Immigration reform ads key to 8th race
By MIKE STUCKA – mstucka@macon.co m

Fights over illegal immigration are taking center stage in the 8th Congressional District race.

This past weekend, U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., released what is at least the third television attack ad in a he-said, he-said fight with Republican challenger Austin Scott over who can be tougher on illegal immigration.

Some of what’s in those ads is true. Some is misleading. Some is irrelevant, because the legislation addressed in those ads appears to have little effect on illegal immigration.

As big as the fight gets between Scott and Marshall, the candidates essentially agree on the broad outlines of immigration reform. Both candidates say illegal immigration is a serious problem. Both of them want increased security at the border. And both have backed legislation to block employers from hiring illegal immigrants.

Beginning of an attack

The fight began with a pair of 2006 Georgia House bills that Scott, then a Republican state representative from Ashburn, voted on.

Marshall, a Democrat, based the first attack ad on Scott’s vote against House Bill 1238, which aimed to put a 5-percent tax on illegal immigrants’ using Western Union or other services to send money back home. That bill ultimately was gutted, but not before Scott gave a four-minute speech on the floor against it.

“I honestly believe that what we’re about to do is tax people who are doing the best that they can to provide for their families, and I’ve got a moral problem with that, and I’ve got a problem with the fact that I’m afraid that we’re about to move down piecemeal immigration reform when what we really need is meaningful immigration reform at the federal level from our Republican Congress and our Republican Senate,” Scott said, according to a video of the speech provided by Marshall’s campaign staff.

Marshall’s ad zeroed in on the “moral problem” phrase: A narrator intones, “Mr. Scott, what about the problem of illegal immigrants breaking the law?”

That Marshall ad appears to show a story about the House vote on the front page of The Telegraph. The newspaper actually ran a three-paragraph Associated Press story on page 3B, a version that does not quote or mention Scott or any other legislator. A statement by Scott was included in a longer version of the story.

Scott said this month that he opposed the bill because it would have made Western Union an enforcement agent for the federal government. That motive wasn’t mentioned at all in his four-minute speech.

“In the 14 years I’ve been in office, I’ve only voted against one immigration bill, and that’s it,” Scott said.

Counterattacks on the way

Scott launched a counterattack on Marshall. The heart of the ad: “Times are hard, which makes Jim Marshall’s attacks so shameful. But while Jim Marshall talks the talk typical of Washington politicians who failed to secure the border, Austin Scott has walked the walk, voting for the toughest illegal immigration bill in the country, to make English our official language and to stop illegal aliens from getting taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Marshall’s campaign launched an attack against that ad, citing an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that says Scott’s “toughest” law can’t be enforced.

“Prosecutors say they can’t bring charges under the law because it provides no penalties. But when Austin Scott did have a chance to vote for a tough law, he said, ‘I have a moral problem with that,’” Marshall’s announcer intones.

Both of those ads are factual. Scott helped pass the tougher law, 2006’s Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act. But that law is completely separate from the one Marshall initially attacked Scott on, and Marshall has no obligation to praise Scott for votes he agrees with. The vote on the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act came weeks after Scott’s floor speech and “no” vote on the bill taxing illegal immigrants trying to send money.

But all this may be moot.

Searching for solutions

D.A. King of the Dustin Inman Society, probably Georgia’s most strident voice against illegal immigration, said the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act was the toughest bill in the country at the time, and he helped the General Assembly work from a largely blank slate.

The bill aimed to stop governments and private employers from using illegal immigrant labor and to prevent illegal immigrants from getting public benefits.

King says the legislation failed on a critical point: There is no way to enforce the law. He estimates agencies and local governments ignore the law 40 percent of the time when they offer public benefits.

King said efforts to add enforcement have been opposed by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association.

“Enforcement works, so we must find a government in Washington that will secure our borders and will enforce existing law,” King said.

In that, he’s nearly echoing Marshall and Scott.

In a Telegraph interview, Scott said “the debate over immigration should be about protecting America, about protecting our borders and the integrity of our laws.”

Marshall wants to improve the borders but also focus on employers. His last bill got four co-sponsors before it withered in a subcommittee.

“Congress should simply pass the legislation that I’ve drafted, which significantly enhances our current electronic employment eligibility verification, significantly stiffens penalties — both civil and criminal — for failure to use the program, and effectively gets rid of the subcontractor loophole” that lets companies hire contractors that don’t get checked.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-425 1.

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Durbin said he hopes some Senators who are cautious to support the bill will vote for it during a lame-duck session after the November elections especially if they lose their re-election bids.

“Some members of the Senate who are not going to return may vote in our favor. I hope that’s the case.”

Sen. Durbin to Bring DREAM Act Amnesty to Senate Floor AGAIN

September 22, 2010, posted on NumbersUSA

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that he will bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor so it will be ready for a vote as a stand alone bill or as an amendment to another bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid was prepared to add the Amnesty for illegal aliens who serve in the military or attend college to the Defense Authorization bill, but a filibuster stalled the bill on Tuesday

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Secure Communities leads to removal of more than 5,500 convicted criminal aliens from LA County in first year

LOS ANGELES – Since its activation in Los Angeles County a year ago, the biometric information sharing capability deployed as part of the Secure Communities initiative has resulted in the identification and removal of more than 5,500 convicted criminal aliens from the United States who were encountered by local law enforcement in the county.

The information sharing capability, a key component of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) comprehensive strategy to enhance efforts to identify and remove convicted criminal aliens from the country, uses biometric identification to alert ICE when potentially removable aliens are arrested by local law enforcement.

Of the 5,585 aliens removed from Los Angeles County in the last year, nearly 2,500 are considered Level 1 offenders, which includes those convicted of serious or violent crimes, such murder, sexual assault and robbery. Another 2,540 are Level 2 offenders, which includes individuals with convictions for offenses such as arson, burglary and property crimes. As part of the Secure Communities strategy, ICE is prioritizing its enforcement efforts to ensure individuals who pose the greatest threat to public safety are removed first.

Regardless of the offenses for which individuals are initially booked, the Secure Communities screening may reveal more serious criminal histories. In one Los Angeles case, a fingerprint check of an individual with multiple aliases arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court turned out to be a foreign national with a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for voluntary manslaughter and carrying a concealed weapon. In addition, the subject had been removed from the United States multiple times. The subject was convicted of illegal re-entry after removal and sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. Upon completion of his sentence, ICE will remove him from the United States.

Prior to the activation of Secure Communities, fingerprint-based biometric records taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody were checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fingerprint information submitted through the state to the FBI will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS’s Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS’s biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE. ICE evaluates each case to determine the individual’s immigration status and takes appropriate immigration enforcement action. This includes aliens who are lawfully and unlawfully in the United States, but who have been arrested and booked into local law enforcement custody for a crime. Once identified through fingerprint matching, ICE prioritizes its response to focus on criminal aliens convicted of the most serious crimes first-such as those with convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens subject to removal as resources permit.

“Last year, ICE prevented thousands of convicted criminal aliens in Los Angeles County from being released back into the community,” said David Venturella, assistant director for Secure Communities. “Through the Secure Communities strategy, we’re increasing community safety by enforcing federal immigration law in a smart, effective way that targets the greatest threats for removal first.”

Los Angeles County is one of 28 jurisdictions in California that are currently benefiting from Secure Communities. The information sharing capability has helped ICE remove more than 12,400 criminal aliens arrested throughout the state. Nationwide, ICE is using the capability in 574 jurisdictions across 30 states, and it has helped ICE remove more than 37,900 criminal aliens from the country.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities.

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The new Machete film may be the most anti-American movie ever made. Its all about illegal aliens turning to violence and guns to protect themselves from vigilante patriots. While its just supposed to be a silly exploitation parody picture it uses that status to imbed some very effective propaganda. All the non-hispanics in the film are either evil, stupid, or agents of the heroic open borderMexican resistance. The director did a fake trailer on the Internet where the star of the movie says this is a Cinco De Mayo message for Arizona and then implies the Mexicans are turning to violence.

The director downplayed it as just a joke and the whole movie as a comedic exercise and pointed out some of the villains including Steven Segal are Mexican. But the message is pretty clear that if we enforce border laws it is unfair, evil, and will result in violent reaction. The next time you go to a pro open borders rally I think you may see a change of tone in the attitude of the crowd to be more forceful and demanding. There is one upside in that it stimulates debate on the subject of illegal immigration even among those who are only looking for a thrill ride movie. And if you like violent
action movies its pretty good, I liked it better than the Planet Terror part of Grindhouse.
Johnny

HAT TIP
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Visit their website: http://www.nafbpo.org

Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia) 9-7-10

46 Africans and 5 Afghanis to be deported

Medellin – Fifty-one Africans and Asians were apprehended during the weekend for illegally entering the country.

Government official, Marcel Suarez, confirmed that 5 Afghanis were among the illegal aliens apprehended. The rest were from Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The apprehensions occurred at the end of last week. The Army captured two presumed “coyotes” that admitted guilt and were released.

Normally the “coyotes” charge between 10,000 and 20,000 dollars each, according to Suarez.

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St. Louis City and County first in Missouri to benefit from ICE strategy to enhance the identification, removal of criminal aliens
Uses biometrics to prioritize immigration enforcement actions against convicted criminal aliens

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new biometric information sharing capability in St. Louis City and County that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement’s custody for a crime.

This capability is part of Secure Communities – ICE’s comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.

Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records were taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody and checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fingerprint information submitted through the state to the FBI will be automatically checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS’s Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS’s biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE. ICE evaluates each case to determine the individual’s immigration status and takes appropriate enforcement action. This includes aliens who are in lawful status and those who are present without lawful authority. Once identified through fingerprint matching, ICE will respond with a priority placed on aliens convicted of the most serious offenses first-such as those with convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping.

“The Secure Communities strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to identify criminal aliens in local custody,” said Secure Communities Executive Director David Venturella. “Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE’s mission. Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners.”

With the expansion of the biometric information sharing capability to St. Louis City and County, ICE is using this capability in 632 jurisdictions in 32 states. By 2013, ICE plans to be able to respond nationwide to all fingerprint matches generated through IDENT/IAFIS interoperability.

Since ICE began using this enhanced information sharing capability in October 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States more than 12,200 criminal aliens convicted of Level 1 crimes, such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Additionally, ICE has removed more than 29,500 criminal aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes, including burglary and serious property crimes, which account for the majority of crimes committed by aliens. ICE does not regard aliens charged with, but not yet convicted of crimes, as “criminal aliens.” Instead, a “criminal alien” is an alien convicted of a crime. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens subject to removal as resources permit.

The IDENT system is maintained by DHS’s US-VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS).

“US VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it,” said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. “By enhancing the interoperability of DHS’s and the FBI’s biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation.”

“Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens,” said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI’s CJIS Division. “Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving its goals.”

For more information, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities.

For the most up-to-date ICE information, sign up for ICE e-mail alerts. You may also visit us on Twitter and YouTube.

HERE

203 Deported In Monterey Co. Under New Program

Secure Communities Program Went Into Effect In April

SALINAS, Calif. — KSBW.com

Since the Secure Communities Program went into effect in April, 203 people have been deported from Monterey County, according to data released by program officials.

The program requires that when someone is booked into the Monterey County Jail, their immigration status is checked with the Department of Homeland Security.

Of the 203 people deported, 38 fell into the category of serious offenses — including murder, kidnapping, rape and drug trafficking. About half those departed don’t have criminal records but were in the country illegally.

The program’s results have surprised local law enforcement.

“We are identifying the most serious offenders, and most of the time it’s linked to gang culture and they have committed serious crimes,” said Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis.

Kanalakis said the Monterey County Jail has had a large increase in the percentage of the inmate population who have been identified as having immigration holds.

Before the Secure Communities Program, the number of immigration holds was about 4 percent, it is now up to nearly 19 percent, which is the equivalent of about 1,000 inmates.

The Secure Communities Program does not target a certain ethnicity; only people who are arrested and are fingerprinted and scanned for their immigration status.

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Feet In Two Worlds

Arrogant Bolivian leader tells U.S. to stop deporting illegals

Bolivian President Evo Morales Tells Obama ‘Stop Deporting Immigrants’

As heads of state gathered here to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Bolivian President Evo Morales ended a speech at Hunter College on Monday by calling on President Barack Obama to stop “expelling” Latin American [illegal aliens…. criminals] who are trying to eke out a living…

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Breitbart.tv VIDEO

Race-baiting Dem pits Latinos against Asians on Spanish-language TV

Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez appeared on Spanish-Language Univision to tell Latino voters that their Congressional seat was being taken by the Vietnamese. — Rep. Sanchez is in a hotly contested race for re-election against the very popular, Vietnamese-American Republican, Van Tran…

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