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A series on the Concord Monitor's profile of Charlie Bass, in which we learn of his world.
The World According to Charlie Bass:
Asked about immigration reform, Bass said he sympathizes with residents of Arizona who live with high rates of murder and drug crime because of illegal immigrants.
The World In Which You and I Live:
By many measures, Arizona has become safer since illegal immigrants began pouring into the state in the 1990s.
Crime has dropped all across the country since then, but the decrease has been as fast or faster in Arizona. The rate of property crimes in the state, for example, has plummeted 43% since 1995, compared with 30% nationwide.
That's no surprise to those who study immigration - both sides, whether for or against increased immigration, agree that immigrants tend to commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.
and
FBI Uniform Crime Reports and statistics provided by police agencies, in fact, show that the crime rates in Nogales, Douglas, Yuma and other Arizona border towns have remained essentially flat for the past decade, even as drug-related violence has spiraled out of control on the other side of the international line. Statewide, rates of violent crime also are down.
...In 2000, there were 23 rapes, robberies and murders in Nogales, Ariz. Last year, despite nearly a decade of population growth, there were 19 such crimes. Aggravated assaults dropped by one-third. No one has been murdered in two years.
With Bob Giuda in Congress, those anchor baby moochers will no longer live the high life off your tax dollars:
Federal law should be changed to prohibit children born in this country to illegal parents from receiving government services, but says "we don't need a constitutional amendment to do it."
Giuda says the children of illegal immigrants should be returned with their parent to their native country." Unfortunately, those kids are here as a product of a crime," he said.
In Bob Giuda's America, some humans born in the United States will be more American than other humans born in the United States. That latter group will be "returned."
Further up in the article, Giuda says we have to be open to privatizing Social Security to fight spending, but in respect to cutting military spending, he "doesn't think it is politically possible or responsible in today's economic environment with high unemployment."
(First Mahoney, then Ayotte, now Binnie. Apparently language is the new tool with which to whip up xenophobia for election season. Makes me really sad. - promoted by Dean Barker)
I just saw one of Bill Binnie's latest ads on TV.
"English is the language of America"
The money quote:
"Americans should have allegiance to one flag and have one official language."
I don't actually know if my deceased grandfather's immigrant parents were legal or not, but I'd say there's a fair chance either way.
Grandpa fought with the 101st. If you've seen Band of Brothers, you basically know his WWII itinerary, with the exception of going over in a boat on D-Day instead of parachuting in. Wounded during Battle of the Bulge. Witnessed opening of concentration camp. Hated war completely and totally, yet at the same time proud of his service.
But if Kelly were around back then, who knows? Can't have Anchor Babies mooching off the US of A, etc...
Doing her best to drum up the xenophobia vote, Sarah Palin endorsed Kelly Ayotte is again caught spreading falsehoods about Arizona:
At a recent ice cream social where she spoke to voters, Ayotte kept her message extremely simple, calling for lower taxes, a crackdown on illegal immigrants (remarking, incorrectly, that Arizona has the second-highest rate of kidnapping in the world), and a repeal of the health care overhaul law that requires nearly all Americans to have insurance by 2014.
It's one thing to demagogue something from the right-wing wurlitzer.
Christmas in July? Behold, actual journalism practiced today! Kelly Ayotte:
"They have a serious public safety issue in Arizona. They have the second highest kidnapping rate in the world."
Reality:
"It's a media anecdote run amok."
..."John McCain has said it. We (Bill Adair of non-partisan Politfact) first checked it when it was said at the Texas state republican convention. And this is an anecdote that seems to have originated with the Phoenix police department which doesn't have anything to back it up."
Here's the part that knocked me on the floor. I rubbed my eyes, but it's still there:
The campaign did not respond when asked if Ayotte will continue to make her claims about Arizona and kidnapping.
Yesterday during a visit to an ironically named school - New Hampshire Estate - an elementary school in Maryland, a brave second grader asked Mrs. Michelle Obama about her Mother's immigration status:
Heartbreaking, huh? Mrs. Obama handled it the best she could, but it shouldn't take the bird-dogging efforts of an innocent Second Grader with a heart-wrenching story to motivate the U.S.A. to change our broken immigration system! This "teachable moment" arises during the official State visit between President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón, where immigration reform and concerns stemming from Arizona's new "show me your papers" law is a central concern.
You may have heard of the DREAM ACT 5 sit-in at Sen. John McCain's office in Arizona earlier this week. That's when five young people without documents bravely risked deportation with a little civil disobedience. This interview yesterday on NHPR's THE WORLD with Yahaira Carrillo, one of the Dream Act 5, really caught my ear. Literally just heard this interview with Tania Unzueta, another Dream Act 5-er, on NHPR's HERE AND NOW.
So we've got a second grader's question to Mrs. Obama and a Dream Act 5 sit-in at Sen. McCain's office, but nothing seems to make the rhetoric become reality. Thus, I've gotta ask: WHAT MORE WILL IT TAKE TO GET WASHINGTON LAWMAKERS TO REFORM OUR NATION'S BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM? HASN'T ARIZONA'S ACTIONS PROVEN HOW URGENTLY CHANGE IS NEEDED?
Washington (FNS)-An exclusive investigation by FNS reporting staff has identified and confirmed, through a second source, the Obama Administration's secret plans for resolving issues with certain residents of Arizona that has been in the news over the past week, known as "Operation Terraform".
The plan depends upon American authorities cooperating with the Canadian, Mexican, and North American Governments, and the plan will require one of the largest transport efforts since D-Day.
Until today, no one outside the involved agencies had been aware of the existence of the plan, much less its details, and as of today, no official will admit, on the record, that the plan is already in effect.
But why exactly is the former Attorney General fine with it?
AYOTTE: "...they are dealing with tremendous violence in Arizona. Not just people coming over the border to get a job, people coming over for drug dealing, murder, and kidnapping. And what Arizona passed in their law, they passed it because it's been an abject failure in Washington to take on the fundamental responsibility of government, which is to keep us safe. And so we have a duty as a federal government to secure that border."
Back in reality-land, here's the Arizona Republic:
NOGALES, Ariz. - Assistant Police Chief Roy Bermudez shakes his head and smiles when he hears politicians and pundits declaring that Mexican cartel violence is overrunning his Arizona border town.
"We have not, thank God, witnessed any spillover violence from Mexico," Bermudez says emphatically. "You can look at the crime stats. I think Nogales, Arizona, is one of the safest places to live in all of America."
FBI Uniform Crime Reports and statistics provided by police agencies, in fact, show that the crime rates in Nogales, Douglas, Yuma and other Arizona border towns have remained essentially flat for the past decade, even as drug-related violence has spiraled out of control on the other side of the international line. Statewide, rates of violent crime also are down.
Why would a Washington-backed candidate like Kelly Ayotte want to demagogue the issue? I'll let an Arizonan answer that:
"That's politics," he said, shrugging. "It's all about votes. . . . We have plenty of law enforcement."
This is post #3 on immigration reform on the eve of the Immigrants Rights Rally. This rally is a yearly event organized by the NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees. As Eva Castillo, the NH AIR director, said today, this year it has a special urgency due to the horrible bill against immigrants in Arizona. We will stand up against the hate and stand for immigration reform. Click here for post #2 and here for post #1.
So many new developments abound on immigration reform in recent days, it's definitely been hard to keep up with them all. So, for the sake of brevity and for your own research purposes, I'm going to post links to a variety of news for you to choose on your own. Less editorializing from me = more deductions and information-gathering by you? That's my hope.
NH STATE SENATE & OUR PRESS CONFERENCE
Our organization - Reform Immigration FOR America - held a press conference yesterday. The Speakers were former Ambassador George Bruno, former NH GOP Party chair Fergus Cullen, Eva Castillo, Sarah Chaisson Warner of NH Citizens Alliance, John Young of the National Agriculture Council for Immigration Reform, and Carlos Cardona, a school board member from Franklin. Fergus has a very compelling story:
Cullen told the story of his own parents, who immigrated to America from Ireland. Cullen's parents came to America in the 1960s so his father could do a medical residency at a Boston hospital. At the time, foreign doctors were eligible for the draft, and Cullen's father served for a year in Vietnam rather than return to Ireland. In the 1970s, Cullen's parents became citizens.
Cullen said that in the last presidential primary, the Republican candidates with the most extreme views on immigration were largely ignored.
"There is support for comprehensive immigration reform, and it's not something we should put off for another election," Cullen said.
Many immigrants seek U.S. citizenship by time served in service with our military. President Obama first spoke out about Arizona's actions during a swearing in ceremony for new citizens who served in our military, risking their lives for a country that was yet to accept them as a member.
Also yesterday, HCR22 - a pro-comprehensive immigration reform resolution - passed the NH State Senate Judiciary Committee and moves on to the full State Senate. If it passes, that means that both bodies of the NH General Court calls on Congress and the President to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform. And that's awesome. So look for that on Wednesday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Today Mayor Bloomberg said that our nation is "committing national suicide" if we don't pass immigration reform. He understands what this means to our economy and to our families. He gets it!
"We have to get real about the 12 million undocumented here," the mayor said. "We're not going to deport them. Give them permanent status. Don't make them citizens unless they can qualify, but give them permanent status and let's get on with this."
.....
He called on President Obama to lead the fight to overhaul the nation's immigration rules. "I will be there behind him supporting him 100%," he said.
Bloomberg long has been a supporter of immigration reform, saying current law deters international companies from sending employees through border hassles to work in the U.S. - and freezes out the highly skilled immigrants America needs.
Yeah, Mayor Bloomberg! You are welcome to the Granite State at any time!
There's a great article here: http://www.gregpalast.com/ that explains what is behind the new immigration law in Arizona. Basically he uncovered some interesting facts about Gov. Brewer. She managed to block 100,000 votes in 2004. There are a number of boycotts going on some in SF, and possibly MLB, who are having the all star games in Phoenix. It seems Gov. Brewer is falling behind in the polls today too?
(No better response to Arizona than this. - promoted by Dean Barker)
A lesser known portion of the sonnet, but I think it's worth quoting in full:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I remember being incredibly proud of that period of history when I learned about it. Arizona shames our history, and makes our nation less great than we once were.
So, Arizona's Governor signed that crazy "show your papers" bill into law, underscoring the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Without federal action, the President and the Congress should expect a whole lot more of these misguided and extreme state based laws. The federal government needs to stand up and lead and fulfill their responsibility to lead on immigration. We don't need anymore band-aid fixes for our broken immigration system - NH urgently needs comprehensive immigration reform this year.
Think that can't happen in NH? Folks have actually already tried. Remember what happened in New Ipswich? Or in Hudson? Did you know that there was even a similar resolution by Reps Ulery and Renzullo, but it was turned on it's head by State Rep. Kris Roberts earlier this year? Despite still having the anti-immigrant State Representatives names on it, the resolution is now
headed for the State Senate's Judiciary Committee this week. Spare one small segment, our group supports this resolution, as it now urges comprehensive immigration reform.
Comprehensive immigration reform is a much better fix for America, as it gives a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants (that isn't an amnesty), accounts for a future flow of immigrants, eliminates bureaucratic backlog of visas and citizenship applications, and accounts for enforcement.
I travelled out west about 25 years ago, near the border with Mexico. I don't remember noticing the security forces anywhere more than a few miles from the border.
I visited again 5 years ago. Took a canoe on the Rio Grande, in fact, and had a fabulous time. But I DID notice the security. Was stopped more than once, well inside the U.S., for random checks. (I am white.) Asked to step out of the car. Not clear what would happen if I declined to answer, or declined to step out, or exercised any of what I once thought were constitutional rights.
Today, I am not sure they still allow canoes on the river. The giant fence, which has not been in the news much lately, is still an ecological and economic disaster in some places, and apparently has not "secured" the border. (Imagine.) (And btw I'd love to see our NH delegation tackle that fence, if the whole border thing comes up.)
And now, of course, Arizona has ratcheted up the police presence and power once again.
The new, lawful demonization of brown people in Arizona absolutely must be responded to on a federal level.
But at the same time, we ought to be fully aware that this will mean another victory for the modern GOP's short term strategy of bringing out reactionary Archie Bunker voters to the mid-terms.
The worst president in the history of the Republic, George W. Bush, was in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. So was the last Republican nominee for president before he lost the final shreds of his integrity.
When and if President Obama and the Democratic congress make the Arizona situation a national focus (as they probably should), and to the exclusion of a climate bill (which most defintely should not happen), it will serve to energize the most extreme perceived victims of GOP identity politics.
FOX and Hate Radio are going to have a field day with this. The storyline will be of a brown president helping illegal brown people. This is less of a racist narrative than of the aggrieved Archie Bunker, watching the world he once knew slipping away from him.
Mid-term elections are reaction cycles, and the GOP is doing everything it can to stir up as reactionary a voting bloc as they can.
This is an absolutely disastrous long-term strategy for the Republican party. But it might very well be successful for this November.
Adding: Our state is not ethnically diverse; the identity politics game is defined for Archie Bunker voters more in the imaginations of Hate Radio hosts than in real life. And so, the implications of Arizona on New Hampshire are not good, I suspect.
...that's what might be next in Arizona, if the Governor signs legislation into law. According to Media Matters, this means that anyone who doesn't carry the proper paperwork could be arrested. Moreover, the Arizona approach is not only misguided, it's expensive. Plus in these days of extra concern over government spending, no doubt comprehensive immigration reform is the better option.
But why talk about Arizona on Blue Hampshire? Think that can't happen here, too?
NH's own Union Leader editorial page supports Arizona's steps towards a police state, according to an editorial last Friday. This editorial makes a few erroneous claims, such as equating immigration reform with amnesty (which it is not) and assuming that our businesses and economy have no dependence on immigrants (they do.)
So says a man with a megaphone today in Portsmouth, "them" being illegal immigrants:
And he goes on: "Read what Jefferson said about the Tree of Liberty. It's coming baby."
And that woman with the megaphone next to him shouting about how Obama is becoming a dictator? Apparently a Sununu fan.
Meanwhile, a man has been arrested for trespassing at Portsmouth HS prior to the president's visit. He had an "unlicensed loaded gun" in his car.
Is there anyone in the GOP leadership, here or nationally, who has the courage, common sense, and - yes - patriotism to address this increasingly frightening circus?
Securing the votes in Congress to pass real immigration solutions into law isn't going to be easy. The next President - no matter who wins - will need to lead his own party first to get it done.
There are BIG differences between the candidates on the Immigration issue.
Barack Obama's Plan
Create Secure Borders
Obama wants to preserve the integrity of our borders. He supports additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.
Improve Our Immigration System
Obama believes we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.
Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally
Obama will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
Bring People Out of the Shadows
Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
Work with Mexico
Obama believes we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.
http://www.barackobama.com/iss...
John Edwards
Strengthen Our Borders
The first step in overhauling the immigration system is to secure our borders and stop illegal trafficking. Edwards supports doubling the number of border patrol agents and investing in surveillance technology to police the borders. We also need to crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. Edwards supports more vigorous workplace enforcement and increased fines for businesses that knowingly break the rules.
Provide an Earned Path to Citizenship that Requires English It is unrealistic to think that we can deport more than 12 million people. Edwards believes people who are already here should have the opportunity to earn American citizenship by avoiding a criminal record, paying a fine in recognition that they came here illegally, and learning English - the surest path to success in this country.
Preserve Family Reunification
Our immigration policies should bring families together, not keep them apart. Edwards believes family reunification is an important value that our immigration laws should continue to respect. We should remove barriers to family reunification.
No New Second-Class of Laborers
America is a land of equals, not a land of first-class citizens and second-class laborers. Edwards opposes new temporary guest worker programs that do not provide adequate workplace protections and a reasonable path to citizenship. If we invite you to work in America, we should invite you to become an American with all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
End the Backlog
The process for background checks on legal immigrants has broken down, delaying proper applications for naturalization and jeopardizing security. The backlog of applications has doubled to nearly 330,000. Edwards will end the background check backlog for people who are already in this country and are applying to become lawful permanent residents and, eventually, citizens.
http://www.johnedwards.com/iow...
Hillary Clinton
Hillary has consistently called for comprehensive immigration reform that respects our immigrant heritage and honors the rule of law. She believes comprehensive reform must have as essential ingredients a strengthening of our borders, greater cross-cooperation with our neighbors, strict but fair enforcement of our laws, federal assistance to our state and local governments, strict penalties for those who exploit undocumented workers, and a path to earned legal status for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes, respecting the law, and willing to meet a high bar.
Hillary strongly believes we need to do more to know who is in our country by securing our borders and ensuring that employers comply with the law against hiring and exploiting undocumented workers. She supports deploying new technology that can help stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country and an employer verification system that is universal, accurate, timely, and does not lead to discrimination and abuse by employers.
Along with these changes, Hillary believes we need to repair those broken portions of our immigration system that irrevocably damage families and force citizens and lawful immigrants to choose between their newly adopted country and living with their spouse or children. We have a national interest in fostering strong families. This is why she introduced an amendment during consideration of the immigration reform bill that would have taken steps to protect the sanctity of families. Our American values demand no less.
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/...
I have taken care to put each web site on this blog so that you may check where the information came from. There is a definite difference in all 3 candidates and the way they discuss their solutions. I would like to have a civil debate on those differences and when you read all 3 of these statements, you will see what attracted so many voters to Obama in Iowa and across the nation.
