Posted on 03/09/2007 3:44:15 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
WICHITA, Kan. - An uneasy alliance on illegal immigration has been forged in this rural Midwestern state between the Kansas Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and the Peoples Alliance for Latino Advancement.
But not everyone in the state's Hispanic community is happy to see it.
The two groups held a joint public forum Thursday night in Wichita to outline their common mission on stopping illegal immigration. Most of the 70 or so people who came were white - the few Hispanics who attended said others told them they feared being deported if they came. Some said a Spanish-language radio station warned its listeners against attending.
"There is a schism in the Hispanic community over this," said Dennis Romero, a human smuggler who served 21 months after being caught helping his Mexican wife and others come into this country.
But just five months after his release from prison, the Wichita-born Romero was speaking out with other PALA leaders at a Minuteman gathering telling them the United States would not have to build a wall across the border to keep Mexicans out if Mexicans could make just $200 a week working in their own country.
Romero blamed the Mexican government - saying it is corrupt, inept and has impoverished its people - for the immigration problem in the United States.
"The problem is in Mexico, it is not here," said Bob Hernandez, co-chairman for PALA.
PALA found an unlikely ally in Ed Hayes, the Kansas director of the Minuteman group.
Hayes told the audience Romero was a good man and said PALA and the Minutemen think a lot alike when it comes to such things as the exploitation of illegal immigrants in this country.
"What we have going on here with illegal immigration is an invasion," Hayes said.
Hayes said the Minutemen want to secure the border and go after employers who hire illegal immigrants. In Kansas, he said, they are turning those employers in to the Internal Revenue Service.
The biggest industry Mexico now has is the cash remittances that families send to their relatives in Mexico, Hernandez said, adding that Mexico should be a rich country - given its own resources - were it not for its own corruption.
Hernandez also said there is a lack of leadership in the Mexican community in the United States. He said joining with the Minutemen was a call to action to object to the exploitation and abuse of illegal immigrants, and to organize and protest illegal immigration.
But outside the meeting, Romero expressed his personal doubts about the alliance with the Kansas Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.
"Today, I am with them," he said. "Tomorrow, I could be their worst enemy. I am giving them an opportunity here in Kansas."
He hopes PALA can be an influence over the Minuteman, and help soften their views on immigration. He said the coalition would quickly dissolve if Wichita begins to see the Minutemen behind raids on illegal immigrants.
"Basically, they have made a truce with us," Romero said.
In other words, if the US would pay each and every Mexican $200 a month, they'd all stay south of the border.
$200 a week.
Ack, week! Hey, I don't even make $200 a week!!!!
If the kids weren't born here, send them back with their parents.
If they were, put them in foster care.
Give them all guns and ammo at the border and tell them to fix their own country.
'Romero blamed the Mexican government - saying it is corrupt, inept and has impoverished its people -'
Exactly, and the focus should be on them...not making this an unlawful government. I would respect pro-border open border people if they actually did something about Mexico...and demanded change there.
That would make sense, and if they could start that off...I would be more inclined to not desire the end of illegal immigration. If Mexico was like Canada, most Americans would care about this topic. Just reform and stop being political retarded.
That's all we ask!?
"Is this the Bush administration raiding these factories and feeding these stories to persuade the Conservatives that a
"comprehensive plan" is needed. Is Bush & Co. tugging on the little bit of heartstrings conservatives have? Is Rove as smart as we have all been saying? Could not those smarts be used on us too? If we keep seeing these raids and more and more "children who were brought here by their parents", or even better, born here to illegal parents, how can you punish them? These kids are citizens. Why punish them?
We are in the midst of NOT legalizing the parents, but the children they brought with them or the ones the came here to give birth to.
Is Bush trying to legalize the NEXT generation? Just a thought."
The raids are meant for nothing but gaining the sympathy of the public. The OBL has been very clever in dictating the timing of these raids and the MSM has played along in their coverage from the perspective of sympathy and compassion. The ultimate staged event will be perfectly timed, imo, and will be when ICE is told to go in and arrest Elvira and her son. IMO, we can expect another Elian Gonzales type moment...in order to win national sympathy and support for legislators as they pass the Kennedy bill. They are just waiting for that perfect moment.
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