National Survey Mirrors Results of Low Satisfaction Survey Results Among Latinos/African Americans in PWC
This is a new survey, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. Clearly, the results reflect the feelings of the minority communities in Prince William County. How should we react to improve the negative perception of the people in our community? The amendment to the resolution on April 29th was a critical change, but more must be done. The split vote approval of the appointment of Robert Duecaster, although not necessarily a “win”, at least demonstrated that there are four Supervisors who find his language and mission offensive. This is progress.
Hispanics See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating; Oppose Key Immigration Enforcement Measures. WASHINGTON – Half (50%) of all Latinos say that the situation of Latinos in this country is worse now than it was a year ago, according to a new nationwide survey of 2,015 Hispanic adults conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. These increasingly downbeat assessments come at a time when the Hispanic community in this country has been hit hard by rising unemployment and stepped-up immigration enforcement.
In the survey, nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults report that in the past year the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status. Latinos say they are experiencing other difficulties because of their ethnicity. One-in-seven (15%) say that they have had trouble in the past year finding or keeping a job because they are Latino. One-in-ten (10%) report the same about finding or keeping housing. On the question of immigration enforcement, Latinos disapprove of five key enforcement measures asked about in this survey–and generally do so by lopsided margins.
The report also explores how Latinos rate the political parties and their presidential candidates on immigration and Hispanic concerns. The report, 2008 National Survey of Latinos: Hispanics See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating; Oppose Key Immigration Enforcement Measures, is available on the Center’s website, www.pewhispanic.org.Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is anon-partisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington,D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts
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CHZorro Strikes Again…
Dark Ages of PWC_Page01 by *CHZorro on deviantART
Artist’s Comments
“The Dark Ages of Prince William County” Episode 1, Page 1
Let the wild pilgrimage begin into the madness that has engulfed Prince William County, VA. In this episode, the Black Abbot Greg is asked for advice by lord Stewart, the ruler of Prince William County. Lord Stewart seeks to exile the foreigners, or Gypsies as he calls them, from the lands. The Black Abbot Greg devises a scheme drive away the Gypsies and gain total reign over Prince William County, but little does he know, his treacherous actions are being watched…
“What I Believe”
This is a first draft to which I hope others in the community will contribute. I reserve the right to amend my beliefs as new ideas and new information are presented. I invite everyone to share what they “believe” regarding immigration, and /or, the rising tide of extremism.
* I believe in the words of John Locke:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”.
* I believe, that immigration, has throughout our history, and will remain, a very contentious issue
* I believe, that we have a broken immigration system that needs modern reform
* I believe, our government has a responsibility to mandate that the people who live or work here, acquire proper legal status
* I believe, the solutions must stem from fiscal responsibility (not analysis based on fear but on solid objective sources), they must be humane, and they must be reasonably enforceable, and above all, they must exemplify the true meaning of a nation built upon immigrants
* I believe, that how we frame the debate, with the words we choose, is as important as the solutions themselves
* I believe, that we are experiencing, as a nation, a time when division has once again reared its ugly head
* I believe, that certain localities, more than others in this nation, are struggling under a rapid changing demographic and that the local, state, and federal government could do more to address the concerns of those citizens
* I believe, that I do not know all the answers to immigration, but I do know, that framing the debate with fear and hate, will bring us no productive solutions
Duecaster Appointment Approved 5 to 3 After Closed Session Debate
NotGregLetiecq, 16. September 2008, 18:33:
Okay. So. Is anyone else watching this? The Supervisors voted 5 to 3 in favor of a motion by Frank Principi to add a discussion of Stirrup’s Duecaster appointment to the topics to discuss for closed session.
Those in favor: Principi, Caddigan, May, Jenkens, and Nohe.
Those opposed: Greg Letiecq’s Errand Boys, Covington
There had been a discussion about a DVD submitted into the record by Eric Byler, of the 9500Liberty You Tube channel, but I am unclear about whether or not they agreed at the time to watch it in closed session.
When the Board reconvened about 90 minutes later, the other appointments all passed unanimously except for Supervisor Nohe abstaining on the vote to confirm Supervisor May’s appointment, Kris Nohe (his wife) to the same Human Services committee for which Robert Duecaster was about to see a vote. When Chairman Stewart introduced the Duecaster appointment, there was a long discussion. Jenkins said he hadn’t had the opportunity to view the video embedded above.
So, he asked that the vote be delayed until the Board could see it privately.
Supervisor Stirrup responded that there was prejudice in the video (I believe he meant prejudice AGAINST Duecaster, ironically enough).
Supervisor Principi said, “I’m in the same boat” with Supervisor Jenkins, and that he was torn between following the usual procedure (my phrasing) and using his vote to express his concern about a man whose “reputation precedes him.”
Chairman Stewart said they should not watch the video before voting because 9500Liberty was “against the Board’s Resolution” (not exactly true but okay).
Supervisor Principi said we don’t need to watch someone else’s interpretation, we have our own footage from Channel 23’s coverage of Citizens’ Time. He said we can ask our communications department to edit the same three speeches together from their own footage. He repeated the request that the vote be delayed until such time as a Channel 23 version of the same events could be produced for the Board’s edification.
Supervisor Caddigan said she planned to vote against the appointment. She said she had not heard about any of this beforehand, and felt uncomfortable voting in the affirmative if she was being denied the opportunity to see the video. She said she was disturbed by some of the Duecaster quotes that were read to her at Citizens’ Time.
Supervisor Nohe said that while he was disturbed by the comments of Mr. Duecaster, which he called “deeply offensive to me,” he was going to vote yes out of respect to Supervisor Stirrup, not out of respect toward his appointment.
Chairman Stewart said that he doubted whether the Duecaster quotes were accurate. It seemed to me that it was in Stewart’s power to deny the Board an opportunity to see the DVD, and it was in his power to force a vote.
They then voted, as RobbPearson reported on the previous thread:
FOR Duecaster’s appointment:
Stewart
Nohe
Stirrup
Covington
May
AGAINST Duecaster’s appointment:
Principi
Jenkins
Caddigan
After the vote, Supervisor Jenkins said this is the first time he had ever been denied the opportunity to see information pertinent to a vote. Because he had been contacted by so many concerned citizens, he asked County Attorney Horton if, now that the DVD was in the public record, would it be made available to citizens. The answer was yes.
The Real Scandal
Nativist Republican Operative Greg Letiecq Continues His Witch-Hunt in a Desperate Attempt to Distract the Public from the Reality of the Immigration Resolution’s Disastrous Failure.
As national economic news worsens, Prince William County residents are coping with the an $11 Million Dollar “Immigration” policy that is hampering our local economy at a time when we can least afford it. Add to this the fact that last Tuesday’s highly anticipated Immigration Report from Chief Deane revealed some shocking indicators of how poorly our local “Immigration” policy is serving us. Trust and confidence in our county government and our police force are at all time lows according to our Citizen Satisfaction Survey. And, only 1.6% of the crime committed in Prince William County is committed by undocumented individuals. And, as shown in an earlier thread, in return for our $11 Million Dollar “Immigration” policy, we are seeing many of those we do apprehend return to the county after a brief trip through our federal system.
Perhaps this is the reason Greg Letiecq is pretending to be outraged about Liz Barnes and Craig Gerhart receiving a salary, and Eric Byler, an award-winning filmmaker, not receiving a salary as a VOLUNTEER for the Obama campaign (one among millions of Obama volunteers across the country).
His whining about Byler’s weekend volunteer activities is truly laughable. Long before he earned himself a place in the halls of nativist fame, Greg was known in the county as a conservative Republican operative. On his blog, he is trying to create a faux scandal over the entirely appropriate actions of some of the best civil servants in our county to try to distract us from the real scandal.
Here’s the real scandal: an extremist, nativist, hate group — led by Republican operatives — posing as a grassroots “issue advocacy” organization used insidious tactics to ram through our county an economically disastrous and racist policy with “help” from FAIR, a national organization classified as a hate group by Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. Surveys and reports about the Prince William experiment — more are forthcoming from think tanks and universities — are confronting us with that reality. And Greg is waving his arms in desperation “don’t look there…look over here!” It’s a pitiful sight.
Witch-Hunt in Prince William
Nativist Letiecq Attempts to Intimidate Numerous Members of PWC Community
Just days after Help Save Manassas was classified as “an extremist organization that employs hateful rhetoric” by the Anti-Defamation League, the man responsible for earning this classification for his followers has sunk to a new low.
A private email I wrote eleven days ago found its way to Greg Letiecq, who has posted a new thread on his blog intending to intimidate and persecute, not only me, but everyone who was on the email list.
In it, I questioned the judgment of Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup, who tomorrow will ask his fellow Supervisors to vote to approve his appointment of Robert Duecaster to the Prince William County Strategic Goals Task Force. I have made no secret of my feelings about Duecaster’s racist writings, or his infamous outbursts before our Board of Supervisors (see previous thread). But now Letiecq is trying to intimidate and defame those who received the email (many of whom did not respond).
Supervisor Stirrup’s apparent trust in Duecaster — the only man in this county who has personally threatened the Board of Supervisors with more hatred and rage than Letiecq himself — is just one symptom of the toxicification of Prince William County at the hands of Letiecq, his blog, and his extremist organization. The Center for American Progress has documented how intimidation and incitement of racial conflict are common methods of attack for anti-immigrant organizations.
The persecution began last year, targeting the Hispanic community, though often worded to focus on “illegal” immigrants rather than the Hispanic community in general. But it did not stop when many members of the Hispanic community left the county. It did not stop when our county’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey revealed that both the Hispanic and the African American communities have lost trust in county government and the police force.
For more than a year, Letiecq has been targeting anyone who dares to oppose his relentless attempts to dominate our county government by exploiting his influence over Supervisor Stirrup and Chairman Corey Stewart. Now, he is not only targeting those who criticize him, he is targeting anyone who associates with his critics, or thinks about joining them.
Letiecq has made a habit of attacking me. But he knows I am not intimidated. He knows I will stand up to him.
Many of the those who received my personal email have not criticized Letiecq or taken any action to challenge his greed for power. By publishing their names without permission and “identifying” them, he has violated their privacy in a despicable attempt to make them appear guilty of some infraction, and bully them into silence.
I for one am not afraid of Greg Letiecq’s Neo-McCarthyism. And I am not afraid to say I oppose the appointment of Robert Duecaster to our county’s Strategic Goals Task Force. But more importantly, I oppose the persecution tactics Letiecq has employed to unduly influence this county government, its leaders, and its citizens.
P.S. Question for Greg Letiecq: Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
Infamous Duecaster/Advocator Quotes
Please post here comments made be Robert L. Duecaster who also posts under the screen name Advocator on BVBL.
Corey Stewart questions legal status of “spanish speakers” to deflect the negative results of the satisfaction survey
There is so much to comment on this video! Besides the dobermans and machine guns as your companions for a night time stroll in the neighborhood, besides the disclosure that ICE is actually NOT detaining all illegal immigrants just because we turn them over, what caught my attention was Corey’s outright ethnic profiling! Why would Corey ask if only the “Spanish speakers were asked if they were legal or illegal immigrants?” I thought that illegal immigration was not about Hispanics, but about ALL immigrants ? What does this say about our chairman that insinuates the satisfaction survey was not valid because “Spanish speakers” who may be “illegal immigrants” nullify the results. At least that was my impression.
Please, I invite everyone to comment on what stood out to them in this video.
Stirrup Appointment Could Mean Another Year of Extremist Duecaster Shaping County Policy
John Stirrup has nominated Robert Duecaster, one of the authors of the Immigration Resolution, as an appointee to the Strategic Task Force for PWC. He will sit on the Health and Human Services Committee if approved. Let me quote from Mr. Duecaster as best I can:
“This issue is not really about immigration or illegality or legality, it’s not about economics, I’m going to tell you right now what it’s about. It’s about an invasion of this country. This county is being invaded no less than if hordes of armed people were coming across its border. This invasion is not armed, but they’ve got weapons. The weapons they use are their anchor babies.”
“Mark these words, we are going to repel this invasion, one way or another. You can part of that repulsion or be on the other side.”
Mr. Duecaster is the secretary for Help Save Manassas, which is recognized by The Southern Poverty Law Center as a “Nativist” group. In addition to this label, the Anti-Defamation League has now added Save the Old Dominion AND Help Save Manassas to their list of “Extremist” anti immigrant organizations. You will see that Mr. Duecaster uses many of the code words that ADL lists as tools to move extremist rhetoric into the mainstream. I find this nomination unaccpetable! What is John Stirrup thinking?
A closer look at the public record reveals that some of these supposedly mainstream organizations have disturbing links to, or relationships with, extremists in the anti-immigration movement. Often identified in the media or their mission statements as “anti-illegal immigration advocacy groups,” they attempt to distort the debate over immigration by fomenting fear and spreading unfounded propaganda through the use of several key tactics:
Describing immigrants as “third world invaders,” who come to America to destroy our heritage, “colonize” the country and attack our “way of life.” This charge is used against Latinos, Asians and other people of color.Using terminology that describes immigrants as part of “hordes” that “swarm” over the border. This dehumanizing language has become common.
Portraying immigrants as carriers of diseases like leprosy, tuberculosis, Chagas disease (a potentially fatal parasitic disease), dengue fever, polio, malaria.
Depicting immigrants as criminals, murderers, rapists, terrorists, and a danger to children and families.
Propagating conspiracy theories about an alleged secret “reconquista” plot by Mexican immigrants to create a “greater Mexico” by seizing seven states in the American Southwest that once belonged to Mexico.
Blaming immigrants for eroding American culture, institutions and quality of life and impacting our environment and natural resources.
This anti-immigrant propaganda and rhetoric, once the domain of hate groups, is now part of the lexicon used by anti-immigration advocacy organizations, politicians and media figures considered mainstream.
In this report, part of a series of reports on immigration and extremism, ADL exposes those individuals and groups who are playing a key a role in mainstreaming extremist rhetoric in the immigration debate in various aspects of American life.
Stewart Scheduled to Speak about Immigration Today in DC
Chairman Stewart is scheduled to speak in Washington today on “The Toll of Illegal Alien Criminals on American Families.” Here’s my advise, stay home. He has zero knowledge on the subject, he officially is not speaking officially on behalf of the County but rather has made it known that he will be expressing his own opinion. Frankly, I would be better qualified to speak on this matter than he, so who invited him to speak on the matter? Well, the whole ‘Hold Their Feet to the Fire’ campaign held this week was coordinated by Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR). Surprise, surprise.
My recommendation for everyone else, is to visit this new application at America’s Voice (http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/speakout/writecongress) and send emails to our elected officials.
For the truth on immigrants and crime, read this press release:
Immigration Policy Center(IPC)
…providing factual information about immigration and immigrants in the United States.For Immediate Release:
Congressional Event Perpetuates Myth of Immigrant Criminality
Crime forum overlaps with restrictionist organization’s lobby daysSeptember 10, 2008
Washington, DC- Tomorrow morning, Republican members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration are regrettably perpetuating the persistent myth of immigrant criminality with their forum on “The Toll of Illegal Alien Criminals on American Families.” Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Steve King (R-Iowa) are spearheading tomorrow’s conversation.
Numerous studies by independent researchers and government commissions over the past 100 years have consistently found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the undocumented, regardless of their country of origin or level of education.
It’s not likely a coincidence that Smith and King’s forum is happening during the same week that the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is lobbying Congress, demanding an impractical and hateful agenda of mass deportations, worksite raids, and other expensive and ultimately ineffective approaches as part of their “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” gathering. The Republican forum is even featuring some of the same witnesses who participated in FAIR’s rally this afternoon.
It is disappointing to see law makers Smith and King–along with their fellow congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brian Bilbray (R-CA), and Duncan Hunter (R-CA) who attended FAIR’s rally today–tarnish the Republican brand by supporting the agenda of FAIR, an organization designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is especially troubling to see law-makers exploit the pain of the victims of these terrible crimes to promote their political motives. There is no doubt that dangerous criminals must be punished, and that immigrants who are dangerous criminals should not be allowed to enter the US or should be deported if they already are here. But exploiting the profound painful loss of crime victims to spread the myth that immigrants are criminals is irresponsible and disingenuous.
Fact Sheet from the Immigration Policy Center:
“From Anecdotes to Evidence: Setting the Record Straight on Immigrants and Crime” (Washington, DC: September 2008).
POLICY FAILING, CONFIDENCE FALLING: analysis of yesterday’s Immigration Resolution Report
In Chief Deane’s immigration resolution status report, after six months of madness in the county, the infamous and costly “crackdown on illegal immigration” has netted 626 arrests and summons of undocumented immigrants, 1.6% of all summons and arrests in the county. This 1.6% comes with the price of 11.3 million dollars. And out of 626, only 341 arrests were made and a handful proved to be legal residents mistakenly detained. See Washington Post Article.
The rabid supporters of the “crackdown” will no doubt say that that price tag is worth it to arrest 341 “illegals.” We can argue about the value of that ad nauseum, but there is a very serious logistical problem that is the real story in the report. It’s not reported in Kristen’s article and I’m sure Corey would like to gloss over this, but Marty pounced on it during session.
Corporal Pete Meletis reports that he has no idea what happens to those detainees who are released to ICE. There is no tracking done. Even ICE doesn’t know. The detainees are sent to various detentions centers and no one knows what happens to them. In fact, Pete Meletis said that they have discovered that in examining the results of the 287(g) Program between July 2007 – August 2008, out of 907 detainers released to ICE, 48 were not only back in the county but rearrested. 48 out of 907 were rearrested in the county! Is ICE just turning around and releasing everyone? It sure looks that way to me.
Here is the reality. There is a terrible cycle to detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants and we only have control over one half of that cycle. No matter how much money we spend, how well crafted it is, if we are blind to what is happening to the other half of the cycle, it’s a pointless exercise. We are baking one half of a pie totally blind to how the other half of the pie is being baked. Unless there is divine intervention, we’re going to end up with a really bad pie.
Until the other half of the cycle is fixed and transparent, we are just wasting money, time and resources. We are pouring our money into a bottomless pit. We must face reality, ICE and federal immigration laws have to get fixed, otherwise it is wasteful and counter productive to do anything at the local level.
“Cracking down” at the local level achieved NOTHING to resolve the immigration crisis. It only achieved one thing: create a social climate in which residents are divided and Hispanics and other minorities feel unwelcome. All for the bargain price of 11.3 million dollars that tax payers have to pay in exchange for a weakened economy, an overburdened police force, and a reputation for intolerance.
We have prioritized this useless crackdown over our seniors and children. This is just bad government and it must stop. We just can’t continue down this road.
Unfortunately, the county’s strategic planning task force will be full of politically motivated appointments by John Stirrup and Corey Stewart that includes Robert “foreign invasion” Duecaster and other faces from the county anti-immigrant lobby. There is no end in sight to this policy misguidance. Citizens must step up and regain control of our government, now infiltrated by the nativist hate group.
There is so much more in the report that we must analyze. We’ll continue to analyze and post another thread shortly.
WP: Film Crew Not a Hit With Supervisor
According to the Washington Post, Stirrup apparently has learned little from Stewart’s ‘list of questions’ to Chief Deane and has decided to yet again venture down the path of most likely forwarding an email from a constituent to a county employee as if it was their own. In this instance Stirrup sent an email not to Chief Deane but to the County Executive demanding answers to a list of about 24 questions. But this time the accusations don’t involve a treasonous meeting between the police chief and the Mexican Consulate but rather if county employees ‘violated the public’ trust by providing the 9500Liberty Film Crew ‘privileged treatment’.
In response, County Executive responded:
Gerhart delivered his response yesterday. No security footage was provided, he indicated, and the filmmakers had not received any privileged treatment. He said staff members’ behavior had been “upstanding and forthright.”
Byler and Park are members of the media, Gerhart wrote. “Our commitment to upholding the public trust requests all County government staff to provide our citizens and the media with all requested public records provided such record is not exempt from disclosure.”
PWCBOS 09/09/08 Meeting
The Board will have both a 2:oopm & 7:30pm session today. The main items on the agenda are the 2008 Citizens Satisfaction Survey Results and the Illegal Immigration Status report.
Here’s the agenda for the meeting.
County Police Staff Reduced?
According to the County’s Agenda item 9-J-1, which mysteriously has disappeared from the latest version, the County will not be able to add the 4 new Officers nor the support staff that was to accompany them for ’09 Budget. My question is why the description of the cuts removed? Was it a simple oversight, or was done intentionally by the person who determines the agenda?
