Gracias Jerry!

More on Cobb County: About to lose it all
Found in Mundo Hispanico
Written by Linda Carolina Pérez
Posted on 2007-11-08

A translation of “A punto de perderlo todo”

www.mundohispanico.com/actualidad/content/actualidad/articulos/1025_articulo2.html

By Linda Carolina Pérez
10/25/2007

Translated by GALEO, Alexis Gassenhuber, Intern

Posted on GALEO on 11/8/07.

His journey to jail, his fear of leaving his house, and the possibility of being deported have a Mexican man ready to “throw in the towel”.

There are times when I say to my wife, “Do you know what would be better? We’ll take our things and leave for Mexico,” said Andrés Ernesto Perales, who was detained for 15 days in the Cobb County Jail after being taken into custody for lacking a driver’s license.

Perales, who has lived in the U.S. for 13 years, was released after paying bail to the County and promising to appear before an immigration judge on October 30.

What happens on this day determines the future of this man, his wife, and his six children. Meanwhile, they may only be careful and pray that the judge’s decision will not be to separate them.

“It’s a sad situation because if they tell me to go, I do not want to go without my children. They do not have passports and I need to take out passports but they cost 80 or 90 dollars for each one,” said Perales, who became economically
devastated after his time in prison.

“The little money that I had saved was spent in those 15 days,” stated the Mexican, who works in construction.

Even though they have recommended that he not drive, Perales affirmed that he has no alternative. “I cannot pay for taxi rides because I have six children, I have many expenses. My rent, the bills, children’s clothes, shoes, food… additionally, my mother has diabetes and I also cover her expenses,” he ascertained.

Moreover, he must obtain money to pay a lawyer who represented him before the immigration judge and to pay a ticket for driving without a license in Rome, Georgia.

Perales asserted that he feels that he’s on the edge of losing everything.

“I bought a little trailer three years ago and I have worked hard to be able to purchase it, for my children, and now this happens to me,” he stated.

The Perales family awaits a favorable decision at their immigration hearing. Some lawyers have told them that they have arguments in their favor, including having lived so many years in this country and for Mr. Perales being the sole provider to children who are citizens.

“In any case, I will find a way to stay, especially for my children. In Mexico I will not be able to support them, I do not even have a house there,” he concluded.

“It’s a big moment for our country because the border will disappear,” Ivan Langer, Czech interior minister on erasing his national borders as an EU member. Quoted in PRAVDA

Businesses feel the loss of illegal immigrants

By Mary Lou Pickel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/09/07

Chris Campos sells machines that count dollar bills.

Hispanic businesses that deal with cash customers are good prospects for Campos, but he’s had to change his business model as a result of the state’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

“The market is in a state of flux,” Campos said. “We focus on grocery stores. They wonder, ‘Am I going to be in business next year, because all my customers are gone?’ They don’t want to invest in new technology.”

Such are the unintended consequences of Senate Bill 529, a new state law that requires —- among other things —- that jailers alert federal immigration agents to any suspected illegal immigrants booked on felony or DUI charges.

During a talk at the National Association of Convenience Stores convention Thursday at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta attorney Kazuma Sonoda said restaurant business is down, too.

Restaurant owners along Buford Highway and in the Jimmy Carter Boulevard area say they’ve seen a 50 percent decline in weekend traffic, Sonoda said.

That’s because more illegal immigrants are afraid to leave their homes and drive if it’s not an essential trip. They fear being stopped by the police for traffic violations.

Many have been apprehended in Cobb County, where the sheriff has entered into an agreement with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. Cobb’s jail now has 500 people facing deportation

. READ the rest here.

“The main obstacle to a stable and just world is the United States”.

George Soros, former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Forgien Relations, founder of the Open Society Institute and proponent of open borders. Forbes magazine estimates the Soros fortune at eight billion dollars.

HERE.

More on Rich Pellegrino: Another letter in today’s Marietta Daily Journal

Larry Todd/Letter to the Editor: No ‘illegal aliens’?

Published: 11/08/2007

When one’s argument is lacking in substance, you can always resort to semantics.

By redefining “illegal,” the term no longer applies. Continuing with Mr. Pellegrino’s logic, a drug dealer would be reclassified as an “undocumented pharmacist.”

I don’t think the voting public will buy into that logic, as there still is pressure from 85 percent of the voting public to close the borders. It appears we need new legislators to enforce old laws instead of old legislators developing new laws promoting amnesty.

Don’t forget: We were attacked on 9/11 by “undocumented pilots” that killed 3,000 innocent civilians, destroyed two magnificent towers, four commercial aircraft and damaged our Pentagon. The closing of our borders is one small step in the right direction, regardless of your interpretations of “illegal.”

Larry Todd

Marietta

Today’s Marietta Daily Journal

Mary Kirkendoll/Letter to the Editor: Americans want their country back

Published: 11/08/2007

Rich Pellegrino writes a good fairy tale, but now, for some facts.

The Federal Immigration & Nationality Act, Sec. 8, USC 1324, states, “A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, OR local government) commits a federal felony when he or she:

* assists an alien he should reasonably know is illegally residing in the U.S., or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering or assisting him or her to gain employment,

* encourages that alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer, or

* knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.

That means, Mr. Pellegrino, the ADL, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the ACLU, MALDEF, La Raza, builders, contractors, landscapers, chicken processors and the carpet industry, as well as hotels, restaurants, sanctuary cities and yes, our federal government are committing felonies.

American citizens are fed up with the total disregard of the laws of this land, and we want our country back.

Mary Kirkendoll

Smyrna

We get mail…from Americans who want secure borders and justice – more response to the Bill Nigut ADL smear. A letter to Bill Nigut copied to us.

Mr. Nigut,

It amazes me that a man who made a living in communications does not know the proper use of such a simple word.

Horde: a teeming crowd or throng.

DA King used it correctly in this sentence: “… the Third World horde that is allowed to swarm over our border with Mexico”. Your ADL colleagues at Kennesaw State University and GALEO do not use it correctly in this sentence: “According to a recent study (March 21, 2005) by the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of undocumented immigrants is approximately 11 million in the United States, despite current efforts to control illegal immigration through “higher fences, hordes of agents and hundreds of sensors.”

And just how is it “dehumanizing language” when applied to law breaking invaders who are swarming over our borders illegally, but not when applied to American citizens who work as Border Patrol Agents? Hypocrisy, thy name is Anti-Defamation League.

And before you label me as racist bigot because I disagree with your flawed views on illegal invaders, know that I am Hispanic and proud of my Panamanian origins.

As an American citizen, I resent the hordes in every way imaginable, and do not wish to see these lawbreakers treated preferentially because they decided to ignore our laws to illegally enter and stay in our country for whatever reason! Being here illegally should not afford them any special rights, and allowing employers to continue to hire them without repercussions is uncontainable.

Our National security, health care, Social Security, correctional and educational systems are all at risk if we do not put a stop to the illegal hordes entering our country and find a way to encourage them to return to their home countries (where ever they may be).

Turn a blind eye to this truth if you will, that will not make it untrue.

C.’ C
Tucker , GA

Illegal immigration debate extends to voting booth
Allowing non-citizens to cast ballots being considered by more cities
By EUNICE MOSCOSO
Cox News Service

Published on: 11/07/07

Should non-citizens be allowed to vote? Officials in Takoma Park, Md., think so. The city, a liberal enclave near the nation’s capital, is one of a few local jurisdictions that encourage non-citizens to vote. Since Takoma Park does not ask for proof of legal residence, it is possible that illegal immigrants were casting ballots this week.

In a few other small cities in Maryland, all residents are allowed to participate in local elections, regardless of citizenship status. Chicago allows non-citizens to vote in school board elections and New York City is considering a proposal to give voting rights to legal immigrants. New York City allowed non-citizens to vote in school board elections for more than three decades, until 2003…

“One illegal immigrant voting is one too many,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates stronger immigration controls.

Krikorian said that granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants would increase the instances of voter fraud, because of a 1993 law known as “Motor Voter,” which allows people to register to vote when they get their driver’s licenses.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, a California Republican who chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus, testified before Congress earlier this year that the potential for non-citizens voting is a growing concern, especially when you “consider the relaxed registration requirements and a lax screening process at the time of voting.”

“There is a very real possibility that non-citizens have affected the outcomes of elections in the past and will in the future,” he said.

More here while the AJC link lasts

Published November 7, 2007

23 illegal immigrants arrested in O’Hare airport bust
Evening update

F.N. D’Alessio
Associated Press

CHICAGO – Nearly two dozen illegal immigrants were arrested today, accused of using fake security badges to work in critical areas of O’Hare International Airport, including the tarmac, authorities said.

The 23 illegal workers were employed by Ideal Staffing Solutions Inc., whose corporate secretary and office manager also were arrested after an eight-month investigation that involved federal, state and Chicago authorities.

The company contracted work for carriers including United Airlines, KLM and Qantas, said Elissa Brown, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

“The investigation identifies a vulnerability that could compromise national security, while bringing criminal charges against individuals who built an illegal work force into their business practice,” Brown said.

Ideal Staffing officials did not return a telephone message seeking comment left after business hours today by The Associated Press.

Much of the investigation centered on the airport security badges issued by the Department of Aviation, said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Agents found that 110 of the 134 badges issued to Ideal Staffing workers did not match the individuals who carried them, he said.

The discrepancies were first noted in March by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector, Fitzgerald said.

“If we are to ensure public safety, we must know who has access to the secure areas of airports,” Fitzgerald said. “A fundamental component of airport safety is preventing the use of false identification badges, and punishing those who commit or enable such violations.”

Mary Gurin, 36, of Carpentersville, and Norinye Benitez, 24, of Franklin Park, were each charged with one federal count of harboring illegal immigrants for gain and one federal count of misuse of Social Security numbers. They were scheduled for a preliminary appearance later today in U.S. District Court, Brown said.

Benitez is believed to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico, and Gurin employed her and signed her airport badge application while knowing her illegal status, Brown said.

The workers arrested, 21 from Mexico and two from Guatemala, were being held in the Cook County jail. They face state criminal charges and deportation, Brown said.

Brown, Fitzgerald and other officials declined to answer questions about how workers could use deactivated badges to enter secure areas of the airport, saying that the investigation continued and that not all details could be revealed.

Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine said his office has issued more than 100 arrest warrants in the case.

Read it here.

It can’t happen in Georgia…right? IT ALREADY HAS.

Six illegals nabbed in Atlanta airport’s secure area

2006 Associated Press

ATLANTA Authorities say six illegal aliens hired to do work in the secure area of one of America’s busiest airports are now under arrest.

Investigators say all had security badges giving them access to the tarmac and other normally restricted areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

In more than three and a-half years, immigration officials say they’ve found close to six-thousand unauthorized airport workers in the U-S.

Here.

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