Carlos Martinelly Montano found guilty of felony murder

MoonHowler

I will always be uncomfortable with a murder verdict.  Murder is intentionally killing someone.  Are prosecutors in Virginia ready to charge all drunk drivers who kill someone with murder or was this special charge reserved for Carlos only?  Manslaughter yes, murder no. 

This case is about drunk driving and about being an habitual offender.  It isn’t about illegal immigration.  It was political theater being played out on a stage contrary to the explicit wishes of the Benedictine nuns.  It took tragedy and turned it into political carnage as Corey Stewart appeared again and again on both national and local TV, trumpeting the evils of illegal immigration.  He even had a Rule of Law campaign soliciting money.  The entire affair was unseemly. 

I hope  Stewart is smug and  pleased with himself.  He is who continually waved the bloody shirt and demanded Martinelly’s head on a platter, again, in defiance of the wishes of the Bristow order of nuns whose sisters were victims of this terrible accident. 

Where does this leave us when the next drunk driver isn’t an immigrant? 

Where will this verdict lead us next time?  Beware of unintended consequences.  I expect we have not heard the last of this unusually charged case.

Senator Sessions Belittles DHS Secretary Napolitano

MoonHowler

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was called before the Senate  Judiciary Committee to get dressed down by this esteemed governing body and to answer a few questions about immigration,  TSA,  and other things that fall under the Department of Homeland Security.  Not everyone was on their best behavior.

According to the Washington Times:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano says her department has the resources to deport about 400,000 aliens each year, and the new guidance her department issued will only change the makeup of who gets deported.

“There are 10 million or so illegal immigrants probably in the country and the Congress gives us the resources to remove approximately 400,000 per year,” she said, testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The question is, who are we going to prioritize. And we’re very clear. We want to prioritize those who are convicted criminals. We want to prioritize those who are egregious immigration and repeat violators. We want to prioritize those who are security threats, those who have existing warrants.”

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The Ghost of Bull Connor?

MoonHowler

When I was a child, some of the most violent film footage of the Civil Rights battles came out of Alabama.  I remember looking on in horror as demonstrating blacks were knocked down with fire houses and dogs were sicced on them.  These actions  were ordered by the Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety, Bull Connor.  Men, women and children were the object of the hoses and the dogs.  These were horrifying scenes, especially for children.  I will never hear the word Alabama that I don’t think of the images branded in my mind. 

These kinds of enforcement behaviors do not exist in a vacuum.  Alabama will always wear the shame of those firehoses and police dogs.  They will always have  the tragedy of Birmingham Sunday in someone’s memory, as long as any of us alive during that  time are still on this earth.  Alabama needs to move away from its history of divisiveness.

Unfortunately, that is not happening.  Recently enacted laws targeting illegal immigrants have some baggage attached to them that I am not sure Alabama is ready to handle.  The new Alabama law seeks to collect data on all school children as to their status in the United States.  Read More

Alabama Immigration Ruling: Judge compels schools to track immigration status of children

MoonHowler

The rulings are in but the dust is far from settled.  Many of us are still trying to sort out what has been allowed and what has not.  One thing that remains is particularly troubling– schools will be directed to track the immigration status of school children.

According to Yahoo.com:

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn sided with the state of Alabama on Wednesday on two key sections of the state’s wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants. Blackburn refused to enjoin a law that will compel elementary and secondary school administrators to demand students provide birth certificates to prove they were born in the United States, and then compile lists of illegal immigrant children in their schools. In theory, schools could begin to ask parents about their children’s immigration status today, though it’s unclear if they will do so, since school has already started.

In the first place, schools require birth certificates having nothing to do with this ruling.  Students entering school for the first time present  a birth certificate.  A birth certificate does not necessarily determine status if not issued in the United States.   Students without US birth certificates will be on the ones in the line of fire and who will have to provide status information. 

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Churches Sue Alabama

MoonHowler

Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Last week the immigration issue kept creeping back into the conversations on here. Well let’s have at it.

Church leaders in Alabama are suing the state over their new bundle of anti-immigration laws.  Why?  The churches say that the laws prevent them from doing what churches do–minister to the poor.  Some religions leaders say, as the law stands, that they could be arrested for feeding an immigrant or helping in times of sickness.  In other words, they feel that the Alabama government in interfering with the separation of church and state.

Alabama has legislated new laws based on the F.A.I.R. model, similar to those first passed in the July 2007 Resolution here in PWC.  These might even be more draconian.

Meanwhile, in Hoover Alabama, tea party forces support the new law:

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PWC sues feds over deportations

Angelina_Apr

Elena speaks with Channel 7 News:

 

 

According to insidenova.com, the county has filed suit against the federal government. 

Prince William County filed a lawsuit today against the Department of Homeland Security, according to a county press release.

In 2007 the Prince William Board of County Supervisors passed an ordinance that requires county police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they arrest.

If police find that they have arrested someone who is in the country illegally, they turn that person over to the department for deportation.

To date the county has turned over more that  [sic] 4,000 people over to DHS, the release stated.

At issue is the fact that an illegal immigrant who was an habitual offender hit a car carrying 3 elderly nuns.  One nun was killed and the other 2 were seriously injured.  The sisters belong to the Benedictine order and requested at the time of the tragedy that people not use the death of the sister to advance their political viewpoint.  The politicians and anti-immigration crowd of Prince William County have ignored the sisters’ request and have done quite the opposite.

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Panic! At the Border

MoonHowler

 Guest Post:  Michael Stafford

Entire post copied with permission from  Michael Stafford.

The following is the opinion of the poster and does not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

M-H

Myths and facts about crime on America’s southern frontier

The rationale for Arizona’s SB 1070, the state immigration enforcement statute passed in 2010 that is now being copied by other states such as Alabama and Georgia and championed as a cause célèbre by many on the Right, was based on a simple premise, namely, that Arizona was experiencing a surge in violent crime fueled by unauthorized immigrants.

Daryl Cagle / msnbc.com (click to view more cartoons by Daryl Cagle)

 

The link between unauthorized immigrants and crime is one of the most persistent myths in the immigration debate. But the facts tell a very different story, even in Arizona and along the Mexican frontier.

Despite all the hype, in reality, crime rates in Arizona, including its border counties, have been falling for years. More broadly, two of our nation’s safest metropolitan areas- San Diego and El Paso, are border cities. Indeed, by any objective measure, the southern border is safer now than it has been in decades. There was no, and there is no, immigrant-fueled crime wave.

The Wild West?

Listening to some politicians and members of the conservative entertainment complex last year, one got the impression that our southern border was descending into a state of near anarchy and chaos. That we were being subjected to a waive of violent crime fueled by unauthorized immigrants. That we were under siege. That we were facing an “invasion.”

For example, conservative radio host Michael Savage informed his listeners that, “[w]e need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work.”

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Judge blocks enforcement of new Indiana Planned Parenthood law

MoonHowler

Indiana enacted a law in recent months that barred medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood for general  health services.  The law is being challenged by both Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.  The new law didn’t pass the whiff test.  According to Politico.com:

A federal judge in Indianapolis on Friday blocked part of an Indiana law that cut off public funding for the state’s Planned Parenthood operations because they provide abortions, The Associated Press reported.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama, granted the organization an injunction that nullifies the portion of the Indiana law, recently signed by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Indiana also got slapped on the wrist by a Reagan appointed judge:

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ordered Indiana to not enforce portions of an Arizona-style immigration bill due to take effect July 1, the Indianapolis Star reported.

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Michael Stafford: It’s time for comprehensive immigration reform

MoonHowler

Guest contributor:  Michael Stafford, author of An Upward Calling: Politics for the Common Good.

Part 1

In January, 2010, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (“USCCB”) launched a campaign in support of comprehensive immigration reform urging “Congress to take up as its next priority comprehensive immigration reform that would reunite families, regularize the status of an estimated 12 million people in this country illegally and restore due process protections for immigrants.” The effort, although ultimately unsuccessful, was joined by leaders of other faith communities.

The USCCB’s call to action on this issue ought to be renewed.  Simply put, comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to legality (“earned legalization”) for some of our nation’s millions of illegal immigrants is long overdue.  It is also my hope that the effort to reform our nation’s immigration laws will enjoy bipartisan support that transcends the bitter divisions so prevalent in politics today.

America’s immigration laws should serve our national interest while, at the same time, respecting the inherent human dignity of immigrants. These two principles complement one another. Our current, antiquated system does neither well. A pathway to legal status for some of our unauthorized immigrants must be a piece of any comprehensive immigration reform. At the same time, our federal government has a duty to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws. An “earned legalization” program would not subvert these critical goals; on the contrary, it would further them.

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Michael Stafford: It’s time for comprehensive immigration reform part 2

MoonHowler

Guest contributor:  Michael Stafford, author of An Upward Calling: Politics for the Common Good

Part 2

Comprehensive immigration reform that includes both an “earned legalization” program and improved enforcement of our immigration laws would likely enjoy broad support. According to polling done over the past several years, a majority of Americans support the development of an earned legalization program done in conjunction with enhanced border security and internal enforcement. Polls show that a majority of Republican, Democratic and Independent voters support reform. At the same time, when given a choice, a majority favor “earned legalization” programs over an “enforcement-only” approach.  This support for comprehensive reform has stayed consistent over time.  As such, comprehensive reform that includes an “earned legalization” program would command legitimacy. 3

The absence of realistic alternatives also weighs heavily in favor of comprehensive reform and earned legalization.  A massive round-up and deportation of the millions of unauthorized immigrants in the United States is not feasible from a practical perspective- as Sen. John McCain observed in 2006, “it would take 200,000 buses extending along a 1700 mile long line to deport 11 million people”- and would, if carried out, lead to immense human suffering and disruption to our own economy.  It would also entail the disruption of well-established family units, the deportation of heads of households, and the removal of many United States citizen children born to undocumented parents.

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Michael Stafford responds to the Alabama immigration law

MoonHowler

The following is the opinion of the poster and does not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

 

M-H

Guest c0ntributor:  Michael Stafford, author of An Upward Calling: Politics for the Common Good.

 

At present, America has between 10 and 12 million (or more) unauthorized immigrants. This is roughly the equivalent of the population of Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Illinois. The question of what to do with this enormous population is one of the most complicated, and emotionally charged, public policy issues facing us today. In particular, immigration policy is inextricably linked with demographic change and the diversification of America. It demands a sensitive and sophisticated approach.

On Thursday, June 2, 2011, Alabama’s state legislature passed an Arizona-style immigration enforcement bill. This comes after two unsuccessful efforts at comprehensive reform at the national level under President Bush — and last year with the Graham-Schumer proposal — against the backdrop of an increasingly poisonous debate.

The immigration debate, both in its substantive content and in terms of its tone and tenor, has profound implications for the future of our nation. Richard Land, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has articulated this nexus with particular clarity. Land perceives the danger posed to all of us by the poisoned debate over immigration reform. He has warned that the failure to pass comprehensive reform could “rend the fabric of our society.” In his eyes, “[t]his is a moral issue. It’s an issue that … must be dealt with or it’s going to lead to deep fissures in our society.”1

With the embrace of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 as a cause célèbre by many on the Right, the passage of similar statutes in other states, and the rise of a virulent form of political nativism, the cracks that could, potentially, turn into those deep, society-rending fissures, are already visible.  Avoiding this outcome, and securing a better future for our nation is one of the most critical tasks facing us today. 

To be continued……

An Upward Calling: Politics for the Common Good  is available at Amazon.com and is also formatted for Kindle. 

 

 

Alabama governor signs draconian illegal immigrant law

MoonHowler

Governor Robert Bentley signed the strictest illegal immigrant law package in the United States this week.  According to Huffington Post:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s governor on Thursday signed a tough new illegal immigration crackdown that contains provisions requiring public schools to determine students’ immigration status and making it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.

The bill also allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they’re stopped for any other reason. Alabama employers also are now required to use a federal system called E-Verify to determine if new workers are in the country legally.

Gov. Robert Bentley said the law is the nation’s toughest, and groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center agree. The groups say they plan to challenge it.

Bentley believes that the Alabama law can withstand Constitutional scrutiny.  He campaigned on cracking down on illegal immigration.  Other sources have stated that Alabama leaders feel this law will open up jobs to Americans.  Studies have shown that many Americans simply won’t do the type of work that many immigrants are happy to do. 

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The Minutemen: Immigration & Human Rights Cinema

MoonHowler

Announcement:

The season’s final presentation of the Immigration & Human Rights Cinema is scheduled for 2:30 Sunday May 8 in the Verizon Auditorium of George Mason University’s Prince William Campus.    The documentary, “The Minutemen” by Corey Wascinski,  provides startling insights into the motivations and interactions of four Minutemen on the Arizona border. 

As always, the screening is free and open to the public.  Parking is available in the Occoquan Lot across from the Verizon Auditorium.

“The Utah Way” : Big Love for Immigrants?

MoonHowler

Utah, one of the country’s most conservative states, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 3-1, has turned its back on those Republicans who advocate deportation in favor of those who want immigration reform.  The bill has passed both houses of the state legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.

What exactly does the  ‘ Utah Way ‘  advocate?  First off, it gives local law enforcement  a provision that they say won’t really matter and it provides for a guest worker program that lawmakers feel will make all the difference in the world.  That last component of the proposed law will grant legal status to undocumented workers.  The legal status isn’t free.  It would provide  work permits to undocumented immigrant workers, and their immediate families, if they  pay a fine, clear a criminal background check and study English.

According to the Washington Post:

Advocates of the compact included the police, some key elected officials and, critically, the Mormon church, whose members include perhaps 90 percent of Utah’s state lawmakers. They understood that the fast-growing Hispanic community, which counts for 13 percent of Utah’s population and may include more than 100,000 undocumented workers, is vital to the state’s tourism, agriculture and construction industries.

The advocates’ genius was to reframe the cause of immigration reform, including the guest-worker program, as fundamentally a conservative project. In the face of sound bites from reform opponents such as “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” Utah conservatives shot back with: What part of destroying the economy don’t you understand? And by the way, what part of breaking up families don’t you understand?

 

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What is an I-9 Audit?

MoonHowler

Recently news of Chipotle being investigated by ICE hit many local, state, and national news sources.  Chipotle is an upscale Mexican grill who has been under the ICE microscope for about a year.  The inspections are not random and have come about as a result of investigation and intelligence gathering. 

Chipotle, unlike many other fast food chains like Burger King, Subway  and McDonalds, is all corporate . Burger King, Subway, McDonalds and many other chains are often franchise so the hiring onous falls on the local owner of the franchise.  What Chipotle has been undergoing is what is known as an I-9 Audit.  What exactly is an I-9 audit?

According to Reuters:

WHAT IS A FORM I-9?

 -An I-9 is an employment eligibility verification form. All U.S. employers must complete and retain an I-9 for each individual they hire in the United States, citizens and noncitizens alike. On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity documents an employee presents to determine if the person can work legally in the country.

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