Expose Obama
May 20th, 2010By Ben Fuller, AP
Obama wants Republicans to help him overhaul immigrationConfronting soaring frustration over illegal immigration, President Barack Obama on Wednesday condemned Arizona’s crackdown and pushed instead for a federal fix the nation could embrace. He said that will never happen without Republican support, pleading: "I need some help."
In asking anew for an immigration overhaul, Obama showed solidarity with his guest of honor, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who called Arizona’s law discriminatory and warned Mexico would reject any effort to "criminalize migration." The United States and Mexico share a significant economic and political relationship that stands to be damaged the more the nations are at odds over immigration, which affects millions of people on both sides of the border.
Obama sought to show that he, too, is fed up with his own government’s failure to fix a system widely seen as broken. He said that would require solving border security, employment and citizenship issues all at once – the kind of effort that collapsed in Congress just three years ago.
The president’s stand underscored the forces working against him in this election year: the need for help from Republican critics, the impatience of states like Arizona after federal inaction, the pressure to show movement on a campaign promise, and the mood of the public disgusted by porous borders.
The Arizona law requires police to question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally, and it makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. People may be questioned about their status if they’ve been stopped by police who are in the process of enforcing another law.
Note: Obama's condemnations are interesting - wrong, but interesting. He condemned Israel for insulting him by announcing plans to continue to build in East Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. He condemns Arizona for taking the lead in Immigration Laws that the federal govenment has ignored for over, or at least these past 20 years, or more. After 9/11, one of the purposes of Homeland Security was to coordinate governmental departments, including the Dept. of Immigration, to help make America "safer" and her borders more secure.
Recent terrorist attacks and the uprise of crimes and kidnapping in the state of Arizona, from illegals crossing Mexico's border are examples that after almost ten years, Americans are not one ounce safer than the day before 9/11; nor has Homeland Security, and other government agencies sought to find common ground to maintain our borders and prevent criminals from corssing over and hiding among the citizens of America.
For a president to condemn one of America's state's for becoming a leader in following the laws of this nations is outrageous. I believe Obama must have slept through his Harvard years, or he would KNOW the laws and defend Arizona's right to protect her state - he would use Arizona as a stepping stone to help defend the borders of the Untied States.
Bee Sting
and, here is a message from one living in the great state of Arizona:
Well, we Arizonans are certainly in the news these days. Couldn't get any media's attention for years, as we struggled with our myriad problems with the drug wars and illegal immigrant issues became increasingly desperate. But now that we've passed an enforcement law, all the networks and night talk show hosts and Hollywood types are coming out of the woodwork.
Just to set a few things straight--which you will NOT see or hear in the media:
* 72 percent of ALL adult Arizonans support this new law. We are not racist, and we are not bigots. We are in crisis.
* Between 60 and 63 percent (depending on the poll) of legal Hispanics in Arizona support this new law (they are equally offended and endangered by illegal immigration- -violence and taxes and compromised schools and closed hospitals know no skin color!) One Hispanic gentleman in Phoenix said he waited 11 years to legally enter the U.S. , and said in a T.V. interview, "We are being overrun, and our way of life is being threatened."
* Do not believe what you see on the national news about this law. It does NOT give law enforcement the right to pull anyone over because they "look Hispanic." It does NOT give law enforcement the right to just look at someone and ask for papers. There has to be a "lawful reason" for stopping them in the first place, and THEN and only then, if the officer suspects they may be illegal--based on criteria already used by ICE--they can ask for legal status identification. Do not believe this garbage you hear every day on T.V. It is not a "police state" statute.
* On April 26th evening local Tucson news, news teams from Tucson went down to Nogales Mexico --across the border--and decided to randomly interview the first 6 people they ran into on the neighborhood streets. They promised not to edit, pick and choose, or whatever. Local media is pretty neutral, but perhaps more sympathetic with the protesters. I think they fully expected outrage across the border. Five of the first six Mexican citizens they first encountered and interviewed support this bill. They see no problem with it. They said the U.S. has the right to find and deport illegal’s of any nationality- -it is our country. They said that they have to carry identification papers all the time in Mexico ! One gentleman teaches half time in a Nogales high school and half time across the border in a U.S. high school. He said he has been carrying and showing his papers every day for years, including being asked by the non-border Mexican police for identification. He sees no big deal and is embarrassed by the hoopla from Mexicans in the U.S. He said it "makes us all look bad."
* Five other states have already contacted Arizona lawmakers ( Utah , Oklahoma , Iowa among them) to help them draft similar legislation. I think many states have wanted to do this, for the same reasons we Arizonans did, but were scared silly of appearing what Arizona is being called--racist, bigoted, etc. etc.)
If you look at the demonstrators, notice their general age group--high school and college students mainly. Why them??? For one thing, in Arizona and other states, Hispanics, legal or illegal, pay in-state tuition, regardless of where they are from. Also, there are special set-aside funds reserved for Hispanics (primarily from Latino support organizations) , and for non whites in general (general funds). They are getting a much better deal than citizen students--many a free ride. So why wouldn't they demonstrate, if this bill threatens to deport them? The high school students are all friends. Good for them. But they are just kids insulated from the economic and social realities of the situation. One Mexican high school girl in tears was put on national media (of course), and she said, "Half of everyone in my high school is illegal. Now they are threatening to split us up and maybe deport half of us." Can you believe this?? She believes that this kind of statement should garner sympathy--and perhaps does, nationally. We think it clarifies an alarming fact of life down here. Arizona is over three billion dollars in debt. Objective estimates suggest that nearly 30 percent of that is due to unreimbursed education of illegal kids. It is a lovely intent. Estimates are that approximately 2/3 of our state deficit is linked to costs of the illegal population. We are broke and desperate!! 13 state parks have permanently closed. Most highway rest stops are shuttered. Our state sales tax is probably going to 7.6 percent this summer. Roads are in disrepair. Three Tucson hospitals have completely closed within the past 5 years. Tucson police and Pima country sheriff's departments are laying off law enforcement officers during a dramatic increase in violence. It is not fair for the rest of the country to not have to help us pay for this outlay when the federal government won't seriously lift a finger to stop this crisis. It shouldn't fall so disproportionately on the few. When each of the states have to divvy up tens of millions of dollars each year to help the border states educate and deal with illegal’s, then we can also be high-minded about doing good for all God's children.
I know this sounds like a rant. But watching the national media, day after day, one gets such a distorted view of what the law actually says (it is on the net, by the way), and how the population here and elsewhere really feel about it. It makes us crazy. The protesters get all the media time. Just had to try to present "the other side of the story."
