The counterfeit degrees enable some a good Jobs, some good paychecks but taking jobs from legitimate candidates!!







The counterfeit degrees enabled some to get jobs they wouldn't qualify for otherwise. For others, the bogus master's degrees translated to bigger paychecks. And some truly believed the degrees they purchased were legitimate. Of course they got the easy pass. Are you there Lou, Tommy Tancredo? Undocumented students just asking for an opportunity to have a real education. a real dream. Why denied with their dream when other people which are US. Citizens drop out school?
Immigration officials searching 9,000 names for Illegal High School or College degrees. A former U.S.marshal who bought a bogus college degree online and used it to get a $15,000--a-year job promotion, and the list is on and on, click here for a full list.

Immigration officials are looking through a list of more than 9,000 names to see how many federal employees may have bought a phony high school or college degree from a Spokane, Wash.-based diploma mill.

The Spokesman-Review newspaper obtained the list and published the names on its Web site Tuesday. The Justice Department has refused to release the list, which grew out of a lengthy investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern district of Washington.

The list included some people who apparently work for government, educational institutions and the military, according to their e-mail addresses that ended in .gov, .edu or .mil., according to the newspaper report.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of the federal agencies that investigates document fraud, is going through the list of 9,612 names and searching for federal employees, agency spokesman Brandon Alvarez-Montgomery said.

It is not known how many Homeland Security Department employees are on this list, he said. But the department's inspector general is investigating what ICE finds. ICE is part of the 208,000-strong department.

Authorities contended the bogus degrees could be used to circumvent U.S. immigration laws and to help the degree holders win promotions and pay raises in government jobs. A task force of state and federal agents served search warrants in August 2005 after investigators found many of the phony degrees were sold in Saudi Arabia, raising national security concerns.

As ICE officials go through the list and identify the federal employees, their names will be sent to their respective agencies for inspector general review, Alvarez-Montgomery said. If a federal employee used a fake degree for personal gain or to get a job with the government, it would be up to the individual agency to take action.

There is no Justice Department investigation into people on the list, Alvarez-Montgomery said.

The newspaper reported that at least nine people with .gov domains worked for federal agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Health and Human Services Department, the National Security Agency and the CIA.

Indictments in the case were returned in 2005, contending that operators of the diploma mill sold fake high school or college degrees to more than 9,000 people in 131 countries, generating more than $1 million in sales.

The conspirators also made and sold counterfeit copies of degrees and transcripts from legitimate universities, court documents claimed.

The phony diplomas used names such as St. Regis University, James Monroe University and Robertstown University, lawyers said. Counterfeit degrees also were sold in the names of the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and George Washington University.

Investigators also said more than $43,000 in bribes were paid to three Liberian diplomats, including one payment that was videotaped by Secret Service agents at a hotel in Washington, D.C. Government lawyers have said diplomatic immunity precludes charges against the diplomats.

The Liberian "Board of Education" offered accreditation for the diploma mills in exchange for the bribes, according to court filings.

The leader of a diploma mill, Dixie Ellen Randock, 58, earlier this month was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Randock's daughter, Heidi Kae Lorhan, was sentenced to a year in prison.

Dixie's husband, Steven K. Randock Sr., 68, who is recovering from open-heart surgery, will be sentenced Aug. 5.

The Randocks and Lorhan were indicted in October 2005 and pleaded guilty March 26, the eve of their trial, to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. In the plea agreement, the U.S. attorney's office dropped charges of money laundering, which carried longer sentences.

The Randocks also agreed to forfeit $535,000 in cash and their late-model Jaguar.

Defendants Blake Alan Carlson, Richard John Novak, Kenneth Wade Pearson and Amy Leann Hensley await sentencing after pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate with authorities in exchange for lighter sentences.

U.S. Immigration system is in REAL NEEDS of a REAL SOLUTION. A reform.

A recent CIS report reaches the highly dubious conclusion that a decrease in the size of the undocumented population which probably occurred between August 2007 and May 2008 is largely the result of new immigration-enforcement efforts, rather than the downturn of the U.S. economy. The persuasiveness of this argument is undermined not only by an absence of hard data, but by the faulty logic and contradictory statements of the report itself.

Read Here:

ICE given two options to undocumented Immigrants: Jail o deportation.!!!!!!! We should deport Lou Dobbs.!!!!!!!!



Rather than risk getting caught, turn yourselves in. This is what we called Justice?

That’s the latest strategy in the government’s ongoing effort to dramatically reduce the nation’s ballooning population of unauthorized immigrants.

Scheduled to be unveiled next week, it was announced Sunday by Julie Myers, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an interview with a Spanish-language television network.

Myers told the network that Operation Scheduled Departure will allow unauthorized immigrants without criminal records a chance to literally “self-deport” by turning themselves in to her agents.

She said the idea derived from a common complaint voiced by immigrant detainees: If given the opportunity, they’d rather just go home than be holed up in immigration prisons.

Under the new program, those who haven’t been arrested will have the chance to walk into ICE offices, be processed and get a few weeks to arrange their affairs, pack their belongings and ship out of the country without being detained.

“The program basically gives an opportunity to those seeking an organized way to self-deport,” Myers told Univisión anchor Jorge Ramos.

Myers said the program would allow immigrants to avoid the increasing risks of being picked up in a raid at home or at work but would offer no additional incentives for them to turn themselves in — no chance at qualifying for an amnesty, for example.

ICE officials in San Antonio, Dallas and Washington refused to elaborate on the program, saying no details will be made available before the official presentation next week.

Immigrant advocates called the program a laughable charade with little to no chance of succeeding without any carrots to offer self-deportees.

“It’s pure fantasy,” said Doug Rivlin, spokesman for the National Immigration Forum in Washington. “An attempt to entice people to sign away their rights and get out of the country as quickly as possible before even talking to a lawyer.”
If people wanted to leave on their own, they’d buy their own bus or plane ticket home without checking in with ICE first, Rivlin said.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the country’s largest anti-unauthorized-immigration lobby group, based in Washington, said he’d have to concede that point.

The government would have to come up with some kind of incentive to entice immigrants to sign up, such as telling them that by leaving voluntarily they would be allowed to apply to come back legally, Mehlman said.

The concept of nudging unauthorized immigrants into leaving on their own is one his group has long advocated.

“It certainly makes sense to create conditions to make people understand that if they’re here illegally, it’s not going to benefit them to stick around,” he said.

While it remains to be seen whether the idea works for ICE, another federal agency that first came up with the idea three years ago claims it has worked well.

Fugitive Safe Surrender offers nonviolent criminals with arrest warrants a chance to give themselves up to the U.S. Marshals Service instead of being hunted down. So far, more than 16,000 have accepted the offer

Kinto Sol, Si se puede, Yes, we can..

This video reflecting how Hispanics has been oppressed, struggled, separated kids from parents, Humilliated, denigrating and under false statements that Latinos are terrorists, criminals, bring disease, taking jobs away from Americans.
This will stop until we unite for the same cause and once for all stop opression, racism, and hate against Latinos and Hispanics.

Lyrics"

Lyrics / Letra:
Chorus:
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede


Verse 1:
Ya callo la gota, que derramo el vaso
Tienen que darnos la solución para este caso
Ahora el pueblo se encuentra mas unido
Nunca nos daremos por vencidos

Vencidos nunca nos verán
Más guerreros a la lucha se unirán

No se dejen
Los padres a los hijos los protegen
Que se alejen
Todos los racistas
No quieren bronca con los Zapatistas
Es hora que se muevan esos activistas
Igualdad para todos
Somos seres humanos
Quien este conmigo, levanten esas manos
No necesitamos, falsos líderes
Que se dejan manejar pero que unos títeres

Ya vasta de tanta presión
Lo grita el alma de toda una nación

Chorus:
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede


Verse 2:
Terrorismo es un pretexto, esto no es algo nuevo
Lo mismo le paso a mi padre también a mi abuelo
El racismo no termina
Es el mismo duelo
Donde quedo la libertad que fundoo este suelo
Con miedo nos rechazan
Le temen a mi raza
Son miles de niños que han perdido su casa
Separando a padres, hijos, hermanos
Solo quieren nuestros votos, no les importamos
Ya vasta de promesas
Las cartas en la mesa
Soy la fuerza de trabajo que levanta tus cosechas

Se aprovechan de las leyes sin sentido
Es absurdo que nos culpen
De todo lo ocurrido

Jamás será vencido
Un pueblo unido
El ciclo de la vida jamás será interrumpido
Como fue así será
Lo dijo una apache hermano
Aunque no les guste aquí nos quedamos

Chorus:
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede

Bridge:
Si se puede
Si se puede
Si se puede
Si se puede


Verse 3:
Llora el corazón
Es mucha la violación
A los derechos de mi gente, le llaman invasión
Es un niño llorando
Un padre detenido
Una madre sin familia
Un hogar destruido
Solo a Dios le pido
Que pare la injusticia
Que mis paisanos se preparen, para lo que sea
No he visto a mi familia
Ya son varios años
Sueño a regresar
Sostengo mi rosario
A diario, maldisko, las redadas
Donde quedo la justicia, gente despiadada
Algún día la lluvia sesará
Y mi raza luchadora por fin descansara

Chorus:
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede
Por una causa y la misma razón
Unidos todos, Si se puede
Unidos todos con esta canción
Si Se Puede

Outro:
Si se puede
Si se puede
Si Se Puede
Si se puede

11:57 a.m.: 5.8 quake rattles Southern California



An estimated 5.8 earthquake with an epicenter in the Chino Hills struck Southern California this morning at about 11:45 a.m. One homeowner in Pomona reported some damage from the shaker with a number of items falling off shelves. No other reports of damage were available

Something you should know about Agriprocessors, Inc in Postville, Iowa.



Cows are slaughtered cruely in Postville, Iowa, USA. Their cuts are slit while they are still alive, then dismembered alive. Why don't cows get as much attention as dolphin? Everyday, thousands of cows are massacred and killed cruelly.

Warning very graphic Video.!!!!!!!!

Thousand of protesters in Postville, Iowa


On May 12, 2008, nearly 400 workers were arrested in an ICE raid on the Agriprocessors, Inc., meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. In the following months, witnesses and news media reported a number of human rights and due process violations against the workers that took place at the plant and in the makeshift courtrooms set up by the U.S. government following the raid. On July 27, 2008, activists and people of faith from Iowa and across the country marched in Postville to show solidarity for the workers and their families and to call for fair and humane immigration reform.
This video reflected the needs of Humane and comprehensive Immigration reform.

When Nok Kells' American military husband died in a traffic accident three years ago, the government began deportation proceedings against her. It's called the widow penalty. Nok is one of 160 widows and widowers facing deportation because their U.S. citizen spouses died less than two years after their marriages. Nok Kells and her lawyer explain how they are fighting to legally get Nok and her two children clearance to stay in the country.
The Mark Krikorian mindset, which wants to clamp down on legal immigrants or turns a blind eye to their punishment, I have never understood. We don't need legal immigrants? The US is facing a shortage of 800,000 nurses in a little over 10 years. That will affect the healthcare system of this country. Sure so lets cut back on the total of visas given out to trained nurses. Makes sense? Nooooooooo!
Nor does the Widow Penalty. Widows like Mrs. Kells are legal immigrants, not terrorists. They haven't committed any crime, and therefore if the marriage was valid, there should be no reason for them not to be able to remain in this country. Death doesn't totally end the obligations of marriage. A widow is still responsible for debts and other obligations they and their spouse signed onto before one of them died.

Australia taking a big step towards an Humane Immigration Reform.




The Australian Government has announced reforms to the country's immigration detention system saying it will only be used as a last resort. Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, said the reforms will mean the centres are only used for the shortest possible time.

He added: "A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved." Senator Evans stated the department will also have to fully justify why a person with no Australian visa is being held in a detention centre.

In addition, a detainee's case will have to be reviewed every three months to make sure the action is still applicable. Senator Evans added: "Children will not be detained in an immigration detention centre."

Under the new plans three groups of people who do not have the correct Australian visa will still receive mandatory detention, including those arriving on unauthorised boats and those illegally in the country who are not protected under Australia's internal obligations. One advocate on the new system told News.com.au: "It will go from being a first resort to a last resort".

It's time for Arpaio to go. Aren't you proud of Arpaio Lou.!!!!


What crime the childrens committed to be terrorized at gun point? That's the Arizona Police Standard.!!!!!!. It's Very disgusting, very depressing and very sad. Joe Arpaio is out of control.

It's time to step up together and make our voice heard. Call action for Justice.





Learn more about the efforts to defend Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia, and how you can get involved!

Sign the letter of support!

Write to Pima County Administrator Huckleberry

Write to the Pima County Board of Supervisors

Call to Action!Defend Isabel Garcia!Defend our First Amendment Rights!

Demand Accountability from those who would support Hate media! As many of you are aware, a recent protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has had some ugly backlash. As a community, we set out to let Arpaio know that there were many who did not welcome him into our community. As part of this protest, and in a symbolic expression our disagreement with Sheriff Arpaio, his policies, and his promoting of his xenophobic and narrow-minded perspective in his recent book, an empty piñata with the likeness of Sheriff Arpaio was hit by local youth. As a result, the hate radio talk show host, Jon Justice (104.1 The Truth) has launched a campaign to have one of our Co-chairs, Isabel Garcia, fired from her position as a Pima County Legal Defender.Since the incident, our office has received numerous hate calls, and Jon Justice posted a few offensive videos of himself with a piñata with Isabel's likeness, caressing it and making comments about "wanting to take it home with me," among a few other comments about "chorizo" and "viva la raza." Mr. Justice has since removed the video, as well as the one that followed it, which we found to be even more offensive. Transcripts of the first video is below, as well as a short transcript written by someone who saw the video before it was removed.We ask you, as a community ally, to step up with us in defending Isabel Garcia, demand accountability from 104.1FM, and join us in a campaign to rid Tucson of hate radio. Below are some actions items you can take to join us in solidarity with Isabel, as well as some information that we think might be helpful to learning more about this situation.It is our First Amendment Right, and our duty as members of this society, to denounce anything that goes against the basic human and civil rights that ALL possess. To try to silence those that would condemn torture and racism is contrary to the rights of us all!Sign on to the letter of support for Isabel!Click to view the solidarity letter that we have created in support of Isabel, and which we ask you to sign on to. If you would like your name added to the list of sponsors, please e-mail

sol@derechoshumanosaz.net.

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Letter of Support for Isabel Garcia Please help us to spread the word, and take up the following action items:1. Contact Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry in support of Isabel Garcia. 520.740.8661 or e-mail:

chh@pima.gov

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2. Contact the Journal Broadcast Group, expressing your opinion of Jon Justice and the tactics of 104.1FM, and your concern that local KGUN 9 would be associated with an outlet that is so obviously NOT an objective media source. Contact Julie Brinks: 520.290.7600 or e-mail:

jbrinks@journalbroadcastinggroup.com

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3. Contact the Board of Supervisors, voicing your support of Isabel Garcia, who has broken no rule or regulation as a Pima County employee.Pima County Board of Supervisors 30 West Congress Street, 11th FloorTucson, Arizona 85701 Receptionist - (520) 740-8126 Fax - (520) 884-1152 Ann Day, District 1

Ann.Day@pima.gov

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(520) 740-2738 Ramón Valadez, District 2

district2@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8126 Sharon Bronson, District 3

district3@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8051 Ray Carroll, District 4

district4@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8094 Richard Elías, Chairman, District 5

district5@pima.gov

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(520) 740-8126We need your support!Please spread the word on this Call to Action! Defend our First Amendment rights!Additional Information
Isabel Garcia's statement on the Arpaio Protest Links:Webisode #4 (Justice with a piñata of Isabel Garcia) Transcript of Webisode #4 (Justice with a piñata of Isabel Garcia)
Webisode #5Transcript of Webisode #5 Articles:There Is Blood On Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Hands, And It's Costing Us Millions Tucson radio wing nut "Jon Justice" gets panties in twist over Joe Arpaio pinata.The Bird shelters Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia from the flak she's received for hoisting an Arpaio piñata head Piñata Pr0n Extraordinaire Jon Justice
Right Wing Ideology With an Emphasis on “Idiot.”
Retreating Justice: On-air dork Jon Justice of Tucson's 104.1 FM hides his Isabel Garcia pinata

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants to know what you think about
his approach to illegal immigration. Well, only if you agree with him.

But we encourage those who disagree with him--or outright

hate what he's doing--to flood a special hotline he's set up for his
supporters and give him a piece of your mind. And don't stop at just
criticizing him over illegal immigration; there are a host of other
problems within his administration that deserve your rapt attention.

Here's Arpaio's number: 602-876-1350.


Arpaio announced his "hotline" last month, after finding out that
Governor Janet Napolitano had taken away more than a million dollars
in state funds from his anti-illegal-immigration program. (Arpaio
admitted he first learned of the governor's action by reading this
blog. You can also read my follow-up article here.).

Joe claims a dedicated phone line is necessary to help people who want
to donate to the Sheriff's Office in the wake of Napolitano's
decision. Arpaio's office put out this press release with the phone
number. But local news publications, perhaps believing Arpaio gets
enough coverage, didn't reprint it.

Arpaio's not embarrassed at all to be asking for your hard-earned
dollars in a time of economic uncertainty. Or after he's wasted
millions upon millions of dollars on lawsuits that wouldn't have been
filed had he been runing a professional jail system. Or after using
public RICO money to finance what amounts to paid vacations for his
deputies (including highly compensated Chief Deputy David Hendershott)
in Honduras--under the lie that he's somehow preventing gang members
from flooding into Maricopa County. From Honduras?!

Oh, your tax dollars are also financing the hotline.

If you want to part with your gasoline money to pay the Sheriff's
Office to round up hard-working mamacitas in minivans with cracked
windshields, that's your business. But the neat part about the hotline
is that anyone can leave a message after hearing a short (and stilted)
speech by Joe.

Now, as we suggested above, don't feel restricted to just commenting
about how the Sheriff's Office treats Mexicans--there are plenty of
other good topics to scream about. Let him know how you feel about:

* Inmates who die or become injured under suspicious circumstances
in county jails.
* Third World jail conditions.
* The $41 million-plus paid by taxpayers for Sheriff's Office
lawsuit judgments and settlements.
* Targeting political enemies with abusive and questionable police
investigations.
* Throwing newspaper owners he doesn't like in jail.
* Withholding public records and trying to intimidate news media
that don't do his bidding.
* Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars working with Honduran
police on a program that has no apparent merit to county taxpayers.

Really, any criticism is fair game--the self-described "toughest
sheriff in America" should be able to take it (though we all know how
sensitive he is; see fourth bullet item).

Now all the hotline needs is a title: We haven't given it much
thought, but "The Great New Times Memorial Sheriff Arpaio Blast Line"
has a ring to it.

Enforce the rule of Law. Pastor harrased by Ignorants and racists K.K.K. Members. Jessie Stensland.


A prominent Oak Harbor pastor has been targeted by hoodlums purporting to represent the Ku Klux Klan.

Fannie Dean, long-time pastor of Unity Fellowship, said the trouble started about a month ago at Oak Harbor Thrift. Dean runs the church's thrift store, located on Goldie Road.

She has received hateful, racist calls. Someone broke a window. She started finding notes scrawled on paper or cardboard. The messages said things like "Get out" or "You gotta go" and they were signed "KKK."

Dean found the most recent message Wednesday morning. It said simply: "I'm running the KKK."

Dean said she's not scared, but she's sad this still happens in the community.

"They may be running the KKK, but I know the man in charge," she said, referring to a higher power. "People are trying, but they can't stop me. I've come too far to turn around now."

Dealing with racism is nothing new for Dean, a well-known and outspoken African-American woman in Oak Harbor. She said racists came to her home and burned her family's vehicle years ago. She sometimes feels disapproving stares as she moves about the community.

"The haters are still out there. You better believe it," said Dean. Still, the well-loved pastor is anything but an angry person. She's downright cheerful and enthusiastically speaks about her love of God.

Grace Schiffman, Dean's close friend and a member of the church, said she believes Dean was targeted because of her prominence as an African-American woman. The pastor organizes the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. program. She and her church sponsored the Juneteenth celebration, which celebrates the freedom of black people from slavery. Dean and families from her current church are building Mission Ministries Outreach on Goldie Road.

"We are not going to let them stop us and they're not going to prevent us from building the church," Schiffman said.

While Dean isn't frightened, Schiffman said some members of the church are concerned for her safety.

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said deputies are investigating the case, but they have no leads. He said the actions fit the definition of a hate crime.

"This is something we take very seriously," he said.

When Hospitals are going out of business.!!! Undocumented Immigrants Are always to be blame for. Hypocrisy is not a family value.!!!!!!!






THREE FORMER HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES PLEAD GUILTY TO MULTIMILLION DOLLAR FRAUD

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that defendants Joanna Delfel , Victor Garcia , and Sylvia Oramas, three former employees of Kendall Regional Medical Center (“KRMC”), a full-service hospital located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, pled guilty today to charges of conspiring to defraud KRMC of more than $5 million through a sophisticated purchase order scheme. Specifically, the defendants pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years. Sentencing is scheduled for January 8, 2009 at 8:30am before United States District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz.

As part of the plea, the defendants admitted that from January 2001 until May 2007, they defrauded KRMC by utilizing their knowledge of, and access to, HCA’s computerized supply management system. Specifically, the Defendants manipulated the computer system so that KRMC would issue payments to two outside medical supply vendors, The Pharmed Group, Inc. (“Pharmed”) and Allied Medical Products, Inc. (“Allied Medical”), for medical supplies that were fraudulently ordered, and never actually delivered. To execute the scheme, the Defendants used the computerized supply management system to generate phony purchase orders for medical supplies, and to falsely record that such supplies had been delivered-in-full to KRMC by Pharmed or Allied Medical. Based on these false and fraudulent computer entries, KRMC’s parent company, HCA, Inc. (“HCA”), paid Pharmed and AMP the full amount for the false supply orders, totalling more than $5 million. The fraud proceeds were funnelled back to the Defendants and other co-conspirators through a series of shell corporations, including Soho Marketing, Inc. (“SoHo Marketing”), and Gator Sports Collectibles, Inc. (“Gator Sports”), controlled by members of the conspiracy. Members of the conspiracy then issued checks from SoHo Marketing and Gator Sports to the defendants and other members of the conspiracy and created fraudulent documents to disguise these payments as employee compensation.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also acknowledged the cooperative efforts of Kendall Regional Medical Center and its sister HCA affiliates for their assistance in this investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ryan K. Stumphauzer

Undocumented Immigrants do no paid taxes. Sounds familiar to you. You can't cut the meat with two nails;it's like one more nail in the coffin. Hypocrisy is not a family value.



Tax avoidance is the legal utilization of the tax regime to one's own advantage, in order to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. By contrast tax evasion is the general term for efforts to not pay taxes.
In the United States "tax evasion" is evading the assessment or payment of a tax that is already legally owed at the time of the criminal conduct.
So if the Anti Immigrant Group Alipacus.net sole ownership by William Gheen didn't paid taxes as Damn Mexicans exposed here then who's the ilegal criminal? Can we bring some justice? Can we enforce the rule of Law?

US senators have demanded a crackdown on offshore tax havens after a US congressional probe found tax evasion could be costing the US $100 billion a year.

On Friday, senators questioned the managing director of Westfield Group, an Australian firm, about its involvement with the LGT bank of Lichtenstein.

The Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations is looking at LGT Bank - and also the Swiss bank UBS - as part of a larger inquiry into wealthy US citizens who avoid taxes by hiding assets in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

But Peter Lowy, the managing director of Westfield Group, cited his constitutional right to not give self-incriminating testimony when called to answer questions.

'Hurting Americans'

The committee also said during the past week's hearings that UBS bank has roughly 19,000 Swiss accounts for US clients hiding $18bn in assets from the Inland Revenue Service (IRS)

Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds says the two banks are being investigated for allegedly peddling sophisticated tax-evasion strategies to super-rich Americans, using their countries' banking security laws as a shield.

"The actions of a few to scam their way out of tax obligations hurt all Americans," Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, said on Friday.

"A privileged few believe they are entitled to shirk their obligations and heap their tax liability on the sagging shoulders of other Americans to make up for what they evade."

The hearings on Friday came a day after the US Government Accountability Office said a building on the British Carribbean territory the Cayman Islands was being used by 18,000 companies, of which five per cent are US-owned and another 40 per cent to 50 per cent have a US billing address or other connection.

'Whistle-blower'

Politicians accuse Lowy and his father, Frank Lowy, of hiding $68m in a foundation formed by LGT bank.

The scandal emerged when Heinrich Kieber, a former LGT computer technician, revealed hundreds of names and account details to tax authorities.

He is now wanted for arrest by the European state of Liechtenstein.

Jack Blum, a lawyer for Kieber, told Al Jazeera that the system of tax evasion operates on a global scale.

"It is the tip of an iceberg because what we are only talking about are US persons, one bank, in Switzerland. We are not talking about the worldwide scope of it," he said.

"The worldwide issue is this - there has been a wealth transfer from a bottom chunk of the world population to the top one half of one tenth of one per cent. And they have escaped all kinds of scrutiny."

US tax authorities have since served legal papers on UBS, and in June a UBS executive pleaded guilty in a US court to tax fraud.

And at a hearing last week, an official from UBS AG testified that the bank would overhaul its offshore private banking business and co-operate with summons by the IRS to provide names of US clients with undeclared accounts.

Carlos Santana, Jose Feliciano and Ricky Martin, Light my fire, Guajira, Oye como Va.



Another great artists like Carlos Santana, Jose Feliciano and Ricky Martin who's performance going beyond limits..Awesome guys. Music is magic, love, power, and ignition of feelings.

Dance with my Father again. By Luther Vandross. Tribute to my father and Luther.



i love this song it has so many powerful words, sorry to all the people out there who has lost there fathers well to every-one that lost some one in there life we will see them some day and be with them. so if u love some one tell them that before it is to late and every thing you are thinking. Wherever you are Dad I love you..........God Bless you.

Si no te Hubieras Ido.By Marco Antonio Solis.



Another Mexican Artist Marco Antonio Solis who were singing in La Vina de el Mar but he start with the Group Los Bukis and became a solist.

It's Friday afternon and after reviewing the news and various other favorite blogs, I realize that I haven't shared some music for a while so I thought I would paste this for our readers to enjoy. The Friday music series has gotten mixed reviews, admittedly, and it's a hard thing to gauge since everyone's taste in music is different. we're just a plain, diverse community, something most Americans don't comprehend. Even for us who do, it's a challenge. Enjoy your weekend, folks!
The Band of Mana with a great song No ha parado de Llover. I remember this group when they were Sombrero Verde.

Joe Arpaio said it's an Honor to be called K.K.K.


Lou Dobbs and Joe Arpaio agrees that someone called you K.K.K. member is an Honor. Seems to me that their eating from the same enchilada then. Are you reading their lips? I know were they minds are for sure..

What if I Told you that Arizona Anti Immigrant Law had a Racist touch?

Anti Immigrants, Nativists and Minuteman Members are Dangerous?

.

I just copied this video from Human League were they exposed the Nativist and how dangerous they are and will be.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Specially Lynn Stevens.
Lynn is one of many members of United For Sovereign America Vigilante group that terrorize Mexicans and Latin people in Arizona.

Anti Immigrants going Beyond the Wall of Ignorance..



I had posted a few of post regarding John Tanton the person behind the Anti Immigrants and Extremists on the movement against the Legal and Undocumented Immigrant.
This video details the common origins of many of the country's leading anti-immigration groups and their ties to White supremacists.

The feelings and effects in Childrens from Raids at Potsville, Iowa.



See how this kid U.S. Citizen described the effect and hardship for being separated from his parents.
At the same time this horrible feeling has make them judge and change their future minds for the miscarriage of justice and equal opportunitty for all.
This is the lead Nation of Human rights U.S want to be?

The solution to their moral crisis is deportation.


The Immigration system is dysfunctional, obsolete and Inhumane and As a result of immigration laws, immigrants are being detained and deported without access to due process and a fair day in court.

Tears for fears change to tears of Hope in Justice.
by Jane Guskin.




Nurses see everything in a day's work. But at the maternity ward of Nashville General Hospital, nurses caring for an immigrant woman in labor broke down and cried when the sheriff's deputy guarding the woman refused to remove the shackles chaining her leg to the bed. The undocumented woman was detained by local authorities because of a cooperation agreement between the county sheriff's department and the immigration enforcement agency, ICE.

In Seattle, a seasoned community leader couldn't hold back her tears at a press conference as she read excerpts from her organization's report about abuses and indignities suffered by immigrants at a local detention center. Female detainees described strip searches and genital and anal cavity inspections following meetings with attorneys; detainees affected by an outbreak of food poisoning were denied medical treatment for many hours; a group of detainees transferred out of the facility by plane to Alabama -- to clear room there for workers arrested in a raid -- were refused access to the bathroom and were forced to sit in their own excrement for the duration of the flight.

Following the May 12 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, court interpreter Erik Camayd-Freixas reported seeing attorneys "weep alongside their clients" as hundreds of immigrant workers were left no choice but to plead guilty to criminal charges.
At St. Bridget's church in Postville, where staff and volunteers have been providing humanitarian assistance to families traumatized by the raid, Father Ouderkirk quotes Sister Mary as saying: "Once you've cried for two straight weeks, you don't have any more tears. But it doesn't mean you stopped feeling."

I've covered immigration news in a weekly bulletin for over a decade, and co-authored a book about immigration which came out last year. Yet it took me three weeks to write about the Postville raid because I couldn't stop crying as I read about the indigenous Guatemalans and Mexicans, victims of labor exploitation, who were dragged through an incomprehensible legal process in makeshift courtrooms at a cattle fairgrounds and are now serving prison sentences; mothers hobbled with government tracking devices on their ankles as they try to care for their families, now without income; and hundreds of children who are grieving the sudden loss of a parent.

I can't even skim through our own book without crying. In the chapter on detention and deportation, the "Story of S." still burns me up, unleashing tears of helplessness, as I remember how ICE delayed releasing S. for a few extra days, saying we needed to prove we had arranged a safe place for her to stay, since she was a survivor of abuse. Yet when they finally released her, they dumped her on the street without letting anyone know -- not even her lawyer -- and without any money, even for a phone call, so she had to make her way on foot to a public library and ask to borrow the phone.

Then there's Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a friend and colleague whose case we covered in that same chapter. Farouk would be 60 now, but he died four years ago today -- on July 21, 2004, his 100th day of freedom after two years in immigration detention. It's not even Farouk's death that brings up the tears for me. It's the eight months he spent in solitary confinement, without seeing the sun, or breathing outside air -- in total violation of the government's own rules -- while our protests, vigils, press releases, and petitions were ignored. And the fact that his entire detention was a farce, since the government already knew Farouk was a man without a country who couldn't be deported.

Tears of rage, of frustration, of grief.

And tears of hope, when I see kids in Providence, Rhode Island, leading some 200 people in a noisy protest to support immigrant janitors arrested by ICE just a few hours earlier. Tears of hope, when I hear that Jewish and Christian communities are planning to converge in Postville on July 27 for a major demonstration in solidarity with the families affected by the Agriprocessors raid. Tears of hope, whenever I see resistance rising.

Hope that we will never get used to the brutality, the human tragedy, that our immigration enforcement system unleashes all around us. Hope that our tears will never dry up, our hearts will never cease to hurt, and our voices will never get tired of demanding justice

Immigration Court efficiency, Logic and resources in question mark (?).








The number of foreigners landing in Los Angeles Immigration Court has surged in recent years, while the number of judges has remained about the same, causing crushing caseloads and lengthy delays.

Expanded immigration enforcement, including the ongoing search for illegal immigrants in county jails, is causing much of the rise, according to judges, attorneys and experts.

"I don't think it's possible for a court to implode from weight, but we may see," said former L.A. Immigration Judge Gilbert T. Gembacz, who retired last month after more than a decade on the bench.

Los Angeles immigration judges heard 27,200 cases last fiscal year, up from about 17,800 in 2000. In the last fiscal year alone, the number of immigration cases rose nearly 40%.

Today, 23 judges are assigned to Immigration Court, just two more than in 2000.

Immigration courts nationwide mirror the trend. Last fiscal year, judges heard 334,600 cases, up from 254,500 in 2000. During the same period, the number of judges increased to 220 from 207.

"Because of the high volume of the immigration docket, there is a great concern that respondents appearing before us do not believe they are given adequate opportunity to present their cases," said San Francisco Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, head of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges, the judges' union.

Cases are also becoming more difficult as laws change and new regulations are written, making it harder for judges to complete cases quickly.

"You are asking us to do death penalty cases in a traffic court setting with traffic court resources," Marks said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the courts are critical to the government's crackdown on illegal immigration.

"We can go out there and make arrests," she said, "but the efficiency of the legal process is going to have a tremendous impact on the outcome."

44 cases, 1 judge

On a recent day in Los Angeles Immigration Court, one judge had 44 cases on the docket. Every seat was filled, and a crowd waited in the hall. The judge heard the cases quickly, getting updates, asking questions and setting new court dates -- sometimes six months in the future.

A few floors down, immigration attorney P. Joseph Sandoval said he arrived 15 minutes early for his appearance, but the court was already packed and seven other attorneys had checked in before him.

"It's frustrating for both the clients as well as the attorneys, because the number of cases keeps increasing but the number of judges doesn't," he said.

As a result, Sandoval said, cases can drag on for years. He cited a Russian client who first appeared in Los Angeles Immigration Court in 2002 and whose case still has not been resolved. Now, he said, a recent appellate court decision may derail her chances of becoming a legal resident.

Beverly Hills attorney Ed Pilot said he has a Nigerian asylum case that has been going on since 1999. The case was about to finish in early 2007 when the assigned judge retired. Pilot said his client has not had a hearing since and is not scheduled to appear in court until December.

"It's sort of like an athlete who has put on his game face and is in game mode, all for naught," he said.

When another judge, Gembacz, retired, he was handling a workload of more than 1,600 active cases. Despite time pressures, Gembacz said, he let people tell their stories -- even if it took longer than necessary.

"They have waited two, three, four years," he said. "It's only fair to give them the time
But some judges are unable to spend that much time on individual cases, leading appellate courts to send them back for more thorough review.

"There are no doubt many conscientious, dedicated and thorough immigration courts across the country," one federal appellate judge wrote in a 2006 asylum case. "Unfortunately, their hard work is overshadowed by the significantly increasing rate at which adjudication lacking in reason, logic and effort from other immigration courts is reaching the federal circuits

To manage the growing caseload, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts nationwide, uses videoconferencing, sets timelines for judges to complete cases and tries to hire judges where needed. The budget for the agency has increased from $147 million in 2000 to $227 million last year, but more is always needed, said spokeswoman Susan Eastwood.

"We are a federal agency, and Congress controls our money," she said. "We ask for money, but we don't always get what we want."

Nevertheless, Eastwood said she was confident that the judges would be able to handle any further increased caseload.

Immigration courts need to be properly funded because people have a right to their day in court in a timely manner, said Doris Meissner, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, she said, "Having them function effectively is important . . . to get the return on the enforcement dollar."

Too few attorneys too

In Los Angeles, about 45 government attorneys rotate through Immigration Court, depending on other enforcement needs, said Kevin Riley, deputy chief counsel of the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Riley said the attorneys also have to deal with the challenges of heavy and complex caseloads.

To ease the numbers, the federal government processes some cases without going to court. For example, if someone has previously been ordered deported and then returns to the United States, agents simply reinstate the order and deport the illegal immigrant again.

In other areas, government attorneys are trying a pilot program to keep a sole government attorney on a case from start to finish.

Vera Weisz, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer, said there are "huge inefficiencies" in the system but acknowledged that court delays are not always a bad thing.

"It works to some people's benefit, because we are trying to keep them here as long as possible," she said.

For example, time has helped Mexican immigrant Tomas Garcia's case. Since he has been fighting in court to stay in the U.S., his wife has become a U.S. citizen and filed a petition for his green card. The petition was approved, and his next court date is in January, but Weisz said it would probably be a year before a judge approves the green card.

Garcia said he understood that his is one of thousands of cases, but he wished he didn't have to live in limbo for so long.

"If I got it at the first court appearance," he said, "it would have been better because there wouldn't have been worry or stress."

Raids in Postville, Iowa. leading our nation to a moral, legal and humanitarian crisis.









Postville, Iowa, has been turned into a ghost town. Nearly a third of its residents, mostly undocumented workers from Guatemala and Mexico, sit in jail convicted of identity crimes or awaiting deportation. Hundreds more hide in fear. Their children, too scared to go to school, have left the town's classrooms nearly empty. For this, Postville should thank their local police, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), and a failed immigration policy.

Aided by local law enforcement, ICE arrested 389 workers during the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history at the Postville meatpacking plant, the area's major employer. In an unprecedented move, ICE criminally charged 302 of these workers with aggravated ID theft and/or using false social security numbers. Within days, ICE resolved their fate: 297 men and women pled guilty and were sentenced to prison and subsequent deportation. Only a few await criminal trials or immigration hearings.

Postville is one of the latest in a series of immigration raids that have intensified in the past three years. These raids are leading our nation to a moral, legal and humanitarian crisis.


Lawmakers on Thursday questioned the legality and effectiveness of the government’s tactics in a May raid that led to the arrest of nearly 400 immigrants.

The crackdown on a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa _ called Agriprocessors _ represented the largest single immigration raid in the nation’s history. Most of the workers, who faced charges of aggravated identity theft for using immigration or Social Security numbers that did not belong to them, accepted plea agreements on a lesser charge of Social Security fraud. Most now face five months of jail followed by deportation.

The raid has come under fire from immigration reform groups and now lawmakers who objected to group prosecutions that they say violated due process and who criticized the decision to disproportionately go after workers instead of employers.

"This looks and feels like a cattle auction, not a criminal prosecution in the United States," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a former immigration lawyer and chair of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, which held a five-hour hearing Thursday on the Postville raid.

The workers were given seven days to decide whether to accept the plea agreement, and they appeared in groups of 10 at the plea hearings.

"Defendants did not know what a Social Security number was," said Erik Camayd-Freixas, one of the interpreters brought in to translate at the court proceedings.

Deborah Rhodes, senior associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, defended the "fast-tracking" process, which she said averted flooding the courts and resulted in reduced sentences.

Lawmakers also expressed concern about the government’s priorities, arguing that the mass raid complicated an existing investigation into labor, food safety and environmental violations at the Agriprocessors plant.

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, whose district borders Postville, said he was concerned that rounding up, jailing and deporting the plant’s workers would impede the Department of Labor’s investigation.

"Unless we enforce our laws equally against both employees and employers who break the law, we will continue to have a serious problem with illegal immigration in this country," Braley said.

Undocumented Immigrants draining the social services. Sounds familiar to you. Then Someone Lie to you.








MISSOURI HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO PAY U.S. $60 MILLION TO SETTLE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS.

WASHINGTON – Lester E. Cox Medical Centers, a health care system headquartered in Springfield, Mo., has agreed to pay the United States to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute between 1996 and 2005, by entering into certain financial relationships with referring doctors at a local physician group and engaging in improper billing practices with respect to Medicare. Cox, a not-for-profit healthcare organization, will pay the United States $60 million to resolve these claims.

Under the Stark Statute, Medicare providers like Cox are prohibited from billing the federal health care program for referrals from doctors with whom the providers have a financial relationship, unless that relationship falls within certain exceptions. The United States contended that certain relationships between Cox and physicians ran afoul of the Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits offering inducements to providers in return for patient referrals, and the Stark statute. Additional claims being resolved concern Cox’s inclusion of non-reimbursable costs on its Medicare cost reports and improper billings for services provided to dialysis patients.

“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that the best interests of federal health care program patients are not compromised by unlawful payments to physicians,” said Gregory G. Katsas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The resolution of this matter resulted in a significant recovery for taxpayers, and it exemplifies our dedication to vigorous enforcement of the Stark and Anti-Kickback Statutes.”

As part of the $60 million settlement, Cox has entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General. The Corporate Integrity Agreement contains measures to ensure compliance with Medicare regulations and policies in the future.

“Today’s settlement furthers both our commitment to protecting patients from improper billing practices and the continued ability of Cox to provide quality medical care in Springfield and the Ozarks,” said John F. Wood, U.S. Attorney in Kansas City, Mo. “I am pleased that we were able to resolve this matter without litigation.”

The settlement with Cox was the result of a coordinated effort by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri; HHS’ Office of Inspector General, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, and Office of Audit Services; and the FBI

Undocumented Workers do no paid taxes.!!!!!! That Sounds familiar to you.



LOS ANGELES MAN WHO MADE ‘DONATIONS’ TO JEWISH GROUP AND TOOK BOGUS TAX DEDUCTIONS AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY.


A Los Angeles man who made “donations” to several charitable organizations associated with a New York-based orthodox Jewish group – “donations” that were largely refunded – has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges.

In a plea agreement filed today in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Uri Mandelbaum, 70, of the Hancock Park district of Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to two felony tax charges and to pay back taxes totaling more than $1.5 million.

The plea agreement with Mandelbaum is the first one involving a “donor” to charitable organizations associated with Spinka, which is at the center of a scheme alleged in a related criminal case. Spinka is a religious group within Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn, New York. The Grand Rabbi of Spinka, his assistant, several other defendants and five Spinka charities were indicted last year on a host of federal charges related to a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud U.S. government agencies, to operate an underground money transfer system and to launder money through an Israeli bank (see: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2007/164.html). According to statements made during court during proceedings in that case, prosecutors have expanded their investigation, which now targets more than 100 individuals who were contributors to Spinka organizations.

In the plea agreement filed today, Mandelbaum admits that he evaded the payment of $296,731 in federal income taxes for the years 2005 and 2006, the two years that are the subject of the criminal charges. During 2005 and 2006, Mandelbaum made $892,483 in contributions to Spinka organizations, and then 95 percent of the contributions were returned to Mandelbaum. However, Mandelbaum admits that he claimed the entire $892,483 as charitable contributions on his federal income tax returns for the two years.

In the plea agreement, Mandelbaum also admits that he made contributions to Spinka-related entities from 2001 through 2004 that were reimbursed at a 95 percent rate. During those four years, Mandelbaum admits that hundreds of thousands of dollars went through the Spinka organizations, resulting in tax losses of $1,285,591.

Mandelbaum additionally admits that he received cash from Spinka organizations in order to give kickbacks to other contributors. During 2005 and 2006, Mandelbaum received $662,068 in cash that he relayed to others, according to his plea agreement.

Mandelbaum has agreed to appear in federal court in Los Angeles for an arraignment on July 28.

The statutory maximum penalty for the two counts of tax evasion is 10 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine.

Two of the defendants charged in the main Spinka indictment have pleaded guilty (see: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2008/091.html). The other defendants are scheduled to go on trial before United States District Judge George P. Schiavelli on November 12.

Are you Smarter than a Naturalized Citizen?



This video will demostrate how Naturalized Citizen assimilated to this Country on History, Knowledge, Moral, socially and Country Values.

More Green Card Soldiers become Naturalized.


Naturalization ceremony held at Al Faw palace for a large group of servicemembers serving in Iraq. Scenes include shots of the crowd, the singing of the national anthem, servicemembers taking the oath of citizenship, receiving certificates and taking photographs with Lt. Gen. Austin and a participant talking to a military reporter about the significance of receiving citizenship.

Green Card Soldiers become Naturalized


Non-citizen U.S. Soldiers becoming naturalized at a ceremony on LSA Anaconda. Scenes include Soldiers taking their naturalization oath, receiving their papers and getting their photos taken with the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The US is toughening its immmigration laws. New fees come into effect which include a price hike for citizenship applications. For Undocumented immigrants already in the country the situation is already dire-with many living in fear. Jose - an Undocumented immigrant from Honduras about what it means to live and work in America.

Could you imagine a SD Minuteman leader behaving at home. Well, Know is time to show his normal conduct at home and Public. Please, make sure are not kids around, The behavior of this Leader is unspeakable. Rated F (Funny), Rated R (reprochable). You rate his conduct.

Border Towns against The Fence, The Barrier, The Wall..








The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency plans to build a nearly 700-mile fence along the southern border of the United States to curb Undocumented immigration. The fence, which could be completed by year's end, would split border towns and alter the relationships between U.S. border communities and their neighbors in Mexico. Eagle Pass, Texas, Mayor Chad Foster, a proponent of border control without physical barriers, has worked with other border communities on the issue as president of the Texas Border Coalition. American City & County talked with Foster about how a physical barrier could affect his community.

Q: What is Eagle Pass' relationship like with the neighboring Mexican community, Piedras Negras?

A: If there's a fire in Piedras Negras, the Eagle Pass Fire Department responds to it. If there's a fire in Eagle Pass, the Piedras Negras Fire Department responds to our needs. Mexico endured their first tornado in the history of the country on April 24, 2007. I called Piedras to see what their needs were. There was an older neighborhood [that] needed chainsaws and generators to [remove debris]. [The] tornado [came] from Piedras, jumped the river and hit Maverick County, Texas. The governor of Coahuila, Mexico, [went] to Piedras Negras with resources to help [the city] with their cleanup. [Then], he sent manpower and equipment and helped us with our cleanup and never asked for a dime. That's the way we work on the border. We're two countries that have historically worked as one community.

Q: How would the proposed border fence affect Eagle Pass and other border communities?

A: In the lower Rio Grande Valley, there's 69.9 miles of fencing to be done. With that fencing done, we're, in actuality, ceding 2,400 acres to Mexico [that] are going to be on the wrong side of the fence. We're going to see [our historic] Fort Duncan Park, the basis for the existence of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, fenced out. Our municipal golf course, which goes to the river's edge, and our city park will be on the wrong side of the fence.

Q: What alternatives do you propose?

A: We're not advocating doing anything less than securing our border. The Texas Border Coalition [advocates] security as our priority, but one size does not fit all. In Texas, we have a bamboo-like plant that will grow 30 feet high and in some areas of the river, [it] can be as deep as a half a mile from the river's bank. Any illegal activity that gets into that cane is out of sight. So, we're advocating the eradication of [the plant]. That facilitates line of sight for border patrol agents. [Along] the Texas border, we have camera towers along the banks of the river, and we have border patrol boats that are physically patrolling the river. We've seen a 70 percent decrease in apprehensions with no physical barriers. We feel that we can secure our Texas border without the need for any physical barriers.

Q: Why would the fence not be an effective way to secure the border?

A: Border Patrol has admitted [that] this fencing will only slow an illegal entry down three to four minutes. We just don't think that's good enough when the Congressional Research Service [studied] the expense of building 700 miles of fence. Maintaining it for 20 years will cost the taxpayers in excess of $49 billion. It makes no sense, especially when we have technology available to secure our border rather [than using] the antiquated solutions that haven't been used since the 16th century. No one knows our border better than those [of us who] live and raise our families

The Border: A wall or a Barrier?








In the current flap over building a wall between Mexico and the United States, it would be well to keep in mind Robert Frost’s injunction “something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” That “something” is that a wall is a barrier.

In the case of a “wall” between the United States and Mexico, a wall is a manifestation of conflict, just as the Berlin Wall was a manifestation of conflict. Essentially, conflict is an interactive process or behavior. That’s why the Berlin Wall escalated the Cold War. And why a wall be-tween the United States and Mexico will only escalate the enmity between the two countries.

Ronald Reagan’s plea to Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”—referring to the Berlin Wall—is not what brought down the wall. On the contrary, it was Mikhail Gorbachev’s response that brought down the wall. Instead of escalating the cycle of conflict, the Soviet leader chose to ignore the rhetoric of conflict and for whatever reasons take the first step in repairing U.S.—Soviet relations. There is no doubt that the U.S.—Soviet conflict had developed mutually destructive patterns of interactive behavior, the consequences of which heralded Armageddon.

When asked about the U.S.—Mexico wall in a 2006 visit to the United States, Mikhail Gorbachev responded that the United States seemed to be building the Great Wall of China between itself and Mexico (Midland Reporter-Telegram, 10/18/2006).

In the current American rhetoric about controlling the nation’s borders the question looms large: Why on the one hand did the U.S. want the Berlin Wall torn down and on the other hand does it want to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico? There is no evading the possibility of racism and selective amnesia about the history of walls.

While the Berlin Wall did function as the perimeter of a "prison" state, its principal objective was to keep out extra-territorial influences that were anathema to the state dictum of the Soviet Union. A U.S. wall on its border with Mexico has the same objectives -- to keep out extra-territorial influences (the uninvited, the unwelcome, the Undesirable, and the unwanted) that are deemed anathema to the apodictic values of the United States

In Europe and well understood the nature of the Berlin Wall. But a wall between the United States and Mexico is not about penetrability. It’s about “good neighbors.” Why not a wall between the United States and Canada? Or a wall along the Florida coast to keep out Cubans? The inference is that Canadians and fleeing Cubans are good neighbors; Mexicans are not?.
Will a wall between the United States and Mexico help the United States in controlling its border with Mexico?.

In a piece on “Fences and Neighbors,” Rick Toone characterized the U.S.—Mexico wall as “a shining symbol of American economic and environmental arrogance.” And in a washington-post.com article (Sunday, May 27, 2007; B01), Luis Alberto Urrea quotes the Mexican consul in Tucson calling the U.S.—Mexico wall “the politics of stupidity.” In the National Geographic (May 2007), Charles Bowden concludes that “Fences may make good neighbors, but the barriers dividing U.S. and Mexico are proving much more complicated.

Enforce the Rule of Law.....It's getting ugly out there.
Hate crime against Hispanics has been rising at top levels.!!!!!!!!.




We see too often Hispanic leaders, Immigration advocates and Hispanics has been receiving a Death Threats, hate mail, do to their position and support on Comprehensive Immigration reform.

For North Carolina's Hispanic leaders, the biggest hazards of the job were once long hours. Now, they include death threats.
A pair of the state's most prominent advocates, Andrea Bazán and Tony Asion, say that for the past several months, each time they have spoken publicly, they have gotten a raft of profanity-laced messages, some of them exhorting them to return to their home countries and others denigrating Hispanics. Several legislators say they have also gotten messages recently that cross the line into racism, and one got a menacing voice mail.

Threats of violence are becoming common enough that Bazán, president of the philanthropic Triangle Community Foundation, has requested protection at some public appearances. Asion, director of the Raleigh Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo and a former police officer, said he has received two handwritten death threats at his office since May.

This is not about immigration," Bazán said. "This is not about debating policy. This has moved on to another sphere. This is hate."

Bazán and others say they've gotten disturbing hate mail before. A 2005 effort to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants brought reams of it, but that furor died down fairly quickly. Now, they say, threats and racist messages are becoming routine.

State legislators who supported a bill this year that would have guaranteed illegal immigrants the right to attend state colleges got a raft of messages, some of which smeared immigrants.

Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat who sponsored the bill, said she received one phone message warning that "my days are numbered." She said the message, which included profane insults, felt like a threat.

"I have not seen anything like what illegal immigration elicits," Harrison said. "It's revealing a very ugly side of humanity that I've never seen before."

Beyond the crackdown

Immigration has become an especially controversial subject in North Carolina and across the nation, fueled by the failure of a federal immigration reform bill last year.

Since then, sheriff's departments have started enforcing immigration law, the state's community colleges have barred admission to illegal immigrants, grassroots groups opposing illegal immigration have grown and some politicians have made an immigration crackdown the centerpiece of their campaigns.

Even those who have advocated a crackdown say they don't condone hate mail or threats.

"Certainly, any kind of threatening or antagonistic tone to any debate is unwarranted," said Brian Nick, spokesman for Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who has joined with sheriffs to push for the deportation of illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
But some say anti-illegal immigration activists have given the impression that Hispanics are to blame for all of society's ills, including crime, illness and unemployment.

Deborah Lauter, director of civil rights for the Anti-Defamation League, a New York group founded in 1913 to combat prejudice against Jews, said the ideas and language that have come to define the debate could fuel fringe groups.

"When you describe immigrants as Third World invaders or murderers, or say that they are swarming or coming in hordes, this is dehumanizing language," Lauter said. "That kind of rhetoric inspires others who might act out on hate."

William Gheen, a Raleigh man who has built a grassroots organization to oppose illegal immigration, often accuses Hispanic immigrants of carrying deadly diseases, raping and murdering Americans, plotting to merge the American and Mexican economies, or even reconquer parts of the Southwest for Mexico. He organizes e-mail campaigns against those he doesn't agree with.

Gheen said he does not condone violence or racism and has never made threats, and he dismissed claims that groups such as his could spark threats. "The only violence I'm seeing are the dead, maimed and raped Americans ... that are victims of illegal aliens," Gheen said.
However, other anti-illegal immigration activists say the movement has developed an ugly side.

"Something has gotten distorted, and it's creating a lot of hate," said Jim Gilchrist, the Southern California founder of the Minuteman Project, which organizes citizen patrols of the Mexican border.

Gilchrist said there are extremists on both sides of the issue and that he has received threatening messages from people on the pro-immigrant side of the debate. But lately, he said, he gets more hate mail from people on his side of the issue. He said groups are now fighting among themselves, and some have adopted messages that he considers racist.

Gilchrist said one California Minuteman chapter made a fake video depicting its members shooting a Mexican crossing the border illegally.

Blogs as soapboxes

Bazán said that in the past few months, she has gotten several nasty calls at home and has been the subject of violent talk on blogs, where she was referred to as a target.

The talk frightened her enough that she sent her children to stay with her ex-husband and stayed away from home for several days in June, when it was announced that she was the new board chairwoman of the well-known Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza.

On the day of the announcement, a person commenting on one blog about her new post commanded others to "buy guns" and referred to Hispanic immigrants as "monkeys." "The time is coming to fight back and yes many will die in this fight," the comment read.

Bazán said she has met with Durham police to make them aware of the threats.

When she speaks publicly, a guard often protects her. She had a full-time private guard last week at a La Raza convention in San Diego.

Bazán, along with some other Hispanic advocates, said they have begun reporting messages they consider hateful to the state Human Relations Commission.

G.I. Allison, director of the commission, which was formed to ensure equal opportunity in housing and other areas, said he receives regular complaints of hate messages and threats against Hispanics. The commission recorded 38 hate incidents in the first half of this year, but it doesn't track how many are against Hispanics.

Asion said he frequently receives messages that he considers racist, but the recent death threats were the most troubling.

The author claims to be watching Asion, threatens bombings and dismemberment, invokes the Ku Klux Klan and commands Asion to "go home Mexico."

Asion said he hasn't gone to police because there is little they can do. But he said he now fears for his staff members.

"I tell my folks, if you get a box and it doesn't have a return address, you don't know where it's from, don't open it," Asion said. "These are the times that we're living through."