There has been a nerved touched on both sides of the immigration debate, related to Pope Benedict’s statements on ensuring immigrants are treated humanely and respectfully, and that the well-being of families of immigrants be protected. To be sure, there are many who think the Pope was saying we should just throw open our borders and let people do what they will. Their take is the Holy Father was saying we should not have immigration laws, let alone enforce them. You’ll be hearing a lot on those things.

Don’t get caught up in the rhetoric generated by a very simple statement made by the Holy Father.

I hear that Tom Tancredo took offense to the Pope’s words. He should not have. The Holy Father is not telling America to stop prosecuting illegal immigrants. Neither is the pontiff suggesting amnesty for those who have families in the US - maybe members of which are considered citizens under the eyes of the law. Do not assume we can’t ensforce our laws in such a way as to maintain the dignity of those who are impacted by the enforcement.

There are things we can do much better in the way we handle immigration enforcement. Welfare checks at a person’s home if they are detained. Let’s make sure we don’t have children getting home from school without someone there to protect them. Let us also ensure we make every effort to contact someone in the detainee’s family so they know what is going on - give these folks their phone call, like anyone else gets who is detained for an alleged crime.

The issue is not really about immigration - it is about how we handle enforcement.

Non-Catholics will get confused (actually, so will many Catholics) by the weight of the Holy Father’s words. He is infallible with respect to Catholic doctrine - and that applies to the dignity of human life. It is part of the gospel - in this sense, his words about protecting the dignity of others and stopping violence is directly related to our doctrine. However, you cannot spin this theme as a call upon Catholics to support illegal immigration. It is not violent to enforce immigration law, any more than it is violent to enforce drug laws. The manner in which people are treated during the enforcement of laws is the issue at hand.

The following is a transcript from yesterday’s No Pundit Intended talk radio show:

Incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has drawn a great deal of support from Muslims – even from high-profile activists for Hamas. Livingstone is a controversial figure in England for many reasons, but he has garnered favor by Muslims because of his beliefs about diversity – if you believe the rhetoric. I don’t.

Livingstone is one of those kinds of guys who perpetuate the very lack of assimilation of their immigrant population directly correlating to the identity of those immigrants in British society. Britain is in an identity crisis. When the Archbishop of Canterbury makes a case of Sharia courts in Britain, you know you have a problem.

Let me give you a window into this from the perspective of Muslims themselves. This information is from the Pew Research Center.

65% of the US Muslim population is foreign born and the majority of that is fairly recent immigration – less than 10 years. Compare this to Britain – where Muslim immigration has spanned 300 years and a large percentage is native born.

In the Unites States – 47% of Muslims think of themselves as Muslims before Americans. That is amazingly low, as you think many of these people may not yet BE Americans. In Britain, 81% of the Muslim population thinks of themselves as Muslims first. Now the thinking in both Britain and the US that things are better for Women averages about the same – 60%. About 50% in both countries are very concerned about “Islamic-extremism”.

The difference in opinion about income between the two countries, however, is staggering. Only 2% of American Muslims feel they are paid lower than the general public for their respective jobs. Yet, 22% of British Muslims feel they are paid lower wages than their British counterparts. Now, whether this is real or perceived no one knows – the importance is that this perception exists.

Britain and France lead the world in programs and rhetoric around “diversity” – yet they have more extremist activity and their populations are obviously less assimilated. “Diversity” for the sake of diversity doesn’t work. It removes the identity from society – especially the immigrant portions of that society. And this ties back directly to how immigration works or should work in the US. To be allowed the privilege of staying in the US long-term or the ultimate privilege of becoming a citizen of this great nation, you have to want to be an American. You have to want to learn about what made this country what it is – because THAT my friends is the heart of the American dream. You can go to a dozen countries with little and become successful – that is not particularly an American thing. The American Dream is about having that same ability in a place where people understand that government recognizes your inherent human rights. Where the government is not thought of as benevolent by “granting” you rights you already posses by simply being a child of God. That is what living the American Dream really means – don’t let anyone tell you it is nothing more than the ability to get rich.

Something just came up, I want to leave you with – Although every official in China and Zimbabwe has denied it. There is a rumor that Chinese troops are patrolling the streets of Mukare to assist Robert Mugabe’s efforts to again violently quell any opposition to his government. We can only be thankful that we live in this great nation. This place where dreams truly do come true.

God Bless you and Glod Bless America.

You can’t describe it any other way - pure hypocrisy.

The Leftists have been screaming for “immigration reform” because of the plight of the poor people (who have a 3.8% unemployment rate) of Mexico. They have been extolling the world about how hard it is to get into the US legallyand using this as an excuse against securing the border. We need “guest workers” and “a path to citizenship”, despite the fact that we already have 13 guest worker programs and there is a path to citizenship. But, the battle continues from the Leftists to make it more equitable for people who want to come to the US and do the “jobs no American will do”.

Explain this to me then:

Republicans in congress are trying to double the number of H2B visas  currently available for seasonal industries workers. We are talking about doubling the number of people who can legally enter the US to do some of those jobs “no American will do.” You would think the cogressional Democrats would be all in, right? The Leftists who are so concerned with the plight of these foreign workers are all for this issue right? Doublinbg the capacity of one of our current guest worker programs is a good thing to these Leftists, correct?

No - they are opposing it.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus doesn’t want the H-2B bill to move forward alone because it is pursuing comprehensive immigration reform. Last year, a broad immigration bill died in the Senate during a rancorous debate about enforcement and a path toward residency for illegal workers.

Republicans blame Democratic leadership for holding up the H-2B bill. Boustany needs 218 House members to sign a “discharge petition” that would allow the bill to bypass committee action and go straight to the House floor.

Stupak is one name that won’t be appearing on the document. “My discussions with House leadership continue and I remain hopeful that they will lead to the quick action needed for seasonal businesses in northern Michigan and across the country,” Stupak said in a statement.

Rice, sugar, shellfish producers and construction firms are suffering in Louisiana, according to Boustany.

“They can’t find the workforce,” Boustany said at a Capitol Hill press conference. “They depended on H-2B visas over the years to meet these needs. This is good policy that’s being held hostage by politics.”

You see the hypocrisy? Again, the Leftists are showing their true colors. They are not concerned for the foreign workers. They are concerned that the Republicans will be seen as the benefactor to foreign workers.They are also concerned that they will loose power.

The truth is simple - Leftists understand that their power comes from being seen as a the benefactor to a burgeoning hispanic population. They don’t want workers to come in to the US, work at their jobs, and then go home. The Leftists want more poor people to come to the US and stay - while remaining poor -  so the government can be the benefactor. This is the only way Leftists remain powerful - by keeping people dependent upon them.

This is the benefit of big government. It is the only benefit of big government.

Now that fingerprinting is used to identify and segregate illegal immigrants apprehended in the Tucson Sector, a great deal more is known about many of the illegal immigrants crossing the border.

“The Tucson Sector gets a lot of sex offenders and we average at least one or two a week throughout the sector.”  Gonzalez references a man wearing a blue t-shirt.  “He served 2 1/2 years in jail for sexual conduct with a minor.”

Agents knew that because they ran his fingerprints. “He could have told us whatever we wanted and that’s what we have to go on.  But with his fingerprints you can’t hide that,” said Gonzalez.

I have always said that the importance of an secure border and enforceable immigration laws is based upon the need to know who is coming into the country and whether or not we want them here. We have enough of our own sex offenders in the United States without importing them from other countries.

Here is yet another example of the “everything is equal” thought process, which makes discussing politics with some people totally useless.

To the Editor:

The political cartoon of Feb. 26 suggested some connection between the tragic Cottonwood bus accident and the fact that the person apparently at fault is an illegal immigrant. By precisely the same logic, we might suggest that, since the driver is female, we ought not to let women drive. She is 24, so maybe we need to ban everyone under 30 from driving. She had black hair, so …

The point, of course, is that accidents are caused by bad driving, not by immigration status or gender or age or hair color.

When I complained that the cartoon was racist, Mr. Anderson (R-E, March 1) replied that race has nothing to do with it. Perhaps he is right, but if racism isn’t the cause of such irrational thinking, what is?

So, there is a moral equivalent between being involved in illegal activity and being a female under 30?

The point you should be taking away is that if someone is driving a vehicle illegally, because they are in the country illegally, we really don’t know whether they are a bad driver or not. This accident was not caused SIMPLY by bad driving. It was caused by a bad driver, who had no no authority to operate a motor vehicle, primarily because she was not authorized to be in the country.

The cartoon is only racist to someone who believes that illegal immigration is an issue of race - that somehow people should be allowed to act outside the law because their race mandates we should expect less of them. In short, only a racist would apply such irrational thinking to something which is clearly not an issue of race.

So, Let me answer your question. The cause of such “irrational” thinking is simple:

Kids are dead because this particular lady had no respect for our laws.

Congratulations Guadalupe Martinez and Family!

MARSHALL — Guadalupe Martinez, 53, doesn’t know all the words to a song her co-workers played for her at the party they threw to celebrate her receiving her citizenship. But there’s one line she can sing, so she does, from time to time: “American woman, listen what I say…”

Her daughter, Guadalupe “Lupita” Martinez, 22, can’t help but giggle when her mom bursts out in song.

The elder Guadalupe still can’t get the tune out of her head, though she received her U.S. citizenship in January. The gift she received from her co-workers — a cowboy hat with an American flag band and strung with four red, white, and blue balloons — has a place of honor next to the family’s altar of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

After 17 years as legal residents, Guadalupe and Lupita decided last year that it was time to go through the citizenship process. The mother, an educator for parents in the Marshall School District, and her daughter, a journalism student at MU, became U.S. citizens on Jan. 17, Guadalupe’s birthday. Partly, they were motivated by wanting to vote in the next election.

Read the rest>>> 

Subtitle: Another MSM Misdirection

 NORTH COUNTY– The president of the MEChA club at Palomar College has been deported to Mexico, immigration officials said Wednesday.

Paola Oropeza, 22, was arrested Jan. 8 by a fugitive operations team with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for the department in San Diego.

So, we have an illegal alien working as an activist for not only illegal immigration, but the re-capture of the “lost territories of Mexico” (Southwestern United States), who is also a student in a college of the country he hates.

ICE deported him (drum roll, please) to Tijuana.  Which means he’ll be back in an hour or two.

And what does the “journalist” have to say about MeChA?

MEChA, or Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, is a Latino student group with chapters in high schools and colleges. It focuses on empowerment through education as well as political, cultural and social awareness.

Bunk - Aztlan refers to the territory the US “stole” from Mexico. MeChA is about revolution against the United States.

It goes like this:

All of a sudden, Assistant HR Managers around the US are in jeopardy of being charged with crimes for hiring illegal immigrants.

Sometime soon, perhaps by the end of this month, Christopher Lamb may plead guilty to harboring an illegal alien. Lamb, 37, was a human resources assistant manager at Swift & Co., among the largest beef and pork processors in the U.S. As immigration emerges as one of the most contentious issues of this election season, his case is emblematic of newly aggressive tactics against management by the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE.

To these people, the government is at fault for enforcing existing laws. The exploitative hiring practices designed to do nothing more than increase profits are not the problem. A culture of lawbreaking by these companies is not the problem.

For years there has been an implicit understanding among businesses that need workers, illegal immigrants willing to do those jobs, communities that benefit from such commerce, and a government that rarely intervened. Now that understanding has been torn apart.

The above statement is nothing more than a lie. The communities are made of the same people who are tired of the burden of illegal immigration. The government is made of people elected by those in the community. The implicit understanding is only between the illegal immigrants and the businesses that need workers well below the cost of a citizen.

If a business cannot compete with others in their industry without breaking the law, maybe they don’t belong in business.

Hillary is having a tough time with a policy decision regarding giving driver licenses to illegal immigrants. It seems, she is not quite sure what her policy should be:

First, Hillary is for the measure, if Governors are for it. Maybe.

October 16, Hillary supports Spitzer’s actions to spark action at the federal level to bring illegal immigrants out of the dark.

October 30, Hillary states Spitzer is proposing the illegal immigrant driver’s license because President Bush has not signed any bills into law bringing about immigration reform - omitting that her party, which controls both houses, has been unable to present such a bill to the president. Then she retracts her support of the measure in the same debate. then she supports it again.

October 31 - she Supports the measure

November 2 - she supports it generally, but doesn’t know all the details

November 4 - She’s not for or against it, but she supports Governor Spitzer’s efforts because it is President Bush’s fault.

November 13 - She supports it depending on what state it’s in.

November 14 - “As President, I will not support drivers’ licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system.”

What is most interesting to me is she acknowledges in the November 13 interview that there are a great number of people in her home state who are not there legally. If she knows they are breaking the law, why does she not call for the law to be enforced? Isn’t one of the first rules of life in our society that if you don’t like a law, you change it - not break it? Is that not her first duty to the constituents of her state?

The DREAM Act would ensure children who were brought into the United States before they were 16 by their illegal immigrant parents had a path to citizenship. The path being that the children “planned” to attend college or “planned” to join the military.

First, I can understand why it was called the DREAM Act. Whoever proposed this insidious piece of legislation must have been dreaming to think it would get enough votes to pass. But you can’t ignore the insidious nature of this proposal. The lack of any manageable criteria on the part of the child makes this proposal untenable. How do you enforce someone’s plans to go to college or the military? What if they do nto qualify for either, do we allow them to take that path to citizenship because they had good intentions? Additionally, this proposal creates an entire new class of anchor babies. A measure such as this would actually increase illegal immigration to the United States, as it provides an incentive with no cost.

What proponents of this measure hope to achieve is break down the arguments against amnesty, one demographic group at a time. If you are born here, you are a citizen. Next, if you are brought here you can become a citizen. After that it will be, if you brought someone you can be a citizen. The goal of these guys is to create generations of people completely dependent on government for their very lives. This is how they intend to stay in power.

Another wonder I have about this legislation - Democrats are always lamenting about the possible plight of anchor babies in the US. Why would they propose to create more?

Secure the border first. After that we can discuss what to do about those illegal immigrants already here - I’m open to all kinds of ideas, maybe even some form of amnesty. To the Lefties, you can keep DREAMing, but we are not buying what you have to sell.