Joyce E. Downey
Time Magazine Nails Illegal Immigration Problems
Mon Oct 4, 2004 17:10
64.140.158.71



For more than 25 years Joyce E. Downey has been a political consultant. Her background includes such varied positions as the following:

Executive Aide, Forbes 2000

Senior Consultant, Shanghai International Raceway

Founder & Chairman, U.S. Alliance for Freedom & Democracy

Executive Director, U. S. Council for World Freedom

Consultant, Ronald Reagan for President

Ms. Downey has worked with resistance groups and refugees worldwide and is a frequent speaker and columnist for various international organizations.
http://www.phxnews.com/guests.php

Time Magazine Nails Illegal Immigration Problems
Posted by PHX - Joyce E. Downey on Monday October 4, 2004 at
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=15031

Anyone who is waiting in hopeful anticipation for either presidential candidate to address the problem of illegal immigration in the final debates will surely be disappointed. It ain’t gonna’ happen. Don’t even wait for lip service from the President or the Senator.

After the election there may be some hope for a shot at forcing the federally elected to face what those of us who live in the southwest know – illegal immigration is wrong, costly and mocks our judicial system and exposes us to terrorists who might just come right on in. The folks are mighty tired of being called racists because they don’t like what the illegal are doing to our health institutions, the environment, the economy and good will toward our southern neighbor.

Finally a national publication addressed this problem with some real teeth in it. The hundreds of other articles I’ve read have failed to nail down the cause, the effect and who profits from this debacle. Time got their hands around this issue in a way that no other publication has done. Not one time is the phrase “undocumented worker” used. This Time article is a must read for anyone interested in the what, the why, and the why not illegal immigration isn’t addressed by the federal government.

Read, “Who Left the Door Open” and you’ll understand why some citizens in Arizona took things into their own hands and have placed an initiative on the November ballot. It is called Proposition 200 and there isn’t a hotter political issue in the state. It has divided same party legislators, neighbors, churches, friends and families. All polling data shows better than 70% approval by the folks, but every major newspaper, Chambers of Commerce, the Governor, both Senators and a full assortment of religious organizations have roared a mighty NO to it.

Basically, Proposition 200 calls for implementation of two things. It requires anyone registering to vote to show evidence of U.S. citizenship. The other part of the proposition requires state and local public employees to verify the identity of those who apply for public benefits – not those mandated by federal law, but those provided at lower jurisdictions.

There were no less than 11 articles about this proposition in the two local newspapers on Sunday, Octorber 3rd. The pros and the cons show up on page after page. Those who oppose it say it will not halt illegal immigration and will be very expensive to implement in addition to turning public employees into police officers stating “Your papers, please.” The advocates say that after years of frustration they seek to force implementation of existing law and Washington to focus on the issue. Both positions have merit.

No one denies this is a problem, but the answers are fractured. Figures given to me recently are enough to give anyone a jolt. In the month of July, 2004 there were 19,433 apprehensions of illegal immigrants in Cochise County, Arizona. In the same month the number was 38,898 apprehensions in the Tucson Sector. More than 5,000 “OTM’s (other than Mexican) were apprehended in the past year. One can only assume how many were not apprehended.

The Time article reports that from October 1, 2003 through July 20, 2004, the Tucson Sector’s Border Patrol stopped 9,051 persons crossing into the U.S. who had criminal records. This means they had committed crimes in the U.S., returned to Mexico and were attempting to illegally cross again. There were 378 with active warrants for their arrests. Two of the warrants were for homicide.

Just a few headlines from local newspapers in the past week read as follows: “Mexico cautions of Ariz.’s Prop.200”, “Prop. 200 foes cite contagious disease fears”, “Arizona sets record for deaths at border”, “Winner to mold fate of illegals”, “Renewed Mexican program offers émigrés dual nationality”, “Feds closing in on top migrant smugglers” and my favorite “Cliff-dwellers wait for chance to cross to U.S.”

This is the story of two men who were deported from California. They have no money, but they are attempting to wait out the summer living on the dangerous cliffs above Tijuana biding their time till they can cross back into the U.S. One tried hiking through the mountains but was twice caught by Border Patrol and turned back. The opening line of this article is “Life has stranded Jose de Jesus Torres atop craggy cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.” The article tells how some of the cliff-dwellers fall asleep and crash to their death. It also states that the men don’t have Mexican identification documents because they’d have to travel many miles back to their homes in the interior to obtain them. If these men don’t die trying, they will return to the U.S. and they will be hired.

Recently a $13 million pilot project was implemented. It flew illegal immigrants from the U.S. back to the interior of Mexico if they chose to go voluntarily. A whole lot like lipstick on a pig, but very expensive lipstick.

In 1996 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Act. It stated that employers could be fined up to $10,000 for every illegal hired and if the offense was repeated, a jail term could be imposed. Fewer than 400 employers have been arrested for this crime since passage of this law.

The opposition to Proposition 200 is vast and well funded and may well be right, but the people want action on this problem, even if they don’t have the power to do everything, they are determined to do something.

Now would be a good time for Washington to look for the September 20th. Edition of Time Magazine and read what is happening. The people are scared and angry. They want you to do your job and come up with something that is equitable, doable and eases the fears that terrorists can come into this country along with the dreary and jobless Mexicans. They want to know “Who Left the Door Open?”

==================

TIME: Prop 200, an AZ ballot initiative aimed at illegals, seems to have little going for it
Posted by Great Scotts on Monday October 4, 2004 at 11:06 am MST [ Send Story to Friend ]

Link to story: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041011-709020,00.html

Monday, Oct. 11, 2004

"Proposition 200, an Arizona ballot initiative aimed at illegal immigrants, would seem to have little going for it. Virtually the entire political, business and religious establishment of the state — including Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, Republican Senator John McCain and the state's three Catholic bishops — is lined up against it. The Arizona Chamber of Commerce is also campaigning for its defeat."
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=15030



In Tuesday's Vice Presidential debate, John Edwards will mention Halliburton because...
Democrats have manufactured a conspiracy to demonize Dick Cheney and Halliburton.
Dick Cheney and Halliburton have been taking advantage of the American taxpayers.

http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=15030


PHXnews.com | Breaking News from the Phoenix area, Tucson & ...
... Joyce Downey, For more than 25 years Joyce E. Downey has been a political
consultant. Her ... Chechnya? (13). PHX - Joyce E. Downey. More...