Unprintable, I guess

I received this letter from the City of Elgin Hispanic Outreach Coordinator:

And I sent a copy of this letter to the City to the Courier for possible publication in Valley Views on December 2nd but they haven't printed it yet:

Dear Mr. Folarin:

I understand that your Community Outreach Coordinator is making presentations to immigrant groups about their rights and responsibilities. Others have done an excellent job articulating the rights of immigrants.

Our organization, the Association for Legal Americans, is very concerned about assimilation here in Elgin. We consider the lack of assimilation to be a major source of friction in our community. As an immigrant yourself I’m sure you can relate to what may seem like trivial or perhaps odd cultural norms. At the same time you realize how important it is to blend in with the neighbors.

May we offer the following suggestions as part of Elgin’s presentation on responsibilities:

1) You are expected to be financially responsible and support yourself and your family. This includes carrying health insurance and automobile insurance. It also includes saving for your retirement.
2) If you are involved in an automobile accident you must not leave the scene. Remain at the scene of the accident, make sure medical needs are attended to, and contact the police. Do not leave until instructed to do so by a police officer.
3) You must have proper authorization to work in the United States. People here on tourist visas are NOT permitted to work.
4) You must not use fraudulent documents under any circumstances.
5) It is against the law to work for cash. You must declare your wages to the government and have taxes withheld from your pay. This is for your protection and benefit.
6) If you are here without a green card or work visa you must take your family and return to your home country. As a government agency the City of Elgin can only advise you to leave the country if you are undocumented.
7) There are many programs, some are free-of-charge, where you can learn English. When out in public it is considered rude to speak your native tongue around those who do not understand you.
8) Housing customs here may be different than in your home country. Most homes and apartments should be limited to you, your spouse, and your own children. These homes were designed for one family and one or two cars. Do not exceed the housing capacity or allow multiple families to live in your home.
9) Parking is only allowed in the garage, driveway, and (in some cases) the street in front of your house. Do NOT park across the sidewalk, on the lawn, in front of someone else’s house, or on the patio.
10) You are expected to maintain the appearance of your home. You should mow the lawn regularly, trim bushes and remove weeds. You should rake the fallen leaves. Snow and ice should be removed from the sidewalks. Peeling paint and clogged/sagging rain gutters should also be repaired.
11) Playing loud music in your car or home is considered rude. If your neighbor can hear your music it is too loud. Please respect the privacy of others by keeping the volume low. If you are having an outdoor party it is wise to turn off the music at dark.
12) The city has ordinances that prohibit major car repairs on the street or in your driveway.
13) About pets. Elgin is not zoned for farm animals. Exotic animals are strictly controlled as well.
14) We are allowed 3 dogs, which are to be properly confined indoors or out. They are to be on leashes when not confined. They should have proper identification, meaning tags or a microchip. Rabies shots must be up-to-date. If an animal is found on the run the animal control officer will be called and the dog removed to the pound. A fee will be charged to release the animal.
15) All dogs bark sometimes. However, a lengthy time of this disturbance is also a noise nuisance, which will be handled by the police department. The dogs should also be spayed or neutered if not for breeding purposes.
16) Cats should be kept indoors and should be spayed or neutered unless they are to be used for breeding.
17) Drinking and driving are against the law and very dangerous. Do not attempt to drive after you have had more than two drinks. Call a cab or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
18) You must have a license to drive in Illinois. Do not risk driving without one.
19) Spouse abuse is a serious crime in the United States. This includes not only physical abuse but also emotional and sexual forms.
20) Although littering may be acceptable in your home country it is NOT allowed in the United States. If public trash cans are not available, carry your litter home and throw it away. Do not throw litter from your car or drop it in the street.
21) It is NEVER appropriate to urinate or defecate in public.
22) Children should not be allowed to wander free in malls or stores. You should be in constant visual contact with them at all times. They should not be allowed to run, yell, play with merchandise, or otherwise disturb other customers in the stores.
23) As children approach the teen years be especially careful of their friends and activities. If you have reason to believe your child has joined a gang, contact the police or your child’s school for advice.
24) Education is the key to success. Your child will be expected to graduate from high school. Encourage them to stay in school. Work with the teachers to make sure they succeed academically.
Sincerely,
Doug Heaton
President, Association for Legal Americans

Folarin’s response:

Thank you for the suggestions. We have forwarded your e-mail to our Community Outreach Coordinator for incorporation into her presentation.

Sounds good to me!

In the post below is the transcript of Womack's presentation to the City Council.
And it was covered in the Courier News and the Daily Herald today.
Sounds good, right? WRONG!
We have the results of first 195 people screened (March through September) and it reveals some gaping holes in the screening process. That number has grown to 253 according to the chief.

Here's the problem with the screening/pick-ups by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
1) 68 of those 195 had been previously deported and, according to ICE Secure Communities Program they want to get those repeat offenders off the street and into court to prosecute them for coming back. Yet they were all set free by Elgin PD.
2) Five of those 195 had outstanding ICE warrants, otherwise known as fugitives who defied deportation orders. (There are nearly 600,000 illegal aliens on that list alone.)
3) Valentin Sierra-Martinez was picked up and screened by Elgin in April and in June and put back on the street. TWO chances to figure out he was a gang member and a felon and they blew it. ICE finally picked up Valentin themselves on July 18th.

The list of 195 is filled with people picked up for DUI, drug charges, and domestic abuse and yet the city leaders are content to just let them slide without a whimper. They say ICE won't take them because they don't fit the "criteria" for immediate notification.

We've been talking with the city council until we are blue in the face and they just don't get it that when they don't demand more from ICE they are telling the citizens that they just don't care what we think.

*They don't care that the guy headed the other way on the road is drunk, has no license AND doesn't belong in the United States.
*They don't care that these same 195 are the ones who are getting paid in cash (tax evasion) or are running up back taxes on someone else's Social Security Number.
*They don't care that every year these 195 are siring anchor babies that WE have to pay for.

The reality is that if AFLA hadn't forced them into it they'd still be skipping down the garden path ignoring this problem in the name of special interests.

City Council Presentation

Transcript of Police Chief Lisa Womack presentation on illegal alien initiatives
December 17, 2008, Elgin City Council 6:30 pm

Womack: We’ve always had a system in place that would allow for us to work closely with ICE on certain illegal aliens that met certain criteria. That criteria is any illegal aliens, criminal aliens who were arrested for felonies, drug-related, gang-related, or sex-related crimes.

Then the process that we have been engaged with ICE in for a good number of years is approaching 20 years. That process is still in place.

So I’m going to discuss what we’ve done since January. In March we met with representatives of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the Chicago office to discuss reporting criteria as it related to the IAQ, the Immigration Alien Query system that we would begin doing as of March 1st.

Effective March 1st all foreign-born arrestees booked by members of our agency are screened through the IAQ system. In a nutshell the arresting officers ask for a query on our arrestees through our communications division and as the information is returned it is relayed to our jail commanders.

As we were discussing this with ICE the reporting criteria was established as follows:
All arrestees that met the already established criteria of felonies, sex-crimes, gang-related, drug-related crimes…would be immediately forwarded and ICE would be notified at that time.

Any additional arrestees that did not fall in that criteria but through the IAQ query had such things as a deportation warrant or hold already placed in the system would also be immediately notified.

All other arrestees would be forwarded to ICE through the CAP Officer assigned to the Kane County Jail on a monthly basis.

There was conversation on the frequency of the reports. It was at the request on ICE that they be reported on a monthly basis unless they met the immediate reporting criteria.

Since January that’s exactly what we do. While we continue the immediate reporting criteria which we have always done, since March 1st we have made queries on 1,259 foreign-born arrestees; 253 of those individuals that have been screened have been identified in our country illegally; 20 of that 253 met the criteria for immediate reporting and we are currently actively involved with ICE on the court process, the adjudication process, or are actively involved in the deportation proceedings.

The other 233 met the criteria for the monthly reporting, have been reported to ICE, and they have followed the appropriate legal processes here in our city.

ICE ACCESS. We made application as you said, as Mr. Cogley said, in January for ICE ACCESS. We had that same discussion during our March meeting with regard to ICE ACCESS.

If you look at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, ICE website it describes all the various program that are available under ICE ACCESS. All of those programs are not available to every law enforcement agency across the nation. At the March meeting there was a request from me to ICE to provide us with a summary of those available programs under the ACCESS umbrella to the Elgin Police Department. To date I have not received that information.

We have followed up on our application with ICE on the ACCESS program. We have been told that the request for a Memorandum of Understanding and the report that I requested and the information requested, has been forwarded to their Washington office.

All information and authorizations for that must come through their Washington office.
And we have since been informed that the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has resigned as of a month ago. There is an acting Director and no further decisions will be made until the new administration takes office after the first of the year.

That is the current status of the ICE ACCESS program.

We continue to do what we have been doing for a very long time. We have a very good working relationship with local ICE on the specific criteria as they have outlined. We do participate in several task forces that have an ICE component.

As of yesterday we made several arrests that you may have read about in the paper that also had an ICE component attached to that. So we continue our task force involvement with our federal partners, FBI and ICE as well as continue to forward the information, actively pursue the situations as we can.

Questions from the City Council
(Inaudible.
Something about the ICE staffing level and their ability to respond to the need. Some discussion about the ICE reporting criteria.
Cogley talks about criteria for ICE involvement. Inaudible.
About holding for 24 hours and bonding out. Cap officers at county)

Womack: Our authority to hold is exactly the same as any other arrested person. We can hold them under the laws that they were arrested for here. To answer your question very simply, someone who is arrested for the reporting criteria we immediately notify ICE. We notify an existing agent that we work with as well as the CAP officer at the Kane County Jail.

At that point it is the responsibility of ICE to put a further hold. If there is a bonding process available for this arrestee without the hold, then it is ICE responsibility to put the hold so that they will not be able to bond out. So our responsibility ends at the point where we make the notification, make sure they have the information, and it becomes the responsibility of ICE to place the hold so that they cannot bond out of jail.

Council: (Inaudible Cook County question)

Womack: Cook County also has a CAP officer. We do the same. We don’t have as many reportings that we report to as many arrestees on the Cook County side. But Cook County obviously with the size of the jail that it is, yes, they have several CAP officers that are assigned there with the same processing system.

(Sorry for the problem picking up questions from the city council. They weren't using the microphones. Same for Mr. Cogley (City Attorney) comments made and answers given at the end of Womack's presentation.)

More on SEIU

After reading our write-up below about the SEIU, a good AFLA friend sent us this flier. It was being passed around INSIDE Larkin High by SEIU organizers; not teachers, not students...SEIU rabble-rousers. (Aren't you glad the Larkin kids are getting a good liberal education?)

And just look at the contact name at the bottom. Mr. Fabela himself.

Ya' gotta start teaching 'em when they are young.

And yes, the reverse side is in Spanish.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

The Elgin City Council will be hearing a report from Police Chief Womack on WEDNESDAY at 6:30 pm at City Hall, 150 Dexter Court.
The topic? The Illegal Alien Intiatives the city agreed to back in January.
We hope to see you there.

About the SEIU

We’ve noticed that the SEIU was negotiating with Governor Blagojevich for the Obama senate seat. They were part of a three-way scheme to find a lucrative position for Blago in exchange for the senate seat for “Candidate 1”.

So, what do we know about the SEIU?

SEIU stands for Service Employees International Union.

About 1.5 million (some say two million) workers pay dues to the SEIU. They are the largest and fastest-growing AFL-CIO segment.

This is what they say about their own political clout: “Record contributions by SEIU members make SEIU’s political action fund the largest in the country.”
http://www.walkadayinmyshoes2008.com/building-seius-political-stren/

SEIU gave over $2 MILLION to federal office candidates in 2008.
Here are the top recipients:
Top Recipients
Senate Obama, Barack $36,908
House Foster, Bill $20,000
House Edwards, Donna $17,300
House Richardson, Laura $15,000
House Hastings, Alcee L $13,400
House Cazayoux, Donald J $12,500
Senate Rockefeller, Jay $12,300
House Feder, Judith $11,000
House Pelosi, Nancy $10,650

In addition, here are the donations from SEIU over the last four years:
Noland $9,334
Gilliam $5,847
Schock $5,000
Figueroa $4,238
Walters $2,869
Perez $1,200

Note that THREE of the five labor unions the City of Elgin deals with are SEIU. They are:
SEIU Public Works
SEIU Clerical Technical
SEIU Part Time Custodians


SEIUs stand on illegal aliens has been removed from their website, but here is the text of their position as expressed to the Senate in January of 2007:
"Hard working, tax-paying immigrants who are living in this country should be given every opportunity to come forward, pay a fine, and earn legal status and a path toward citizenship. Successful reform mandates the most expansive earned legalization provisions that would make eligible the largest number of undocumented persons... The benefits of an expansive legalization program are clear: employer compliance with withholding requirements is best achieved by the highest level of participation in the legalization programs; people will come out of the shadows and be able to work at higher paying and more secure jobs; and families will be reunited."
"Text of Letter to Senator Kennedy from SEIU Leaders - SEIU Announces Agenda for Comprehensive Immigration Reform," www.seiu.org, Jan. 17, 2007


In the Blago complaint there are references to a group called “Change to Win.” Change to Win is the brainchild of SEIU President Andy Stern. Their stated objectives parallel Obama’s plan for American workers.
+ A paycheck that supports a family
+ Universal health care
+ A secure retirement
+ The freedom to form a union to give workers a voice on the job
From Change to Win Website: http://www.changetowin.org/about-us/mission.html

If press reports are correct we will see the last of those agenda items passed early in the new congress. It is also the most important one for the unions.

The “freedom to form a union” initiative means the elimination of the secret ballot for unionization. Obama supports it. Not very democratic, but with millions of dollars of PAC money at stake it is the least they can do for the brotherhood.

The Blago Three Way Deal
Now, let’s understand the “Three Way” strategy. It was nicely documented in the Blagojevich scandal. The SEIU became the go-between with the governor. Blago wanted a paid position at Change to Win, something that pays big. For him or for Patti. It really doesn’t matter.

The SEIU goes back to “Senate Candidate X” and works out the details. Remember, the SEIU by their own admission has the largest political action fund in the country. It is also important to remember that for Patrick Fitzgerald “wrongdoing” means that the other party agreed with Blago to provide something of value in exchange for the senate seat. It does NOT mean the SEIU is innocent, it just means they didn’t close the deal. One thing is for sure, the SEUI didn’t hang up on Blago the minute he started talking pay to play.

Another Blago Three Way Deal that went unnoticed
Here’s another Three Way. The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights was given free reign to write Blago’s New Americans program. Created by Executive Order (no legislative votes needed) it provides benefits for new immigrants to Illinois.

The only trouble is that it SPECIFICALLY INCLUDES illegal aliens in the program, contrary to federal law. And Joseph Geevarghese (an SEIU executive) was the TREASURER for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights back when Blago signed the law.

Even today the board at ICIRR includes an SEIU member, David (Dino) Martino Political Director for SEIU Local 1. Now, the SEIU was top contributor to Blago in the 2006 election, giving him almost a MILLION DOLLARS, nearly 5% of all the money he received.

Link:
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=79667

And note what Fred Tsao of ICIRR said when he heard Blago had been arrested: “He’s undertaken quite a number of initiatives designed to benefit immigrants in our state,” says Fred Tsao, policy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “Being the son of a Serbian immigrant himself, he definitely understood immigration on a very deep and personal level.” (from WBEZ news report 12/12/08)

An Elgin Three Way?
Now, the makings of an Elgin Three Way. Keep an eye on Arnoldo Fabela. He’s an organizer on the SEIU full-time payroll. He’s organized May Day protest marches for illegals in Elgin as well as the long march from Chicago to Hastert’s office on Labor Day a couple of years ago. He’s also politically active in town as a SOAP officer and part of the Unity in the Community bunch.

To add to the fun, ICIRR has assigned one of their employees, Ashley Moy-Wooten, to advise SOAP on getting their way with Elgin leaders. SOAP might be able to deny (with a straight face) that they are pro-illegal alien but ICIRR and SEIU certainly cannot.

You’ve got known SEIU contributions to city council candidates along with SEIU union contracts with the city. And you’ve got a history of the SEIU advocating for illegal aliens. This is a Three Way deal just waiting to happen.

Benefits for "non-citizens"

Nobel Prize winner and economist Milton Friedman told Forbes magazine: “It’s just obvious that you can’t have free immigration and a welfare state.”

Translated for the rest of us, Friedman is saying that if you have significant government spending for social/welfare programs it is not a good idea to have high immigration quotas. I submit to you that in the United States today we have both. This is a key difference between now and the great migration of a hundred years ago.

In the past 50 years our government has spent huge amounts of money to fight poverty. And from the looks of things (particularly health care reform) that trend will continue.

It is only logical to conclude that it is NOT a good idea to continue to IMPORT the poor from other countries. At some point the have-nots will overwhelm the tax revenue and difficult choices will have to be made. Shall we pay unemployment to the citizens for a longer period of time or shall we extend that benefit to immigrants?

Shall we improve veterans’ benefits or provide health care for undocumented children?

And indeed we are seeing that scenario play out in Springfield (with the governor wielding the budget slashing knife) and in Washington (where the new White House staff is charged with determining what is waste and what is necessary).

So far non-citizens (as the census calls them) are doing rather well. Despite the welfare reform laws of 1996, which specifically addresses restricting benefits to non-citizens and the undocumented, we have been more than generous.

Some examples of our collective compassion:
Unemployment benefits are paid to any immigrant who can provide documentation of lawful presence. (One has to wonder if the documentation is legitimate.) Visit the Unemployment Office (IDES) in downtown Elgin and note the predominant language of benefit seekers.

Kids First free health coverage is available to illegal aliens, no questions asked. But the governor is unable to tell us how much the program is costing us.

Free public education in a language you can understand. The tab to U-46 last year was an estimated $70.8 MILLION.

Free English lessons. Elgin Community College now offers ESL classes to adults at no charge.

Free health care through the Emergency Rooms.

WIC and LINK programs. We’ve all watched people in the check-out line, three children in tow, unable to speak English and they pay with the blue LINK card.

The Illinois I-Loan home mortgage program proudly declares that they assist not only immigrants but illegal aliens as well. Immigration status is of no concern to them.

Now, the intent of our immigration policy is to screen people for self-sufficiency. The law is very clear that we are NOT to allow people to immigrate to the United States who will become a burden on society. How well is that screening working? Not well at all.

Well, the fact is that illegal alien influx has outpaced legal immigration every year since 1995. These people were not screened at all. Yet the principle means of identifying them (Social Security Cards and Green Cards) have both been compromised to the point where they are virtually meaningless.

And screening for those who have sought to come here legally has failed us when it comes to identifying future public burdens or reliable sponsorship.

A case in point is the census data from an April 2007 report:
Median household income
US Average: $48,201
Non-citizens: $39,497
People below the poverty line:
US Average: 12.3%
Non-citizens: 19.0%
People without health insurance coverage:
US Average: 15.8%
Non-citizens: 45.0%

How about Social Security SSI? Well, here’s the statistical report for non-citizens:
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/ssi_asr/2007/#top

Note that the percentage of people receiving SSI benefits who were non-citizens was 3.3% in 1982. In 2007 it was nearly three times higher at 9.0%. It had been as high as 12% prior to the welfare reform act.

The most egregious example is SSI for the elderly.
27.5% of all aged SSI recipients are non-citizens.

Surely it benefits immigrants who want to bring their aged parents here under the guise of family unification. We have better care facilities and it appears we are also subsidizing their bills. But as fragile as Social Security is, why would we allow them to do so?

Has our compassion gotten the best of us?


(Note: Non-citizens are presumable in the United States legally although the Census Bureau makes no attempt to determine immigration status. As for social service agencies, validating status is difficult to do. Some agencies don’t even try.)

The graffiti curse

This photo was taken Tuesday.

By Saturday it looked like this.

Now, to give you some idea, this is a busy Elgin intersection. The lighting is pretty good. It isn't known as a graffiti canvas but if you don't clean it up right away the gangbangers begin to mark their territory.

And "Jinx" has spread out a bit, marking the tunnel as well as the dumpster corral.

I pity the business owner. He's been in Elgin for decades and he really keeps the place up nice. It's the kind of business you want to have in town. But if he has to pay to clean up the mess left by gangs, he'll have second thoughts about moving somewhere else. And anyone looking to move here or start a business will also think twice.

Update: And by 11:00 am on Sunday it was all cleaned up. Thank you!

Elgin Township does the right thing

We received this letter from Elgin Township regarding our request to withhold funding to groups who openly support illegal aliens.

Here's a link to the law they quote in the letter:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001621----000-.html

On Monday they held their meeting and were met by a large group of rather rowdy latino activists who threatened lawsuits if they didn't grant funding to Centro de Informacion and their parenting class.

We applaud the courage of the township trustees who upheld the law and denied their grant.

These are difficult days for our citizens with lay offs and foreclosures. It is only right that government agencies return to their core missions.

Thank you, Elgin Township.

Who's failing us? Part One, the federal government

When you look at this illegal alien mess it isn’t easy to tell who’s to blame. And as citizens we aren’t privy to the inner workings of government. When things go wrong the problem becomes more difficult since bureaucracies circle the wagons rather than step forward and take the blame.

A case in point is the fatality that started it all for me; Patricia Henneken. Patricia was killed on Memorial Day 2006 by Javier Rico, an illegal alien driving drunk who broad-sided her car out on Golf Road. Rico had a record with the police.

The question was: Why wasn’t Rico deported BEFORE he had a chance to kill Patricia Henneken?

The answer from authorities? Well, Tandra Simonton over at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office claimed innocence, saying local law enforcement agencies have the burden of reporting illegal aliens under arrest.

And Gail Montenegro, a spokesman for the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said, “We are at the mercy of county officials to let us know.”

Montenegro should have gone on to tell us that a DUI conviction will not get someone deported. They happen all the time and go unnoticed by Immigration. Again, bureaucracies circle the wagons and go into self-protect mode when there’s trouble.

Let me say here that I am not being critical of the cop on the street, or the ICE agent either. They are doing the best they can.

The model is as old as the Roman Army. There is the strategy level where they decide what to do. Then there is the tactical level that takes care of the how. And then there are the brave soldiers who carry the spears in to battle.

The Bush administration has never planned to enforce immigration laws to any degree. Right from the start Bush wanted to grant amnesty to illegal aliens and saw enforcement and deportation as unnecessary. Funding and other resources were never given to Immigration.

If you look at the data Bill Clinton did a better job of worksite enforcement. Only in the last two years has Bush done any serious worksite raids and prosecutions of employers. The same can be said for rounding up the illegal alien fugitives. And cooperation with local authorities has spiked as well. And the number of detention beds for deportations has recently gone up.

What I’m saying is that at the strategic level Immigration enforcement has been weak all along. And Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security even admits it in a backhanded sort of way.

Chertoff told VOA on October 10, 2007: "For many years, the way we dealt with illegal immigration was we paid political lip service to toughness. I think we've got to show the public that we are serious about enforcing the laws as they currently are written."

From Chertoff’s report on the state of immigration reform, November 6, 2006: “I think you’ll remember that this past August, after Congress failed to pass the proposed immigration reform bill, we announced that we were going to use the tools that we have, such as they are, sharpen them up and go about the business of getting control of the border. And to that end, this past August the administration announced a series of reforms to strengthen immigration enforcement and to meet our nation’s workforce needs to the extent the law permits so that we could try to fill the gap left open by Congress’s failure to act to address the challenges comprehensively.”

Chertoff Press Conference August 10, 2007: “We're obviously disappointed in the fact, as is the President, that Congress has not chosen to act on our comprehensive solution. The Senate bill that we worked on would have given us important new tools and resources to strengthen border security, increase and toughen interior enforcement, and help meet the needs of our growing economy through a temporary worker program. Our hope is that the key elements of the Senate bill will see the light of day at some point. But until Congress chooses to act, we're going to be taking some energetic steps of our own.”

Bush himself admitted that laws were being broken regularly and that the American people wanted a show of enforcement before they would trust congress with immigration reform. Read his remarks of June 7, 2006 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060607.html

So, yes, we blame Washington for allowing things to get this bad. We blame them for not enforcing the laws on the books. And we are more than a little suspicious when they do a press release telling us what a great job they are doing by rounding up 50 illegal alien gang members three times a year.

We see it as part of the package to show some enforcement so they can pass amnesty.

Again, we think the ICE agent on the street is great. He’s doing his job the best he can with what he’s been given. Our beef is with the people in Washington and Oak Brook.

Who's failing us? Part Two, Elgin

An interesting thing happened in September. Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran held a press conference to reveal that 21% of his inmates were confirmed illegal aliens. And Immigration was falling all over itself to be there and show support to Curran. So were all sorts of other dignitaries.

If I’ve learned anything about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) these two notions stand out:
1) ICE goes where they are invited. If Chicago wants to be a sanctuary city then ICE will not spend much time there. If the Kane County Jail is lukewarm about enforcement, ICE won’t press the issue. You’ll never see ICE call a news conference to say that such-and-such a jurisdiction is uncooperative. But they will go somewhere else if they get the cold shoulder. And who can blame them? They’ve got plenty of work elsewhere.
2) ICE doesn’t like negative publicity. They go out of their way to avoid being criticized for their failures.

So, if we have a local community (like Elgin) willing to stand up against illegal aliens in a public way ICE will be there to help.

We know from reviewing arrest records that we have a number of people in custody who are clearly deportable under current guidelines. Some that stand out are:
Known gang members
Previously deported
ICE fugitives who have defied deportation orders

So, why aren’t they being picked up by ICE? Well, ICE may not know about them until it is too late. Elgin Police Department does the screening by looking them up on the computer. When they get a “hit” the logical thing to do is to pick up the phone and tell ICE about it.

Update: On January 21st Chief Womack issued a memo to city hall explaining the process. Details emerged that were never answered in our request to city council on 7/28/08. Strangely, those details were also omitted when the Chief made a presentation on the subject to the city council on 12/17/08.

She said that "hits" exposing illegal aliens are immediately phoned in to the local ICE office for instructions.

It is true that the written reports are forwarded to the ICE officers at the Kane County Jail for review.

Actual memo can be viewed here: http://legalamericans.net/womackonICE0109.html

But Elgin doesn't do that. They simply log the results on a spreadsheet and process the illegal alien just like they would anyone else. Then after the end of the month (sometimes WEEKS AFTER) they send the report with all the details to the local Immigration office.
Can you see the problem with such timing? The criminal illegal alien is long gone by the time ICE opens up the report.

As a result there have been ten repeat arrests of illegal aliens (about 5% of the total) in Elgin. Why aren’t they deported the first time? Because Elgin isn’t demanding it.

The mayor and city council have been made aware of this problem and have not taken action. Have they ever discussed these monthly reports in city council meeting? No. Have they followed the pattern set by Sheriff Curran and called a press conference? No.

When Chief Womack met with our group in August she was very pleased with the way things were going. In fact, she liked things BEFORE they started 100% screening. Elgin Police leaders do not want to make this a bigger issue. They are content to wait for signals from Washington about amnesty.

All the while we are processing about one illegal alien a day and keeping it a secret from Immigration until it is too late to do anything about it.

Just a word about the brave officers who strap on a gun for us every day. We do not mean to criticize them at all. The problem is at the top. It has been our experience that the cops on the street want to enforce the law; they want to make our streets safe.

Our beef is with the leadership at city hall for not directing the chief of police to do more. Merely keeping score of the numbers does not solve the problem.

In New Jersey and Colorado state leaders have taken steps to do 100% screening and create a paper trail that they have notified Immigration of people in custody. They are also required to notify the prosecutor, the county jail, and the judge setting bail.

When someone dies as a result of sloppy immigration enforcement we will wish we had done more than just keep score.

"I pledge allegiance..."

(Photo taken on Ann Street, right here in Elgin)

Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN:
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American. … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. … We have room for but one language here and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” (From a letter dated January 6, 1919)

Thumbs up...

...for Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti.

Thumbs down for the judge who let Garcia go.

In the Herald today is a police report about an arrest for cocaine in Carpentersville. Here's the report:

"• Acting on information that a man had cocaine in his possession, police executed a search warrant at 398 Tee Lane at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Seven plastic bags containing about 13 grams of cocaine were found in a black leather coat hanging in a basement closet at the residence, a police report said. Charges of delivery and possession of a controlled substance were filed against Esteban Garcia, 32, of the same address, police said. The Kane County State's Attorney's Office asked for a high bond for Garcia because he had come to the United States illegally and was considered a flight risk. Garcia posted a $7,500 bond Wednesday morning and was released from the Carpentersville lockup. His next court date has been scheduled for Nov. 19 at the Kane County Judicial Center." Daily Herald 11/13/08

Barsanti was absolutely right to request a high bond.

We question the wisdom of a judge who would allow Esteban Garcia back out on the street. $7,500 is chump change for a drug dealer.

Speaking of "failure to appear" it seems that our lady who tried to beat the train at Kimball Street and killed her sisters and nephew in the process has fled back to Mexico. Is anyone surprised?

So, what can we do? Some states have enacted laws requiring high bail or none at all, calling illegal aliens inherent flight risks. Don't hold your breath in Illinois.

After the library...

Just east of the library as all those U46 students head home with their books in Spanish (sigh) they walk past this old warehouse located at 300 Brook Street.

Here they can see graffiti from half a dozen Elgin gangs.
(Yes, I reported it to the city.)

What we know about gangs in Elgin

After over six months of research a committee on gang intervention reported to the city council.

This report, delivered on June 11, 2008 revealed the following statistics:

There are 1,088 documented gang members, or about 1% of the population.

• 72% are active
• 10% are in jail
• 7% are inactive
• 10% have been deported

Of the 1,088

• 54% are Hispanic
• 34% are African American
• 8% are White
• 4% are Asian

• 98% are male
• 2% are female

• 4% are under 17
• 16% are 18-21
• 40% are 22-28
• 38% are 29-39
• 3% are over 40

Gangs found in Elgin are

• Insane Deuces
• Latin Kings
• La Raza
• 13s
• 14s
• Maniac Latin Disciples
• Spanish Cobras
• Spanish Gangster Disciples
• Lao Posse
• Gangster Disciples
• Four Corner Hustlers
• Vice Lords

The report went on to propose after school programs and efforts to strengthen the role of parents.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not listed as a participant in the discussions and no recommendations about illegal aliens were put forth in the report.

News coverage about gang crimes omit any information about immigration status and known gang members are not deported even when they are in custody in Elgin city jail.

There is a documented disconnect between immigration screening and enforcement.

More graffiti near Larsen Middle School

The Family Dollar Story at 611 Dundee Avenue is right next to Larsen Middle School. With 657 impressionable students one would think cleaning up graffiti would be priority #1.

So I drove by there today and the original graffiti was still there...but on the south side of the building there is more. Here are the photos. (Sorry for the genital one. I just take the pictures.)

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

Update 11/13/08 - NOT cleaned up

Update 11/13/08 - NOT cleaned up

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

And this one (not part of the Family Dollar property) at Hill and Jefferson, also near the school.

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up - Thank you!

These gangs are bold and dangerous as recent attacks near Douglas Avenue attest. Allowing them to get away with their gang signs is a sign of surrender. We cannot do that.

Another walk

I took the camera and walked east this time.

I wasn't disappointed. Graffiti at 840, 850, and 860 Summit Street. Here are the photos:

Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up




Update 11/13/08 - Cleaned up



All were reported to the city graffiti hotline.

A walking tour

It was lovely weather on election day so I walked to the bank and to the Legion Hall to cast my vote. I took along the camera.

Along the way I took some photos of unpaved parking surfaces and graffiti. Here are the results:

Unpaved parking between Porter Court and Liberty on the south side of Summit.

Just down the street on the north side of Summit (just west of the fire station) was more unpaved parking.

Then at 431 Summit someone had tagged the garbage can with graffiti. I believe the group is the “TBS” for True Bombin’ Soldiers.

Walking north on Dundee I noticed that the homes along the north side of Summit (400 block) have all sorts of unpaved parking in the back. These homes are behind the empty Dunkin Donuts shop on the corner.

Then at about 555 Dundee you see this unpaved parking right out front.

And yet another one at Dundee and Enterprise.

The Family Dollar store right next to Larsen Middle School has graffiti on the parking lot light pole and the realtor sign out at the street. (You don’t suppose the middle school students notice these things, do you?)

At 593 Dundee they have decorated the sidewalk outside Mitchell Insurance.

523 Columbia. More unpaved parking.

628 Lincoln. Ditto.

639 Lincoln (I’m guessing at the address since I didn’t see one). Unpaved parking.

And more unpaved parking at 544 Jefferson.

For the record, I was cited for parking on the gravel back in February. I’ve now planted grass there and we don’t park there.

So...go to it city fathers. With four seats up for grabs I expect this to be cleaned up before the primaries in February.

VOTE TODAY

Please vote today

The polls close at 7:00 pm.

If you observe any voter fraud call:
630-208-5328 (Kane County State's Attorney)
and 800-253-3931 (US Department of Justice)

And send us an e-mail at afla.heaton@sbcglobal.net

Asking the candidates

I took on a project to see how candidates for the United States Congress would respond to a proposition. ALL seats in the House of Representatives are up for reelection. And one Senate seat.

The proposition was simple – How do you feel about turning the old Kane County Jail into a detention center for illegal aliens awaiting deportation?

I sent e-mails (and in some cases letters) to a total of 49 candidates. My total response was SEVEN candidates. Interestingly, in addition to the seven I received responses from two third-party candidates who were bumped from the ballot on technicalities.

The responses ranged from a policy of open borders to immediate deportation for anyone caught here without papers.

A couple of candidates simply replied that the jail wasn’t in their district so they weren’t going to comment on the proposal; and these were adjacent districts!

On the Senate side neither Durbin nor Sauerberg bothered to answer, although Durbin was a Senator at the time Congress approved 40,000 new beds in 2004, half of which were never provided.

Also absent were our own candidates for Representative in the 14th District, Foster and Oberweis.

And I so wanted to hear what Jill Morgenthaler had to say about the proposal since she is the former Illinois Homeland Security chief.

But alas we don’t “rate” as worthy of an answer from those who would seek our vote.

If you would like to take a look at what these seven candidates had to say please click below to be directed to the list:
http://www.legalamericans.net/MRcandidatelist.html

I gave no preconditions, nor did I suggest a format. Whatever they wanted to say, regardless of how long the answer was would have been published.

They could have said, as one candidate did, that they agree with the principle of added capacity but would leave the actual site selection up to the executive branch.

It is really sad that the candidates and the press had such little interest in this question especially since Lake County recently announced that over 21% of their inmates were illegal aliens.

I think what really happened here was that this is such a polarizing issue that politicians would rather not reveal their position. Decades of avoiding the question in Washington has led to the mess we are in. That same mentaility is exhibited here.

My guess is that six months from now a new Congress will take up comprehensive immigration reform...and absent an outcry from the public we will see the legalization of millions of illegal aliens. Warm up those fax machines because the candidates are not showing their cards now.

Voting in Elgin

I’m going to try to explain what’s going on here on election day. Don’t expect it to be logical. Don’t expect to agree with it. But don’t be surprised on November 4th.

Question: Only citizens can vote, right? True, but the one person in the county charged with the task of running fair elections says that it would not be difficult for a non-citizen to vote. Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham says that the registration process does not require someone to prove their citizenship; it only requires that they are willing to sign a form that says they are citizens.

Question: To be a citizen you must learn English, right? Sort of. There are some exceptions for elderly people who would otherwise qualify. And the amount of English required is very minimal, certainly not enough to understand terms like “troop surge” or “trickle down economics.”

So in 2002, with visions of “hanging chads” in mind, the Congress of the United States passed HAVA (Help America Vote Act). Lumped in with those in wheelchairs and the blind were the access problems of people with limited English proficiency.

Backed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the rule says that if five percent of your population speaks a language other than English, the election materials must be made available in that language, including any voter mailings.

For us in Elgin, that means Spanish. But it goes beyond Spanish language ballots, posters, and signs. Some people complained about it and in 2007 the United States Department of Justice forced Kane County to provide Spanish-speaking election judges at our polling places.

If someone needs a ballot read to them in Spanish, the county must provide a Spanish-speaker. Or if someone has a question about the voting machine...or if they show up at the wrong polling place and they need someone to explain how to get to the correct one.

It’s not cheap to provide that service. And it’s not easy to find enough people to staff all the precincts.

Now, you might see some strangers lurking about on Election day. Some will be federal observers making sure the terms of the lawsuit are being met.

Others will include activists looking for the next fight to pick. We received information that a group call the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights is mobilized to monitor polling places throughout the United States.

You can be a poll watcher as well by sending an e-mail to Ev at ev.evertsen@hughes.net

Last of all, if you observe suspicious activity at your polling place, please report it to one (or all) of the following agencies:
US Department of Justice 1-800-253-3931
Kane County Board of Elections 630-232-5990
Kane County States Attorney 630-232-3500

Disgusting!

Caution! This story contains graphic details of sexual perversion.

The Daily Herald apparently ran this story in their editions south of Elgin, but I didn't see it in my paper this morning.

I share it with you because it is a prime example of an illegal alien who should have been removed from this country on the first offense. We may never know who was at fault here.

Perhaps the police didn't know he was illegal. Or they knew and didn't tell Immigration. Or ICE was told and they didn't think he was "bad enough" for deportation.

But the deed was done, and the results are sickening.

If Elgin officials are reading this...please do more than just write down the results of your screening and send in a report a month later. Take a leadership role here. Cities that have done so report increased cooperation from ICE.

Serial DuPage Co. flasher pleads guilty, faces deportation
By Christy Gutowski Daily Herald Staff
Published: 10/9/2008 2:09 PM
A serial flasher who admitted exposing himself to unsuspecting female shoppers throughout DuPage County is facing deportation.

Gelasio Beltran-Bautista pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal sexual abuse for an Oct. 20 crime in which he ejaculated on a Glendale Heights woman's back as she shopped in a clothing store in Bloomingdale.

The 29-year-old Aurora man was sentenced to two years' sex-offender probation and was ordered to register as a convicted sex offender for 10 years.

His attorney, Jeff York, a senior assistant DuPage County public defender, said Beltran-Bautista will likely face deportation since he was here in the United States illegally.

Beltran-Bautista fled the store after the crime. Police distributed fliers to area shopkeepers in hopes of identifying him.

Less than one month later, he was arrested Nov. 12 after another woman shopping in a different Bloomingdale store said he exposed himself to her. He pleaded guilty March 12 to public indecency for that second offense and was placed on two years' court supervision, ordered to perform 50 hours of public service and pay $395.

He also had to undergo a sex-offender evaluation with probation officials. On June 11, prosecutors filed a petition to revoke Beltran-Bautista's bond.

Authorities said the defendant admitted in a June 5 polygraph examination that he exposed himself as recently as one week earlier to a woman shopping in an Aurora store, as well as to more victims in three other clothing and food stores in the area.

Beltran-Bautista originally faced a misdemeanor charge for the first offense. Prosecutors later upgraded it to a felony after further reviewing the allegations.
He was sentenced Thursday by DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis.

Returning to law and order

When they* aren’t afraid of the police we are in big trouble.

We know there are gangs in town. Graffiti has been out of control for a couple of years now. And the gang committee (formed after the summer of bullets last year) gave us a profile of gang members.

(*If you want to know who “they” are, here it is.)

General
There are 1,088 known gang members or about 1% of Elgin’s population
72% are out on the street
11% are serving jail time
7% are “inactive” (Gee, do they get retirement pay?)
10% have been deported
Race/Ethnicity
54% are Hispanic
34% are African American
8% are Caucasian
4% are Asian
Age
The oldest is 50. The youngest is 15.
4% are 17 and under
16% are 18-21
40% are 22-28
38% are 29-39
3% are over 40
Source: Gang Prevention & Intervention Report – Elgin 6/11/2008

Here are some recent news items:
9/25/08 Carpentersville: 29-year-old woman gave false name to police and resisted arrest.
9/25/08 Elgin: 30-year-old man gave false name to police and resisted arrest.
9/23/08 Elgin: 21-year-old man gave false name to police.
9/20/08 Carpentersville: 17-year-old boy resisted arrest.
9/16/08 Carpentersville: 18-year-old arrested for having a gun near Dundee-Crown High School.
9/17/08 Carpentersville: Three people, ages 18, 19 and 23, were arrested for breaking the windows of the home of a Carpentersville Policeman who arrested the youth with a gun (above).
9/16/08 West Dundee: Four teens were arrested after a gang fight at Spring Hill Mall.
9/15/08 Elgin: Shots fired at Bent and St. Charles Streets
9/16/08 Elgin: Shots fired at Bent and Cleveland Streets

It may seem a bit foolish to give the wrong name to police, but perhaps not. The illegal alien out in Colorado who killed three in the Baskin-Robbins case had a rap sheet of 30 offenses with a variety of aliases. It took Immigration TWO DAYS to pin down his real identity. And the woman who killed four children on a school bus in Minnesota resulted in a FOUR DAY search for her real identity.

Here are some photos of an Elgin Police Car that was “tagged” with graffiti:

And here is some of the gang graffiti I’ve reported this summer.

For some reason the one on the back of a state road sign has not been cleaned up three weeks after being reported.

Let’s hope we see some new faces on the City Council in 2009…faces who understand this problem and have the backbone to tell it like it is! It is obvious that waiting for Washington and sending “resolutions” to the White House aren’t going to fix things.

Wrong Career

We have a couple of AFLA supporters who are court watchers. They will read about a case in the newspaper and show up in the courtroom to keep an eye on the judicial system.

Mostly they are upset that judges obviously know someone is in the country illegally and they do NOTHING about it. They will read a warning statement that IF the person is here illegally and IF they are convicted it MIGHT result in deportation and limit their future access to the United States. But the judge doesn’t pursue it.

Our observers noted that most of the Elgin cases on Monday involved “No license” and/or “No insurance.” The going rate for a fine was around $500. This is consistent with the observations of State Senator Mike Noland who has spent a great deal of time in that courtroom as a lawyer.

He believes that we should give drivers licenses to illegals in order to free up the courtroom for other cases. In June Noland wrote: “…when we consider the millions of dollars (easily for the 22nd District alone) we pay police, prosecutors and judges to preside over traffic cases directly or indirectly related to immigration status, and the resulting higher cost of automobile insurance, I suggest that this is an awfully high price to pay for continuing the status quo.”

At any rate, the day offered some entertainment for our observers. One man came before the judge to answer the charges of driving without a license or insurance. Through an interpreter he pled guilty. The judge noted his rap sheet…that he was before this same judge in March for the same thing.

The judge asked him why he didn’t get a license. He said, “The state won’t give me one.” The judge was trying to determine the need for a hardship ruling.

“What do you do for a living?”

And the perp responded, “Soy taxista.” (“I’m a cab driver.”)

So, the next time you call for a cab, request that they send a driver with a license!

The judge sentenced him to 120 days in the county jail.

Hey, it could be worse. He could be a school bus driver.

Immigration - Democratic Party Position

From the Democratic National Committee Platform 2008

Immigration

America has always been a nation of immigrants. Over the years, millions of people have come here in the hope that in America, you can make it if you try. Each successive wave of immigrants has contributed to our country’s rich culture, economy and spirit. Like the immigrants that came before them, today’s immigrants will shape their own destinies and enrich our country.

Nonetheless, our current immigration system has been broken for far too long. We need comprehensive immigration reform, not just piecemeal efforts. We must work together to pass immigration reform in a way that unites this country, not in a way that divides us by playing on our worst instincts and fears. We are committed to pursuing tough, practical, and humane immigration reform in the first year of the next administration.

We cannot continue to allow people to enter the United States undetected, undocumented, and unchecked. The American people are a welcoming and generous people, but those who enter our country’s borders illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of the law.

We need to secure our borders, and support additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology on the border and at our ports of entry. We need additional Customs and Border Protection agents equipped with better technology and real-time intelligence.

We need to dismantle human smuggling organizations, combating the crime associated with this trade. We also need to do more to promote economic development in migrant-sending nations, to reduce incentives to come to the United States illegally.

And we need to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. It’s a problem when we only enforce our laws against the immigrants themselves, with raids that are ineffective, tear apart families, and leave people detained without adequate access to counsel.

We realize that employers need a method to verify whether their employees are legally eligible to work in the United States, and we will ensure that our system is accurate, fair to legal workers, safeguards people’s privacy, and cannot be used to discriminate against workers.

We must also improve the legal immigration system, and make our nation’s naturalization process fair and accessible to the thousands of legal permanent residents who are eager to become full Americans. We should fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy that hampers family reunification, the cornerstone of our immigration policy for years.

Given the importance of both keeping families together and supporting American businesses, we will increase the number of immigration visas for family members of people living here and for immigrants who meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill, as long as appropriate labor market protections and standards are in place. We will fight discrimination against Americans who have always played by our immigration rules but are sometimes treated as if they had not.

For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must require them to come out of the shadows and get right with the law. We support a system that requires undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. They are our neighbors, and we can help them become full tax-paying, law-abiding, productive members of society.


Here’s a link to the entire platform document (a 94 page Adobe pdf attachment):
http://www.demconvention.com/assets/downloads/2008-Democratic-Platform-by-Cmte-08-13-08.pdf

Immigration - Republican Party Position

From The Republican National Committee Platform 2008

Immigration, National Security, and the Rule of Law
Immigration policy is a national security issue, for which we have one test: Does it serve the national interest? By that standard, Republicans know America can have a strong immigration system without sacrificing the rule of law.

Enforcing the Rule of Law at the Border and Throughout the Nation
Border security is essential to national security. In an age of terrorism, drug cartels, and criminal gangs, allowing millions of unidentified persons to enter and remain in this country poses grave risks to the sovereignty of the United States and the security of its people. We simply must be able to track who is entering and leaving our country.

Our determination to uphold the rule of law begins with more effective enforcement, giving our agents the tools and resources they need to protect our sovereignty, completing the border fence
quickly and securing the borders, and employing complementary strategies to secure our ports of entry.

Experience shows that enforcement of existing laws is effective in reducing and reversing illegal immigration. Our commitment to the rule of law means smarter enforcement at the workplace, against illegal workers and lawbreaking employers alike, along with those who practice identity theft and traffic in fraudulent documents. As long as jobs are available in the United States, economic incentives to enter illegally will persist.

But we must empower employers so they can know with confidence that those they hire are permitted to work. That means that the Everify system—which is an internet-based system that verifies the employment authorization and identity of employees—must be reauthorized. A phased-in requirement that employers use the E-Verify system must be enacted.

The rule of law means guaranteeing to law enforcement the tools and coordination to deport criminal aliens without delay — and correcting court decisions that have made deportation so difficult.

It means enforcing the law against those who overstay their visas, rather than letting millions flout the generosity that gave them temporary entry.

It means imposing maximum penalties on those who smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S., both for their lawbreaking and for their cruel exploitation.

It means requiring cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement and real consequences, including the denial of federal funds, for self-described sanctuary cities, which stand in open defiance of the federal and state statutes that expressly prohibit such sanctuary policies, and which endanger the lives of U.S. citizens.

It does not mean driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, nor does it mean that states should be allowed to flout the federal law barring them from giving in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens, nor does it mean that illegal aliens should receive social security benefits, or other public benefits, except as provided by federal law.

We oppose amnesty. The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity. The American people’s rejection of en masse legalizations is especially appropriate given the federal government’s past failures to enforce the law.

Embracing Immigrant Communities
Today’s immigrants are walking in the steps of most other Americans’ ancestors, seeking the American dream and contributing culturally and economically to our nation. We celebrate the industry and love of liberty of these fellow Americans.

Both government and the private sector must do more to foster legally present immigrants’ integration into American life to advance respect for the rule of law and a common American identity. It is a national disgrace that the first experience most new Americans have is with a dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy defined by delay and confusion; we will no longer tolerate those failures.

In our multiethnic nation, everyone — immigrants and native-born alike — must embrace our core values of liberty, equality, meritocracy, and respect for human dignity and the rights of women.

One sign of our unity is our English language. For newcomers, it has always been the fastest route to prosperity in America. English empowers. We support English as the official language in our nation, while welcoming the ethnic diversity in the United States and the territories, including language.

Immigrants should be encouraged to learn English. English is the accepted language of business, commerce, and legal proceedings, and it is essential as a unifying cultural force. It is also important, as part of cultural integration, that our schools provide better education in U.S. history and civics for all children, thereby fostering a commitment to our national motto, E Pluribus Unum.

We are grateful to the thousands of new immigrants, many of them not yet citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces. Their patriotism is inspiring; it should remind the institutions of civil society of the need to embrace newcomers, assist their journey to full citizenship, and help their communities avoid patterns of isolation.

Welcoming Refugees
Our country continues to accept refugees from troubled lands all over the world. In some cases,
these are people who stood with America in dangerous times, and they have first call on our hospitality.

We oppose, however, the granting of refugee status on the basis of lifestyle or other non-political factors.


Here’s a link to the entire platform document (a 67 page Adobe pdf attachment):
http://platform.gop.com/2008Platform.pdf

Candidate Forum on 9/11

The Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration have arranged a candidate forum up in Lake in the Hills. AFLA supporters are invited to attend!

I know, some forums have too many candidates and the moderator either shields the candidates from the tough questions or the time is so limited that all the answers are about an inch deep.

Well, since the sponsoring group is all about the illegal alien problem I'm sure the topic will be thoroughly aired. We invite you to attend.

September 11 from 6 pm to 10 pm

American Legion Hall -Upstairs
1101 W. Algonquin Road
Lake in the Hills, IL 60156

A word of caution: Not all candidates are brave enough to attend such a forum. They may not be particularly proud of their record. Or, they are worried about "appearances." Or maybe they are busy at another event. Don't be too shocked to find out that your favorite candidate isn't there to participate.

See you there!

Some photos

We've posted a few photos of our meeting on Tuesday night.

http://www.legalamericans.net/photos082608.html

Thanks again for coming. Spread the word.

Thank you

It was great to see a full house at the meeting last night. Many thanks to all who attended. We hope you enjoyed the program and learned something new.

Feel free to post comments to this message. (You can use the anonymous option if you'd like.)

If we don't yet have your e-mail on file, please let us know.

Thanks again!

Just a reminder

the AFLA Meeting tomorrow night

(Tuesday, August 26th. 7:00 pm)

Email afla.heaton@sbcglobal.net for details. See you there.

Another Image Problem

One of our neighborhood watchers sent me this photo taken on August 20 on the 600 block of Jefferson.

Use a little common sense, people!