NO FREE SANCTUARY

From the Federation for American Immigration Reform, (FAIR), to me, to you.

Hope Phil Gordon reads this.

Barbara Hollingsworth:

There's no such thing as a free sanctuary

By: Barbara Hollingsworth Local Opinion EditorApril 13, 2010

Virginia's Prince William County was vilified three years ago for being the first jurisdiction in the region to assist federal immigration officials in identifying and detaining illegal immigrants accused of crimes so they could be deported.

Since then, public pressure forced most of the other counties surrounding Washington to quietly follow suit. Not Montgomery County. Instead, it's defiantly sweeping off its "Welcome" mat and inviting illegal immigrants to "come on in."

But the county's acclaimed sanctuary policy doesn't come cheap. An estimated $243 million is spent annually on low-income housing, medical care, public education, and other human services for the county's illegal immigrant population, including the cost of maintaining foreign-born criminals in its correctional facilities.

Unlike neighboring Frederick and Prince George's counties, Montgomery still refuses to send the names of all arrestees to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless they are charged with a violent crime such as murder, rape or armed robbery.

Otherwise, "ICE will NOT be contacted, regardless of the individual's legal status and/or gang affiliation," county spokesman Patrick Lacefield emphatically told the Washington Examiner's Hayley Petersen.

Since the Maryland State's Attorney's Office estimates that there are 40 active gangs operating in Montgomery County alone, that means that hundreds of gang members know they will not be deported -- even if they are busted for selling drugs, stealing cars or other serious offenses.

Between 2000 and 2008, Maryland's foreign-born population grew 34.6 percent, while the native-born population increased just 3.3 percent, according to a new study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Costs (about $790 per household) are concentrated in places like Montgomery County with high illegal immigrant populations.

Of course, not all the county's 3,300 or so inmates are here illegally, but since Montgomery refuses to participate in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) program, there's no way of knowing exactly how many currently in the system lack legal presence.

County taxpayers are billed $157 a day (or $57,305 per year) for each inmate regardless. By contrast, the county spends $82 per day on each public school student.

There's a reason incarceration costs so much. A list of Montgomery County employees obtained by the Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act shows that the 541 employees in the county's Department of Corrections are paid handsomely, making an average of $80,000.

The annual salary of Corrections Director Arthur Wallenstein, who denied a previous Examiner request for statistics on the number of illegal inmates in custody, is $210,621, and 21 of his top managers each make more than $100,000 per year.

Other salaries range from an intake processing aide's $35,691 per year plus $10,802 in overtime, to the $98,513 plus $1,916 in overtime paid to a corrections specialist V.

Correctional Officer III Cpl. Paul Miller wracked up an unimaginable amount of overtime pay ($62,048) that was almost as much as his annual base salary ($70,758). The 1,202 hours of OT Miller reported (at $51.62 an hour) represent more than half of the 2,000 hours in a year's worth of typical 40-hour workweeks with two weeks off for vacation.

Miller's fellow Correctional Officer III Cpl. Roger Castell logged in even more OT (1,249 hours), adding $55,241 to his base salary of $61,660.

In fact, 366 correctional employees -- more than half of Wallenstein's entire staff -- reported working more than 100 hours of overtime last year, beefing up their paychecks and future retirement accounts while depleting the county's coffers.

With a budget gap of $779 million, an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, and credit rating agencies threatening to downgrade its bond offerings, Montgomery can no longer afford to feed and house criminals who don't even belong in the United States.

Montgomery County is indeed a sanctuary. But not for taxpayers.

Barbara F. Hollingsworth is the Washington Examiner's local opinion editor.

Congressional Caucus to Focus on Illegal Workers

From Federation for American Immigration Reform

New Congressional Caucus to Focus on Illegal Workers, Unemployed Americans


Three true immigration reformers in the U.S. House of Representatives have announced the formation of a new caucus to focus on the nexus between illegal immigration and unemployment in America. Headed by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Sue Myrick (R-NC), and Gary Miller (R-CA), the Reclaim American Jobs Caucus consists of 40 Members from both sides of the aisle who will work to highlight the link between illegal immigration and record unemployment in the United States.

As the official unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent and the underemployed rate around 25 percent, these members hope to take concrete steps to get American citizens and legal immigrants back to work by advocating immigration enforcement policies to free up jobs currently held by illegal aliens.

Click here to see Reps. Smith, Myrick, and Miller introduce their new Caucus. Click here to read Rep. Smith's press release on the new caucus.

Amnesty Forces Prepare for D.C. Rally

Amnesty Forces Prepare for D.C. Rally

From; the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

On Sunday, March 21, amnesty supporters from across the country will convene in Washington, D.C. to demand that the U.S. Congress pass legislation granting amnesty to the approximately 11 million illegal aliens currently residing in the United States. Billed the “March for America,” the event is being spearheaded by “Reform Immigration for America,” a coalition of “individuals and grassroots organizations” that support amnesty. (March for America Home Page; About – Reform Immigration for America).

According to the Reform Immigration for America website, the marchers will “demand immigration reform and economic justice for all Americans.” The coalition claims that its “vision of reform includes immigrants and native-born U.S. citizens working shoulder to shoulder to achieve better wages, working conditions, and labor protections, and of an American that’s back to work, with a fair balance between main street and wall street.” (March for America – What March?). Reform Immigration for America lists a number of notorious amnesty proponents as sponsors of the march, including big labor special interest groups, such as the AFL-CIO and the SEIU; liberal think thanks, such as the Center for American Progress; and ethnic interest groups, such as the National Council of La Raza and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). (March for America – Whose March?).

The march comes as pro-amnesty organizations are harshly criticizing President Obama for failing to deliver on his campaign promise of signing amnesty legislation into law during his first year in office. On Monday, March 8, the heads of several pro-amnesty coalitions held a press conference to express their frustration. LULAC executive director Brent Wilkes said that the members of his organization feel “angry” and “betrayed.” In addition, amnesty proponents stated that they would rebuke Congressional Democrats at the polls in the 2010 midterm elections if they fail to pass an amnesty bill. As Emma Lozano of Centro Sin Fronteras said: “No legalization. No reelection.” Responding to the criticism, White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro stated that the president’s “commitment to fixing our broken immigration system remains unwavering.” (The Washington Post, March 9, 2010).

In response to the march, FAIR is encouraging supporters of true immigration reform to make their voices heard by:

Adding your name to a list that will be presented to each Member of Congress with a message that we need to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders by signing up for FAIR’s Virtual March;

Visiting their elected officials’ local offices on Friday, March 19; and
Calling their elected officials on Monday, March 22.

Stay tuned to FAIR for more on how you can make your voice heard in support of true immigration reform! For more information see FAIR's Action Alert.

Senate to Consider Amnesty Again

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has reported that the U.S. Senate Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees, will hold a hearing on April 30 entitled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do it and How?"

The Subcommittee is chaired by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who has packed the witness panel with individuals hopelessly biased in support of amnesty. While there is one witness, Kris Koback, who is a friend of true immigration reform, the remaining witnesses represent a "who's who" of open border advocates and business interests who want to import cheap labor.

Some of the other witnesses named thus far are:

* Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System.

*Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President, Service Employees International

* Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow, Migration Policy Institute.

La Raza has organized a grassroots lobbying effort to coincide with the Senate hearings this week and, according to FAIR, this nationwide effort will include phone calls, and -- will culminate with marches on May 1st demanding amnesty.

True immigration reformers understand that so-called "comprehensive reform' is not in the best interest of the American people. Granting amnesty to illegal aliens; rewards law-breakers, imposes a huge cost burden on American taxpayers, and does nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration. The fact is, as we saw after the 1986 amnesty, it only encourages more illegal immigration.

In 2007, true immigrations reformers who care about America, defeated a "comprehensive" reform amnesty with a firestorm of calls to Congress. FAIR is asking the American people, to once again, contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives and let them know that we are opposed to any effort to pass a, "comprehensive immigration reform bill," that includes amnesty for illegal aliens.

OBAMA Plans to Make Illegal Immigrants Legal

According to the New York Times, President Barack Obama plans to begin addressing America's immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal.

Cecillia Munoz, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, said Obama will frame the new effort as "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system."

Over the summer Obama will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration organizations, to begin discussing possible legislation.

During his campaign for the presidency last year, Obama pledged to Latino groups that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office. Latino voters strongly turned out for Obama during the election.

In 2007, a groundswell of opposition to legal status for illegal immigrants, strongly supported by then President George W. Bush, defeated a bipartisan immigration bill.

Roy Beck, Executive Director of NumbersUSA, an organization that favors reduced immigration, said "It just doesn't seem rational that any political leader would say, let's give millions of foreign workers permanent access to U.S. jobs when we have millions of Americans looking for jobs." Obama would face an "explosion" if he proceeded this year, Beck said.

The president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, (FAIR), said it would be "politically disastrous," for Obama to begin an immigration initiative now.


ACR POSITION:


In the opinion of the American Conservative Republican, this further shows that Obama is a slick, lawyer and politician.

Obama out pandered McCain for the Latino vote and now must satisfy that part of his base without facing the backlash from the majority of the people, which Bush and Congress faced when they suggested making illegal immigrants legal in 2007.

Obviously, Obama's political team are reading the polls and know that the vast majority of Americans are opposed to amnesty.

Instead of following a best public policy path that would bring the illegal immigration problem under control, Obama, like Bush before him, is looking for a best political solution that will satisfy everyone. There is no political solution that will make everyone happy.

Granting an amnesty by another name will not solve the problem, it will only invite more illegal immigration, we know this from experience, therefore, amnesty, by any name, should be out of the question and off the table.

For those of us that put the good of our country before any political consideration, finding the solution to the illegal immigration problem is not that complicated.

Fix what caused the problem and you solve the problem.

Two things allowed illegal immigration to spin out of control, an unsecured border and the availability of jobs in American for those in our country illegally.

Politicians from both parties heard the people load and clear, "Secure the Border," and now there is a fence part way across the border and more resources committed to making our international border secure.

Building a fence along the border will only impede illegal entry into the United States however, we will never have a 100% secure border. As long as jobs are available to illegal aliens in the U.S., they will keep coming here illegally. Build a 15 foot fence and they will find a 16 foot ladder.

The key to solving the illegal immigration problem is to end the availability of jobs for undocumented, illegal aliens in the United States. No new law is necessary, it is already illegal to knowingly hire undocumented workers. The law against hiring illegal immigrants was not being enforced, the employers knew it and so did the people south of the border, therefore, greedy employers toke advantage of the low cost labor illegal immigrants provided to increase their profits which in turn caused a massive flood of humanity to cross our southern border illegally because the border was unsecured and jobs available for them in America, regardless of their legal status.

Mr. President, to bring the problem of illegal immigration under control, complete the fence and make our border as secure as possible, use the military if necessary, people have no right to violate our sovereignty as a nation, regardless of their motive.

Make E-verify permanent and mandatory. The only reason an employer would be opposed to E-Verify is because they know they hire undocumented workers. Honest employers have nothing to fear from E-Verify.

Enforce employer sanctions against hiring undocumented workers. The law is nothing but some ink on a paper if it is not enforced. It is the duty of the president to see that all the laws are faithfully executed, not just some.

Enforcing employer sanctions does not mean stop going after illegal workers. Just going after the illegal employer makes about as much sense just going after the illegal worker. They are both breaking our laws, enforce our laws.

It's that simple, secure the border and enforce all our immigration laws.

Bob Haran,

American Conservative Republican