Posted on 12/08/2007 2:21:37 PM PST by pulaskibush
LITTLE ROCK - If Arkansas authorities tried to arrest all the illegal immigrants in the state, there would be no place to hold them, Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday."What our police officers are faced with (is), what are going to do with them?" Beebe said on his monthly call-in program on the Arkansas Radio Network. "You don't have enough room in the Pulaski County Jail for violent criminals right now. "The murderers and the rapists and the robbers need to be locked up first, in my opinion," Beebe continued. "People that will hurt you need to be locked up first. So, if our cities and our counties and our state are bulging right now with regard to jails and prisons trying to keep the violent criminals locked up, where in the world would you put thousands of illegal aliens?"
Beebe made the remarks in response to a caller who asked if he would be willing to suspend funding for the state's preschool program to tackle the problem of illegal immigration."It's the federal government's primary responsibility," Beebe said. "We will help and we will follow the law, but I'm not going to raise your taxes to create more police forces and I'm not going to take education dollars and cut them for that purpose." Another caller to the hour-long program asked why Beebe did not push for an immigration enforcement law similar to one that recently took effect in Oklahoma. The law seeks to bar illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses, state services, employment, housing or transportation in that state.
Beebe said Arkansas did pass legislation this year targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants, but "I am not going to raise your taxes to do what you're supposedly paying taxes right now to the federal government to (do) - enforce the law." One caller said he believes prejudice and ignorance are behind much of the public outcry against illegal immigrants. Arkansas seems to have a lot of problems in the area of race relations, the caller said. "Understanding and tolerance obviously ... (are things) that all of us need more of and to practice more of, and it's not exclusive to Arkansas," Beebe said. "It's a human nature trait. It exists across the country." Better communication is key to improving race relations, Beebe said. "But we still all need to follow the law, too," he added.
Pulaski County Sheriff Found in Contempt of Court (Arkansas)
This is the excuse being used by all states. Maybe if they went after the people that knowingly hire illegals and fine them accordingly they would have enough money to build new facilities to house illegals.
Please tell me why the good people of Arkansas keep electing such maroons. But then I wonder that about my state too.
On Monday, radio host Dave Elswick urged citizens to call Mike Beebe and demand a special session to deal with the issue of illegal immigration. I was able to call the show and mention the Arkansas Taxpayer Citizen's Act (HB2779) that had been introduced in the 2007 session by Rep Jon Woods but had died in committee. I also found another immigration reform bill by Woods that required proof of citizenship before getting state benefits (HB2781). This is similar to the legendary SB206 bill that was trashed by Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee. I want to have the links to these bills up on the web so that citizens can see there are solutions to illegal immigration in Arkansas already created. I would urge all citizens to call Mike Beebe's office and demand that he hold a special session so that the state legistlature can vote on HB2781 and HB2779. Although these bills would not completely solve illegal immigration, they are a great start!
phone:501-682-2345
fax: 501-682-1382
Tyson foods says they have room for them.
Easy solution. Cut off all benefits/welfare to illegals and use said funds for jails and deportations.
I have an idea.
First, deport all of the illegals which are already residing in the jails and then you’ll have room for more.
Repeat.
Question: Is the lack of prison space excuse being used by pro-illegal politicians in other states?
They used an old Army base to house Vietnamese refugees back in the 70’s. This crap about it’s the Feds problem is a cop out.
The feds have only 20 something thousand detention beds.
Don't post common sense, you will PO the republicans and the demorats.
Sheriff Joe could probably be contracted to outsource detention facilities. Charter a train and move them out. The good sheriff won’t only show them a little Arizona hospitality, he’ll give them free English lessons too.
And a bazillion unused barracks on shut down bases...
“Don’t post common sense,..”
Common sense seems to be an uncommon commodity these days.
And perhaps the Government should start enforcing the law uniformly for once. The problem is that the folks in charge now believe in "lex bovis, non jovis" (one law for the cattle, one law for the gods), a sharp departure from the idea that no individual and no group in the States is above the Law, and that every individual is equal in the eyes of the Law.
You may recall the swat raids that Bush pulled off on Swift last December.
The feds detained about 1300 at all the Swift plants and some of them were held at military installations.
That created problems and the commanders were writing nasty letters to Chertoff.
Hey Beebe, do what you guys have always done, and force the tax payers to foot the bill for feeding, housing, and providing medical care for them.
” If Arkansas authorities tried to arrest all the illegal immigrants in the state, there would be no place to hold them.”
That is true you cannot hold as there is not enough space. So why don’t you just send them back to Mehico?
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