CA: GOP immigration hearing scheduled - Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station, Wed., July 5th

San Diego Union - Tribune ^ | 7/2/06 | Hiram Soto

[NormsRevenge]

Imperial Beach will be at the center of the national immigration debate Wednesday when a congressional field hearing there promises to draw protesters from both sides of the issue.

It's one of several nationwide hearings organized by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives who say they will hold them before negotiating a compromise with the Senate.

The hearing, called Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism, Part I, will start at 9 a.m. at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station, 1802 Saturn Blvd., Imperial Beach. The second part will be Friday in Laredo, Texas.

The hearing will be headed by U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, who chairs the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation.

“This is a good way to highlight the problems with the Senate bill,” said newly elected Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad, who will be part of the congressional delegation at the event.

The Senate plan would beef up border enforcement, offer a path to legalization to millions of undocumented immigrants and create a guest worker program. The House plan focuses on border and interior enforcement.

Among the witnesses invited are Darryl Griffen, chief of the San Diego Border Patrol sector, and T.J. Bonner, head of the union that represents agents. Also invited are San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender and Andy Ramírez of the border-watch group Friends of the Border Patrol.

The hearing will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, but only the invited speakers will be allowed to address the panel. The Border Patrol station can hold more than 100 people.

Local religious leaders plan to hold a vigil outside, and another group plans to bring 4,000 crosses representing those who have died trying to cross the border illegally.

There also will be an “alternative” hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mountain View Community Center, 641 S. Boundary St., San Diego, where human rights advocates will listen to immigrants talk about their experiences.

“We are trying to call attention to the fact that they are only presenting one point of view, and that people are not being allowed to speak,” said the Rev. Patricia Andrews-Callori of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in National City. She belongs to the local chapter of the We Are America Coalition, a national alliance of labor, church and community groups that advocates a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.

[NormsRevenge]

The hearing, called Border Vulnerabilities and International Terrorism, Part I,

will start at 9 a.m. at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station, 1802 Saturn Blvd., Imperial Beach.

The second part will be Friday in Laredo, Texas.

[bordergal]

What's the point, if Joe Average doesn't get his say about how illegal immigration is impacting him? Only 100 people allowed in????

Just another sideshow.

Plus they conveniently schedule it on a day that makes it hard for people to get there from out of town, given the holiday.

[engrpat]

The hearing will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, but only the invited speakers will be allowed to address the panel.

Guess this is something else Americans can't do - speak to congress. Are the congress critters afraid to hear from the people? Seems so.

[stephenjohnbanker]

"Are the congress critters afraid to hear from the people? Seems so."

Oh, YES!

[kittymyrib]

I'd suggest a daytime meeting and bullet-proof vests for the Laredo confab. Our fine, upstanding, moral neighbors across the "border" sometimes let the bullets fly on our side, as well as theirs.
I suppose the veteran Border Patrol agents, Raul and Fidel Villerreal, from the San Diego sector, won't be making the CA meeting since they are hiding in Mexico after a snitch told them our feds were on to their human smuggling and drug smuggling enterprise. It's touching that the President and Congress have such childlike faith in BP enforcement of the "border." People who live along the Rio Grande aren't so naive.

[garbageseeker]

Local religious leaders plan to hold a vigil outside, and another group plans to bring 4,000 crosses representing those who have died trying to cross the border illegally.

Will the clergy of Roman Catholic Church be there?

[garbageseeker]

There also will be an “alternative” hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mountain View Community Center, 641 S. Boundary St., San Diego, where human rights advocates will listen to immigrants talk about their experiences.

I am willing to bet that there will be more coverage of this event by the MSM than the actual hearings held by Ed Royce.

[garbageseeker]

“We are trying to call attention to the fact that they are only presenting one point of view, and that people are not being allowed to speak,” said the Rev. Patricia Andrews-Callori of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in National City. She belongs to the local chapter of the We Are America Coalition, a national alliance of labor, church and community groups that advocates a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.

The "We Are America Coalition" is made up of very prominent left wing religious groups,organizations and unions who support illegal immigration.

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) (www.chirla.org): Formed in 1986 to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in Los Angeles, CHIRLA promotes coalition-building, advocacy, community education and organizing to empower immigrants and their allies to build a more just society.

Center for Community Change (www.communitychange.org): The Center for Community Change's project, The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), consists of organizing networks, statewide immigrant rights coalitions, and faith-based and low-income groups as well as partnerships with national organizations to support immigration reform and immigrant rights.

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) (www.icirr.org): In partnership with member organizations, the Coalition educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and, informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees.

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition (www.miracoalition.org): The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), in partnership with over 100 member organizations, works to advocate for the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees across Massachusetts and New England. MIRA advances this mission through education, training, leadership development, organizing, policy analysis and advocacy.

National Association for Latin and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) (www.nalacc.org): NALACC is a network of Latin American and Caribbean immigrant-led organizations working to raise the quality of life in their communities, both in the United States and in countries of origin. Through NALACC, we seek to build transnational leadership and immigrant civic participation in order to advocate for policies that will address the root causes of migration, while at the same time reforming U.S. immigration policies to make them more humane and effective.

National Capitol Immigration Coalition (NCIC) (www.ncic-metro.org): The National Capital Immigration Coalition brings together immigrant communities from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. Its 50+ organizations – including the Washington Catholic Archdiocese and other religious institutions, major Latino, African, and Asian organizations, and unions like the Laborers International, UNITE-HERE, and SEIU – brought more than half a million people to the National Mall on April 10 but also included smaller regional events from marches through downtown Salisbury to rallies on Virginia Beach. National Day Laborers Organizing Network (www.ndlon.org): NDLON is composed of 30 community-based organizations that work with day laborers in different capacities to advance the human, labor, and civil rights of day workers throughout the United States and to strengthen and expand the work of local day laborer organizing groups.

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) (www.nakasec.org): NAKASEC is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes political and civic participation among Korean Americans, advocates for the civil rights of Korean Americans and works to raise cultural awareness as well as issues pertinent to the Korean American community.

New American Opportunity Campaign (NAOC)/Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR) (www.cirnow.org): NAOC was founded in 2004 as a national campaign to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Since that time, NAOC has coordinated nationwide actions resulting in over 800 grassroots events in 45 states.

New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) (www.thenyic.org): NYIC is an umbrella advocacy organization for approximately 200 groups in New York State that work directly with immigrants, refugees, and asylees. The NYIC's membership includes immigrant rights advocates, immigrant community leaders and service providers, numerous community-based ethnic and non-profit human service organizations, and leaders from labor, academia and the legal professions.

Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) (Woodburn, OR) (www.pcun.org): PCUN works closely with a wide variety of local and national organizations to promote legalization for undocumented workers and to ensure immigrants' rights both federally and in Oregon.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) (www.seiu.org): With 1.8 million members nationwide, SEIU has been working with our coalition partners in 33 states to educate and mobilize members in support of sensible immigration reform that will help raise standards for all working people. UNITE HERE! (www.unitehere.org): With more than 440,000 active members and more than 400,000 retirees throughout North America, UNITE HERE's diverse membership includes a high percentage of immigrant workers who labor primarily in the hotel, restaurant, textile, apparel, and hospitality industries.

[stephenjohnbanker]

250,000 pounds of left wing B S

[garbageseeker]

Bump

[garbageseeker]

ping

[Kimberly GG]

"religious leaders plan to hold a vigil outside, and another group plans to bring 4,000 crosses representing those who have died trying to cross the border illegally."

"Will the clergy of Roman Catholic Church be there?"

Anyone planning to show up with 4,000 crosses plans to represent in numbers! Probably the Catholic church and every pro-illegal they can round up for their 'vigil' outside the anti-illegal Republican hearing will be there. If ordinary folks are not allowed in to speak against S. 2611, hopefully the anti-illegals will make their presence known in equal numbers outside to protest the vigil and counter the pro-illegals. The media must be prevented from focusing only on their plea for sympathy, their lies, distortions and misrepresentations.

[garbageseeker]

I agree. That is why there must be a big showing of Minutemen and pro HR4437 forces to be out there to counter the pro guest worker crowd. Even though they might be small in number, they have loud voices and we must drown them out.The Minutemen(if they show up) and the anti illegal immigrant forces should bring American Flags to counter the crosses. The American flags are to symbolize our patriotism and love for our country which the pro guest worker crowd lack.

[JoanneSD]

The crosses could be to show support to keep the Veterans war memorial cross on Mt. Soledad...May be I will make a sign thanking them for their support.. and bring it down..to the meeting..

[LibertarianInExile]

Nice of them to announce it what, three days in advance, so people could schedule their arrival for it. Good thing they're having the hearing, wouldn't want them to miss out on the unemployed Hispanics that'll be packed into it by LaRaza.

[bordergal]

Oh, I plan on calling both Hastert and the Judiciary Committee and letting them know my displeasure, and that they aren't fooling anyone.

Public hearings my ***insert rude word****.

[LibertarianInExile]

This is all starting to seem like a big setup so they can postpone the vote until the lame duck session arrives, then they screw America when nothing can be legislatively done to stop it.