“This explosion in the size and scope of the Border Patrol is extremely troubling.”
Dear Mr. Parsons,
We are writing in opposition to the plan by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to spend $8 million on a major expansion of its Port Angeles facility in order to accommodate 50 agents. The current number is 25, up from a total number of 4 in 2006. Read more
KONP Radio News – August 20th, 2010 – 6:09 am
(Port Angeles) — A proposal that would move the local border patrol headquarters into what is now the Eagles Building has drawn support and ire in the community.
Earlier this week members of “Stop the Checkpoints” a group critical of the U-S Border Patrol took picket signs to the street in front of the Eagles Building at First and Penn. Read more
Article published Aug 19, 2010
By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Opponents of expanding the Border Patrol’s presence on the North Olympic Peninsula came out this week, as they did two years before, to say no to the placement of more federal agents in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Read more
Dear Mr. Parsons,
I’m worried that our country is becoming too militarized. Aside from all the money the US military industrial complex is spending on wars in foreign countries, taking away from sorely needed basic human services like health care, education, jobs and food needed here at home. Therefore, I resent the encroachment of the quasi-military Border Patrol, on our communities, as well as their tactics, and certainly don’t want them occupying a permanent building site Read more
President Obama signed into law a $600 million bill on Friday to pay for 1,500 new border agents, additional unmanned surveillance drones and new Border Patrol stations along the southwest border.
The measure sailed through Congress in little more than a week with broad bipartisan support, demonstrating Read more
Virginia has long had localized tensions over immigration: Read more
The “Secure Communities” program automatically runs fingerprints through immigration databases for all people arrested and targets them for detention and deportation even if their criminal charges are minor, eventually dismissed, or the result of an unlawful arrest…. Read more
by Victor Goode Thursday, August 12 2010, ColorLines
Republican leaders have spent the last couple of weeks reigniting a 140-year-old constitutional debate: Whether the 14th Amendment should grant citizenship to everyone born inside United States territory. South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsay Graham, who was once considered an immigration ally for Democrats, demanded Senate hearings on the matter first, and party leaders have eagerly chimed in with support.
The most recent GOP big to pile on is House Minority Leader John Boehner, who would likely become speaker if the GOP wins in November. He told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, I think that there is a problem. To provide an incentive for illegal immigrants to come here so that their children can be U.S. citizens Read more
Ari Berman | August 11, 2010 | The Nation
At dawn on December 12, 2006, the holiday of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, a heavily armed fleet of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers stormed the JBS Swift Greeley Beef Plant, the largest employer in the sleepy city of Greeley, Colorado. They arrived in riot gear, arresting 265 Hispanic workers and deporting dozens in a coordinated seven-city raid known as Operation Wagon Train, a key front in the Bush Administration’s “war against illegal immigration.” The largest ICE raid in US history ruptured the city, split apart families, drew national headlines, and sparked a heated debate inside the city, as Republican Mayor Tom Selders denounced the government’s heavy-handed tactics. One Hispanic activist told The Nation’s Marc Cooper, “This has been our Katrina [1].”
The raid was masterminded by Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck [2], Colorado’s new GOP nominee for the US Senate. Buck defeated former lieutenant governor Jane Norton in a hard-fought primary [3] last night—and his hard-line stance on immigration was a big reason why. Read more
