The Pink Flamingo :: More Anti-Immigration Follies

I have a misc. anti-immigration kitchen sink post today. I’ve been neglecting the issue lately so I can harp on Obama, but I’m getting so sick and tired of him, and his racism, and the people who apologize for him – well, I’m sick of it. There’s no difference between Obama’s little friends than all the little nasties behind the anti-immigration movement. And – when I say nasties – I am not talking about the average rank and file person who is involved in this. I’m talking about the people who keep pushing this thing – the puppetmasters. How much longer will it take for people to realize Michael Chertoff has almost unlimited power and the right to thumb his nose at the rule of law any time he so desires.

Death by 1000 Papercuts brings us this strange anti-immigration post. How much longer will it take for Republicans to understand that conservatives have gone so far astray on immigration reform that they sound like socialists. Listen to the first few minutes of this conservative post, if you dare. It comes from Freedom Folks.

BIG MAC GETS IT! (as usual)
John Fund in Tuesday’s Political Diary McCain's Warning to Immigration Hotheads

"...John McCain has a message for Republican candidates who are planning to run on strong anti-immigration themes this fall. Pay attention to recent election defeats by get-tough candidates and modulate your message accordingly. Mr. McCain told National Public Radio on Monday that he believes noisy anti-immigration rhetoric helped defeat Republicans in several high-profile border state races in Texas and Arizona. He also singled out Pennsylvania, where Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania lost re-election in 2006, and Illinois, where Jim Oberweis stunned the GOP this month by losing the special election to fill the seat of former House Speaker Denny Hastert. "Senator Santorum emphasized that issue [immigration] and lost by a large number," Mr. McCain told NPR. "We just had a loss of Denny Hastert's seat out in Illinois. The Republican candidate out there, I am told, had very strong anti-immigrant rhetoric also, so I would hope that many of our Republican candidates would understand the political practicalities of this issue."…

(From Today's WSJ Political Diary) (Thanks SV)

SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
From Greg Siskind’s Blog
The WPost has an interesting story about the way the state of VA has come up with a way to persecute legal children who have illegal parents. These people are NATURAL BORN AMERICAN CITIZENS. Get it? I wonder if all of these anti-immigration activists and haters even understand the problems they are creating - not for today, but for the future.

The SPLC takes us to the Providence Journal: There is the incident that occurred in Providence last week. Two people went into a business, speaking Spanish. The owner refused to sell a much needed part to them until they identified themselves as US Citizens. When they refused to show identification, the man called ICE on them.

“…While the owner began searching for the part, Genao and his friend began speaking to each other in Spanish. As owner David C. Richardson was ringing up Genao’s $18 purchase, he demanded to see their Social Security cards. What followed was a telling encounter underscoring the tensions in this country over immigration and ethnicity. When Genao told Richardson “he did not have the right to ask all those questions,” Richardson pulled out a membership card for Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement, a group that seeks curbs on illegal immigration. Then, he lifted the phone receiver and threatened to call immigration authorities, Genao said. “He [Richardson] grabbed the phone and said, ‘I can call ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] anytime I see an illegal immigrant,’ ” said Genao. “He also said, ‘I can make a citizen’s arrest.’ ”
Genao, a Rhode Island state employee, is a native of the Dominican Republic and a U.S. citizen. He speaks fluent English. He said his friend — who declined comment — is also a Dominican native and U.S. citizen. “There is no problem with his status,” said Genao. “He is legal.” State records list both as registered voters…. Though Richardson said it is his legal right to demand a Social Security card — it may not be.

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Richardson appears to have violated a state law (R.I. General Law 6-13-17) related to “unfair sales practices.” The law states, “Unless otherwise required by federal law, no person shall require that a consumer of goods or services disclose a Social Security number incident to the sale of consumer goods or services.”

There are several exceptions, including that insurance companies and institutions licensed by the state or federal government for financial services may require applicants to disclose their Social Security number. Consumers may also be required to disclose their Social Security numbers when applying for a credit card or seeking health care or pharmaceutical related services. ..."

I do not like the AARP. I think they are offensive, but I must be honest and say they have the best Medicaid supplement there is. So far, in the past 3 years, they have picked up nearly a million dollars in costs for my mother’s health and her cardiac condition. If you need insurance – I think it may be the best. They had bills coming in at a quarter million dollars a pop (itemized). That AARP supplement picked up everything.

This said, Oricus points to a fascinating study the AARP has done on the benefits of hard-line immigration reform.

“…Bernice Todd's Choctaw family roots are sunk deep in the soil of Oklahoma, a state whose very name is Choctaw for "red people." But in the middle of a debilitating battle with cancer, Todd, a 39-year-old who cleans homes at a trailer park and baby-sits for a living, lost her state Medicaid health care coverage because, although she's a Native American, she could not prove she is a U.S. citizen.

While Todd's case is rich in irony, she is one of tens of thousands of Americans who are falling victim to a new federal rule—aimed at keeping illegal immigrants off the Medicaid rolls—requiring that recipients prove their citizenship and identity with documents many don't have. In today's troubled economy, when more and more people find their jobs and thus their health coverage in jeopardy, access to Medicaid for those who are eligible is a key concern, experts say. "Even though I'm eligible for Medicaid and my family has been here forever, they had to drop me," says Todd, who lives in Ardmore, Okla., where her grandparents settled decades ago. "I just got a bill for $11,000. When I feel a bit better I'm going after those [citizenship] papers. But this is just one thing I didn't need right now."

States have always been required to check a Medicaid applicant’s eligibility, which includes citizenship. But a July 2006 rule, enforced by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), now demands specific documents as proof, such as a passport or a birth certificate, driver's license or military record. States face fines if they don't comply….n Oklahoma, for example, more than 20,000 of its 700,000 Medicaid recipients—almost 13 percent are American Indians—have been dropped from the program, "not because they aren't citizens, but because they're having a tough time coming up with the right pieces of paper at the right time," says Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the agency overseeing Medicaid.

Fogarty says Oklahoma, like most states, has been doing aggressive outreach to help residents get the documents they need, diverting resources and effort that "could have been spent improving our program." So far, he says, Oklahoma has uncovered no illegal immigrants on its rolls. And Arizona, where immigration is a huge issue, has filed two reports since the rule went into effect, each saying the state uncovered "zero" illegal immigrants among its 1 million Medicaid recipients. Kansas has found one illegal immigrant on its Medicaid rolls.

"Before this rule took effect, we did our own audit, and we were very confident Arizona was already screening out people who didn't belong," says Rainey Daye Holloway, spokeswoman for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. The rule, she adds, has not caused a drop in its rolls, which are continuing to increase. A U.S. Government Accountability Office survey of the states last year found that that the requirement caused eligible U.S. citizens to lose Medicaid coverage while increasing administrative costs. A close analysis of six states, the report says, showed that for every $100 spent to implement the rule, only 14 cents was saved.

In fact, nationwide the rule has added millions of dollars in administrative costs….”