Saturday, February 28, 2009

A new idea

We’ve been trying to get Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do their job in Elgin, that is: enforce the immigration laws now on the books and remove those who are here illegally.

But ICE has a new name up in Lake County:
Intelligence Commitment Execution

Intelligence- Back on August 6th Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran did an audit of the inmates in the jail and found out:
~21.5% of them were in the United States ILLEGALLY
~50% of the murder suspects in custody were illegal aliens
~$4 MILLION of the jail budget goes to housing illegal aliens
~His 287(g) certification was being delayed TWO YEARS

Commitment- Curran called a press conference on September 16th and wanted some answers. All sorts of politicians from the county and the state stood with the Sheriff in calling for help.

Execution- Lo and behold he got results. 260 inmates since September 1 have been slated for deportation once they do their time here in Illinois.

Compare that to the Kane County Jail where Sheriff Perez is “insulted” if you even ask about Immigration enforcement.

Or the city fathers in Elgin who are waiting patiently for ICE to answer their phone calls. It’s been 15 months already. Boy, are they ever patient.

So far Elgin has the “Intelligence” part. We know who has passed through our lock up. We know their immigration status and their crimes.

But we’re stuck on demanding a Commitment, which means we’ll never get the Execution part.

You see, ICE is very busy and lacks the resources to service our community properly. (Yeah, right! Because they are up in Lake County hauling them out of the country.)

The Elgin mantra is: We are at the mercy of the federal government.

Is everyone OK with that? I know two guys running for council who are NOT OK WITH THAT AND WILL PUSH BACK.

John Prigge and Mike Robins. Are any others willing to step forward and commit to stronger enforcement?

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Parking problems

Here in Elgin we are grappling with a host of parking problems, even experimenting with odd-even parking bans in some areas.

With the snow plows we sometimes see a car get the hook for parking in the wrong place.

It’s pretty simple really. If your car is parked where it’s not supposed to be it is subject to being ticketed and towed.
If you’ve been at O’Hare to pick someone up in the last seven years you know they are very serious about parking and will tow your car within minutes as a matter of security.
It doesn’t matter if you have an new Cadillac or an old rust bucket, the parking rules apply to everyone.

And we all get upset when cops park in a tow away zone because it just isn’t fair. Hey, we can tell when he’s investigating a crime or just grabbing a coffee. So why is this issue about illegal aliens so hard to understand? Why do so many people think the law doesn’t apply to certain people? What part of “You can’t park here” don’t they understand?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Map index

Here’s a list of the census maps I’ve compiled:

Foreign-born arriving from 1990 to 2000 and living in Elgin
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-arrivals.html

Elgin residents speaking English “less than well”
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-about-on-street.html

Elgin residents speaking a language other than English at home
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/language-at-home.html

Density of Elginites who are foreign-born
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/cool-maps-acs.html

Local maps – Foreclosure zones (2008) and gang violence (2007)
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/some-local-maps.html

Percentage of foreign-born who have become citizens
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/becoming-citizen.html

Drop outs and educational attainment by adults
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/drop-outs.html

Household income
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-much-do-you-make.html

Rental amount for various Elgin neighborhoods
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2009/02/rent.html

Rent

This map shows how much people were paying for rent in Elgin in 2000. You'll note that the amount is $0 at the Elgin Mental Health Center. They may not be paying rent but it is probably one of the the most expensive places in the city to live, akin to the cost of living in a nursing home. We pay the rent for them. But I digress.

There are an estimated 10,340 renter-occupied housing units in Elgin according to the most recent ACS data, up from 9,399 in the 2000 census. (An interesting number given the report that Elgin hasn't built any new apartments for over two decades.)

How much do you make?

This map shows household income as reported in the 2000 Census. It looks rather bleak, but the reality may be even worse when you consider the number of homes that house multiple families.

As a city, Elgin beats the national average. In 2000 our median household income was $52,605 compared to the national median of $41,994.

Don't look now, but the nation is gaining on us. The ACS estimate now shows Elgin at $53,868 but the national median is at $50,007.

But, of course, we have the "advantage" of high property taxes you don't find elsewhere.

Triangulating this low income problem is the data from U46. In Elgin city schools the percentage of low income students is over 60%! In some schools it is approaching 90%.

Drop outs

This Census 2000 map tells a very grim story. Elginites over the age of 25 who have not attended any high school. None. Not even close to a GED. The dark green signifies areas where 30% to 43% of all adults never completed 9th grade.

Here's the companion map; people in the 16 to 19 age bracket not attending school.

Did you know there were areas in Elgin where 60% of our young adults are not enrolled in school? Who knew?

For a little history lesson, in 1960 53% of American-born adult men were high school drop-outs. By 1998 that number had dwindled to 9%. Imagine the accomplishment of our nation to enthrone education to that extent in only 40 years. These maps suggest we may have won the battle but lost the war.

So, it breaks down like this for the Elgin population over 25 years of age:

Less that 9th grade: 2000- 14.1% 2006- 15.2%

9th-12th (no diploma): 2000-12.2% 2006- 9.7%

Bachelors degree: 2000- 14.5% 2006- 15.1%

Masters or higher: 2000- 6.0% 2006- 5.7%

Becoming a citizen

This Census map from 2000 shows the percentage of foreign-born in each neighborhood who have become naturalized citizens: Note that the areas with the lowest percentage of naturalization (tan and yellow) are also the neighborhoods with the highest percentage of foreign-born.

Here are the numbers for all of Elgin. In 2000 we had 6,059 naturalized citizens. Six years later we added another 1,400 voters through naturalization to arrive at 7,458.

Non-citizens totalled 16,199 in 2000 and grew to 19,964 in the ACS six years later.

Like learning English, naturalization is an indicator of assimilation. Part of the equation is how long they've been in the country. (It takes time to qualify and prepare for citizenship.) But Duke University created an assimilation index and factored in "time in country." Here's a link to their study results: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_53.htm

They measured civic, cultural, and economic assimilation with fascinating results.

The top five source countries on the assimilation index were:
Germany
Panama
Czechoslovakia
Austria
Italy

The bottom five source countries on the assimilation index were:
Nepal
Mexico
Guatemala
Honduras
Cameroon

I've learned that assimilation is a touchy subject, but the objective indicators aren't looking good in Elgin.

New arrivals

Here you see the Census 2000 map showing where the new arrivals are settling. This shows the location of the foreign-born lving in Elgin who entered the country between 1990 and 2000. Numbers? The Census says that from 1990-2000 11,389 additional foreign-born came to Elgin to live.

The ASC (since 2000) adds another 7,504. (Sorry, no maps from the ACS to tell us exactly where.)

Summary: Elgin's foreign-born population grew by 11,389 between 1990 and 2000. Elgin's TOTAL population growth in that time period was 17,457, leaving the American-born growth at only 6,068.

That trend is continuing. The more recent ACS data shows that Elgin has grown from 94,487 to 100,014, a total of 5,527. But 5,164 of that was growth in the foreign-born population. The school district data bears that out.

Other data from Pew Research indicates that the more recently a foreign-born person has come here the more likely they are to be an illegal alien.
There is some evidence that the trend began to reverse itself in 2008 but only slightly, data that contradicts those who say illegals will not self-deport if we impose stricter enforcement.

Note also that the east side appears saturated and the foreign-born are settling in ever-expanding areas of the city.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Some local maps

Keeping in mind the census maps (and I have more) here are a couple of local maps for your consideration.
Here is the one prepared by the city regarding foreclosures. It was prepared in order to have information about spending the $2 MILLION PLUS of federal money to buy foreclosed properties, fix them up, and flip them. (They're guessing fewer than 15 homes.)

The most distressed area is the darkest, called "Priority Area 1." Now, here is a map of publicized gang violence in 2007, three dead, seven wounded, and lots of cases of "shots fired."


Dirty political games

Summit Street has been picked clean of yard signs for MIKE ROBINS, whom we endorse in the primary election tomorrow.

Some evil doers stole Mike's yard signs last night. They took them from the corner of Summit and Shady Oaks all the way down to Summit and Liberty.

And they were selective. They only took signs that said "AFLA Endorsed" on them.

Real mature. They did NOT disturb Emi Morales signs or Juan Figueroa signs a few feet away. They left standing signs for Jim Shales, Penny Wegman, and Fred Steffen.

This was no school punk prank. These were adult punks. The guy who liberated the signs in front of my house was 5'9" tall, brown skinned, shaved head.

Remember Mike Robins tomorrow when you vote. He's on Candidate Central if you want to check out his ideas. http://legalamericans.net/ROBINS.html

What about on the street?

Ok, so you saw the map in the post below on the language spoken at home. The next question is, "How are they at speaking English when they leave the home?"

This 2000 Census map shows the concentration of people who speak English "less than well" according to their own evaluation.

Again, the dark green indicates that in those areas somewhere between 43% and 62% consider themselves deficient in the English language.

City-wide they made up 22% of the entire population or 18,821 in 2000. Six years later there are 29.7% of Elginites who speak English "less than well." That's 27,182 people!

Nation-wide 8.1% of the population speak English "less than well" which is either fine evidence of our "diversity" or a strong indication we have created an enclave.

This is not a local problem. Here's a November 2007 report from Pew on the subject:
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=82

No time to rest

On to the FOUR YEAR CANDIDATES
for Elgin City Council...
Candidate Forum
Monday, March 2nd at 7:00 pm
American Legion Hall
820 North Liberty
Elgin 60120

VOTE!

Election Day is TOMORROW!
The weather promises to be warmer (if 37 degrees is warm).
Visit our Candidate Central, review their answers, and vote.
http://www.legalamericans.net/CANDIDATEINDEX.html

Language at home

This map shows the language spoken at home by people over the age of five.

The dark green reveals that in these areas 63% to 80% speak a language other than English at home.

Again, this was the 2000 Census map. The ACS survey taken in 2006 estimates that the "Other Than English" group city-wide has grown from 31,106 persons to 38,596.

The percentage has also swelled from 36.4% to 42.2% of the population. The US average is: 19.5% speak another language at home.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Cool maps - ACS

The U S Census Bureau has a website called FactFinder where they have all sorts of info about Elgin. Some of it is rather startling. The 2000 Census has rather complete data and the ACS fills in the blanks since then.

The ACS is American Community Survey, a sampling of 3 million people a year. From that sample they make some educated guesses about the population.
So...the maps are from the year 2000 and I'll try to add some narrative about the ACS updates.
The first map is the foreign-born population:
The dark green shows areas of the city where the foreign-born population make up between 42% and 53% of the total population.

In the 2000 census there were 22,258 foreign-born inhabitants, making up 23.7% of Elgin's total population.
The ACS estimate (2005) put the foreign-born at 27,422 or 27.4% of the population. The US average of foreign-born is 12.5%.

Summary: The foreign-born are concentrated on the east side of town between the river and Liberty Street and Congdon and Rte 20.

We are adding approximately 1,000 foreign-born per year and they are growing faster than the general population. Elgin has over two times the national average of foreign-born population.

For those who want to do their own research here's the link to FactFinder:
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en

Saturday, February 21, 2009

A different foreclosure story

We have for a couple of years now been reading headlines like “A Future Foreclosed” where the reporters interview a family with medical bills and perhaps a layoff. Sometimes they give themselves the leeway to say the house was too expensive to begin with and the family was on the edge right from the start.

And that is the face of a foreclosed home.

Here’s another one. The owner rents it out. To six adults and four children. They’ve brought home two new babies in the last year alone. It is a two-bedroom home with a “family room” in the basement. Code says people can’t sleep down there, but they do.

Five of those six adults go to work every day. Let’s say they earn the ridiculous sum of $5 an hour. Total household income would be over $4,300 a month, clearly enough to make payments on a $193,000 loan with plenty to spare to live on.

And there are two SUVs in the garage. Soon one SUV will be sporting its summer wheels, a $5,000 investment. And the little black Honda will also get its sport wheels.

They have very nice, powerful stereos in three of the cars.

Just the other day more new furniture was brought in.

And yet the house is in foreclosure. A For Sale sign has been in the yard for months.

Someone is earning and not paying. The house has never been empty. It has always been occupied with at least four wage earners.

Code Enforcement has been over there twice in the last year. We’ll see what happens this time.

Just another face on the mortgage bail-out, a story the newspapers don’t want to tell.

Here’s the For Sale sign in the front yard, just in case you want to buy the place.

Monday, February 16, 2009

AFLA and Mike Robins

Over on elginite.org there is a rumor battle going on about Mike Robins and the fact that his signs say "Endorsed by AFLA" on them.

That is a true statement. We are endorsing Robins. It is posted on our website.

We also sent him a letter of endorsement.

BUT NO CHECK. We have not given Mr. Robins any money. We have not paid for his yard signs. We have not paid to print his flyers. We did not pay for his donuts or the rental of the legion hall for his meet-and-greet.

AFLA did send out announcements to our e-mail list about his event and we did mention that he was looking for places to put his yard signs. We encouraged our people to contact him and put up a sign in their yard if they felt so inclined.

To cover all our bases, Mike Robins did not give money to AFLA either.

From everything I know, Robins is doing exactly what he says he's doing; paying for his own campaign. I was at his meet-and-greet on Saturday and I can tell you that he did NOT solicit any donations from anyone and none were offered.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Kidnappings

A friend on the near west side of Elgin suggested I post this link to a Nightline report from February 11th.

The number one place in the world for kidnappings is Mexico City.

Number two? Phoenix.

Here's a link to the seven minute report by ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6860892

I make no comment since some folks in the community are watching my words closely:)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Someone doesn't like AFLA...

...or maybe Charlene...or both.
Dave White received this message from AOL:
Dear Member,
AOL has a Terms of Service agreement which provides community guidelines for online conduct. We want to inform you that we received a report regarding a violation of those guidelines. Here is the information we have placed on the account regarding this incident:

Date: 2009-02-11 19:18:21.0
Violation Clip: Subject: City council election
February 18, 5:00p.m. - 8:30p.m.

Salon Couture Pampering Night http://www.saloncouture.biz/
176 East Chicago Street, Elgin 60120

$25.00 Campaign Contribution

Come out and receive mini spa treatments such as massages, facials and manicures along with discounts on Aveda products. The first 25 people will also receive a $20 certificate towards a coloring.

Also, you are invited to attend our election night party.
February 24 and April 7, 6:30p.m. - 10:00p.m.

Mad Maggies Election Night Party http://www.madmaggies.net/
51 South Grove, Elgin 60120
We will be on the top floor. This is a kid friendly event.

Our Terms of Service agreement, which was presented during the sign up process, allows AOL to be informative, entertaining and, above all, fun for all of our Members. You can review that agreement by using Keyword: TOS or by going to the following AOL page:

http://help.aol.com/help/legal.do?kcp=memberagreement

Please be advised that further violations may result in closure of your AOL account(s).


Now, think for a minute about the tons of messages you get every week for Canadian prescriptions, fake watches, Nigerian bank accounts, body part enlargements, diet pills...and AOL is telling Dave he can't tell people about a candidate fundraiser!!!???

Of course, the key is that some opponent took offense to the message and contacted AOL.

It's nice to be noticed.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ID theft on steroids


Disclaimer: If you are looking for the race card, this man is from Romania.
Sergiu Daniel Popa had a six-month visitor visa. It expired but he stayed here anyway. About seven years too long.
But how could he bear parting with the USA? We gave him a free education and all the goodies a person can't get in Romania.
It seems that Mr. Popa opened a "phishing" business here in the United States.
He was just convicted in October of 2008 of the following crimes:
*Selling a "phishing/spamming toolkit" on the Internet for $1,500
*Offering to sell stolen personal identification information
*Creating fictitious credit cards
*Creating fictitious ID cards (including Driver's Licenses)
*Possession of credit card information of 5,889 people
*Stealing $700,000 from credit card accounts
In addition to phishing, Sergui was also able to hijack credit card information from retailers and credit card companies.
Out of the blue we received a letter from the FBI indicating that the evidence against Popa included information on our family. As victims we were entitled to our rights, including information about the various hearings.
What no one was willing to tell us was exactly which information he had on us. Social security number? Credit card numbers? Which ones? Bank account numbers? Fake Driver's License? NO ONE IN THE GOVERNMENT WOULD TELL US. They just advised us to watch our accounts and get a credit report.
Lisa Madigan's office just gave us forms to fill out with the same suggestion to keep an eye on our accounts.
The Elgin Police didn't want to take a report, telling us instead to get a Social Security Statement and check it for accuracy, even after the IRS indicated that our Social Security number had been used on another return. (By the way, it takes five weeks to get that report and new earnings aren't updated until six months into the next year.)
Multiply this mess TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TIMES for all the people who received one of those letters and you can see that this one illegal alien certainly left his mark on society.
His sentencing is pending. I really don't want to know if he is out on the street.
Here's Sergui's Interpol wanted poster. It's kinda neat:
By the way, if you have a story to tell about our lax immigration enforcement, please share it with us at the AFLA website HERE:

Another myth down the drain

Conventional wisdom says that illegal aliens who use the Social Security number of another are really doing no harm. It’s a “victimless crime” as they like to say.

The theory is that they don’t make enough money to pay taxes and so all this extra cash winds up in the coffers at Social Security, and heaven knows we need more money in that fund.

Nice theory but it’s WRONG.

Here are some cases to prove my point:
On January 30, 2009 the Daily Herald reported that Armando Cruz of Carpentersville was charged with stealing the identity of a 7-year- old and then using it to get a job, buy a home, and some cars. Can you say, “Ruined credit history?”

(By the way, there are cases on the books where babies are born with their identities already stolen. The thieves make up a nine digit number that hasn’t been issued yet, only to have the government assign that number to a newborn!)

Another case:
Catalina Amezquita-Mares of Chicago was earning money against the Social Security number of a woman in Carpentersville. Those earnings disqualified the real owner when she sought Medicaid benefits for her sick daughter.

Here’s more proof
Last year Cirilo Centeno of Streamwood left a different 7-year-old from Carpentersville with a tax bill on $60K.

From February of last year Marcelina Castenada up at Fisher Nuts owes taxes on $49,833 earned under the name of another.

Also from last February Cesar Vega-Gonzalez at Assured Staffing in Crystal Lake. His unreported earnings were $23,706.

Or Adriana Campos of McHenry owed the IRS more than $300 in taxes from her job at Trim Rite Industries.

Then there was Felipe Orsornio of Carpentersville.

Emilio Velazquez-Villa and Gabriel Fuentes-Garcia of Rolling Meadows.

Ambrosio DeJesus-Flores of West Chicago.

I’m afraid that all this extra income earned under someone else’s name really is creating victims in its wake.

Be sure to check your Social Security Income Statements carefully.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Tag, you're it

The city inspectors have worked hard to determine properties that are unsafe and then they condemn them.

The houses get "tagged" as a way of notifying the owner, the tenants, and potential renters that the building needs work.


Well, here's the code enforcement tag on a Kimball Street property (gee, why aren't those rowhouses selling?) with some added artwork.

A gangbanger has "tagged" the tag!


Nice touch, but just another sign that things have gotten out of hand.
(Yes, I have altered the city markings at the bottom to protect the innocent.)

The Broken Windows Theory...

...illustrated!

Charlene Sligting mentioned the "broken windows theory" at the city council candidate forum last night. The idea is that if you allow illegal activity in the neighborhood more of the same will follow.

This is a photo taken on January 16, 2009 over on Dundee Avenue. Note the graffiti.
And this is a photo of the same wall taken today, February 6th. If you look closely more graffiti has been added. Perhaps rival gangs have crossed out the marks of people they don't like. Some have added their own.


Now, let's put it all in perspective. This shot has all the elements. The wall of graffiti, the SCHOOL ZONE speed limit sign, and the Boys and Girls Club sign. No, I didn't Photoshop anything here. This is what the kids see every day.

Blame the city for not keeping up? Maybe, but I've been in close contact with EPD and they are hampered by bad weather. It obviously doesn't slow down the gang bangers.

This is symbolic of what we will tolerate before local elected leaders push back hard at every pulpit they can. Noland, Farnham, Foster, Durbin...

Whatever approach we've taken is not effective. What are the candidates going to do about it?

The incumbents have a leg upon on the challengers because they "know" what they cannot do. They "know" the restrictions. They "know" what the gang report says. Of all people, those sitting on the council now ought to have something to say about it.

We all ought to listen carefully to the answers.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Our picks for city council


People are asking, "Who do you like for city council?"


Well, here's what we have so far. We're done with the two year endorsements but are still working on other four year candidates. Check back another day for more.




If you know any candidates who haven't responded to our questionnaire, let them know they are missing out. We'd be glad to let them tell their story in our Candidate Central.