Burma?, Pakistan? ... no, Calexico Calif.

On Sunday, participants in a week-long protest against further militarization of the southern border and further construction of the border wall came under attack from US Border Patrol officers at the Calexico/Mexicali port of entry. The protest, which took place on both sides of the border simultaneously, appeared to have been proceeding peacefully until a symbolic "cross-border kissing booth", which involved making a hole in the border fence approximately four inches in diameter, was installed along the barrier. With that, approximately 100 Border Patrol officers descended upon the 30 demonstrators of "No Borders Camp" with pepper gas pellets, tazers, and batons. In the ensuing melee, three were arrested; many more were injured or suffered from the effects pepper gas.

One witness said, "I think that people should really understand that the border is a totally militarized zone and that this isn't your normal police repression at a demonstration. This is an occupation force … And that is the real context of what happened today, rather than simple policing"

As people attempted to disperse, the border patrol chased and detained groups of them, forcing them to their knees with their hands on their heads. In one case, a person badly injured by pepper pellets shot at close range was pursued away from the conflict, pulled away from a companion wanting to treat his wounds, surrounded and beaten in the head with batons by up to 15 border patrol agents
IndyMedia

The video tells the whole story. It doesn't look all that dissimilar from what we've seen coming out of police states like Burma or Pakistan recently.

More than 500 people participated in the No Borders Camp during the week of November 7-11. The bi-national camp out was billed as a networking forum for activists opposed to the militarization of the border. Previous No Borders Camps have taken place in Europe and Australia.

Activities during the camp included a rally and march on November 9 at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in El Centro, CA and a memorial service on November 10 at a cemetery in Holtville, CA where the remains of migrants who've died crossing the border are buried. All activities during the camp were peaceful and intended to build connections across borders. Sunday's march was meant to culminate the border camp.

The following interview with an eyewitness gives a detailed account of the confrontation:

Q: This is a quick report back from what happened at the border, go ahead and give us your version of what happened, what you saw.

A: The cops really didn't like the bi-national kissing booth, thats for sure. The holes that were put in the wall to set up the kissing booth were in my view the instigation of the actual initial push to separate us from the wall.

The cops formed a line on the Calexico side which separated us from that wall. At that point there was a quick rally and a lot more border patrol showed up.

Two things happened:
One, an officer claimed that he was pushed or in some way "assaulted." I didn't see what happened.
And bottles started to come over the wall from the Mexicali side.

But pretty suddenly and a pretty unprovoked attack followed from there in which a lot of border patrol made a huge push forward to push us out of the entire square.

People who fell down were mostly hit; some were beaten quite badly.

A group of us were surrounded on one side and detained, told to sit down and put our hands on our heads.
We were detained for a brief period of time and eventually released in fives.

That's pretty much what happened.

Q: When did you hear the order to disperse? When did they give that order?

A: There was never any order to disperse. It was totally a surprise when the attack came.

Q: How many people did you see were arrested, did you see anybody get arrested?

A: I saw three people who looked like they were being taken into custody and those people seemed to me to be the ones that had fallen down.

Q: You were saying earlier before we started the recording that you saw one person who was pushed over when the line came in and they were just beaten. I hate to ask you but can you kind of describe that scene?

A: One of the people on the Calexico side was pushed over and he was on the ground, he was covering his head,as he tried to stand up, the border patrol kept hitting him in the knees with batons, repeatedly in the knees. I saw one blow to the face. He looked completely passive, he was not resisting and he has been taken into custody.

Q: Anything else you can recall from that, did you have any chance to interact with the border patrol officers,
was there any communication between the people there and them?

A: The communication was extremely limited. There was a real unwillingness on the part of the border patrol to work with our legal observers. it was actually quite a while before our legal observers were given the time of day.

It was quite a while before our legal observers were given the time of day. Basically the orders seemed to be coming from this one officer who claimed he was pushed or "assaulted." I don't believe that at all, i think it was a totally premeditated attack, but that's just me.

Q: How does this compare to other things you have experienced, how does this compare to your past experience?

A: The thing about the border patrol, we were in a zone that is completely militarized. The border patrol are not cops, they are essentially a military, and an occupation force, so they don't actually even really know or understand protocols for police interactions with mass movements.

There was actually an extreme ignorance on the part of the border patrol for even basic issues of protocol for how to deal with the situation and a lot of the border patrol were acting like this was their first time. They didn't form straight lines when they lined up, when they started pushing they didn't push in a straight lineup, they just went into the crowd fists swinging. It was very undisciplined and it was very emotional and then when we were all sitting down they would yell things at us and talk to us in the most bizarre way.

Q: As an example?
A: As an example, one of the border patrol came over to one of the groups and started saying like how something about how we were... The border patrol agent was basically just trying to explain to us how what we were doing was wrong. That was just a really strange thing for a cop to do. We were all on our knees with our hands behind our heads. Now he is going to come over to us and lecture us about our politics, which he doesn't even understand, and he did it in a very bizarre way which I can't even recall right now.

Q: I recall that the border patrol had some sort of special training session right before this. Maybe that was to make them have some sort of policing skills.

A: I think it was probably more how to learn how to use the paint ball pepper spray pellet guns the people who were armed with those did seem they did have training in how to use them, the paint ball pepper spray pellets normally should hit the ground so that the gas would rise. It seemed that they were trained in crowd dispersal techniques with that particular weapon.

Q: But in one case we've seen photos on the website now with at least one person was shot several times in the body?

A: Yeah, three or four times to the chest that is another bizarre exception to the kinds of things we've been seeing.

Q: Do you think it would be fair to say that they might have been itching for a chance to actually do some damage after the actual camp which was more or less peaceful?

A: I think the officer in charge [Mario Lacuesta], absolutely, this is really what I think that was about. Because the officer in charge, he was the last officer to come in on the shift change and when he came in for the shift change at the no borders camp, he immediately started causing problems at the camp, he immediately reversed decisions that previous officers had made in terms of camp protocol, and was really provocatory even during the No Borders Camp itself.

And then for him to come at us and to try to say that he was attacked it was definitely like he was trying to affirm relationship that he had established and initiated in the No Borders Camp.

If he's right, if he wasn't lying, if he really was the instigator of this total violent act of oppression, then this is totally continuous. Yeah, it's payback.

Q: Is there anything else that you think is important?

A: I think that people should really understand that the border is a totally militarized zone and that this isn't your normal police repression at a demonstration.

This is an occupation force protecting its institutional apparatus of occupation. And that is the real context of what happened today, rather than simple policing tactics.

Courtesy of IndyMedia

This is not the first time that law enforcement personnel have overstepped their authority while dealing with demonstrators protesting aspects of US immigration policy. This past May, during a national day of protest for immigrants rights, police in riot gear, armed with batons and guns loaded with no-lethal ammunition entered LA's MacArthur Park and began firing upon the crowd.

When seeing video like the one shot at Calexico, it only confirms just how much our current leadership has in common with the dictatorial police states they support around the world.

Read More...

Summary only...

The Real OC, Redux

Back in the fall of 2006, after two men arrested for hate crimes committed at a Laguna Beach day laborers work center were freed by that city's District Attorney's Office, many voiced concerns about the increasing level of violence directed at the immigrant and Latino community in what has quickly become ground zero in the war over immigration: Orange County California.

But more importantly, it raised serious questions about who was actually behind this increased violence.

While certainly no hotbed for liberal thinking, increasing evidence seems to point to a covert campaign by small group of influential residents, community leaders, and some of the nation's most virulent hate-groups to fan the fires of hatred in order to make OC the most immigrant unfriendly place in the nation.

Later this week, the Laguna Beach day laborer center will once again be drawn into the national spotlight when yet another lawsuit filed by anti-immigrant groups will attempt to shutter its doors. But perhaps more important than what goes on in the judge's chambers, is what's gone on behind the scenes to make this lawsuit possible in the first place.

When most people hear the words Laguna Beach, they picture sun-bleached beautiful people, with fabulous lifestyles living in homes tucked into hilltops overlooking an endless ocean. But just underneath the surface of this scenic beachfront community, a raging conflict is taking place.

Orange County, of which Laguna Beach is part, has quickly become ground zero in a covert campaign by some of the nation's most extreme groups to push an agenda of racism and hate. On any given weekend, members of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, Save Our State, California Coalition for Immigration Reform, or the Minutemen will travel from all over the state to converge on Laguna Beach and other OC communities, bringing with them their extreme views on race and immigration.

For some, these people are viewed as interlopers, agent provocateurs who want to use Laguna Beach as a test area to further their cause, or opportunists, using the town in hopes of launching themselves into the national spotlight. But the intruders may not have been working entirely alone. Many now believe they've been enabled by a small group of residents working behind the scenes to make the affluent beach community into ground zero in the war on immigration.

Welcome to the real OC



Those within the immigrant's rights and Latino activist community have taken to referring to Orange County California as the region "behind the orange curtain" …and with good reason. It has long been a breeding ground and test area for many of the most strident anti-immigration activist in the nation.

Orange County, a staunchly conservative region with a long history of groundbreaking initiatives designed to drive out Hispanic immigrants. "Orange County is the most Mexican-hating county in the country," says Orange County Weekly syndicated columnist and investigative editor Gustavo Arellano.

The county is home to Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist, whose "citizens border patrol" now has chapters nationwide, and to the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), a major force behind 1994's Proposition 187, which sought to deprive undocumented immigrants of social services, health care, and public education. CCIR's official ballot argument described Proposition 187 as "the first giant stride in ultimately ending the ILLEGAL ALIEN invasion." The bulk of Proposition 187 was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge years after it was passed by 59% of California voters, but it has nevertheless served as the model for similar measures in other states, notably Arizona's Proposition 200.
SouthernPoverty Law Center

Like most of Orange County, Laguna Beach has been dragged into the immigration wars. The situation revolves around a controversial day laborer hiring center set up by the city seven years ago to provide a safe and controlled way for laborers and those who want to provide them with work to do business. But the center has proven to be far from a safe haven. Over the years it's been the subject of numerous protests and counter protests, many attracting outside agitators that have brought with them increasing levels of violence.

In last years incident, two laborers were injured when they were hit by a car driven by two men yelling racial epithets while intentionally racing through the center on Sept. 17, 2006 trying to hit those waiting to find a days work.

Two men - one from Laguna Beach and one from Laguna Niguel - were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and a hate crime in connection with the incident, Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said

Lenyi said the suspects, Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, of Laguna Beach, and Artem Soloviev, 23, of Laguna Niguel, were held on $500,000 bond.

The incident began at 9:12 a.m. when the two suspects drove into the labor center in a Toyota Corolla, and spoke with one man, apparently seeking to hire him, Lenyi said.

When the laborer declined to be hired at the price offered, a confrontation and a physical fight ensued, in which the laborer was punched in the face, Lenyi alleged. The two suspects then left in their car, police said.

The suspects returned shortly thereafter and allegedly sped through the center, hitting two people and causing minor injuries, knocking down a tree, and damaging a fence and a bench, Lenyi said. The suspects also allegedly shouted racial epithets during the attack.

The suspects drove through the center "a few times, trying to hit people and intentionally trying to run people over," Lenyi alleged.

The Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot

48 hours later Kaptilniy and Soloviev were set free with no charges filed. According to Susan Schroeder of the Orange County District Attorney's Office the case would be "sent back for further examination" and called on anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward to supply further information - despite numerous eye-witnesses to the event and detailed police reports.

Immigrant right groups and local residents viewed the release of the two with disbelief and disdain and called on the DA's office to quickly resolve this matter.

A Long History of Controversy and Conflict

The center has a long history of controversy and confrontation. It was targeted by radical anti-immigration groups in 2005 with numerous protests. At one infamous protest in July of that year, sponsored by the local restrictionist group, Save Our State, the inclusion of Nazi flag waving members of the white supremacist group National Alliance sent shockwaves through the community. For the first time the nexus of the anti-immigration and white supremacists movements was revealed in public.

Minutemen groups taking place in the protest were quick to try to disassociate themselves from their more radical brethren. They have long claimed, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that they not only have no connections to radical white supremacist, but they actively dissuade radicals from joining their ranks.

SOS, a group already facing charges of radicalism after founder Joe Turner was quoted by a fellow anti-immigrants activist as having instructing his followers to "Bring your bats, fellas. If we are lucky, we are gonna need them…", tried their best to distance themselves from the Nazis. They went so far as to scrub their internet message boards of comments and images left by the skinheads and National Alliance members. The comments were lost … but the picture evidence remains in various place on the internet….to the consternation of SOS founder, Joe Turner, who has since moved into the "legitimate" world of anti-immigrant activism becoming the Western Field Representative for the Washington based, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

The event organizer, minuteman member Eileen Garcia, who calls herself one of "Gilchrist's Angels," after minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, is believed to be behind the effort to squash the news of white supremacists ties to the rally.

Posting on the Save Our State message board, a member known as "OCAngel", believed to be Garcia, quickly requested those administrating the site lock any further comments from being posted the night after the rally until they could remove any damning comments and images.

Eileen Garcia and the mystery map

A year later, Garcia was once again at the center of controversy when she just happened to be rummaging around the California Department of Transportation in Irvine one day and stumbled upon an old map that showed that the land on which the day worker center was build in fact belonged to the California Department of Transportation, a state agency. This made it illegal for the center to continue to operate under California law. With the help of lawyers from the ultra right-wing group, Judicial Watch, Garcia and her fellow minutemen were able to shut the center down temporarily until the city and state reached an agreement.

How Garcia, who portrays herself as just a "simple housewife concerned about the effects of illegal immigration", managed such incredible detective work was nothing short of miraculous. In fact it made her an instantaneous celebrity in anti-immigrant and white supremacist circles. Her praises were sung not only by the likes of her hero Jim Gilchrist, but from the National Alliance and the Aryan Nation website Stormfront.

Others, not associated with the anti-immigrant movement, questioned this strange coincidence and allegations of possible assistance from local or state officials were raised.

Ties between local officials and the anti-immigrant movement have long been speculated by residents. Some City Council members are believed to have close ties to the minutemen and it's been speculated that they have been active on the state and possibly federal level to have the center closed. According to a source with close ties to city government, there is one member in particular who, along with her husband, "may have been deeply involved in the Minutemen activities." The source believes "that decisions about the center are made behind closed doors so nobody outside the select people knows what she's really up to."

This Friday, Laguna Beach will once again be at the center of controversy as Eileen Garcia brings Judicial Watch to town once again argue a new case aimed at closing down the work center….just another day in the sunny, OC, I guess.

This is the first in a three-part series that will be looking at the people and groups behind the effort to close the Laguna Beach Day Laborer Center and make the OC the epicenter for anti-immigrant activity. Our on-scene investigative reporter, Artemis, will be filing reports about both the trial and the events leading up to it.

Photo top right: Neo-Nazis at July 2005 rally at Laguna Beach day workers center
Photo bottom left: SOS leader Joe Turner at rally with Nazi flags in foreground

Read More...

Summary only...

Controversial video raises questions about border shooting

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Read More...

Summary only...

Immigration News Roundup: March 19 – March 25

This week brings us a story about those who take advantage of the desperation of undocumented immigrants hoping to normalize their status with fraudulent schemes and rip-offs. Minutemen leaders continue to fight over control of the vigilante group and financial impropriety, while the Klan tries to further inject itself into the immigration debate. Some editorials examine the failures of immigration policy, as raids and deportations continue. Lastly we look at some immigration semantics in Washington State where ICE assures residents that there are no raids as they arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

• Immigration Fraud Scheme Uncovered


• Minuteman Infighting Continues


• KKK Weighs in on Hazleton Case


• Editorials Look At Failed Immigration Policies


• 750 Set for Deportation after Week-Long Southern California Raids


• When is a Raid-Not a Raid? 30 Arrested in Washington State.

Immigration Fraud Scheme Uncovered

Woman pleads guilty to million-dollar fraud of immigration applications

Maria Maximo, 56, pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to charges relating to two schemes to defraud immigrants by charging them between $500 and $2,500 to file immigration applications that Maximo knew were baseless and would ultimately be denied. According to the felony Information to which Maximo pleaded guilty, and other documents publicly filed in this case:

Between June 2004 and early 2005, Maximo, on behalf of approximately 500 illegal immigrants, prepared applications to a purported "work permit program" through which, Maximo claimed, the immigrants would receive valid United States work permits. Maximo charged $500 for the preparation of each of these approximately 500 applications. United States Citizenship and Information Services (USCIS) had no such "work permit program" and offers employment identification cards only to immigrants who have visas allowing them to work in the United States, or who are applying for immigration status which, if granted, would allow them to work. As a result, USCIS denied the approximately 500 invalid applications.

In another facet of the scheme, between May 2005 and January 2006, Maximo charged approximately 1,700 people between $500 and $2,500 for the preparation of applications to what she promoted as a "legalization program" open to virtually any illegal immigrant. Maximo claimed that through the "legalization program" applicants could receive work permits and ultimately green cards.
ICE.gov

Minuteman Infighting Continues

Judge hears arguments in Minuteman Project leadership struggle March 22, 2007

An Orange County Superior Court judge is urging those involved in a power struggle at the Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration group, to work out their differences.

Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist has sued the group's board of directors for control of the organization after he was fired and accused of embezzling $400,000 in donations. He has denied the allegations.


Advertisement
In a court hearing Wednesday, Judge Randell L. Wilkinson suggested that Gilchrist work out the disagreements with board members through mutually trusted intermediaries.

But Gilchrist called the differences “irreconcilable,” and said he could not be an ally of people who have filed complaints against him with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.
Sna Diego Union Tribune

Gilchrist denied control March 23, 2007

A Superior Court judge on Thursday rejected Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist's request to be immediately returned sole control of the anti-illegal immigration group – a ruling that leaves the organization immobilized.

Judge Randell Wilkinson also placed restrictions on the three directors tussling with Gilchrist, noting in his order that there were "serious issues concerning the credibility of the claims of both Jim Gilchrist and the defendants…"

Gilchrist was ousted from the group in January by the vote of the three directors, who said they were concerned with sloppy accounting and possible fundraising improprieties. The three then took control of the organization's primary bank account and, at least temporarily, the group's main Web site.
OC Register

Related:
Lawsuit ties up Minuteman donations, Arizona Star, 3-23-07
Both sides claim a win in Minuteman suit, LA Times, 3-24-07
Judge hears arguments in Minuteman case, LA Times, 3-22-07

KKK Weighs in on Hazleton Case

Klan wants to rally in Hazleton; city says no way

A New Jersey-based Ku Klux Klan group vowed Wednesday to hold a rally in Hazleton if the city loses its battle over the illegal-immigration ordinance in federal court.

By Thursday, they pushed up the date to this weekend.

The Confederate Knights, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held an “emergency meeting” after city officials in Hazleton rejected the group’s support Wednesday and said they would try to stop the rally, the KKK chapter’s leader said Thursday night.

“People, especially public officials, have to think about things they say before they say them,” said Joseph V. Bednarsky Jr., the KKK chapter’s imperial wizard. “Irritating us isn’t going to do them any good.”

The KKK group sent a letter Wednesday to Mayor Lou Barletta saying it supports the city’s efforts to fight illegal immigration “100 percent.” Mr. Barletta promptly rejected the KKK’s support and said he would do anything he could to stop the group from rallying in his city.

“We don’t need that in Hazleton,” Mr. Barletta said of the KKK chapter’s proposed appearance.

…snip…

Besides handing out literature during the Hazleton visit, the group plans to look around the area and possibly purchase some property, Mr. Bednarsky said. His group — which has a “state office” in Bloomsburg — has received more than 50 messages about its proposed trip to Hazleton and “95 percent” are people who support the KKK, he said.

“People are just getting tired of the bull crap,” Mr. Bednarsky said. “I would like to see the rise of the Klan like it was in the 1920s.”

The controversy surrounding illegal immigration has allowed the KKK nationally to grow its ranks, according to a 2007 report from the Anti-Defamation League. Pennsylvania is one of 19 states that have active or growing KKK chapters, according to the report.
Times-Tribune

Related:
KKK threaten to protest in Hazleton, Times Leader, 3-24-07
‘Minuteman’ travels 200 miles to back Barletta,Times Leader, 3-23-07
KKK chapter expected to make private appearances in area, The Citizens Voice, 3-24-07
Hazleton mayor rebuffs offer of help from Ku Klux Klan, Times Leader, 3-23-07

Editorials Look At Failed Immigration Policies

Senseless Deportations

Every year, thousands of longtime, legal permanent residents are deported from the United States on the basis of criminal convictions without any opportunity to present evidence of their family ties, employment history or rehabilitation. Many are barred for life from returning to America.

Next Sunday will mark 10 years since the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act went into effect. This broad legislation, together with the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, took away the power of immigration judges to exercise discretion in most types of deportation proceedings. Congress dramatically expanded the list of offenses resulting in mandatory deportation so that it now includes many crimes that are considered misdemeanors under state law and that result in no jail time. Individuals can be deported for shoplifting, jumping subway turnstiles, drunken driving and petty drug crimes. Some of those who have been subject to mandatory deportation came to the United States as infants and have never known life elsewhere.

Some arrived as refugees fleeing persecution or as children adopted by American couples. One man, a former child refugee from the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge, was deported back to Cambodia for urinating in public; while working as a construction manager, he had relieved himself at a job site.
Wahington Post

Clearing the air: Misconceptions skew immigration debate

When immigration officials crashed through the doors of a New Bedford, Mass., furniture factory, they were hoping to show the Bush administration's determination to enforce immigration laws. With at least a half of a dozen children left without parents, what the administration got instead was a humanitarian crisis.

One might be tempted to congratulate the federal government for doing something about illegal immigration, but let us be the first to dissuade you from any premature shows of support. This raid, like so many others, is a waste of time, rooted as it is in a host of popular but ultimately wrong-headed misconceptions.
Arizona Daily Wildcat

750 Set for Deportation after Week-Long Southern California Raids

More than 750 foreign nationals have been removed from the United States or are facing deportation following a massive week-long enforcement action by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting criminal aliens and immigration fugitives in five Southland counties that concluded earlier today.

During the operation, ICE officers tracked down and arrested 338 immigration violators who were at large in Los Angeles (169), Orange (111), Riverside (26), San Bernardino (22), and Ventura (10) counties. More than 150 of those arrested were immigration fugitives, aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation issued by immigration judges. Another 24 of those encountered were aliens who had been previously deported and returned to the United States illegally.

…snip…

The majority of the aliens taken into custody during the last week are Mexican nationals, but the group also included immigration violators from 14 countries, including the Ukraine, India, Japan, Poland, and Trinidad. Since many of these individuals have already been through immigration proceedings, they are subject to immediate removal from the country. Of the 757 aliens arrested during the past week, more than 450 have already been returned to their native countries. The remaining aliens are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge.
ICE.gov

When is a Raid-Not a Raid? 30 Arrested in Washington State.

30 arrests, but no immigration raids

With rumors of immigration raids sending ripples of fear throughout the Yakima Valley this week, immigration officers announced late Friday afternoon they have arrested 30 people since Wednesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the suspects were detained as part of a three-day initiative to gather "immigration fugitives" in Yakima and Benton counties.

Seattle-based ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said "Operation Return to Sender" captured 16 people from Yakima County and 14 from Benton. Of the 30 undocumented people (from Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and South Korea) she said 14 were fugitives -- those who'd been ordered by an immigration judge to leave the country but had failed to comply with the court's order. The other 16 people -- all suspected of immigration violations -- were arrested after immigration officials came upon them while searching for a list of fugitives

Twenty-eight of the detainees were sent to a federal detention center in Tacoma, while two women were released to their families. One was the primary caregiver for her children, the other was caring for an ailing spouse. Both still face legal hearings.

…snip…

Although officials arrested some at their homes or known hangouts, Dankers said there were no raids, despite rumors to the contrary.

"We're not there to disrupt and spook people," she said. "I don't want there to be fear in a community."

To ease public fears, Dankers said, she spoke to reporters with Granger's Radio KDNA, a Spanish-language station, to let listeners know there weren't any roundups.
Yakima Herald Republic

Read More...

Summary only...

Immigration News Roundup: March 5 – March 11

This week one story dominates above all others – Increased immigration raids. A major raid in New Bedford, Mass left over one hundred children parentless after federal agents arrested over 300 mostly female immigrants at a military equipment manufacturer. While this story garnered national attention, not only for its scope but its aftermath, a myriad of other smaller raids took place all over the country. This week's roundup looks at those raids – just one more week in what's becoming a government war on the undocumented.

• Ten Arrested at Arizona Construction Company


• Immigration agents arrest 11 in raid on party rental company in San Diego


• 36 Arrested in Indiana


• Thirty arrested in San Francisco Area Tuesday


• Second day of immigration raids includes Novato and San Rafael


• Immigration Raids: Feds Say Local Sweep is ‘Ongoing’-30 Arrested in Santa Fe


• Dozens Arrested in Missouri on Immigration Charges


• Seven arrested in Sioux Falls, S.D.


• Officials net 363 immigrants in recent New Jersey raids


• 350 are held in immigration raid in New Bedford

Ten Arrested at Arizona Construction Company

TUCSON - Federal authorities on Friday raided a construction company in southern Arizona accused of breaking the law by hiring illegal immigrants, arresting the firm's president and several employees on federal charges and detaining 10 undocumented workers.
…. Scores of agents fanned out in Sierra Vista and Douglas Friday morning, raiding the company's offices, a foreman's home, the home of a suspected counterfeiter and eight worksites.
Arizona Republic

Immigration agents arrest 11 in raid on party rental company in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, (AP) --Federal agents raided a party rental company Thursday and arrested 11 workers on immigration violations, authorities said.

Nine of those detained worked for Raphael's Party Rentals, a long-established business that did work on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Two others worked for another party rental company.

The company handles shows, golf tournaments and other events on the base, just north of downtown San Diego, according to owner Philip Silverman. He said he did not know whether any of the people who were arrested had worked on the base.
San Francisco Chronicle

36 Arrested in Indiana

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- Juan Ruiz de Leon knew there might be an immigration raid on Janco Composites after another worker was arrested for allegedly using someone else's Social Security number to get her job.

His 20-year-old daughter, Carmen Ruiz, said he thought about quitting.

"He'd been there so long. He decided to take a chance," she said.

Her father was one of 36 workers arrested during a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the factory Tuesday where Fiberglas-reinforced plastic products are made.
Indianapolis Star

Thirty arrested in San Francisco Area Tuesday

Federal agents arrested at least 30 alleged illegal immigrants in San Rafael and Novato Tuesday and Wednesday during immigration raids, authorities said.

In response, scores of other undocumented immigrants skipped work and kept their children home from school out of fear they too would be detained, community leaders said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley confirmed that agents were conducting arrests in San Rafael and Novato but would not say how many people had been picked up.
San Francisco Chronicle

Second day of immigration raids includes Novato and San Rafael

Federal immigration officers were back in San Rafael and Novato Wednesday to make another round of arrests.

San Rafael police received a call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security, about 5 a.m. indicating they would be making additional arrests, said San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher.
Marin Independent

Immigration Raids: Feds Say Local Sweep is ‘Ongoing’ - 30 Arrested in Santa Fe

A raid by federal agents that sparked panic in Santa Fe’s immigrant community last week and resulted in 30 arrests is over for now, but an immigration official said agents could be back in town anytime.

“This is an ongoing, daily effort,” said Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso. “This was not a one-time deal.”

The raid angered officials in a city known for its pro-immigrant stance. Mayor David Coss called the sweep “an attack on our town” and said the city was still trying to piece together what happened. That included trying to figure out who was arrested and deported.
Santa Fe NewMexican

Dozens Arrested in Missouri on Immigration Charges

JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Dozens of suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody after an investigation at Missouri's state capitol.

The two-month long investigation by local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) found that Sam's Janitorial Service allegedly employed dozens of suspected illegal workers.
KHQA-7

Seven arrested in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Seven Mexican nationals were arrested Wednesday in Sioux Falls, accused of being in the country illegally.

At least five of them worked at Inca, a restaurant near West 41st Street and Holly Avenue, said Tim Counts, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Counts said ICE agents used search warrants to arrest five men and one woman at the restaurant at 11 a.m. Wednesday, then removed another man from an apartment two blocks to the east.

It's unclear whether the business owners could face criminal or civil penalties.
ArgusLeader

Officials net 363 immigrants in recent New Jersey raids

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced this week they had picked up 363 immigrants in New Jersey in a series of recent raids. The arrests were part of a nationwide ICE operation called Return to Sender, in which immigration agents have been enforcing orders of deportation, picking up fugitives with criminal records, and detaining immigrants here illegally, according to an agency spokesman.
New Jersey Media Group

350 are held in immigration raid in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD -- Hundreds of immigration officers and police descended on a New Bedford leather goods factory yesterday , charged top officials with employing illegal immigrants, and rounded up 350 workers who could not prove they were in the country legally.
Boston Globe

tags: immigration, immigration raid , DHS, deportation

Read More...

Summary only...

Immigration News Roundup: Feb 5 - Feb 11, 2007

As immigration related news flies past pretty fast and furious at times, I figured it might be helpful to do a weekly recap of some of the more significant or over-looked stories from the week past.

Welcome to the first installment of Immigration News Roundup:

• Immigration Debate Fuels Resurgence of KKK


• California Citrus Town Wants Undocumented Migrants to Stick Around


• Government Gives Media Tour of T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center


• Three Migrants Killed: Third Border Attack in Two Weeks


• Panel Says Government Mishandling Asylum Seekers


• DHS Office of Inspector General Releases Report on Case of Two Border Patrol Agents

Immigration Debate Fuels Resurgence of KKK

The Anti-Defamation League released on Tuesday a report on the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan that has resulted from the debate over immigration.

The League, which monitors the activities of racist hate groups and reports its findings to law enforcement and policymakers, has documented a noticeable spike in activity by Klan chapters across the country. The KKK believes that the U.S. is "drowning" in a tide of non-white immigration, controlled and orchestrated by Jews, and is vigorously trying to bring this message to Americans concerned or fearful about immigration.

"If any one single issue or trend can be credited with re-energizing the Klan, it is the debate over immigration in America," said Deborah M. Lauter, ADL Civil Rights Director. "Klan groups have witnessed a surprising and troubling resurgence by exploiting fears of an immigration explosion, and the debate over immigration has, in turn, helped to fuel an increase in Klan activity, with new groups sprouting in parts of the country that have not seen much activity."

Anti-Defamation League

Related: The Charlotte Observer interviews Imperial Wizard of KKK.

The Imperial Wizard of the Mount Holly-based chapter of the Klan in Gaston County says he has not seen membership grow so fast since the 1960s, when he joined.

"People are tired of this mess," said Virgil Griffin, 62. "The illegal immigrants are taking this country over."

...snip...

Griffin is known for his participation in the 1979 Greensboro clash that started as an anti-Klan rally. Five people were killed. The Klan members said they fired their guns in self-defense and were acquitted.

Griffin, who met the Observer in a Mount Holly park with three members of his security team, recounted 1960s Klan rallies when dozens, sometimes hundreds, marched through towns such as Mount Holly, Salisbury and Wilmington.

"We were strong in the '60s," he said. "We're not that strong now. We're hoping to get there."

Immigration is the No. 1 issue among the younger members, he said.

Edward Fincher, 21, a colonel in the Griffin Knights, echoes much of what Griffin says. He worries about illegal immigrants taking over. He's worried about his two kids being forced to learn Spanish in school and it's getting more difficult to find work.

Griffin wouldn't disclose how many members his chapter has, but the Southern Poverty Law Center says most chapters have between 10 and 40 members.

Griffin said he sends members throughout the region to recruit at stores, flea markets and military bases.

California Citrus Town Wants Undocumented Migrants to Stick Around

The packing houses here in the heart of California's citrus belt are generally hopping the first week of February.

…snip…

But by mid-April, when the good fruit runs out, all activity, from picking to trucking, will stop, and there will be no more work until late October. If workers leave town — and if those who stay are jobless — the city's economy will collapse.

Seeking to avert an economic meltdown, officials have come up with an innovative plan to not only address joblessness but to keep the workforce from abandoning the town. Invoking the memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Depression-era Works Projects Administration, the city's elected officials — all of whom are Republicans — are seeking federal aid to put the idle labor force to work on local improvement efforts.

…snip…

Lindsay Mayor Ed Murray says the worst-case scenario is that the town could lose up to 30% of its labor force. "Regardless of whether they're legal or illegal, it's imperative that we have workers here for next year's harvest," he said. Murray hopes that the federal government will find a way to not only aid his town's residents in the short term but to legalize the undocumented.

LA Times

Government Gives Media Tour of T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center

Responding to complaints about conditions at the nation’s main family detention center for illegal immigrants, officials threw open the gates on Friday for a first news media tour.

…snip…

It now holds about 400 illegal immigrants, including 170 children, in family groups from nearly 30 countries, Mr. Mead said. He called it a humane alternative to splitting up families while insuring their presence at legal proceeding

New York Times

Related:
American-Statesman
Dallas Morning News
Houston Chronical
Mother Jones

Three Migrants Killed: Third Border Attack in Two Weeks

Three illegal immigrants were shot to death, three were wounded and others were missing Thursday near Tucson after gunmen accosted them as they traveled north from the Mexican border, the authorities said.

The shootings came a day after gunmen in ski masks and carrying assault-style rifles robbed 18 people who had illegally crossed the border 70 miles to the south, near Sasabe. On Jan. 28 a man driving illegal immigrants from the border several miles from the scene of Thursday’s killings was ambushed and shot to death as the immigrants fled.

New York Times

Related:
ArizonaDaily Star
Chicago Sun Times

Panel Says Government Mishandling Asylum Seekers

A bipartisan federal commission warned on Wednesday that the Bush administration, in its zeal to secure the nation’s borders and stem the tide of illegal immigrants, may be leaving asylum seekers vulnerable to deportation and harsh treatment.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which Congress asked to assess asylum regulations, found two years ago that some immigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers for deportation. The commission, which also found that asylum seekers were often strip-searched, shackled and held in jails, called for safeguards in the system of speedy deportations known as expedited removal, to protect those fleeing persecution.

New York Times

DHS Office of Inspector General Releases Report on Case of Two Border Patrol Agents

A federal report released Wednesday on the shooting of a suspected drug smuggler by Border Patrol agents concurs with prosecutors that the men committed obstruction of justice by failing to report the shooting, destroying evidence and lying to investigators.

Herald Democrat

Related:
DHS-OIG Report PDF


tags: immigration, immigration news

Read More...

Summary only...

Studies show immigrants driving force in tech growth

For the most part, the debate over immigration reform has centered on the influx of millions of low-skilled, economic migrants entering the country without documentation to take jobs in agriculture, construction and service industries.

Yet, behind the scenes, a controversy has been raging that does not deal with those who entered the country illegally, but rather with those who have entered through legal channels with visas issued for work. The debate over reform of the work visa program, and particularly H1b specialty visas, has been the most contentious of all. The H-1B visa program allows American companies and universities to hire foreign scientists, engineers, computer programmers and other high-skilled workers. In 2003, in response to the bursting tech bubble, the yearly cap on H1b visa was decreased from 195,000 to 65,000. Since then a war of words has raged between businesses who claim they must have access to the worlds brightest minds and professional organization and unions that feel the H1b system is too easily manipulated by corporate interests to the detriment of US workers.

A couple of new studies shed some light on this debate

tags: immigration, studies , H1b visa, tech workers

As with all things immigration related, there are arguments on both sides of this debate that are black and white … but as usual the truth lies in the area that is considerably more gray.

Do H1b workers lower the wages of native-born tech workers? Do US businesses need these workers for their special skills? Compelling arguments have been made on both sides of the issue. Just like the arguments over the economic benefits and costs of undocumented, low-skilled workers, the arguments for and against these highly educated, skilled workers cannot be viewed in a vacuum devoid of the complexities of long term economic and societal trends.

Two complementary studies have recently been released looking at one long term effect of immigration of high skilled workers. "American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness", released last November by the National Venture Capital Association, looked at immigrant participation in launching venture capital backed business, and "America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs", released yesterday by Duke Universities Pratt School of Engineering and University of California, Berkeley, examined the role immigrants have played in engineering and technology company start-ups from 1995-2005. Both studies concluded that immigrants, and the H1b visas that allow them to work and live in the US, have played a major role in creating many of the companies and jobs that keep the tech industry running.

"America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs'' found that nationwide, 25 percent of all tech and engineering start-ups have founders who are immigrants while "American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness" found that 47 percent of venture-backed start-ups were started by foreign born entrepreneurs. These numbers are striking given the fact that the foreign-born represent only 11.7% of the total population.

The Duke study looks at two main aspects of immigrant contributions to the economy; companies started by immigrants and international patents issued to immigrant inventors.

What is clear is that immigrants have become a significant driving force in the creation of new businesses and intellectual property in the U.S. — and that their contributions have increased over the past decade.

Here are some characteristics of the engineering and technology companies started in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005.

• In 25.3% of these companies, at least one key founder was foreign-born. States with an above-average rate of immigrant-founded companies include California (39%), New Jersey (38%), Georgia (30%), and Massachusetts (29%). Below average states include Washington (11%), Ohio (14%), North Carolina (14%), and Texas (18%).


• Nationwide, these immigrant-founded companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005.


• Indians have founded more engineering and technology companies in the US in the past decade than immigrants from the U.K., China, Taiwan and Japan combined. Of all immigrant-founded companies, 26% have Indian founders.


• Chinese (Mainland- and Taiwan-born) entrepreneurs are heavily concentrated in California, with 49% of Mainland Chinese and 81% of Taiwanese companies located there. Indian and U.K. entrepreneurs tend to be dispersed around the country, with Indians having sizable concentrations in California and New Jersey and the British in California and Georgia.


• The mix of immigrants varies by state. Hispanics constitute the dominant group in Florida, with immigrants from Cuba, Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Guatemala founding 35% of the immigrant-founded companies. Israelis constitute the largest founding group in Massachusetts, with 17%. Indians dominate New Jersey, with 47% of all immigrant-founded startups.


• Almost 80% of immigrant-founded companies in the US were within just two industry fields: software and innovation/manufacturing-related services.


• Immigrants were least likely to start companies in the defense/aerospace and environmental industries. They were most highly represented as founders in the semiconductor, computer, communications, and software fields.

…
…based on an analysis of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) patent databases, that foreign nationals residing in the U.S. were named as inventors or co-inventors in 24.2% of international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2006.

Over half (52.4%) of Silicon Valley startups had one or more immigrants as a key founder, compared with the California average of 38.8%.

"America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs"

Duke researchers started with a list of 28,766 companies founded in the U.S. in the last ten years classified as technology and engineering companies in Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database. The list contains U.S. companies with more than $1 million in sales, and 20 or more employees, and company branches with 50 or more employees. This database is commonly used by researchers and is considered a reliable source. Researchers were able to reach senior executives to determine the backgrounds of key founders for 2,054 of the tech startups.

This study builds on the 1999 research of AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, which focused on the development of Silicon Valley’s regional economy and the role immigrant capital and labor in the process. “Silicon Valley’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs” found that that Chinese and Indian engineers ran a growing share of Silicon Valley companies and they were at the helm of 24% of the technology businesses started from 1980 to 1998.

The study from NVCA, although obviously from a more partisan source than the other studies, compliments and highlights much of the same ground covered by both Saxenian in 1999 and the current Duke/Berkley study. Using the Thomson Financial database the authors surveyed over 340 privately held venture-backed companies to discern the demographic data on their founders.

Immigrant-Founded Public Venture-Backed Companies

• Over the past 15 years, immigrants have started 25 percent of U.S. public companies that were venture-backed, a high percentage of the most innovative companies in America.



• The current market capitalization of publicly traded immigrant-founded venture-backed companies in the United States exceeds $500 billion, adding significant value to the American economy. This is an example of the enormous wealth-creating abilities of immigrant entrepreneurs.



• Immigrant-founded venture-backed companies are concentrated in cutting edge sectors: high-technology manufacturing; information technology (IT); and life sciences.



• As evidence of how important immigrant entrepreneurs have been to the U.S. technology base, the study found 40 percent of U.S. publicly traded venture-backed companies operating in high-technology manufacturing today were started by immigrants. Moreover, more than half of the employment generated by U.S. public venture-backed high-tech manufacturers has come from immigrant-founded companies.



• The largest U.S. venture-backed public companies started by immigrants include Intel, Solectron, Sanmina-SCI, Sun Microsystems, eBay, Yahoo!, and Google.



• The data shows immigrants possess great entrepreneurial capacity, particularly in technical fields. The proportion of immigrant entrepreneurs among publicly traded venture backed companies is particularly impressive when compared to the relatively small share of legal immigrants in the U.S. population. Today, legal immigrants encompass approximately 8.7 percent of the U.S. population and represented only 6.7 percent of the population in 1990.



• Most venture-backed companies started by immigrant entrepreneurs are technology-related companies that pay high salaries for white collar professional positions but employ fewer people than, for example, venture-backed retail stores such as The Home Depot or Starbucks.



• Immigrant-founded venture-backed public companies today employ an estimated 220,000 people in the United States and over 400,000 people globally.



• While immigrant founders in venture-backed public companies come from across the globe, the leading countries of origin are India, Israel, and Taiwan.



• California is the leading state by headquarters for immigrant-founded venture-backed public companies, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, and Texas.



• A key lesson of the study is the importance of maintaining an open legal immigration system. Few of the immigrant entrepreneurs identified came to America ready to start a company capable of attracting venture capital. As the data, profiles, and interviews revealed, most entered the country either as children, teenagers, or graduate students, or were hired on H-1B visas to begin a first job while in their mid-twenties.

NVCA conducted a survey, with 342 respondents, to gather data on immigrant entrepreneurs at today’s smaller, private venture-backed companies and to gain a wider perspective on company viewpoints on immigration.

• Looking to the future, among today’s cutting edge privately held venture-backed companies, the percentage of immigrant founders remains as high, if not higher than their public counterparts. Of those responding to the NVCA survey, nearly half (47 percent) of the founders of private companies were immigrants.



• In one important indicator of the job creation abilities of immigrants, the NVCA survey found that almost two-thirds (66 percent) of the immigrant founders of privately held venture backed companies have started or intend to start more companies in the United States.



• Immigrant-founded privately held companies in the survey held an average of 14.5 patents, with a median of four. This was slightly higher than the number of patents held by companies responding with exclusively U.S.-born founders.



• Private immigrant-founded venture-backed companies mirror public companies in their location and industry concentration, with 56 percent of the emerging companies headquartered in California.



• The top industry sectors for private immigrant founded venture-backed companies were software, semiconductors, and biotechnology.



• India was the most common place of birth for foreign-born founders in the survey, followed by the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and France.



• Nearly all the immigrant founders in private companies (95 percent) would still start their companies in the United States if given the choice today.

American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness

One reason for the disproportionate amount of immigrants leading US tech firms might be found in some data from Saxenian's 1999 study.

Not surprisingly, Silicon Valley's Indian and Chinese workforce is highly educated. In 1990, they earned graduate degrees at significantly greater rates than their white counterparts: 32 percent of the Indian and 23 percent of the Chinese employed in Silicon Valley in 1990 had advanced degrees, compared to only 11 percent for the white population. Their superior educational attainment is even more pronounced in technology industries: 55 percent of Indian and 40 percent of Chinese technology workers held graduate degrees, compared to 18 percent of whites.
Silicon Valley’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs

This educational gap between US and foreign workers was also noted in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee back in September of 2005 when the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims was investigating the possibility of foreign nationals engaging in economic or military espionage. William A. Wulf, Ph.D., President of the National Academy of Engineering warned of the growing educational gap between US workers and their foreign counterparts.

After WW II, the U.S. forged a mutually reinforcing triad of complementary R&D strengths in industry, academia and government. However, U.S. industrial laboratories have greatly reduced their support for long-term basic research; and many U.S. corporations are shifting research and development to overseas locations—not just because foreign labor is cheaper, as is the common and comfortable myth, but because it is of higher quality! U.S. government laboratories are in various states of disarray, and no longer maintain the stature that they did in 1960’s. Government support for the physical sciences and engineering at universities has declined in real terms, and is suffering further under present budget pressures – clearly, a strong research capability is not a current federal priority. Enrollment in the physical sciences and engineering, as a percentage of undergraduates, is among the lowest in the industrialized world – the U.S. now graduates just 7% of the world’s engineers, for example. Given that our 12th graders score among the lowest in the world in science and mathematics, the ranks of U.S. born scientists and engineers are not likely to expand dramatically anytime soon. Our once strong triad of R&D capabilities is crumbling.

At the same time, science and technology are growing rapidly in other parts of the world. Over 70% of the papers published in the American Physical Society’s world leading journals, The Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, now come from abroad

The Importance of Foreign-born Scientists and Engineers to the Security of The United States

As stated earlier, nothing about immigration and the debate that swirls around it is ever easy to analyze in simple terms of black and white. These entrepreneurs and the businesses and jobs they create are only one small part of the big immigration puzzle. Clearly they have made great contributions to our economy and society, but the H1b story is complex and multifaceted. Next month the anti-immigration advocacy group, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) will be issuing their own study on H1b visas and their effects on the economy. Their finding…the bulk of H1b visas are issued to low-level workers that receive low wages that undercut US workers.

All I can say is ….you be the judge.

Read More...

Summary only...

The mask of diversity removed

No one paid much attention to the website, Internet postings or letters penned by the members of the fledgling anti-immigration organization. In the few years since its inception, Vietnamese for Fair Immigration could hardly make their presence known, receiving only minor coverage from anti-immigration maven Michelle Malkin and a few posts published on the extremist website VDare, best known for its racially charged nativist rhetoric. That was until they decided to put up a billboard on one of Berkley's busiest intersections proclaiming that providing "amnesty" to undocumented immigrants was an act of racism. The "No Racist Amnesty" billboard not only attracted attention, but also raised questions as to who this group of Vietnamese refugees were.

According to their website, the group was founded two years ago by Vietnamese-Americans who felt that the current immigration laws favored Latinos, and more importantly, any change that allowed for legalization of current undocumented immigrants further discriminates against Asians in general and Vietnamese in particular. Co-founder, LeQuan Hoang put it quite simply: "They can just cross the border. We cannot swim across the ocean."

But things are not quite that simple.


tags: immigration, Pat Buchanan , FAIR,Tim Binh, Vietnamese for Fair Immigration , John Tanton

As it turns out, like some other recently formed ethnically orientated anti-immigration groups, the driving force behind the group is not in fact a Vietnamese-American, but rather a local Caucasian businessman.

The Lompoc-based group, which has endorsed political candidates, written letters to the editors of newspapers and has aired its views on Web sites, was co-founded by a white, Southern California cyclemaker who is also a member of one of the state's most prominent immigration control organizations.

In fact, the group's self-proclaimed Vietnamese-American spokesman, who wrote at least one of the letters and has espoused the group's views on several Web sites, is the group's Caucasian co-founder using a Vietnamese surname, his wife said.

The spokesman, who called himself Tim Binh, initially denied that he was the cyclemaker from Lompoc, Tim Brummer. But after a reporter told him his wife identified him as Brummer, he said it was her idea.

And he feels he used the name legitimately, adding that he may make Tim Binh his legal name.

"I speak Vietnamese.

I eat Vietnamese food.

I live with Vietnamese.

In my mind, I'm half Vietnamese."

Oroville Mercury-Regisiter

As the immigration debate has heated up, an increasing number of grassroots groups that claim to be efforts of non-whites advocating for increased restrictions and controls on illegal immigration have been formed. But increasingly, these groups claiming to represent Blacks, Latinos and other ethnic groups opposed to comprehensive immigration reform have turned out to be little more than thinly veiled attempts by mostly white anti-immigration groups or individuals to mask themselves in a cloak of diversity. In some cases the groups have been funded or founded by established, predominately white, anti-immigration organizations that actively recruit minorities to put a diverse face on their movement.

According to Mark Potok, who has tracked such groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, these front organizations have become more common "because the (immigration control) movement is overwhelmingly white, there's a great desire to throw off the accusations of racism, and the easier way to do that is to have groups that are not white. I think that is what is going on in many, many cases."

Meet Tim Binh

Over the years, "Tim Binh" has riled against "anchor babies" stating that "the children of occupying aliens should not be US citizens. I would have to say 10 million illegal aliens that cost Americans $300 billion a year, that kill thousands of Americans, that sicken millions of Americans, and that trash our environment, are a hostile alien occupation”, opposed providing driver licenses to the undocumented, and explained why he believes Mexican immigrants have no respect for the law since "in Mexican culture, laws are made to be broken."



It's not surprising that the views expressed by Tim Bihn (Brummer), co-founder of Vietnamese for Fair Immigration, so closely align with those of the anti-immigration far-right. Since March of 2005 he posted over 2500 comments on the Internet forum of the anti-immigration organization Save Our State which has been accused of having ties to various white supremacists and white nationalist organizations. As a member of Californians for Population Stabilization, which advocates for strict immigration controls, his opinions and rhetoric are quite common within the restrictionist groups and anti-immigration organizations to which he belongs. The Santa Barbara-based CAPS is one of 13 groups founded or funded by anti-immigration kingpin, John Tanton. Like other Tanton groups, Californians for Population Stabilization claims that immigration-driven population increases are hurting the environment and causing overcrowded schools, traffic and an overburdened health care system.

In an early interview, Brummer -- who identified himself as Vietnamese for Immigration Reform's spokesman, Tim Binh -- said the group was created two years ago by Vietnamese refugees who have been frustrated in their efforts to bring relatives to the U.S. through legal channels.

He said the group's members feel illegal immigration and amnesties granted to onetime illegal immigrants are to blame for the long waits. And they feel the system favors Latino immigrants over everyone else, he said, pointing to numbers that show that more Latinos immigrate here than anyone else.

"The politicians, we call them up, they don't listen to us. So we put our billboards up," he said. "They just want Hispanics, it seems. So we thought the American people should know."

Oroville Mercury-Regisiter

Although Binh/Brummer presents himself as an immigration-rights activist, his positions are quite clearly not those of other immigrant rights groups

(What his group insists) on is a fair US immigration policy—not one generous and all-forgiving policy for Mexico and another different policy for everyone else that rigidly enforces existing immigration laws.

Among them are:

• Enforce all immigration laws. Illegal aliens residing inside the U.S. should be deported. Businesses should be required to check the validity of new employees' Social Security or work permit numbers.



• Local and state law enforcement officers should verify the citizenship and immigration status of everyone they apprehend. Every illegal alien they apprehend should be detained and transferred to the Homeland Security Departments ICE division for deportation.



• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should double the number of interior enforcement officers and detention facilities.



• Children born to illegal aliens and guest workers in the U.S. should not be given U.S. citizenship. The U.S. is totally out of step with the rest of the world in this regard.



• The U.S. should not allow amnestied illegal aliens, anchor babies, and anyone sponsored by both groups to sponsor any more of their relatives for family preference immigration.

… Vietnamese for Fair Immigration lobbies for more immigration from Vietnam—but not more immigration overall.

VDare

Brummer's group is not the first to try to put an ethnic face on the predominately white anti-immigration movement.

The Minuteman's Rainbow Coalition

The Minutemen have been actively trying to recruit Black and Latino members and have taken to featuring the few that have joined prominently at media events and rallies. Perpetual candidate and far-right pundit, Alan Keyes, has joined the group and often speaks at rallies donning a strange mix of street bling and country-western wear including a black cowboy hat. Ted Hayes, a black minuteman activist, started his own anti-immigration spin-off group earlier this year, the Crispus Attucks Brigade, named after a black man who was first person killed in the Boston Massacre.

Earlier this year Minuteman leader Jim Gilchrist intentionally chose a black Los Angels neighborhood in hopes of attracting more diversity to his cause when he launch his ill-fated cross-country tour from LA to Washington.

….when Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist kicked off his group's cross-country caravan to Washington, D.C., last May 3, he picked Leimert Park, a mostly black Los Angeles neighborhood, as the caravan's rallying point. Gilchrist brought out the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, African-American head of the right-wing, Christian fundamentalist Brotherhood Organization for a New Destiny, along with Ted Hayes, the black homeless advocate, to back him up.

The rally was supposed to be an invitation to Minuteman discipleship, but it didn't end in benediction. Faced by dozens of African-Americans calling Gilchrist a racist and labeling his black associates as "Sambos," Gilchrist dropped the friendly face. "Minutemen, stand your ground," he barked. Then, referring to a man leading chants against his followers, Gilchrist added, "If it's war he wants, then let it begin here," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We confronted them and chased them out of our community with that racist nonsense," says Najee Ali, president of the Islamic H.O.P.E. civil rights organization in Los Angeles. "We wanted to let them know that they are not welcome in our community and we were offended they chose that as their departure point."

Ali's May confrontation with the Minutemen was neither his first nor his last. Throughout the summer Ali hosted a number of forums on black and Latino community relationships. They were sponsored in part by the Latino and African American Leadership Alliance, which lists as co-chairs Ali, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Christine Chavez, granddaughter of union activist César Chavez. Minutemen, both black and white, showed up to heckle panel members -- including California state assemblymen and Los Angeles City Council members -- and to intimidate the audience.

…Hard evidence shows it is the black Minutemen, however, who don't represent mainstream black thought on the topic of immigration. Several major polls show that most African Americans favor the U.S. Senate's Kennedy-McCain bill, which would allow many undocumented workers to stay in America and eventually earn citizenship. Most mainstream civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Urban League, have come out in support of Latino immigrants.

"Smokescreen", SPLC

FAIR looks for cover in diversity

Despite overwhelming evidence that most minorities find little in common with the anti-immigration cause, advocacy groups like John Tanton's Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) have started groups claiming to represent both Blacks and Hispanics.

On May 1st, millions of immigrants and their supporters took to the streets in cities all over the country to voice their opposition to the "enforcement only" House legislation that would criminalize 12 million and calls for increased militarization of the border and the building of a 700 mile long wall. As the multitudes assembled in their various staging areas dressed in white shirts and carrying banners and flags, in a conference room in Washington a different kind of immigration advocacy group was announcing its creation. This group was also made up predominately of Hispanics, only their agenda was in direct opposition to the activity taking place in the streets down below. The founders of You Don’t Speak For Me came to the National Press Club to announce that despite what might appear on the TV screens that day, not all Latinos supported the marchers.

But there was one thing Col. Al Rodriguez, the founder of the group, and the other members of the group forgot to mention that day as they made their rounds of media appearances including those on FOX and Lou Dobbs. This group of concerned citizens of Latino decent did not spring whole from minds of its participants, it was midwifed in its birth by the nations preeminent anti-immigration cabal; the Tanton organization.

According to the You Don't Speak For Me website the group was the brainchild of Col. Al Roriguez, a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran:

You Don't Speak for Me formed when Col. Al Rodriguez became fed up watching media coverage of the mass protests of April. "Their leaders were saying it was a march for immigrant rights and a Latino/Hispanic movement," says Rodriguez. "I thought to myself, 'Hey, those are illegal aliens, not immigrants!'" Col. Rodriguez began speaking out to others saying, "I'm of Hispanic ancestry and those people are acting like they speak for me. Well, you don't speak for me!"

Col. Rodriguez began asking others to help him reach more people who felt the same way and You Don't Speak for Me formed from this loose coalition of individuals. It is a group of concerned Americans of Hispanic/Latino heritage, some first or second generation, others recent legal immigrants, who believe illegal immigration harms America and a guest worker amnesty will do the same.

YDSFM! Officers are:
Col. Al Rodriguez, Chairman
Mariann Davies, Vice Chair
Claudia Spencer, Vice Chair
Justin Rangel, Vice Chair
Maria Chojnowski, Vice Chair

You Don't Speak For Me

Nowhere on the website or in any of Col. Rodriguez's interviews was any mention made about the Tanton organization's association with You Don't Speak For Me, but the contact information given on the press page of the website lists Ira Mehlman and Susan Wysoki as the primary contacts for the group. Both of whom have e-mail addresses at fairus.org. the web address for Tanton's flagship organization, The Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Mehlman is also the driving force behind the group, Choose Black America, which was supposed to be an organization created by Blacks who felt illegal immigration was hurting their communities.

Last May, the formation of CBA was announced at a FAIR-sponsored press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C, but to date that press conference was the first and last action taken by the group. It appears to exist solely as website and a public relations vehicle along with other FAIR sponsored groups like the Coalition for the Future of the American Worker, which claims to be a coalition of blue-collar groups, and Col. Rodriquez's, "You Don't Speak for Me."

CBA is billed as a "coalition of business, academic and community leaders" who believe that "Blacks, in particular, have lost economic opportunities, seen their kids' schools flooded with non-English speaking students, and felt the socio-economic damage of illegal immigration more acutely than any other group." It's portrayed as a grassroots organization, but it hardly sprang from the community. Tiny type at the bottom of CBA's home page reads, "A project of FAIR."

Five of the 11 founding members of CBA were interviewed for this article. All but one said they had no idea who the other individuals in their "coalition" were before they arrived in D.C. for the press conference. James Clingman, a Cincinnati columnist and businessman, said that if he had known, he would have never shown up. "Choose Black America was just the banner under which we had a press conference," says Clingman, who writes on economics. "There are people involved [in CBA] who I am just diametrically opposed to, like [far-right Christian evangelical] Jesse Lee Peterson and those other neo-conservative, black so-called leaders."

Clingman says that with the exception of his personal friend, Claud Anderson, he has had no contact with any of the other CBA founders or with FAIR since the press conference. According to the rest of the CBA founders interviewed, there have been no meetings, no phone calls, and no other organizational advances since May.

"Smokescreen", SPLC

Despite the efforts of FAIR, the Minutemen, and "Tim Binh" neither the minorities supposedly represented by these groups nor the general public are easily fooled by these kind of front groups. One need only see Tom Tancredo with his "America is Full" tee-shirt, hear him call Miami a "third world country" watch him lobbying against sending fund to New Orleans after Katrina, or hear him call for the nuking of Mecca to know what's truly in his heart. One need only hear Pat Buchanan complain about America losing its "White Christian" idenity to know what he's all about. All the fake advocacy groups in the world and attempts to paint a diverse face on the movement these men lead cannot fool the American people… they know what these men advocate and they know what those who follow them advocate also….and diversity it ain't.

Read More...

Summary only...