Moonhowlings

Governor Robert Bentley signed the strictest illegal immigrant law package in the United States this week.  According to Huffington Post:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s governor on Thursday signed a tough new illegal immigration crackdown that contains provisions requiring public schools to determine students’ immigration status and making it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.

The bill also allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they’re stopped for any other reason. Alabama employers also are now required to use a federal system called E-Verify to determine if new workers are in the country legally.

Gov. Robert Bentley said the law is the nation’s toughest, and groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center agree. The groups say they plan to challenge it.

Bentley believes that the Alabama law can withstand Constitutional scrutiny.  He campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration.  Other sources have stated that Alabama leaders feel this law will open up jobs to Americans.  Studies have shown that many Americans simply won’t do the type of work that many immigrants are happy to do. 

Read more…

Announcement:

The season’s final presentation of the Immigration & Human Rights Cinema is scheduled for 2:30 Sunday May 8 in the Verizon Auditorium of George Mason University’s Prince William Campus.    The documentary, “The Minutemen” by Corey Wascinski,  provides startling insights into the motivations and interactions of four Minutemen on the Arizona border. 

As always, the screening is free and open to the public.  Parking is available in the Occoquan Lot across from the Verizon Auditorium.

Utah, one of the country’s most conservative states, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 3-1, has turned its back on those Republicans who advocate deportation in favor of those who want immigration reform.  The bill has passed both houses of the state legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.

What exactly does the  ‘ Utah Way ‘  advocate?  First off, it gives local law enforcement  a provision that they say won’t really matter and it provides for a guest worker program that lawmakers feel will make all the difference in the world.  That last component of the proposed law will grant legal status to undocumented workers.  The legal status isn’t free.  It would provide  work permits to undocumented immigrant workers, and their immediate families, if they  pay a fine, clear a criminal background check and study English.

According to the Washington Post:

Advocates of the compact included the police, some key elected officials and, critically, the Mormon church, whose members include perhaps 90 percent of Utah’s state lawmakers. They understood that the fast-growing Hispanic community, which counts for 13 percent of Utah’s population and may include more than 100,000 undocumented workers, is vital to the state’s tourism, agriculture and construction industries.

The advocates’ genius was to reframe the cause of immigration reform, including the guest-worker program, as fundamentally a conservative project. In the face of sound bites from reform opponents such as “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” Utah conservatives shot back with: What part of destroying the economy don’t you understand? And by the way, what part of breaking up families don’t you understand?

Read more…

Recently news of Chipotle being investigated by ICE hit many local, state, and national news sources.  Chipotle is an upscale Mexican grill who has been under the ICE microscope for about a year.  The inspections are not random and have come about as a result of investigation and intelligence gathering. 

Chipotle, unlike many other fast food chains like Burger King, Subway  and McDonalds, is all corporate . Burger King, Subway, McDonalds and many other chains are often franchise so the hiring onous falls on the local owner of the franchise.  What Chipotle has been undergoing is what is known as an I-9 Audit.  What exactly is an I-9 audit?

According to Reuters:

WHAT IS A FORM I-9?

 -An I-9 is an employment eligibility verification form. All U.S. employers must complete and retain an I-9 for each individual they hire in the United States, citizens and noncitizens alike. On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity documents an employee presents to determine if the person can work legally in the country.

Read more…

Sam Stone aka "B. Virdot"

This month’s Smithsonian Magazine features the story of B. Virdot’s mysterious letter in the Canton, Ohio newspaper during the Great Depression. 

get ready to rumble     ( <—–  click for sound effects)

It’s R on R.   The Stewart/Cuccinelli saga plays on. 

Corey Stewart, head bloody but unbowed, takes another poke or two at the Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli.  Actually, it was a bit more than a poke.  He compared the AG to a first year law student.  This comparison is before he paints the AG as a  ’pro-Amnesty liberal.’

According to the News and Messenger:

The opinion showed that that provision had the potential to “run afoul” of federal law.

The memo also stated that Stewart’s proposal also contained provisions similar to those found in Arizona’s illegal immigration law that were enjoined by federal court.

Stewart said that a ruling on  Arizona law would not affect laws in  Virginia.

 “He said that the federal district court’s decision in Arizona was binding on Virginia. That’s simply untrue. Any first-year law student would tell you that that’s incorrect,” Stewart said.

Ouch.  Moving right along, one has to figure out how Corey Stewart, a mere county supervisor, is going to get legislation passed on an omnibus illegal immigration package after another state, Arizona, has brought on national attention, lawsuits, and injunctions from the  federal courts.  Perhaps, after all this, Stewart, who is not a state legislator, wasn’t planning anything really happening with the Virginia Rule of Law Campaign anyway. 

That’s what we’re trying to do is take Prince William County’s policy and adopt it on a statewide basis,”Stewart said.

Stewart’s latest proposal contains considerably more provisions than the Prince William County resolution and Cuccinelli objected to many of those provisions, including one that allows a person’s immigration status to be allowed in any court.

So what is the Virginia Law of Rule Campaign then if all Corey is trying to do is find someone to pass the Prince William County resolution?

Corey is quoted in the News and Messenger:

… the additional provisions were a list of various pieces of legislation introduced by various states across the nation.

“It was never meant to be introduced as legislation,” he said.

Stewart said he was surprised at the opposition from Cuccinelli’s office.

“I’m very disappointed. I run into a lot of opposition in fighting illegal immigration and almost all of that opposition comes from either pro-amnesty and the Washington Post  and other liberals. I certainly didn’t expect this  attack from the back by Cuccinelli,” Stewart said

So what is the Virginia Rule of Law Campaign really?  What is Corey objecting to?  Why is he sporting it around?  If  it wasn’t supposed to be legislation, what was it supposed to be?    Perhaps it was just a fund-raising tool for  Corey.  If he put a bunch of BS and bluster out there, got people hooked and donating money, then he didn’t have to do anything with it at all.  He could just take people’s money and keep feeding them bull. 

So why the mock fighting with Cuccinelli?    It’s just a plain ole pissin’ contest.

Wonders never cease to amaze us.  Even a broken koo koo clock is right twice a day.  It seems that Elena and Moon agree this one and only one time with AG Ken Cuccinelli.  Over what, you might ask, knowing that the earth has not begun to rotate backwards and that something must be up.

It seems that the Office of the Attorney General has created a side by side response to Corey Stewart’s Virginia Rule of Law Campaign.  The gods must not be happy because Corey got spanked– big time spanked. 

There must be an internal war going on in the Virginian Republican Party, or perhaps, Cuccinelli just wants Corey Stewart out of his way since Corey has been making ‘higher office’ noises.   The AG could have quietly gone to the state Republican higher ups and told them to kill Corey’s proposal before it ever got into the General Assembly.  He could have easily told them that the governor didn’t like it, especially since Governor McDonnell has been rather stand-offish over the entire immigration issue. 

But Cuccinelli didn’t let Corey Stewart’s baby bill die a quiet death.  He did a public smack down and apparently the OAG released the comparison. 

Obviously the AG sees the Virginia Rule of Law Campaign for exactly what it is:  a cheap political ploy created to get Corey Stewart’s name in lights and usher him on in to higher state or national office.  Corey should know he can’t ride that horse into town again and he is no Jan Brewer.  Even the AG has limits on how many times he wants the state of Virginia to be sued.

Opinion from the Office of the Attorney General.  Click to download the side by side comparison.

[Note:  the matrix showing side by side comparison was not issued by the OAG.  That arrangement was made for comparison purposes.]

It appears that the AG sends a strong message implying  that the Virginia Rule of Law Campaign verbage is simply a sloppily crafted piece of legislation.  Stewart either violates the Virginia or U.S. Constitution or adds new laws we can’t afford at every turn.    Cuccinelli points out each legal oversight,  point by point. 

So what caused Cucinelli to turn on Corey Stewart?  Why would he shoot holes in Corey’s great claim to fame?  Is this a case of clothes-lining  (or in this case, piano-wiring)  one’s politicial rival?  Is this a rift in the Virginia Republican Party or is this just a general shake down?  Will there be turf wars in Prince William County?  Is Corey sufficiently embarrassed?  Will he call on old friends to help him regain his political dignity?

More on this story:

http://9500liberty.com/blog/virginia-stunner/

and

Blue Virginia Blog   

Sheriff Joe Arpaio swore in his new “illegal immigration posse” this past week.    Latino activists are crying foul for fear of minuteman mentality being exercised against immigrants.  They fear the mentality of ‘Lets go hunt Mexicans.’ 

According to the Daily Beast:

The group of mostly middle-aged or older white men dressed in brown uniforms with gold badges will assist Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies in such duties as “transporting illegal immigrants arrested for potential immigration violations,” “crowd control during demonstrations against the sheriff’s immigration policies” and “searching for load vehicles and drop houses.”

Sheriff Joe also positioned his new posse near props that hinted of war — a helicopter, an off-road vehicle, and an armored personnel carrier with a long gun. Over half the 56 posse members were cleared to carry weapons, and all had received training in illegal immigration enforcement, Arpaio announced during the ceremony.

Latino activists accuse Sheriff Joe of trying to take the attention off some of his legal problems which have arisen from some of his extreme measures in dealing with illegal immigrants.  He is currently under several on-going investigations.

In early November, Maricopa County deputized 6 federal agents to look into other abuses of power such as funneling money from one account into cash strapped operations like immigration enforcement.  Sheriff Joe is being investigated now for keeping 2 sets of books.  Arpaio is already under investigation for abuse of power and civil rights violations. 

Danny Ortega, a Phoenix attorney and chairman of the board of the National Council of La Raza fears that the possee will attract those who are ‘emotionally attracted’ to immigration enforcement and the volatility that such an attachment could give rise to. 

And if there weren’t enough of a show with the Sheriff and his newly formed posse, The Beast further reports:

Two new posse members are actually minor movie stars—action figure Steven Seagal and Lou Ferrigno, the former Incredible Hulk, who doesn’t even live in Arizona.Arpaio had named Ferrigno an “honorary deputy” in May so the Hulk could “bodyguard” the sheriff when he spoke at a friendly Tea Party rally. The bodyguard gig boosted publicity for both the sheriff and Ferrigno, who sells t-shirts and exercise equipment on line. Ferrigno says he’s signed on to the illegal immigration posse because he wants to support Arpaio’s efforts to curb illegal immigration.

So now the Incredible Hulk is part of the posse.  All we need is a green beef up suit to make things completely bizarro-world.  

There will always be people who want to put their own spin on things.  Actually the BOCS meeting last Tuesday and the legislative action taken really wasn’t about illegal immigration.  It was about good governance.  And our BOCS failed the test. 

No one I am aware of is arguing that the current process of checking immigration status after one is arrested is a bad thing.  Most people I know feel that this is a fair, workable solution to a troublesome problem.  No one wants criminals on the street. 

The problem Tuesday began with lack of transparency.  The final UVA Report was unavailable for preview before the presentation.  For $385,000, this just should not be happening.  The agenda had irregularities.  The posted agenda showed  recess was scheduled and a press conference planned during the recess.  Again, this was highly irregular behavior and there was no explanation given.  Should citizens be suspicious?  To add to the confusion and obfuscation, 2 supervisors left during the business meeting and met with the press.  Why did the press have to be spoken to before the meeting was adjourned?

Read more…

Today’s Washington Post described the increase in unrest over Muslim immigration in European countries like France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The strong anti-Muslim backlash is influencing elections and putting leaders in a precarious position.

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued her toughest line yet on immigrants. For weeks, Merkel has condemned Thilo Sarrazin, a former Central Bank board member turned folk hero in Germany who penned a shock bestseller arguing that Turkish and Kurdish immigrants are genetically inferior.

But the book also ignited a debate in Germany over the unwillingness of many immigrants – particularly Muslims – to integrate. Merkel on Sunday appeared to side with immigration critics, saying at a party conference that Germany’s experiment to build a “multicultural” nation had “failed, absolutely failed.”

In Scandanavia and Holland, the following is seen:

The long liberal lands of Scandinavia and the Netherlands are also seeing a nationalist party renaissance. Last week, a conservative Dutch government came to power with the support of the anti-Islamic party of Geert Wilders, who is standing trial for inciting racial hatred against Muslims. In exchange for his support, Wilders extracted promises that the new government would take dramatic steps to curb immigration and follow the French in banning full-length Muslim veils.

In recent months, right-wing and nationalist parties have also consolidated or are now poised to expand their power in Denmark, Norway and Finland.

In Italy there is an uprising over a proposed Mosque in Milan. All over Europe, little distinction is made between the debate over Islam and the debate over immigration. Many of the Muslim immigrants are from Somalia, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iraq, and other places in the middle east. Muslims from Malaysia were not mentioned.

Attitudes such as the one below are not unfamiliar:

“It isn’t racist to want to preserve your culture,” said Leif Johansson, a 64-year-old carpenter. “I’m open to immigration, but these people come without a thought to integration, no interest in learning Swedish or being part of Swedish society.”

Sweden, a country that has long prided itself on multiculturalism, is now apparently back-pedaling. 1 in every 9 people in Sweden are Muslim.

Unlike in the United States, where Latinos dominate the immigration debate, European angst is increasingly focused on waves of Muslims – Turks, Iraqis, Somalis and others – who have become the hottest-button issue in recent elections. In Austria this month, the far-right Freedom Party made massive gains in regional elections after an anti-immigrant campaign that included a “Bye Bye Mosque” Internet game. It allowed players to target virtual minarets in elegant Vienna and pastoral Alpine villages with a single word, “stop.”

I am not so sure that people in the United States aren’t every bit as vociferous over Muslims. What saves Muslims in this country, somewhat, is they have to get here by air or water. They can’t drive or swim. There are no common or connecting borders to the home country. However, anti-Muslim sentiments seen very alive here, and on this blog.

Is it possible to discuss this phenomena without sounding like we are European or without going back to the Crusades? Is it possible to discuss the problems without going into what the Koran does and does not say? I don’t believe any of us here are experts on the Koran and I would rather not get in to what it says or doesn’t say. Reason? There is no one really on top of the Koran game who can dispute statements people make.

This thread is not a feel-good thread.  Far from it.  Are Europeans over-reacting?  Do they sound like Americans sound about our illegal immigration?  People seem to be worried/angry over the same thing:  refusal to assimilate, not learning the language, living in ethnic communities, etc.  What advice would you give them?

–How well do you know your European countries?  Click the blue.  Below is your cheat sheet.

Interactive map

From Gainesville:

The illegal aliens cross over at night through the mountains rather than the more direct route through the desert. This blimp has infrared detection so can see people at night in the dark – and radio down to troops on the ground their position. The blimp is unmanned and remote controlled, according to people here. Second picture I took using the zoom feature of my regular camera to get a more closeup view. This is from the hotel parking lot at 6:45 AM before I left for work. This blimp is a good 20 miles away from where I am.

Blimp in center over peakClose up of blimp

Obviously this blimp is an example of your government at work. Blimps aren’t cheap. Our government is using all sort of technology to curtail illegal entry into the country. Millions of dollars are spent on this endeavor annually. Yet the sound byte remain the same: Do your job

The sound byte is an election tool. People that continue to believe the government is doing nothing are being duped by politicians who simply want their vote. Too many people have fallen for this trick already.

Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central will testify before the Subcommittee on Immigration on Friday along with Arturo Rodrigez, president of United Farm Workers. 

Remember a story back last summer involving Stephen Colbert and a the “I want to be a Farm Worker” campaign?

Arturo Rodrigez, president of United Farm Workers, joins Stephen Colbert to discuss the impact illegal immigrants have on American workers. Additionally, he discusses the difficulty of agriculture work and insists that most Americans don’t want this kind of work. The above application is on his website at www.takeourjobs.org. He had 3 applications he has placed in the fields. Colbert makes the 4th.

 

Colbert worked with Arturo Rodrigez and his efforts to show that immigrant agricultural workers were not taking jobs from Americans. Colbert literally worked in the fields as part of this initiative. I expect it is those experiences he plans on sharing with Congress. 

Stephen Colbert presents his point of view to Congress:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Meanwhile, Gretchen, Doocy and Killmeade are all having hissy fits that a ‘comedian’ would be called in to testify before Congress. There is a rumor that Colbert will testify in character.  They spent Thursday morning taking crack shots at Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, saying that Comedy Central was the station of the Democratic Party.

The irony was, Bill O’Reilly just interviewed Jon Stewart on Wednesday. During the interview O’Reilly remarked to Stewart that he mocked both parties and satirized President Obama. Apparently the terrible morning trio of friends doesn’t listen to O’Reilly.  Gretchen was the most outraged that a comedian would be testifying.  Doocy mocked Colbert and the entire Comedy Central line-up.   Gretchen even remarked that some people considered Stewart to be a news reporter or something to that effect.  I found that no stranger than people thinking she was a news reporter.  Stewart at least admits he mocks people.  Their outrage was amusing. 

Certainly we will hear more from Colbert and his congressional testimony.  Didn’t Kevin Costner just testify before Congress? 

Today we might find out the real reason Colbert testified before the congressional subcommittee.  Is there any reason anyone can think of that Colbert should not be testifying before congress?   Is it, as Carlson stated, a waste of the taxpayers’ money?

John McCain has flip-flopped more than a fish recently. Gone is the moderate Republican. McCain has probably learned his lesson after being challenged by far right contender Hayworth. McCain has now jumped on the Tea Party express and has voted against the Dream Act and the repeal of DADT. 2 years ago he supported both of these initiatives. Not only did McCain flip flop on DADT, he led the charge. What’s more defense than gays in the military?

The Dream Act would have been a boon to the military also. According to Salon.com:

For the fifth time in a decade, the Dream Act died in the Senate. It’s one of those rare policy ideas that would benefit both the military and the budget — and it’s one that Tea Party-type deficit-hawk/hawk-hawks should have rallied behind. It was even a boon for states’ rights. Yet, it became the latest victim of xenophobia and partisan politics.

The Dream Act (short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) was designed to solve one of the most heart-wrenching injustices in our immigration system. Some 2.1 million undocumented immigrants were brought to the United States, through no fault of their own, as children. And despite having spent their entire lives here, their parents’ illegal status prevents them from obtaining legal residency. The Dream Act would give these children a chance to “earn” their green cards, allowing them to apply for temporary legal status; then, if they maintain “good moral character” (at a minimum, keep a clean criminal record), graduate from high school, and either complete two years of college or military service, they’d obtain permanent residence.

Right now, there are stories aplenty of children who discover the cruel fact that they are deportable when they apply for their driver’s license. Or of high school valedictorians who are snatched off planes and threatened with deportation because their parents never sorted out their paperwork.

Right now, these children, who are Americans in all ways except having papers, cannot serve in the military without legal residency paperwork. To reject the Dream Act is just foolish. We need good American residents. We need people who work hard and want to serve their country. Passing the Dream Act would be win/win.

McCain flip-flopped on this issue. First he was for it before he was against it. Shame on him. Do campaign promises not count if you don’t win?

I didn’t know that Greg Letiecq sent Eric and Annabel to Mr. Fernandez and that sign. I never asked. I assumed they had just stumbled on it.

In the radio, Eric asks the people to not be judgemental of the people of Prince William. He explains his position and presents himself as a moderate. Having talked to Eric at length, many times, he isn’t too far off the mark.

See what you think. It is a totally different perspective from that which you have been led to believe.

Meanwhile, those in Manassas City who continue to blame Eric and Annabel might want to send a thank you note to Mr. L. It seems he got things going. 

As we prepare for this film to go national, into millions of households, it is good to know these things.

[note:  this thread is about 9500 Liberty and not about other organizations. ]

A Hazleton, PA law that targeted illegal immigrants was struck down by a federal appeals court today.  The law wass actually passed in 2006 but has been held up in the courts.  The Hazleton, PA law also severed as a model for various laws, ordinances and resolutions around the country.

The Hazleton Law allowed for pulling the business licenses of those who hired illegal aliends.  Additionally, landlords could be fined if they rented to people out of status.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that the law infringed on the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration.  Once again the supremacy clause is the underlying cause for state and local laws to be voided. 

According to the NY Times:

The appeals court in Pennsylvania found that Hazleton had clearly overstepped its bounds.

“It is of course not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted,” the judges wrote. “We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress.”

Hazleton “has attempted to usurp authority the Constitution has placed beyond the vicissitudes of local governments,” the panel of three judges concluded unanimously.

Another appeal is planned by the city.