The people are arising and in revolt!
Posted on 10/01/2007 6:37:47 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
A California-based immigration reform organization is supporting the decision by the mayor of Simi Valley to bill a church almost $40,000 for harboring an illegal alien to cover the cost for police presence during a protest.
For more than a year Mexican national Elvira Arellano made national news as she was holed up inside a Chicago church in order to avoid deportation by immigration authorities. Arellano finally left the church, fled to California, and was deported back to Mexico. Now another illegal, identified only as "Lilliana," has been given sanctuary at United Church of Christ in Simi Valley, California.
In response, an immigration reform group, known as Save Our State. organized a three-day protest outside the church -- forcing the city to send police officers to keep the peace. But instead of billing the protestors, Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller sent the nearly $40,000 bill to the church, calling the congregation irresponsible for harboring an illegal alien.
Save our State spokeswoman Chelene Nightingale says the mayor made the right call. "This pastor is the one who opted to have this criminal in her church, therefore I personally feel -- as do others -- that she should pay for harboring a criminal. She's aiding and abetting," says Nightingale.
It is unfortunate, says the group spokeswoman, that the American Civil Liberties Union has come to the defense of the church and its illegal alien visitor, prompting the mayor to hold off on the bill. "The ACLU can pose quite a bit of problems for a city," she says.
Nightingale says her organization intends to meet with the mayor and return to the church for another protest.
I DO believe that the ACLU will not find Simi Valley such a financial pushover as the little towns that are typically its victims......and that when Simi Valley wins the case the ACLU will be billed for every nickel of legal fees that Simi Valley expends in slapping them down.
Ok, relax everybody. Someone obviously had a lapse in logic when they said that....give them time to recover and retract that statement.
:)
wow
A church taking a political stand? Bye-bye tax exempt status!
Nah that only happens if they take a pro-GOP position.
Prior to 1953 and the ‘Rat Congress which passed the law gagging the churches, the church was very prominent in politics in the US. Another reason to eliminate the income tax.
These doofuses think there are never consequences resulting from stupid decisions...
Only if a Republican is involved.
Demo'Rats are good to go, no one ever bothers them.
Churchs are allowed to take political stands on issues.
They are not allowed to endorse candidates.
They are not allowed to harbor criminals.
EXcellent!!!
Simi Valley has a very low crime rate and 3800 cops living there. Wrong town for left wingers to throw their weight around.
SIMI ROCKS!
While many support this action based on the switch side of the imagration most of us are on, is this a precedent we want to set. If that wacko chuch in Kansas came to protest a funeral and the local police deceided that needed extra officers should the church pay the bill?
I read last week that the mayor changed his mind and dropped the demand.
Way to go Simi Valley!
One of the last sane places in CA.
WOW. People have cajones after all.
The people are arising and in revolt!
The newspaper reported that the 80-member church publicly announced weeks beforehand its plans for the illegal alien to be housed on the premises, as though the church, and especially the pastor lady, welcomed the publicity and notoriety. The pastor brought this upon her church, its members and the community. She sure picked the wrong City, Police Chief and Mayor. It was no innocent event; it was well-planned. The illegal alien’s husband lives in the same county, but another city. Surely, there would have been many churches closer to home for her to choose from. Why this one? Same city as the Reagan Library? One of the safest cities in the country? One of the most conservative in the country? Who is this pastor, and what’s her real agenda? Surely, she doesn’t expect to attract new members!
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