Month: September 2008

NOTE: This began as an open thread, but has become a discussion of the House of Representatives failing to pass the Wall Street Bailout, and the Dow Jones dropping 777 points as a result.

There is no Prince William County Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The next meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2008.

Several people asked for a debate thread. So here you go. Candidates were selected in alphabetical order–not preference of the one who set up the thread.

Apparently Gainesville Supervisor – John Stirrup made an appearance in your town to spread outright lies. One has to wonder what his true motivation is in perpetuating the lies. Corey apparently has delusions that he could conceivably become LutentHere in PWC we have had a tumultuous time since the initial adoption of our ‘Immigration Resolution’ which most likely is now being marketed as ‘The Rule of Law Resolution’.

Not having been there but having heard Stirrup’s on a couple of occasions, these facts might give you a more balanced observation of what has occurred here in PWC.

PWC County Schools has 700 fewer ESOL students
** Yes, and some neighboring jurisdictions have had a greater percentage drops than PWC without implementing any policy.

Crime Statistics dropped 20%
** Actually, the crime rate has been dropping over the past 4 years, each year by approximately 20% even during the timeframe where we had the influx of illegals.

Hospitals are less overcrowded
** Actually, emergency room visits have remained at the same levels but we have had about 500 less uninsured births combined with losses in L&D nurses.

What I’m sure he didn’t mention.
1. We have DOUBLE the foreclosure rates of surrounding jurisdictions that supposedly have MORE of an illegal problem than we do.
2. We have lost 25-40% of our home values, again this is DOUBLE the losses of surrounding counties
3. Our program has only identified 1.6% of those arrested as ILLEGALS
4. We have had to cut vital services to fund this program like our Senior Citizen Day Center, no new tiles in our libraries, close a health clinic, and the list goes on and on…
5. According to our County’s ‘Citizen Satisfaction Survey’, minorities including Blacks now have the lowest confidence ever recorded in our Police Department which ALSO has been cut for next year. How convenient.
6. 5% of those handed over to ICE have ended up being RE-ARRESTED in our community which makes you wonder where the other 95% really are. I suspect the majority of them were simply released by ICE and are back on our streets.

Obviously, John is now taking talking points from Corey as they try to convince the residents of Durham, North Carolina to follow in their ill-conceived footsteps. Funny how he outright LIES about emergency room visits even after receiving a report to the contrary. And, again, those crime stats being touted as if they actually had some sort of significance. John you are a DESPICABLE LIAR.

This story, in the Chicago Tribune, eloquently touches upon the more deep seated issue that faces America. In my opinion, we, as a nation, are facing an identity crisis. Who are we as Americans? Are we a belief of values, espoused by Thomas Jefferson, and our forefathers? Are we really a nation based on the content of our character or the color of our skin? Very soon, the identity of America will look very different, within decades, “white” Americans will become the minority. What does that mean, and how will we integrate this new dynamic into our culture?

It’s a sense of unrest familiar in small towns and suburbs across America. Immigrants have flooded the country in great numbers in the past. What’s different now is where they’re settling—far from the border states and big cities that long absorbed the huddled masses.

Their integration into small-town America is marked in Manassas, as elsewhere, by a language of fear, resentment and anger. Under pressure from longtime residents, local officials have cracked down, ordering police to dramatically increase the amount of time spent checking people’s Immigration status.

Those authorities say they’re targeting illegality. Others say they’re simply going after brown people.

If we’re due a national conversation about the changing complexion of America, though, it’s not happening in the 2008 campaign.

Barack Obama and John McCain both support what they call “comprehensive” Immigration reform, but neither spends much time on this volatile topic in his presidential campaign. When they do, they don’t address the fundamental tension of America’s great Immigration debate today.

In Manassas, some old-timers watch their home changing and fight the newcomers. Others fight that backlash.

For all of them, it’s a battle for their very identity.

A new complexion
For most of our history, immigrants settled largely in the Northeast and the Midwest. In 1920, nine out of 10 immigrants lived in cities of more than 100,000. The quintessential immigrant destination was Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Now the decline of traditional manufacturing is redirecting immigrants to agricultural centers in the South, tourist centers in the West, smaller cities all over. The Census Bureau first picked up on this dispersion in the 1980s, but the proportion of immigrants in small towns really took off in the mid-1990s.

In Prince William County, where Manassas sits, whites went from 65 percent of the population in 2000 to 52 percent in 2006. Hispanics increased—from 10 percent to 20 percent, roughly—in the same period.

Maureen Wood liked the diversity at first. The students at the high school where she is a substitute teacher taught her Spanish words.

Then the school district put up mobile classrooms.

A friend’s son couldn’t get work as a landscaper when he came home from college for the summer. The company owner said he only hired native Spanish speakers, to make it easier for his crew and foreman.

The changes turned Wood and Kipp into activists. Pressure from citizens like them is having a powerful effect in Prince William County.

Last year, the county board of supervisors ordered its police force to inquire more regularly about people’s Immigration status. They later scaled back that directive, but the thunderous debate had its effect, as immigrants started running scared. Hundreds withdrew from English-as-a-second language programs in local schools.

From the MJM

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: September 23, 2008

About 40 law enforcement officers gathered in Culpeper early this morning for a county-wide sweep for illegal immigrants.

Town, county, state and federal officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement met around 3:30 a.m. at the Culpeper Police Department, where they organized into several teams.
Following a briefing, the teams gathered for final last-minute preparations on Cameron Street before beginning the sweep around 5 a.m. Some of the teams got into unmarked SUVs, while others drove unmarked sedans, accompanied by local officers in marked patrol cars.

Sources say about 25 people were targeted in the sweep. The outcome of the joint initiative was not immediately known.

Town spokesman Wally Bunker said the results of the sweep will be discussed at a 1 p.m. press conference at the Commonwealth’s Attorneys office.

Officials said the sweep was meant to target three categories of people – those who had returned to the U.S. illegally after being deported, suspected or known gang members, and those who have very frequent but minor involvement with the law.

Now what is all THIS about? It sounds like a collective effort of the Culpeper Sherif’s Dept, the VA State Police and ICE to round up illegal immigrants. Since when is this done? Some folks must be in a state of Nirvana tonight. Others are probably very sad if their family members are gone.

Facts please.

http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/illegal_immigrants_targeted_in_culpeper/21567/

Kristen Mack, in today’s Washington Post article, focusing on the appointment of Duecaster, has clearly connected the comments of Robert Duecaster to “Advocator.” It was interesting to me, viewing the comment section, that Advocator tried to deny he was actually Duecaster! Ummm, Robert, you already took responsibility for your comments regarding “pitchforks and shovels,” it’s a little too late for back tracking. My hope is that we can start moving away from immigration status, and really focus on the underlying issue in this debate: the demographic changes in the county. We don’t know who is documented or not, legal resident or not, but we can focus on how to help our neighbors without vilifying an entire segment of our population, the Latino community. Certainly, our country is facing an economic crisis of a magnitude that will effect us all, and I believe our collective energy is better focused on the issues that REALLY will effect our everyday lives, like a bailout of a trillion dollars! When our personal property taxes come in next year, that will be a sobering moment for all us.