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The Culpeper Coalition
By Greg L | 14 September 2007 | Illegal Aliens, Virginia Politics | 6 Comments
Culpeper County officials are trying to put together a coalition of localities in Virginia which will join together in calling for effective state-wide initiatives to combat illegal immigration. According to today’s Washington Times, the first issue to be tackled is calling for the enrollment of the Commonwealth in the Section 287(g) Program by the State Police, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and Department of Corrections. It’s a great issue to start with.
The coalition is being formed now that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, has rejected requests for Virginia to create a statewide partnership with federal immigration officials that would allow state agencies to identify illegal aliens and begin deportation procedures. The partnership would have included the state police, the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Nineteen localities have already expressed an interest in participating in this coalition, and nine have signed on. This could have an impact in the General Assembly in those cases where a locality would participate in this coalition, but their state representatives have been reluctant to support meaningful legislative action that might reduce the number of illegal aliens within the Commonwealth. Just a few better votes in the Virginia Senate could make a huge difference in determining how much legislation that had been stonewalled in Senate committees might actually make it to the Governor’s desk.
This effort is going to be the most effective if localities can establish grassroots advocacy organizations working on this issue in concert with the participation of localities in this coalition. While having local leaders advocating for policy reform in Richmond will make a big difference, if each of these leaders can be at the front of a large and growing army of constituents who are demanding action right behind them, the political pressure will be unbearable for the “ostrich caucus” that has so far been determined to do nothing on this issue.
Having nineteen local leaders pressure someone, say perhaps Ken Stolle, would be helpful. He’d be paying attention to what they say, most likely. If each of these had a few hundred constituents with them, that level of attention would probably transform into a certain degree of palpable concern for his political future even if they were from outside of his district. The implication would easily be understood that the next time hundreds of angry constituents showed up, they could well be his constituents.
Rarely has the Virginia political landscape shifted in such a dramatic way. Organizations are popping up all over demanding policy reforms that would make Virginia less accommodating to illegal aliens and ensure that the state and localities do everything within their power to help ensure that our laws are respected. It’s not coming from professional lobbyists, it’s not backed by gobs of money from politically motivated charitable organizations, and the organizations leading on this issue are all pretty recently established. The citizens themselves are getting engaged in unprecedented numbers. Should this continue to build, and every indication is that it will, our elected officials might have to start paying attention to their constituents a bit more than the lobbyists, which would be quite a novelty.
For more on this, check out From On High, and don’t forget to sign the petition calling on Governor Kaine to enroll Virginia in the Section 287(g) Program if you haven’t already done so.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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It is about time! That day labor site I saw just outside of old town Culpeper is a symptom of problems down the road if they do not do something before it gets out of control!
It is funny how some on the support the illegal alien side say there is only a small minority of the overall population who are against illegal aliens.
Greg, you are right, Timmy should take heed, and so should Mark Warner.
This Nation has from 12 to 30 million Illegal Aliens and less than 2% work on farms. Those Illegal Aliens are destroying our schools, medical systems, environment, adding to pollution, overpopulation, water & energy use, costing the Tax payers an additional 22,000.00 per year each for their schooling, medical, welfare etc. while Killing, Raping, & Robbing American citizens by the 10,s of thousands!
The vast majority of Americans desperately want our borders protected — and we want it done now. We are weary of the excuses and empty promises put forward by the Republican National Committee, the White House, and the Democratic leadership on this vital issue of national, economic, and cultural security.
We do not understand why, even after the devastating attacks on September 11, our government still allows hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to cross our borders every year. We do not want our public schools burdened with a massive influx of non-English speaking children of parents who broke our laws. We are livid that our health care costs skyrocket year after year as illegal immigrants take advantage of free health care at emergency rooms across the country. We are astounded to see the resurgence of diseases we thought we had long since conquered, such as tuberculosis, carried by illegal aliens who enter the country without any medical screening. We are horrified to learn how the illegal alien invasion feeds crime and gang activity in our country. We are fed up with a government that has ignored our wishes on an issue that will transform every major aspect of our lives — imperiling America’s future.
Why is there such a split between elite and popular opinion on immigration and border enforcement? One big reason is that regular people pride themselves on being Americans, while the elites pride themselves on being cosmopolitan (from Greek words basically meaning citizen of the world). Additionally, the specific costs of open borders do not hit the elites as hard as they hit the working class. Case in point: illegal immigrant crime. To listen to the open border advocates and the dinosaur media, one would think that every illegal immigrant living here is like celebrity dog-trainer Cesar Millan (a.k.a. “The Dog Whisperer”). Illegally in this country — yes, but also entrepreneurial, ambitious, and law-abiding. The “local illegal does good” sob stories have gotten old fast. You’d think establishment politicians and the New York Times would be embarrassed to keep pouring it on, but they aren’t.
The simple fact is that illegal immigration has ravaged entire communities with increases in violent and drug-related crime, and in these areas the system is on the verge of being totally overwhelmed. Yet you would never know this by watching the evening news or reading most of the newspapers. When is the last time CBS or the New York Times, reported on violent crime committed by illegal immigrants? Perhaps they are too busy doing stories on how difficult life is for the illegal immigrant — or the rare case when deportation separates a parent from a child born in the U.S. Fox News Channel’s Geraldo Rivera loves these stories.
In 2005, the GAO studied a sample of illegal alien criminals… and found an average of eight arrests and thirteen offenses per criminal alien. The audit examined one hundred criminal cases involving illegal immigrants, and found that seventy-three illegals accounted for 429 arrests, 878 charges, and 241 convictions.
Gangs comprised of illegals, such as the deadly Salvadoran MS-13, have been terrorizing communities from Northern Virginia to Long Island since the 1980s. Their crimes range from human and drug trafficking, murder (often by machete), rape, extortion, and armed robbery. MS-13 is now the most powerful gang in America and operates in more than thirty states.
The more we learn about illegal immigration’s devastating consequences for our country — our schools, our health care system, our prison population — the more many of us feel abandoned and cheated by the people who were supposed to represent us in Washington. Why did President Bush lobby so passionately for “comprehensive immigration reform” when an overwhelming majority in his own party and even a majority of Democrats didn’t want it? And why didn’t he work so hard on issues conservatives cared about — cutting government spending and defeating McCain-Feingold, to name a few?
BL,
Wow, I think you covered it all.
Though, I would like to ask one more question of those that support illegals.
With the ample number of job placement services such as, manpower, labor finders, VA employment center, avaiable for all segments of employment and jobs, why should there be a need for day laborer centers?
And for those that will defend the parking lot centers, why is it these have only just become an issue in the last few years? As a resident of this area since the early 1970’s(that includes time spent living in South Arlington, North Arlington, Fairfax, and now Manassas). I do not recall seeing or hearing about them before we had an influx of illegals come into the area.
The local governments who are participating in this program need to ensure day laborer centers formal or otherwise operate within their jurisdictions.
Greg,
That’s Culpeper. One “P”
It’s my boyhood home, and it’s my next battlefield. I’m permanently retiring there after a few more years as acting thorn in the LCRC’s side.
Thanks for the help. The post is updated, and apologies to any who may have taken offense.