Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Another View Of Immigration Sweeps

CMPD UNDERCOVER SWEEPS
Last Friday the Costa Mesa Police Department engaged in an undercover operation designed to crackdown on people illegally soliciting work on our street corners. According to the article in the Daily Pilot, HERE, 11 "criminals" were arrested for this "crime", ten of whom subsequently proved to be in this country illegally. Those men were apparently deported post haste.


WHO COMPLAINED?
This operation,
according to the Daily Pilot report, was launched because of "some complaints in the community". Those complainants were not identified, but anyone following politics in this city for the past decade will have a pretty good idea who "they" are, and why they complained, HERE.

I DO NOT SUPPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

I've made my views known for a long time on the subject of illegal immigration
- I DO NOT support illegal immigration. However, the prospect of attempting to deport upwards of 12 million people living and working in this country illegally seemed to be not only impractical, but impossible. I firmly believe most of those folks were doing difficult, dirty jobs - many of which simply wouldn't be done by legal residents. They are still doing them - or trying to do them.

DOMINO EFFECT IN THE LABOR MARKET
However, with our econo
my in the tank thanks to our trainee President and his stupid programs, many of the jobs those folks held have gone by the wayside, along with hundreds of thousands of other jobs further up the food chain. So, folks losing higher paying jobs are having to settle for anything they can find, including some of those jobs being done by illegal immigrants. This, of course, has created much stress.

CRISSY BROOKS IN THE DAILY VOICE
Today, in the fledgling Newport-Mesa Daily Voice, Crissy Brooks - who, according to the Daily Voice, is "the executive director of Mika Community Development Corp, a faith-based nonprofit whose mission is to identify and equip leaders in low-income neighborhoods" - wrote a very poignant commentary addressing this sweep from a "those-left-behind" standpoint. I hope you will take the opportunity to read her commentary, HERE.

CMPD SHOULD GO AFTER "REAL" CRIMINALS

I hope the folks at the top in the CMPD will reassess their position on immigration sweeps and redirect their efforts toward the real criminals in our midst - those who engage in identity theft, run red lights and injure folks, etc.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Tom Johnson said...

Thanks for the plug Geoff. Crissy did a nice job that expressed some very real feelings.

9/30/2009 11:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Brock said...

Darn those bad policemen! What gives them the right to enforce our countries laws? So what if a few illegal immigrants like to smuggle drugs into our country ruining lives and tearing apart families. So what if they traffic humans into our country and then extort them for money. So what if a few of them kill US citizens including police officers. So what if they take jobs US citizens can use in this economy. I'm with you lets go after the real criminals! Those who engage in identity theft, run red lights and injure folks, etc. because we all know illegal immigrants would never do any of that.

My favorite part is when you say you don’t support illegal immigration but say you want our police to not enforce immigration law and go after the real criminals instead. Who are the real criminals US citizens?

10/01/2009 02:31:00 PM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Anonymous "Brock", I just want the CMPD to prioritize.... those guys looking for jobs were much less a threat to public safety than you are when you roll through a stop sign or drive 10 mph over the speed limit in a residential neighborhood.

10/01/2009 09:27:00 PM  
Blogger Humberto said...

Months ago I used my debit card at a gas station in Costa Mesa. When I checked my account two days later, my money in my checking account was wiped out. I immediately reported to the police and my bank. That week my bank alone lost, according to a teller, more than half a million due to identity theft. I want those criminals to get behind bars, not my little friends' dads.

10/02/2009 12:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Bradwhg said...

Would you be so quick to discount illegal workers as harmless if you had to compete against them for a job?

"much Less a threat"
And can you testify that each and everyone of those willing workers have not committed serious crimes? The fact is you just do not know who these people are. They were never screened for diseases or checked for criminal back grounds.

When the local LEOs do not enforce immigration laws, it gives many in the public the idea that it is legal to hire these guys. It isn't.

And what about the safety of your family and children? Would you have no problem with 20 or more men of any ethnicity hanging out on a corner in your neighborhood? Would you be OK with them making lewd gestures, cat calling and harassing your wife, girl friend or daughter?

Or how about the illegal alien that has active TB. You know, the one guy who lives in a single family home with 2 families and assorted other individuals. That one individual not only exposes the entire group to TB, but all the workers he stands with on the corner and the children in the house that also attend public school. Not to mention the people he works for.

And finally if some of those willing workers who just want to support their families were using your SS number to gain employment, would you be more then happy to pay their income taxes?

Immigration laws were written to protect the American public and to benefit the citizens of this country. Every law enforcement officer should be required to help enforce those laws.

10/02/2009 07:54:00 AM  
Blogger Bruce Krochman said...

It seems you have a new fan club here Geoff!

10/02/2009 12:15:00 PM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Oh, yeah... the next thing you know they'll want to be a Facebook friend! :-)

10/02/2009 12:19:00 PM  
Blogger mesa verde madman said...

Yep, those 11 fellas were a clear danger to all of us in Newport Mesa...

10/02/2009 08:00:00 PM  
Blogger T Rodriguez said...

I think a more serious problem than day workers soliciting business on street corners is the peripheral arguments of illegal immigration get much more play than the major issues. Fact of the matter, Brock & Brad, very few illegal immigrants traffic humans into our country and kill US citizens or even take jobs from US citizens or engage in identity theft. Just because someone has an ss number doesn't mean they stole your identity. The name has to match!! How many Hispanics do you know with names like Brock and Brad? These peripheral boogeyman arguments often put forth by nativists and neo-nazis take focus off the real problem behind unauthorized immigration into the US which has to do with corporate industry.

When agro-business dumps highly subsidized farm products in Mexico without tariff protections, it has consequences in the US because it displaces workers who need to find a job. When the US does business with Mexico and other "free trade" partners but doesn't require substantial reforms like the EU does of its poorer member nations, because the large profit gains from cheap labor and resources boost the industry's stock profile, it has immigration consequences in the US.

Fact is Brock and Brad, unless you are a nativist or a skinhead, you have more in common with unauthorized immigrants than you know because sooner or later corporate greed is going to find a way to make money at your expense and the expense of your families. It's already started. Check what you made in 1980 compared to what you make today. Chances are you haven't seen much of a rise and most have seen a decline. Then see how CEOs and other executives have done over that time period. They're getting richer. We're getting poorer.

So you may want to direct your anger away from the day laborers on street corners and the unauthorized workers at your favorite hotel and focus it on the causes instead. Because those big bad causes are coming for you too.

I hope I don't see you on a street corner in the State of Oaxaca anytime soon, amigos!

10/02/2009 08:53:00 PM  
Anonymous marvich said...

"And can you testify that each and everyone of those willing workers have not committed serious crimes?"

Same can be said about your friends and neighbors.

10/03/2009 12:01:00 AM  

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