The Pink Flamingo :: How Conservatives Morphed into Marxists Over Immigration

I find the whole anti-immigration conservative argument fascinating. Suddenly the most anti-big government conservative turns into some liberal, pinko loving Marxist, just to prove their points. They ignore the Constitution. They demand states give up cherished rights so they can grow the Federal Government even more. Family Values belong only to select “native born” Americans, not anyone else, especially those who speak Spanish as a native language. It is suddenly acceptable to break into a person’s house without a warrant and demand to see proof that they are US Citizens. Interesting, isn’t it?

NOTE: This is a long, rather disjointed posting that highlights how conservatives are throwing away their traditional conservative values to embrace very radical, big government liberal strict enforcement values. John Tanton is getting everything he wants.

DEPORTATION MADNESS

CONSTITUTION NEED NOT APPLY
The other day ICE knocked on the door of Lucio Caciano, youth director for St. Athanasius Catholic Church. They were looking for someone else. Since Lucio was Hispanic, and ICE is starting to act like some Stalinist-Facist bunch of storm-troopers rounding up the usual suspects, they demanded to see his papers. He had none. He’s now awaiting deportation. They take out decent people like Caciano but let the criminals remain. Funny, isn’t it. Then there’s also the issue of racial profiling.

“…Caciano has few options. He could leave the country voluntarily. He could apply for a special religious immigration status - although one of the requirements for such status is that the immigrant be full time and compensated in the church position, and Caciano is neither. Or he could fight the arrest because the agents had no warrant with his name on it. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials maintain that it is lawful for agents to arrest any illegal immigrant in the course of an investigation….”

Isn’t it remarkable the Constitution doesn’t apply to ICE. Evidently, given the incidents this week in Phoenix, it no longer also applies to conservatives.

In a similar incident in Otero County, the County Sheriff’s Office is being sued.

“…Legal papers filed by the two groups describe an incident in which sheriff’s deputies ousted a family from its home by banging loudly on the home’s walls in the pre-dawn hours of September 10, 2007. Without a warrant, one sheriff’s deputy attempted to enter through an open bedroom window where the mother had been asleep, while another shouted from the front door, “Delivery! Mia’s Pizza.” Five of the family members are named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, two of whom are U.S citizens. MALDEF Staff Attorney David Urias said, “The enforcement of immigration laws is strictly a responsibility of the federal government. Sheriff’s deputies are not immigration officers and do not have the authority or the training to investigate or arrest people because they suspect them of being undocumented. In Otero County, Sheriff’s deputies are taking federal law into their own hands and violating the rights of Latinos, including citizens and legal permanent residents. These raids are simply illegal and un-American.”…”

NO BIGOTRY?
Anti-Hispanic racists force the removal of the Mexican flag that has flown outside the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where it has flown for 50 years!

William Gheen over the top.

"...On the October 9 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show, guest William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), responded to host Peter Boyles' criticism of Mexico's former President Vicente Fox -- who reportedly has asserted that the United States is letting racism shape its immigration policies -- by labeling as "brown Nazis" the Mexicans who make such arguments, later stating, "Americans are the Jews."

During his broadcast, Boyles referred to Fox's appearance on the October 8 edition of CNN's Larry King Live by saying that Fox did "exactly the same thing that these idiots are allowed to do in this country. He says it's the xenophobes, the racists, and those who feel that they are a superior race that are going to decide the future of the United States of America." Gheen responded by saying, "I'll take it further than that, Peter. Let me say somethin' about these brown Nazis, OK? They are equating a nation and a flag with a race that's not even technically a race." After Boyles said, "I agree," Gheen continued: "[T]he last time that that has really happened in modern history was Nazi Germany." After Boyles again agreed, Gheen added, "They equated the German homeland with a race of Aryan Caucasians, and that flag stood for 'the race.' " Gheen later claimed, "That's what these Mexicans are doing. And then they act so offended, saying, like, if you talk about Mexicans that's a new thing.",,,"

We don’t got no stinkin’ racists.
John Podhoretz gets it. From NRO’s The Corner

“"Immigration Is Incompatible With a Modern Society" [John Podhoretz]
So sayeth Mark Krikorian. Thank you, Mark. You have written honest words. And this is where I came in. Nearly four years ago, speaking out in modest support for the original Bush proposal on immigration, I was hammered by John Derbyshire and others for not understanding the profound difference between LEGAL IMMIGRATION (good) and ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (bad). Now it seems we are to view immigration — all immigration — as incompatible with a modern society. So why didn't you immigration restrictionists just say so in the first place, instead of hiding behind the word "illegal"? Why didn't you then acknowledge your problem wasn't with law-breaking at all but rather with the fact that any people are coming in? Could it be that you knew then it was an extremist view that only had support on the fringe, but that there would be real strength behind using the illegality of illegal immigration to rally people to your cause? And that now, with real movement in your direction ideologically, you now feel freer to advocate openly what you have always hinted at but have never quite said so blatantly? Again, I thank you for your honesty. America is no longer to admit immigrants. Period. I hope you will now drop the weasel adjective "illegal" from the rhetoric from here on in, because otherwise, you will just be trying to snow people.”

STATE’S RIGHTS BAD – BIG GOVERNMENT GOOD
Powerline

THE ENVIRONMENTAL TOLL
I’m not an environmentalist, but even this alarms me.

“…The lush, meandering lower leg of the Rio Grande is one of the most biologically diverse places in North America. More than 300 varieties of butterflies and half the bird species in the United States can be spotted here. So can two endangered species of wild cats: the ocelot, which resembles a miniature leopard, and the jaguarundi, an otter-faced relative of the puma.

Over the last 30 years, ranchers, conservationists, and state and federal officials have strung together a delicate necklace of nature sanctuaries along the river's final 275 miles. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service alone has invested more than $100 million to buy land and restore it to its native state, creating a riverside corridor called the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Now the new federal directive to build 21 fence segments here threatens to trample the lands the government and private groups spent decades nurturing. A Fish and Wildlife analysis found that up to 75% of the nature corridor could be harmed, for just 70 miles of fence.

"In this little area, you will find more species in four counties than in all but three entire states," said Martin Hagne, executive director of the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco, a vacant lot that was transformed into an educational park filled with malachite and pixie butterflies, Texas tortoises and cottontail rabbits.

"Now they're going to spend billions of dollars to undo the work that cost millions of dollars. These are your tax dollars at work," he said.

Over the last years, business leaders and city officials have spent millions turning South Texas into a lucrative eco-tourism attraction. More than 125,000 people visit the Rio Grande Valley every year to see fields of butterflies hovering above nectar plants and to watch flocks of birds descend on the river and the resacas, lakes formed when the serpentine stream shifts course.

The Rio Grande sits in some of the continent's biggest migratory bird corridors, and listers, or bird aficionados who aim to watch every species in the country, know that South Texas is the only place to scratch off the names of many birds native to Central America (seeing them south of the border doesn't count).

The visitors sustain 2,000 jobs and pump $125 million a year into the economy, according to the visitors bureau in McAllen.

Cities have built riverside viewing centers to cater to the tourists -- civic investments that could soon go bust. Early blueprints of the fence indicate that several sites, including the Old Hidalgo Pump House and the World Birding Center, could be blocked from the river.

"It's a major economic part of our community," said Kay Wolf, director of the pump house, which carried water to the Rio Grande Valley in 1909 and was converted into an attraction with more than $1 million in government funding. "And officially, we haven't heard anything. We learned about this when we saw something in the newspaper."…”

RACIAL PROFILING
Is it racist or good sense to profile Hispanics to see if they are illegal? The Irvine, TX dilemma.

Is Tancredo’s anti-immigration stance the kiss of doom for his Congressional career? Wizbang reports he is being coy about his plans for ’08.

MUST READ: Digger’s Rhelm has an interesting commentary about Hillary Clinton, immigration and the usual ‘we’re doomed’ scenario. I think he’s all wet, but it falls within my ‘all or nothing’ theme.

Digger references Illegal Protest.

“…Oh really? Isn’t that special. The invaders are more powerful than American citizens? Well I’m glad you showed the world where Hillary is investing her campaign and it’s not with America or American citizens. I am CERTAIN that the issuing of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens in New York has EVERYTHING to do with getting a few thousand illegal aliens through the voting booths undetected and she is banking on them voting for HER. This underscores how important it will be to ensure integrity at the voting booths in 2008 and requiring MORE than a New York driver’s license to be able to vote. Our future depends upon the sanctity of the right to vote being given ONLY to legal citizens. We need to start now in demanding that our election process WILL NOT ALLOW ILLEGAL ALIENS TO VOTE….”

I find this absolutely fascinating because the anti-immigration people, who range the gambit from hapless to sinister are truly clueless about the real power in America. They are

CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS AND IMMIGRATION
SPLC
Illegal Protest
Dream Act Children

Illegal Protest has intellectualized why God doesn’t like illegal immigrants.

“…Answer: Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The ONLY exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey a command of God (Acts 5:29). Illegal immigration is the breaking of a governmental law. There is nothing in Scripture that would contradict with obeying immigration laws. Therefore, it is a sin, rebellion against God, to illegally immigrate into another country. Romans 13:1-7 also gives the government the authority to punish lawbreakers, whether it be by deportation or imprisonment (in the cases of illegal immigration), or more severe penalties for greater crimes. The vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States have immigrated for the purpose of having a better life, providing for their families, and escaping from poverty. These are good goals and motivations. However, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law. Those seeking to immigrate to the United States (or any other country), should obey the immigration laws of that country. While this will cause delays and frustrations, again, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law….”

FAMILY VALUES - BAD
What about children caught up in the immigration net?

“…October 8, 2007 — On the phone, Fiorella Maza comes across as a typical American teenager. Her English is unaccented. Her best friend's name is Brittney. Her three most prized possessions are her wallet, her cell phone and, of course, her iPod. Those were the necessities Maza, 19, took when immigration agents arrived at 6 a.m. on March 1 to deport her and her family. The 2006 South Miami Senior High graduate and her parents now live in her grandmother's house in Lima, Peru — more than 2,600 miles from the place she had called home since she was 2. She's searching for language classes "because my Spanish is really bad," and trying to adjust to life in a land where, she says, "I feel like an outcast."

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented children could suffer the same fate, according to the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute. They are the lost generation of an underground economy: Brought here illegally by parents, they grew up in American neighborhoods, attended American schools and made American friends. As they approach adulthood, most find that their illegal status is a barrier to jobs and education, and their lack of documentation puts them in line for deportation….…FAIR representatives made 24 appearances on radio talk shows over two weeks in September to oppose the DREAM Act, Dane says.

NumbersUSA, another group that favors clamping down on legal and illegal immigration, urged people on its website to call senators thought to be in favor of the bill. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., threatened a filibuster. That persuaded Durbin and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to drop their effort temporarily. They say they'll try again to pass the DREAM Act before Thanksgiving. Responds Dane: "We intend to keep the heat up." Without the DREAM Act, Tam Tran, 24, is a person without a country. The daughter of Vietnamese boat people, Tran was born in Germany, where her parents ended up after the German Navy plucked them out of the sea. The family moved to the USA when Tran was 6.
When her parents lost their political asylum case, immigration authorities tried to deport the family to Germany, Tran says. However, the Germans refused to take them. For now, Tran is permitted to stay — only because the United States has no repatriation treaty with Vietnam. If the diplomatic situation changes, Tran could be deported to the country of her parents' birth, says Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Nantel. Tran, who has never been to Vietnam, says that "I consider myself a Southern Californian." She graduated with honors from UCLA in December. Her major: American literature and culture.

For Martine Kalaw, a graduate of Syracuse University's prestigious Maxwell School public affairs program, it took eight years and three lawyers to overturn a judge's order that would have sent her to the Congo, a country she left at age 4.
Kalaw, 26, is an orphan. Her stepfather died when she was 12. Three years later, she lost her mother. That misfortune may have been her salvation, Kalaw says. Unlike students who fear putting their parents at risk for deportation, she was able to take her case to the public. She first spoke out at an immigration rally where she shared a stage with McCain, and later testified before Congress. "I was scared because I thought there would be a backlash," Kalaw says, who adds that she was treated for clinical depression during her ordeal. "I was extremely ashamed of my situation. Deportation proceedings are the most terrifying, belittling process." On July 4, Kalaw says, her legal odyssey ended. The Board of Immigration Appeals overturned her deportation order and awarded her permanent legal resident status, which will enable her to apply for citizenship in five years. "Now that everything is secure, I'm looking to develop my career," she says."The sky's the limit."..”

HOW ABOUT A HEALTH CARE PROBLEM?
The anti-immigration people have reached entirely new lows in their crusade against Hispanics. Don’t every think this isn’t about race, because it is. Now the anti-immigration advocates are using genetics and medical tendencies as a reason to keep Hispanics out of the US.
From Illegal Protest

“…According to NHMA, Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely to get diabetes as non-Hispanic whites and have a 40 per cent higher death rate related to the disease. Hispanics aged 20-74 are also more overweight than non-Hispanic whites, with an 11 per cent higher overweight rate in males and a 26 per cent higher rate in females. They are also more obese, at a 7 per cent higher rate in males and a 32 per cent higher rate among females. Dr. Estevez added that a Hispanic child has a 50 per cent chance of developing diabetes, while the general population has a one-third chance of developing diabetes.
So - again - I say - I am sick and tired of supporting this kind of burden on our health system by illegal aliens and this is how I make this leap from the same source:

In [the year] 2000, only 28 per cent of foreign-born Hispanics were naturalized citizens, a rate lower than the rates of naturalization for other immigrant groups. Among Hispanics who are not citizens, a sizable number are undocumented immigrants Do the math - it means 73% of Hispanics referred to in this study are ILLEGAL ALIENS. And this is data from the year 2000 - eight years ago. I am certain that this percentage is HIGHER now eight years later, as evidenced by the exploding costs of ESL classes in our schools and the CLOSING of hospitals under the tsunami of indigent care resulting mostly from illegal aliens.

The article goes on to say, Hispanic population in the US is exploding and I can tell you one thing that it isn’t from - and that is from LEGAL immigration. A complaint is made about the lack of “cultural competency and language resources” available to Hispanics. Hey here’s an idea.. if they immigrated here LEGALLY they would learn our language and culture - problem solved! I’m tired of US having to bend over backwards to accomodate THEIR lack of ambition to learn our culture and language. When in ROME do as the ROMANS do!...”

OPPOSE PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD
Why? They speak Spanish!
From that senile old bat Phyllis Schlafly.

“Will the U.S. Sew a Fifty-first Star onto the Flag?
Urge your Representative to vote NO on the Puerto Rico statehood bill!

Last month, the Senate failed to pass the D.C. Voting Rights Act of 2007, S. 1257, which would have given full voting rights to the D.C. delegate. Since this attempt to add a permanent Democrat vote failed, a renewed energy to push legislation through to make Puerto Rico a U.S. state has emerged in the House of Representatives!

Sponsored by Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY-16), the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007, H.R. 900, would set up two plebiscites which would effectively deceive Puerto Ricans into voting for statehood. In the first plebiscite, Puerto Ricans would be given the choice between remaining a U.S. territory and “pursuing a constitutionally viable permanent non-territorial status.” If the majority votes to maintain the status quo, this bill would require that Puerto Rico vote on this issue every eight years. If the majority votes to “pursue non-territorial status,” a second plebiscite would be held where Puerto Ricans would choose either statehood or independence—the status quo of “U.S. territory” would not even be an option!

If Puerto Rico were added as a U.S. state:

The U.S. would transform, overnight, into a bilingual nation. Puerto Ricans do not speak English, the language of our U.S. Constitution and founding documents. The Washington Times article, "Puerto Rican statehood," analyzes all the implications of adding a foreign language-speaking state to the Union.
It would bring immediate demands for massive federal spending. The average income of Puerto Ricans is less than half that of our poorest state, and infrastructure and the environment are far below American standards.
Puerto Rico is already a democracy. Despite the deceptive title of the bill, Puerto Rico already has an elected government and exists as a self-governed commonwealth of the U.S.
Statehood would give Puerto Rico more congressional representation than 25 of our 50 states! It would inevitably give Democrats two additional U.S. Senators and 6 to 8 additional Members of the House.

The U.S. is just asking for trouble with this bill, given that the last time this issue was voted on in Puerto Rico, over half of the people opposed statehood!

Take Action

H.R. 900 is expected to be marked up in the House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, October 23rd. Please call your Representatives and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 900!...”