There is Always That One Guy

Often times during an argumentative essay or and in-class I will come across a person who agrees with me, but comes off like such an uneducated, biased, arrogant person that makes me almost wish I hadn’t taken the stance I previously took. The in-class essay scenario happen more often than not but regardless, while I was searching the internet for another topic to post about I came across a man by the name of John W. Lillpop who sided with me in that we should not give illegal immigrants amnesty, but in such an offensive, biased, red-neck way that I really wished he had never posted anything at all because his argument is so poor that it probably hurts my side of the overal debate taking place.  In the site, Lillpop says that illegal immigrants don’t deserve amnesty because:

“* Invaded America by ignoring U.S. borders and immigration laws.

* Hampered homeland security and the ability of the federal government to detect and deal with potential terrorists.

* Plundered public services to which they are not entitled.

* Caused educators to "dumb down" class room studies in order to accommodate masses of non-English speakers.

* Forced U.S. hospitals and other medical facilities into bankruptcy, thereby making those facilities unavailable to U.S. citizens.

* Managed to send $30-50 billion a year back to Mexico each year, despite the fact that they cannot or will not pay for medical services received.

* Engaged in wholesale identity theft inflicting great harm to the credit and financial status of millions of innocent Americas.

* Depressed wages and the earning power of American citizens and their families.

* Invaded America for the express purpose of producing "anchor babies" to shield themselves from deportation.

* Refused to learn English.

* Taken over the streets of large U.S. cities in order to demand "rights" to which they are not entitled.

* Waved the Mexican flag and shouted, "Yes, we can!" and "We are America!" in Spanish as they protest the rule of law.

* Turned May 5 into a day known for rampant public drunkenness and violence, rather than celebration of culture and heritage.

* Voted unlawfully in American elections.

And for this they are owed respect?”

After he was done listing his poorly thought out reasons that weren’t entirely true for the most part, he finished the post with: “With all due respect, the only thing America owes any invading criminal is a solid kick in the ass, a one-way trip back to Mexico, and a permanent ban to keep these scum from ever stepping foot in America again!” John W. Lillpop clearly doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about and probably lost a bet to a Hispanic American and now he is just trying to rag on their entire race. Hopefully Mr. Lillpop can do some more research before he tries to go on another rant that only a racist, illiterate, bigot could appreciate. Also I hope he decides to change his last name, it’s hard to respect a man who is trying to come off as a tough guy when his last name is Lillpop. It makes him sound like he is from some part of Candy Land.

Gangs Harrasing Illegals

Nearly two dozen members of a Hispanic gang were arrested in Kansas this week under a federal grand jury indictment accusing them of victimizing illegal immigrants who do their business in cash and are reluctant to go to law enforcement because of their immigration status. Federal officials have long been keeping an eye on the Dodge City area, which has become a hub for drug trafficking in the Midwest because of its remote location and easy access to places like Denver, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. They say gangs have thrived in the area because police lacked resources, including Spanish-speaking officers, and gang members are able to easily blend into the growing Hispanic population.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said all but one of the 23 members of the Nortenos gang arrested is first- or second-generation U.S. citizens. He said they preyed on illegal immigrants who were vulnerable and unlikely to seek police protection, using violence and threats to create a climate of fear, defend the gang's reputation and territory and promote its drug trafficking activities. The gang is charged under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which allows prosecutors to charge individual members as part of a larger criminal organization. In recent years, the act has been used to prosecute human trafficking and gang cases, including charges in 2007 against 28 members of the Crips gang in Wichita which was the first time RICO was used against gangs in Kansas.

This is one of the largest fears that come along with illegal immigration, illegal Latinos getting taken advantage of by gangs. Joining a gang is a very tempting offer to a poor male Latino trying to make a living, especially when they are alone in a foreign country. At first glance, they see the fancy cars, wads of money, and respect from everyone, however they never see a gang member retired with a house in Palm Springs. Joining a group of people that share your heritage and say they can help you is something that is hard to turn down. If the illegal immigrant turns down the gang life, it is not uncommon for the gang to harass them and exploit them like in this situation. Gang violence is something that affects many citizens in the United States and clearly it affects some non U.S. citizens as well. It is a shame that an illegal immigrant can come all the way from Mexico or further trying to find a better life only to be harassed and taken advantage of by those who claim to share the same heritage.

Arpaio in Trouble

               It’s no secret that Sheriff Joe Arpaio does things a different way than most law enforcement officials. Arpaio has been nicknamed the “World’s Toughest Sheriff” and relishes the title and does a lot to make sure he keeps it. However Arpaio may have taken things a little too far in recently because he is facing a lawsuit asserting a “pattern of unlawful discrimination” by law enforcement officials here claims that Latinos at the county jail were often referred to as “stupid” or addressed with a coarse ethnic slur. It also says that an e-mail circulated among jail officers contained a photograph of a Chihuahua in a swimsuit, over the words, “A rare photo of a Mexican Navy Seal.” The suit also asserts that Latinos were often stopped and searched for appearing disheveled or dirty or if it was deemed that too many people were in the back seat. Some were detained because they were said to have looked nervous or avoided eye contact. Statistics do shows that Latino Americans in the United States are more likely to be stopped in Maricopa County than their non-Latino counterparts.

               Sheriff Joe Arpaio has waged war on Illegal immigration and has conducted countless raids and has deported hundreds of illegal immigrants back to Mexico. In a 32-page complaint, the Justice Department contends that he and his deputies waged a campaign against illegal immigration through sweeps of homes and workplaces, and in traffic stops and jail practices aimed at Latinos, regardless of status or citizenship. Sheriff Arpaio also sought to silence his opponents including lawyers and judges through retaliation, at times filing lawsuits that were later found to be baseless, the complaint says. Sheriff Arpaio has said things that have not made him a popular figure among the Latino community and has had his fair share of discrepancies against their community as well; however one cannot deny that he has gotten results. Since Arpaio took office illegal immigration has dropped significantly, while there is still work to be done, Arpaio is the best man for the job in my eyes. This lawsuit, judging by the standoff, will most likely go to trail which will hinder his progress in the war on illegal immigration which will hurt both sides of the argument. Those who say he is a bad sheriff are only making him worse, hopefully this lawsuit is resolved in a way that is expedient and painless for both sides, however that isn’t very likely unfortunately.

We Caught Them, Now We're Letting Them Go

Department of Homeland Security officials said that fewer illegal immigrants stopped by police for minor traffic violations would be held for deportation under changes announced Friday to a federal fingerprinting program. The program will change the way federal agents handle illegal immigrants when they are detained for petty vehicular offenses in response to a report by a task force on the federal program. One of the task force’s central recommendations was that the program, called Secure Communities, should avoid deportations of traffic violators. The sharply critical task force report, issued last September, argued that such deportations were inconsistent with the department’s stated priorities of removing foreigners with serious criminal records. The increase in deportations of minor offenders under Secure Communities, the task force concluded, was undermining vital ties of trust between local police and immigrant neighborhoods.

                In a 19-page response released Friday, Homeland Security officials forcefully reasserted their support for the program, which has been the center of fierce controversy since it began in October 2008. The program has put President Obama at odds with governors in Illinois, Massachusetts and New York, who are his political allies, and eroded support for him in Latino communities. Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge that Latinos will be crucial voters in the presidential election. The Hispanic population of the United States is extremely valuable in the upcoming presidential election and has not stood by the Republicans for a long time and they show no signs of supporting Romney. The Obama administration’s changes came after a hearing at the Supreme Court on Wednesday where government lawyers argued against an Arizona law that would expand the powers of the police to enforce immigration laws. Administration officials say Secure Communities is an example of the aggressive federal enforcement that makes action by state police unnecessary and counterproductive.

                ICE also reported having over 700 meetings last year with numerous law enforcement agencies and advocates for immigrants to explain the program that is about to be put into effect. This debate involves finding an immigrant that has come here or stayed here illegally, which is a crime, and then letting them go. Obviously I don’t necessarily agree with this because it is like catching a known car thief, and then letting him go back into the city. It sounds different when you substitute “criminal” in for “illegal immigrant,” but that is what they are and they should be treated as such when they are detained no matter what they are detained for.

Because it Works, We Should Change it

                The weekend checkpoints set up along random intersection in Los Angeles, here were always meant to catch those who had had too much to drink. In an operation intended to be equal parts deterrent and enforcement, the police would stop every car, testing drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, recently the large percentage of Hispanic citizens in Los Angeles has been complaining about the unfair treatment of illegal immigrants along these checkpoints. They claim that if and the security thinks someone is an illegal immigrant they can ask for their driver’s license and because illegal immigrants can’t own a driver’s license, they are caught, detained, and then deported. The Hispanic population claims that this is unfair, because, it works. These checkpoints are very effective ways to apprehend illegal immigrants and many people at the top of the police department, including the Police Chief Charlie Beck, have decided to sympathize with illegal immigrants. The Police Department has been trying to lighten their image by appealing to the Hispanic population of Los Angeles.

                “It is good to show some sense of understanding of their plight,” Chief Beck said when the city’s Police Commission approved the change in March. While it is important to recognize their hardships, it is even more important to recognize the hardships they are unfortunately inflicting on the American taxpayer. “We need to find a way to be compassionate, yes, but also keep the roads safe,” said Tyler Izen, president of the union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “I’m not sure the right way for us to deal with this is at the local level.” It is a tough decision; however when you step back and look at the situation, the Los Angeles Police Department has to decide which to protect, the illegal immigrants, or the citizens of Los Angeles County.

                Under the new policy, drivers who are pulled over for minor traffic violations, including speeding, are asked to show valid identification and proof of insurance. If unlicensed drivers do not have a previous citation, they will not face a 30-day impound, where fees can often reach into the thousands of dollars (often more than a car is worth). If a licensed driver is able to come to the scene immediately, that driver usually will be allowed to take the car. If not, the car will be towed but can be picked up as soon as the owner comes to retrieve it with a licensed driver. Hopefully this new change can find a middle ground in this argument, however when it comes to identifying illegal immigrants, often times discrimination is going to occur unfortunately.

Greece's new plan

Greece is a country that is facing the most similar issues regarding illegal immigration and looking at how they handle their immigration problems could show the United States how to, or how not to hand our problems. About 130,000 immigrants cross the country's porous sea and land borders every year, the vast majority via Turkey, and the authorities are forced to release those who are arrested because of a lack of permanent housing. The numbers aren’t as big as the numbers in the U.S. but when considered the smaller civilian population, 130,000 is a lot of immigrants. To deal with this immigration problem, Greece opened its first purpose-built detention center for illegal migrants on Sunday in Athens, a week before a national election where illegal immigration has emerged as a key issue.

On Sunday, the first 56 immigrants were brought to the Amygdaleza detention camp in western Athens, a police official said. Dozens more are expected at the camp in the next few days, which can house up to 1,000 people, the official said. Amygdaleza is the first of about 50 camps that Greek officials say will be built by mid-2013. It consists of dozens of containers that were originally set up to house people hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes. "We are sending a message in every direction that the country is not unfenced anymore," Civil Protection Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis said at a rally in Athens.

With Greece in its fifth year of recession and worries over rising crime levels, illegal immigration has become a major issue in the run up of the May 6 election. The once-obscure far-right Golden Dawn, which wants to deport all immigrants, is among the parties that has benefitted most from the mood among voters, and is expected to win its first seats in parliament. Greece's ruling Socialist PASOK and conservative rival New Democracy parties have also pledged to crack down on immigration to try to win over voters. Seeing all of the issues that another country on the other side of the world has in common with your own is interesting because its repercussions in the political elections are almost too similar to the ones going on in the United States. Looking at how Greece handles its own immigration can give the United States its own ideas on how to handle our illegal immigration issues. It will be interesting to see if this program works out for Greece, and if it does, it will be even more interesting to see if the United States adopts that same program.

Caring for Illegal Immigrant Children

Crossing the border is dangerous for full grown adults, let alone small children and teenagers. The Department of Homeland security has found that many teenagers, mostly boys, flee their home country because they are separated from their family, or their family is neglecting them, or worse. Many of these teens underestimate how difficult crossing the border is and are caught by border patrol and then kept in a cell waiting to be deported. The cycle will then often be repeated until the teenager makes it into the United States or is killed. This is clearly something that needs to be stopped and a federal child-welfare agency is paying the Department of Defense for using the dormitory, including electricity and maintenance costs, though officials said they did not have an exact dollar amount, to do something completely radical.

               Federal officials began housing more than 200 children that have attempted to cross the border and failed at Lackland Air Force Base, turning a vacant dormitory that was once the living quarters of basic training recruits into an emergency shelter for young illegal immigrants. Lackland Air Force Base is located in southern Texas close to San Antonio and offers food, housing, clothes, and proper hygiene to these displaced illegal immigrant children. This is a heartfelt and caring action but several lawyers who represent unaccompanied children questioned whether using Lackland as an emergency shelter violated a settlement agreement from a class-action lawsuit that establishes how the federal government can treat these children while they are in custody. In that agreement, reached in 1997 and known as the Flores settlement, federal authorities agreed to seek state licensing of the facilities to house these children, in response to accusations of substandard conditions. The Lackland dormitory has not been licensed by Texas as a child care facility, and state child welfare officials said the building was not subject to state regulation because it is on federal property. The Flores settlement makes an exception to the licensed facility requirement when there is an emergency or an influx of minors, but requires that those minors be placed in licensed programs “as expeditiously as possible.”

               Caring for the homeless children and teenagers that cross the border is something that the United States of America should consider however, after the children grow up, should we give then citizenship? Questions like this are sure to arise if this course of action becomes acceptable.