The Neglected Continent and Implication from U.S.

Read Congressman Jose Serrano's speech on a resolution linking Latin America to the overblown war rhetoric against Iran here The neglected Latin America.

We will not tolerate illegals in this county. Said John R, Leopold. Shame on you Mr. Juan Roberto Leopoldo. I said so Proinmigrant



As I always said Tolerance has been crucial assessment on the Immigration Debate. There is not tolerance to the other, The Undocumented Immigrant, even we see in every raid that ICE feel so proud to caught undocumented Immigrants when many of them do not have any criminal record but real criminals are loose on the streets.
I said Enough is Enough.. What really bothers me is that their punishment will not fit their crime.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are causing so much pain to children's torn apart from their parents; Why choose Children's to suffer?


The cousin of the one of the 46 illegal immigrants arrested Monday in Anne Arundel said his relative was not a criminal, but he was in the country illegally.

“His baby will have no daddy. It’s like so many Spanish children with no mother and father,” said Melsar, who gave his first name because he too is wanted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE executed warrants at 16 properties, owned by Robert Bontempo, including his company Annapolis Painting Services, arresting undocumented people, including Melsar’s cousin, Jose Ruiz, and seizing documents, computers and property.

Several of the 36 men and 10 women, many of whom worked for Annapolis Painting Services, will be deported to their home countries, which include Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nigeria, officials said.

We prioritize our cases based on how egregious they are in nature, and this one was very egregious,” said Scot Rittenberg, assistant special agent for ICE in Baltimore City, referring to the large number of arrests.

Some detainees were released because of certain circumstances, such as being a caregiver, Rittenberg said.

ICE worked with Anne Arundel police, which has an officer permanently posted at ICE’s Baltimore City office, during the 18-month operation.

“We will not tolerate illegals in this county,” said County Executive John R. Leopold, who has taken a hard stance against illegal immigration through policies, such as voiding contracts with companies that hire illegals.

Rittenberg said the arrests came after an investigation sparked by a tip that Bontempo was employing undocumented workers. Surveillance revealed that Bontempo was housing the illegals, officials said.

The Anne Arundel Health Department, which monitors residential occupancy compliance, said it received no complaints from the three Annapolis addresses released to the media and raided by law enforcement.

Record of business

Annapolis Painting Services has done work for the Maryland State House and U.S. Naval Academy, as well as Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold and Rams Head Tavern and Chick and Ruth’s Deli, both in Annapolis.

Bontempo is licensed through the Maryland Home Improvement Commission, a division of the state Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation.

His license is set to expire in January, according to the commission.

ICE — not the commission — regulates the use of illegal immigrants by licensed contractors, said commission Executive Director Steve Smitson.

But contractors are informed of state and federal immigration law as part of the licensing process.

“It’s one of the subjects tested on the licensing exam,” Smitson said.

Bontempo has had no reported complaints against his license, officials said.

Bontempo, who is known to own several properties in the Annapolis area, has not been arrested, but could face felony charges, said county Police Chief James Teare Sr.

Bontempo could not be reached for comment.

At three houses where search warrants were executed, the residents wouldn’t speak to reporters.

One of the houses on Carrs Road, where an Annapolis Painting Services truck was parked, had a “No Trespassing” sign posted.

At another house on Harbor Drive, the doors showed evidence of being kicked in during the raid.

Pro-immigration groups, including CASA de Maryland, are holding a rally against the raids today at Hopkins Plaza in Baltimore City.

“Community and religious leaders will condemn the separation of families and call on ... Leopold to cease celebrating the division of families,” said Jaime Contreras, district director for Service Employees International Union Local 32.

Why should the American people be responsible for paying for Rolls-Royce medical care for illegal aliens?" Rep. Steve King said.



I said: Mr. King with all my respect being so inhumane, heartless and ignorant are not for well educated people. The taxes paying for Undocumented, Legal and U.S. Citizens are paying for your Rolls Royce, your private jet, your entertainment, your luxury dinners and your Salary so do not be so pathetic. Or you are consenting or agree with people dying while in ICE Custody?


DHS bureau will report the number of people who die awaiting deportation.

The top U.S. immigration enforcement official told a congressional subcommittee yesterday that the Bush administration will disclose more information about foreigners who die in the sprawling network of federal detention centers around the country.

Julie Myers, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, said her agency will report such deaths to a branch of the Justice Department that collects similar information about inmates in state prisons and local jails.

The Justice Department publishes statistics on the fatalities, not the identities of the victims, but Myers said the change represents "more transparency" about detainee deaths. Since last year, congressional Democrats have pleaded with ICE to reveal the names and circumstances of foreigners who have died in U.S. custody.

Myers announced the new reporting requirement during a congressional hearing on medical care for immigration detainees, the first since The Washington Post published a series of articles last month that documented a broken system of care for the growing number of foreigners who are imprisoned while the government tries to deport them.

The articles, based on thousands of pages of internal documents, found that 83 detainees had died since ICE was created five years ago and that many more sick and mentally ill people have been denied the treatment to which they are entitled. The Post found medical staff shortages, treatment delays, sloppy record-keeping, poor administrative practices and cover-ups by employees aware of the poor care.

Yesterday's hearing was partisan and testy. Myers said ICE has been working to improve the health-care system. But detainees, their lawyers and relatives, and advocates for immigrants offered graphic testimony about misdiagnoses, medical neglect and secrecy.

ICE officials "are defending the indefensible," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee. "Whatever you think about the overall debate on immigration," Lofgren said in an interview, "you are not supposed to kill people who are in custody."

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) countered, "Why should the American people be responsible for paying for Rolls-Royce medical care for illegal aliens?"

Myers and committee Republicans said that ICE figures show that the rate of deaths among detainees has fallen in recent years, and that fewer people die in immigration detention than in prison.

But one witness, who works in detention centers with foreigners seeking asylum in the United States, disputed ICE's claims, saying that health care in detention centers "is getting worse, not better." Homer Venters, a physician at the Bellevue-New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, said ICE's assertion that deaths among detainees fell by 49 percent between 2006 and 2007 is misleading.

Venters said those figures ignore the fact that detainees are, on average, spending less time in custody. Taking the length of stay into account, he testified, the mortality rate during that period increased by 20 percent.

Venters said ICE's assertion that fewer people die in immigration detention than in prison also is misleading because detainees tend to be younger and in custody for less time than prisoners.

Democrats grilled Myers about The Post's findings that more than 250 detainees had been sedated with powerful psychotropic drugs for their deportation over the past five years, even though they were not mentally ill. ICE has recently changed its rules to require permission from a federal judge before detainees are drugged for behavioral reasons. Myers said yesterday that the agency has sought four such court orders, all of which are pending.

Another Republican Lawmaker exposed his Anti Latino sentiment.


A recent comment by a North Carolina lawmaker comparing Undocumented immigrants to prostitutes and drug dealers first inflamed his local Latino community, and now the anger has spilled into Mexico.

Mexican politicians and residents are calling Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James' statements -- printed Friday in one of Mexico City's leading newspapers -- an example of growing hostility against Latinos in the United States.

James, a Republican, made the comments during an April 15 commissioners meeting while discussing government contracts and whether illegal immigrants pay taxes. Near the end of the talk, Commissioner Norman Mitchell, a Democrat, mentioned a recent Charlotte Observer article reporting that illegal immigrants paid taxes.
James interjected that prostitutes and drug dealers also pay taxes. ''Al Capone paid taxes,'' he said.

James said Thursday his comments were meant to show that immigrants, prostitutes and drug dealers all engage in illegal activity.

''You're breaking the law, you need to get right with the law,'' James said. ``It doesn't have anything to do with whether your hair is blond, brown or black. It doesn't matter what your skin color is, your eyes, whatever.''

The controversy over James' comments reached Mexico at a time of growing concern about anti-immigrant feelings damaging U.S.-Mexico relations. Mexican President Felipe Calderón in February denounced sentiments in the United States that he said characterize ``Mexicans as the enemy.''

José Jacques Medina, a member of Mexico's lower house of Congress, said this is not the first time he has heard about James. He also said he's aware of the commissioner's proposals to deny county services to undocumented immigrants.

''This is just racism, comparing us to prostitutes and narcotraffickers, in order win votes,'' said Jacques Medina, secretary of the commission on Population, Border and Migratory Affairs.

Oscar Avila, a 19-year-old pen salesman in Mexico City, struggled to understand James' feelings. He said he's aware of opposition to undocumented workers in the United States but said he had never heard such ''strong'' comments that compare an entire community to criminals.

''He's just discriminating against the people,'' said Avila. ``He's calling people, who are just trying to make a better life for themselves, narcotraffickers. That's not right.''

The controversy took hold this week in Charlotte's Latino community and has been the focus of most reports and stories on local Spanish language radio and newspapers.

''No one has been talking about anything else but Bill James,'' said Rafael Prieto, editor of Mi Gente Spanish language newspaper in Charlotte. An image of Mi Gente's front-page story on James' comments was reproduced in Mexico City's El Universal Newspaper -- featured prominently next to stories about the U.S. presidential campaign.

German De Castro, chair of the Hispanic Democrats of Mecklenburg County, has demanded that James apologize for making blanket statements that inflame feelings against the immigrant community.

''What if you had two girls, 16 and 19 years old, and he called them prostitutes?'' asked De Castro. ``That's what he did. He said all the women were prostitutes. And all the men were drug dealers. How are you going feel? You're going to be irate.''

James said had no intention of issuing an apology.

''Why would I owe someone an apology for telling the truth?'' James said. ``I think that America needs to get a backbone. We have become a country of wimps. I'm not going to apologize for stating the truth. Period.''

While James' comments anger the Hispanic community, they likely will win support within his conservative base, said Ted Arrington, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. James represents one of the most conservative areas of Mecklenburg County.

''For them,'' Arrington said, ``this is red meat.''