Tuesday, October 21, 2008

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.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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

Friday, October 10, 2008

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.