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Archive for December 22nd, 2007

Law Enforcement Hampered by Sanctuary City Advocates

Posted by Jim Kouri On December - 22 - 2007

A citizen of Ecuador was captured by the New York City Police Department and charged with rape, criminal sex act & endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years probation. The victim was a twelve year old girl.
 
“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is committed to insuring the public safety of our communities and we will not tolerate the actions of sexual predators and those who threaten the welfare of our children,” said New York ICE Acting Special Agent in Charge Salvatore Dalessandro.
 
“If you are preying on our children, we are going to find you; and if you are not a US citizen, we will deport you. We will continue to partner with New York City Probation Department and other law enforcement agencies to this end,” he warned.

However, as SAIC Dalessandro noted, it was probation officers, and not police officers, who notified ICE about the child predator. Members of the New York City Police Department are prohibited from informing federal agencies about illegal aliens who are arrested for felony or misdemeanor crimes.
 
More and more American police commanders and officers are witnessing the growing and disturbing trend of cities and localities instructing law officers to ignore an individual’s immigration status during the course of their duties.

“This practice negates our immigration laws when our local leaders refuse to assist in managing the growing lawbreaking population in our great nation,” said former New York City police detective Sid Francis.

“When cities proclaim that they will not check immigration status, they essentially become a safe haven for not only out-of-status immigrants, but also criminal aliens who have often committed violent atrocities in our country,” said the decorated detective and former US Marine.

Advocates for increasing US border security and controlling immigration point to the thwarted terrorist plots at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in Germany and in South Carolina are some of the latest examples of the continued desire of anti-American forces to inflict harm on the United States and its allies.

“While we are engaged in a global fight for freedom, why would any American city enact policies that give unknown illegal immigrants sanctuary from detection, arrest or prosecution?” asks Police Officer Edna Aguayo, who comes from a family of cops.

“Instead of working side-by-side with federal authorities, state officials are putting their citizens at risk by erecting barriers to cooperation and enforcement,” she said.

Many Americans believe that federal funds should be denied to cities and towns that declare themselves a “Sanctuary City.”

However, in November, when asked by Fox News if he believed his Department had the authority to deny Homeland Security funds to cities or municipalities that took steps to provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff replied, “I don’t know that I have the authority to cut off all Homeland Security funds if I disagree with the city’s policy on immigration.”

“As the number of sanctuary cities in the US grows, it is time Congress gives [Chertoff] that authority and lets these cities know that they can not selectively choose to enforce our laws,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

“Just about every cop I’ve spoken with told me that they feel hampered by politicians who care more about political power than they do about protecting the lives and property of the American people,” Baker said.

For example, research in the area of child predators is disturbing and, at times, out and out shocking.  Det. Francis studied arrest reports involving criminal aliens who committed child sex crimes including Julio Cesar Rabago-Magana, a Mexican man who sexually assaulted a four-year-old child in a basement in Minneapolis, Minn. Rabago-Magana pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. After serving his criminal sentence, he was arrested by Immigration agents at his St. Paul home and deported six days later.

“The illegal immigration problem is allowing hundreds of thousands of criminal aliens to invade our nation and kill, maim, rob and abuse our citizens, ” one Border Patrol agent told Newswithviews.com. Research revealed that in one 9-month period the federal government arrested over 100,000 criminal aliens. These arrests do not include arrests made by state and local law enforcement.

Det. Francis adds that our political leaders and the mainstream news media practically ignore this issue and pro-illegal immigration advocates resort to name-calling to silence anyone who attempts to sound the alarm.

“If anything, the President and the two houses of Congress are actually helping these fiends enter the US to assault citizens and their children. They appear more intent on locking up border patrol agents that stopping illegal alien thugs,” said Baker.
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) has introduced H.R. 3531, the Accountability in Enforcing Immigration Laws Act of 2007. This bill clarifies that state and local law enforcement officials have the authority to investigate, apprehend, and arrest any illegal immigrant apprehended in the course of routine duties.

“Those law enforcement agencies that help the federal government enforce immigration laws would receive additional federal funding to help with the costs of detention,” said Rep. Brown-Waite in a press release.

“Sanctuary cities, on the other hand, would have 25 percent of non-emergency federal Homeland Security funding revoked if they refuse to change their policies within 6 months. H.R. 3531 also gives the Secretary the authority to withhold up to 50 percent of federal funds,” she said.

“When cities proclaim that they will not check immigration status, they essentially become a safe haven for not only out-of-status immigrants, but criminal aliens who have often committed violent atrocities in our country,” said Lt. Steve Rogers, a police commander from northern New Jersey.

“Imagine that Mohammed Atta or one of the other 9/11 hijackers, who were in the country illegally, had a city they could reside in to plot terrorist attacks with no fear of ever being checked or deported. We run the risk of inviting terror into these cities,” he added.
Illegal immigration opponent Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) sponsored a measure, which he says would apply to cities such as Denver and Boulder in his home state. He was elated by its passage, which stunned critics and supporters alike.

However, critics point out that the Littleton Republican’s amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill appears to have no language specifically defining what a “sanctuary city” is. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has long disputed giving his city that label.

“The issue has come to fruition,” Tancredo said in a press release. “The people of the country really have spoken. It’s a really good indicator of just how much closer to the people the House is than the Senate is.”

Tancredo has introduced similar amendments at least seven other times since 2004, but each has failed — often by wide margins. But already the House passed the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which now goes to the Senate. It would have to be signed by the president to become law.

A year ago, Tancredo and other immigration foes unveiled billboards in Denver, including one with a mock declaration: “Welcome to SANCTUARY CITY . . . Relax, you made it! Brought to you by Executive Order 116.” The billboard referred to a 1998 order issued by then-Denver Mayor Wellington Webb that outlines the city’s anti-discrimination stance regarding immigrants.

“There are no ordinances, executive orders or regulations that establish a ’sanctuary policy’ in Denver,” the mayor’s spokesperson, Lindy Eichenbaum-Lent, said at the time. “Denver’s policies comply with federal law, and Denver law enforcement officers cooperate with federal officials on immigration matters. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said Denver is not a sanctuary city, so merely erecting a misleading billboard doesn’t make it true.”

The proposed amendment comes as the Senate is poised to take up debate again on an immigration reform plan that some opponents criticize as giving amnesty to illegal immigrants. President Bush, who supports the Senate’s reform plan, sweetened the deal this week by agreeing to include $4.4 billion for border security. The Senate had put the reform bill on ice because it lacked enough support to bring to a vote.

Tancredo said his amendment is an indicator that the House would crush the reform plan if it passes in the Senate.

“If I were [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi, I’d be asking if she could pass a vote on amnesty on the House side,” Tancredo said. “If she lost 50 Democrats on this one, and she says she needs 70 Republicans to pass the immigration plan, this is an interesting indicator of things coming down the pike, and that the times, they are a-changing.”

Recently three Newark college students — were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were then shot to death at close range. A fourth victim was found alive about 30 feet away, with gunshot and knife wounds to her head.

These weren’t “throw-away kids” or gang members or “dopers,” said Lt. Rogers. “These were decent, wholesome youngsters from good families looking forward to the upcoming school year. That is until they were gunned down execution-style — by an illegal alien who should not have been in the country in the first place!”

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com.  He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.  His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us
   

American homeschooling family in Germany won’t be put out in the cold for Christmas

Posted by Alliance Defense Fund On December - 22 - 2007

ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
December 22, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020

Officials agree not to deport family for homeschooling their children while their ADF-funded legal battle moves forward

UEHLFELD, Germany — German officials have agreed not to deport an American missionary family for homeschooling their children while their legal battle funded in part by the Alliance Defense Fund moves forward. ADF-allied attorney Dr. Ronald Reichert has been working with the International Human Rights Group and the Home School Legal Defense Association to help the family.

“Parents should be the ones responsible for making educational choices for their children—not the government,” said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull. “German officials have been trying to force this American family to turn over their children to the German school system against their will. They do not deserve to be deported simply because they desire to educate their own children, and we are pleased they won’t be for the time being.”

Clint and Susan Robinson and their three children arrived in Germany in March. The Baptist family requested a residency permit upon their arrival, as the law requires. Officials denied the permit based on the fact that the Robinsons wanted to homeschool their children instead of turning them over to the government-run school system.

Officials originally set a deportation date of Dec. 20 but granted an extension Thursday following negotiations with Reichert and others representing the Robinsons.

“More needs to be done to ensure that the Robinsons will not eventually be deported simply for engaging in responsible parenting. ADF will continue to offer legal assistance and fund the defense of parental rights in such situations,” Bull said.

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

www.telladf.org

ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
December 22, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020

University officials agree to drop unconstitutional speech policy challenged by ADF attorneys

 

PADUCAH, Ky. — Murray State University can no longer silence a Christian from expressing his faith. After officials at the school agreed to drop an unconstitutional speech policy, Alliance Defense Fund attorneys moved to dismiss their lawsuit against MSU. The court granted the motion Friday.

“Christians should never be treated as second-class citizens simply for choosing to express their faith in public areas,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “We are pleased with MSU officials’ decision, which will not only restore our client’s free speech rights, but ensure that no one else is silenced in the future. We only regret that a federal lawsuit was required to force MSU to recognize these important rights.”

In 2004, university officials informed James Gilles, who speaks and distributes literature on campuses nationwide, that he was no longer permitted to utilize public areas on campus. Prior to that decision, Gilles was a frequent visitor to the campus for more than two decades. ADF filed suit on behalf of Gilles in 2006 after he was told that campus policy required speakers to secure a “sponsorship” in order to continue their free speech activities (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3867).

An MSU official initially agreed to sponsor Gilles’ literature distribution, but not his right to speak orally. After Gilles declined, the offer was withdrawn and school officials later barred Gilles from ever participating in either activity on campus. The new policy removes arbitrary decision-making and allows Christians to be treated like anyone else wishing to speak on the property.

A copy of the voluntary dismissal filed in Gilles v. Dunn in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/GillesDismissal.pdf.

“Universities are not permitted to discriminate against speakers based on the content of their message,” Kellum said. “Since the school will no longer enforce the discriminatory policy prohibiting religious speech, it is no longer necessary to continue litigation in this case.”

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

www.telladf.org

Christmas returns to the Santa Clara Valley

Posted by Alliance Defense Fund On December - 22 - 2007

ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
December 22, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020

After receiving ADF letter, water district changes course and allows employees to post religious displays

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. — After receiving a letter from attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, the Santa Clara Valley Water District lifted restrictions that barred employees from displaying any religious symbols and decorations celebrating Christmas at their workplace.

“This misguided censorship was just another example of the disinformation regarding Christmas that exists as part of the larger war being waged against anything and everything Christian by secular Leftist groups,” said ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler. “A policy prohibiting all religious decorations clearly violates the First Amendment. We commend the district for doing the right thing for its employees by clarifying its policy.”

On Dec. 10, the Santa Clara Valley Water District sent an e-mail to employees that included a link to the district’s holiday display guidelines, which said that religious symbols and decorations “should not be used at a public agency such as the district.” All decorations were to be of a “non-religious nature.” T. Aaron Carmichael, a water district employee, wanted to display a picture of Jesus Christ, a nativity scene, and Bible verses related to Christmas, but was prohibited from doing so under the guidelines.

Friday, ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler and ADF Litigation Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker sent a letter, on behalf of Carmichael, explaining how the district’s policy was unconstitutional. On Tuesday, the district sent out an e-mail to all employees that clarified the district’s policy and affirmed employees’ right to display religious items in their cubicles and offices.

A copy of the letter sent to the Santa Clara Valley Water District can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CarmichaelLetter.pdf.

“ADF will continue to protect the right to publicly celebrate Christmas as well as other constitutionally-protected religious liberties that come under attack,” said Chandler. “Common sense and the Constitution clearly prevailed in this case.”

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

www.telladf.org   www.saychristmas.org

Christmas Dinner Hurts Mother Earth?

Posted by Sharon Hughes On December - 22 - 2007

Well, the ‘Green Grinches’ are at it again.

The BBC reports that A carbon footprint equivalent to 6,000 car journeys around the world, or 51,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, will be produced by Christmas dinner in the UK. Cranberry sauce alone, which is normally imported to Britain from North America, contributes half the carbon footprint related to transport, as calculated by those doing the study on the production, processing and transportation costs of the festive ingredients, for one third of the UK population that they estimate eats a typical Christmas dinner.

Professor Adisa Azapagic, from the University of Manchester, said: “Food production and processing are responsible for three quarters of the total carbon footprint, with the largest proportion - 60% - being related to the life cycle of the turkey. All stages in the supply chain have been considered, including raising the turkey, growing the vegetables, food storage, consumer shopping, cooking the meal at home and waste management. This includes the emissions of carbon dioxide due to energy consumption along the turkey supply chain and the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide generated due to the agricultural activities to raise the turkey.” Read the Full Story here.I’m speechless.

You know what’s really unbelievable about this? These folks get paid, get grants. Get big bucks! to do this kind of research. What’s next? Who knows. These “Green Grinches” also don’t want sweethearts to give roses on Valentine’s Day. But that’s another story. Happy Eating!

© Sharon Hughes 2007

Sharon Hughes is Founder and President of The Center for Changing Worldviews and a radio talk show host on KDIA in San Francisco, NPLR, RIGHTALK.com, and online at Salem Web Network’s Oneplace.com. Her articles appear in many recognized news sites and publications, including FRONTPAGEMAG. She also writes for NewsBusters.org, a division of The Media Research Center, and has appeared on FOX News and other national radio programs. For further information visit her Websites www.changingworldviews.com, WOMANTalk.us, and Blog http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com. Or Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com