lframerica.com Blog

April 3, 2008

Environmental advocates said Wednesday that they weren’t surprised by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision this week to waive several environmental laws to expedite construction of border fencing in four states. Still, they haven’t given up on efforts to stop the project.

“I thought eventually, they would do this,” said Martin Hagne, manager of Valley Nature Center in Weslaco. “But I don’t feel we are defeated, and we’re certainly looking at every avenue possible.”

For months, environmental groups have spoken out against the proposed border fence, saying it would affect wildlife’s ability to migrate and reach fresh water from the Rio Grande.

Hidalgo County’s proposal to construct 22 miles of concrete levees that would double as a border fence rankled environmentalists even more.

Officials from the Rio Grande Valley’s wildlife refuges and environmental advocates said the combined fence-levee structure would make it impossible for endangered species like the ocelot to migrate.

Environmental groups likely will have a tough time finding an avenue to stop the proposal now, however. Under the 2005 Real ID Act, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has the authority to waive any laws that prevent quick construction of border fencing, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

That waiver leaves environmental groups with little legal recourse against the fence’s construction, said Oliver Bernstein, spokesman for the Sierra Club.

Last year, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife filed a federal lawsuit challenging the construction of fencing on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona. A federal judge issued an injunction against construction in October that later became moot after Chertoff invoked his waiver authority, Bernstein said.

“Once that waiver was granted, construction started right up and we weren’t able to do anything else,” he said.

The two organizations have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to evaluate whether the Real ID Act is constitutional.

“We expect a response sometime this summer,” Bernstein said.

Chertoff’s announcement came after a March 3 letter from Kenneth Stansell, deputy director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to Greg Gibbens, director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Secure Border Initiative. In the letter, Stansell says that any border fence or levee that cuts across the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge would ultimately violate the refuge’s purpose, and therefore Chertoff would have to waive the National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act to move forward on fence construction.

Stansell further warned that a proposed fence-levee combination in Hidalgo County would present more environmental problems than the original fence proposal.

“This combined project would eliminate wildlife passage by replacing CBP’s original ‘wildlife-friendly’ fence design with an impermeable 16- to 18-foot high wall built into a flood-control levee,” Stansell said in the letter.

Even with the waiver in place, the U.S. Department of the Interior is still working with the Department of Homeland Security on ways to minimize the fence’s environmental impact, said Department of the Interior spokesman Shane Wolfe.

The agencies are working on an agreement that would grant $50 million to the Department of the Interior to fund mitigation projects that would help endangered species, Wolfe said in a statement.

Environmental advocates said they are appealing to members of Congress to change the Real ID Act, and also are waiting to see what happens with the Supreme Court appeal and the November presidential elections.

“I think the public is starting to see that we have some valid points,” Hagne said. “I think this issue will gain national momentum.”

Refuge officials said, meanwhile, that they’re doing what they can to protect wildlife as fence plans move ahead - even if they feel their hands are tied.

“We’ve tried to figure out a way to make this a wildlife-friendly fence, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a stretch,” said Nancy Brown, spokeswoman for the South Texas Refuge Complex.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/impact_85625___article.html/known_border.html

April 3, 2008

McALLEN, Texas (AP) - Rio Grande Valley elected officials and environmentalists wonder if they will know the full impact of the border fence before it is in their backyards now that the federal government has bypassed the law requiring detailed environmental study.

They waited months for a final environmental impact statement to be produced after extensive study of what lay in the fence’s path.

Now the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says those studies will go on, but it does not have to produce a final report.

Members of the Texas Border Coalition were told in a conference call with federal officials Wednesday that they will not get the final report on the fence. Homeland Security said it would instead work from a draft study.

Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, chairman of the coalition, said they were told that some findings and mitigation studies would be made available to them, but not the comprehensive report required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

“What is it we don’t want to show the world,” Foster said. “That makes one suspicious.”

Congress has mandated that the Department of Homeland Security have 670 miles of fencing in place along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of year to protect against terrorism and stem the tide of illegal immigration.

Last fall, the Department of Homeland Security released a massive draft environmental impact statement, with maps of possible fence routes and areas of environmental, historical and archaeological significance that would be studied in more detail for the final document. A public comment period followed when individuals, organizations and other government agencies submitted their concerns and suggestions for alternatives.

The National Environmental Policy Act was one of more than 30 laws Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced he was bypassing Tuesday.

The move away from an established process concerned border area officials and defenders of the environment.

“If you use this waiver and go around NEPA, and then claim you’re still going to do environmental studies, we would be wary of that because NEPA guarantees a process,” said Oliver Bernstein, spokesman for the Sierra Club in Texas. “They’ve kind of pulled the carpet out from under the community participation.”

In addition to detailing the fence’s impact, the final environmental impact statement was supposed to show that alternatives were explored, Bernstein said. “We may never know at this point.”

Amy Kudwa, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the agency had the draft environmental impact statement. “We will continue to work from that and will continue to move forward with environmental assessments.” Kudwa did not know what information would be made public or when.

In a statement released Tuesday, Chertoff said his agency “is neither compromising its commitment to responsible environmental stewardship nor its commitment to solicit and respond to the needs of state, local and tribal governments, other agencies of the federal government and local residents.”

McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez, who participated in the call, said, “They say one thing and then they back off it.”

Cortez was left with the impression that “they (Homeland Security) felt that they had done sufficient work, that there were no significant concerns out there and they could move forward.”

Federally-contracted archaeologists, wildlife experts and others have been conducting surveys along the fence’s path since late last year.

Cortez said, “I think we have a right to see what the data says.”

Under the Real ID Act, Congress gave Chertoff the authority to waive laws that impeded building the fence.

As of March 17, there were 309 miles of fencing in place. The waivers announced Tuesday cover about 470 miles of the border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Resistance to the border fence has been strongest in South Texas, where towns sit above the Rio Grande and families have strong ties on both sides of the border.

More than 50 Texas property owners have been sued by the government to allow surveying for the fence.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/15765600/detail.html?taf=dc

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — A Prince William County Board of Supervisors meeting on immigration enforcement took an unexpected turn on Tuesday.

The board was to receive an update from the police chief on the county’s crackdown on illegal immigration, but board Chairman Corey Stewart, the architect of the plan, instead was attacked.

A dozen residents, including the head of the police officer’s association, blasted Stewart.

Some focused on the consequences of the illegal immigration crackdown he spearheaded. Others were angry about criticism he leveled at Police Chief Charlie Deane.

Stewart suggested a meeting Deane had last week with the Mexican General Consul and Latino residents was inappropriate and possibly illegal.

“I am appalled that you, Corey Stewart, have publicly attacked our chief,” said former county Supervisor Hilda Barg.

“To you Corey, I say, ‘If you cannot lead us, we must have a leader. Please leave us,’” Barg said.

“Bar none, every single person I talk to was angry, disappointed and very upset at your flippant, arrogant remarks. They do nothing more than add poison to this situation, and it is disgusting,” said resident Skip Brown.

Other speakers begged the board to reconsider the policy implemented last month allowing police to check the citizenship status of those arrested in the county if they think they may be in the country illegal.

A woman who once sponsored a fundraiser for Stewart highlighted a Web site created by supporters of Stewart that likens illegal immigrants to dog food.

“The person I know would never have a relationship with somebody who would post vileness like this,” she said.

Before the meeting, Stewart defended his meeting with the Mexican official.

The controversy overshadowed the police chief’s update on the crackdown. Deane departed from his planned remarks to address the questions.

“This meeting was neither a violation of law, State Department protocol, nor was it unprecedented,” he said.

The chief said the meeting was one of 77 he has had in the community to allay fears about the policy.

Deane said in the first month of the crackdown, the police had contact with 89 people suspected of being in the country illegally.

In his first briefing to the county supervisors since a crackdown on illegal immigration began March 3rd, Deane said that most were questioned during traffic stops and calls for service and 41 were arrested on various charges and taken to the county’s adult detention center.

In the fall, the board voted to direct officers to check the residency status of crime suspects they think might be in the country illegally. Some in the immigrant community are concerned that the program will be used to profile Latino residents.

Since July, when the county began implementing federal immigration laws, the county has detained almost 700 people.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/county_85487___article.html/federal_cornyn.html

CORNYN: Getting Federal Money For Levees ‘fair and just’ 

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2008/04/01/news/doc47f27868d2928752698201.txt

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had said using the waivers would be a last resort. The department has held more than 100 meetings with lawmakers, environmental groups and residents in an effort to work out obstacles and objections to fence construction. The department will conduct environmental assessments when necessary, one of the officials said. But the waivers allow the department to start building before completing the assessments.

The department was expected to announce the plans later today.

http://oneoldvet.com/?page_id=5711#5

By Karoun Demirjian
The Congressional Quarterly (Washington, DC), March 31, 2008

Monaca, PA — As Rep. Jason Altmire walked into the Beaver County Sportsmens Conservation League Awards Dinner at the Monaca Turners lodge, he was pretty sure that between the handshakes and the backslaps someone might ask him about immigration.

“I hear about it everywhere I go,” the freshman Democrat said of his talks with constituents in western Pennsylvania’s 4th District. “People want to see Congress move a bill.”

Across the state, fellow Democratic freshman Christopher Carney faces similar concerns from his constituents in the 10th District.

“People say, ‘We don’t want any kind of amnesty,’ ” Carney said. “People want us to control the process . It’s a real concern here.”

When it comes to immigration, constituents like these hold the kind of influence that Washington lobbyists — and perhaps Democratic leaders — only dream of.

Even though they have relatively few foreign-born residents, districts like Pennsylvania’s 4th and 10th are the emerging battlegrounds of immigration, and their representatives are the prime targets of Republican efforts to push get-tough, enforcement-first approaches through the House.

The future of threatened first-term Democrats such as Altmire and Carney may hang in the balance. And Republicans hope that what those lawmakers heard back home during the spring recess improves the chances that some sort of get-tough legislation moves forward this spring.

Competing Pressures

At issue in the House are two GOP-initiated discharge petitions — one to force floor debate and a vote on an enforcement-only measure by Rep. Heath Shuler , D-N.C., and another, expected to be filed Tuesday, on a bill by Rep. Bart Stupak , D-Mich., to increase the number of H-2B visas for seasonal workers.

Each petition must garner 218 signatures to be successful — and each of the bills has enough Democratic cosponsors to theoretically clear the hurdle. But signing those discharge petitions is no small commitment for first-term Democrats, who are being pressured not to break with party leadership while at the same time feeling the need to satisfy constituents — and deflect GOP attacks — by talking tough on immigration.

Carney and eight other Democrats signed the discharge petition on Shuler’s bill before leaving for the two-week recess. Altmire, and the majority of the bill’s Democratic cosponsors, didn’t sign — and challengers have tried to make that an issue.

“They talk a good game and they say they support things, but don’t do anything to make sure anything happens,” said Melissa Hart, who lost her seat in Congress to Altmire in 2006 and is challenging him in 2008. “He’s all talk and no action. He’s trying to have it both ways.”

Hart’s criticism of Altmire directly reflects talking points that were circulated during the recess by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in rural districts represented by first-term Democrats in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. Several of those seats — such as the ones held by Kirsten Gillibrand of New York’s 20th District and Zack Space of Ohio’s 18th – have been listed as NRCC targets for 2008.

In each of those areas, a changing economy has heightened concerns about illegal immigration.

“You have immigration serving as a way to talk about two things. One is the economy, and the idea that somehow these immigrants coming into the area would be taking jobs and employment away,” said David Harris, a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh. “Second, there’s a feeling that there’s a cultural transformation happening, and people begin to get uncomfortable when they see the world changing around them.”

In Aliquippa, a portion of Altmire’s district north of Pittsburgh on the banks of the Ohio River, a summertime roundup of illegal immigrants laying fiber-optic cable for Verizon Inc. brought the immigration debate too close to home for some longtime residents — in an area where less than 2 percent of the population is foreign-born.

“These guys are taking people’s jobs here,” said John DiCioccio, a retired pipe fitter. “It comes down to making money — they can get those guys to work for half-price or a third of the price; they’re going to hire them.”

Lacking Resources

In Sayre, part of Carney’s district just across the border with New York, Police Chief Larry Hurley has staged at least three impromptu raids on undocumented workers in the past three years — unprecedented in a town of fewer than 6,000, he says, and requiring the kind of policing he and his 10 officers don’t have the resources to conduct.

“I see money pouring into the cities, but we’re up against the same type of criminal activity, and we get nothing,” he said. “I try to stay out of politics. But I don’t think I’m the only person in law enforcement in small towns in rural areas having to deal with this trend.”

For constituents like these, discussion of discharge petitions remains a bit too technical a topic for meet-and-greet get-togethers. Because last year’s debate over comprehensive immigration reform took place mostly in the Senate, there’s not much of a House voting record to point to when it comes to immigration, and the competition has been mostly a war of words.

Several of the targeted freshman Democrats already espouse a hard-line stance on immigration, so what has emerged is a game of rhetorical one-upsmanship. Both the incumbent and the challenger try to portray themselves as the champion of ever-tougher border and workplace enforcement.

For incumbents such as Altmire, though, there is an additional challenge: the need at some point to match rhetoric with action. Signing a discharge petition on the Shuler bill might accomplish that, but Altmire has nevertheless decided against it, because he doesn’t trust Republicans— who, as the filers of the petition, would assume control over floor debate on the bill if they discharge it — to be as enforcement-minded as they profess.

“Every time the Republicans have had the chance to deal with the issue, they bring amnesty to the table,” he said. “For me, it’s very simple: I want to see [Shuler’s bill] on the floor, I want to see us address immigration in a way that secures the border . I’ve been clear with my position, and I think the people are happy with where I am.”

Nonetheless, the struggle to be the toughest when it comes to immigration may leave these freshman Democrats in a ticklish position.

Of course, not every constituent has the same concerns.

Keith Eckel, a fourth-generation farmer from Clarks Summit, Pa., and a lifelong conservative Republican, is at odds with his party’s push to harden the bottom line on the debate. Last week, he decided to stop growing the tomatoes that he’s been selling up and down the East Coast since 1949 because Congress has failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

“In our business, we’re totally dependent on seasonal farm workers of basically Hispanic descent to harvest our crops,” he said. “I’ve been wrestling with this decision for the past two years, hoping that Congress would move on the immigration reform issue. This year it just became apparent that we were not going to have enough people to harvest the crop.”

Carney, Altmire and their challengers have expressed an interest in legislation on the seasonal H-2B visa shortage as a means of addressing the concerns of farmers and contractors in their districts who rely on immigrant labor.

For employers like these, it’s a short-term, bottom-line problem. But solving it may be a tall order when the only acceptable political options seem to be getting tough or getting tougher.

By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles,
www.WalterMooreForMayor.com.

Neither Los Angeles nor any other American city should be a sanctuary for gangs.

Right now, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s “sanctuary city” policy prevents our police from enforcing our immigration laws against any illegal aliens, including gang members.

This “sanctuary city” policy cost Jamiel Andre Shaw, II, his life.

Jamiel — a young man with an exceptionally promising future — was murdered by a gang member who was in our country illegally, and who had just been released from jail for committing other crimes.

Jamiel’s murder was preventable, and inexcusable. There is no legitimate reason to extend “sanctuary city” protection to gangs.

Our city — and every other city in America — should be a sanctuary for people like Jamiel, not a sanctuary for gangs. I have therefore drafted “Jamiel’s Law,” a proposed City ordinance to deny “sanctuary city” protection to gang members.

Jamiel and his family are counting on you: wherever you live, please urge the Los Angeles City Council to pass Jamiel’s Law.

JAMIEL’S LAW 

FORM LETTERS TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

CITY COUNCIL CONTACT INFORMATION

http://www.yumasun.com/news/worker_40732___article.html/guest_program.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,342616,00.html

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island  —  Linking the presence of undocumented workers to Rhode Island’s financial woes, Gov. Don Carcieri signed an executive order that includes a series of steps to combat illegal immigration.

The order signed Thursday requires state agencies and companies that do business with the state to verify the legal status of employees. It also directs the Rhode Island State Police and prison and parole officials to more aggressively find and deport illegal immigrants.

The Republican governor said he understands that illegal immigrants face hardships — but he does not want them in Rhode Island, America’s smallest state. “If you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be here illegally. You shouldn’t be here,” Carcieri said.

Immigrant advocate Juan Garcia feared Carcieri’s proposals would drive a vulnerable community underground. He said illegal immigrants who are victims of crime will fear approaching police, and that children could suffer if parents lose their jobs.

“These people are not criminals,” he said. “This is affecting the poor people.”

Carcieri’s popularity has plummeted in recent months as Rhode Island faces an estimated $550 million (euro348.41 million) budget deficit, its worst financial crisis since a series of bank and credit union collapses in the early 1990s. He has proposed cutting school funding, reducing welfare and health care benefits and even letting prisoners out of jail early.

He blamed Congress for failing to set a new immigration policy. He said he supported increasing the number of legal immigrants and skilled workers allowed into the country.

Carcieri was testy when taking questions after signing the order. When a reporter asked if his order might embolden xenophobes, Carcieri blamed the media for inflaming the immigration debate.

Under his order, state police will enter an agreement with federal immigration authorities permitting them access to specialized immigration databases. That information would allow police to identify and detain immigration violators.

State police could investigate the legal status of anyone they suspect is an immigration violator, including crime victims, witnesses and people supplying police with confidential tips, state police Maj. Steven O’Donnell said.

Department of Corrections Director A.T. Wall said the prison system will negotiate a similar agreement so it too can identify illegal immigrants in state custody as well as legal immigrants who are subject to deportation if convicted of crimes.

Carcieri said he supported legislation that would force all companies in Rhode Island to do the same. He said he did not know how much his initiatives would cost, although he assumed they would save money in the long run.

Unfortunately Duane, so can we. 

http://www.allamericanblogger.com/2484/new-state-computers-missing-vital-programs/

Duane Lester - March 31, 2008

We all know how efficient a state agency is, especially a streamlined department like the Department of Public Health and Human Services. That is why I find it so troubling to hear about the problems they had with their new computers. It seems they were missing some programs other departments were using.

At least some hard-chargin’ all-go, no-quit government employees spoke up:

The issue arose recently when the Child Support Enforcement Division received new computers, but without the games like solitaire, hearts and minesweeper that come with Microsoft software.

Some employees complained that the games weren’t on the new machines while other employees in the department had games, said Lonnie Olson, division administrator.

That’s right. Their computers didn’t have the same games that other computers had. So they complained. And they almost got what they wanted:

“I said if they want them, we’ll put them on,” Olson said, adding that he wanted to make sure all employees in the department are treated the same.

OH GREAT CAESAR’S GHOST, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

There is at least one person with some senblance of gray matter between their ears. I give you Sheryl Olson, deputy director of the Department of Administration:

“To me, the broader policy is nobody should be playing games on state computers,” she said. “We’re at work to work. Why is this even a question? Who has time to play games?”

Can you imagine waiting on authorization for your important health procedure at the new Department of Crappy Government Run Health Care, while the government boob behind the desk tries to complete Minesweeper on expert?

I can.