforcement, on the other hand, is both realistic and avoids the problems of illegal immigration by making illegal aliens go home or self-deport.

A March 2005 Immigration and Naturalization Service report estimates that 165,000 illegal aliens go home each year, 50,000 are deported, and 25,000 die. But many more than that come in.

If America becomes less hospitable to illegal aliens, many more will simply decide to go home. To do this, we should enforce the law that bars illegal aliens from holding jobs by using the national databases that already exist to ensure that each new hire is legally entitled to work here.

In 2004, only three employers were fined for hiring illegal aliens. The Internal Revenue Service must also stop accepting Social Security numbers that it knows are bogus. We also need to make a much greater effort to deny illegal aliens things like driver's licenses, bank accounts, loans, in-state college tuition, and other supports, like Maryland House, that make it easy to rip off Americans.

Local law enforcement can play a vital role, and Sheriff Jenkins is to be honored, not vilified, for understanding this fact. When an illegal alien is encountered in the normal course of police work, the immigration service should pick that person up and deport him or her.

Attrition through enforcement is really the only option if we want to solve our illegal immigration problem. Implementing such a policy will save taxpayers money, help American workers at the bottom of the labor markets, and restore the rule of law.

God bless you and thank you, Sheriff Jenkins, for enforcing the will of the American public. Most support your efforts. I’m sorry the loudmouths get the media attention, but please keep enforcing the rule of law.

Bruce Curley, Mount Airy

Baltimore Sun: Arundel changes reporting on illegal immigrants in custody

Arundel changes reporting on illegal immigrants in custody

By a Sun Reporter

12:24 PM EDT, April 3, 2008

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who has been in the forefront of the regional debate over illegal immigration, has turned his attention to jail inmates.

A month after the county began reporting foreign-born inmates to federal authorities on a daily -- rather than weekly -- basis, the number of prisoners being released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation has significantly jumped, Leopold announced today.

Between Jan. 1 and March 6, three inmates were released to ICE. Since the new reporting system went into effect in March, 45 inmates have been reported to ICE, more than half of whom were identified as possible candidates for deportation. Thirteen have been released into ICE's custody.

In August, Leopold issued an executive order requiring government contractors to sign an affidavit swearing they do not employ people living in the country illegally.

In November, a county police officer was permanently assigned to the ICE Baltimore field office. In addition, one officer from each of the four county police districts received specialized training on ICE and documenting fraud.

Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun