Is This What They Call A “Blink”?
By Greg L | 21 February 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Virginia Senate | 25 Comments
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee was scheduled to hear several important bills that regard the illegal alien problem in Virginia, and in a somewhat unusual move decided to adjourn yesterday without hearing them. Chief among these was Delegate Jackson Miller’s HB 623 that would call on Governor Kaine to enroll the Commonwealth in the federal Section 287(g) Program. For those of you not following this issue, the Section 287(g) Program would allow state law enforcement personnel to process for deportation any illegal aliens that commit serious felonies after they have served their term of incarceration, instead of releasing them back into our communities. Presumably these bills will be considered by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee during their next scheduled meeting on Monday morning.
Two things happened that may explain this delay. One, members of Save The Old Dominion and local activists groups did a pretty good job of banging on Senator’s phones and email accounts before Wednesday’s meeting, and perhaps there was some concern on the part of the committee’s leadership that they needed to take more time in order to line up the votes the way they wanted, and some swing votes were lacking. Second, and likely more significant, is that Attorney General Bob McDonnell released information about how many criminal alien sex offenders he managed to discover either sitting in jail waiting to be released, or who had already been released and put on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. If you want to make a case for the utility of having a consistent practice of screening for illegal aliens in our jails and ensuring they are deported, demonstrating just how we have been playing “catch-and-release” with illegal alien sex offenders since Governor Kaine has been rejecting calls for the Section 287(g) Program is a darned good way to do it.
We now have a few more days in which to make our voices heard on this issue. If we keep the pressure up, given this revelation by Bob McDonnell we may have a good shot at getting this legislation passed this session. After all, who wants to go on record as supporting the practice of releasing illegal alien sex offenders back into our communities after their sentences are complete rather than deporting them? Probably not many, especially when we consider sex offenders such a threat that they are required to maintain monthly contact with the State Police and ensure that their name, photo and address are listed on the Sex Offender Registry website? If they’re dangerous, and they’re illegal aliens, they simply need to go. That policy position is going to consistently rank in the stratosphere of public opinion in Virginia, and legislators that oppose this are going to have some serious and uncomfortable explaining to do.
Get on the phones, and get those emails out. Although a lot of good legislation has been wrongly killed this session, we just might be able to get HB 623 through this year. Bob McDonnell probably made the Senate Courts of Justice Committee blink today, and we have to take advantage of this rare opportunity.
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.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed.
25 Comments
Views: 951
Loading ...
Greg is 100% correct. We need to bombard the Senators on the Courts of Justice committee for the next two days! Here is a refresher on the names and numbers.
Roy Beck from Numbers USA states that showing up in person gets the best results. Faxes with signatures comes in 2nd. 3rd is phone calls and last is email. If you can do ANY of the above please do so.
Courts of Justice Committee
Senator Henry L. Marsh III – Chairman
(804) 698-7516
Senator Richard L. Saslaw
(804) 698-7535
Senator Kenneth W. Stolle
(804) 698-7508
Senator Frederick M. Quayle
(804) 698-7513
Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr.
(804) 698-7503
Senator Janet D. Howell
(804) 698-7532
Senator L. Louise Lucas
(804) 698-7518
Senator John S. Edwards
(804) 698-7521
Senator W. Roscoe Reynolds
(804) 698-7520
Senator Linda T. Puller
(804) 698-7536
Senator Ken T. Cuccinelli, II
(804) 698-7537
Senator Mark D. Obenshain
(804) 698-7526
Senator Ryan T. McDougle
(804) 698-7504
Senator R. Creigh Deeds
(804) 698-7525
Senator Robert Hurt
(804) 698-7519
Why did Senator Colgan (D-21 [Manassas, Manassas Park, and part of Prince William County]) abstain from voting on HB 1472 (Discrimination; employee’s failure to speak English shall not constitute cause of action.)?:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+vot+S12V0124+HB1472
I don’t agree with the bill but he should at least have the fortitude to vote for or against it.
Without your help in contacting members of the General Assembly this may be the next bumper sticker you see:
Virginia is for lovers
of illegal aliens
Just one more case of Colgan failing the voters of Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park by refusing to protect Virginians from illegal immigration. His vote for this legislation could have put it on the floor for a vote. He is a disgrace!!!
As Maureen Wood writes above, faxing signed letters is the second most effective method of communication.
I will volunteer to fax any signed letters to any and all members of the General Assembly this weekend. I will meet you somewhere to pick up your signed letters, I will stop by and pick them up from your houses, or if you want to scan and email them to Greg I will go by his house to pick them up and fax them for you.
If there is anyone out there who would like to take me up on this offer, please let Greg or Maureen know.
At least Jackson Miller is still on our side.
I have a question perhaps someone can answer relating to this subject, and the subject of yesterday’s post. Please forgive my ignorance. In my most recent member letter that I received from the NRA, the subject that they’re talking about is “criminal aliens” in relation to our second amendment rights. Without getting into all the details, the letter states the following…”our laws prohibit deportation of criminals to any country that doesn’t have a deportation treaty with the U.S….Countries like Iran, a known exporter of criminals and terrorists…Or El Salvador, which refuses to take back ultra-violent MS-13 gang members…” What? Is the NRA wrong here? If the 287(g) program will deport these criminals, how will they do it if we don’t have an agreement with El Salvador? I am assuming that most of the alien criminals arrested in Virginia are from El Salvador, since I am a resident in Virginia and know the statistics. I did not mean to change the direction of this discussion, but I was just curious if anybody could answer this question. Can we, or can’t we, deport these criminals? Any info. would be appreciated. Thank you.
OT, but I think it is interesting: http://www.gotwater.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Never realized that water would need a special interest group!
CW of PWC said on 21 Feb 2008 at 1:17 pm:
I have a question perhaps someone can answer relating to this subject, and the subject of yesterday’s post.
This article should answer your question.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E4D6133CF933A2575BC0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
TP - Water needs all the friends it can get. You can live without food for quite a while but not without water. Has your home ever had its water turned off? If so, didn’t you just of habit go and turn on the faucets? Our agriculture needs water (remember the dust bowl years?). We expect to have potable water coming into our homes. - A friend of mine works for the Fairfax Water Authority. He knows that there are many special interest groups that care a lot about WATER.
Count your blessings!
Vigilant1:
Thanks for answering my question. Interesting read. Really appreciate the information.
Krutis, you totally missed the boat on the link. So let me explain in plain English….why would you need an ethnic based coalition for water (when everyone needs water). That was the point. Understand now?
The fax number is 1-804-698-7651 for ALL the senators. Doing calls today and sending faxes!
TP @2:45 pm - Why not? Any group, ethnic or not, that’s interested in conserving and cleaning our water supplies should be cheered on and considered to be patriots. It’s good for the country!
For the life of me I Can’t get over Kaines stubbornness, WE HAVE TO PUT A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR NEXT YEAR OR WE’RE S-C-R-E-W-E-D
Krutis…you really are ridiculous! Your logic supports balkanization! The city as a whole should have a coalition since it impacts everyone (regardless of ethnicity). This coalition is just another fact that balkanization is occurring in our country. All policies should be made for the good of ALL people (not a specific group of people based on ethnicity, etc.). I guess you just cannot grasp this easy concept?
Kaine is a idiot but what does a “Republican Govenor” guarantee? Heck, take a look at The White House and the current administration and the damage they’ve done not only to the US but the world over the last 7 years and one can do nothing but be appalled.
Makes no difference of party affliation, an idiot is a idiot and I for one would like to see party affliation done away with and let each person run as a independent.
I only vote for candidates based on issues (not party affiliation). People in this country need to quit voting for someone just because of a certain party. That is why we always have a situation of voting for the lesser of two evils. I don’t care what party someone is from…if they are going to crack down on illegal immigration they have my vote.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_8334644
“AUSTIN — Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama said during their Texas debate Thursday they would stop waves of immigration raids that divide families, they would encourage bilingualism, and they would put a pause on building a border fence.”
Wow! What a whopper! Also, why do they say bilingualism (why don’t they just come right out and say Spanish).
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007496.html
Remember those 4 kids killed on a school bus in Minnesota? Turns out that the driver who hit them is an illegal alien with an assumed name and no drivers license. When are people going to wake up to this?:
Marshall, MN — Police officers wheeled a woman who calls herself Alianiss Nunez Morales, 23, of Minneota, into court in a wheelchair Friday to face four charges of criminal vehicular homicide.
The judge set her bail at $200,000.
She was injured in the crash, but released from the hospital on Thursday.
She apparently speaks very little, if any, English, and the judge took a break shortly after noon because Morales needed help understanding some of the court proceedings.
She’s accused of driving the van which crashed into a Cottonwood school bus on Tuesday, killing four children and injuring several others.
Authorities revealed Friday they do not believe Morales is her real name.
Immigration officials also say they believe she is in the country illegally, but they did not elaborate.
All four criminal vehicular homicide charges are felonies and each charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. She was also charged with a stop sign violation, and driving with no driver’s license. Those violations are misdemeanors.
The criminal charges also shed more on light on what happened.
Bus driver Dennis Devereaux told investigators he was going roughly 50 miles an hour down Highway 23, and saw the mini-van approaching. He said it was obvious to him the van would not be able to stop at the intersection.
He said he believed the van “went airborne” over the railroad tracks near the intersection, and slammed into the bus.
Devereaux told police there was no time for him to react.
Several other witnesses also told police they saw the van run the stop sign.
But Morales, through an interpreter, told investigators she stopped at the stop sign, and that the bus hit her when she started into the intersection.
She claimed she was on her way to work in Cottonwood, that she had only worked there a month, and that she had never been on Highway 24 before.
She claimed she could not remember her address in Minneota, but said she lived in a trailer with a boyfriend.
KARE-11 News learned more details Thursday about Morales’ arrest and ticket for driving without a license in 2006.
That incident happened in Montevideo. The woman who reported her at the time said it did not appear Morales knew how to drive at all.
Morales’ car had wound up in the woman’s yard, and Morales did not appear to know how to shift the car’s transmission.
Montevideo police wrote Morales a ticket for driving without a license.
More than a thousand people gathered in a high school gymnasium Thursday night for a memorial service to remember the four students killed in the crash.
Mourners who entered Lakeview School, which all four attended, were greeted by photos of the victims and bouquets of flowers.
“The first thing you noticed when you walked into the gym was there were kids hugging each other, just holding each other in lengthy embraces,” said Rae Kruger, a reporter from the Marshall Independent who attended.
Kruger said there were stacks of Kleenex boxes at the end of every row of seats in the gymnasium.
Members of the Javens and Olson families were at the service, she said. Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the state’s two U.S. senators attended, and Pawlenty offered condolences to the families on behalf of the entire state.
“The arms of Minnesota embrace you tonight,” Pawlenty said.
The crash killed brothers Jesse Javens, 13, and Hunter Javens, 9, both of Cottonwood; Reed Stevens, 12, of Marshall; and Emilee Olson, 9, of Cottonwood. They were among the 28 students on the Lakeview School bus. At least 14 other people were hurt.
Classes had resumed Thursday with plenty of grief counselors on hand, Lakeview superintendent Sheldon Johnson said. Attendance numbers were at normal levels, and students seemed to be coping, he said.
“It’s difficult, but they’re probably handling it better than anyone would have thought,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible and still be sensitive to the needs of the children.”
But KARE-11 News learned Thursday that Devereaux, the bus driver, rode the bus Thursday to be with the kids on his route. Many students rode the bus to school but some had parents drive them or accompany them on the bus.
Terry Lange, the ex-brother-in-law of the Javens brothers’ father, Marty, said Morales’ arrest helps answer some of the questions that have lingered after the crash.
“It really doesn’t change anything, but it makes a little more sense with everything going on here,” Lange said. “I feel bad for the van driver too. It’s just a terrible situation all the way around.”
Hancock and five of the injured children remained at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. One child was in serious condition, Gleason said. Mary Maertens, CEO of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, said the child and adult who had been there were discharged Thursday. One student remained at Mayo Clinic in fair condition, she said.
Lakeview has about 585 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, serving Cottonwood and the nearby town of Wood Lake. The area is about 140 miles west of Minneapolis.
http://origin.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=499284
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/21/illegal-alien-bus-driver-arrested-in-minnesota-school-tragedy/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973278/posts
http://www.fox12news.com/Global/story.asp?S=7869919&nav=menu439_1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974241/posts
Mr. Patriot,
I don’t think Krutis is ridiculous at all. We all do need water to live. If a group wants to work on clean water or any other project that protects the Earth, good for them. They aren’t claiming the water as their own.
I see no difference in Latinos forming a coalition to protect our water supply and say a black church adopting a section of highway to spiff up. If the local Red Hat Society wants to plant wild flowers or daffodils in the city park, good for them.
Many people are proud of their ethnicity or other attributes they have in common with others. I don’t want to discourage this. Do we want to do away with the Hibernians and the civic duties they perform?
The government cannot do it all nor would I want it to.
What was that saying attributed to Mark Twain?
“Whiskey is for drinking - water is for fighting over.”
This is all about government, special interests ethnic power grab politics and
big money. Otherwise it would just be the California Water Coalition.
Just for fun, read the following message from Paul Rodriguez and substitute the word Latino with Caucasian.
Start with California Caucasian Water Coalition. ( I would wager that any form of Caucasian coalition, league, club or caucus would bring howls of discrimination, exclusion, apartheid and supremasy.)
http://www.gotwater.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=1
He can clown around with “We came to this country to make sure Caucasians had salad.” and a wry wink, as he picks the lint off your lapel with one hand while picking your pocket for “his” people with the other.
http://aquafornia.com/archives/16
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/water/archives/006586.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962150/posts
http://www.fresno.gov/News/PressReleases/2007/WaterInfrastructure.htm
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0051-0100/sb_59_bill_20070111_introduced.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973494/posts
http://www.vdare.com/letters/tl_110907.htm
http://www.vdare.com/thom/071029_immigration.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1892148/posts
I agree with Bridget. Dolph…you missed the boat also. When are people going to start acting like “Americans” and not hyphenated phonies! We (in America) don’t need to emphasize the hyphenated part…why? Because we are all equal as individuals regardless of where one comes from! When we deal with issues that affect ALL people (water, food, medical, housing, etc.) there is no need (nor should it be tolerated) for the hyphenated part! This hyphenated crap is leaking into the political realm too! We don’t want policies to be developed that favor certain ethnic groups over others…that would violate individual equality! I guess people really need to look again at the “melting pot” concept and why it was developed and why it is important to maintain.