Rescind the Resolution

Mon Mar 3, 2008 at 8:32:34 AM EST
Email: admin@antibvbl.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar 3, 2008

‘CRACKDOWN’ STARTS NOW
Announcing new political site – AntiBVBL.net

MANASSAS, VA –  AntiBVBL.net today announced the release of the newest political satire blog in Northern Virginia.  AntiBVBL.net goes head-to-head with blog bvbl.net in covering politics in Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park & beyond.  Created on February 22, 2008 AntiBVBL.net immediately took root in the blogoshere. 

After attending the Prince William County Forum of 100’s discussion of ‘Ethics, Blogging and the First Amendment’, Ben Tribett of http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/, suggested the creation of a counter blog to ‘mock Greg’.  This suggestion combined with the issuance of an ‘administrative note’ by bvbl.net was the start of the AntiBVBL.net brain-child.
The ‘administrative note’ read as follows:

“you are free to purchase your own hard drives, power them on your own dime, house them in a computer you buy, and maintain it with your own spare time. You cannot compel me to pay to preserve your pearls of wisdom, or promote them to the world on your behalf.”

This ‘challenge’ issued by bvbl.net combined with a known demand by ‘banned’ users was the impetus for AntiBVBL’s inception.  Individuals who feel their voices have been silenced by bvbl.net are invited to participate in an interesting, uncensored discussion of important topics in a ‘familiar’ setting which extends mutual respect for differing viewpoints at http://www.AntiBVBL.net .

It’s my understanding that discussions are starting soon for Prince William County ’s 2009 budget, I am opposed to the continued funding of the Immigration Resolution.  To clarify, I’m not opposed to the ‘Rule of Law’, but I don’t agree with 20 years of non-enforcement by the Federal government followed by a period of strict enforcement without making some accommodations for those individuals who in many cases have been entrapped by inconsistencies in our immigration policies. There’s an example of a girl who’s entire life will turn out differently because immigration laws changed 3 weeks before her brother’s 21st birthday. We all know there are service member’s families who too have been caught up in these nightmarish scenarios.
 
Just a reminder, it’s only post 9/11 that we have stopped allowing people to adjust their status HERE.  But many of these individuals entered our country during a time period where we allowed them to gain work sponsorship after they arrived ILLEGALLY. However, now with changes in immigration laws, these individuals who were once under the impression that they could adjust their status here have now been told that they must leave and in many cases for lengthy periods. It doesn’t make sense to have these people abandon their homes(especially in the current real estate market), have their children lose years of an educational opportunity only to readmit them years from now. It doesn’t seem to benefit our economy either now or in the future, and, our enforcement of these policies are directly affecting the lives of many including our most vulnerable - US citizen children.
 
Additionally, these laws have fluctuated greatly over the years. In fact, during the time when my husband adjusted his status, he was required to return to the Consulate Office in Mexico for the interview process. However, two weeks before his scheduled interview Congress changed the laws, requiring instead that he pay an increased filing fee and have his interview conducted here in the United States .  In fact, had left the country as scheduled he would have been severely penalized. My point being simply that immigration laws have changed back and forth many times over the past decade and likely could change again.

My recommendation would be to take another look at our immigration policies and try to correct our mistakes instead of washing our hands of it and blaming it entirely on those that were under the impression that they could adjust their status once they arrived. Americans play fair, we shouldn’t start off with one set of rules and then change them in the middle of the game, telling all the other players to pack-up and go home.
 
For these reasons, I object to increased enforcement on the general population until the Federal government addresses the issue.

The Sound of Silence

By Linda Chavez
Friday, January 4, 2008

Arizona has been ground zero in the fight against illegal immigration — but a funny thing happened this week when a new anti-illegal alien state law went into effect. Nothing.

The law, one of the toughest in the nation, requires jurisdictions to investigate complaints by ordinary citizens against local businesses that may be employing illegal aliens. But apparently most Arizonans have better things to worry about. A spokesman for the state attorney general said his office had received about a half dozen calls. Some jurisdictions, including Pima County, which runs along the border with Mexico, received no complaints. It’s not exactly what you’d expect if Arizonans were chomping at the bit to run illegal aliens out of the state and punish their employers.

A new study out by the conservative think tank Americas Majority Foundation (www.amermaj.com ) suggests a possible explanation why more Arizonans aren’t rushing to run off illegal workers. It turns out Arizonans may be better off — not worse — because of the presence of so many immigrants in the population.

This sounds counterintuitive, at least if you believe current political rhetoric and tendentious research by anti-immigrant groups like the Center for Immigration Studies, NumbersUSA, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform. But the Americas Majority Foundation data are pretty persuasive. States with the highest percentage of immigrants or the largest recent influx of immigrants –19 High Immigrant Jurisdictions (HIJs) in all — are wealthier, have better employment numbers and most have better crime figures than those with fewer immigrants.

In Arizona, for example, personal income is higher, as is the gross state product, the measure of all economic activity in the state. Unemployment is lower, as is household poverty. And crime is lower than both the national average and the average among states with fewer immigrants.

And, the trends for HIJs are every bit as good as the absolute numbers. Not only are GSP, personal income, per capita personal income, disposable income, per capita disposable income, median household income and per capita median personal income higher than in other states, but they have been growing at faster rates between 1999 and 2006 than in other states.

In the area of crime, the trends are especially encouraging for HIJs. The 10 high influx states, those that experienced the most dramatic percentage increases in immigrant population from 2000-2007, had the lowest rates of violent crime and total crime, according to FBI figures. In 1999, the 19 HIJs did have higher crime rates, but the rates declined much faster than they did in lower immigration states over the next seven years: 13.6 percent faster compared with 7.1 percent in total crime and 15 percent compared with 1.2 percent in violent crime, leading to lower crime rates overall in HIJs in 2006.

These statistics don’t suggest that illegal immigration is not a problem for many jurisdictions. Illegal immigrants do impose costs, including increased health care and education expenses. Ironically, one of the growing costs is for incarcerating illegal aliens picked up in immigration raids or for offenses that usually don’t justify jail time. These increases are a direct result of efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. And if states like Arizona decide to vigorously enforce their new laws, we can expect to see these costs go up without much, if any, offset in savings to those jurisdictions.

The immigration debate is likely to continue untempered by the facts the Americas Majority Foundation has pulled together, at least through the political primary season. But the overwhelming majority of Americans — two-thirds to three-fourths, according to most polls — have no wish to see most long-term illegal alien residents rounded up and sent home. What they do want is a more concerted effort to secure the borders so the numbers don’t keep increasing.

Citing a November Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, the Manhattan Institute’s Tamar Jacoby noted recently that “63 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of independents favor allowing illegal immigrants who meet certain conditions — registering, being fingerprinted, paying a fine and learning English — to earn citizenship over time.”

Jacoby points out that the politicians don’t seem to be listening. But if we can get through 2008, maybe the sound of silence emanating even from places like Arizona will finally be heard.

Linda Chavez is the author of “An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal.” To find out more about Linda Chavez, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

Ayuda Business Coalition a group of business owners are publicizing what happened in Riverside, New Jersey when their Town Council implemented the exact same resolution crafted by the same lawyer that did Prince William’s resolution. What happened? Well the township suffered dire economic consequences; causing them to repeal the resolution after 1 year. So brace yourself Prince William for tax increases as we suffer from dropping real estate values, and fledgling sales taxes and decreasing property tax revenues.   The effects will have a rippling affect through the financial backbone of the County until we learn that immigrants regardless of their status have a positive not negative impact on our county.

Great write-up on Raising Kaine concerning the decreased crime statistics in Prince William County. Hmm. Could this mean that all the ‘lawlessness’ in the County is actually causing less of the serious types of lawlessness like murders? Maybe we should consider increasing our so we have less of the really bad crimes.

by: Lowell
homicide stats are out for 2007 (2006 in parentheses); let’s see how they look.     Alexandria: 6 (5) +1
     Arlington: 2 (4) -2
     Fairfax: 15 (20) -5
     Loudoun: 1 (3) -2
     Prince William: 9 (16) -7
Northern Virginia: 33 (48) -15

That’s right, total homicides were down sharply in northern Virginia in 2007 — including in the epicenter for anti-”illegal immigrant” sentiment, Prince William County.  According to the Washington Post, “Homicides declined in Prince William more sharply than anywhere else in the region.”OK, now, I’m not a statistical expert, but doesn’t this demonstrate an INVERSE correlation between (increased) immigration and (decreased) homicide?   Yet, if you listen to the overheated rhetoric of the anti-immigrant forces, you’d think there was a strong, even disastrous, positive correlation.  Well, as the headline says, so much for THAT theory!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record.

(Un)FAIR Hits the Radio Waves

By Pat Young
Program Director, CARECEN
December 28, 2007 11:02 AM

Last week I wrote about the huge influence the immigrant-hating Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) has on cable news shows like Lou Dobbs. Now the Des Moines Register reports that the organization founded by racists for racists is trying to become a major player in presidential politics. FAIR is funding hook-ups for right-wing radio talk show hosts who come to Iowa to spew about the caucuses. Their latest event in Iowa drew Fred Thompson and Ron Paul, hardly top tier candidates, but still…

FAIR was, of course, founded by racial theorist John Tanton, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to as the puppeteer of the anti-immigrant movement. FAIR has always functioned as the three-piece-suited front for the dozen organizations Tanton helped form, but its mainstream pretensions are just a mask for the vilest hatreds.

Much of the current hatred of immigrants has been fostered by the talk radio industry. The immigration reform debate in the first half of 2007 uncovered a potent force to build listenership even at the expense of a sitting Republican president. Right radio did a lot to trample immigration reform, and it found new viability after suffering listener losses in the wake of its support for the discredited war in Iraq.

The direct alliance between right radio and anti-immigrant hate groups means that in 2008 the same folks who mobilized against same-sex marriage in 2004 will take the field against immigrants. The men and the moment are joined. God help us!

National Public Radio had a segment this evening on their ‘All Things Considered’ program that spoke about how crimes against Latinos are on the rise.

All Things Considered, December 23, 2007 · Southern Poverty Law Center statistics show that hate crimes reported against Latinos increased 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. According to the Center’s Mark Potok, the spike reflects the nation’s increasingly strident debate over illegal immigration.

Related Blog:
Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Up 35%

Response to a Letter to the Editor written by Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies entitled, The Case Against Immigration in the Washington Post.

How can ‘Center for Immigration Studies(CIS)’ claim to be ‘pro-immigrant’ when they write books entitled, - ‘The Case Against Immigration’ which are clearly anti-immigrant?  Largely the immigration debate today focuses on the ‘legality’ of immigrants but it’s very clear from your letter that the Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR) network including CIS opposes all forms of immigration.

In researching FAIR, one learns that all of the anti-immigration groups over a dozen in all have been created by and are connected to FAIR.  Additionally, the true motivating factors for FAIR are population growth control and the environment.  It just so happens that ‘illegals’ are the easiest ones to target but as your letter proves then legal immigrants will be addressed and lastly once FAIR has accomplished ‘immigration issue’ they will turn their attention to address the Catholics, Christians and others of faith to curb their reproductive ways. It reminds me of the saying by Martin Niemöller -

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up for me.”

Let this serve as a warning for all people of faith, the motivation for the FAIR network is suspect and it’s time for us to speak up.

Priceless. That’s how I describe witnessing Human Rights Commissioners ’keeping Corey Stewart’s chair warm’ while Corey & John Stirrup sat at tables below facing the Commissioners. It was odd that each table had a single microphone so there was some jockeying for an acceptable spot when called upon to answer a question.

Stirrup was very quickly told that his opening comments had little to do with the purpose of the Commission but was offered the opportunity to debate Chairperson Linda Chavez on his subject matter at another time.

The Commission asked for any empirical data used in the County’s determination that ‘illegal immigration’ had caused ‘economic hardship and lawlessness’ or if it was based on anecdotal evidence. The County Executive referred to his report that identifies ‘plus or minus’ $3 million as partial justification for the resolution.  According to Stewart’s own statements this is an ‘insignificant’ amount of money when considering the County’s $800 million budget.  Also mentioned by Stewart were jail and gang statistics along with a good helping of anecdotal information. Anecdotal meaning unsubstantiated complaints like those we so often hear about loss of ‘quality of life.’

Chavez likened the Immigration Resolution to a scene in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland where the Queen of Hearts(played by Corey Stewart) asks the King - ’sentence first, verdict afterwards.’ She compared it to the part of the resolution that reads,

WHEREAS, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has determined that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this County…

Hats off to Annabel & Eric for getting this whole exchange on video.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an organization
that has played a key role in fueling the fierce backlash against
Latino immigrants in the United States, has a long record of bigotry,
according to a new SPLC report.

Because of its white supremacist views, the Southern Poverty Law
Center has designated FAIR a hate group.

Dec. 11, 2007 — The country’s leading anti-immigration organization –
whose leaders have testified repeatedly before Congress and are
frequently quoted in the media — has ties to known racists and a long
track record of bigotry, according to a new report released today by
the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):

is the creation of a man who operates a racist publishing company and
has compared immigrants to “bacteria;”
has employed members of white supremacist groups in key positions;
has promoted racist conspiracy theories; and
has accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist
foundation devoted to eugenics and to proving a connection between
race and IQ.
FAIR and its ties to white supremacy are examined in the latest issue
of the SPLC’s quarterly Intelligence Report.

The SPLC today added FAIR to its list of hate groups operating in the
United States.

“FAIR’s position on immigration is rooted more in its anti-Latino and
anti-Catholic beliefs than in policy concerns,” said Mark Potok, the
director of the SPLC’s project that monitors hate group activity.
“Remarkably, it has still managed to infiltrate the mainstream and
shape the immigration debate in this country.”

FAIR helped defeat federal immigration reform earlier this year and
has played a key role in fueling the fierce, anti-immigrant backlash
in the United States. It was founded in 1979 by John Tanton, a man who
has compared immigrants to bacteria and warned that high birthrates
will allow Latinos to take over America. Still a member of FAIR’s
board, Tanton also operates The Social Contract Press, listed as a
hate group for many years by the SPLC because of its anti-Latino and
white supremacist writings.

“The sad fact is that attempts to reform our immigration system are
being sabotaged by organizations fueled by hate,” Henry Fernandez, a
senior fellow and expert on immigration at the Center for American
Progress, told the Intelligence Report.

The SPLC has documented a 40 percent increase in the number of hate
groups since 2000, an increase that SPLC analysts attribute to the
anti-immigrant fervor that is sweeping the country. The FBI recently
released statistics showing a 35 percent rise in hate crimes against
Latinos since 2003. A sampling of some of the most egregious acts of
violence against Latinos over the past three years is included in the
new issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report.

http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=295