Undocumented Immigrants draining Welfare system? A lie or a Lie.

Again is beyond belief the Anti Immigrants group are narrow minded towards facts and myths regarding draining social services like Welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid. Just a few facts for them; Are you there Lou Dobbs? Glenn Beck, Minuteman Groups? Read these facts:

A former Alabama Department of Human Resources employee from Prichard pleaded guilty this week to using her position to steal hundreds of dollars in food stamps, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday.

Three other Mobile County women also were convicted this week on charges of welfare fraud, according to a news release from Attorney General Troy King.

Elanda Stallworth, 57, admitted to charges of second-
degree theft of food stamp benefits or money from DHR and that she intentionally used her position for unlawful personal gain, the release states. She pleaded guilty in Mobile County Circuit Court on Monday. Stallworth apparently used her own computer to steal six checks worth $149, or a total of $894, King said. Source:


Attorney General Troy King today announced the convictions of three women in Mobile County Circuit Court for charges of welfare fraud.
“When people lie to receive welfare benefits to which they are not entitled, they are committing a crime against the State, the taxpaying public, and those who are truly deserving of welfare benefits,” said Attorney General King. “I take seriously my responsibility as Attorney General to protect public funds on behalf of the people of Alabama and pledge to prosecute those who break the law by abusing the welfare system.”

Chantell Robinson, 33, of Mobile, pleaded guilty today to third-degree theft of property in the amount of $1,401. She was sentenced to one year, which was suspended, and placed on probation for two years. The court ordered her to pay full restitution to the State of Alabama.

Tosha Lee, 32, of Chickasaw, pleaded guilty today to third-degree theft of property in the amount of $4,867. She was sentenced to one year, which was suspended, and placed on probation for two years. The court directed her to pay full restitution to the State of Alabama.

Shirley Ann Blackmon, 44, of Mobile, pleaded guilty yesterday to second-degree theft of property in the amount of $4,617. She was sentenced to three years, which was suspended, and placed on probation for three years. The court ordered her to pay full restitution to the State of Alabama.

The Attorney General commended Assistant Attorney General Noel Barnes and Senior Special Agent Assie Webb for their work in handling these cases. Attorney General King also thanked the Department of Human Resources in Mobile County for its assistance in preparing information and referring the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for review and appropriate action, noting in particular Rose Johnson, director of Mobile County Department of Human Resources; Avis Buford, caseworker, Mobile County DHR; Leon Kennedy, claims worker, Mobile County DHR; and Geraldine W. Turner, claims supervisor, Mobile County DHR.

Johnson stated, “We work to have our Food Stamp program deliver timely benefits to eligible individual’s and appreciate the Attorney General prosecuting those who illegally receive benefits. Every dollar given fraudulently takes away from those truly in need. We want the public to have confidence in the administering of these programs and appreciate prosecution when appropriate.”

The Mobile County cases are part of a continuing statewide effort by Attorney General King to aggressively investigate and prosecute welfare fraud. Prosecutions are pending in approximately 38 counties, including Baldwin, Clarke, Monroe, Escambia and Conecuh counties. Source:


Couple plead guilty to welfare fraud

A Shingletown couple have pleaded guilty to welfare fraud and are due to be sentenced March 24, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

William Wallner, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to welfare fraud and perjury in two separate cases, and is to be sentenced to three years in prison, Deputy District Attorney Michael Hemker said.

Teresa Wallner, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of welfare fraud and is to be sentenced to 180 days in jail, he said.

Between 2004 and 2008, the couple were overpaid nearly $30,000 in welfare benefits for failing to report job and unemployment income, Hemker said. Source:

Polygamous Sect are the largest funded groups from Medicare and Medical.

If you are going to have three wives and 15 children, you need to figure out a way to support three wives and 15 children. Source:

Undocumented Immigrants draining social services?

How many times did you heard that Undocumented Immigrants are responsible for draining Hospitals and social services like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Benefits. My point is when someone as a Citizen has been caught and supposedly committed fraud against those Social services has being protected by the Media, and by law under Presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Since August 2006, more than 450 hospitals across the country were subject to fraud investigations and the Goverment has been recovered Millions.
Audits should be “particularly challenging from a provider perspective. The conditions for billing Medicare can be incredibly technical and a number of health care systems don’t always use the exact, correct language in their medical records and don’t have systems in place to ensure documentation is being done correctly” — which can lead to disallowed payments and payment recovery by the government against the provider.
Prosecuting health systems, hospitals and physicians for Medicare and Medicaid fraud was a priority during the Bush era, and should continue as a focus under the new administration.
With the Barack Obama administration taking office, Lucinda Jesson, director of Hamline University’s Health Law Institute, expects to see some shift in priorities from the Bush era. The Obama plan for more cost-effective health care is expected to include more emphasis on primary and preventive care but also should focus on effective regulations.

ANDERSON MAN CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING THE INDIANA MEDICAID PROGRAM OF OVER $900,000

Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that DENNIS LENNARTZ, 55, Anderson, Indiana, was charged with defrauding the Indiana Medicaid program, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

The information alleges that beginning in April 2006, DENNIS LENNARTZ, knowingly defrauded the Indiana Medicaid program of $964,852.59, by billing for services not actually rendered. In furtherance of his scheme, LENNARTZ concealed his involvement from Indiana Medicaid by billing under the provider number of another company.

"This case demonstrates the commitment of the Office of Inspector General working with our Federal and State law enforcement partners to protect our Nation's vulnerable Medicaid recipients," said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge for the Chicago region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General which covers the State of Indiana. "Defrauding the Medicaid program isn't fair to the taxpayers who deserve accountability," said Attorney General Steve Carter. "Even more tragically, though, it wastes money that would otherwise provide healthcare for those who can't afford to pay."

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley P. Shepard, who is prosecuting the case for the government, LENNARTZ faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years and a maximum possible fine of $250,000. An initial hearing has been scheduled for January 20, 2009 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The information is an allegation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial or by guilty plea.

State Gets $67,000 in Medicaid Settlement

North Dakota Human Services officials say the state has received more than $67,000 as its share of a settlement with drug maker Cephalon, Inc.

Officials say the state`s share of $67,723 is part of a $425 million settlement involving the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units and the federal government. The company was accused of illegally arketing three of its drugs.

Federal prosecutors, in announcing the settlement last fall, said Cephalon also agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of distribution of misbranded drugs.

Officials say the settlement reimburses the federal government and states for amounts paid by the Medicaid program as a result of the company`s improper marketing campaign. The program covers medical services for the needy.

The settlement includes a $375 million civil settlement and $50 million in criminal fines and penalties.

Illegal Immigration is a crime? By Michael Vargas

How many times do you hear that Illegals are Criminals? I assured you thousands times and probably you hear from people, and politicians distinguished themselves from others from being educated.
Well, On my understanding; Citizens and Non Citizens have and deserve a Human and Civil Rights then how come politicians, Anti Immigrants, Xenophobics and Nativists are so ignorant of the Law?

If I used the word illegal on my blog is not because I like that word. I totally condemned to be used and labeled to Undocumented Immigrants for political purpose, journalists ratings, and for personal gains. For me There is no such an Illegal Human being period.

And That is a real proof of racial panic: being in the U.S. illegally is "a low-level federal misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine of $50 to $250" "unlawful presence" is a civil, not criminal, offense. Why then do some people argue for everything from shooting them to mass deportations? Especially since most are law-abiding apart from their immigration status.
See the classification and understanding of Title 8, Section 1325 under U.S. Code which does subject the Civil penalties but not as a CRIME.

Which determine under the civil rights of any Individual that any charges against the defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty .
Meaning that you cannot be held against your will without just cause. To put it another way, you cannot be jailed if there are no charges against you. If you are being held, and you demand it, the courts must issue a writ of habeas corpus, which forces those holding you to answer as to why. If there is no good or compelling reason, the court must set you free. It is important to note that of all the civil liberties we take for granted today as a part of the Bill of Rights, the importance of habeas corpus is illustrated by the fact that it was the sole liberty thought important enough to be included in the original text of the Constitution.


Section 1325. Improper entry by alien (Foreigner)

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts

Any alien (Foreigner) who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers,
or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers,

or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties

Any alien (Foreigner)who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as
designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -

(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or

(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.

Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.

(c) Marriage fraud

Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.

(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud

Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.

What's most disturbing, and the largest indicator that America concerns are really racist rather than a concern about immigration, is the amount of hostility there is towards Hispanics and Latinos regardless of whether they are here legally (and I must respectfully and completely disagree with one of my friends on this-- no, you cannot "tell" who is Undocumented just by how they look/act/speak). There is a bunch of hypocrites on our society specially the Nativists, Extremists and Minutemen Members.
What really gets me is how these minutemen stand around Home Depot protesting day laborers and calling them "illegals" when they really have no clue who is "legal" or not. If that's not racist and racial profiling I don't know what is.
I will said asks, "Why do ICE agents wear bulletproof vests and full combat gear when they go on these raids? [of factories, etc., whose employees may be Undocumented Immigrants]... most of the time they are facing terrified civilian factory workers or illegal tenement dwellers who know their lives are about to be uprooted and are trembling in their pants, holding on to their babies or looking to run away. Have their been any recorded instances at all of undocumented workers standing and fighting these armored Squad Teams?"

What really struck me, is the exact parallels to immigrant-phobia in earlier periods of US history. The exact same complaints were made about the Italians, the Irish, the Germans, the Chinese and, yes, the Jews. During WWII, we turned away Jewish refugees, including the infamous "ship of the damned" incident-- for same fears-- they carried disease, spoke another language, and would steal all our jobs. I'm not making this up-- look up some periodicals from those time periods. And for those who argue that those Jews were fleeing in fear of their lives (I have to say, for some their had had to escape to America illegally, I wouldn't have begrudged them that opportunity!), while the Hispanics are just lazy... do you have any idea what Hispanics, Latinos from South Americans go through to get here? Apart from the basic threat to their lives, that is... Families torn apart, people giving up every cent and everything they've ever known on their entire life... people don't do anything like that know on days. They do it because they know it's the only reason their children will have a decent chance and a better life. Would you risk your life for your Family?.

And to finalize this argument Crime is statistically lower among Undocumented than among citizens, The FBI report that in 2007, the Violent crime dropped 1.4 percent overall compared to 2006, reversing a two-year up tick. That includes decreases in all four offense, Property crime declined 2.1 percent from 2006, with decreases in each city grouping. Arson—tracked separately from other property crimes—also fell 7.0 percent from 2006; despite gang problems. When crime rates rose in country along with an immigration wave, they did not rise where the immigrants were, but in other places. This makes sense if you think about it. These people have come hundred of miles and risked everything to get here. Are they going to draw attention to themselves and risk getting thrown back out? Of course not. It was a problem of growing gang activity among particularly the teenagers of legal immigrant families and second generations. What do you expect? They're adjusting to a new culture where they're not particularly welcome. Much of our fear is due to disproportionate reporting. Anything good done by Undocumented is ignored, while any crime committed even by Hispanic citizens is seen as reason to limit immigration. God Bless America. The Salad Bowl.!!!!!!!!

Deceased physicians still receiving Medicare benefits.!!!!!!!

Outrageous Illegal and Unethical conduct were Dead Docs Stiff Taxpayers money and Nativists, Protectionists keep blaming the Other, The Undocumented, The Citizen without voice either vote. Money blowing out of your pocket.

A report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that from 2000 to 2007, Medicare paid 478,500 claims containing identification numbers that were assigned to deceased physicians. The total amount lost: between $60 million and $92 million.
Congressional investigators said Tuesday that Medicare had paid tens of millions of dollars to suppliers improperly using identification numbers of doctors who died years ago.
The government has no reliable way to spot claims linked to dead doctors, many of whom are still listed as active Medicare providers though they died 10 or 15 years ago, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said.
Medicare covers wheelchairs, walkers, home oxygen equipment and many other types of medical equipment. When suppliers file claims for equipment provided to a Medicare beneficiary, they normally must list an identification number for the doctor who prescribed or ordered it.
“From 2000 to 2007, Medicare paid 478,500 claims containing identification numbers that were assigned to deceased physicians,” the subcommittee said in a new report. “The total amount paid for these claims is estimated to be between $60 million and $92 million. These claims contained identification numbers for an estimated 16,548 to 18,240 deceased physicians.”
In 16 percent of these cases, the report said, suppliers used identification numbers of doctors who had been dead for more than 10 years. In one case, Medicare paid more than 2,000 claims totaling $479,000 for services provided from 2002 to 2007, even though the doctor had died in 1999.
Another doctor died in 2001, but his identification number was used in more than 3,800 claims from 2002 to 2007, with payments totaling more than $354,000.
“Scam artists have treated Medicare like an automated teller machine, drawing money out of the government’s account with little fear of getting caught,” said Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the senior Republican on the subcommittee. “When Medicare is paying claims and the doctor has been dead for 10 or 15 years, you know there is a serious problem.”
The subcommittee, headed by Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, plans to hold a hearing on the issue on Wednesday.
Herb B. Kuhn, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said he shared the concern that “Medicare is continuing to pay claims to providers who are using invalid or inactive physician numbers.”
Mr. Kuhn said his agency was taking steps intended to stop such payments. For example, it will get monthly death reports from Social Security and compare that information with its list of doctors in Medicare.
Robert A. Vito, regional inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services in Philadelphia, said that in some cases doctors did not know that their billing numbers were being used by suppliers of medical equipment. But in other cases, he said, doctors collude with suppliers. He cited the case of a Florida doctor who received kickbacks from suppliers in return for prescribing medical equipment covered by Medicare.
The identification number for this doctor was used on nearly $8 million worth of claims for medical equipment in one year — the equivalent of more than $20,000 a day, Mr. Vito said in testimony prepared for the hearing.
Medicare has issued new identification numbers to doctors in the last two years. But, Mr. Vito said, these numbers are “readily available to the public,” so “fraudulent suppliers can easily obtain a valid number” and use it on their Medicare claims.
Mr. Levin said Medicare and its contractors shared responsibility for “this taxpayer rip-off.”
About 2,500 doctors who died before 2003 “still had active identification numbers” in May of this year, Mr. Levin said.

The Twisted Mirror but the same portrait.




The target remain the same but ethnicity changes. Before were Italians and Know the Mexicans as the Bad guys?.

For too long, the U.S. media were all too ready to help restrict Italians’ attempts to assimilate as white Americans. The vast majority of Italian Americans are law-abiding citizens, but you wouldn't know it by watching television, listening to the radio or reading books. They have been viciously framed by the constant repetition of negative portrayals. Most histories of mafia in America begin with the 1890 murder of the corrupt New Orleans Police Chief Hennessey. The aftermath of his murder lead to one of the largest recorded mass lynchings in this country's history. America's obsession with the mafia has overshadowed the real history of Italians in America that includes indentured servitude, mass lynchings, Klu Klux Klan terrorism against Italians, and strong participation in civil rights struggles. For Italian Americans, overt oppression has given way to more covert techniques of discrimination. Italians have replaced Indians and blacks as the accepted “bad guys” in films, and this image was regularly reinforced and perpetuated through contemporary remakes of The Untouchables and the establishment of museums such as the now gone “Capone's
Chicago.”

We all need to come to grips with the fact that there is a great diversity and much oppression within America. Until then, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the earlier histories that we are trying to correct.

46 Arrested in Anne Arundel County.



ICE Continue raids around the Nation not against the Criminals instead the choose the Worker.

What part of Law they do not Understand? The punishment doesn't fit their crime. By Michael Vargas.





Why Society, Politicians, News Media are talking about an Immigrant breaking the law searching a better life. They called Criminal, Lawbreakers, Offender, Illegal Aliens,Violators, rapists, murderers, Infested, Invaders, etc,

What bothers me; It's when someone in our Society breaking the law committing a worst crime they do not attempted or covers the eyes and ears to punishment them as well as the Undocumented. Where are those Moral values? and Why? We are not Human beings before being under the rule of Law in our Society?.

A person who is driving a 105 mph in a 30 mph zone. They called A Driver. There is a Law breaking at that point. Why? Read Here:

A person impersonating a police officer and robbed other Motorists. The Media called Impersonator but not Criminal or Law Breaker. Read Here:

A person stealing the Identity of Co workers to secure Loans. They called Former Employee but not a Thief, Criminal. Read here:

Look at the comments from the Secretary of Michael Chertoff.

Operation Wagon Train. People caught been in the Country Illegaly.
Secretary Chertoff: No, no, everybody was charged administratively; 65 of them have also been charged criminally. So everybody gets charged — everybody who was arrested is charged as an immigration violator, but then a subset of those who actually are accused of committing a criminal offense are charged with criminal charges. That number may change. Some of the people who are in the administrative category may also get added to the criminal category.

A former New York prosecutor has admitted in court that she had rape and sex with underage boys.
They called ex Prosecutor but not Rapist, Child Molesters, or Criminal. Read here:

Even Society taken the Law on their own hands. Sex offender body found burned and beheaded. but they found no criminals, no suspects, or Motive? Where are those Moral Values? Read Here:


Searching for sexual offenders it is an invasion of their right to privacy.

"It's the Constitution of the United States but when we talking to searching for Undocumented Immigrants is the Immigration Law not their Constitutional rights. Why? Read here:

Check this one: A suburban Chicago man was charged Monday with possessing an illegal toxin found in puffer fish. Tetrodotoxin is a poison so potent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can "produce rapid and violent death." It is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide. Even this person claimed to be a doctor using someone else Identity. Why Society, Media and anchor news do not treated the Human being by fairly and balance news? Read here:

Image an Undocumented Immigrants with a possesion of this Toxin? I can't imagine Tommy Tancredo words.., The News Media, Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Rilley, Minuteman groups and Politicians. That's sad and ashamed. They are only seems the Undocumented Immigrants as the criminal, the Lawbreaker, the rapist, the drainer, but not the hardworker, the human being, the taxpayer, their Community support, the Member of the Society. That's ashamed.!!!!!!!! Why Bashing Hispanic Community?

Immigrants start fire in French deportation centre.

More Innocents deaths attributed to the cruel, Obsessive, brutal Immigration policies.


PARIS, June 22 (Reuters) - Undocumented immigrants started a fire on Sunday at one of France's biggest deportation centres outside Paris, burning down two buildings and injuring around 20 inmates waiting for expulsion, police said.

The blaze began when a number of inmates set mattresses on fire after the death on Saturday of a Tunisian immigrant detained in the centre, one inmate told Reuters by telephone.

Police said in a statement that 20 people "made uncomfortable by fumes" had been taken to hospital, but that no one had been seriously injured.

They said several fires had been started deliberately at 1345 GMT, severely damaging two buildings housing a total of 273 inmates. All the buildings' occupants have been evacuated and will be moved to other centres.

A 41-year-old Tunisian immigrant died in the Vincennes centre on Saturday, and police said he died from a heart attack while alone in his bedroom.

An investigation into his death has been opened, but the MRAP organisation against racism said the death showed that detention conditions in French deportation centres were poor.

"This one too many death is to be blamed on the obsessive, cruel, brutal and inhuman policy that criminalises immigration," the MRAP said in a statement.

The French government has said it is aiming to expel 26,000 illegal immigrants in 2008 after missing its goal of 25,000 last year.
Link here:

Nations are out of humane touch. France wants Immigrants entering by professional reasons but not for Humanitarian or searching for a better life.


Apparently they forgot the Freedom, Democracy and rights for Individuals. I am hoping that France remembered the legacy of FREDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI.

PARIS – France's first immigration minister claimed success Thursday for his no-nonsense policy on illegal immigration, saying the number of expulsions increased 80 percent this year while the number of people living illegally went down.

Brice Hortefeux said he expected the Europe Union to follow France's example and adopt an immigration pact to coordinate policies when France assumes the rotating presidency July 1. He said the pact would include an accord among the 27-member body not to undertake a mass legalization of migrants.

On Wednesday, the EU parliament adopted new rules for expelling illegal immigrants. However, the measures do not address issues like asylum, prevention or tackling problems at the source – all encompassed in the French pact.
Hortefeux, among the most controversial members of the government, insisted that Europe largely shares French concerns over illegal immigration.

France seeks to choose its immigrants with an emphasis on those with skills and visas enabling them to work. Their ranks were up by 36.7 percent over the past year, Hortefeux said at a news conference marking his first year on the job. France wants half of its immigrants to be entering for professional reasons by 2012.

He said France expelled 80 percent more illegal immigrants in the first five months of 2008, compared with the same period last year. From June 2007 to May 2008 it expelled 29,729 illegal aliens.

The number of voluntary departures was up 374 percent over the past year, and 38 percent so far in 2008, Hortefeux said, suggesting that immigrants living in France without papers “now understand our rules.”

“France is managing to calmly master this migratory flux,” he said.

Overall, he estimated there are 8 percent fewer illegal aliens in France today than before he took office. Officials say there are 200,000 to 400,000 people living in France illegally.

Hortefeux was optimistic about the EU's adoption of a French-proposed immigration pact, saying it could happen as early as October – halfway into the French presidency.

Hortefeux's ministry also aims to preserve the French national identity and to attack the migratory flux in countries that are the source of illegal immigration. France has signed development pacts with five African countries this year – Tunisia, Senegal, Benin, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The voices of Danbury residents speaking up about the Unjustice of city ordinance against Undocumented Immigrants.

IT'S TIME TO START BEING PROACTIVE AND STOP THE FEAR MONGERING FROM CABLE NEWS.


There are many problems facing the United States today: a faltering economy, a health-care crisis, and the continuing war in Iraq, to name a few. But viewers of some of the most prominent cable news programs are presented a different reality, one in which one issue stands above all others: illegal immigration.

Media Matters Action Network undertook this study in order to document the rhetoric surrounding immigration that is heard on cable news. When it comes to this issue, cable news overflows not just with vitriol, but also with a series of myths that feed viewers' resentment and fears, seemingly geared toward creating anti-immigrant hysteria.

There are two types of myths we discuss in this report. The first type is the large and most common myths, about crime and undocumented immigrants, and the costs of illegal immigration in social services and taxes. These topics are complex, and there are sometimes legitimate points buried within the arguments immigration opponents make. The second type of myth is the urban legend: that there is a conspiracy to take back the Southwest United States for Mexico; that there is a secret plan to construct a "NAFTA Superhighway" running from Canada to Mexico; that the U.S. is well on its way to surrendering its sovereignty to a "North American Union" (NAU); that Mexican immigrants are infecting Americans with leprosy; and that undocumented immigrants are responsible for a wave of election fraud. These myths are discussed less often, but are notable for their sheer ludicrousness. The North American Union and NAFTA Superhighway are closely related, and indeed are often discussed in tandem (the building of the Superhighway being posited as a step on the road to the creation of the NAU), but since each is also often discussed alone, we examine these two myths separately.

We focus our analysis on a trio of cable commentators: Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. While hosts on other cable programs regularly discuss illegal immigration (particularly on Fox News, where it is a frequent topic on Hannity & Colmes and Special Report with Brit Hume), these three are the most notable for a number of reasons. On their eponymous programs, Dobbs, O'Reilly, and Beck serve up a steady diet of fear, anger, and resentment on the topic of illegal immigration.

Dobbs is the one most obsessed with the topic; indeed, instead of Lou Dobbs Tonight, his program might be more properly called Lou Dobbs Crusades Against Illegal Immigration Tonight. Fully 70 percent of the 2007 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight contained discussion of illegal immigration. The O'Reilly Factor is not far behind; 56 percent of 2007 episodes discussed illegal immigration. And though Glenn Beck was less consumed with the issue (28 percent of his 2007 programs discussed it), his show is the one on which viewers often find the most inflammatory claims

Continue reading. http://mediamattersaction.org/reports/fearandloathing/online_version">>

Immigrants Boost, Don't Drain, the U.S. Economy
Undocumented Workers Contribute More Than Their Fair Share. Hate-mongers needs to work on their vocabularies on both sides of the issue.



"There are great misperceptions or myth's that immigrants are a drain on our economy, but many studies have confirmed that the opposite is true. Even undocumented workers - commonly referred to as 'illegal' contribute more than their fair share to our great country.".

Diatribes against Mexican undocumented workers seem to be the vogue these days, appearing in letters to the editor and columns in newspapers all over the country, including local ones. These diatribes go way beyond run-of-the-mill xenophobic pieces. They are venomous. They are mean-spirited. They are hateful.

After posting the obligatory falsehood that Mexicans are draining the local economy, one columnist bemoans that in his city "the school district gets browner by the day" and that American culture is "being transformed by a (Mexican) semi-literate underclass." Another writer says he sees "the infrastructure of our nation's ideals crumbling" as a result of these lazy Mexicans, who come here to "mooch off of our government" and "live an American life" on "our tax dollars." What more credible source is there to refute this nonsense than the country's chief economist, the undisputed expert on the American economy?

Alan Greenspan informed Congress that immigrants, including undocumented workers, in essence donate $27 billion to state and local economies. This is the difference between what they pay in taxes ($70 billion) and what they use in services ($43 billion). In Illinois alone, he testified, "Illegal workers pay $547 million in taxes yearly, compared to $238 million in services used." This is a net "profit" for Illinois of $309 million. This phenomenon is the norm, not the exception, in states where undocumented workers pay taxes. Indeed, rather than take money from, undocumented workers donate money to the American economy and thus to Americans.

A study by the University of Illinois found that even as undocumented workers paid federal and state income taxes (one study pegs the amount of taxes paid at $90 billion per year), they did not claim the tax refunds for which they were eligible. These unclaimed refunds amount to the donation of billions of dollars to the public coffers.

Another study by the Urban Institute found that undocumented workers contribute $2.7 billion to Social Security and another $168 million to unemployment insurance taxes. Because of their legal status, these workers will not be able to access these programs even if they wanted to. These contributions amount to outright donations to the country's economy. In essence, undocumented workers are subsidizing, to a significant degree, American recipients of these benefits.

In addition to the above tax donations, undocumented workers pay billions of dollars in local and state sales taxes when they purchase appliances, furniture, clothes and other goods. The diatribists are also addicted to the falsehood that undocumented workers come here to get on welfare and utilize other government services.

The reality, as documented by the UI study, is that the overwhelming majority of undocumented workers "do not receive any assistance under government safety-net programs," a fact that was reinforced by Greenspan in his congressional testimony.

No matter how hard the hate-mongers try to distort things, "mooching" simply cannot be squeezed out of these realities. Yet another falsehood to which the poison-penners are addicted is that "them Mexicans" take away jobs from Americans. We don't need Greenspan for this one. This is easily refuted by a simple eyeball test. Drive by the fields where stoop labor in 12-hour shifts for less-than-minimum-wage pay is performed. You'll see no line of Americans clamoring to be hired. Nor is there a single instance of white folks suing growers for "reverse discrimination" for not allowing them the opportunity to be exploited shamelessly. Ditto for the other industries that exploit these workers, primarily by paying less than the minimum wage.

A recent U.S. Department of Labor study noted that the notion that immigrants take jobs away from American workers is "the most persistent fallacy about immigration in popular thought." The reality is that undocumented workers create jobs.

The UI study found that as a result of the immense spending by undocumented workers (their purchasing power in Illinois alone is $18.7 billion, according to Greenspan) and of the founding of small businesses by this group, they create jobs. In Chicago alone, undocumented workers generated 31,000 jobs in the local economy.

It is not all about money: Undocumented workers also bring to our society many things we claim to value, such as solid family structure. Studies show that children of immigrants are more likely to be raised in a two-parent household than are children of native-born Americans.

On another front: Thousands upon thousands of Mexicans crossed the border to volunteer to fight in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Many of them were killed, wounded or maimed fighting under our flag and saving American lives. Where are the "moochers" in this bunch? In the American lexicon, "donating," "generating" and "paying" are antonyms of "draining" and "mooching." Among other things, the hate-mongers need to work on their vocabularies

Fair (Federation for American Immigration Reform) Anti Immigrants Group. What part of justice do they practice? What kind of rule or reform they want Implemented to any Immigrants rather than demonized them? Do we really want neo-Nazi groups helping shape our federal public policy on immigration? The Federation for American Immigration Reform has ties to racists and a long record of bigotry.




Remembrances of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. give us good reason to celebrate.
But in Arizona, King's message often is lost as hate crimes increase and unvarnished hatred toward Mexicans and other Latinos - whether U.S. citizens or illegal immigrants - has grown more and more malignant in recent years.

Arizonans' attitudes and behaviors have become nearly as hideous as the crimes against black people that were so common during King's lifetime, especially in the deep South.
Granted, we've come a long way since King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. But we have not come far enough.
The federal government's failure to reform immigration policy has created a vacuum that neo-Nazi and other hate groups have been happy to fill Racist groups, violence climbing.
The number of hate groups in the U.S. has increased by 40 percent since 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported Dec. 7. FBI statistics show a 35 percent rise in hate crimes against Latinos since 2003.
And for anti-immigrant zeal, Arizona is ground zero, says Heidi Beirich of the SPLC Intelligence Project.
"Multiple vigilante factions are operating on the border, plus you've got politicians like (Maricopa County Sheriff) Joe Arpaio who want to unleash the dogs," she says. " . . . You've got a very active neo-Nazi scene, some of whom have been showing up at (anti-immigrant) protests armed."
Hate groups shaping our policy.

The movement has spread like a prairie fire, with xenophobic groups and the Lou Dobbs types in American culture fanning the flames with false information
And then there's FAIR - which isn't.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform has ties to racists and a long record of bigotry, yet its members are regularly asked to testify before Congress and to comment for the media, SPLC reports.

Having been lent an undeserved aura of legitimacy, FAIR was a key force in scuttling the promising immigration reform package last June that President Bush supported.
Consider that FAIR's founder runs a racist publishing company and has compared immigrants to "bacteria"; has employed white supremacists in key positions; promoted racist conspiracy theories; and accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a foundation devoted to eugenics and proving a link between race and IQ, SPLC research shows.
Do we really want neo-Nazi groups helping shape our federal public policy on immigration?
Or do we want to uphold the basic American values of fairness and justice for all?
Salvage basic human decency
Today is a good time to remember King's philosophy that human rights denied to one person is human rights denied to all.
"These people aren't objects," Beirich says. "They're human beings - whether coming across the desert or fellow citizens under suspicion because they have dark skin."

Decent Americans must look beyond the hysteria-inducing babble to the facts, including the economic, social and cultural contributions that immigrants have made to our nation.

Any ire among U.S. citizens, illegal immigrants or both should be directed at the federal government's massive policy failure.
But until that is corrected, the only way we can stop the tide of racial hatred is by standing up against the xenophobia, the ill-founded fears and the Machiavellian maneuvers by the groups that foster divisiveness.
That is the required work of all decent Americans.

How many times we heard the Anti Immigrants saying that Undocumented immigrants are the burden for Medicare cost!!!!! Almost everyday and they assured that is no way around it. Since when Ignorance became point of discussion? Well, let show them some numbers of Medicare fraud......

Nine Miami Defendants in strike force cases sentenced for $56.5 MILLION in Medicare Fraud.

Washington - Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today that owners of nine separate Miami-based health care corporations have been sentenced to prison terms within the past two weeks. Collectively, the nine defendants filed fraudulent claims with Medicare for $56,599,832 worth of unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and infusion therapy.

The nine defendants sentenced in Miami are: (1) Luis Soto, 41, sentenced to 87 months in prison; (2) Noel Rodriguez, 50, sentenced to 51 months in prison; (3) Rosabel Gonzalez, 32, sentenced to 30 months in prison; (4) Christian Vasquez, 22, sentenced to 41 months in prison; (5) Maria De La Serna, 55, sentenced to 19 months in prison; (6) Ariel Betancourt, 35, sentenced to 24 months in prison; (7) Jose Prieto, 58, sentenced to 41 months in prison; (8) Armando Jorge Herrera, 27, sentenced to 36 months in prison; and (9) Reinaldo Lopez, 40, sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Soto was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke on January 23, 2008. Soto owned and operated Ocean Medical Equipment, Adriana Medical Supply, Advance Medical Equipment, Family Health Medical Equipment, First AA Medical, KB Medical Services, Rossmary Medical Supplies, R&R Medical Equipment, Sagua Medical Supplies, Telimay Medical Service, West Side Medical, Future Medical Center, Siboney Medical Center, and Tampa Trauma that billed for items such as oxygen concentrators, nebulizers and wheelchairs that were never provided. Soto submitted claims to Medicare for unnecessary medical equipment and he caused the submission of false claims for pharmaceuticals. In total, Soto, through his companies, was responsible for over $47 million in false claims to Medicare. Soto pleaded guilty on October 16, 2007.

Rodriguez was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King on January 16, 2008. Rodriguez owned and operated OxyCare of Miami, a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Between September of 2001 and June of 2003, OxyCare submitted claims to Medicare for medical equipment largely consisting of unnecessary oxygen concentrators, hospital beds and pressure reducing mattresses. Further, Rodriguez caused the submission of false claims for pharmaceuticals. In total, Rodriguez, through his companies, was responsible for over $1.2 million in false claims to Medicare. Rodriguez pleaded guilty on October 10, 2007.

Gonzalez, the owner and operator of Genesis Associates Group, Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham on January 10, 2008. Genesis was a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Gonzalez submitted over $1.5 million in false claims to Medicare largely consisting of unnecessary power pressure reducing mattresses and orthotics. Gonzalez pleaded guilty on November 2, 2007.

Vasquez, the named owner of Tamiami Medical Supply, Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard on January 16, 2008. Tamiami was a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Tamiami submitted over $1.2 million in false claims to Medicare. The previous named owner of Tamiami, Justo Padron, 36, died in November of 2007 after an alligator attack at the Miccosukee Tribe Indian Reservation. Vasquez pleaded guilty on October 22, 2007.

De La Serna was sentenced by U.S. District Marcia G. Cooke on January 23, 2008. De La Serna owned and operated Respiratory One Equipment, Inc., a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Between September of 2001 and June of 2003, Respiratory One submitted claims to Medicare for medical equipment largely consisting of unnecessary oxygen concentrators and nebulizers. Further, De La Serna caused the submission of false claims for pharmaceuticals. In total, De La Serna was responsible for over $345,000 in false claim to Medicare. De La Serna pleaded guilty on November 15, 2007.

Betancourt, the named owner of Lincoln Medical Supply, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King on January 16, 2008. Lincoln Medical was a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Lincoln Medical submitted over $480,000 in false claims to Medicare for largely unnecessary equipment such as wound therapy pumps and expensive wound care items. Betancourt pleaded guilty on November 15, 2007.

Prieto and Herrera were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose A. Gonzalez for their involvement on January 18, 2008. Prieto and Herrera were owners and operators of Coral Way Medical, a fraudulent HIV infusion clinic that also billed for unnecessary procedures such as paravertebral joint injections. Prieto and Herrera used these two companies to submit over $900,000 in fraudulent Medicare claims. Prieto pleaded guilty on November 15, 2007. Herrera pleaded guilty on November 1, 2007.

Lopez, the owner and operator of Reny Medical Equipment, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke on January 23, 2008. Reny Medical was a fraudulent DME company that had nothing to do with providing health care or necessary medical equipment. Lopez submitted over $450,000 in false claims to Medicare for unnecessary items such as prosthetics and ostomy supplies. Lopez pleaded guilty on November 7, 2007.

“The Department of Justice places a high priority on investigating and prosecuting those who steal tax payer money intended to provide health care for the elderly and disabled,” said Assistant Attorney General Fisher. “We have dedicated a team of experienced prosecutors to focus on Medicare and other healthcare fraud around the country.”

“The fight against Health Care fraud in Miami is a top priority,” said U.S. Attorney Acosta. “With the help of the newly formed HHS-OIG Florida Region which will add federal agents to our efforts we expect to see a significant impact on reducing fraud.”

According to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Miami-Dade County alone accounted for more paid DME claims than 44 other states. Only some of the most populous states in the country including California, Texas, New York, Michigan, and Ohio billed Medicare for more than Miami-Dade County. According to that same data, an average Medicare patient in Miami-Dade County allegedly receives $6,200 worth of DME every year based on paid amounts; whereas patients throughout the rest of the United States average approximately $1,200 per year.

The Soto and De La Serna cases were prosecuted by Deputy Chief Kirk Ogrosky from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Stumphauser of the Southern District of Florida. The Vasquez and Betancourt cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stumphauser. The Rodriguez case was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Ogrosky, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz. The Gonzalez case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Darden of the Fraud Section, the Prieto and Herrera cases were prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jerrob Duffy and Deputy Chief Ogrosky of the Fraud Section; and the Lopez case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney John Cunningham of the Fraud Section

Facts, not fears, should shape immigration rules that made sense. We need a fair and unified policy on immigration. What we don't need is the kind of reaction displayed in a proposal by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee earlier this month.

Created last year by the Legislature, the commission was asked to hold public hearings and offer a list of recommendations to lawmakers that would unify the state's conflicting policies on immigration.

That made sense. However, one of the people who proposed forming the commission now says privately that its work has bogged down as special interests have dominated it.
The commission is expected to report next month to the Legislature. Until it does, we'll keep an open mind about the quality of its recommendations.
However, its public hearings don't look promising.

In Huntsville, 300 people, mostly white and middle aged, packed a public hearing. They wanted to vent - about illegal immigration, businesses hiring illegal immigrants, and spending tax money to pay for health care and social services for illegal immigrants. When an Hispanic woman tried to speak, it took a police officer to stop some from trying to shout her down.

A hearing in Hoover, was much the same. More than 200 people attended, mostly to complain bitterly about lax enforcement of existing laws.

A final hearing in Mobile last week was the polar opposite. Few people attended; most who did expressed glowing support for migrant workers.

What the commission will make of all this anybody's guess. The earlier hearings left little doubt that immigration is an emotional, hot-button issue that inflames passions on both sides.
We need a fair and unified policy on immigration. What we don't need is the kind of knee-jerk reaction displayed in a proposal by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee earlier this month.

Huckabee, the likeable former Arkansas governor, wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to prevent children born to illegal aliens in this country from automatically becoming American citizens.

He promised the founder of the reactionary Minuteman Project that he would force a test case in the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship.

Coming from a guy who as governor sought to give illegal aliens college benefits, complained about federal immigration raids in Arkansas and refused to order the state police to enforce immigration laws, that's pretty bizarre.

Huckabee's record and his proposals on immigration are all over the board - just like Alabama's existing laws and policies. That's what happens when political policy panders to the emotions of the minute.

We only hope the Alabama immigration commission isn't relying solely on the emotive public hearings in making its report. We need hard facts - facts on numbers of immigrants; their impact on the state economy, schools, health care and social services; and the practicality and cost of legislative action.

Only if there is a sound body of facts is there likely to be a sound body of recommendations.

Controversial anti-immigration activist visits Atascadero to endorse Huckabee. They're not here to pick strawberries. "They're here to fulfill their pockets."


You've gotta have some chutzpa to call yourself a minuteman. The title refers to either a fast lover or a patriot whose ideas of national independence and individual responsibility were at stake in the battle against colonial England.

Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, is no doubt reaching for fraternity with the latter, but his critics may find it hard to reconcile his group of self-appointed immigration regulators with the likes of Paul Revere. Each waged a battle that involved the haves and have-nots, but it would seem as though the modern minuteman's role has been reversed.

Like him or hate him, the controversial founder of the group will be speaking at Malibu Brew in Atascadero on Jan. 26 at 11 a.m. in support of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. The event is a fundraiser sponsored by an Atascadero group for the election of Huckabee.

Although Gilchrist's support for the former governor of Arkansas is based on one issue--immigration--this modern minuteman isn't a one-dimensional personality. In a phone interview, he delivered both insights and incites.

"They're not here to pick strawberries," he said of immigrant farm workers. "They're here to pick pockets."

Gilchrist started the Minuteman Project in 2004, in response to what he calls a failure of the government to uphold its own laws concerning immigration. The basic function of the group is to physically monitor the border for people trying to cross illegally, and then report any activity to border patrol agents. Minutemen aren't tasked to enforce the law themselves. Mostly they push their agenda in Washington, which is why Gilchrist will speak in support of Huckabee.

His endorsement of the presidential hopeful is the result of several meetings and interviews. No other "reasonable" Republican candidate's stance on immigration, Gilchrist said, better embodies his own.

Gilchrist is for the criminalization and imprisonment of both undocumented immigrants and their employers, who he often refers to as modern-day slave traders. He supports a 2,000-mile wall between the United States and Mexico, but opposes tactics such as GPS monitoring of legal immigrants--"They're not prisoners," he said. He's also critical of any people, be they "ultra lefties" or "ultra righties," who would use violence to further their goals.

He supports more funding for increased border patrol agents, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents accountability from politicians who willfully ignore set immigration laws and he opposes health care, education, and voting rights for illegal immigrants.

Gilchrist comes off as a no-nonsense guy, someone who would be easy to get along with, so long as he stayed off the soapbox. His position--that the U.S. economy and culture are better off with fewer documented immigrants and zero undocumented immigrants--is crystal clear in his own mind, and he speaks at length, with an energetic Hemingway-simple style, about the "invasion" by people from South and Central Americas.

Many people don't agree with his stance, a truth that he accepts with a certain grace, as if it were a badge of honor or the natural reaction to his radical ideas. His website openly displays the scores of hate mail aimed at him, with such crude attacks as "fuck you Jim, I hope you die." He considers such comments, along with infighting among the anti-immigration community, as a bunch of "crap" and a distraction from the real issues at hand.

But for all the controversy surrounding him and the personal attacks, many people find something in his message. He doesn't charge any dues to join the Minutemen, but he accepts donations to his cause. Last year, he collected more than $400,000.

Hispanic Community finding support in Jewish Community do to a lack of Political support.


Jewish community traditionally at the forefront of immigrant rights efforts has gone strangely mute as politicians fan public fury over illegal immigration. This week there were signs that is changing; the Anti-Defamation League issued a warning to the 2008 presidential candidates to cool their white-hot rhetoric on the issue.

But the ADL has been a lone voice; some critics say the timorous Jewish response is not commensurate with an anti-immigrant surge that could ultimately hurt all minorities – Jews included.

"What I fear is that on this issue, the Jewish community, which has taken such important principled stands in the past, has left some of those stands behind in favor of crasser politics,"

Maisel. "You don’t want to be on the side of an issue like this that is going to create enemies for you. And that’s very sad."

The same factors that have made illegal immigration an almost irresistible issue for candidates have made Jewish groups timid about speaking out, Maisel said.

Jewish leaders, he said, are as good at reading polls as politicians.

The anti-illegal immigration invective has reached new heights in key primary and caucus states such as Iowa, where surveys show the issue has risen to the top of voters’ agendas; analysts say it is only likely to increase as the election nears and candidates vie for red-meat issues.

It has been largely a Republican phenomenon as even candidates who have won praise from Jewish groups in the past for their immigration positions veer sharply to the right.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a long shot suddenly propelled into the top ranks of GOP contenders, once supported proposals to provide merit scholarships to some children of illegal immigrants. Now he is promoting what critics say is an impractical and harsh mass deportation proposal as part of his "Secure America Plan."

In a 2005 Boston Globe interview, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he favored programs that immigration critics say amount to "amnesty" for illegal immigrants already here, but in Iowa he is claiming Huckabee and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani are soft on the issue.

Giuliani — who as mayor "often defended illegal immigrants, ordering city workers not to deny them benefits and advocating measures to ease their path to citizenship," according to a New York Times report — is now touting proposals to impose tougher penalties on those here illegally and denying anything smacking of amnesty.

"What Giuliani is doing is despicable — catering to these interests, with the full knowledge that the city he once ran couldn’t operate without illegal immigrants," said Maisel.

One candidate, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), has made hostility to illegal immigration the centerpiece — some say the only piece — of his campaign. He is out for good know.

The Democrats mostly aren’t criticizing the intensifying anti-immigrant din, mostly out of fear of being caught on the wrong side of an issue that has politicians either joining the angry surge or scurrying for cover.

"All kinds of candidates are falling into this nasty immigration debate trap," said Hadar Susskind, Washington director for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). "Instead of talking about the important things we can and should do on the issue, they are using this kind of rhetoric."

And that rhetorical escalation is "poisoning" the debate over other issues, he said.

Susskind said some lawmakers voted against expanded State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) funding, a top priority for a long list of Jewish groups this fall, "because of claims some of the money would go to illegal immigrants, which is not true. The rhetoric has been extremely damaging to our agenda."

The political agenda on immigration is being pushed, in part, by well-organized and financed advocacy groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) — which critics are saying are starting to sound more and more like classic American nativists. That is what led the Southern Poverty Law Center, a respected anti-extremist organization, to label FAIR a "hate group" earlier this month.

That blurring of the lines between classic hate groups, anti-immigration advocacy groups and mainstream politicians on the stump is a matter of deepening concern for Jewish leaders.

In October the ADL released a study claiming that some "mainstream" immigration advocacy groups, including FAIR, are "adopting the tactics and rhetoric of racist groups and moving it into the mainstream."

It added, "Like many other anti-immigrant groups, FAIR opposes legal immigration as well as illegal immigration."

At the same time, the ADL reported, classic hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan have started echoing some of the themes of the more mainstream anti-immigrant organizations.

"The rhetoric of the hate groups is being brought into politics; the temperature is rising," said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman. "And you are seeing groups like the KKK taking the issue and riding it respectability," he said.

"I don’t think you have to scratch very deep to find xenophobia among the anti-immigration movement," said University of Florida political scientist Ken Wald. "This is at base a movement of cultural defense devoted to defending an imaginary Anglo-Saxon society."

He linked the surge to the nativist sentiment in the 1930s that helped keep the doors to sanctuary in the United States closed to European Jews – his own grandparents included.

Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society — a group at the forefront of the pro-immigration movement — said, "We are deeply concerned about the increase in anti-immigration rhetoric and the growing hatred that is seen in that rhetoric." The language and message of traditional hate groups is "infesting the national dialogue in a very serious way," he said.

This year’s failure of congressional efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which would have combined tougher border controls and enhanced enforcemenet with a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants already here, has encouraged politicians to play to public angst over the illegal immigration issue — and left Jewish groups, which had focused their efforts on national legislation, scrambling for new strategies, he said.

Jewish groups that have traditionally fought the immigration fight may have been less visible in recent months, Aronoff said, because they are shifting their focus to small local battles, and to narrowly focused skirmishes — such as the fight against a new Department of Homeland Security policy of staging dramatic raids against illegal immigrants in their homes and workplaces.

Jewish groups "have been active, but it’s harder to see because so much of the activity has been localized."

For now, local community councils and federations are at the forefront, not the national Jewish groups, he said.

Where Jewish groups have been less active, several observers say, is in openly challenging the politicians who have turned the election into a contest over who can be toughest on immigration. This week’s ADL warning to the presidential candidates represents the first real effort to tamp down the spiraling rhetoric.

And, like other Jewish groups worried about seeming too partisan, the ADL refrained from naming names.

"I think the Jewish community is ambivalent about speaking out forcefully" about politicians who play the anti-immigrant card, said Ken Wald, the University of Florida political scientist. Jewish organizations "simply don’t want to take sides in a partisan fight — unless it involves Israel."

"People are nervous about [angering] their political patrons, and sometimes their biggest donors, who are more conservative," said Daniel Sokatch, director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance in California.

And in the past, he said, Jewish leaders were more willing to wade into the immigration fight because they saw an immediate threat to Jewish interests.

"Now there’s a feeling that nativist anti-Semitism has been relegated to the David Duke-ish fringes," he said. "So it’s not seen as an immediate issue by some leaders."

The issue is taking on even more of a Jewish charge because groups like the Center for Immigration Studies and FAIR are waging an aggressive campaign to pry Jews away from their traditional support for progressive immigration policies.

Several activists noted that while concern about illegal immigration is high in the Jewish community, surveys show that most Jews reject the Draconian solutions suggested by the candidates who are beating the war drums on immigration

I will ask to Mr. John McCain as well as the others Candidates; Can we put faith back into an otherwise hopeless situation like Immigration? I am hoping that this Christmas not comes along once a year but We have to choose how we respond to God's ultimate gift. All we have to do is believe and receive. Will you accept His gift, and make this a Christmas we will never forget? I have hope, faith, and strenght that something good is going to happen for Millions of Undocumented Immigrants out there searching for a light at the end of the tunnel to fulfill their American Dreams. God bless America.

Iowa Newspaper Endorses McCain, Clinton, Boston Globe Barack Obama, John McCain; On Monday Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman will endorse John McCain.


DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Des Moines Register's editorial board is endorsing Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead of the state's Jan. 3 presidential caucuses, contending they top the field in competence and readiness to lead in a time of dissension at home and distrust and peril abroad.

Weighing in on a tight Democratic race, the statewide paper's board said in its endorsement Saturday night that Democratic challenger Barack Obama "inspired our imaginations. But it was Clinton who inspired our confidence."

McCain, an opponent of ethanol and crop subsidies important to Iowa, has not mounted a serious challenge in the state's close GOP contest, pinning his hopes on New Hampshire's Jan. 8 leadoff primary and elsewhere. But the board cited his deep knowledge of national-security and foreign-policy issues, and his honesty.

"The force of John McCain's moral authority could go a long way toward restoring Americans' trust in government and inspiring new generations to believe in the goodness and greatness of America," the board wrote on the paper's Web site.

The editorial board of The Boston Globe, closely watched in the New Hampshire campaign, came out in favor of Obama and McCain in its endorsements Saturday.

The Globe's board said Obama fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world," and said McCain "has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States."

It said Obama's diverse and international life experience helped the Illinois senator develop a unique perspective of the world.

"The most sobering challenges that face this country -- terrorism, climate change, disease pandemics -- are global," the board said in early excerpts of its endorsement. "America needs a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Barack Obama has this understanding at his core."

McCain was praised by both newspapers as a straight talker who could help a polarized nation. The Globe's board said the Arizona senator could be an antidote to the "toxic political approach" of the last two presidential elections. The Globe also endorsed McCain before the New Hampshire primary in 2000.

The Register endorsed Democrat John Edwards in 2004 and, in the 2000 GOP race, backed George W. Bush over McCain.

"He doesn't parse words," The Register's board said Saturday of McCain. "And on tough calls, he usually lands on the side of goodness -- of compassion for illegal immigrants, of concern for the environment for future generations."
The board criticized Edwards this time, saying the positive campaign he ran in 2004 has seldom been seen. "His harsh anti-corporate rhetoric would make it difficult to work with the business community to forge change," it said.

Clinton has been tested by rough politics and personal trials, the paper said, and has responded with strength and resilience. "We believe as president she'll do what she's always done in her life: Throw herself into the job and work hard. We believe Hillary Rodham Clinton can do great things for our country."

Listen what Congressman has to said to those paranaoians, Xenophobic, extremists and conservatives.
I am hoping that someone can open the road of ignorance and do something more Humane and Rational for Immigrants.

This is another great example of the Immigration system flaws.