By Wilson Ring, Associated Press ALBURGH, Vt. — The United States ends where Blair Road becomes "Chemin 4eme Concession," Noyan, Quebec, but for someone headed north on the gravel road there is nothing to mark the divide other than two unobtrusive signs and a broken down border marker hidden in a ditch. There are cameras and sensors to alert the Border Patrol when southbound people enter the United States, but nothing to stop them physically from making the two or three mile dash onto U.S. Route 2 and disappearing.
Most of the traffic is local and legal. But smugglers — going north and south — know the roads are unguarded. In August, a Border Patrol agent had to fire his weapon at a car he had stopped not far from Blair Road that had tried to run him down before fleeing back into Quebec.
"There's a lot more going on out here than people realize," said U.S. Border Patrol Supervisor Bradley Curtis.
There are about a dozen similar unmarked back roads between Vermont and Quebec and many more across the 3,987-mile U.S.-Canadian border. In the age when the United States is trying to secure it's borders against illegal immigrants and potential terrorists, some see the challenges as a direct threat to national security.
Conservative Party Hits Spitzer in New TV AD on Licenses for Illegals
Drivers License Plan Slammed as "Border Line Insanity"
Ft. Hamilton Station, NY – The New York State Conservative Party today announced a new television ad campaign targeting Gov. Eliot Spitzer's controversial plan to allow illegal immigrants access to New York State drivers licenses.
The 10 second ad, titled "Border Line Insanity," begins airing tomorrow on broadcast and cable stations across New York City, Albany, Long Island and Westchester.
"At a time when we should be focused on our county's security, it's totally irresponsible for Eliot Spitzer to make it easier for people who are here illegally to get drivers licenses," explained Conservative Party State Chairman Mike Long, adding: " Really, Governor, what part of 'illegal' don't you understand?"
Using the powerful imagery of an actual Border Patrol arrest as a backdrop, the fast-paced Conservative Party ad declares: "Along the Mexican border, we lock up illegal immigrants. In New York, Gov. Spitzer wants to give them drivers licenses. Tell Spitzer he's wrong."
"We want New York taxpayers across the state to tell Gov. Spitzer he's made a terrible mistake. He should be finding ways to stop illegal immigration, not finding ways to extend privileges of Citizenship to illegals. It's so simple a message, it takes 10 seconds to deliver. The only question is: Will Eliot Spitzer listen?" Long said.
Flag vigilante: If cutting down flags is wrong, I don’t want to be right posted at 9:59 am on October 5, 2007 by Allahpundit
From Fox & Friends, it’s the vigilante himself, Jim Brossard, representing nearly everyone who reads HA and some lawyer opposite him representing me. I like the latter’s point about how Brossard broke the law himself by failing to remove the flag without proper ceremony, especially vis-a-vis Brossard’s suggestion that the only thing he did wrong here was behave contrary to political correctness. It’s not a question of correctness, it’s a question of law, order, and property rights. But never mind that. There’s some red, red meat rhetoric here about encouraging Americans “to take back our country” and to do so “quickly and decisively,” which always sounds reasonable coming from a guy known to display a large knife. I won’t waste any more of your time with blather, though. Enjoy.
Economist says cost of illegal immigration rivals federal deficit
Jim Brown OneNewsNow.com October 5, 2007 A former chief economist for the state of California says illegal immigrants impose a "tax" on legal California residents in the tens of billions of dollars. And he argues that the current federal deficit would be wiped out if illegal aliens were no longer living in the U.S. Speaking during a recent news conference at the National Press Club, a past economic advisor to former California Governor Pete Wilson says the five million illegal aliens living in California are having a devastating fiscal impact on the state. Dr. Philip Romero, a professor of business administration at the University of Oregon, found that for every dollar an illegal alien in California pays in taxes, they are absorbing $8 to $12 in taxpayer-funded services. "When you multiply that per immigrant number by the number of illegal immigrants -- which as I said has tripled at least in the last dozen years -- you get numbers on the order $10 to $40 billion costs to state taxpayers," stated Romero. "To put that in [a] national perspective, if you did that same estimate at the national level, you'd probably be talking between $100 and $150 billion." According to Romero, the current federal deficit is "on the same order of magnitude." The economist also estimates that one out of every seven Californians is an illegal alien with an average skill level of only three years of education. He says this "underground" population consumes about 20 percent of the entire state budget. "So as a result, through three main programs -- through healthcare for the indigent, Medicaid; through education; and through the criminal justice system -- [state taxpayers] are paying very substantially more for the services provided to those immigrants than the taxes the immigrants pay," he explains. Romero is one of four contributors to a new report titled, "The Illegal Population Explosion." The report estimates that between 20 and 38 million illegal aliens are currently residing in the U.S.
Study: Illegal alien population may be as high as 38 million
Jim Brown OneNewsNow.com October 5, 2007
A new report finds the Homeland Security Department "grossly underestimates" the number of illegal aliens living in the U.S. Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Studies released a report August 31 that estimates the number of illegal aliens residing in the U.S. is between 8 and 12 million. But the group Californians for Population Stabilization, or CAPS, has unveiled a report estimating the illegal population is actually between 20 and 38 million. Four experts, all of whom contributed to the study prepared by CAPS, discussed their findings at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington Wednesday. James Walsh, a former associate general counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said he is "appalled" that the Bush administration, lawyers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and every Democratic presidential candidate, with the exception of Joe Biden, have no problem with sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. "Ladies and gentlemen, the sanctuary cities and the people that support them are violating the laws of the United States of America. They're violating 8 USC section 1324 and 1325, which is a felony -- [it's] a felony to aid, support, transport, shield, harbor illegal aliens," Walsh stated. Walsh said his analysis indicating there are 38 million illegal aliens in the U.S. was calculated using the conservative estimate of three illegal immigrants entering the U.S. for each one apprehended. According to Walsh, "In the United States, immigration is in a state of anarchy -- not chaos, but anarchy."
Officials work quietly to adjust farmworker visas BY NICOLE GAOUETTE Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — With a nationwide farmworker shortage threatening to leave unharvested fruits and vegetables rotting in fields, the Bush administration has begun quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers legally can be brought into the country. The urgent effort, under way at the U.S. departments of Homeland Security, State and Labor, is meant to rescue farm owners caught in a vice between an impossibly complex process to hire legal guest-workers and steppedup enforcement that has reduced the number of undocumented planters, pickers and even middle managers crossing the border. “It is important for the farm sector to have access to labor to stay competitive,” said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. “As the southern border has tightened, some producers have a more difficult time fi nding a workforce, and that is a factor of what is going on today.” The push to speedily rewrite the regulations is also the Bush administration’s attempt to step into the breach left when Congress failed to pass an immigration overhaul in June that could have addressed the reality of American farms, where almost three-quarters of the workers are thought to be illegal immigrants. On all sides of the farm industry, the administration’s behind-the-scenes initiative to revamp H2A farmworker visas is fraught with anxiety. Immigrant advocates fear the changes will come at the expense of worker protections because the administration has received and reportedly is acting on extensive input from farm lobbyists. And farmers in areas such as California’s San Joaquin Valley, which is experiencing a 20 percent labor shortfall, worry the administration’s changes will not happen soon enough for the 2008 growing season. “It’s like a ticking time bomb that’s going to go off,” said Luawanna Hallstrom, chief operating officer of Harry Singh & Sons, a third-generation family farm in Oceanside, Calif., that grows tomatoes. “I’m looking at my fellow farmers and saying, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on?’ ” Officials at the three federal agencies are scrutinizing the regulations to see if they can adjust the farmworker program, a highly bureaucratic system so unwieldy that less than 2 percent of American farms use it to bring in foreign workers. They are considering a series of changes, including lengthening the time workers can stay, expanding the types of work they can do, simplifying how their applications are processed and even redefi ning terms such as “temporary.” Administration sources, who declined to discuss the details of the proposals, said they are moving aggressively. The agencies also are working on possible changes to a separate visa H2B program that brings in seasonal workers for resorts, clam-shucking operations and horse stables, among other businesses. The administration has pursued the project discreetly, perhaps wary of the friction that immigration has generated between President Bush and the conservative wing of the Republican Party, which has strongly opposed many of the initiatives that Bush has pursued. The attempt to fix the H2A visa program is one of more than two dozen initiatives the administration announced in early August. Most dealt with increased enforcement, the most prominent being a measure that would force companies to fire workers with so-called “no match” discrepancies in their Social Security data or face punitive action from the Department of Homeland Security.
Deport illegal aliens as soon as possible First published: Sunday, October 7, 2007
Let's try to be honest -- these are not illegal immigrants -- they are illegal aliens who have no legal right to be here in the U.S.A. We have a legal system which provides entrance to the United States and to citizenship. If they choose to skip the system, they have no right to be here. Catch them and deport them as fast as possible.
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC CA Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. (signed) Dave LaBonte
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
Dear Editor: So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It ! would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet. (signed) Rosemary LaBonte
P. S. Pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!! I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!! Ever onward!!
MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA -------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, Congress (rather some liberal members of the body) are still trying to slip the "immigration reform" past the American people by attaching ammendments to military spending bills and other legislation.
It is PAST TIME for ALL American citizens to stand up and vote AGAINST the incumbent two party system (Rep/Dem). Both parties have taxed us to death and sold us down the road for over 200 years.
I don't think it matter which third choice party you select so long as it isn't either Rep or Dem. My choice at the moment is the Constitution Party. Look them up !
That is the fault of the "counter culture"---"Let's see if we are allowed to burn our flag and hold up another, and who will actually stop us."----BBBRRRRRIILLLLIIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now the 'counter culture' is running the country......where is our foundation and what is it????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Did Mayflower settlers have valid passports? First published: Friday, October 12, 2007
When I hear or see the term "illegal aliens" (as opposed to illegal immigrants), I always wonder what UFO they rode in on. And just as a footnote, did the people who came over on the Mayflower have valid passports and visas?
Um....when we came, this wasn't a country. We were settling new lands. We set up borders and relations with those that live around us that we expect them to follow, as we are expected to follow their rules also. Do you know that if someone from the US (or any other country) goes into Mexico illegally, it doesn't take a federal official and "due process" to get them out of the country. Any citizen of Mexico can arrest the person and turn them over to the government to throw in jail and/or deport as seen necessary.
We can do a citizen arrest here in the States......
What our view is of another culture's traditions/language/nuances etc determines, for most of us, who is an invader and who is a settler.....I would say the scum coming from NYC (alot of whom were born here) are invaders......
Quoted Text
Main Entry: 1alien Pronunciation: \ˈā-lē-ən, ˈāl-yən\ Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin alienus, from alius Date: 14th century 1 a: belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : strange b: relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government : foreign c: exotic 1 2: differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility synonyms see extrinsic — alien·ly adverb — alien·ness \-lē-ən-nəs, -yən-nəs\ noun
Quoted Text
Main Entry: in·vade Pronunciation: \in-ˈvād\ Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): in·vad·ed; in·vad·ing Etymology: Middle English, from Latin invadere, from in- + vadere to go — more at wade Date: 15th century 1: to enter for conquest or plunder 2: to encroach upon : infringe 3 a: to spread over or into as if invading : permeate b: to affect injuriously and progressively
Quoted Text
Main Entry: 1set·tle Pronunciation: \ˈse-təl\ Function: verb Inflected Form(s): set·tled; set·tling \ˈset-liŋ, ˈse-təl-iŋ\ Etymology: Middle English, to seat, bring to rest, come to rest, from Old English setlan, from setl seat Date: 1515 transitive verb 1: to place so as to stay 2 a: to establish in residence b: to furnish with inhabitants : colonize 3 a: to cause to pack down b: to clarify by causing dregs or impurities to sink 4: to make quiet or orderly 5 a: to fix or resolve conclusively b: to establish or secure permanently c: to conclude (a lawsuit) by agreement between parties usually out of court d: to close (as an account) by payment often of less than is due 6: to arrange in a desired position 7: to make or arrange for final disposition of 8of an animal : impregnate intransitive verb 1: to come to rest 2 a: to sink gradually or to the bottom b: to become clear by the deposit of sediment or scum c: to become compact by sinking 3 a: to become fixed, resolved, or established b: to establish a residence or colony —often used with down 4 a: to become quiet or orderly b: to take up an ordered or stable life —often used with down 5 a: to adjust differences or accounts b: to come to a decision —used with on or upon c: to conclude a lawsuit by agreement out of court 6of an animal : conceive
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Recently I watched a news show on CNN. It was about Vermont and some Southern states trying to divide themselves from the U.S. government. They also had an interview with the man who cut down the American flag from a restaurant that was flying the flag of Mexico above the American flag. It also touched on a Muslim mosque, and what they want their members to do to separate themselves from others. Have our leaders taken a good, long look at the way they are dividing its people? In New York, the governor is seeking to have illegal immigrants receive driver’s licenses. Our president is vetoing a bill for health care for our children. We have been forced to recognize religious holidays, to learn other languages, etc. The list is far and wide. This is America, we speak English here; do you think if we went to Spain, France, Italy, Russia, those countries would change their ways to accommodate us? No, of course not, How long will all this change be forced down our throats before there is a revolution in our country, from our own people, tired of having to bow down to other ways? Since when is it politically correct to forget the rights of your own citizens, and make them feel as if they are last on the list of priorities, in a country they have fought for, paid taxes in and worked so hard to make what it is? TRACIE A. HALL Schenectady
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