Loaded question

I was at the League of Women Voters city council candidate forum last night and the moderator asked this question:
"What other steps do you recommend we do with this quote-unquote illegal immigration problem? Would you recommend stopping people on the street, going into local businesses, stopping drivers, or knocking on residential doors while we wait for ICE to come to their senses?"

There is so much extra baggage attached to that question that it would give Paris Hilton's bellhops hernias.

But one must consider that the League has taken a position on the illegal alien crisis and the tone of this question goes right along with it. Below is the LWVUS official stand on illegals:
LWVUS Immigration Position
The League of Women Voters believes that immigration policies should promote reunification of immediate families; meet the economic, business and employment needs of the United States; and be responsive to those facing political persecution or humanitarian crises. Provision should also be made for qualified persons to enter the U.S. on student visas. All persons should receive fair treatment under the law.

The League supports federal immigration law that provides an efficient, expeditious system (with minimal or no backlogs) for legal entry of immigrants into the U.S.

To complement these goals the League supports federal policies to improve economies, education, job opportunities, and living conditions in nations with large emigrating populations.

In transition to a reformed system, the League supports provisions for unauthorized immigrants already in the country to earn legal status

The League supports federal payments to impacted communities to address the financial costs borne by states and local governments with large immigrant populations.

Criteria for Legal Admission to the U.S.

The League supports the following criteria for legal admission of persons into the United States:

Family reunification of spouses or minor children with authorized immigrants or citizens;
Flight from persecution or response to humanitarian crises in home countries;
Economic, business and employment needs in the U.S.;
Education and training needs of the U.S.;
Educational program opportunities; and
Lack of a history of serious criminal activity.
Administration and Enforcement

The League supports due process for all persons, including the right to a fair hearing, right to counsel, right of appeal and right to humane treatment.

The League supports:

Improved technology to facilitate employer verification of employee status;
Verification documents, such as status cards and work permits, with secure identifiers;
Significant fines and penalties for employers who hire unauthorized workers;
Improved technology for sharing information among federal agencies;
More effective tracking of individuals who enter the United States; and
Increased personnel at borders.
The League also supports programs allowing foreign workers to enter and leave the U.S. to meet seasonal or sporadic labor needs.

Unauthorized Immigrants Already in the U.S.

In achieving overall policy goals, the League supports a system for unauthorized immigrants already in the country to earn legal status, including citizenship, by paying taxes, learning English, studying civics and meeting other relevant criteria. While policy reforms, including a path to legal status, remain unachieved, the League does not support deporting unauthorized immigrants who have no history of criminal activity.

http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=LWVUSImmigrationStudy&CONTENTID=11176&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm

Send a tea bag

There is a national movement to make a statement to our elected officials.

The idea is to send them a tea bag so they get it before tax day on April 15th.

Here's a list of my elected officials. Your list may vary depending on where you live.
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Rep Bill Foster
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510

Senator Dick Durbin
309 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Roland Burris
523 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Mike Noland
M115 State House
Springfield, IL 62706

Rep Keith Farnham
244-N Stratton Bldg.
Springfield, IL 62706

Governor Pat Quinn
207 State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706

Kane County Chairman
Karen McConnaughay
719 Batavia Avenue, Building A
Geneva, Illinois 60134

Elgin Mayor Ed Schock
355 Jefferson Ave
Elgin, IL 60120

The tea bag symbolically says: We're out here. We're not real happy with the way government is run.

For those of you who would like to go downtown on April 15th and protest personally, a group is putting together a bus trip. I think it'll cost you about $20 for the bus ride.
Here's the contact if you are interested:
Joe Miller email: de3man@sbcglobal.net
phone: 224-629-8062

The evil love darkness

There are four lights in the tunnel under Summit Street at Hiawatha. Here's what they look like today. (Photo taken 3/26/09)



The city did a make-over of the tunnel last July. They installed the vandal-resistant lights, added trash bins at each end, put on a fresh coat of paint, and poured a new walkway underneath to take care of the drainage problems.


But within two weeks of the installation, they began spray painting over the lenses.

The city has spent a significant amount of money to light the way for our youth.

It's really sad, don't you think?

John 3:19

A chance to give some feedback

Here's an Elgin Public Works Survey.
It is mostly about parking, but also has questions about leaf pick up, snow removal, and street sweeping. It's only a few questions.

Click here if you wish to take the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=aw_2fXw_2fCkKC672z_2fZ8gXAkw_3d_3d

Gee, I don't know what to say

Last Saturday I went out walking my neighborhood for Prigge, Robins, and Dunne. On the way I took some photos of fresh graffiti. I went home and sent this report to the Elgin Police.

And I copied the three incumbent candidates for city council, on the outside chance one of them would respond back. No one has.

Here’s what I wrote:
I would like to report new graffiti. First, thank you for the clean-up across from the Boys/Girls Club on Dundee. And I noticed that the crew was working this morning cleaning the graffiti off at the American Little League field.

But they need to come back. The same area has been tagged again, just last night I suppose. There are pitchforks and swastikas and SVLK and MLD painted all over the place. The tunnel under Summit.

Three different billboards attached to the fence at the softball field. Across the street at the boarded-up day care center. Further down the street at 850 Summit they have tagged the door of the National City bank, visible to everyone who uses the drive-up or ATM. (How many dozens of Elginites a day see that?) Don't stop. At 860 Summit the old marks are still there from last YEAR on the sign by the sidewalk. But they have tagged the Yield sign, the US Mailbox, and a parking sign. Just drive up along the north side of Murray Auto Parts and you'll spot them.

I suppose in the data analysis for the EPD this will all be lumped as ONE incident. Who cares. Half of what is turned in is not considered "gang" graffiti so it really doesn't matter.

Those of us who live here just want it cleaned up and the gangs sent packing so it doesn't happen again. And that isn't likely. Sorry to unload on you. It is going to be a long, hot summer.
(That's the end of my email)

What was I expecting the incumbents to say? Well, nothing. I would have been surprised to get a response from them.

But here’s my dream response. It is pure fantasy on my part:
Dear Mr. Heaton,
Thank you for calling this to our attention. We rely on our citizens to report problems in their neighborhoods so we can get them cleaned up.

I share your concern about graffiti as an indicator of the level of gang activity. We are always looking for new ideas.

In fact, on Monday we are meeting with Congressman Mark Kirk to discuss a new item of anti-gang legislation.

I have made arrangements for a van to take the mayor and my fellow council members to the press conference. I have also requested the presence of Chief Womack and Sheriff Perez. We have compiled our data regarding gangs and have asked Perez to give us a report on the number of illegal aliens currently in the Kane County Jail population.

After a careful study of the bill we plan to lobby Bill Foster for passage.

We are committed to cleaning up our image and we think fighting gangs on every front is an important part of that campaign.

Sincerely,
Your fantasy incumbent

Well, the letter was a dream, but the Mark Kirk meeting was not. Click the link below to read about it. Notice that Elgin was absent from that press conference.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/il10_kirk/Deport_illegal_alien_gang_members.html

A message...

...for the yard sign thieves:

He didn't say that.

You weren't listening.
I attended the NENA forum at Sherman last night. I recorded the candidates.

Bruce Trego got another ovation from the Morales groupies in the audience when he said, "I would have to say in somewhat response to Mr. Prigge, I don't believe that illegal immigration is the sole cause of all our problems."

At which time someone in the audience called out, "He didn't say that. You weren't listening."

You know what, that man in the audience was right. Prigge was talking about Elgin's reputation and how illegal aliens are part of that reputation. He went on to talk about overcrowded housing and gangs.

Here's Prigge's entire concluding comment. You decide.
I’m John Prigge. I was born upstairs. Fifty years ago.
I’ve been in customer service jobs since I was 14, from making the world’s worst ice cream cones at Mr. Burger on Dundee Avenue, to working with the phone company, and then for the last 19 years I’ve been self-employed as an auctioneer, running my own business. It’s just me.

Graduate of Elgin High. Bob Gilliam was my dean. And I say that because I am very proud to have had Bob as my dean.

What I’m talking about with my perspective of what the question was, “What are the first things you want to do?”, how can we NOT go after what I believe the number one problem is here in Elgin? How can that NOT be the first thing?

The first thing is that we have a bad reputation in this city. It’s not the worst. It’s savable. We’re off the road. We’re not in the ditch, but we’re off the road.

We have to deal with illegal aliens. We have to deal with overcrowded housing. We have to deal with the reality, and what’s worse, the PERCEPTION of our reputation.

And to get real specific, right here, four blocks away, on Halloween night there were two shootings. One kid lost his life at the corner of Douglas and Plum. Outside. It wasn’t a fight that was in a basement and it wasn’t a lovers’ quarrel that went horrible. It was a gang-related shooting on that night. That kid died on the corner--outside—by a gun.

Somebody went outside and shot and killed that kid and shot another person who walked to this hospital, or came to this hospital and got treatment.

We’ve had five murders in 20 months in this city. Four of them are gang related. This happened in our vaunted historic district. In NENA. This happened here.

I travel about 25,000 miles a year, and people always ask me about Elgin. I say, “Oh! We have beautiful homes.” I tell them about Chris Dansey’s house. I tell them about all the great houses.

My doctor used to live on the 900 block on Douglas, and everything else.

We have to change that. We have to change that. We have to go after that. That is going to open up so many opportunities. So many good feelings. Guess what? I firmly believe it’s going to raise the value and the quality of our lives. It’s going to raise the value of our homes. It’s going to take burdens off of other things that we’re paying the price for right now.

So, johnprigge.com, April 7th, four year. My family’s been in Elgin for about 80 years, up on the north end on Stewart Avenue. We need your votes. This is a great opportunity. We have four seats out of seven available. That’s massive. We can change the direction of this city with one day. Four votes of the seven positions open. Thank you. (end of Prigge speech)

A New Boston Tea Party

I’m bone tired of scandals in Congress

…special-interests and lobbyists

…government sleeping through the alarms about subprime mortgages, illegal aliens, terrorist threats

…billions of dollars thrown around like pocket change

…Congressional hearings AFTER the airplane goes down or the children get poisoned by dangerous imported toys

…searching in vain to find products made in the USA…

Join us on April 15th in downtown Chicago (or any other major city) to tell Washington we’ve had enough.

I learned that when illegal aliens marched on Carpentersville city hall on October 2, 2006 they brought in busloads of protesters from Chicago, Aurora, and Waukegan. The bus ride was FREE, and they gave them a “stipend” for dinner. And they handed the protesters free signs printed up by the unions. I learned that groups like ACORN, ICIRR and NCLR receive government grants to do their work.

I am proud to inform you that you’ll have to pay for your own bus ride and there is no free lunch, but you can ride the bus with us to the Tax Day Tea Party in downtown Chicago on April 15th.

If you are as tired as I am about the way government operates, join me by reserving a seat on the bus.

Here are the details:
Please plan on attending one of the over 115 (and growing daily) Nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties to be held in cities in all 50 states on April 15th 2009. Information can be found at these websites:
DontGoMovement http://dontgo.ning.com/
NationwideTax Day Tea Party http://taxdayteaparty.com/

For Kane County and surrounding area folks, There will be a Tea Party in Chicago on the 15th at the Daley Center, 12N to 2PM. We are in the process of arranging charter bus transportation at an extremely fair cost (to help avoid traffic and parking issues and gas expenses for folks).

Please contact Joe Miller, Kane County and Area co-coordinator, at de3man@sbcglobal.net or 224.629.8062 for details.

Consider participating in the NATIONWIDE TAX DAY TEA PARTY 4/15/09 at a city near you. Go to http://dontgo.ning.com/ for more info on this important event. Support your Constitution and make your voices heard.

Scenes from the rally in Chicago in February:

The rules don't apply

Have you noticed how some people think the rules don't apply to them?

For example, the Insurance Research Council has determined that 15% of Illinois drivers don't have car insurance, compared to a national average of 13.8%. We all know car insurance is required. But some think they have a right to drive without it.

Some folks think they have a special dispensation from God to come to the United States...and that we should allow them to stay even though they broke the law.

And so we enact more laws and regulations to govern our lives.

In 1798 John Adams warned us that our Constitution is "wholly inadequate" to govern people who lack a moral base.

I was reminded of that this morning when I discovered that Mike Robins campaign signs had been stolen from my front yard (again!).

It's against the law to steal something from someone else. It's against the law to come on to the property of another to commit a crime.

But stealing political signs violates another principle dear to us. The naturalization test to become a citizen asks, "What is our most important right as citizens?"

Answer: "The right to vote."

Someone is tampering with that right and it angers me.

I've lived abroad. I've watched the not-so-orderly transfer of power in a Third World country. I've watched mobs shut down a city of 300,000 for a week as they tore up streets, overturned cars, and burned newspaper kiosks in the street.

I don't ever want to see that here.

Shame on those who came on my property and stole the Mike Robins signs. You have no sense of right and wrong. You are the reason we have to pass so many laws telling us what we can and cannot do...BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GOVERN YOURSELF.

The Importance of Voting

POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

What is LULAC?

It is well known that Elgin City Council Candidate Emi Morales is an officer in an organization called LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens).

Morales doesn’t talk much about it at the candidate forums, preferring to say that she is involved with various boards and organizations. We think her involvement in LULAC is an important one, given our need for greater cooperation between Immigration and the Elgin Police Department. And given the lawsuit in the works at U46.

Read the LULAC position on these issues and ask yourself if you want a LULAC board member on the Elgin City Council.

LULAC opposes ICE ACCESS and 287(g) enforcement:
From an Illinois LULAC Resolution (July2007)
“Therefore, be it resolved that LULAC stand in full support of the four demands listed (below) and the boycott of businesses who do not support these demands and urges the Mayor and City Council of Waukegan to withdraw their 287g application immediately.”
The four demands:
- Rescind the 287(g) application to enlist Waukegan police officers to act as I.C.E. agents.
- Stop the vehicle impoundment program and racial profiling.
- End Building Code Inspector harassment of Family housing.
- Establish an independent Police Review Board."
http://www.lulac.org/advocacy/resolutions/2007/immi2.pdf


From a LULAC Press Release on ICE/local police programs (August 2007)
“LULAC has always come out firmly against involving city police in immigration matters. This is the role of the federal government. The local police departments do not have the resources or training to enforce immigration law,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales.
http://lulac.org/advocacy/press/2007/immigrationreform8.html

LULAC in court:
School District Discrimination (June 2007)
“The League of United Latin American Citizens condemned the 5-4 United States Supreme Court ruling Thursday invalidating two voluntary integration plans in Seattle and Louisville school districts because they used race in some students’ school assignments in an effort to end racial isolation and prevent resegregation.”
http://www.lulac.org/advocacy/press/2007/brown.html

Redistricting in Texas (December 2005)
“The disingenuous promoters of the redistricting plan have made no secret of the fact that this is a flagrant attempt to increase their numbers in Congress at the expense of the voting rights of the Latino community in Texas.” (Hector Flores, national president of LULAC)
http://www.lulac.org/advocacy/press/2005/perry.html

On the appointment of Justice Alito (October 2005)
“The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) expressed today its frustration over President Bush’s nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is the third opportunity Bush has missed to diversify the court by not naming a Hispanic to the seat. It is clear to LULAC officials that Bush has misled the Hispanic community by not keeping his promise of being a Hispanic-friendly president in the courts.”
http://www.lulac.org/advocacy/press/2005/alito.html

Do you still want to vote for Emi Morales?

The East Side Orphans

One of the things John Prigge talks about is the plight of Elgin's East Side. Well, let's take a tour of the East Side to show you what we mean. (Don't worry, we won't ask you to get out of your car.) But before I show you the pictures let's talk about the promise of a new development.

Remember when people started to move in to Cobbler's Crossing? Think of the promise. And retail responded. Jewel moved down there. An auto repair/tire store opened up. Even Dominick's bought land and put in a parking lot.

We had the big True Value over there and a Sears Hardware.

What happened? Well, I think this person who wrote in to AFLA says it best:
"I've lived in this town for 20 years. I purposefully leave town to do most of my shopping, so that I don't have to shop in bilingual stores. I now avoid certain parts of town. Who's country is this?! You sure can't tell any more. We are a joke for other communities in the area. Someone has to do something."

Well, here's a tour of the East Side, evidence of Schock's "booming ecomony."

This was once a tire store right next to the new Cobbler's Crossing. Now available:Here's what it looks like where the Dominick's was supposed to be. A parking lot and chain link fences:The shuttered video store and the revolving door of smaller stores that come and go at the outlot building:

Closer to downtown, another store available. (Gee, do you think the graffiti helps sell space?):

Here's the day care center:

Moving on down to Dundee Avenue, the donut shop "temporarily" closed: More space available on Dundee:

This mecanica general (general mechanic, automotive) even closed down, despite the fancy street lights in the neighborhood:

Here's a medical office closed. Expect more of the same after Sherman Hospital moves out to Randall Road:

Unless you are a clinic. They thrive on the East Side: Another thriving business. Haircuts in the living room:

Or this beauty shop where no one speaks English. Feeling brave today, ladies?

Of course, if you talk to Schock or the city council they have no idea what you're talking about. Just look at the growth out west.

It'll take more than giving out Image Awards to fix this. Prigge is right on to talk about the CAUSES of our plight and what a city can do to correct a well-deserved bad reputation.

Did I hear that right?

The Candidate Forum Greatest Hits - March 2, 2009
On the question about whether or not the city staff should regularly audit contractors who do business with the city to see if they are hiring illegal aliens.
Candidate Bruce Trego said: “No, I would not. In fact, Hell no, I would not. I would fight such a measure. It’s too divisive. This isn’t Germany 1939; it’s America 2009. It is extremely divisive for our community. So, no. No way.” (It is interesting to note that at this point Trego got a round of applause from a group of people in the audience wearing Emi Morales T-shirts.)

Now, keeping in mind that the city agreed to do this way back in January of 2008, the comments of incumbent John Walters are particularly interesting. Walters said: “In our contracts that we have with a lot of our contractors we do get a spot-check and we do find them. We do make them give us their lists and they do have to prove that they have been E-Verified. But to ask AT&T or ComCast or anybody like that, forget it; you’re not going to get it. So really I can’t say that you could do this with all employees and I don’t know who the employee would be that would have to do it, because we’ve had to let employees go in this budgetary crisis and everyone that’s working down there is working almost to the nth of their degree so I don’t know who we’d assign this job to. I don’t know that it can happen.”

We wish to thank Councilman Walters for confirming that the January 2008 city initiative was nothing more than window-dressing designed to calm people down rather than address the problem of illegal aliens.

When answering the question about the long delay in getting a response from Immigration on ICE ACCESS (enforcement support) and what we should do about it, Bruce Trego once again chimed in with: “War on drugs, war on terrorism, and now we are going to have a war on illegal aliens and criminal aliens. We wonder why our taxes are so high. It’s because we’re out there fighting everything and we’re expecting all sorts of services. The police department is basically doing what it can. ICE is overloaded at this point simply because other communities, such as ourselves, are putting the pressure on them. I think that we’re doing everything that we can at this point. We have other issues that are far more important that need our attention, than the illegal immigrant situation.”

About the overcrowding problem in Elgin housing, once again Mr. Trego says: “When we chased ‘those people’ out (of Casa Linda) we didn’t provide any alternative for where they were going to go, which to me is when overcrowding started. We basically haven’t allowed affordable housing to be built in this town for many, many years. We don’t need more affordable housing. We need the right, appropriate housing; the right size, in the right locations. We need to expand it and scatter it so it’s not ghetto-ized like it’s becoming at this point in time. So, we’ve kind of caused the problem to ourselves. Poor people don’t move out of town, they simply move in with each other. We’ve been chasing our tails on this issue. So until we start getting down to the affordable housing issue, and starting to build those, we’re going to continue to have these problems.”

The next question is about the rule of law. Here’s the question: “When a council member is sworn into office he takes the oath to uphold the laws. Illegals are breaking the laws by being here. Do you believe that anyone who supports or defends illegal immigration should sit on the Elgin council? Yes or no?”
Walters: “Yes.”
Dunne: “No. They should not sit on the council.”
Figueroa: “Yes.”
Khan: “No.”
Nowak: “No.”
Prigge: “No.”
Quezada: “No.”
Scruggs: “No.”
Trego: “Yes, anybody should be able to sit whether they support illegal or not.”

More to come. It takes time to transcribe the tape.

Sorry, we don't do that

Imagine this scenario. You look out the kitchen window and your car is gone. You call 911 and the conversation goes like this:
Operator: “This is 911. What is the nature of your emergency?”
You: “My car has been stolen.”
Operator: “I’m sorry sir. We aren’t taking calls for auto theft these days. We are so busy with violent crime. Our jails are full. Call back in a month or two. Perhaps we can handle your case then. (Click.)”

Now I ask you, would you accept that? Of course you wouldn’t. But that is exactly what the federal government is telling us. An illegal alien’s crime has to rise to a certain level before they will even consider picking him up for deportation.

And that level is extremely high. Fewer than 10% of criminal illegal aliens arrested in Elgin were picked up for deportation. They were known criminals. They were reported to ICE. ICE refused to pick them up.

Some say the undocumented are a peace-loving bunch so that isn’t a problem. Well, the public safety concerns are HUGE. There have been efforts by a few in Congress to mandate deportation for illegals who are picked up for DUI, but those efforts have been defeated despite reports that a dozen people nationwide die at the hands of illegal aliens driving drunk EACH DAY. And that's just the DUI's. Another dozen are killed by illegal alien violence. (Compare that to the troops killed in Iraq.)

The federal 287(g) program was passed by Congress back in 1996. It gives trained local police enhanced authority to arrest and process illegal aliens. The text is at the bottom of this blog. I defy you to find anything about minimum crime requirements or even guidelines about felonies or misdemeanors.

Operationally, ICE is granting amnesty every day and illegal aliens know this. They are well aware that the risks of being deported are negligible. In other words, crime pays.

We won’t fix that by waiting for Congress to do something. Their "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" means a blanket amnesty program to let off pressure. No wonder the public screams every time they try to pass it.

We fix it by taking local action- demanding that Homeland Security gets its act together so it can enforce the laws on the books.

Here's the text of 287(g):

110 STAT. 3009–563 PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996
Section 287 (8 U.S.C. 1357) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(g)(1) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States
Code, the Attorney General may enter into a written agreement
with a State, or any political subdivision of a State, pursuant
to which an officer or employee of the State or subdivision, who
is determined by the Attorney General to be qualified to perform
a function of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation,
apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States (including
the transportation of such aliens across State lines to detention
centers), may carry out such function at the expense of the State
or political subdivision and to the extent consistent with State
and local law.
‘‘(2) An agreement under this subsection shall require that
an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State
performing a function under the agreement shall have knowledge
of, and adhere to, Federal law relating to the function, and shall
contain a written certification that the officers or employees
performing the function under the agreement have received adequate
training regarding the enforcement of relevant Federal
immigration laws.
‘‘(3) In performing a function under this subsection, an officer
or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State shall
be subject to the direction and supervision of the Attorney General.
‘‘(4) In performing a function under this subsection, an officer
or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State may
use Federal property or facilities, as provided in a written agreement
between the Attorney General and the State or subdivision.
‘‘(5) With respect to each officer or employee of a State or
political subdivision who is authorized to perform a function under
this subsection, the specific powers and duties that may be, or
are required to be, exercised or performed by the individual, the
duration of the authority of the individual, and the position of
the agency of the Attorney General who is required to supervise
and direct the individual, shall be set forth in a written agreement
between the Attorney General and the State or political subdivision.
PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996 110 STAT. 3009–564
‘‘(6) The Attorney General may not accept a service under
this subsection if the service will be used to displace any Federal
employee.
‘‘(7) Except as provided in paragraph (8), an officer or employee
of a State or political subdivision of a State performing functions
under this subsection shall not be treated as a Federal employee
for any purpose other than for purposes of chapter 81 of title
5, United States Code, (relating to compensation for injury) and
sections 2671 through 2680 of title 28, United States Code (relating
to tort claims).
‘‘(8) An officer or employee of a State or political subdivision
of a State acting under color of authority under this subsection,
or any agreement entered into under this subsection, shall be
considered to be acting under color of Federal authority for purposes
of determining the liability, and immunity from suit, of the officer
or employee in a civil action brought under Federal or State law.
‘‘(9) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require
any State or political subdivision of a State to enter into an agreement
with the Attorney General under this subsection.
‘‘(10) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require
an agreement under this subsection in order for any officer or
employee of a State or political subdivision of a State—
‘‘(A) to communicate with the Attorney General regarding
the immigration status of any individual, including reporting
knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in
the United States; or
‘‘(B) otherwise to cooperate with the Attorney General in
the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens
not lawfully present in the United States.’’.

ICE gets audited

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report about the 287(g) program. Here’s my summary of the Executive Summary:
ICE needs better management controls over local agencies.
ICE needs better-defined objectives for the program.
ICE needs to spell out a standard supervision policy.
ICE needs to create a standard report for local agencies to use

Some are trying to make this report into something it is not. They claim that local police are acting like renegades and arresting illegal aliens for minor offenses. Actually local police are enforcing the immigration laws of the United States.

In the final analysis it really doesn’t matter HOW a criminal illegal alien is discovered; they qualify for deportation according to the law. The fact that ICE is not prepared for the volume of illegals in local custody does not change the facts.

Once again the feds let us down and somehow it’s the fault of the local cops. Shame on those who paint the problem this way.

And shame on those who call these illegal aliens "victims" simply because 287(g) makes them nervous. It should make them nervous; they aren't supposed to be here. That's how law enforcement works.

For those who like to go to the source, here are the GAO documents:
Link to Executive Summary (1 page- pdf):
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09109high.pdf

Link to Full Report (48 pages- pdf):
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0867.pdf

What does Life Safety look like?

City Council candidate Richard Dunne talks about Life Safety as a key concern in Elgin. He ought to know what he’s talking about, being a firefighter here for two decades.

But what does he mean by Life Safety problems?

Well, here’s an example from Anaheim California. The lease said two adults and two children lived in this small apartment. In reality there were ten people and eight dogs living there.

Here’s what the apartment looked like after the fire:

Forty people in all were displaced by the fire.

But fortunately no lives were lost.

Not so with this fire in Chicago.

Two children died here, and two adults were seriously injured.

Here’s what the Sun Times reported about the living conditions:
Larry Langford, fire media affairs director, said the brown brick bungalow in the 3200 block of West 66th Place has "the earmarks of a rooming house."
"Each room has its own little things, food, like a little hotel room," Langford said. "It just kind of resembled an SRO (single room occupancy)."

Langford said he had not seen the basement, but was told it was similar to the rest of the house with mattresses on the floor. Langford estimated there were at least 10 people living in the home.

A next-door neighbor estimated there were 13 people, including six children, living on the first floor and in the basement and attic.

…The fire was contained to the basement and smoke damage was limited to the first floor. There was no evidence of a smoke detector in the basement. A working smoke detector was found in the attic. Fire officials were trying to determine if a smoke detector found on the first floor was properly working.

I know at least one other City Council candidate who feels the solution is to build an affordable house for everyone. My guess is that his approach would appeal to…I don’t know…maybe FOUR BILLION PEOPLE around the world. That would make Elgin a destination, wouldn’t it?

I’ll spare you the details of violent crimes in Joliet and Aurora in recent years in overcrowded housing situations.

And I don’t buy the notion put out there by one city council member that the problem is a family with 12 kids in Sunset Park. The truth is, past inaction by our city council has resulted in rare situations of code enforcement problems when children are forced to move back home. Let’s put the blame where it belongs and leave the red herrings out of this.

Gratitude

If you’ve ever been involved in any volunteer group, be it PTA, church, Little League…whatever, you know that the work moves forward because of the effort of the same ten people.

I just want to thank these folks who beat the streets and made the calls.
Nancy
Lydia
Dave S.
Jan
Lynda
Pam
Sally
Ted
Clyde
Dave W.

Without the faithful few we would not have been able to put on a successful forum last night.

And I want to thank the American Legion for the use of the hall. As always, they were great to work with.

And a special note of gratitude to Chuck Keysor who loaned us the countdown timer. Chuck runs the Near West Neighbors Association so be sure to support his forum at 7:00 pm on April 2nd at the Lighthouse Church, 325 South Street.

I’m also grateful for the candidates, their willingness to run for office…their willingness to go through the “meat grinder” of campaigning, and the fact that they showed up last night. Just imagine going through a job interview with 150 people!

Mostly I’m grateful to all of you who attended last night. One of the first to arrive was a gentleman using one of those wheeled walkers to get around. I glanced at the thermometer as I left the house to set up for the forum and it was 22 degrees. That gent had every reason to stay home last night, but he didn’t. He came to be part of the political process of this great country.

I thank him and I thank YOU for attending.
~Doug

Don't forget!

See you at the candidate forum.

TONIGHT at 7:00 pm

American Legion

820 N Liberty

Elgin