Archive for August 2006

Authorities have arrested 326 people in the Houston area, including some accused of murder, as part of a national crackdown on illegal immigrants.

They were accused of crimes including homicide, aggravated sexual assault of minors, robbery, assault, human smuggling and narcotics trafficking.

“Criminal aliens are a threat to the safety of our children, families, community and our nation,” said Kenneth L. Landgrebe, field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Detention and Removal Operations office in Houston. “Our goal is to remove these threats from the United States.”

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FARMERS BRANCH, TX) - A city councilman wants to make it tougher for illegal immigrants to live and work in Farmers Branch.

Tim O’Hare blames undocumented immigrants for much of the city’s problems. He wants the City Council to consider prohibiting landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers, making English the city’s official language, ceasing publication of any documents in Spanish and eliminating subsidies for illegal immigrants in the city’s youth programs.

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HB 1023–a new and tough anti-illegal-immigration law in Colorado–will require tens of thousands in Colorado to prove they are legal residents before receiving certain government services. The new law, passed this month, is the toughest in the country.

House Bill 1023 will have an impact on everything from in-state tuition rates to liquor and business licenses.

Nonprofit and humanitarian organizations that have turned a blind eye to immigration status in the past, will also be effected.

Much confusion and panic is circulating among the government agencies that must immediately figure out how to comply with the new law.

Apparently, certain legal licenses do not fall under HB 1023, while retail licenses do. Many are confused by the details, and Governor Owens office admits that the process will be a tough one. “This truly is landmark legislation,” said a spokesman. “There will be unforeseen situations and there will be bumps in the road.”

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THE public wants far tougher immigration policies, an Ipsos Mori poll for The Sunday Times has found, writes Isabel Oakeshott.
The research reveals that opinion on immigration is hardening dramatically, with three-quarters of the population calling for far stricter limits on immigrant numbers.

Almost half the population has serious doubts that allowing foreigners to settle in Britain is good for the country.

In a striking finding, women of all ages appear to be particularly hostile to the number of foreigners settling in the UK — with many deeply sceptical that it is benefiting Britain.

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Arcadia Mayor John Kimmel has infuriated the Hispanic community with an inflammatory proposal to eliminate undocumented workers in this western Wisconsin town.

About 30 Hispanics packed the city hall on Aug. 10 for the council’s regular meeting and an impromptu public hearing that lasted over an hour ensued before the council decided more input was needed on the proposal, which was not on the agenda and has not been formally introduced to the council.

In recent years, predominantly Mexican immigrants have swelled the city’s population, drawn largely by jobs at nearby dairies.

Joyce Stellick of Winona, who serves as a translator and liaison between the Arcadia area Hispanic community and the city, said she has seen tensions in the past, but “nothing like this” in nine years working within the community.

Kimmel laid out a five-ordinance plan in an Aug. 10 column in the Arcadia News-Leader, that would, among other things: make English the official language in Arcadia, a city of 2,402 people, require an American flag to fly alongside any other national flag; alert federal agents to resident complaints of undocumented workers; and ensure signs are only printed in English. Kimmel considered monetary penalties for some but hasn’t finalized anything.

Kimmel said non-English speaking residents put a drain on government resources and that illegal immigration has increased crime and deteriorated neighborhoods.

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HAZLETON – Mayor Lou Barletta said the fund set up to defend the city’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act has already received several thousand dollars in donations, with checks coming in from donors across the nation.

“It’s amazing. The checks have been coming in non-stop,” Barletta said Thursday. “Some people even sent in donations before we were sued.”

The legal defense fund was recently set up through www.smalltowndefenders.com, a Web site Barletta developed specifically to provide information about the illegal immigration ordinance. Donations can be made via credit card through the Web site or by sending checks directly to City Hall.

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ELSMERE — The white man wouldn’t give his name, fearing reprisals from immigrant neighbors.

Shirtless and covered with sweat, he sat on the front step of his home, just down the street from Fenwick Park Apartments.

He took a break from yard work to vent.

“They broke the law to get here? Leave!” said the man, who is in his 60s. He proposed that state leaders rent buses and take Delaware’s undocumented immigrants back to Mexico.

His neighbors are Mexican and Peruvian. He suspects some are in the country illegally.

“It’s not fair to the American citizen who has to go by the rules. We have to buy a license plate, insurance, pay taxes, everything. … Everybody should obey the law.”

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VALLEY PARK

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has helped relocate more than 20 families who have fled the city out of fear they may be deported or evicted from their homes under a new law aimed at illegal immigrants.

Many of those families were staying at the Cheryl Lane Apartments, in the northeast section of the city, and left in such a panic that they didn’t take furniture with them, said James Zhang, the complex’s owner.

Last week, Zhang had his apartment manager go door-to-door, telling people that if they weren’t in the country legally, they needed to move out. Under the city’s new ordinance, landlords face fines of $500 per violation for knowingly renting to illegal immigrants.
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Zhang noted that the fine was more than his apartments’ monthly rent of $450.

Of his 48 units, 20 are now empty, Zhang said.

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French police on Thursday raided the country’s biggest squat, clearing out more than 500 immigrants from a disused student hall of residence in the southern outskirts of Paris.

The surprise “evacuation” of the squatters, most from sub-Saharan Africa and about half of them living in France illegally, is the latest move by Nicolas Sarkozy, interior minister and presidential hopeful, to show voters that he is getting tough on immigration.

Mr Sarkozy last month pushed through a new law tightening entry visa rules. His strict stance is designed to win supporters from Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right National Front leader, in next year’s election.

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However, he is treading a fine line after a campaign of civil disobedience forced him into a partial U-turn this summer over plans to deport illegal immigrant families with children in school. This week he said 6,000 visas would be granted to such families and 24,000 others would be deported.

MILFORD - It’s one thing to complain about drugs and violence in one’s neighborhood.

It is altogether another thing to step up and try and change it.

The Milford Community Advisory Board, under the umbrella of the First State Community Action Agency, organized in June and is set to offer its first community event - a block party - on Saturday.

“We wanted to come together and have something for the community,” said the Rev. Michelle McTeer, a board member and associate pastor at Bethel AME. “It’s a community in unity and we are taking it to the streets.”

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