Posting Date: December 14, 2006
Driving While Illegal Ends in Soldier’s Death
By DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKIA
U.S. Marine who survived combat in Iraq died recently when an illegal alien slammed into his car at a red light. The other driver shouldn’t have been drinking — at least not in this country.Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews had served eight months in Iraq and another tour of duty in the Pacific and had come home to Maryland for the Thanksgiving holidays. He was scheduled to leave the Corps in June.He and his date, Jennifer Bower, 22, were killed Thanksgiving night when they were hit from behind by Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano, who was driving with a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit. A week later, Morales-Soriano was identified by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Baltimore as an illegal alien. The argument is that we should provide driver’s licenses to illegal aliens because they are going to drive to their jobs anyway and obtaining a license at least improves public safety.But Morales-Soriano had a license. He had it nine months earlier when he had an accident in a parking lot and failed a field sobriety test.But a clerical error by police caused the proper paperwork to suspend that license to be filed. Nor did police bother to check his immigration status. That, according to the ACLU and others, would be racial profiling and discriminatory. So, Morales-Soriano went on his merry way, to drink and drive again.Maryland is among a handful of states that do not prohibit illegal aliens from obtaining driver’s licenses or other identification, either through outright bans or restrictions that make it impossible to game the systemMorales-Soriano had a license from North Carolina which he used to apply for a Maryland license. North Carolina’s rules are arguably the least restrictive and is a popular destination for those who might otherwise be denied a license.Court officials in New Jersey have complained that North Carolina’s requirements are so lax that busloads of illegal immigrants make regular trips there to obtain licenses fraudulently.An audit by the Department of Transportation noted documents accepted as proof of residency in North Carolina are easily forged.Maryland Delegate Christopher B. Shank has said that denying a license to Morales-Sorianomight have made a difference and saved two lives. Had he lacked a license, Morales-Soriano might have been prosecuted after the earlier incident. Had his immigration status been checked at any point, he might have been sent home.The REAL ID act, scheduled to take effect in 2008, will prohibit all states from issuing licenses to illegal aliens or the licenses will not be accepted as identification for federal purposes.Even with REAL ID, which will undoubtedly be challenged, the opportunity to game the system will exist. Some states will resist and treat enforcement with benign neglect. This is not only a matter of public safety but a matter of national security. Not all of those who violate our laws are looking for a better life for themselves and their families. One of the first things the Sept. 11 terrorists did when they arrived in the United States was to get driver’s licenses.The 19 terrorists traveled all around the country, to states that granted licenses to virtually anyone, and acquired 63 of them. Maryland Delegate Ana Sol Guitierrez says tightening license requirements wouldn’t solve the problem, saying, “The fact that a driver is drunk and has an accident — of course that is abhorrent.But that’s got nothing to do with where they were born or what their immigration status is.” Yes, Cpl. Mathews could have been as easily killed by a drunken driver who was an American citizen. But we have enough carnage on our highways. We don’t have to import it.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Racially Motivated Murder by illegal
Hate-crime charges filed in Harbor Gateway slaying.
A reputed member of a Latino gang is accused in the murder of a black girl and the wounding of three others.
By Gene Maddaus DAILY BREEZE
A reputed Latino gang member was charged Tuesday with the hate-crime murder of a 14-year-old black girl, a slaying that highlighted racial tensions in Harbor Gateway and prompted a peace march last weekend. Police say Ernesto Alcarez, 20, was one of two young men who walked up to a group of black teenagers Dec. 15, spraying them with bullets. Cheryl Green, 14, was killed, and three of her friends were injured. Alcarez was not charged with gun enhancements, suggesting police do not believe he was the shooter. Hollywood Park Casino"He was one of the people that was involved in the shooting," LAPD Lt. David Pierson said. "We're still looking for the other guy." Police say Alcarez is affiliated with the 204th Street gang, which is known for its assaults on blacks. Alcarez appeared briefly in a Long Beach courtroom Tuesday afternoon. He faces one count of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. The charges were filed as hate crimes, meaning that if convicted, Alcarez could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Outside court, Alcarez's mother, Irma Torres, said she did not believe her son was responsible. "I don't believe he is a member of a gang," she said in Spanish. "I don't believe he is capable of killing a child." Green was shot while standing with six friends on the corner of 206th Street and Harvard Avenue. The street is a known border between black and Latino gangs, with Latinos dominating the area north of 206th Street and blacks holding the area to the south. Residents try to avoid the border area, which is known to be particularly violent. Green had been grounded a month before her death for hanging out on the corner where she was later killed.A group of about 100 marchers paraded on Harvard Avenue on Saturday in an effort to reclaim the street from local gangs. The marchers entered a market that black residents have been afraid to visit for many years.Detectives served eight search warrants Thursday in connection with the shooting. They seized four weapons, some drugs, and other evidence, Pierson said. They also arrested Jesus Martinez, 30, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun. Martinez also is believed to be a 204th Street gang member. Alcarez and Martinez appeared in the same courtroom Tuesday afternoon. Alcarez, who has a slight frame and a neatly trimmed goatee, spoke through a Spanish interpreter. His arraignment was delayed until Jan. 8. Martinez, who is not suspected of involvement in the Green shooting, also had his hearing delayed until Jan. 10. Through an interpreter, Torres said that her son has been in the Harbor Gateway area for about four months. She said her son has been arrested only once before, for graffiti, about two years ago. Alcarez is her only son. She also has three daughters. The family emigrated from Mexico several years ago. Sword Medical She said her son has been working recently for a relative, in a job that involves billiard tables. Asked about the serious charges, and stiff sentence, that her son faces, she said, "I don't know what to say. I have no words."Green's mother, Charlene Lovett, was preparing Tuesday for her daughter's funeral, which will be held at 1 p.m. today at The Living Room in Inglewood. "I heard about it," she said of the arrest. "No words can describe how I feel."
A reputed member of a Latino gang is accused in the murder of a black girl and the wounding of three others.
By Gene Maddaus DAILY BREEZE
A reputed Latino gang member was charged Tuesday with the hate-crime murder of a 14-year-old black girl, a slaying that highlighted racial tensions in Harbor Gateway and prompted a peace march last weekend. Police say Ernesto Alcarez, 20, was one of two young men who walked up to a group of black teenagers Dec. 15, spraying them with bullets. Cheryl Green, 14, was killed, and three of her friends were injured. Alcarez was not charged with gun enhancements, suggesting police do not believe he was the shooter. Hollywood Park Casino"He was one of the people that was involved in the shooting," LAPD Lt. David Pierson said. "We're still looking for the other guy." Police say Alcarez is affiliated with the 204th Street gang, which is known for its assaults on blacks. Alcarez appeared briefly in a Long Beach courtroom Tuesday afternoon. He faces one count of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. The charges were filed as hate crimes, meaning that if convicted, Alcarez could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Outside court, Alcarez's mother, Irma Torres, said she did not believe her son was responsible. "I don't believe he is a member of a gang," she said in Spanish. "I don't believe he is capable of killing a child." Green was shot while standing with six friends on the corner of 206th Street and Harvard Avenue. The street is a known border between black and Latino gangs, with Latinos dominating the area north of 206th Street and blacks holding the area to the south. Residents try to avoid the border area, which is known to be particularly violent. Green had been grounded a month before her death for hanging out on the corner where she was later killed.A group of about 100 marchers paraded on Harvard Avenue on Saturday in an effort to reclaim the street from local gangs. The marchers entered a market that black residents have been afraid to visit for many years.Detectives served eight search warrants Thursday in connection with the shooting. They seized four weapons, some drugs, and other evidence, Pierson said. They also arrested Jesus Martinez, 30, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun. Martinez also is believed to be a 204th Street gang member. Alcarez and Martinez appeared in the same courtroom Tuesday afternoon. Alcarez, who has a slight frame and a neatly trimmed goatee, spoke through a Spanish interpreter. His arraignment was delayed until Jan. 8. Martinez, who is not suspected of involvement in the Green shooting, also had his hearing delayed until Jan. 10. Through an interpreter, Torres said that her son has been in the Harbor Gateway area for about four months. She said her son has been arrested only once before, for graffiti, about two years ago. Alcarez is her only son. She also has three daughters. The family emigrated from Mexico several years ago. Sword Medical She said her son has been working recently for a relative, in a job that involves billiard tables. Asked about the serious charges, and stiff sentence, that her son faces, she said, "I don't know what to say. I have no words."Green's mother, Charlene Lovett, was preparing Tuesday for her daughter's funeral, which will be held at 1 p.m. today at The Living Room in Inglewood. "I heard about it," she said of the arrest. "No words can describe how I feel."
They start em young
Boy, 12, Deported From Arkansas After Rape Confession Location: Rogers
Posted: December 30, 2006 3:05 PM EST
URL: http://www.katv.com/news/stories//384159.html
Rogers (AP) - Immigration officials have deported a 12-year-old boy who confessed earlier this year to raping an 8-year-old female relative. The family of the boy, whose name has not been identified, was also detained. Congressman John Boozman says that federal immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began investigating the family last week. Boozman says he notified immigration officials after a Rogers school official told him about the situation. The boy was taken into juvenile custody in August after Rogers police heard about the incident. On November 27th, Benton Country Circuit Judge Jay Finch ordered two years probation and outpatient individual and family counseling for the boy after he confessed to the rape.Rogers Mayor Steve Womack says the family, including the boy, his three siblings and parents were taken into custody early Thursday. This is the first known case of an adjudicated delinquent in Benton County being deported because of a crime.
Posted: December 30, 2006 3:05 PM EST
URL: http://www.katv.com/news/stories//384159.html
Rogers (AP) - Immigration officials have deported a 12-year-old boy who confessed earlier this year to raping an 8-year-old female relative. The family of the boy, whose name has not been identified, was also detained. Congressman John Boozman says that federal immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began investigating the family last week. Boozman says he notified immigration officials after a Rogers school official told him about the situation. The boy was taken into juvenile custody in August after Rogers police heard about the incident. On November 27th, Benton Country Circuit Judge Jay Finch ordered two years probation and outpatient individual and family counseling for the boy after he confessed to the rape.Rogers Mayor Steve Womack says the family, including the boy, his three siblings and parents were taken into custody early Thursday. This is the first known case of an adjudicated delinquent in Benton County being deported because of a crime.
Florida Hit and Run
How does an illegal construction worker afford to drive an SUV?
Illegal immigrant charged with leaving the scene of fatal accident
Armando Lopez-Canada
By: Dave Balut
Tampa, Florida - Police say the driver charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident on the Courtney Campbell Causeway Thursday night is from Mexico and in this country illegally.
Four-and-a-half-year-old Joshua Morrow and his 42-year-old uncle Ronald Bishop were killed in the westbound lanes of the causeway at Bay Harbor Drive.
A witness followed the suspect’s gold-colored SUV and gave police the tag number.
Clearwater police arrested 26-year-old Armando Lopez-Canada a short time later.
The illegal immigrant is now charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death.
Brenda Andujar, Victim’s Grandmother:
“ I just can’t believe how cold and callous a person would be to know that they hit two human beings and just keep on going regardless of his immigration status and just being a human being.”
Lopez-Canada and three other illegal immigrants in the SUV were on their way home from a construction job for PCL in Orlando.
He was able to get a driver’s license with his Mexican passport and immigration application, but his license is expired.
Lopez-Canada also owned the vehicle involved in the fatal accident.
Illegal immigrant charged with leaving the scene of fatal accident
Armando Lopez-Canada
By: Dave Balut
Tampa, Florida - Police say the driver charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident on the Courtney Campbell Causeway Thursday night is from Mexico and in this country illegally.
Four-and-a-half-year-old Joshua Morrow and his 42-year-old uncle Ronald Bishop were killed in the westbound lanes of the causeway at Bay Harbor Drive.
A witness followed the suspect’s gold-colored SUV and gave police the tag number.
Clearwater police arrested 26-year-old Armando Lopez-Canada a short time later.
The illegal immigrant is now charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death.
Brenda Andujar, Victim’s Grandmother:
“ I just can’t believe how cold and callous a person would be to know that they hit two human beings and just keep on going regardless of his immigration status and just being a human being.”
Lopez-Canada and three other illegal immigrants in the SUV were on their way home from a construction job for PCL in Orlando.
He was able to get a driver’s license with his Mexican passport and immigration application, but his license is expired.
Lopez-Canada also owned the vehicle involved in the fatal accident.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Another gang rape
Alipac has worked for a week to confirm that the perps are indeed ILLEGAL.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Three men are in police custody, accused of raping a woman on Hollywood Beach early Wednesday morning.
Related Content: Images
Hollywood police said the woman had fallen asleep on the sand and she told officers she woke up when the men started attacking her.
The suspects -- Armando Moncadaramos, Cesar Luis Amador and Hever Ramos -- are in their early 20s.
"She was awoken by at least two individuals on top of her," said Hollywood police Capt. Tony Rode. "One, Mr. Amador, was holding her down while Mr. Ramos was actually committing a sexual battery upon her."
Police said the woman reached into the sand and grabbed a sharp piece of glass and fought back. That's why the suspects have cuts on their faces.
"As she's resisting, she's striking and slashing at the first offender, Mr. Ramos. She basically cuts him several times in the face and also in his chest," Rode said. "He backs off because he's now attending to his injuries. She thinks the incident is over. Unfortunately a third individual appears and jumps on top of her."
Police caught the men soon after the attack and the victim identified them as her attackers.
Police said they believe all the men are from Honduras. Each man is charged with sexual battery.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Three men are in police custody, accused of raping a woman on Hollywood Beach early Wednesday morning.
Related Content: Images
Hollywood police said the woman had fallen asleep on the sand and she told officers she woke up when the men started attacking her.
The suspects -- Armando Moncadaramos, Cesar Luis Amador and Hever Ramos -- are in their early 20s.
"She was awoken by at least two individuals on top of her," said Hollywood police Capt. Tony Rode. "One, Mr. Amador, was holding her down while Mr. Ramos was actually committing a sexual battery upon her."
Police said the woman reached into the sand and grabbed a sharp piece of glass and fought back. That's why the suspects have cuts on their faces.
"As she's resisting, she's striking and slashing at the first offender, Mr. Ramos. She basically cuts him several times in the face and also in his chest," Rode said. "He backs off because he's now attending to his injuries. She thinks the incident is over. Unfortunately a third individual appears and jumps on top of her."
Police caught the men soon after the attack and the victim identified them as her attackers.
Police said they believe all the men are from Honduras. Each man is charged with sexual battery.
More illegals in action
Bond Set At $1 Million For Suspects In Brutal Attack On Central Texas Teenager
(June 29, 2006)—Bonds are $1 million for two illegal immigrants arrested and charged Thursday in connection with a brutal attack on a recent Mexia High School graduate who was run off a rural road, raped, beaten, stabbed and left to die in a ditch.
The victim was in stable condition Thursday in Scott & White Hospital in Temple.
The girl is “very very fortunate to be a survivor,” Limestone County Sheriff Dennis Wilson said Thursday.
Investigators said they have identified three separate crime scenes related to the attack.
A tip from a Mexia resident led authorities to the two men who were charged with aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping Thursday.
Javier Guzman Martinez, 17, of Mexico was arrested in Limestone County and Noel Darwin Hernandez of Honduras was arrested at a bus station in Waco as he tried to leave the country, Wilson said.
Both men had Mexia addresses, authorities said.
The attack happened late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning on a rural road near Coolidge.
The attackers evidently intended for their victim to die, but bleeding profusely, the girl somehow made her way to a house a half-mile away where she awakened residents with a faint knock on the front door.
“We want to make sure this young lady knows that she and our family are certainly in our prayers and our thoughts, Wilson said.”
Mexia school officials were shocked by news of the attack.
“The community is devastated because she is such a sweet girl,” Mexia School Board President Don Corbitt told News Ten.
“We don’t understand how anyone could do anything like that to a girl at all, much less someone as sweet as she is.
(June 29, 2006)—Bonds are $1 million for two illegal immigrants arrested and charged Thursday in connection with a brutal attack on a recent Mexia High School graduate who was run off a rural road, raped, beaten, stabbed and left to die in a ditch.
The victim was in stable condition Thursday in Scott & White Hospital in Temple.
The girl is “very very fortunate to be a survivor,” Limestone County Sheriff Dennis Wilson said Thursday.
Investigators said they have identified three separate crime scenes related to the attack.
A tip from a Mexia resident led authorities to the two men who were charged with aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping Thursday.
Javier Guzman Martinez, 17, of Mexico was arrested in Limestone County and Noel Darwin Hernandez of Honduras was arrested at a bus station in Waco as he tried to leave the country, Wilson said.
Both men had Mexia addresses, authorities said.
The attack happened late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning on a rural road near Coolidge.
The attackers evidently intended for their victim to die, but bleeding profusely, the girl somehow made her way to a house a half-mile away where she awakened residents with a faint knock on the front door.
“We want to make sure this young lady knows that she and our family are certainly in our prayers and our thoughts, Wilson said.”
Mexia school officials were shocked by news of the attack.
“The community is devastated because she is such a sweet girl,” Mexia School Board President Don Corbitt told News Ten.
“We don’t understand how anyone could do anything like that to a girl at all, much less someone as sweet as she is.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Sick little punk
09/13/2006
Young girl describes ordeal after her attempted rape
DAVIE, Fla. (WSVN) -- An 11-year-old girl relived a terrifying ordeal when she says she was cornered by an 18-year-old who, she says, wanted to rape her.
Rocael Espinoza Andres, the young man accused of the attempted rape, now sits at the Broward county jail.
It was Sunday when the 11-year-old girl was walking home from a Davie McDonald's with a friend, but then she separated from her friends. She slipped through a gap in a fence near 131st Avenue and State Road 84 to head home. That's when she said three men confronted her. She said one of those men grabbed her and pulled her into the bushes, pulling down his pants and offering her money to have sex.
"He pulled me in and pulled his pants down, and then I was like, 'No, no,'" said the victim. "He offered me $100 and I was like, 'No, I don't want money, I don't want that. I don't want you, I don't want anything to do with you, get away from me.'"
The girl was able to slap him and get away but not before the man fondled her under her shorts. "He kept on touching, feeling my pants, and I was like, 'Stop,'" she said. "Then I pulled his hand out, and he tried to lick my chest, and I was like, 'No!' and I slapped his face. Then, like five minutes later, my pants finally got uncaught, and I ran."
The girl told a group of her friends what had happened. The friends -- among them Jesus -- took off after the men.
"I had a gulf club stick without the top part of it," Jesus said, "and I put it in their face, and I told them, 'Don't move. Stop right now,' so she could come and tell us who did it."
Justin Jesus, the victim's friend, said he did not mind risking his own safety to make sure his friend's attacker would be off the street. "I know her, she's my friend," he said. "We're not just people who say, 'Hi.' I'm her friend, and I care about her, and I'm not going to let her get raped and not go after the people who did it."
Jesus recalled that his friend was "hysterical" after the attack. "Her eyes were red and swollen," he said. "She just couldn't stop crying. She couldn't even talk."
While Jesus and the other friends kept Andres from fleeing, police arrived and arrested him. Andres later admitted to police that he grabbed the girl's breasts and touched her under her shorts, as well as admitting his plans to rape her.
Officers arrested Andres after he admitted his sinister intentions with the girl. Police have charged Andres with one count of sexual battery on a victim under 12 and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. He's also being held on an immigration violation.
Meanwhile, Andres' father, Feliciano Andres, said he does not believe his son could do such an act. Through a translator, he said, "I don't think he did it because he was drunk. I don't think he did it."
Friends of the 11-year-old victim say they are going to be more cautious and stick together when walking home from school. "Probably walk with more people than I usually do. And I'm going to walk with her all the time now to make sure nothing else happens," said one young girl.
Young girl describes ordeal after her attempted rape
DAVIE, Fla. (WSVN) -- An 11-year-old girl relived a terrifying ordeal when she says she was cornered by an 18-year-old who, she says, wanted to rape her.
Rocael Espinoza Andres, the young man accused of the attempted rape, now sits at the Broward county jail.
It was Sunday when the 11-year-old girl was walking home from a Davie McDonald's with a friend, but then she separated from her friends. She slipped through a gap in a fence near 131st Avenue and State Road 84 to head home. That's when she said three men confronted her. She said one of those men grabbed her and pulled her into the bushes, pulling down his pants and offering her money to have sex.
"He pulled me in and pulled his pants down, and then I was like, 'No, no,'" said the victim. "He offered me $100 and I was like, 'No, I don't want money, I don't want that. I don't want you, I don't want anything to do with you, get away from me.'"
The girl was able to slap him and get away but not before the man fondled her under her shorts. "He kept on touching, feeling my pants, and I was like, 'Stop,'" she said. "Then I pulled his hand out, and he tried to lick my chest, and I was like, 'No!' and I slapped his face. Then, like five minutes later, my pants finally got uncaught, and I ran."
The girl told a group of her friends what had happened. The friends -- among them Jesus -- took off after the men.
"I had a gulf club stick without the top part of it," Jesus said, "and I put it in their face, and I told them, 'Don't move. Stop right now,' so she could come and tell us who did it."
Justin Jesus, the victim's friend, said he did not mind risking his own safety to make sure his friend's attacker would be off the street. "I know her, she's my friend," he said. "We're not just people who say, 'Hi.' I'm her friend, and I care about her, and I'm not going to let her get raped and not go after the people who did it."
Jesus recalled that his friend was "hysterical" after the attack. "Her eyes were red and swollen," he said. "She just couldn't stop crying. She couldn't even talk."
While Jesus and the other friends kept Andres from fleeing, police arrived and arrested him. Andres later admitted to police that he grabbed the girl's breasts and touched her under her shorts, as well as admitting his plans to rape her.
Officers arrested Andres after he admitted his sinister intentions with the girl. Police have charged Andres with one count of sexual battery on a victim under 12 and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. He's also being held on an immigration violation.
Meanwhile, Andres' father, Feliciano Andres, said he does not believe his son could do such an act. Through a translator, he said, "I don't think he did it because he was drunk. I don't think he did it."
Friends of the 11-year-old victim say they are going to be more cautious and stick together when walking home from school. "Probably walk with more people than I usually do. And I'm going to walk with her all the time now to make sure nothing else happens," said one young girl.
Very violent crime by 16-year-old illegal
An earlier article explained this crime happened because the lady had called ICE. Someone should pay for not deporting this creep and his friends.
Teen at the crosshairs of Nashville’s crime-fighting focus
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
September 26, 2006
Jose Sosa, an illegal Honduran immigrant, was indicted last week by a Davidson County grand jury for the brutal stabbing of a mother and daughter inside their South Nashville home.Sosa, who at the time of the April 24 murders was 16, lived with five Hispanic males directly next door to the victims, Lori and Adrien Rountree, according to police testimony. The 44-year-old mother and her 16-year-old daughter had apparently been sleeping when police say Sosa forced his way into the home and stabbed the two of them repeatedly in their chests and backs.According to Metro Detective Brian Corcoran, who testified at Sosa’s juvenile transfer hearing, Lori Roundtree’s body was found with 37 stab wounds and Adrien’s was found with 46.Prints lifted off of what police believe was the kitchen knife used in the stabbings matched those of Sosa, Corcoran said.Police have yet to say what motive they think Sosa may have had – other than a possible robbery – in the slayings.Sosa is being tried as an adult, and has remained in police custody since his May 11 arrest.Sosa’s case directly illustrates two of the most serious problems Metro Police say they have faced this year: an increase in the amount of violent offenses committed by teenagers and about criminal offenses committed by illegal immigrants.In July, the police department reported that the number of juveniles arrested and charged with violent crimes within the first six months of 2006 had increased 20 percent over the first six months of 2005.At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Burks who – along with Jon Seaborg – handles most of the office’s cases involving juvenile criminal offenders, said the number of cases being transferred from Juvenile Court to Criminal Court has “clearly increased” over 2005.But violent and often deadly crimes being committed by teens are only half of the problem, according to much of Nashville’s law enforcement community.Illegal immigrants have been accused of a number of high-profile criminal offenses committed in the area. Many of the accused had been deported, as well as arrested, previously – prompting Sheriff Daron Hall to ask the federal gov
Teen at the crosshairs of Nashville’s crime-fighting focus
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
September 26, 2006
Jose Sosa, an illegal Honduran immigrant, was indicted last week by a Davidson County grand jury for the brutal stabbing of a mother and daughter inside their South Nashville home.Sosa, who at the time of the April 24 murders was 16, lived with five Hispanic males directly next door to the victims, Lori and Adrien Rountree, according to police testimony. The 44-year-old mother and her 16-year-old daughter had apparently been sleeping when police say Sosa forced his way into the home and stabbed the two of them repeatedly in their chests and backs.According to Metro Detective Brian Corcoran, who testified at Sosa’s juvenile transfer hearing, Lori Roundtree’s body was found with 37 stab wounds and Adrien’s was found with 46.Prints lifted off of what police believe was the kitchen knife used in the stabbings matched those of Sosa, Corcoran said.Police have yet to say what motive they think Sosa may have had – other than a possible robbery – in the slayings.Sosa is being tried as an adult, and has remained in police custody since his May 11 arrest.Sosa’s case directly illustrates two of the most serious problems Metro Police say they have faced this year: an increase in the amount of violent offenses committed by teenagers and about criminal offenses committed by illegal immigrants.In July, the police department reported that the number of juveniles arrested and charged with violent crimes within the first six months of 2006 had increased 20 percent over the first six months of 2005.At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Burks who – along with Jon Seaborg – handles most of the office’s cases involving juvenile criminal offenders, said the number of cases being transferred from Juvenile Court to Criminal Court has “clearly increased” over 2005.But violent and often deadly crimes being committed by teens are only half of the problem, according to much of Nashville’s law enforcement community.Illegal immigrants have been accused of a number of high-profile criminal offenses committed in the area. Many of the accused had been deported, as well as arrested, previously – prompting Sheriff Daron Hall to ask the federal gov
Saturday, September 23, 2006
More illegals gone wild.......
Illegal Immigrant Facing Attempted Murder Charges
("Sept22,2006,11:24 PM EST
WILMINGTON -- An illegal immigrant will go to trial on Monday for charges of attempted murder, according to prosecutors.
Miguel Ranjel allegedly shot Wilmington resident Michael Harrell outside the Carolina Cantina on Market Street in December 2005.
According to the police, Ranjel showed his gun to Harrell, and told Harrell that he was going to shoot people inside the restaurant. Ranjel then went to the bathroom. Harrell evacuated everyone in the restaurant.
When he came back out, Harrell had already gotten everyone outside. Police said that Ranjel then shot Harrell in the stomach and the arm.
Ranjel is charged with attempted first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting a police officer.
Prosecutors said that if Ranjel is convicted, he would will serve his sentence in North Carolina, then be deported.
That was just one of the two recent cases of illegal immigrants going to trial. Martin Vazquez, 42, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.
According to the police, Vazquez was drunk when he slammed into Benedict Randolph's car on Oleander Drive, killing Randolph.
An agent with Immigration Customs Enforcement told WECT that when illegal immigrants commit crimes in the U.S., they will be held accountable for what they have done, and then be deported to their native country.
Reported by Kacey Gaumer
("Sept22,2006,11:24 PM EST
WILMINGTON -- An illegal immigrant will go to trial on Monday for charges of attempted murder, according to prosecutors.
Miguel Ranjel allegedly shot Wilmington resident Michael Harrell outside the Carolina Cantina on Market Street in December 2005.
According to the police, Ranjel showed his gun to Harrell, and told Harrell that he was going to shoot people inside the restaurant. Ranjel then went to the bathroom. Harrell evacuated everyone in the restaurant.
When he came back out, Harrell had already gotten everyone outside. Police said that Ranjel then shot Harrell in the stomach and the arm.
Ranjel is charged with attempted first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting a police officer.
Prosecutors said that if Ranjel is convicted, he would will serve his sentence in North Carolina, then be deported.
That was just one of the two recent cases of illegal immigrants going to trial. Martin Vazquez, 42, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.
According to the police, Vazquez was drunk when he slammed into Benedict Randolph's car on Oleander Drive, killing Randolph.
An agent with Immigration Customs Enforcement told WECT that when illegal immigrants commit crimes in the U.S., they will be held accountable for what they have done, and then be deported to their native country.
Reported by Kacey Gaumer
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Frosty tells it like it is........
By Frosty Wooldridge
September 21, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
In the 60s, “Popeye the Sailor Man” guzzled spinach from a can in order to battle the bad guys. He became an icon of good health for those who ate vegetables and exercised.
As of this week across America, you don’t want to eat spinach nor any vegetables grown and picked by America’s newest slave class. Restaurants called for a ban on serving spinach salads. I’ll bet most Americans shy away from lettuce, cabbage and other leafy vegetables in the coming weeks. They’re all grown and harvested under the same conditions and same people.
Why? As of Wednesday, 146 citizens in 23 states suffered E. Coli infection and one died.
How do you think this disease outbreak occurred? To bring it into sobering focus, please understand that 20 million illegal aliens crossed into America in the past 20 years without any kind of health screening. They work picking our food, washing our dishes in restaurants and, as is the norm in Third World countries, rarely if ever wash their hands after using the toilet. Additionally, most of them suffer functional illiteracy. They do not practice personal hygiene or health habits most Americans assume as a normal aspect of living.
While on my 21st Century Paul Revere Ride this summer through 48 states, I saw thousands of illegal aliens working in fields the length of California. I rode through Salinas Valley where illegals cultivated crops. I noticed porta-potties sometimes and none at other times. I never saw hand washing facilities. Pause for a moment, and consider cleanliness habits of Third World people with a fifth grade education. Why does disease affect millions in the Third World? What happens when millions migrate illegally to our country? Might dozens or more do their morning constitutional amongst the crops for lack of a porta-potty? Might the contamination be spread across the fields by the common practice of “flood irrigation?” Would flooding spread the contamination further?
You never ‘hear’ the major TV networks address or experts talk about this aspect of the contamination of our foods. It’s a cover-up, plain and simple. They only report it when it breaks out beyond their ability to squelch it.
Remember Chi Chi’s Restaurants in Pennsylvania that killed several customers because the work staff suffered hepatitis infections? Remember the Center for Disease Control stating they thought the source originated in Mexican fields irrigated with sewage water?
Have you heard about the latest multi drug resistant tuberculosis outbreaks in Philadelphia, Atlanta and near Cleveland this summer? We’ve imported at least 16,000 cases of TB in the past five years according to latest reports. Before that, TB was virtually extinct in America.
Tuberculosis kills 2,000,000 people world wide annually. Where? In the Third World! Why? Illiteracy, contaminated water, limited food and lack of hospital care! We’ve imported 7,000 cases of leprosy in the past three years. It’s endemic to the northeast of the United States for the first time ever. Have you heard about it by the major networks? Not a chance!
In an April 25, 2004 front page story of the Santa Barbara News Press, “Anatomy of an Outbreak”, one illegal alien infected 56 others with tuberculosis. After he avoided police for months, they finally captured him and placed him in quarantine. In September, 2005, a school child in Fort Morgan, Colorado contracted tuberculosis while attending school. How? An illegal alien student suffered from the disease, but was not screened before attending school. Our national media silences these outbreaks.
Do you see a pattern here? It’s called Third World Momentum. All the consequences affecting the Third World now manifest in our country.
As millions of illegals import themselves into the United States, they bring diseases. They rarely change their sanitation habits or lack thereof. They work in our meat and chicken processing plants at $6.00 an hour. Do you think they bring any responsibility and pride to their work? As more corrupt CEOs bribe health inspectors and OSHA officials, our food sources suffer degraded standards.
Illegal aliens by the millions work in our restaurants. Last spring, a reader of this column from New York City reported, “Our manager last night ran cursing out the back door of the restaurant with a hand towel box in his hand…illegals had been using the toilet and threw their used toilet paper into the box because that’s what they do in Mexico because sewage systems can’t take tissue paper. The illegals had been throwing their used toilet paper into the hand towel box!” I traveled through Mexico and saw it myself. This story represents the tip of an ugly disease epidemic growing in America.
As a nation, what we’re facing is like a 50 car pile up on a foggy morning on an expressway in Pennsylvania. Everyone speeding into the blinding fog bank begins slowing down too late. Someone brakes hard when another car slows down abruptly. The cars behind can’t stop; the chain reaction pile-up begins.
Doesn’t anyone see what’s happening to America? Apparently not! Sixty-two of your 100 senators voted S.B. 2611. That bill assures our growth by 100 million in the next 34 years. However, that’s 100 million people mostly from Third World countries. That ensures pockets of poverty and disease already ravaging millions in those countries to be transplanted into America.
For all Americans, this E. Coli outbreak stands as a harbinger of things to come. When you degrade health standards, hire illegal aliens carrying multiple of diseases or disease provoking habits, you’ve got a national crisis in the making.
Ironically, even our U.S. Senators stand at risk as well as their families. Even if they live in gated communities, at some point in time, with these illegal aliens invading every nook and cranny of our society—everyone becomes vulnerable to disease, terror, death and fraud wrought by this invasion.
With this E. Coli outbreak, even Popeye may find himself headed for the emergency room. However, he’ll be forced to wait in line behind countless illegal aliens given free access ahead of him. Not only that, he’ll be paying for their doctor visits with his hard earned tax dollars. This time, at the end of the cartoon, he won’t be chortling with Olive Oil
September 21, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
In the 60s, “Popeye the Sailor Man” guzzled spinach from a can in order to battle the bad guys. He became an icon of good health for those who ate vegetables and exercised.
As of this week across America, you don’t want to eat spinach nor any vegetables grown and picked by America’s newest slave class. Restaurants called for a ban on serving spinach salads. I’ll bet most Americans shy away from lettuce, cabbage and other leafy vegetables in the coming weeks. They’re all grown and harvested under the same conditions and same people.
Why? As of Wednesday, 146 citizens in 23 states suffered E. Coli infection and one died.
How do you think this disease outbreak occurred? To bring it into sobering focus, please understand that 20 million illegal aliens crossed into America in the past 20 years without any kind of health screening. They work picking our food, washing our dishes in restaurants and, as is the norm in Third World countries, rarely if ever wash their hands after using the toilet. Additionally, most of them suffer functional illiteracy. They do not practice personal hygiene or health habits most Americans assume as a normal aspect of living.
While on my 21st Century Paul Revere Ride this summer through 48 states, I saw thousands of illegal aliens working in fields the length of California. I rode through Salinas Valley where illegals cultivated crops. I noticed porta-potties sometimes and none at other times. I never saw hand washing facilities. Pause for a moment, and consider cleanliness habits of Third World people with a fifth grade education. Why does disease affect millions in the Third World? What happens when millions migrate illegally to our country? Might dozens or more do their morning constitutional amongst the crops for lack of a porta-potty? Might the contamination be spread across the fields by the common practice of “flood irrigation?” Would flooding spread the contamination further?
You never ‘hear’ the major TV networks address or experts talk about this aspect of the contamination of our foods. It’s a cover-up, plain and simple. They only report it when it breaks out beyond their ability to squelch it.
Remember Chi Chi’s Restaurants in Pennsylvania that killed several customers because the work staff suffered hepatitis infections? Remember the Center for Disease Control stating they thought the source originated in Mexican fields irrigated with sewage water?
Have you heard about the latest multi drug resistant tuberculosis outbreaks in Philadelphia, Atlanta and near Cleveland this summer? We’ve imported at least 16,000 cases of TB in the past five years according to latest reports. Before that, TB was virtually extinct in America.
Tuberculosis kills 2,000,000 people world wide annually. Where? In the Third World! Why? Illiteracy, contaminated water, limited food and lack of hospital care! We’ve imported 7,000 cases of leprosy in the past three years. It’s endemic to the northeast of the United States for the first time ever. Have you heard about it by the major networks? Not a chance!
In an April 25, 2004 front page story of the Santa Barbara News Press, “Anatomy of an Outbreak”, one illegal alien infected 56 others with tuberculosis. After he avoided police for months, they finally captured him and placed him in quarantine. In September, 2005, a school child in Fort Morgan, Colorado contracted tuberculosis while attending school. How? An illegal alien student suffered from the disease, but was not screened before attending school. Our national media silences these outbreaks.
Do you see a pattern here? It’s called Third World Momentum. All the consequences affecting the Third World now manifest in our country.
As millions of illegals import themselves into the United States, they bring diseases. They rarely change their sanitation habits or lack thereof. They work in our meat and chicken processing plants at $6.00 an hour. Do you think they bring any responsibility and pride to their work? As more corrupt CEOs bribe health inspectors and OSHA officials, our food sources suffer degraded standards.
Illegal aliens by the millions work in our restaurants. Last spring, a reader of this column from New York City reported, “Our manager last night ran cursing out the back door of the restaurant with a hand towel box in his hand…illegals had been using the toilet and threw their used toilet paper into the box because that’s what they do in Mexico because sewage systems can’t take tissue paper. The illegals had been throwing their used toilet paper into the hand towel box!” I traveled through Mexico and saw it myself. This story represents the tip of an ugly disease epidemic growing in America.
As a nation, what we’re facing is like a 50 car pile up on a foggy morning on an expressway in Pennsylvania. Everyone speeding into the blinding fog bank begins slowing down too late. Someone brakes hard when another car slows down abruptly. The cars behind can’t stop; the chain reaction pile-up begins.
Doesn’t anyone see what’s happening to America? Apparently not! Sixty-two of your 100 senators voted S.B. 2611. That bill assures our growth by 100 million in the next 34 years. However, that’s 100 million people mostly from Third World countries. That ensures pockets of poverty and disease already ravaging millions in those countries to be transplanted into America.
For all Americans, this E. Coli outbreak stands as a harbinger of things to come. When you degrade health standards, hire illegal aliens carrying multiple of diseases or disease provoking habits, you’ve got a national crisis in the making.
Ironically, even our U.S. Senators stand at risk as well as their families. Even if they live in gated communities, at some point in time, with these illegal aliens invading every nook and cranny of our society—everyone becomes vulnerable to disease, terror, death and fraud wrought by this invasion.
With this E. Coli outbreak, even Popeye may find himself headed for the emergency room. However, he’ll be forced to wait in line behind countless illegal aliens given free access ahead of him. Not only that, he’ll be paying for their doctor visits with his hard earned tax dollars. This time, at the end of the cartoon, he won’t be chortling with Olive Oil
Illegal drags woman to death
The brutality of some of these illegals is insane. Why are we allowing these monsters to be here?
Photo leads to suspect in dragging death
CASTLE ROCK, Colorado (AP) -- The stained, tattered photograph shows a couple looking off in different directions -- distracted, or maybe bored. The man has a hand on the woman's shoulder, but with an air of indifference.
It's the sort of photo more likely to be forgotten in a box than to make it into a frame or album. But it ended up at one of the most brutal crime scenes imaginable -- possibly as a key piece of evidence.
The man in the photo, Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of murder in the death of an unidentified woman who was dragged behind a vehicle with a rope, leaving a trail of blood more than a mile long.
Authorities did not say how the photograph ended up near the woman's body, which was discovered before dawn Monday in a suburban neighborhood about 20 miles south of Denver. (Watch police look for clues along a mile-long blood trail -- 1:31)
Nancy Foley, who lives nearby, said the victim had an orange tow rope around her neck and that her face was unrecognizable.
The picture shows a couple who appear to be in their 30s. Investigators said they were still trying to identify the victim, and did not say whether the woman in the picture was the victim.
The photo had been released to the public, and Sheriff Dave Weaver said tips from citizens helped lead to the arrest. Weaver offered no motive for the killing, and the sheriff's department did not respond to repeated requests by phone and in writing for more information.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said agents believe Rubi-Nava is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
At a court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Rubi-Nava, who was jailed without bail, listened through a translator as District Judge Paul A. King formally told him the charge he faces.
King sealed the arrest warrant affidavit, which outlines the preliminary allegations against Rubi-Nava, at the request of public defender Kathleen McGuire. King said he would consider McGuire's request for a gag order.
An autopsy indicated the woman died of asphyxiation and head injuries from being dragged.
The trail of blood led from Interstate 25 to the woman's body, which was found on a street lined with large ranch-style homes on spacious lots, some surrounded by spacious lots of tall prairie grass and trees.
Someone placed a small white cross near the spot where the body was found. On Wednesday, highway crews were spreading fresh tar over the roads to cover the traces of blood.
Photo leads to suspect in dragging death
CASTLE ROCK, Colorado (AP) -- The stained, tattered photograph shows a couple looking off in different directions -- distracted, or maybe bored. The man has a hand on the woman's shoulder, but with an air of indifference.
It's the sort of photo more likely to be forgotten in a box than to make it into a frame or album. But it ended up at one of the most brutal crime scenes imaginable -- possibly as a key piece of evidence.
The man in the photo, Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of murder in the death of an unidentified woman who was dragged behind a vehicle with a rope, leaving a trail of blood more than a mile long.
Authorities did not say how the photograph ended up near the woman's body, which was discovered before dawn Monday in a suburban neighborhood about 20 miles south of Denver. (Watch police look for clues along a mile-long blood trail -- 1:31)
Nancy Foley, who lives nearby, said the victim had an orange tow rope around her neck and that her face was unrecognizable.
The picture shows a couple who appear to be in their 30s. Investigators said they were still trying to identify the victim, and did not say whether the woman in the picture was the victim.
The photo had been released to the public, and Sheriff Dave Weaver said tips from citizens helped lead to the arrest. Weaver offered no motive for the killing, and the sheriff's department did not respond to repeated requests by phone and in writing for more information.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said agents believe Rubi-Nava is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
At a court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Rubi-Nava, who was jailed without bail, listened through a translator as District Judge Paul A. King formally told him the charge he faces.
King sealed the arrest warrant affidavit, which outlines the preliminary allegations against Rubi-Nava, at the request of public defender Kathleen McGuire. King said he would consider McGuire's request for a gag order.
An autopsy indicated the woman died of asphyxiation and head injuries from being dragged.
The trail of blood led from Interstate 25 to the woman's body, which was found on a street lined with large ranch-style homes on spacious lots, some surrounded by spacious lots of tall prairie grass and trees.
Someone placed a small white cross near the spot where the body was found. On Wednesday, highway crews were spreading fresh tar over the roads to cover the traces of blood.
Illegal with HIV rapes 5-year-old
This scum needs to be locked up forever. My heart is breaking for that poor little girl who will never have a normal life.
Young rape victim undergoes HIV treatment
Thursday, September 21, 2006
By MIKE PERRYStaff Reporter
A 5-year-old girl is undergoing treatment for possible HIV infection after the man charged with raping her -- an illegal alien who was previously deported to Mexico -- admitted he has the virus, authorities said.
The case has re-energized some state lawmakers to push for tougher penalties for people who commit sex crimes and knowingly expose their victims to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Julio Cesar Cruz Martinez, 32, of Fairhope is being held in a segregated unit at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on charges of first-degree rape, sexual abuse and sodomy, a jail official said Wednesday.
Police said Martinez has confessed to some of the acts involving the girl and to knowing he had HIV before the crime reportedly occurred Sept. 13.
Officers notified the family immediately after Martinez disclosed his infection, sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Murphy said.
"The child has been taken to medical services, where she has been tested and is being given treatment to reduce the risk of the HIV virus," Murphy said Wednesday.
HIV is a virus that destroys the body's ability to fight off illness and is the cause of AIDS. People infected with the virus do not have AIDS until they develop serious symptoms, but they are capable of transmitting the virus through sexual intercourse, according to the AIDS.org Web site.
Martinez has undergone HIV testing at the corrections center to confirm whether he has the virus, Murphy said. The lab results are pending and may not be released publicly, he said.
Deputies had questioned Martinez's identity, since he did not provide valid identification.
Temple Black, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Wednesday that Martinez is an illegal alien who has been deported to Mexico at least once. The department placed an administrative hold on Martinez -- requiring him to remain jailed -- after identifying him by photo and fingerprints, Temple said.
If convicted of the rape and other charges, Martinez would serve his sentence in the U.S. before being returned to Mexico, he said.
Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said this week that her office was looking into whether Martinez should face additional charges for knowing he had the virus when he allegedly raped the girl.
Newcomb said such crimes typically fall under assault or endangerment statutes, and she doubted that Alabama had a statute to enhance charges against someone who knowingly exposed another to HIV or AIDS.
Many U.S. states have laws making it a separate crime for someone to knowingly expose someone to the virus during a criminal act. But no such legislation exists in Alabama, a researcher with the Secretary of State's office confirmed Wednesday.
State Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, said he agrees Alabama needs laws that would make it a crime for someone to knowingly expose another to the virus while committing a crime, particularly in cases involving children. Byrne said he plans to push for tougher laws in the next legislative session.
State Public Health Officer Don Williamson said Alabama needs tougher laws to criminalize known HIV exposure, but lawmakers should be careful not to dissuade people from getting tested for the disease.
"The known exposure of another party by somebody who is HIV infected, without warning them or taking precautions, is immoral and reprehensible. We need to figure a way to deal with that," Williamson said.
Lawmakers should be careful to create rehabilitative options for drug addicts and others at high risk to HIV infection, so that get-tough laws don't discourage them from getting tested, he said.
"For some people, ignorance of the law is an excuse," Williamson said. "If they never find out they are infected then they can't be charged with knowingly exposing somebody."
Young rape victim undergoes HIV treatment
Thursday, September 21, 2006
By MIKE PERRYStaff Reporter
A 5-year-old girl is undergoing treatment for possible HIV infection after the man charged with raping her -- an illegal alien who was previously deported to Mexico -- admitted he has the virus, authorities said.
The case has re-energized some state lawmakers to push for tougher penalties for people who commit sex crimes and knowingly expose their victims to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Julio Cesar Cruz Martinez, 32, of Fairhope is being held in a segregated unit at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on charges of first-degree rape, sexual abuse and sodomy, a jail official said Wednesday.
Police said Martinez has confessed to some of the acts involving the girl and to knowing he had HIV before the crime reportedly occurred Sept. 13.
Officers notified the family immediately after Martinez disclosed his infection, sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Murphy said.
"The child has been taken to medical services, where she has been tested and is being given treatment to reduce the risk of the HIV virus," Murphy said Wednesday.
HIV is a virus that destroys the body's ability to fight off illness and is the cause of AIDS. People infected with the virus do not have AIDS until they develop serious symptoms, but they are capable of transmitting the virus through sexual intercourse, according to the AIDS.org Web site.
Martinez has undergone HIV testing at the corrections center to confirm whether he has the virus, Murphy said. The lab results are pending and may not be released publicly, he said.
Deputies had questioned Martinez's identity, since he did not provide valid identification.
Temple Black, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Wednesday that Martinez is an illegal alien who has been deported to Mexico at least once. The department placed an administrative hold on Martinez -- requiring him to remain jailed -- after identifying him by photo and fingerprints, Temple said.
If convicted of the rape and other charges, Martinez would serve his sentence in the U.S. before being returned to Mexico, he said.
Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said this week that her office was looking into whether Martinez should face additional charges for knowing he had the virus when he allegedly raped the girl.
Newcomb said such crimes typically fall under assault or endangerment statutes, and she doubted that Alabama had a statute to enhance charges against someone who knowingly exposed another to HIV or AIDS.
Many U.S. states have laws making it a separate crime for someone to knowingly expose someone to the virus during a criminal act. But no such legislation exists in Alabama, a researcher with the Secretary of State's office confirmed Wednesday.
State Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, said he agrees Alabama needs laws that would make it a crime for someone to knowingly expose another to the virus while committing a crime, particularly in cases involving children. Byrne said he plans to push for tougher laws in the next legislative session.
State Public Health Officer Don Williamson said Alabama needs tougher laws to criminalize known HIV exposure, but lawmakers should be careful not to dissuade people from getting tested for the disease.
"The known exposure of another party by somebody who is HIV infected, without warning them or taking precautions, is immoral and reprehensible. We need to figure a way to deal with that," Williamson said.
Lawmakers should be careful to create rehabilitative options for drug addicts and others at high risk to HIV infection, so that get-tough laws don't discourage them from getting tested, he said.
"For some people, ignorance of the law is an excuse," Williamson said. "If they never find out they are infected then they can't be charged with knowingly exposing somebody."
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Good Reading
Posted on Sat, Sep. 16, 2006
Court-created right to education draws illegals1982 case required states to let illegal immigrants enroll in public schools
TOM ASHCRAFT Special to the Observer
Soft headed liberal policies, often pushed under a rubric of "compassion," make folks in government feel good when they are adopted. Officials can pat each other on the back and tell themselves how much they care, how enlightened they are. Such policies, however, frequently lead to consequences the opposite of good government.
Take the issue of whether children not legally in the country ought to have a constitutional right to attend public schools. The issue was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1982 case of Plyler v. Doe.
In the mid-1970s, enrollment in Texas public schools was growing rapidly because of large numbers of children of illegal aliens in the state, mainly Mexican nationals. In order to control rising costs, the Texas legislature passed a law which withheld state funds from local school districts for the education of children not "legally admitted" to the country and allowed the districts to deny enrollment to such children.
Even 30 years ago the U.S. government was doing such a dismal job of controlling the southern border that Texas was feeling the pinch in its public school budget. The state enacted what its leaders thought was a reasonable response: The education of Mexican children should be the responsibility of authorities in Mexico, not Texas.
With the support of the National Education Association and other liberal groups, a lawsuit was brought and eventually reached the Supreme Court. Opponents of the law contended that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment did not permit Texas, in providing public education, to distinguish between Americans and others legally in the country and those not legally here.
By a 5-4 vote, the court sided with opponents of the Texas law. Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan, a Democrat appointed by Republican President Eisenhower before the 1956 election, held that the Texas law was an irrational discrimination against the children in question and that it advanced no "substantial interest" of the state.
Chief Justice Burger, appointed by President Nixon in 1969, wrote a stinging dissent, joined by three other justices. Of the many points he made, two stand out a quarter century later.
First, Burger warned against "judicial legislating." The Constitution "does not constitute us as `Platonic Guardians' nor does it vest in this court the authority to strike down laws because they do not meet our standards of desirable social policy, `wisdom,' or `common sense.' ... We trespass on the assigned function of the political branches under our structure of limited and separated powers when we assume a policymaking role as the court does today." Burger found Texas' concerns perfectly rational. "By definition, illegal aliens have no right whatever to be here, and the state may reasonably, and constitutionally, elect not to provide them with governmental services at the expense of those who are lawfully in the state."
Second, Burger noted the dereliction of Congress in dealing with "the influx of uncountable millions of illegal aliens [coming] across our borders." He cited a Department of Justice estimate indicating there were between 3 and 6 million illegals in the country at that time. He said, "The failure of enforcement of the immigration laws over more than a decade [as of 1982] and the inherent difficulty and expense of sealing our vast borders have combined to create a grave socioeconomic dilemma."
What has been the effect of the 1982 Plyler ruling? It's hard to quantify, but common sense indicates that providing public education for children of illegals is a powerful incentive for folks to try to sneak into the country, especially given the dire straits many face in Mexico and elsewhere. Estimates of illegals in the U.S. today range from 10 to 20 million.
Because of Plyler, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools does not track the immigration status of students. It does, however, categorize some students as "limited English proficient," overwhelmingly Spanish speakers. Last October there were 12,493 such students, up from 11,510 the year before. For the school year 2005-06, over $15 million was allocated to teaching English as a second language -- in a school system where many native born are failing to meet basic standards.
As a free people, we can keep or change current immigration law. What we cannot change is that current law inevitably has future consequences. As to government action, the chickens always come home to roost.
Tom
Ashcraft
Court-created right to education draws illegals1982 case required states to let illegal immigrants enroll in public schools
TOM ASHCRAFT Special to the Observer
Soft headed liberal policies, often pushed under a rubric of "compassion," make folks in government feel good when they are adopted. Officials can pat each other on the back and tell themselves how much they care, how enlightened they are. Such policies, however, frequently lead to consequences the opposite of good government.
Take the issue of whether children not legally in the country ought to have a constitutional right to attend public schools. The issue was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1982 case of Plyler v. Doe.
In the mid-1970s, enrollment in Texas public schools was growing rapidly because of large numbers of children of illegal aliens in the state, mainly Mexican nationals. In order to control rising costs, the Texas legislature passed a law which withheld state funds from local school districts for the education of children not "legally admitted" to the country and allowed the districts to deny enrollment to such children.
Even 30 years ago the U.S. government was doing such a dismal job of controlling the southern border that Texas was feeling the pinch in its public school budget. The state enacted what its leaders thought was a reasonable response: The education of Mexican children should be the responsibility of authorities in Mexico, not Texas.
With the support of the National Education Association and other liberal groups, a lawsuit was brought and eventually reached the Supreme Court. Opponents of the law contended that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment did not permit Texas, in providing public education, to distinguish between Americans and others legally in the country and those not legally here.
By a 5-4 vote, the court sided with opponents of the Texas law. Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan, a Democrat appointed by Republican President Eisenhower before the 1956 election, held that the Texas law was an irrational discrimination against the children in question and that it advanced no "substantial interest" of the state.
Chief Justice Burger, appointed by President Nixon in 1969, wrote a stinging dissent, joined by three other justices. Of the many points he made, two stand out a quarter century later.
First, Burger warned against "judicial legislating." The Constitution "does not constitute us as `Platonic Guardians' nor does it vest in this court the authority to strike down laws because they do not meet our standards of desirable social policy, `wisdom,' or `common sense.' ... We trespass on the assigned function of the political branches under our structure of limited and separated powers when we assume a policymaking role as the court does today." Burger found Texas' concerns perfectly rational. "By definition, illegal aliens have no right whatever to be here, and the state may reasonably, and constitutionally, elect not to provide them with governmental services at the expense of those who are lawfully in the state."
Second, Burger noted the dereliction of Congress in dealing with "the influx of uncountable millions of illegal aliens [coming] across our borders." He cited a Department of Justice estimate indicating there were between 3 and 6 million illegals in the country at that time. He said, "The failure of enforcement of the immigration laws over more than a decade [as of 1982] and the inherent difficulty and expense of sealing our vast borders have combined to create a grave socioeconomic dilemma."
What has been the effect of the 1982 Plyler ruling? It's hard to quantify, but common sense indicates that providing public education for children of illegals is a powerful incentive for folks to try to sneak into the country, especially given the dire straits many face in Mexico and elsewhere. Estimates of illegals in the U.S. today range from 10 to 20 million.
Because of Plyler, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools does not track the immigration status of students. It does, however, categorize some students as "limited English proficient," overwhelmingly Spanish speakers. Last October there were 12,493 such students, up from 11,510 the year before. For the school year 2005-06, over $15 million was allocated to teaching English as a second language -- in a school system where many native born are failing to meet basic standards.
As a free people, we can keep or change current immigration law. What we cannot change is that current law inevitably has future consequences. As to government action, the chickens always come home to roost.
Tom
Ashcraft
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Illegal kills 3 Americans
Padilla gun spree detailed
By KATHY MELLOTT The Tribune-Democrat
HOLLIDAYSBURG— Eyewitnesses to a shooting rampage testified Thursday to their horror and confusion during the triple-murder trial of Miguel Padilla of Cambria County.Tonya Kline saw the fire blaze from the gun as it was shot.“I froze for a moment, then I hit the cement. I just turned around and dove,” she testified. “Al (murder victim Alfred Mignogna) was laying across my legs. I was covered in blood.”Emotional and often graphic words highlighted the second day of testimony – with the girlfriend of one victim describing how her boyfriend pushed her out of the way and was immediately shot in the chest.The attorney for Padilla, 26, of Convent Street agrees that his client, an illegal immigrant, shot Mignogna, Fred Rickabaugh and Stephen Heiss to death outside an Altoona club on Aug. 28, 2005.The strategy of Donald Speice is to claim Padilla was in such a mental state that he could not form the intent to commit first-degree murder – and thereby save Padilla’s life.Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio contends that Padilla had the time and mental soundness to intend to kill the men, a necessary element in a charge of first-degree murder.A transcript from a 911 call Padilla made about an hour after the shootings depict a man who claims he is confused with no memory of the incident.“I know they’re looking for me. I think I may have hurt somebody, but I don’t know what I did,” Padilla told dispatcher Jamie McClellan.He goes on that he takes medication, believed to be for a panic disorder, but he had been without the drug for a month prior to the murders.The shootings occurred after an evening of drinking by Padilla drinking and friend Travis Shumaker.However, police who arrested Padilla a hour after the shootings said he walked backward for a distance of 50 feet and showed no sign of being incapacitated.The jury also viewed a video from a security camera posted at a discount grocery showing Padilla running from the scene through the back parking lot of the United Veterans Association, where the shooting occurred.Barbara Zindel, 38, who was attempting to go into the club with Heiss at the time, testified her boyfriend pushed her to the ground before he took a single bullet to the chest.“I felt Mr. Mignogna fall on the back of my legs,” dying, she testified.Altoona police officers testified about finding a .45-caliber handgun with laser sighting in a wooded area four blocks from the UVA. Also found was a briefcase with Padilla’s drivers license, cards for his construction business, insurance information for four of his vehicles including a silver Jaguar with North Carolina plates and registered in his name.That briefcase also contained $19,000 in cash. However, that information was not presented to the jury following a ruling by Judge Hiram Carpenter, disallowing the evidence.An estimated five prosecution witnesses remain and the prosecution’s case should wrap up today. The defense may start to present its witnesses before day’s end.
By KATHY MELLOTT The Tribune-Democrat
HOLLIDAYSBURG— Eyewitnesses to a shooting rampage testified Thursday to their horror and confusion during the triple-murder trial of Miguel Padilla of Cambria County.Tonya Kline saw the fire blaze from the gun as it was shot.“I froze for a moment, then I hit the cement. I just turned around and dove,” she testified. “Al (murder victim Alfred Mignogna) was laying across my legs. I was covered in blood.”Emotional and often graphic words highlighted the second day of testimony – with the girlfriend of one victim describing how her boyfriend pushed her out of the way and was immediately shot in the chest.The attorney for Padilla, 26, of Convent Street agrees that his client, an illegal immigrant, shot Mignogna, Fred Rickabaugh and Stephen Heiss to death outside an Altoona club on Aug. 28, 2005.The strategy of Donald Speice is to claim Padilla was in such a mental state that he could not form the intent to commit first-degree murder – and thereby save Padilla’s life.Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio contends that Padilla had the time and mental soundness to intend to kill the men, a necessary element in a charge of first-degree murder.A transcript from a 911 call Padilla made about an hour after the shootings depict a man who claims he is confused with no memory of the incident.“I know they’re looking for me. I think I may have hurt somebody, but I don’t know what I did,” Padilla told dispatcher Jamie McClellan.He goes on that he takes medication, believed to be for a panic disorder, but he had been without the drug for a month prior to the murders.The shootings occurred after an evening of drinking by Padilla drinking and friend Travis Shumaker.However, police who arrested Padilla a hour after the shootings said he walked backward for a distance of 50 feet and showed no sign of being incapacitated.The jury also viewed a video from a security camera posted at a discount grocery showing Padilla running from the scene through the back parking lot of the United Veterans Association, where the shooting occurred.Barbara Zindel, 38, who was attempting to go into the club with Heiss at the time, testified her boyfriend pushed her to the ground before he took a single bullet to the chest.“I felt Mr. Mignogna fall on the back of my legs,” dying, she testified.Altoona police officers testified about finding a .45-caliber handgun with laser sighting in a wooded area four blocks from the UVA. Also found was a briefcase with Padilla’s drivers license, cards for his construction business, insurance information for four of his vehicles including a silver Jaguar with North Carolina plates and registered in his name.That briefcase also contained $19,000 in cash. However, that information was not presented to the jury following a ruling by Judge Hiram Carpenter, disallowing the evidence.An estimated five prosecution witnesses remain and the prosecution’s case should wrap up today. The defense may start to present its witnesses before day’s end.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Another victim of a "hardworking" illegal
Neighbor charged in death of Bellevue woman in home. Police say suspected illegal immigrant admitted killing.
By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF Staff Writer
The remnants of a brutal and lengthy fight were scattered throughout Mary Sadler's 229 Cross Timbers Drive home on Tuesday.Police found Sadler's cockatiel, Aussie, cowering in a corner with a broken wing. The bird later died at an emergency clinic.A glass panel from a grandfather clock was shattered. A mirror in the front foyer was cracked, and glass spilled out onto the floor.Nearby, police found Sadler, 74, dead, her beaten and bloody body by a rear sliding-glass door inside the home."It was one hell of a fight," her grandson-in-law, Paul Woods, said Tuesday as he helped clean debris from the living room. "I think she did a good job for being 74 years old and trying to defend herself."According to Metro police, the man who on Monday killed Sadler, and perhaps Sadler's bird, was Ivan Moreno, 30, a next-door neighbor.Moreno, who is thought to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico, admitted to police that he struck Sadler after he went to her house to get money, said Metro police spokesman Don Aaron.Moreno was arrested yesterday on a charge of criminal homicide.He also faces two charges of assaulting police officers during his arrest and a domestic assault charge after threatening his wife in Spanish that he would kill her if she cooperated with authorities, police said.Moreno's possible illegal presence in the country was a sore spot yesterday for Sadler's family and neighbors. They expressed contempt for landlords who rented a duplex to Moreno and his family.Police initially said Sadler had been beaten to death, but an autopsy yesterday found that she had also been strangled, Aaron said.It was not clear exactly what touched off the violence inside the home. Moreno had gone to Sadler's house to ask for money.Sometime after the killing, he went to a Mapco on Highway 70 South where he became belligerent after being refused cigarettes because he didn't have enough money, police said.Moreno left the Mapco before police arrived and drove back to his neighborhood. Neighbors saw him driving recklessly through yards and called police.Officers arrived at Cross Timbers Drive to find his car abandoned with a shredded tire, police said.He was identified moments later and found to have an outstanding warrant for failing to show up in court in June on a charge of driving without a license, police said.Officers went to his home at 233 Cross Timbers Drive, but Moreno wasn't there. As they prepared to leave, they spotted him behind Sadler's home with blood on his clothes, police said.According to police, Moreno kicked two officers who tried to arrest him.Moreno appears to have used false documents and a fake name to land a job at a West End Avenue restaurant, police said. Federal authorities are working to determine his immigration status.The killing prompted a joint statement by Metro police Chief Ronal Serpas, Sheriff Daron Hall and District Attorney General Torry Johnson, announcing plans to reform the way criminal immigrants are handled in Nashville."While it is premature at this point to announce any plans or initiatives, suffice it to say that the three of us are working closely with the federal government to develop a system to better protect our citizens from immigrants who commit criminal acts and show a blatant disregard for our laws," the statement said.Investigators have said they didn't know of any animosity between Moreno and Sadler before Monday, though a police spokesman said a hand-held video game and other undisclosed items from Sadler's home were found in Moreno's home, police said.Sadler's family and neighbors yesterday told The Tennessean there had been disputes between them.One recent spat involved one of Moreno's children shooting a BB gun at tomatoes in Sadler's back yard, a family member said.Police yesterday declined to comment about that."We are still early in the investigation," Aaron said. "We will be talking to Mrs. Sadler's family in more detail."Officers found Aussie, the bird, wounded in a corner of a room in the residence, Aaron said. Aussie's cage had been knocked over, apparently during the struggle.Officers wrapped the bird in a soft fabric and took it to an emergency veterinary clinic. Doctors administered oxygen and diagnosed the bird with a broken wing, Aaron said."The bird died at the veterinary clinic," Aaron said. Sadler's two ferrets were found inside the home unharmed, police said.Sadler's family remembered her yesterday as a perennial volunteer for many area organizations.Her family pointed to a plaque on the wall that showed she had recently surpassed 584 hours during 26 years as a volunteer helping veterans through the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs. She also volunteered through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.She worked at polls during elections and with a Masonic Lodge in west Nashville, her family said. Neighbors described her as an active e-mailer who would send messages to other residents about everything from coyotes roaming the streets to trash pickup times.Her husband suffers from Alzheimer's disease and was unaware of his wife's death as of Tuesday afternoon, said Woods, Sadler's grandson-in-law.Linda Martin, a neighbor for three years, said she knew Sadler as the captain of the Neighborhood Watch. Sadler was the first person to welcome her to the neighborhood, Martin recalled.Mindy Van Tassel, director of the area's Neighborhood Watch program, recalled Sadler as a woman who looked and acted much younger than her age.•
By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF Staff Writer
The remnants of a brutal and lengthy fight were scattered throughout Mary Sadler's 229 Cross Timbers Drive home on Tuesday.Police found Sadler's cockatiel, Aussie, cowering in a corner with a broken wing. The bird later died at an emergency clinic.A glass panel from a grandfather clock was shattered. A mirror in the front foyer was cracked, and glass spilled out onto the floor.Nearby, police found Sadler, 74, dead, her beaten and bloody body by a rear sliding-glass door inside the home."It was one hell of a fight," her grandson-in-law, Paul Woods, said Tuesday as he helped clean debris from the living room. "I think she did a good job for being 74 years old and trying to defend herself."According to Metro police, the man who on Monday killed Sadler, and perhaps Sadler's bird, was Ivan Moreno, 30, a next-door neighbor.Moreno, who is thought to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico, admitted to police that he struck Sadler after he went to her house to get money, said Metro police spokesman Don Aaron.Moreno was arrested yesterday on a charge of criminal homicide.He also faces two charges of assaulting police officers during his arrest and a domestic assault charge after threatening his wife in Spanish that he would kill her if she cooperated with authorities, police said.Moreno's possible illegal presence in the country was a sore spot yesterday for Sadler's family and neighbors. They expressed contempt for landlords who rented a duplex to Moreno and his family.Police initially said Sadler had been beaten to death, but an autopsy yesterday found that she had also been strangled, Aaron said.It was not clear exactly what touched off the violence inside the home. Moreno had gone to Sadler's house to ask for money.Sometime after the killing, he went to a Mapco on Highway 70 South where he became belligerent after being refused cigarettes because he didn't have enough money, police said.Moreno left the Mapco before police arrived and drove back to his neighborhood. Neighbors saw him driving recklessly through yards and called police.Officers arrived at Cross Timbers Drive to find his car abandoned with a shredded tire, police said.He was identified moments later and found to have an outstanding warrant for failing to show up in court in June on a charge of driving without a license, police said.Officers went to his home at 233 Cross Timbers Drive, but Moreno wasn't there. As they prepared to leave, they spotted him behind Sadler's home with blood on his clothes, police said.According to police, Moreno kicked two officers who tried to arrest him.Moreno appears to have used false documents and a fake name to land a job at a West End Avenue restaurant, police said. Federal authorities are working to determine his immigration status.The killing prompted a joint statement by Metro police Chief Ronal Serpas, Sheriff Daron Hall and District Attorney General Torry Johnson, announcing plans to reform the way criminal immigrants are handled in Nashville."While it is premature at this point to announce any plans or initiatives, suffice it to say that the three of us are working closely with the federal government to develop a system to better protect our citizens from immigrants who commit criminal acts and show a blatant disregard for our laws," the statement said.Investigators have said they didn't know of any animosity between Moreno and Sadler before Monday, though a police spokesman said a hand-held video game and other undisclosed items from Sadler's home were found in Moreno's home, police said.Sadler's family and neighbors yesterday told The Tennessean there had been disputes between them.One recent spat involved one of Moreno's children shooting a BB gun at tomatoes in Sadler's back yard, a family member said.Police yesterday declined to comment about that."We are still early in the investigation," Aaron said. "We will be talking to Mrs. Sadler's family in more detail."Officers found Aussie, the bird, wounded in a corner of a room in the residence, Aaron said. Aussie's cage had been knocked over, apparently during the struggle.Officers wrapped the bird in a soft fabric and took it to an emergency veterinary clinic. Doctors administered oxygen and diagnosed the bird with a broken wing, Aaron said."The bird died at the veterinary clinic," Aaron said. Sadler's two ferrets were found inside the home unharmed, police said.Sadler's family remembered her yesterday as a perennial volunteer for many area organizations.Her family pointed to a plaque on the wall that showed she had recently surpassed 584 hours during 26 years as a volunteer helping veterans through the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs. She also volunteered through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.She worked at polls during elections and with a Masonic Lodge in west Nashville, her family said. Neighbors described her as an active e-mailer who would send messages to other residents about everything from coyotes roaming the streets to trash pickup times.Her husband suffers from Alzheimer's disease and was unaware of his wife's death as of Tuesday afternoon, said Woods, Sadler's grandson-in-law.Linda Martin, a neighbor for three years, said she knew Sadler as the captain of the Neighborhood Watch. Sadler was the first person to welcome her to the neighborhood, Martin recalled.Mindy Van Tassel, director of the area's Neighborhood Watch program, recalled Sadler as a woman who looked and acted much younger than her age.•
Friday, August 18, 2006
Our Tax Dollars At Work (NOT)
This is just outrageous! What about the rest of Americans? Why do these people get special treatment and "free" services that us taxpayers have to fork out for?????
New Federal Program Helps Hispanic Couples Beat Odds Of Divorce
AR Articles on Hispanic Family Values
The Myth of Hispanic Family Values (March 2004)
More news stories on Hispanic Family Values
Analisa Nazareno, Dallas Morning News, August 10, 2006
Juan and Magdalena Hernandez have been married for eight years.
What they love most about each other—he’s uncommonly patient and respectful; she’s especially decisive and determined—are the very things they now know they can improve on: He can be more communicative and quicker to respond; she can be less headstrong and more deliberative.
While they’ve always known this about each other, earlier this year they learned how to work with that knowledge to make their marriage better. The Hernandezes, who attended a Healthy Marriage Initiative class at their church, St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Plano, are among the first couples in the U.S. to benefit from a new federal government program to support Hispanic marriages.
Hispanics, who now make up the nation’s largest minority group, have had high dropout and poverty rates, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children and Families.
The federal government believes that by strengthening Hispanic marriages, it can provide families a foundation to better address issues of poverty and education. Children whose parents are married fare better and present less of a burden to the state than children of single parents, says Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families.
The idea of voluntary marriage education, particularly for low-income Hispanics, is evolving. Marriage therapists, Hispanic community leaders and researchers are still laying groundwork for curriculum, implementation and review. This spring, they met for a national conference in San Antonio, where they discussed those topics.
“The whole rationale of this initiative is not moralizing or pushing people to get married or insisting that they stay in marriages that are unhealthy. It is simply about educating people who voluntarily want to consider marriage,” says Frank Fuentes, who is heading the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative in Washington, D.C.
Building credibility
Last year, Congress approved the Healthy Marriage Initiative, which would spend $150 million a year to promote marriage and active fatherhood nationwide, particularly among low-income and minority families.
This year, the federal government is spending $100 million on marriage education for Hispanic couples in particular. There’s also an African- American Healthy Marriage Initiative.
Mr. Fuentes says his office is working with groups that have developed trust within minority communities. For Hispanics, that means the federal government will contract with predominantly Hispanic school districts, churches and groups, and will start marriage classes on a larger scale this year.
“We need to work with Latinos in their culture and traditions so they’re not going to blow you off,” Mr. Fuentes says. “They’re not going to participate if they don’t trust you or if they think you don’t know where they’re coming from.”
Assimilation
The idea is controversial for some who have studied Hispanic marriage patterns. They say such efforts are better directed toward improving wages and employment opportunities for Hispanics. Those are among the greatest factors leading to divorce for all ethnicities.
“Everyone can benefit from learning how to communicate better with their spouse or their co-worker or their family members,” says Kim Lloyd, assistant professor of sociology at Washington State University.
“But if you wanted to get to the root of the problem, what we need to do is make sure that every American family had a living wage, could find a job and provide health care for children. These are the things that keep families together.”
Dr. Lloyd argues that Hispanics, who divorce at the same rate as the general population, actually have lower rates of divorce when researchers factor in poverty rates and income.
“In spite of the greater economic instability that Hispanics face, the divorce rate is the same,” she says.
Mr. and Ms. Hernandez, who have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and are lay leaders in their church, have their own ideas about why the divorce rate of about 50 percent among their immigrant peers is high when compared with the divorce rate in Mexico—roughly 6 percent.
“It’s part of the environment here,” Mr. Hernandez says. “As they become more assimilated, it’s what people do.”
Ms. Hernandez puts it this way: “I think it sometimes depends on the economic and financial independence of the women. Many women come to this country, and this is the first time that they have any kind of financial independence. And they become influenced and less tolerant.”
Academics who study the subject confirm what the Hernandezes say.
“The women are adopting egalitarian norms and want greater equality in marriages. And the men tend to resist,” says Norval Glenn, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Advocates say marriage education can help men learn how to adapt to gender-equity norms in the United States to prevent divorce.
“We try to bring up the machismo in the classes and give it a new perspective,” says Mercedes Pérez de Colón, vice president of Avance, a San Antonio-based nonprofit group that provides parent education at more than a dozen North Texas locations. “It can be a positive thing. You’re not being ‘not macho’ if you help with the children. You’re being more macho. You’re being a great father and husband.”
Preserving identity
{snip}
“In this country, where life is faster and devoted to work, we have to work to conserve our traditions and customs and beliefs and not lose our identity. We have to adapt. But we have to take what’s good and make it better, without forgetting everything we were taught,” Ms. Hernandez says.
New Federal Program Helps Hispanic Couples Beat Odds Of Divorce
AR Articles on Hispanic Family Values
The Myth of Hispanic Family Values (March 2004)
More news stories on Hispanic Family Values
Analisa Nazareno, Dallas Morning News, August 10, 2006
Juan and Magdalena Hernandez have been married for eight years.
What they love most about each other—he’s uncommonly patient and respectful; she’s especially decisive and determined—are the very things they now know they can improve on: He can be more communicative and quicker to respond; she can be less headstrong and more deliberative.
While they’ve always known this about each other, earlier this year they learned how to work with that knowledge to make their marriage better. The Hernandezes, who attended a Healthy Marriage Initiative class at their church, St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Plano, are among the first couples in the U.S. to benefit from a new federal government program to support Hispanic marriages.
Hispanics, who now make up the nation’s largest minority group, have had high dropout and poverty rates, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children and Families.
The federal government believes that by strengthening Hispanic marriages, it can provide families a foundation to better address issues of poverty and education. Children whose parents are married fare better and present less of a burden to the state than children of single parents, says Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families.
The idea of voluntary marriage education, particularly for low-income Hispanics, is evolving. Marriage therapists, Hispanic community leaders and researchers are still laying groundwork for curriculum, implementation and review. This spring, they met for a national conference in San Antonio, where they discussed those topics.
“The whole rationale of this initiative is not moralizing or pushing people to get married or insisting that they stay in marriages that are unhealthy. It is simply about educating people who voluntarily want to consider marriage,” says Frank Fuentes, who is heading the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative in Washington, D.C.
Building credibility
Last year, Congress approved the Healthy Marriage Initiative, which would spend $150 million a year to promote marriage and active fatherhood nationwide, particularly among low-income and minority families.
This year, the federal government is spending $100 million on marriage education for Hispanic couples in particular. There’s also an African- American Healthy Marriage Initiative.
Mr. Fuentes says his office is working with groups that have developed trust within minority communities. For Hispanics, that means the federal government will contract with predominantly Hispanic school districts, churches and groups, and will start marriage classes on a larger scale this year.
“We need to work with Latinos in their culture and traditions so they’re not going to blow you off,” Mr. Fuentes says. “They’re not going to participate if they don’t trust you or if they think you don’t know where they’re coming from.”
Assimilation
The idea is controversial for some who have studied Hispanic marriage patterns. They say such efforts are better directed toward improving wages and employment opportunities for Hispanics. Those are among the greatest factors leading to divorce for all ethnicities.
“Everyone can benefit from learning how to communicate better with their spouse or their co-worker or their family members,” says Kim Lloyd, assistant professor of sociology at Washington State University.
“But if you wanted to get to the root of the problem, what we need to do is make sure that every American family had a living wage, could find a job and provide health care for children. These are the things that keep families together.”
Dr. Lloyd argues that Hispanics, who divorce at the same rate as the general population, actually have lower rates of divorce when researchers factor in poverty rates and income.
“In spite of the greater economic instability that Hispanics face, the divorce rate is the same,” she says.
Mr. and Ms. Hernandez, who have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and are lay leaders in their church, have their own ideas about why the divorce rate of about 50 percent among their immigrant peers is high when compared with the divorce rate in Mexico—roughly 6 percent.
“It’s part of the environment here,” Mr. Hernandez says. “As they become more assimilated, it’s what people do.”
Ms. Hernandez puts it this way: “I think it sometimes depends on the economic and financial independence of the women. Many women come to this country, and this is the first time that they have any kind of financial independence. And they become influenced and less tolerant.”
Academics who study the subject confirm what the Hernandezes say.
“The women are adopting egalitarian norms and want greater equality in marriages. And the men tend to resist,” says Norval Glenn, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Advocates say marriage education can help men learn how to adapt to gender-equity norms in the United States to prevent divorce.
“We try to bring up the machismo in the classes and give it a new perspective,” says Mercedes Pérez de Colón, vice president of Avance, a San Antonio-based nonprofit group that provides parent education at more than a dozen North Texas locations. “It can be a positive thing. You’re not being ‘not macho’ if you help with the children. You’re being more macho. You’re being a great father and husband.”
Preserving identity
{snip}
“In this country, where life is faster and devoted to work, we have to work to conserve our traditions and customs and beliefs and not lose our identity. We have to adapt. But we have to take what’s good and make it better, without forgetting everything we were taught,” Ms. Hernandez says.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tom is on it!
This is some scary stuff. Glad to see Tom is looking into it to bring it to the attention of the American people.
THE NEW WORLD DISORDERTancredo confronts 'super-state' effortDemands full disclosure of White House work with Mexico, Canada
Posted: June 15, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com-->© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Responding to a WorldNetDaily report, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is demanding the Bush administration fully disclose the activities of an office implementing a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada that apparently could lead to a North American union, despite having no authorization from Congress.
As WND reported, the White House has established working groups, under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005.
The groups, however, have no authorization from Congress and have not disclosed the results of their work despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Tancredo wants to know the membership of the SPP groups along with their various trilateral memoranda of understanding and other agreements reached with counterparts in Mexico and Canada.
Tancredo's decision has been endorsed by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.
"It's time the Bush administration to come clean," Gilchrist told WND. "If President Bush's agenda is to establish a new North American union government to supersede the sovereignty of the United States, then the president has an obligation to tell this to the American people directly. The American public has a right to know."
Geri Word, who heads the SPP office, told WND the work had not been disclosed because, "We did not want to get the contact people of the working groups distracted by calls from the public."
WND can find no specific congressional legislation authorizing the SPP working groups nor any congressional committees taking charge of oversight.
Many SPP working groups appear to be working toward achieving specific objectives as defined by a May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force report, which presented a blueprint for expanding the SPP agreement into a North American union that would merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a new governmental form.
THE NEW WORLD DISORDERTancredo confronts 'super-state' effortDemands full disclosure of White House work with Mexico, Canada
Posted: June 15, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com-->© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Responding to a WorldNetDaily report, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is demanding the Bush administration fully disclose the activities of an office implementing a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada that apparently could lead to a North American union, despite having no authorization from Congress.
As WND reported, the White House has established working groups, under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005.
The groups, however, have no authorization from Congress and have not disclosed the results of their work despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Tancredo wants to know the membership of the SPP groups along with their various trilateral memoranda of understanding and other agreements reached with counterparts in Mexico and Canada.
Tancredo's decision has been endorsed by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.
"It's time the Bush administration to come clean," Gilchrist told WND. "If President Bush's agenda is to establish a new North American union government to supersede the sovereignty of the United States, then the president has an obligation to tell this to the American people directly. The American public has a right to know."
Geri Word, who heads the SPP office, told WND the work had not been disclosed because, "We did not want to get the contact people of the working groups distracted by calls from the public."
WND can find no specific congressional legislation authorizing the SPP working groups nor any congressional committees taking charge of oversight.
Many SPP working groups appear to be working toward achieving specific objectives as defined by a May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force report, which presented a blueprint for expanding the SPP agreement into a North American union that would merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a new governmental form.
Toddler killed by illegals
Two held in drive-by slaying of toddlerBy BILL MILLERStar-Telegram Staff Writer
Two men have been arrested in the murder of an 18-month-old girl in a drive-by shooting at her family's home in Farmers Branch.
Lorenzo Conejo and David Macias face capital murder charges in the May death of Eva Gallegos, according to NBC 5. Police said they are illegal immigrants and have been reported to immigration authorities.
Eva was fatally wounded as she slept in her bedroom of the single-story house in the 2600 block of Overland Street. Police have said that as many as 13 rounds were fired into the home.
Farmers Branch police were unavailable Thursday morning to discuss how the suspects were identified and arrested.
Eva's father, Jesus Gallegos, told NBC 5 that the suspects work with his brother. He added that he visited with them at a pool party Saturday without knowing that they were suspects in the case.
Late May 25, police responded to a report of shots fired at the Gallegos home. Witnesses told officers that someone in a red four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Sentra, had fired several shots.
One of the rounds hit Eva, police said.
She was taken to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, but trauma specialists could not save her.
Two men have been arrested in the murder of an 18-month-old girl in a drive-by shooting at her family's home in Farmers Branch.
Lorenzo Conejo and David Macias face capital murder charges in the May death of Eva Gallegos, according to NBC 5. Police said they are illegal immigrants and have been reported to immigration authorities.
Eva was fatally wounded as she slept in her bedroom of the single-story house in the 2600 block of Overland Street. Police have said that as many as 13 rounds were fired into the home.
Farmers Branch police were unavailable Thursday morning to discuss how the suspects were identified and arrested.
Eva's father, Jesus Gallegos, told NBC 5 that the suspects work with his brother. He added that he visited with them at a pool party Saturday without knowing that they were suspects in the case.
Late May 25, police responded to a report of shots fired at the Gallegos home. Witnesses told officers that someone in a red four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Sentra, had fired several shots.
One of the rounds hit Eva, police said.
She was taken to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, but trauma specialists could not save her.
Monday, June 12, 2006
They're only going to deport him??? He'll be back.
Police arrest suspect in alleged kidnap, rape
A man was arrested Friday after a 12-year-old girl didn't return home from Monroe Middle School. Marcos Ortiz, 21, was in the Union County jail Sunday; bond was set at $250,000.He was arrested at his house on Crescent Street and charged with kidnapping, child rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor. Witnesses told police that the girl left school with Ortiz. Police, who say Ortiz is in the country illegally, contacted federal immigration officials and expect him to be deported.
Police located the girl safe in Monroe on Saturday morning. -- Cleve R. Wootson Jr
Police arrest suspect in alleged kidnap, rape
A man was arrested Friday after a 12-year-old girl didn't return home from Monroe Middle School. Marcos Ortiz, 21, was in the Union County jail Sunday; bond was set at $250,000.He was arrested at his house on Crescent Street and charged with kidnapping, child rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor. Witnesses told police that the girl left school with Ortiz. Police, who say Ortiz is in the country illegally, contacted federal immigration officials and expect him to be deported.
Police located the girl safe in Monroe on Saturday morning. -- Cleve R. Wootson Jr
Another illegal in action
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4260434
SAN DIEGO, June 11, 2006 - A statewide amber alert has been issued for a toddler who police say was abducted from San Diego.
Authorities believe one-year-old Alejandra Gomez may be with 31-year-old Gilberto Rodriguez who is also suspected of killing the child's mother last night.
The mother was found fatally stabbed inside a home in Loma Linda early Sunday morning. Police say she may have been killed last night.
The suspect, who is not the child's father, also goes by the name Fernando.
He was last seen driving a gray 1985 Honda Accord, with a license plate number of 1MGA355. If you see this car please call police.
SAN DIEGO, June 11, 2006 - A statewide amber alert has been issued for a toddler who police say was abducted from San Diego.
Authorities believe one-year-old Alejandra Gomez may be with 31-year-old Gilberto Rodriguez who is also suspected of killing the child's mother last night.
The mother was found fatally stabbed inside a home in Loma Linda early Sunday morning. Police say she may have been killed last night.
The suspect, who is not the child's father, also goes by the name Fernando.
He was last seen driving a gray 1985 Honda Accord, with a license plate number of 1MGA355. If you see this car please call police.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
This is so sick. Of course this article does not mention the perp was an illegal from Honduras.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/0607metax.html
ajc.com > Metro > North Fulton/ForsythPolice '99 percent sure' slain suspect was child killerCar linked to slaying found Wednesday, juveniles questionedBy DOUG NURSEThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 06/07/06
Fulton County police are all but certain that a man shot by an officer Monday is the man who killed a little boy by hitting him in the face with a hatchet.
"We're 99 percent sure it's him," Cpl. Gary Syblis, spokesman for the Fulton County Police Department said Wednesday. "We're just trying to firm up the connection."
Meanwhile, police may have found a red car linked to the killing. On Wednesday they were searching for a red 2000 Pontiac Grand Am that was stolen on Monday from a Roswell apartment complex. A car matching that description was located about 5 p.m. Wednesday by police. Two juveniles who were in the car were being questioned, Syblis said.
Witnesses said a man in a red car killed 9-year-old Jordin Paulder. Syblis said two youngsters who saw the killing identified Santos Benigno Cabrera Borjas, 21, of Sandy Springs as the killer, based on a photo lineup.
But the witnesses — Jordin's 7-year-old brother and a 5-year-old friend — are young enough that police want to verify their story before closing the case, he said. Police are talking other people at the apartment complex.
Police also wanted to locate up to four others in a red car that Cabrera Borjas was riding in before the attack, which happened about 8:30 p.m. Monday.
"They may be witnesses," Syblis said.
When the red car passed by Jordin and the other youngsters on Monday, Jordin called out to the occupants that they had a bad wheel, police said.
The car stopped and a man in baggy clothes got out, approached the kids and then suddenly hit Jordin in the face with a hatchet, according to the police report. The car apparently took off, leaving the killer behind, Syblis said.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said Jordin had been struck twice in almost the same place in the nose and forehead.
The stolen car that police were seeking Wednesday had a donut emergency tire on one of the rear wheels.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the family of Cabrera Borjas, questioned whether the man shot and killed by Fulton County police was the same man who killed Jordin.
Attorney Richard W. Summers said interviews with residents at the Chastain and Chateau Villa apartments are "leading me to the conclusion that [police] may have shot the wrong guy and were over zealous and hasty in their actions."
He said he's talked to almost two dozen witnesses at both apartment complexes and is piecing together a timeline of Cabrera Borjas whereabouts Monday night.
When police at the scene approached Cabrera Borjas, he fled to another apartment complex across the street. There, Cabrera Borjas threw a rimmed tire at Officer Alexis Powell, breaking the officer's arm. When Cabrera Borjas charged Powell, the officer shot him three times, fatally wounding him.
Staff writers Yolanda Rodriguez, Cynthia Daniels and Kathy Jefcoats also contributed to this report.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/0607metax.html
ajc.com > Metro > North Fulton/ForsythPolice '99 percent sure' slain suspect was child killerCar linked to slaying found Wednesday, juveniles questionedBy DOUG NURSEThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 06/07/06
Fulton County police are all but certain that a man shot by an officer Monday is the man who killed a little boy by hitting him in the face with a hatchet.
"We're 99 percent sure it's him," Cpl. Gary Syblis, spokesman for the Fulton County Police Department said Wednesday. "We're just trying to firm up the connection."
Meanwhile, police may have found a red car linked to the killing. On Wednesday they were searching for a red 2000 Pontiac Grand Am that was stolen on Monday from a Roswell apartment complex. A car matching that description was located about 5 p.m. Wednesday by police. Two juveniles who were in the car were being questioned, Syblis said.
Witnesses said a man in a red car killed 9-year-old Jordin Paulder. Syblis said two youngsters who saw the killing identified Santos Benigno Cabrera Borjas, 21, of Sandy Springs as the killer, based on a photo lineup.
But the witnesses — Jordin's 7-year-old brother and a 5-year-old friend — are young enough that police want to verify their story before closing the case, he said. Police are talking other people at the apartment complex.
Police also wanted to locate up to four others in a red car that Cabrera Borjas was riding in before the attack, which happened about 8:30 p.m. Monday.
"They may be witnesses," Syblis said.
When the red car passed by Jordin and the other youngsters on Monday, Jordin called out to the occupants that they had a bad wheel, police said.
The car stopped and a man in baggy clothes got out, approached the kids and then suddenly hit Jordin in the face with a hatchet, according to the police report. The car apparently took off, leaving the killer behind, Syblis said.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said Jordin had been struck twice in almost the same place in the nose and forehead.
The stolen car that police were seeking Wednesday had a donut emergency tire on one of the rear wheels.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the family of Cabrera Borjas, questioned whether the man shot and killed by Fulton County police was the same man who killed Jordin.
Attorney Richard W. Summers said interviews with residents at the Chastain and Chateau Villa apartments are "leading me to the conclusion that [police] may have shot the wrong guy and were over zealous and hasty in their actions."
He said he's talked to almost two dozen witnesses at both apartment complexes and is piecing together a timeline of Cabrera Borjas whereabouts Monday night.
When police at the scene approached Cabrera Borjas, he fled to another apartment complex across the street. There, Cabrera Borjas threw a rimmed tire at Officer Alexis Powell, breaking the officer's arm. When Cabrera Borjas charged Powell, the officer shot him three times, fatally wounding him.
Staff writers Yolanda Rodriguez, Cynthia Daniels and Kathy Jefcoats also contributed to this report.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Just here to work..................right...........................
Laborer held in slashing
BY SUSAN ABRAM, Staff Writer
WOODLAND HILLS - A 32-year-old Canoga Park man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a woman who was found in her car with her throat slashed, authorities said Tuesday.
Miguel Guarhaj, who police describe as an area day laborer, was arrested Saturday at a Tarzana home where he was working, Los Angeles Police Department detectives said. He is being held without bail at the Van Nuys jail.
On Friday afternoon, someone who lives in the 20300 block of Oxnard Street found Mayra Lopez, 24, of Canoga Park inside a parked car in the alley near his house. The man called 911 and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Neighbors told police they had seen the car parked in different spots in the alley that day. One resident told police he had recognized Guarhaj because he had employed him at one time, LAPD West Valley Detective Rick Swanston said.
Police said they then searched Guarhaj's residence on Variel Street
and found Lopez's bloodied clothing and cell phone. She also was the registered owner of the car in which she was found. And she lived on Variel Street, not far from where Guarhaj lived, Swanston said.
The motive for her death is still under investigation, but Lopez's family told police Guarhaj had at one time tried to date Lopez, and that she refused his advances.
In August, Guarhaj was arrested on suspicion of striking and choking her during a dispute. He failed to appear in court, and a warrant went out for his arrest, Swanston said.
susan.abram@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3664
Laborer held in slashing
BY SUSAN ABRAM, Staff Writer
WOODLAND HILLS - A 32-year-old Canoga Park man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a woman who was found in her car with her throat slashed, authorities said Tuesday.
Miguel Guarhaj, who police describe as an area day laborer, was arrested Saturday at a Tarzana home where he was working, Los Angeles Police Department detectives said. He is being held without bail at the Van Nuys jail.
On Friday afternoon, someone who lives in the 20300 block of Oxnard Street found Mayra Lopez, 24, of Canoga Park inside a parked car in the alley near his house. The man called 911 and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Neighbors told police they had seen the car parked in different spots in the alley that day. One resident told police he had recognized Guarhaj because he had employed him at one time, LAPD West Valley Detective Rick Swanston said.
Police said they then searched Guarhaj's residence on Variel Street
and found Lopez's bloodied clothing and cell phone. She also was the registered owner of the car in which she was found. And she lived on Variel Street, not far from where Guarhaj lived, Swanston said.
The motive for her death is still under investigation, but Lopez's family told police Guarhaj had at one time tried to date Lopez, and that she refused his advances.
In August, Guarhaj was arrested on suspicion of striking and choking her during a dispute. He failed to appear in court, and a warrant went out for his arrest, Swanston said.
susan.abram@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3664
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Sunday, May 07, 2006
My very first rally!! It was so much fun. There is hope for the bay area. I loved waving our flag and having passing motorists honking in support. All the other ralliers were enjoying being Americans.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special
packages/immigration debate/14523082.htm
Posted on Sun, May. 07, 2006
THE IMMIGRATION DEBATEAlmost 200 protest illegal immigrationEVENT FOLLOWS MARCHES FAVORING IMMIGRANT RIGHTSBy John WoolfolkMercury News
Two days of noisy, peaceful and star-spangled protests in Santa Clara against illegal immigration didn't muster the horde that rallied for immigrant rights in San Jose recently, but organizers said they succeeded in making their voices heard.
``It's a beginning,'' said Roberta Allen, 62, of San Jose, who organized the demonstrations along Kiely Boulevard at Santa Clara's Central Park that were coordinated with ``National Anti-Illegal Immigrant Protest'' events around the country.
``You have to start somewhere,'' said Allen, waving Old Glory and sporting patriotic stars and stripes on her shirt, fingernails and even contact lenses. ``As the old saying goes, you ain't seen the last of us.''
Santa Clara police estimated the crowd protesting illegal immigration at about 150 Saturday, with a dozen or so counterdemonstrators who were separated from them by patrol cars.
About midway through the noon to 4 p.m. protest, the crowd swelled to nearly 200, with about 20 counterdemonstrators. Police reported no problems or arrests.
``It was very peaceful,'' said Santa Clara police Lt. Mike Sellers.
Protesters carried American flags, wore red, white and blue and waved handwritten placards with slogans such as ``Secure the Borders,'' ``Stop the Addiction -- No Illegal Labor'' and ``Legal Yes, Illegal No -- No Amnesty.''
Passing motorists honked their horns and waved U.S. flags in support, while occasionally a car full of counterprotesters drove by waving a large Mexican flag, drawing shouts and jeers from the demonstrators.
People of all ages joined the crowd protesting illegal immigration, and though they were mostly older, white, conservative and native-born, there were several exceptions. There was a Russian scientist visiting on a work visa who signed up to enforce the border with the Minuteman Project, and a naturalized, English-born San Francisco writer and self-described liberal who came to Santa Clara to say all immigrants must follow the law.
Rajat Srivastava, 45, a high-tech engineer from Saratoga, joined the demonstration with his wife Ratna and daughters Sarika, 11, and Simi, 8. It was a first for all of them.
But Srivastava explained that after immigrating legally from India on a work visa in the mid-1980s and waiting some 15 years before being naturalized in 2000, he was offended that others who cheated the system were rallying to demand rights.
``We're very much in favor of legal immigration,'' Srivastava said. ``We know people who have waited years and years to come here legally. This whole situation of people flouting the law and claiming rights . . . is a gross abuse of the willingness of this nation to assimilate people from various parts of the world.''
Contact John Woolfolk at jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com or (408) 975-9346.
Posted on Sun, May. 07, 2006
THE IMMIGRATION DEBATEAlmost 200 protest illegal immigrationEVENT FOLLOWS MARCHES FAVORING IMMIGRANT RIGHTSBy John WoolfolkMercury News
Two days of noisy, peaceful and star-spangled protests in Santa Clara against illegal immigration didn't muster the horde that rallied for immigrant rights in San Jose recently, but organizers said they succeeded in making their voices heard.
``It's a beginning,'' said Roberta Allen, 62, of San Jose, who organized the demonstrations along Kiely Boulevard at Santa Clara's Central Park that were coordinated with ``National Anti-Illegal Immigrant Protest'' events around the country.
``You have to start somewhere,'' said Allen, waving Old Glory and sporting patriotic stars and stripes on her shirt, fingernails and even contact lenses. ``As the old saying goes, you ain't seen the last of us.''
Santa Clara police estimated the crowd protesting illegal immigration at about 150 Saturday, with a dozen or so counterdemonstrators who were separated from them by patrol cars.
About midway through the noon to 4 p.m. protest, the crowd swelled to nearly 200, with about 20 counterdemonstrators. Police reported no problems or arrests.
``It was very peaceful,'' said Santa Clara police Lt. Mike Sellers.
Protesters carried American flags, wore red, white and blue and waved handwritten placards with slogans such as ``Secure the Borders,'' ``Stop the Addiction -- No Illegal Labor'' and ``Legal Yes, Illegal No -- No Amnesty.''
Passing motorists honked their horns and waved U.S. flags in support, while occasionally a car full of counterprotesters drove by waving a large Mexican flag, drawing shouts and jeers from the demonstrators.
People of all ages joined the crowd protesting illegal immigration, and though they were mostly older, white, conservative and native-born, there were several exceptions. There was a Russian scientist visiting on a work visa who signed up to enforce the border with the Minuteman Project, and a naturalized, English-born San Francisco writer and self-described liberal who came to Santa Clara to say all immigrants must follow the law.
Rajat Srivastava, 45, a high-tech engineer from Saratoga, joined the demonstration with his wife Ratna and daughters Sarika, 11, and Simi, 8. It was a first for all of them.
But Srivastava explained that after immigrating legally from India on a work visa in the mid-1980s and waiting some 15 years before being naturalized in 2000, he was offended that others who cheated the system were rallying to demand rights.
``We're very much in favor of legal immigration,'' Srivastava said. ``We know people who have waited years and years to come here legally. This whole situation of people flouting the law and claiming rights . . . is a gross abuse of the willingness of this nation to assimilate people from various parts of the world.''
Contact John Woolfolk at jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com or (408) 975-9346.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
I don't understand why anyone would trust an illegal alien to care for their children.....
http://insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3650189
Nanny admits shaking infant
Judge raises bail, refuses request for release
By Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
The nanny accused of injuring a 3-month-old Redwood Shores boy admitted to police that she shook the infant and may have struck him in the head with a telephone, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Minerva Rojas, 28, sat in shackles with her head hung low during a hearing in which Judge Marc Forcum raised her bail from $200,000 to $1 million. Her attorney, Randy Moore, had requested the bail hearing in hopes of lowering the bail and possibly getting Rojas released on her own recognizance. She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
"It's (child abuse) one of the most serious types of offenses that we see, short of homicide," Judge Forcum said. "I don't want to see her potentially putting other children at risk."
Rojas, a Mexican national who lives with her parents in East Palo Alto, was arrested March 16 when paramedics responding to a neighbor's 9-1-1 call found the baby unconscious.
The infant was hospitalized at UCSF Medical Center for several days, where an expert concluded that his injuries were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. Prosecutor Morris Maya said the baby was kept in an incubator for hemorrhaging that caused pressure on his brain. He also suffered retinal hemorrhaging in addition to the two skull fractures.
Prosecutors said Tuesday the child has been released from the hospital, but the long-term prognosis for his condition, which could include brain damage, is still uncertain.
Rojas originally told police that the baby fell off a couch while she was out of the room. Moore said Rojas' alleged omission that she shook and possibly struck the child was one of several statements she made during a police interrogation that stretched on for up to four hours.
The parents of the child sat in the back of the courtroom during Rojas' bail hearing, dressed in suits and clutching each other's hands tightly. The mother, who appears to be in her late 20s, was holding tissue.
Rojas' parents entered the hearing late and sat down on the opposite side, in view of their daughter.
In his fight to get Rojas released from jail, Moore submitted letters from numerous individuals who wrote the court on Rojas' behalf, including parents who said they would still hire her to watch their children despite the criminal charges against her. Rojas has no history of violence, Moore said, and had a fine reputation in the child-care field before her arrest.
Maya argued that Rojas is a flight risk because of her familial ties in Mexico. She has a Mexican ID card issued Jan. 9, 2003, and may flee to the country to avoid the 12-year prison sentence she is facing in this case, Maya said. He added that Rojas is on probation for misdemeanor petty theft in Santa Clara County.
San Mateo County has identified three deaths from Shaken Baby Syndrome from 2002 to 2004, said Anand Chabra, the county's director of maternal, child and adolescent health. "The numbers are small, but the outcome is tragic," Chabra told San Mateo County supervisors Tuesday morning, just before they designated April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. "We know this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a serious problem."
To help educate would-be parents on how to deal with crying children, the San Mateo County Child Abuse Prevention Council will talk to four classes of teenagers April 6 at Redwood High School.
Rojas returns to court Monday, when a preliminary hearing will decide if there's enough evidence to bring her to trial.
Learn more about Shaken Baby Syndrome at http://www.dontshake.com.
Staff writer Laura Ernde contributed to this report.
Contact staff writer Malaika Fraley at (650) 306-2425 or by e-mail at mfraley@sanmateocountytimes.com.
http://insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3650189
Nanny admits shaking infant
Judge raises bail, refuses request for release
By Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
The nanny accused of injuring a 3-month-old Redwood Shores boy admitted to police that she shook the infant and may have struck him in the head with a telephone, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Minerva Rojas, 28, sat in shackles with her head hung low during a hearing in which Judge Marc Forcum raised her bail from $200,000 to $1 million. Her attorney, Randy Moore, had requested the bail hearing in hopes of lowering the bail and possibly getting Rojas released on her own recognizance. She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
"It's (child abuse) one of the most serious types of offenses that we see, short of homicide," Judge Forcum said. "I don't want to see her potentially putting other children at risk."
Rojas, a Mexican national who lives with her parents in East Palo Alto, was arrested March 16 when paramedics responding to a neighbor's 9-1-1 call found the baby unconscious.
The infant was hospitalized at UCSF Medical Center for several days, where an expert concluded that his injuries were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. Prosecutor Morris Maya said the baby was kept in an incubator for hemorrhaging that caused pressure on his brain. He also suffered retinal hemorrhaging in addition to the two skull fractures.
Prosecutors said Tuesday the child has been released from the hospital, but the long-term prognosis for his condition, which could include brain damage, is still uncertain.
Rojas originally told police that the baby fell off a couch while she was out of the room. Moore said Rojas' alleged omission that she shook and possibly struck the child was one of several statements she made during a police interrogation that stretched on for up to four hours.
The parents of the child sat in the back of the courtroom during Rojas' bail hearing, dressed in suits and clutching each other's hands tightly. The mother, who appears to be in her late 20s, was holding tissue.
Rojas' parents entered the hearing late and sat down on the opposite side, in view of their daughter.
In his fight to get Rojas released from jail, Moore submitted letters from numerous individuals who wrote the court on Rojas' behalf, including parents who said they would still hire her to watch their children despite the criminal charges against her. Rojas has no history of violence, Moore said, and had a fine reputation in the child-care field before her arrest.
Maya argued that Rojas is a flight risk because of her familial ties in Mexico. She has a Mexican ID card issued Jan. 9, 2003, and may flee to the country to avoid the 12-year prison sentence she is facing in this case, Maya said. He added that Rojas is on probation for misdemeanor petty theft in Santa Clara County.
San Mateo County has identified three deaths from Shaken Baby Syndrome from 2002 to 2004, said Anand Chabra, the county's director of maternal, child and adolescent health. "The numbers are small, but the outcome is tragic," Chabra told San Mateo County supervisors Tuesday morning, just before they designated April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. "We know this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a serious problem."
To help educate would-be parents on how to deal with crying children, the San Mateo County Child Abuse Prevention Council will talk to four classes of teenagers April 6 at Redwood High School.
Rojas returns to court Monday, when a preliminary hearing will decide if there's enough evidence to bring her to trial.
Learn more about Shaken Baby Syndrome at http://www.dontshake.com.
Staff writer Laura Ernde contributed to this report.
Contact staff writer Malaika Fraley at (650) 306-2425 or by e-mail at mfraley@sanmateocountytimes.com.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Tom is THE MAN! I was fortunate enough to meet him at an Eagle Forum in February.
Rocky Mountain News
URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,
DRMN_15_4486482,00.html
Tom Tancredo blasts churcheson immigration.Churches out of step, Tancredo says
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain NewsFebruary 22, 2006
WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo has accused leaders of some of the country's biggest religious denominations of being out of step with their own followers on the issue of illegal immigration.
Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, released a statement Tuesday blasting the U.S. Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society for lobbying against a border-enforcement bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
"The faith community must step forward and tell leftist activists that undermining border security is not a religious imperative," Tancredo said.
"I call on the conservative majority of churchgoers to contact the activists who are misrepresenting their beliefs."
Various religious groups have lined up against the House-passed bill, which calls for building a fence along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border, plus tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants and those who employ them.
The Washington, D.C., office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) issued an alert to members saying, "This enforcement-only bill is anti- immigrant, unfair, and unjust."
Elenora Giddings Ivory, of the denomination's Stewardship of Public Life advocacy program, said the church's position on immigration is based on the scripture passage Matthew 25, verses 31-46, which talks about nations being judged, in part, by how they treat strangers.
"We have a position that supports compassionate immigration policy. So any bill that comes forward and does not fit with a compassionate understanding of immigration policy would be held up to that," Giddings Ivory said.
She said a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., comes closest to meeting the church's ideal, based on its proposed guest-worker plan. The Catholic bishops also support that bill.
The Senate is expected to begin debating immigration legislation as early as next month. Then its version must be reconciled with the House-passed version.
"Joseph and Mary had to flee persecution. Jesus was not born in his home community," Giddings Ivory said. "Jesus and his family perhaps would have been locked up with a strict border approach to immigration."
But that kind of argument offends Tancredo, a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
"As a person of faith, I was offended by these radical advocates invoking God when arguing for blanket amnesty," Tancredo said. "If we really want to be a compassionate faith community, we must enforce the law and end the border charade that lures hundreds of people through the deadly desert every year."
Tancredo, leader of the congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, has vowed to fight various guest- worker plans, including McCain- Kennedy language, calling them tantamount to amnesty for people who broke the law to get into the country.
Jeanette R. De Melo, communications director for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, said the church does not support "blanket amnesty" for illegal immigrants, adding, "The idea that the choice is between completely 'open borders' or (a) homegrown Berlin Wall is misguided. Neither option is practical or just."
Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
Rocky Mountain News
URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,
DRMN_15_4486482,00.html
Tom Tancredo blasts churcheson immigration.Churches out of step, Tancredo says
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain NewsFebruary 22, 2006
WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo has accused leaders of some of the country's biggest religious denominations of being out of step with their own followers on the issue of illegal immigration.
Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, released a statement Tuesday blasting the U.S. Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society for lobbying against a border-enforcement bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
"The faith community must step forward and tell leftist activists that undermining border security is not a religious imperative," Tancredo said.
"I call on the conservative majority of churchgoers to contact the activists who are misrepresenting their beliefs."
Various religious groups have lined up against the House-passed bill, which calls for building a fence along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border, plus tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants and those who employ them.
The Washington, D.C., office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) issued an alert to members saying, "This enforcement-only bill is anti- immigrant, unfair, and unjust."
Elenora Giddings Ivory, of the denomination's Stewardship of Public Life advocacy program, said the church's position on immigration is based on the scripture passage Matthew 25, verses 31-46, which talks about nations being judged, in part, by how they treat strangers.
"We have a position that supports compassionate immigration policy. So any bill that comes forward and does not fit with a compassionate understanding of immigration policy would be held up to that," Giddings Ivory said.
She said a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., comes closest to meeting the church's ideal, based on its proposed guest-worker plan. The Catholic bishops also support that bill.
The Senate is expected to begin debating immigration legislation as early as next month. Then its version must be reconciled with the House-passed version.
"Joseph and Mary had to flee persecution. Jesus was not born in his home community," Giddings Ivory said. "Jesus and his family perhaps would have been locked up with a strict border approach to immigration."
But that kind of argument offends Tancredo, a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
"As a person of faith, I was offended by these radical advocates invoking God when arguing for blanket amnesty," Tancredo said. "If we really want to be a compassionate faith community, we must enforce the law and end the border charade that lures hundreds of people through the deadly desert every year."
Tancredo, leader of the congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, has vowed to fight various guest- worker plans, including McCain- Kennedy language, calling them tantamount to amnesty for people who broke the law to get into the country.
Jeanette R. De Melo, communications director for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, said the church does not support "blanket amnesty" for illegal immigrants, adding, "The idea that the choice is between completely 'open borders' or (a) homegrown Berlin Wall is misguided. Neither option is practical or just."
Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
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