Free Republic

Gainesville -- Officials at Mar-Jac Poultry said they were shocked to find out Thursday that federal officials suspect the company might have ties to terrorist funding. Company Vice President Doug Carnes said at least a half-dozen U.S. Customs agents spent all day Wednesday gathering financial records and charitable contribution files. They were "real nice, professional and complimentary," he said, but they didn't disclose the nature of their visit. It was only on Thursday that Carnes was alerted by company officials in Virginia as to what the agents were looking for. "I'm shocked. I'm in disbelief. I've worked for them for...

The polls had been closed and his re-election secured for hours late Tuesday, but Corey Stewart, the chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, was still in fighting form. "We are never going to stop defending our communities from the effects of illegal immigration. Ever!" Stewart yelled into a microphone at the local Republican Party's post-election reception. ..snip.. Herndon closed its day labor center in September, when the charity hired to run it refused to check the legal status of the 100 or so workers it served daily. Dozens of those and other men now gather each morning on a...

Herndon Police Investigate Homicide posted 12:16 pm Sun October 28, 2007 - Herndon (Virginia) police are investigating a homicide the occurred Saturday night. Officers were called to the 1,000-block of Alabama Drive around 9:45 p.m. Saturday. Investigation revealed 20-year-old Luis Miguel Abrego Romero stabbed Juan Jose Alvarenga Alvarenga in the upper torso. Alvarenga was transported to INOVA Fairfax Hospital where he later died. Officers say Romero fled the scene on foot and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Herndon officials turned over 13 inmates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the two months since the town began the federal partnership in June, police said Friday. Town police processed the inmates under the controversial 287(g) program, offered through ICE to allow local police to initiate the first stages of deportation proceedings for illegal aliens arrested on other charges. "Based on these initial results, the program is doing exactly what it is designed to do -- giving our officers another tool in their efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens from our community," Herndon police chief Toussaint E. Summers Jr. said...

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today issued the following statement on Volkswagen’s presence in Michigan: “We are grateful that so many Volkswagen jobs are staying in Michigan. By choosing to continue their automotive and technology related functions here they will be retaining 600 of their employees in Michigan. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Volkswagen in the years to come.” Granholm met with Stefan Jacoby, incoming President and CEO of Volkswagen of America last evening. In conversations and a formal letter to the Governor, Jacoby said Michigan is and will remain an important global center for...

Volkswagen Moving to Herndon U.S. Unit to Bring 400 Jobs From Michigan By Zachary A. GoldfarbWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 6, 2007; Page D01 Volkswagen of America plans to announce today that it will move its headquarters to Herndon, as part of a new corporate strategy to for revamping its sagging auto business. The company said it would bring 400 jobs to the region and invest more than $100 million to set up operations in a new office building in Woodland Park near Washington Dulles International Airport.The move is part of a corporate restructuring that would eliminate 400 positions,...

Volkswagen of America announced at a press conference today that, indeed, it is moving its corporate headquarters from the Detroit suburbs to Herndon, Va. At this morning’s press conference, VWoA’s new president and CEO, Stefan Jacoby, in that post only since Sept. 1, cited a host of reasons why the company is moving from Detroit to Virginia: closeness to customers; support of the state and business community; and a fresh start for VWoA, which is embarking on a new strategic direction after sales of its once-popular Volkswagen brand models have tanked while U.S. financial losses mount. Jacoby said VWoA is...

The Town of Herndon announced yesterday that it would close its 21-month-old day-laborer center next week instead of complying with a judge's ruling that the site must be open to all residents, including those who might be illegal immigrants. The decision to close the site, which became a flash point in the national debate over immigration, was reached late Tuesday by Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis and the six-member Town Council after a 2 1/2 -hour closed-door session. It brings the western Fairfax community virtually full circle in its attempts to regulate -- critics say drive out -- its large population...

The Town of Herndon announced yesterday that it would close its 21-month-old day-laborer center next week instead of complying with a judge's ruling that the site must be open to all residents, including those who might be illegal immigrants. The decision to close the site, which became a flash point in the national debate over immigration, was reached late Tuesday by Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis and the six-member Town Council after a 2 1/2 -hour closed-door session. It brings the western Fairfax community virtually full circle in its attempts to regulate -- critics say drive out -- its large population...

The Herndon Town Council and town attorney met in closed session last night to discuss legal options after a Fairfax County Circuit Court decision last week declaring the town's anti-solicitation ordinance unconstitutional. The council also was scheduled to discuss a resolution authorizing the town to temporarily operate a day-laborer site at an estimated cost of $11,000 per month after the contract of the center's current operator, Reston Interfaith, expires Sept. 14. It was not clear whether last week's ruling would alter the town's plans to temporarily run the Herndon Official Workers Center while town officials seek a new operator that...

A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge has struck down a Herndon law forbidding employers to solicit day laborers anywhere but at a single center, a new turn in an already complex tangle of immigration, labor and law in the small Virginia town. Judge Leslie M. Alden overturned a district court ruling and declared the ordinance unconstitutional, the town announced Wednesday evening.

"The town of Herndon, (Virginia) plans to take over operating its day-laborer center because city officials cannot find a qualified group to manage the facility in accordance with newly passed restrictions, according to the Washington Post.....Reston Interfaith and its affiliate Project Hope & Harmony, the current operator of the center, provided job training and English lessons to laborers, but refused to check workers' legal status. Reston Interfaith runs the center on a grant provided by Fairfax County. The grant runs out September 14....The Herndon Town Council recently required whatever group manages the site to check workers' legal status...." http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0807/451380.html...

PROJECT: COUNTERINTELLIGENCE SUBJECT: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION / RESPONSE ON THE U.S. LOCAL LEVELFILE: OPPOSITION RESEARCH TRANSLATION: SPANISH to ENGLISH (w/BABELFISH) Original Spanish Title: ("Ante Nuevas Regulaciones Federales y Locales Empresarios se Unen Para Ayudar a Los Inmigrantes") Translated Text: ”By Mitzi Macias WASHINGTON HISPANICIn order to respond to the new anti-immigrant (sic: "anti- illegal alien") regulations on the local level in Virginia and federal level, a group of businessmen met to form a coalition through which he will plead for the rights and the contributions of the immigrants (sic: "illegal aliens"). Taking the first step, the coalition is an integration...

Town votes day laborer center must check paperworkAssociated Press - August 15, 2007 10:35 PM ET HERNDON, Va. (AP) - The town of Herndon's day laborer center now must check the paperwork of workers who congregate there.After two days of hearing debate, the town council voted tonight that a new group must run the center. The current operator -- a nonprofit called Project Hope and Harmony -- says it's not their job to enforce immigration law.Herndon's day laborer center was 1 of the region's first. It has sparked debate over illegal immigration and how to deal with workers who used...

A Herndon Town Council public hearing on the future of a taxpayer-funded day-laborer center moved toward midnight last night, as dozens of speakers signed up to discuss several proposals including a provision to require the center's new operator to verify workers' legal status. The council has applied for a temporary permit extension for the site's operator, Project Hope and Harmony, which does not verify employment eligibility, while the town procures a new operator for the Herndon Official Workers Center that would be required to check legal status. "We're happy that the Town Council is taking a step closer to bringing...

Fairfax County has terminated its financial contract with Reston Interfaith, managers of the Herndon Official Workers Center, according to county officials. The contract currently provides $175,000 in annual funding for the controversial day labor center's operation.

Herndon officials are considering proposals that would bar Illegal aliens from using the town"s day-laborer center. The town has received two proposals for a new day-laborer site that would check workers" immigration status, Herndon spokeswoman Anne Curtis said. The new site would replace the Herndon Official Workers Center, which is run by the Project Hope & Harmony group and does not mandate legal status. An internal staff committee led by the town manager must evaluate the proposals and determine whether to bring one before the full Town Council, Ms. Curtis said. Town officials in January issued an official request for...

WASHINGTON - Since making national news last year for the controversy surrounding its taxpayer-subsidized day laborer center, the tiny town of Herndon has done an abrupt about-face. In May, angry voters ousted Mayor Michael O’Reilly, who supported the center, an elected Steve DeBenedittis, who did not. Only two incumbents on the Herndon Town Council survived their wrath; five candidates publicly committed to reversing the town’s illegal immigrant policy were swept in with DeBenedittis. The day labor center was founded by Muslim activist Mukit Hossain, whose office is located right next door to the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a think...

Kingdom of the Illegals By Paul Sperry FrontPageMagazine.com | May 17, 2006 This month's defeat of local politicians who built the equivalent of a day-care center for illegal Hispanic immigrants in a leafy Washington, D.C., suburb was a victory not just for immigration reformers but also anti-terror watchdogs. Angry voters in Herndon, Va., swept out their bleeding-heart mayor and two of his allies on the town council and replaced them with candidates who are not expected to renew the lease of a controversial hiring site set up to help illegal aliens find work. Lost in all the controvery, however, is...

Herndon (Virginia)'s decision Tuesday night to seek federal training for some of its police officers so they can enforce federal immigration law is part of a long-term effort by a new mayor and Town Council to aggressively curb the presence of residents who are in the country illegally....

States, Counties Begin to Enforce Immigration Law By Peter Whoriskey Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 6:50 AM CHARLOTTE -- Police here operated for years under what amounts to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward illegal immigrants. As elsewhere in the United States, law enforcement officers did not check the immigration status of people they came into contact with, and in the vast majority of cases, a run-in with the law carried little threat of deportation. But....

"Herndon (Virginia) officials are considering applying for a federal program that would train some of the town's police officers to enforce U.S. immigration law, including the initiation of deportation proceedings."

The attacks on US targets culminating in the September 11 suicide hijackings were only a fraction of the onslaught planned by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, it emerged yesterday. Over the past three years, US intelligence detected plots against US embassies in 14 countries, mostly in Asia and Africa, and there were over 600 more "credible threats" of attacks. Some were thwarted by arrests or stepped up security. Others appear to have been suspended or may still be pending. The global extent of al-Qaida's terrorist ambitions is revealed in a new book by Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism analyst, who interviewed ...

Gaithersburg officials said yesterday that a proposal for a day-laborer center for illegal aliens has been further delayed because landlords, merchants and other residents say it would bring crime and other problems into their neighborhood.

'Help Save Loudoun' First Meeting! Plus a report by 'Help Save Herndon' supporters, on voter anger over illegal aliens, and its effect in the recent Herndon election, upcoming November 2006 elections, and beyond. Speakers will include Ann V. Null, former Herndon Town Council member, and Linda and Nathan Muller, forthecause.us. The Herndon election was the first election in the US to take place after massive nationwide pro-illegal alien amnesty/pro-open borders protests, and the first to have the illegal alien issue at the center of the campaign. Come here what participants in the overthrow of the Herndon Town Council that approved...

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond Times-Dispatch said Saturday it fired a reporter for fabricating part of a story and has begun investigating his other work. Paul Bradley, 51, who worked in the newspaper's northern Virginia bureau, was dismissed Friday, the newspaper reported. The article, published May 17, was intended to gather reaction in Herndon to President Bush's speech on immigration. Bradley's fabrications, the Times-Dispatch said, included an interview that did not occur with the director of a center for day laborers and the misrepresentation that he had visited the center by using a Herndon dateline. Managing editor Louise C. Seals...

Conservatives, nationwide are getting angry about the loss of principle by GOP'ers in office. Big spending in Washington and Sacramento. The inability to control illegal aliens. Failure to protect jobs and the failure to stop the social agenda of liberals in our schools in finally causing conservatives to say NO to GOP incumbents, even if it means we could lose seats in a legislative body. The thought is simple, why protect a Republican running for office if their voting record will differ little from the Democrats. In Utah, GOP Congressman Chris Cannon could not win his Parties endorsement for re-election--his...

This month's defeat of local politicians who built the equivalent of a day-care center for illegal Hispanic immigrants in a leafy Washington, D.C., suburb was a victory not just for immigration reformers but also anti-terror watchdogs. Angry voters in Herndon, Va., swept out their bleeding-heart mayor and two of his allies on the town council and replaced them with candidates who are not expected to renew the lease of a controversial hiring site set up to help illegal aliens find work. Lost in all the controvery, however, is the more disturbing fact that the site -- a covered building featuring...

I've just come back from a week in Australia, and have been pouring over my regular sources of 'What's going on in the world', and came across the article entitled: Mayor, Officials Swept Out of Office for Their Support of Illegal Aliens, by Jim Kouri, CPP. I thought it very interesting, but it was not until I read a joke that arrived in an email, that I saw another 'moral of the story'. The Joke: The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep. Some hours...

Seeing Vote's Effects Far Beyond Herndon Immigration Opponents Cheer Election By Bill Turque and Karin Brulliard Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, May 4, 2006; Page B01 National anti-immigration groups warned politicians yesterday that Tuesday's election in Herndon was the beginning of a voter backlash against local and federal immigration policy. "Politicians across the country should take note of the results of this election," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an organization that patrols the U.S.-Mexico border. The group's Herndon allies videotaped hiring activity at a day labor center created to help immigrant workers find employment.

BACKGROUND: Herndon, VA Democratic Stronghold - Throws out Pro Illegal Immigration Mayor & Council VA General Election - November 8, 2005 ^ | November 8, 2005 Posted on 05/03/2006 12:07:35 AM PDT by 11th_VA So most of you have heard, The pro-illegal immigration mayor and council of Herndon, Va were turned out by the voters last night. So you probably think this was some Red State bastion in Northern, VA, right? Wrong - Herndon is full of Blue Dog demos. Here's the Election data from 2005: .............J W Kilgore(R)........T M Kaine(D) Herndon #1...... 40.2%.................57.5% Herndon #2...... 37.3%.................60.4% Herndon #3...... 38.3%.................60.0%...

So most of you have heard, The pro-illegal immigration mayor and council of Herndon, Va were turned out by the voters last night. So you probably think this was some Red State bastion in Northern, VA, right? Wrong - Herndon is full of Blue Dog demos. Here's the Election data from 2005: .............J W Kilgore(R)........T M Kaine(D) Herndon #1...... 40.2%.................57.5% Herndon #2...... 37.3%.................60.4% Herndon #3...... 38.3%.................60.0%

Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbulent national issue of illegal immigration. Residents replaced the incumbents with challengers who immediately called for significant changes at the center. Some want to bar public funds from being spent on the facility or restrict it to workers living in the country legally. Others want it moved to an industrial site away from the residential neighborhood where it is located.

Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbulent national issue of illegal immigration. Residents replaced the incumbents with challengers who immediately called for significant changes at the center. Some want to bar public funds from being spent on the facility or restrict it to workers living in the country legally. Others want it moved to an industrial site away from the residential neighborhood where it is located. The labor center forced the western Fairfax County town...

Immigrant Backlash In Herndon Voters Oust Leaders Who Supported Center By Bill Turque and Nikita Stewart Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, May 3, 2006; A01 Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbulent national issue of illegal immigration. Residents replaced the incumbents with a group of challengers who immediately called for significant changes at the center. Some want to bar public funds from being spent on the facility or restrict it to workers residing in the country...

HERNDON, Va. (AP) - The day labor site in Herndon may have changed the face of politics in that town. Steve DeBenedittis, a resident who opposed the center, has been elected mayor of Herndon, defeating incumbent Michael O'Reilly. DeBenedittis captured one-thousand, three-hundred and sixty-three votes, 130 more than O'Reilly. The center opened late last year, replacing a chaotic unofficial site in a 7-Eleven parking lot as a spot for employers to recruit day laborers. There was also turnover on the Herndon town council, as only two -- Dennis Husch and Harlon Reece -- were re-elected. Connie Hutchinson, Dave Kirby, Bill...

Voters in the town of Herndon, Virginia delivered a stunning rebuke today to elected officials who opened a taxpayer funded day labor center for illegal aliens in the town last year. Incumbent mayor Michael O'Reilly lost to Steven DeBenedittis while five of the six at-large town council seats went to candidates opposing the day labor center.Town Council winners are Bill Tirrell, incumbent Dennis Husch, Connie Haines-Hutchison, Charlie Waddell and Dave Kirby.Only one of three incumbents on the council who supported the day labor center won re-election, J. Harlan Reece. The other two who went down in defeat were Carol Bruce...

The deep-thinking students of Herndon and Sterling walked out of their high schools yesterday to show solidarity with the misunderstood illegal aliens in their midst. Their tiny protest was designed to appeal to the humanity of the Capitol Hill gasbags who are seeking to pass legislation that addresses the immigration mess, if a thinly veiled plan of amnesty addresses the nation's sieve of a border with Mexico. Supporters of illegal aliens are promising to add to the mess, with a national call to boycott work, school and shopping places May 1. This promises to be something of an Illegal Alien...

U.S. allows Muslim 'fox in the henhouse' Guest panelist threatened America, openly supported terror groups Posted: March 20, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: WorldNetDaily is pleased to have a content-sharing agreement with Insight magazine, the bold Washington publication not afraid to ruffle establishment feathers. Subscribe to Insight at WorldNetDaily's online store and save 71 percent off the cover price. By Kenneth R. Timmerman © 2004 Insight/News World Communications Inc. The congressionally funded United States Institute of Peace hosted an event yesterday in Washington on reforming Islam, with a guest panelist who has threatened the United States and openly supported...

Herndon, Va., police are trying to determine who spray-painted pro-immigration graffiti outside the home of the local leader of the Minutemen, an illegal-entry watchdog group, police said yesterday. Police said they received a report Sunday that two messages were found spray-painted on the sidewalk in front of George Taplin's residence. One read: "No One is Illegal." Under a heart-shaped globe, another read: "Love Sees No Borders." Police are investigating the graffiti as a destruction-of-property case. In October, Mr. Taplin founded the Herndon Minutemen, which opposes the town's use of taxpayer funds for a day-laborer center. The center, in the 1400...

Herndon, Va. could be Anytown, USA. Day laborers, many of them illegal immigrants, often clogged a 7-Eleven parking lot, creating unsanitary conditions and disorder. After heated debate, the town last month opened a work center for the jobbers. Order now reigns, but the debate rages on as illegal-immigration opponents seek to shut the center. Herndon's actions reflect a national phenomenon about day laborers: Every day, workers gather in about 500 US parking lots and main streets (and increasingly, work centers), hoping they'll be picked for construction or other jobs by drive-up employers, according to a study released this week by...

A former aide to Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) pleaded guilty yesterday to bribing the congressman to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa. Brett M. Pfeffer, 37, of Herndon, a former president of a McLean investment firm, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official in 2004 and 2005.

A nonprofit that runs a day-laborer center in Herndon said yesterday the center has been a success since it opened last month, and it hopes the center will serve as a model for other communities searching for ways to deal with day laborers. Officials with Project Hope and Harmony said they have managed to get all day laborers, most of whom are illegal aliens, to congregate at the Herndon Official Workers Center. Before the center opened Dec. 14, the laborers congregated about a mile away, at street corners or outside convenience stores in the town. "We're quite encouraged," said Joel...

HERNDON, Va. -- The debate between the Herndon Minutemen and day laborers heats up with the arrival of a new controversial Web site. The Herndon Minutemen is a group that conducts surveillance of day laborers in Herndon, Va. "I am sure there are racists in this country, but they're not in my organization," said George Taplin, president of the Herndon Minutemen. He is responding to a new Web site, weareracist.com. The site was created by LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. "We thought the best thing to do was to set it up as weareracist.com. We do believe...

Sorry for the late notice, we have been swamped with demand. There will be a national day of protest this Sat and we wanted you to have the details. Below you will find complete information. You may want to link up with a protest that is already arranged in your state or you may want to start your own with some friends. Please exercise caution in California, New Mexico, and Arizona as we have received word that the communists, socialists, and Aztlan separatist Goons will be out in some of those areas. Here are the details. For further guidance and...

Anti-illegal immigrant group plans 'Stop the Invasion' protest in Danbury DANBURY — A controversial anti-illegal immigrant group is planning a "Stop the Invasion" demonstration Saturday at Kennedy Park. Latino day laborers gather each morning around Kennedy Park, between Kennedy Avenue and Elm Street, hoping to be hired by contractors. "Hiring illegals at Kennedy Park is a criminal activity. It is against the law," said Paul Streitz, a founding member of Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control. Streitz' group wants the United States to close its borders, enforce existing immigration laws — and to send undocumented immigrants back to their homelands. Streitz...

In spite of legal proceedings that threaten to shut down a day laborer center funded by Herndon and Fairfax County, some policy and community leaders have moved on to the topic of who should pay for such a center. Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, had a simple answer to that question, speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "Who should pay for shelters for day laborers? Whoever benefits," Papademetriou said. "And we all benefit. Houses are being built. Goods and services are being produced by day laborers. The benefit is to the community, and...

HERDON, Va. (AP) - The town of Herndon will stop using any portion of its recently opened day-laborer center on Loudoun County land under an agreement with county officials. The publicly funded center has been operating for about a week in a former police station that straddles the line between Loudoun and Herndon. The town will block off one entrance to the center as well as part of the parking lot by January first. Loudoun County Administrator Kirby Bowers asked Herndon Town Manager Stephen Owen this week to shut down the controversial center because it does not comply with county...

The opening of a formal center for day laborers in Herndon on Wednesday brought a new fervor to a debate that has raged since August, drawing roughly as many demonstrators as laborers to the site. Even before sunrise, demonstrators had installed themselves at the perimeters of the Herndon Official Workers Center at 1481 Sterling Road. Two ideologically opposed groups stood intermingled: those protesting the center, and those protesting the protesters. The demonstrators, bracing themselves against temperatures in the low teens, did not at first verbally confront each other, letting the battle play out in the air above them. “Change Your...

The trailer that houses Herndon's day-laborer center, scheduled to open this morning, isn't fancy. But it is clean; it is heated; and it has a restroom. For the laborers who plan to use the center, it's a welcome step up from hanging out on a street corner, in nearby parking lots or outside a 7-Eleven. "It's just amenities we try to provide on site so they don't have to go a distance to get the things that they need," said Bill Threlkeld, director of Project Hope and Harmony, a nonprofit group that will operate the center. "Any degree of initial...