The Torch Looks Dim

On the surface, it should have been a banner week for The Trump Administration. Despite unemployment being down, and Wal-Mart throwing around $1000 one-time checks to 20-year employees like Oprah (while simultaneously closing down a big pile of unprofitable Sams Clubs) -- Trump let his true colors fly at a meeting when he (allegedly) said, "Why do we want all these people from 'shithole countries' coming here?" 

I'm not totally sure why everyone is acting so surprised. I mean, other than the word SHIT being on every banner headline and on the local news. It's not the cursing that everyone's up in arms about. 

It's not that he lumped all of Africa as one single country. Although, he clearly failed geography.

Perhaps the bigger taboo is that you can bomb countries without wealth and have citizens with darker skin tones than those in Norway - and no one batts an eyelash. But you're not allowed to talk about those inequities.

Much has been written about The Donald's racist remarks. And let's all be clear, his remarks are clearly, and painfully racist. Yes, the torch dims for that reason, across the globe. But wait. There's more.

What's NOT getting any coverage, this week was The House of Representatives passed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017. The short version is that Congress makes it legal for the NSA to search communications that mention a given target but was not sent or received by the target.

So, in other words, gives them carte blanch to spy on Americans without a warrant. Another huge blow to the 4th Amendment and privacy.

It still has to pass the Senate and Trump... but, which headline are you busy reading?

What a DREAM

DREAM Act PASSES in the House of Representatives 216 Y- 198 N

After a lengthy debate this evening on the DREAM Act, it finally went to vote at 7:35 pm CMT Wednesday. After allowing several minutes for the vote to be taken, the final result was 216 Y -198 N. The Motion Passed.

A Bill needs support of a simple majority to move to the Senate. That means that 208 of the 414 Representatives voting must support the bill to pass the bill and move it to the Senate.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) said it makes no sense to punish children whose parents illegally brought them into this country.

“If you’re pulled over for a speeding ticket and you have a child in a car seat next to you,” he said, “that 2-year-old doesn’t get a speeding ticket. If there’s a bank robber who robs it with a toddler on their back, that toddler doesn’t spend a life in prison.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who heads the House Immigration subcommittee, spoke on the House floor. She described the beneficiaries of the Dream Act as kids who grew up in the United States, and who often speak no other language but English, yet face dead ends once they graduate from high school.

“Their immigration status prevented them from working, paying taxes, serving in the military,” she said. “They could never get right with the law, even though they had done nothing wrong. The only thing they did was to obey their parents.”

It is expected that the Senate will take up the measure tomorrow.

Eh, tax payers were already giving these kids a meal, an education and medical care. What's the big deal? Discuss.

Surprise

Surprise: Lou Dobbs hired illegal immigrants (follow)
To the former CNN host who rallied against undocumented workers...

"What!?"

Congrats, Lou. You're Our HYPOCRITE OF THE WEEK

How do you know your stance on immigration reform has gone too far? When Lou Dobbs says 'whoa.'

So the Senate Republicans have been urging repeal of the 14th Amendment as a means of denying citizenship to the children of immigrants. That's harsh. Well, guess who agrees that's too harsh? The king, Lou Dobbs.

Dobbs defended the constitutional amendment which provides birthright citizenship

"The idea that anchor babies somehow require changing the 14th Amendment, I part ways with the Senators on that because I believe the 14th Amendment, particularly in its due process and equal protection clauses, is so important," Dobbs said. "It lays the foundation for the entire Bill of Rights being applied to the states."

So if hard core Mr. Anti-Immigration-Dobbs opposes the GOP push to repeal the 14th Amendment, surely the GOP will see how nuts they are, right? Right? Hello?

Top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says not so fast. "The Constitution is not as clear as it first appears," Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) told reporters Tuesday. "I continue to hear good Americans explain to me they think it makes no sense." Wut?

Sessions said "we definitely should look at" repealing birthright citizenship, and "I think hearings is a good way to do it." Yeah. Hearings. That'll solve this non-issue that they pulled out of their asses.

Well, look on the bright side... uh, I guess now no one will be qualified to be President? And they apparently don't want anyone to vote Republican anymore!

Look, it's nothing more than pandering to out of work white collar workers who think illegal aliens are taking their jobs -- to play this out to it's illogical conclusion it would take another constitutional amendment, which will require 3/4 of the states to vote for ratification to be adopted. You won't get 38 states voting to ratify a repeal or modification of the 14th amendment. Not even on the craziest day of the insanity fest they're having over there.

Whitman: Arizona immigration law OK for Arizona

California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is now in support of the anti-immigration legislation she recently opposed shortly after she stated she supported it, unless you speak Spanish.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman - who has campaign billboards and Spanish-language ads in California declaring "NO to the Arizona law" - told talk show hosts Wednesday that the same controversial immigration law should be allowed to stand in Arizona.

"You know, I'm running for the governor of California so I had to make a decision," Whitman said. "Does the Arizona law make sense for California? And I have said no, I don't think the Arizona law makes sense for California because we have a much bigger state with much bigger geography."

Whitman appeared on the America's Morning News, a conservative show that's a venture of the Talk Radio Network Entertainment and the Washington Times newspaper. The first question Whitman was asked had to do with Arizona's immigration law.

Whitman was interviewed shortly before a judge issued a temporary injunction blocking much law of Arizona's law because of arguments it infringes on federal responsibility.

Whitman was pressed for her opinion on whether Arizona, as a state, had the right to enact such a law to deal with the problem of illegal immigration.

"I would let the law stand for Arizona," Whitman said.

Huffington Post blogger Chris Kelly has posted the audio to Whitman's interview here.

To court Latino voters, Whitman began airing Spanish-language TV ads during the recent World Cup soccer games and has kept it up. In one ad, a narrator says: "She respects our community. She is a Republican who opposes the Arizona law and she opposed Proposition 187 (California's 1994 measure that sought to deny public services to illegal immigrants)."

I guess it's good there's no such thing as a bilingual person, right? What? Oh, oh!

Giant Sucking Sound in Arizona

Migrants sell up, flee Arizona ahead of crackdown

The 'tough' state immigration crackdown starts on Thursday!

Reuters is reporting a boom in yard sales as migrants sell off their belongings, and legal residents, meaning their US-born children, are joining the scramble to leave.

The story starts with a Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks [sic, that should be hocks] a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block.

A few paces up the street, [because the reporter wants us to think he walked, in Phoenix? Yeah, right!] her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered." No, cornered would mean you're headed back to Nicaragua, right?

The U.S. government estimates 100,000 unauthorized migrants left Arizona after the state passed an employer sanctions law three years ago requiring companies to verify workers' status using a federal computer system. There are no figures for the number who have left since the new law passed in April. -- because they're un-documented - perhaps?

Some are heading back to Mexico or to neighboring states. Others are staying put and taking their chances. Best not break the law, then, eh, Pedro?

In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave -- or perhaps these folks are part of the exodus too?

"They wanted to drive Hispanics out of Arizona and they have succeeded even before the law even comes into effect," said Aguilar, 28, a mother of three young children who was also offering a few cherished pictures and a stereo at one of five sales on the same block.

She said she had taken in just $20 as "everyone is selling and nobody wants to buy."

LEGAL RESIDENTS FLEE - too.

Arizona straddles the principal highway for human and drug smugglers heading into the United States from Mexico.

The state's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed the law in April in a bid to curb violence and cut crime stemming from illegal immigration. -- AND, no one mentions, that Texas, New Mexico and California have beefed up their borders, AZ has been a bit behind to catch up, which to me says that AZ is the hole in the fence?

Opponents say the law is unconstitutional and a recipe for racial profiling. It is being challenged in seven lawsuits, including one filed by President Barack Obama's administration, which wants a preliminary injunction to block the law - which, if the Federal Government would perform it's duty, the State wouldn't have had to make that law - hey, just sayin'!

So, bottom line - if you're looking for work - there's some cheap ass apartments and a crap load of landscaping jobs opening up in AZ this week!

Mail Bag

Today's Mail comes from our reader C.K. who sends us this scan of a newspaper clipping about immigration and a boycott of Caucasian businesses.

Unfortunately, C.K., as much as that font looks just like the USA Today, this appears to have been created to make it look funny, and/or to support a political agenda.

In my search to verify the pulled-out-of-someone's-ass-statistics, I came across the following article at Snopes.com. Unfortunately for the gag writer, it seems that it's false.

But, as promised - I post everything I get. Thanks for the mail, C.K.!

Immigrants, legal and not

That's great and all, but before I give you a Taco Bell Choco Taco Ice Cream Dessert, let me just say that this whole thing isn't about LEGAL immigration, but in fact - ILLEGAL immigration. I cannot stand by when illegals are referred to as immigrants; It's downright insulting to those individuals that waited and followed the rules... including millions of folks ancestors who played by the rules and also the folks from your country who had to wait six or seven years to be granted legal status.

And frankly, I'm getting sick of the debate about what's going on in AZ, especially by people who haven't read the bill or cared to follow what's been going on there for years, without any action by ineffectual leadership.

But, but, you can get deported for "looking reasonably suspicious".

But you have to break the law first... I suggest you read the actual law and quit quoting journalists who never read it prior to formulating an opinion on it.

Now of course if Rosco P. Coltraine in Phoenix tails you until you perform your typical rolling stop, or have a Mexican flag blocking your rear windshield -- yeah, he's going to take advantage of that and find a legal reason to interact with you. If, after your minor traffic stop, you've come into the country illegally, well, Jésus, you're going to have to go back home.

And this also applies to Polish, and Eastern Europeans, and folks who 'accidentally' over stay a work or academic visa.

Now, the Pew Hispanic Center notes that while the number of legal immigrants (including LPRs, refugees, and asylees) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants.

Sunday Comics: Week in Review

And that was the week. Hope you had fun? See you next week.

New Law Allows More Mexicans To Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Home This Year!

¿documentos por favor?

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill Friday that requires AZ police in her state to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, which critics say will foster racial profiling but supporters say will reprimir la inmigración ilegal.

The bill requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them. The second act should have been the only act - but hey, who am I to judge what civil liberties or that silly prior restraint clause of the Constitution says... it's not like I work for the ACLU or something.

The Republican governor also issued an executive order that requires additional training for local officers on how to implement the law without engaging in racial profiling or discrimination. About that, how are you going to pull THAT off with a straight face? You're going to have to assault some white grandmas at the grocery store, and you're STILL not going to be taken seriously. This is going to go over about as well as not having Dr. MLKJr's birthday as a day off -- to quote a wiser comedian than I, "You gotta be pretty racist to not want a day off from work?!"~Chris Rock.

"This training will include what does and does not constitute reasonable suspicion that a person is not legally present in the United States," Brewer said after signing the bill.

"Racial profiling is illegal. It is illegal in America, and it's certainly illegal in Arizona," Brewer added. Which, as long as you ask everyone - it's okay. And that's SO NOT OKAY!

What will Arizona's immigration law do?

Previously, officers could check someone's immigration status only if that person was suspected in another crime. Whoa! Did you see how that was written? It is biased toward treating illegal immigration as the first crime! I'm on to you, you CNN Wire Staff that I cut'n'pasted this article from!

Mrs. Brewer's executive order was in response to critics who argue that the new law will lead to racial profiling, saying that most police officers don't have enough training to look past race while investigating a person's legal status.

"As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration, I am equally committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this stature ever be misused to violate an individual's rights," Brewer said.

She added that the law would probably be challenged in courts and that there are those outside Arizona who have an interest in seeing the state fail with the new measure.

"We cannot give them that chance. We must use this new tool wisely and fight for our safety with the honor Arizona deserves."

The bill is considered to be among the toughest immigration measures in the nation. Supporters say the measure is needed to fill a void left by the federal government's failure to enforce its immigration laws.Read the full text of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (PDF)

Its leading sponsor, state Sen. Russell Pearce, said this week, "Illegal is not a race; it's a crime."

"We're going to take the handcuffs off of law enforcement. We're going to put them on the bad guy," said Pearce, a Republican.

Another Republican state Sen. Frank Antenori said the biggest reason he supported the bill was because a rancher in one of the counties he represents was murdered by someone who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico illegally. He said the person of interest in the killing had crossed the border numerous times and cited other similar violent crimes.

"The citizens of this state are tired of the catch and release that is going on by the federal government where they grab people, they process them, and they take them back and drop them on the other side of the border," Antenori said. "They just come back, and we have no border security down here."

After the signing, the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, which had opposed the measure, issued a statement saying, "law enforcement professionals in the State of Arizona will enforce the provisions of the new law to the best of their abilities."

The state's largest police union, the Arizona Police Association, is in favor of the law.

And so do Arizona VOTERS: Which explains everything.

Fifty three percent of likely Arizona voters are concerned that the state's tough new law targeting illegal immigrants will also be used to violate the civil rights of United States citizens.

The majority of them support it anyway.