Doocy advances false claim that VA county immigration law lowered crime rates

MoonHowler

Its about time someone in the media gets the story straight. 

Someone GETS it!  A big thanks to Media Mattersfor pointing out what Moonhowlings.net has been saying all along.

Copied in its entirety from mediamatters.org:

On Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy and guest Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County, Virginia, board of supervisors, falsely claimed that the county’s controversial immigration law reduced violent crime and has never been altered. In fact, Prince William County’s violent crime rates actually increased in 2009; the law was modified in 2008 to avoid legal challenges; and a University of Virginia study of the law shows that it has not led to a reduction in crime.

Doocy falsely claimed immigration law led to a “reduction in violent crimes” and an overall “huge drop in crime”

Doocy falsely claims immigration law led to “38 percent reduction in violent crimes.” On the June 21 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Doocy introduced Stewart by claiming, “Three years ago, Prince William County in Virginia passed major immigration reform, and they’ve since seen a huge drop in crime.” Doocy later said to Stewart, “Let’s take a look at some of the changes in Prince William County since this law went into place — 38 percent reduction in violent crimes.” The law in question requires police officers to inquire about the immigration status of those persons who have been placed under arrest.

In fact, Prince William County’s violent crime rate increased 10.9 percent in 2009. According to Prince William County Police Department crime statistics, in 2009, the county saw a 10.9 percent increase in violent crimes. The county’s “overall crime rate” decreased by 1.9 percent from the previous year. The law first went into effect in 2008, during which time the county saw an increase in its overall crime rate and a reduction in violent crimes versus the year prior.

Prince William County’s 2009 overall lowered crime rate is credited as being “part of a trend that started long before” the immigration bill. In a National Review Online post, John J. Miller wrote: “As it happens, crime rates have been going down for a long time in Prince William County. The latest numbers are part of a trend that started long before the county took a stand against illegal immigration.” Prince William County Police Chief Charlie T. Deane reportedly noted that crime rates have been decreasing nationwide and that Prince William County’s rates were consistent with that trend. According to The Washington Post, Deane said, ” ‘I also think, nationwide, crime rates are declining, and I’m pleased we’ve continued to see’ that in the county, too.”

“Illegal aliens” only account for a small percentage of crimes and arrests, and the vast majority of those arrested were for “misdemeanor or traffic charges.” The reports show that those suspected of being “illegal aliens” account for only a small percentage of total crimes. In 2008, “[o]f all persons arrested or summonsed in Prince William County, 1.7% were determined to lack legal status,” while “86.9% of those suspected to be illegal aliens were arrested on misdemeanor or traffic charges.” In 2009, “[o]f all persons arrested or summonsed in Prince William County, 2.2% were determined to lack legal status,” while “87.5% of those suspected to be illegal aliens were arrested on misdemeanor or traffic charges.”

UVA study: “[T]he policy has not reduced most forms of crime in PWC.” The University of Virginia (UVA) studied the effects of the law on Prince William County crime rates and concluded, “Overall, our descriptive assessment of PWCPD data on crime reports and arrests suggests that the policy has not reduced most forms of crime in PWC and that its contribution to the County’s drop in serious violence has likely been modest.” A May 7 Washington Post article cited the UVA study and reported that “the study also said that it seems unlikely that the county’s drop in violent crime was because of the policy, because illegal immigrants make up a small percentage of those arrested for such crimes.”

Doocy lets guest falsely claim that the “law stands today as it was written in 2007”

Doocy allows Stewart to falsely claim that the “law stands today as it was written in 2007.” After Doocy asked Stewart about legal challenges to the law, Stewart falsely claimed that “the federal district court in Arlington, Virginia, threw [a court challenge to the bill] out on its face — threw the challenge out on its face — and the law stands today as it was written in 2007.” 

In fact, the “ordinance was modified in 2008 amid charges that it was unconstitutional.” Contrary to Stewart’s claim that “the law stands today as it was written in 2007,” The Washington Post reported:

The Prince William ordinance was modified in 2008 amid charges that it was unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling. In the end, rather than questioning only people they suspected of being undocumented immigrants, officers were directed to question all criminal suspects about their immigration status once an arrest was made.

— J.V.B

Are you as tired of reading and hearing about immigration as I am?

MoonHowler

Guest contributor George Harris gives us his unabashed opinion on the never-ending immigration debate. George never sugar coats things, nor is he soft on immigration.

[Disclaimer: guest opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the blog administrators.]

Are you as tired of reading and hearing about immigration as I am? There is not an hour or a day that goes by without some talking head yammering on about illegal/undocumented immigrants. Newspapers, periodicals, television and radio bombard us with “news” about how we are being overrun by folks who have chosen to not follow the laws of this nation in order to be here legally. Congress is absolutely bumfuzzled about how to fix our “immigration problem.”

Depending on who you read or listen to, the illegal immigrant population is somewhere between 11 and 22 million. Pick whatever number between these two that you feel justifies your feelings about our present situation and you will be somewhere in the ballpark. Recommendations as to what to do about all these illegal immigrants range all the way from blanket amnesty for all of them with numerous paths to citizenship to ship all of them back “home.” While we are deciding on what to do with all the people already here, we want to put up a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border reminiscent of the Berlin Wall or the wall Israel is building to seal off the Palestinians. But many folks understand that you can’t build a wall high enough or long enough to keep people out if they are determined to come in. And it only seems to apply to our southern border. No one is talking about building a wall between the U.S. and Canada.

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Research You Did Not Read in the N & M

MoonHowler

People may not like my politics but I do try to represent what goes onto this blog honestly. I think it is only fair to share this post from Debra Shutika’s blog with the contributors on our blog. It explains a great deal about the study that they did. Apparently, the News and Messenger also set the stage for some very bad press.  

These women worked hard and deserve to have their point of view heard without the filter of those with not-so-hidden agendas.  If residents of the greater Manassas area  truly want to have their community problems solved, it makes sense, at least to me, to talk with people who at least will listen to you, such as these to researchers.  Please read the entire post before commenting:

From Debra Shutika:

To my readers:  

 

Yesterday a local Virginia newspaper ran a story in response to a a press release regarding research that I and my colleague, Carol Cleaveland, had conducted in Manassas in 2008 and 2009. We are ethnographers, which means we utilize ethnography as our primary research method.  Ethnography is a research method often used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, folklore and sociology, but also in a variety of other fields.  The goal of ethnography is to gather data that is in-depth and from a small group of people.  Usually this would be a local community, a neighborhood, or even a small town.  Data collection is done a number of ways: participant observation (where the researcher lives alongside his or her informants and documents day-to-day life and activities), but also interviews and questionnaires.  The purpose of an ethnographic account is to describe those who are studies (i.e., the people or ethnos) and to document this through writing, thus the term, ethnography. 

 

We began our work in Manassas in the Weems neighborhood and Sumner Lakes in March 2008.  During that period, we interviewed 100 household that were randomly selected.  These households were non-immigrant households. The householder had to be able to speak English fluently to participate.  The summary of that research is highlighted this statement that I made earlier this year:

 

“Our research suggests that the changes that have taken place in Manassas in the last 20 years have been unsettling for some residents,” says Debra Lattanzi Shutika, assistant professor of English at Mason. “Many of these residents seemed to be experiencing what I have identified as a type of ‘localized displacement’—they feel out of place in their home community. In some cases, residents told us that they found it difficult to adapt to the changes taking place around them, and that these changes that made their ‘home’ seem unfamiliar.”

Throughout this phase of the research, we asked residents about a number of changes in their community. What we found is that Manassas had changed significantly over the last 20 years, and many residents viewed those changes as unsettling.  We also discovered that  a majority of the people we talked to had strong negative feelings about immigrants. We interviewed 103 households and then went back and did an additional 30 in-depth interviews.  These ranged from 1-3 hours in length, depending on the informant.

 

In the second phase of this study, we went into two predominantly Latino neighborhoods and interviewed a non-random sample of residents. There we interviewed 60 people.  These residents reported feeling alienated from the community, and in some cases, extreme fear.  What I told Ms. Chumley when I spoke to her on Monday was, although it was not surprising that an undocumented person would feel frightened by the law, we were not expecting DOCUMENTED LATINOS, of which there are many in the area, to feel this way.  In fact, the responses of the documented indicated that they were just as likely to fear leaving their homes or sending their children out to play as others.  [Note: for reasons of confidentiality, we did not directly ask people about their documentation status.  However, those who were documented were forthcoming about their residency status.]

 

When I read Ms. Chumley’s article, I was disappointed with her report because she clearly misrepresented our work.  For instance, both Prof. Cleaveland and I told her that we understood the frustrations of Manassas residents who were distressed with changes in their neighborhoods, such as having neighbors who did not cut their grass, had too many cars parked around their homes, and left trash unattended around their homes and on their laws.  For my part, most of the work that I have done in the last 15 years with immigration has focused equally on American-born residents in new destinations of Mexican migration.  I recently published an essay on this, which is linked here.

In short, I may disagree with some of my informants about their perspectives on immigration, but that is not to say that I don’t think their perspectives should be ignored.  I honestly think that one of the major reasons why immigration has become such a volatile topic is because for too long residents complaints about the changes to their communities and the legitimate problems that come with a rapid increase in an immigrant population have been ignored by their local government. 

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George Mason Study Brings out the Worst in County Chair and CXO

MoonHowler

A recent study on immigration from George Mason Univsity seems to have brought out the worst in our County Chair, Corey Stewart and newly appointed CXO, Melissa Peacor. Perhaps Ms. Peacor should be forgiven. She is a newly hired CXO who apparently came in under the auspices of Mr. Stewart. She hasn’t been around long enough to be an independent thinker. Even if she is, perhaps it is wiser to quote the party line. However, in the case of Corey Stewart, there is simply no pass. He is his usual bigoted, uninformed, blow-hard, name-calling, opportunistic self.

From the News and Messenger:

A new study from the George Mason University’s Project on Immigration finds many immigrants have lived in fear since the passage of Prince William’s 2007 resolution that requires police to check legal status of those who are arrested.

The study was conducted by Debra Lattanzi Shutika, an English professor and folklorist, and Carol Cleaveland, a professional social worker. Lattanzi Shutika also said they were both “ethnographers,” which she defined as a research methodology that focuses on in-depth interviews with people.

“We go into communities for long periods of time and talk in depth to people,” Lattanzi Shutika said, adding that the GMU study conducted interviews in two communities in Manassas called the Weems Neighborhood and Sumner Lakes. “In some cases, we had two-to-three hour interviews.”

For the study, headlined on a press release from GMU as “Strict Immigration Law in Virginia County Adversely Affecting Well-Being of Latino Residents, New Survey Shows,” the two researchers interviewed residents of 60 Spanish-speaking households and 104 English-speaking households, Cleaveland said.

The goal, according to Cleaveland, was to “understand the true experiences of Latino immigrants living in a certain area of Prince William County … [and] to understand what kind of experiences they were having since the resolution.”

Those experiences, she continued, were that “people are afraid to leave the house, people feel that if they go to work they could be picked up or deported while their children are in school, and people have abandoned their homes because of this law.”
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‘Los Samaritanos’ leave food and water for illegal immigrants

MoonHowler

Another point of view from Arizona.  We have heard from those wanting to tighten up on illegal immigration and we have heard from those from PWC.

 

From the Washington Post:

At a time when state and federal governments are focused on tightening the border to keep out immigrants who cross illegally from Mexico, Wallin and her colleagues help people who make the trip. They leave water and food along well-known foot trails. They distribute maps showing the water sites and search for trekking migrants. Sometimes, they find dead bodies.

Additionally,

While the debate goes on, Wallin and a group of 140 volunteers who call themselves Los Samaritanos work against brutal heat and an unforgiving desert landscape where 61 migrants died in the seven months that ended April 30. In a region split by the increasingly fortified U.S.-Mexico border, they say they are doing moral deeds in the face of a simple reality: Migrants keep coming.

“Most of the people we find are broken, beaten down, sobbing, so lonesome, broken. They just want to go home,” said the Rev. Randy Mayer, pastor of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Sahuarita, Ariz., home to Los Samaritanos. “We’re just trying to stop people from dying. Somebody will say, ‘What don’t you understand about “illegal”?’ Well, it’s more complicated than that.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, who have caught 168,000 illegal immigrants since Oct. 1 in this section of southern Arizona near Tucson, disapprove of the effort

In the end, people have to follow their own conscience and do what they think is right. Sometimes their attitudes stem from politics, religion, or altruism. The one thing that is certain: We don’t all agree. To some, Los Samaritanos are angels–to others, they are devils.

.

Corey Stewart, Tell the Truth!

MoonHowler

 

Once again, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Corey Stewart prevaricated and obfuscated.

A few examples:

1. He didn’t tell Alisyn how many times the Resolution changed from July 7, 2007 until May 1, 2008.

2. He led the viewers to believe that the police could ask for documents based on probable cause. Does Corey still not know that probably cause no longer exists in our Resolution?

3. He stated that violent crimes are down 38%. Not according to PWC crime statistics and he knows this.

4. He was hung (sic) in effigy? I must have missed that one.

5. He stated that 80% of the people of Prince William County support the law and that the UVA survey stated so. I would like to see that little known fact in writing. No such question existed on that survey.

6. He assumed that fewer babies were born to illegal immigrant mothers and stated that as a fact when he had no verifiable proof. Immigration status is not collected at either hospital in the county and therefore he can only assume.

7. We have fewer ESOL classes now? I don’t think so. The nuumber of students enrolled in ESOL dropped slightly at the height of the foreclosure crisis, but returned to an even greater number by FY2008-2009. 

8. He failed to explain the evolution of what happened in PWC. He failed to explain that the Resolution that was passed on July 7, 2007 was not what passed around May 1, 2008. He led Alisyn to believe that whatever we did here fixed all immigration problems. That is simply not the case. He did not say that the status of all those arrested would be checked and he did not mention the 287(g) program. He failed to mention one of the worst housing crashes in the United States happened in PWC. He failed to mention he used  trumped up issues to get himself re-elected. He failed to mention what he did to the Chief of Police. He failed to mention what he did to his supervisor colleagues.

How can he live with himself puffing up like that?  He  let everyone who was listening to Fox News at that hour believe he held the silver bullet.

I felt very ashamed of my county and my state as I listed to something that simply was not the truth. Corey told how he wanted things to be, not how they really were. He misled the people of Arizona.

Liar, Liar, Pants on fire!

Police Department Illegal Immigration Policies

President Obama Orders 1200 National Guard to Protect Border

MoonHowler

President Obama has ordered 1,200 National Guard to protect the border and has requested $500 Million from Congress to slow the flow of immigrants across the Mexican border.

According to Politico:

In addition to the troops, the funding will be used to increase Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security activities at the border with Mexico “to include increased agents, investigators, and prosecutors, as part of a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, and money,” an administration official said Tuesday.
Senator John McCain who is in the battle of his life for his senate seat complained that 1,200 simply wasn’t enough boots on the ground.  McCain requested that 6,000 troops be deployed and sent to the area. 

Radio Interview with Greg and Caller Elena 5/8/10

MoonHowler

Greg Letiecq interviews with ‘Sarge’ on the Jeff Fargas Show. Sarge is out in Arizona.

The show takes callers and Elena calls to throw in the other side of the story.

The podcast will appear. It takes about a minute. You will want to chose the May 8 if it isn’t chosen for you.

Sorry folks, it isn’t pretty but I got it here…sort of.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SHORT VERSION

GOP Worried that Az Legislation Might Hurt both Fall and Future Elections

MoonHowler

Republicans got that dead cat bounce from the new law in AZ.  However, now they might be going back to the old adage about being careful what you wish for.  Now the movers and the shakers in the GOP are worried that there might be a negative impact from this law and that some new potential base might be lost.

According to Politico.com:

Arizona’s immigration law has been an immediate hit with the Republican base, but some of the party’s top strategists and rising stars worry that the harsh crackdown may do long-term damage to the GOP in the eyes of America’s Hispanic population.

 From Marco Rubio to Jeb Bush to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Republicans who represent heavily Hispanic states have been vocal in their criticism of the Arizona law, saying it overreaches. Even Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, a conservative hero for his win last fall, has questioned the law.

 And the party’s long-term thinkers worry that the Arizona law is merely a quick political fix which may create a permanent rift with the fastest growing segment of the U.S. electorate.

Most of us were unaware the Governor McDonnell had weighed in on the AZ  issue. 
The question people need to be asking themselves is will the new legislation help alleviate AZ’s violence.  If the answer is no, then they need another strategy.  They are making a bad mistake if they are curbing lawn care workers entering the United States.  Meanwhile, London burns. 
Specifically, Rove, Jeb Bush, and Governor Perry had the following to say:
“I think there is going to be some constitutional problems with the bill,” top Bush strategist Karl Rove said during a stop on his book tour. “I wished they hadn’t passed it, in a way.”

Jeb Bush was also blunt: “I don’t think this is the proper approach.”
 

Regardless of what GOP heavy-weights say, the many folks in AZ are pleased with their legislation. It must be that RINO Karl Rove who just doesn’t have what it takes to be a conservative Republican. [Sarcasm key pressed.]

Duncan Hunter Wants to Deport American Citizen Children

MoonHowler

Speaking at a rally last week, Congressman Duncan Hunter said he didn’t intend to be mean but yes, he would deport American born children of illegal immigrants. It doesn’t sound like the Constitution means a great deal to Rep. Hunter. According to Huffingtonpost.com:

The San Diego-area Republican congressman spoke Saturday at a video recorded tea party rally in Ramona. Hunter was asked by someone in the crowd if he backed deporting natural-born American citizens who are the children of illegal immigrants.

“I would have to, yes,” Hunter said.

Hunter said in the video that some of his critics believe his stance is mean-spirited.

“And we’re not being mean. We’re just saying it takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen,” he said. “It’s what’s in our souls.”

Perhaps if Rep. Hunter is going to be a congressman, he needs to uphold the Constitution. Is he planning on amending it? Being an American is in your soul? The 14th Amendment guarantees birth citizenship.

AZ Sheriff calls New Legislation Stupid

MoonHowler

Not everyone in Arizona likes the new Illegal Immigration law in Arizona. One sheriff refuses to enforce the law. He further states that it is some of the worst legislation he has seen in all his years in law enforcement.

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik feels the law will make racial profiling almost mandetory. According to ABC15.com:

PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff is the latest person to speak out about the state’s new immigration legislation, saying he does not plan to enforce the divisive law.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik calls Senate Bill 1070 a “stupid law” that will force officers to start profiling. He is one of the first local law enforcement officials to rebel against the law.

“We don’t need to enforce it. It would be irresponsible in my opinion to put people in the Pima County Jail at the taxpayers expense when i can give them to the Border Patrol,” Dupnik said.

The Sheriff admits he could get sued for failing to obey the law, but says that’s a risk he’s willing to take.

The sheriff who is from around the Tucson area sure isn’t the only official who doesn’t like this legislation. The mayor of Phoenix is also suing the state of Arizona over its constitutionality. The mayor does not have the full support of the city council with his lawsuit.

Jon Stewart: Law and Border in Arizona

MoonHowler

Jon Stewart tries to educate himself on just what is going on in Arizona. He postulates that Arizona is the meth lab of democracy. Social commentary gets into Jon’s space.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Law & Border
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Sheriff Corey? Those Quotable Anecdotal Crime Records

MoonHowler

Prince William County set the trend for Arizona?  That would be us, real trend setters.  On the news tonight on channel 5 news at 6 pm and again at 11 pm , it was announced that all eyes would be on Prince William County because three years ago they enacted a Resolution similar to that which Arizona recently signed into law.  Well, sort of. 

Channel 5 next interviewed chairman of the board of supervisors, Corey Stewart.  Corey told the viewers that it saved lives when illegal immigrants were identified and deported.  He further explained that enforcing immigration laws in PWC has had a very large impact on reducing crime in the county.   He elaborated that our overall crime rate is at a 19 year low. 

The reporter added that of the 2000 arrests for serious crime, 121 of those arrested were illegal aliens.  Those figures certainly don’t seem to support what Corey just said on the news.  In fact, I am curious about where this all time low in 19 years comes from.  What was happening 19 years ago that we had such a huge crime rate?  Corey seems to be cherry picking his crime statistic once again. Just thinking back on the horrific crimes committed in the past year or so in Prince William County, I don’t see how anyone can say that our crime rate is lower for serious crime. Prince William has seen an increase in urban type crimes. I expect Corey will continue his anecdotal account of how things are here in Prince William rather than relying on empirical data gathered from crime statistics.

His fellow supervisors need to call him out on his shoddy reporting. I wish one of them could call channel 5 and repudiate Corey Stewart’s loose and slippery statistics.  On the other hand, perhaps Corey wants to be the next Sheriff Joe.  meanwhile, I wish he would just stick to accurate facts.

The Washington Post has more details.  While Corey is technically correct about the new low in crime, he fails to tell the entire story and he fails to mention the rise in violent crime.   This report can hardly be correlated to illegal immigration.  To do so is a stretch.

Prince William County Crime Reports

It Shouldn’t Come to This is AZ

MoonHowler

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva closed his offices in Yuma and Tucson at noon on Friday because of the threatening phone calls. The Congressman says he opposed the legislation that has just been signed into law by Governor Brewer. He specifically says he opposes making it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally.

The Arizona Daily Star reports that Grijalva spokesman Adam Sarvana released a statement Friday saying that the congressman’s office received “some pretty scary calls,” including one from a man “who threatened to go down there and blow everyone’s brains out then go to the border to shoot Mexicans.”

According to the Daily Star:

Grijalva staffer Ruben Reyes said the office has been flooded with calls all week about Senate Bill 1070. About 25 percent are “very racist” in nature, Reyes said, characterizing some as “telling that tortilla-eating wetback to go back to Mexico.”

Has it really come to this? PWC sure dodged the bullet if this is the case. Again, there are just other ways to handle problems. I saw people out throwing stuff, not sure what at cops on TV. People doing that might want to do a little reseach about Kent State….it really isn’t a smart thing to do. I love Arizona. I would not go there now. The Grand Canyon State will have to be grand without me.