Illegal Immigration; where do you stand?

[Sassy]

Yours' are the type of stories that should be in the news - get a personal slant to things instead of GW Bush accusing us of being prejudiced against "immigrants" ie illegal aliens    and "un-American!"    

[Sassy]

The battle's not over for our borders...

How US Attorney Sutton Stacked the Deck Against 2 Border Patrol Agents  [sad1]

Author Michael Cutler writes at the end of his article:

The apparently malicious prosecution of Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean represents a threat to the safety and security of the United States and its citizens, because it has to have a chilling effect on the other valiant members of the United States Border Patrol.

The administration has had an abysmal track record where the security of our nation's borders and the enforcement of our nation's immigration laws are concerned. Johnny Sutton is a long-time friend of the President going back to the days before George W. Bush even ran for the Presidency. This administration has consistently failed to take common sense steps to secure the borders and provide the resources to get this critical job done.  (for rest of article, go to link)

http://www.newswithviews.com/Cutler/michael18.htm

Author Michael W. Cutler graduated from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in 1971 with a B.A. in Communications Arts and Sciences. Mr. Cutler began working for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in October 1971 when he entered on duty as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport. In August 1975 he became a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) for the INS at NYC.

He rotated through virtually every squad in the Investigations Branch. From 1988 until 1991 he was assigned as the INS representative to the Unified Intelligence Division (UID) of the DEA in New York. In 1991 he was promoted to the position of Senior Special Agent and was assigned to the Organized Crime, Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) which required that he work with members of other law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Customs and local and state police as well as law enforcement organizations of other countries including Israel, Canada, Great Britain and Japan, to conduct investigations of aliens involved in major drug trafficking organizations. He retired from the INS in February 2002, after a career that spanned some 30 years.

Finally Michael Cutler has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including Lou Dobbs, Fox News, MSNBC and many other television and radio news-oriented programs to discuss the enforcement of immigration laws.

[StinkerBell]

Ya know, it might have been a great question on the YouTube Republican Debate to ask last night. I think I should have asked,  "If you are elected President will you pardon the two Border Agents in Prison and also investigate what went wrong and revamp the Border Patrol?" ...something like that.

[Sassy]

That would have put a few on the spot, now, wouldn't it have?   

[glenn kangiser]

Illegal Aliens Cause Massive
Cuts For US Seniors

http://rense.com/general79/seniors.htm

[ScottA]

There would be no illegal aliens if they had money. All you need to get in America legaly is to pay a lawyer to do the paperwork. My wife is German and from reading the INS laws we thought it was going to be a real hassle to get her a green card but after talking to an imigration lawyer we discovered the secret back door you can open just by hiring the right lawyer. Seems there are special programs for people who can pay. Thats right folks if you can pay you can play. She walked through the entire process and had no problems at all and only had to go to one interview that lasted 15 minutes. Total cost: $3500

[MountainDon]

The spouse of any US Citizen has a much easier time of gaining legal residence status. That's always been the case. The process may involve more hoops today than in 1985 when I earned my Resident Alien card.  I can't say for certain.

I believe most others, with no familial connections in the USA, will have a much tougher time, especially if the person doesn't posses any marketable skills that are needed. I think that's fair.

[ScottA]

I agree Don but I think it's odd that before hiring a lawyer we where looking at a long wait for her to enter the country permanently and alot of hoops to jump thru. Soon as we hired the lawyer the wait and the most of the hoops vannished. The method the lawyer had us use to get her in the country was suposedly illegal but they never said a word about how she got in the country. Basicly she told us the best way to gain resident status was to already be in the US. How you get here didn't matter. We got married 8 months after she got here.

[benevolance]

that is what my lawyer told me too...

I got married and I had to go home for my business there... It was a colossal pain in the arse to get back into the US... I never should have left...

When you are not in the country and trying to gain status... whoa boy they really stick it to you.

Really stinks..If I had not hired a lawyer I would not likely have been able to figure it all out....It was expensive no doubt about it... Us government got $1500 just in fees and the Lawyer got about double that from me... All so I could see my wife and live with her...And she was born in the USA....I was totally shocked at how tough it was

God Bless America

[Sassy]

Grassfire Interview with Tara Setmayer

I have just concluded an absolutely compelling interview with Tara Setmayer, who serves as the Communications Director for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Tara has been an incredible help to Grassfire in our efforts to free Ramos and Compean, and was present at the recent Ramos and Compean appeal in New Orleans.

I wanted her to give you an "insider's" glimpse into the appeal, the case and what lies ahead for these two imprisoned Border Agents--who today (Tuesday) are spending their 328th day in solitary confinement!

http://www.firesociety.com/blog/107/20103/?src=111

[benevolance]

A very positive step in Arizona

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071230/ts_alt_afp/usimmigrationeconomyarizona

This is not the total solution...But if you stop american businesses from knowingly hiring illegals. You stem the number of people coming into the country... Immigration is not a bad thing...And in smaller amounts people coming to America can be dealt with... Programs to make illegals citizens to get them paying taxes and contributing to society could work if America only had a small immigration problem instead of an out of control one...

Plus this is great for american workers...Not being able to exploit cheap illegal labour forces american businesses to pay higher wages to american workers. I am all for american workers getting a fair wage and staying employed.

[williet]

I was just told about a company here in North Alabama, Huntsville, that's going to hire about 1300 illegals for a "short time"... 2 to 3 years, from now on as long as the company is doing business. This company will get them a workers visa...thus making them "legal" while using cheap labor. The company plans to bring them into the area, furnish them a visa, a place to live, transportation and 12 hr a day job, six days a week. At the end of the 3 yr period, they can get another visa and so on for a full career with the company.

It's been in the papers and the Governor has said the company's doing nothing "illegal" due to the temp workers visa's....The company will still profit off these folks while not offering the jobs to LEGAL U.S. citizens...they get out of paying benefits and a fare wage this way and the "government" says it's all legal.....the 1300 folks will still bleed of the local tax payer and add nothing to the community and local CITIZENS will still be unemployed.

There's always a way .... 

We need a new Governor and better local laws on employment of temp workers.

It's a company that makes blank CD's....can't think of the name right now.

[glenn kangiser]

Corporate America does not care for the people of America, as long as the fat CEO's get their millions, the lobbyists get paid off, the investors get their pittance, all is well as far as they care.

[FrankInWI]

I'm a democrat...(pro union / living wages, equal rights, et al) but am getting pissed about our soft stance on illegal immigration.  It's wrong and we need to take a strong stand.  It won't happen, and we loose on account of it.

[glenn kangiser]

We are all in a fascist state, Frank.  The people will not prevail over the big business, big government and military coalition.  Brand of politics doesn't much matter.  It's all being rendered pretty much generic.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

The spouse of any US Citizen has a much easier time of gaining legal residence status. That's always been the case. The process may involve more hoops today than in 1985 when I earned my Resident Alien card.  I can't say for certain.

I believe most others, with no familial connections in the USA, will have a much tougher time, especially if the person doesn't posses any marketable skills that are needed. I think that's fair.

On the contrary, Don, our process for DH to get permanent residence and eventually citizenship was a long and drawn-out ordeal... and it cost us no less than it did for Scott's wife even though we never hired a lawyer.  It seemed to all get off on the wrong foot because my husband was on a student visa when we married and the OKC office seemed to think that you couldn't be both married to a US citizen AND a grad student at the same time.  The fight was on from that point on.  He couldn't even get work clearance in the US until I was about 8 months pregnant with our first daughter, somewhere around 20 months after we were married.  During the whole thing, we had everything happen from the Korean government not believing the "conditional" green card was a real green card and trying to force DH to come home while I was pregnant with DD #2 to serve 5 years working for the Korean government because they believed he was too old to do the typical 2 year 2 month stint in the Korean army to the INS office accusing ME of being in the country illegally (c'mon folks, I know I'm not your typical blue-eyed blonde, white bread American, but pray tell, WHERE did she think I was from for crying out loud?)  He finally got his citizenship a year ago around Thanksgiving time, more than 6 years since we got married... we applied for his green card the week we got married.  There was nothing easy about it.  Since we couldn't afford lawyers, out of desperation we went to our congressman, and they contacted INS, chewed them out, and got the ball rolling within two weeks.  If only we'd known to do that sooner.

[glenn kangiser]

Any interest here in Spanish lessons?

[StinkerBell]

HT, your situation was terrible...

My hubby just about refuses to get his citizenship (He has his perm. alien card). Like I stated before he is angry that he has jumped through all the hoops and the cost...He is angry that others are here illegally and seem to have more rights and more privi's.

[benevolance]

i could complain about all the headaches my wife and I went through...But it would not do any good...

Imagine if I was born in iran instead of Canada.... Holy crap that would be impossible

[MountainDon]

Sorry to hear about the travails you and your husband were put through Homegrown. It's almost embarrassing for me to say it was about as easy as falling off a log in my case. No lawyers. Just complete forms and submit them along with whatever was asked for.    OMMV.

MTL it made a difference that I married my US born wife in Canada years before we decided we wanted to move to the USA. IIRC when my sister decided she was already in the USA and wanted to stay, she also had legal problems because she got married (in the USA) after she was already here, without being documented properly. It seems they do take a dim view of that... probably too many marriages of convenience occur with intent to subvert the process.

[glenn kangiser]

Now we school them when they live across the border.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TSKC1G0&show_article=1

[Redoverfarm]

We know exactly where one cow with Mad-cow-disease is located among millions and millions of cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located.  Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of Immigration?

[glenn kangiser]

As you study a bit deeper you will find that the Department of Agriculture has repeatedly blocked testing and covered up mad cow disease in the US.  A company in Washington state  and other places, wanted to implement ther own testing for mad cow and were stopped because if it is not tested for it cannot be reported so there is no problem to report.  If one happens to get caught -- it will be traced to a herd in Canada.

So---- immigration will still be as our government and big business want it --- not as the people want it. 

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_440.cfm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/02/AR2006020202240.html

Hey - can't endanger our beef industry even if people are dying -- and go ahead and eat that steak quivering -- it takes 8 to 900 degrees F. to kill it anyway. 

[Redoverfarm]

Glenn that is why I raise my own. If I die it is my own fault not the fault of someone that has used animal waste to feed back to their cows.

[glenn kangiser]

Good idea.  I haven't been around enough to do it though -