Posted on 12/27/2005 6:52:13 AM PST by radar101
COSTA MESA – This Orange County city has become the first in the United States to approve a federal program that allows police to investigate the immigration status of criminal suspects.
That happened early this month when the City Council in this community of more than 100,000 voted 3-2 to join the program that trains local police to identify and detain criminal aliens.
No other U.S. cities have committed to joining the program amid a nationwide debate over illegal immigration, although Florida and Alabama allow state police to check the status of some arrestees.
"If this goes through, right now Costa Mesa would be the first city involved in this program and get the training to check immigration status," Councilman Gary Monahan said.
Latino activists have argued that police officers have no right to question immigration status and said that the plan would lead to racial profiling and civil rights violations.
Hundreds of thousands of people cross the border from Mexico each year, and that is becoming a major political and security issue. President Bush has identified immigration reform as one of his major goals for next year.
"I requested that we go forward with this because I believe the public is asking us to do this and quite honestly the federal government has failed miserably," Mayor Allan Mansoor said.
"They need to do what the public expects and that's enforce the immigration laws and focus on public safety."
Councilman Monahan said Costa Mesa's plan, which hinges on approval of a similar arrangement proposed by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, would apply only to suspects arrested for felonies and gang-related crimes.
"If you are a real bad guy, someone who has committed a sex crime or a robbery, we don't want you here if you're not supposed to be here in the first place," he said.
Monahan said the debate over the program went on for four hours and became so heated that police had to remove one man from the council chambers
Hundreds of thousands per year are apprehended, but millions annually make the trip successfully.
"What a slap in the face to all immigrants who struggled to get here legally. What a slap in the face to Americans."
It may become far worse than just a slap if Houston is one of the first cities to grow a mushroom cloud.
In California, we have a Fish and Game regulation that mandates you wear your license out and visible so a ranger can see it from a distance.
Last year, I was fishing when about 6 Mexicans (not Mexican Americans, these guys were Mexicans... you could tell by their clothes) came down to the shore and started fishing. No licenses.
Later in the day, the ranger drove up to the boat ramp, did his visual inspection of the area and drove away.
I figured out later that he did not mess with them because it would have become an all-day affair and he didn't have time. Had I been violating the law, it would have been "Drivers License?", ticket, fine.
Had he approached them, it would have been "Driver's license?", "No tengo licensio", "No hablo englis!" and he would have either had to write tickets to six guys named "Manuel Labore", or hauled them somewhere to be processed by someone and then taken somewhere else...but that wouldn't happen, so he didn't bother.
Sickening.
Too little too late. San Diego used to be the most coveted- expensive, and prettiest/laid-back place to live. Now it's being destroyed. People are moving out to get away.
What gets me, is, living in Southern California, is that the illegals don't just move into America, they have to pick the nicest, most expensive coastline to hang out. Some places you can't get a house in San Diego for under 2-3 million, and those are tiny, but you drive 10 feet, and there are 20 illegals sitting on the ground in front of a gas station. Who wants to live there now? And why do they always have to take the best for themselves? Go out to the desert or something, and ruin that. Put up Mexican flags and speak spanish, flash gang signs, drive up the crime rate, sell drugs and cover yourself in tattoos so no one is comfortable walking around at night/day. Do that out there.
People flee from Mexico to come here. Why turn everything here into Mexico again? Then--- the U.S. becomes Mexico- and we'll ALL have to leave.
I may be wrong but I don't believe this practice was approved by the city council??? the operative word in this article is "if" this practice were approved!!! And the illegals are still walking up and down the Home Depot in Costa Mesa!!! evvvvvvvvery day!
and as far as the Orange County Sheriff's department goes...well that's a friggin' joke!
All the Sheriff would have to do is walk outside his office in downtown Santa Ana and he'd spend the rest of his life arresting illegals walking up and down the streets of downtown Santa Ana!!! There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of illegals living in Santa Ana unabated!
it's too early to do any confirmation but later today I'll call the Costa Mesa PD and find out.
I was willing to compensate him for the damages, it was clearly my fault, but I wanted to do it above board. He would (couldn't) exchange license info, did not have insurance and simply wanted me to give him $100. I refused to hand over $100 without some record of the accident. I didn't want him to come back later and sue me for some alledged injuries he had sustained.
He pressed and I refused. His wife finally convinced him to leave w/o anything.
ping
Costa Mesa is the Orange County capitol for illegal aliens...
No wonder they had shouting in a meeting to even discuss this thing, there are signs on many street corners in Costa Mesa advertising for legal services for "immigration" issues, and many businesses with handwritten spanish titles and pink stucco building fronts.
It's a mess. Another Mexico-by-illegality in California. They should have been asking for legal status evidence about fifteen years ago, long before American middle class sold their homes and moved away because of all the illegals there.
www.fair.org/ (Dan Stein's group) and www.numbersusa.com/ .
I have been registered with these organizations for years and have seen increasing success. Given the indifference of the majority of Congress and the present administration, I'd say these two groups have had tremendous influence in spite of those !&^%**& we call leaders because of grass-roots folk faxing and phoning on key issues. If I could, I'd also become a Minutewoman and help finish the job.
Best wishes . . . Penny
Like some other comments, this thread, this morning, after reading so many articles on the internet about illegal aliens and related problems, nationwide (not just in CA), I'm sitting here wondering WHY the country (and CA particularly) has degenerated into such a big mess, so many nice and well kept/mannered places overrun by illegal aliens, the places ruined, chaos, crime, disorder, disdain for laws, insults as to our citizenship, even our language...
WHY can't the United States of America get illegal aliens out of the country and stop more from entering?
I know I can't get a drivers license in any state if I can't prove my residency with birth certificate, S.S. Number, and I couldn't ever enroll in any university without proving my legal residency (minimum of one year in state along with birth cert., D.L., etc.). and yet illegal aliens completely ridicule the very meaning of these legitimacies.
Anyone who tries to suggest that Mexico is a victim in this is lying because all the mess I see nationwide from illegal aliens is by nearly ninety-percent Mexican with Chinese and Indian thrown in afterward. But Mexico seems to have invaded and occupied our nation and my tolerance for them is at an end, and that includes the loud, rude, messy and destructive ones I see roaming around my own neighborhood, stealing shopping carts, leaving trash, crowds late at night on the corners...
And that's a "nice suburban American neighborhood," among the finest, so they say.
This is a nationwide problem and has to be wrangled under control. If people can't prove that they even have legal status to be in the country, they need to be removed from the country. All tears aside, just remove them.
More better now.
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