Posted on 04/04/2007 10:51:28 AM PDT by chambley1
A battle over immigration has begun to take center stage in Manassas, Va.
Residents called Help Save Manassas held an organizational meeting Tuesday in the Manassas City Council chambers of City Hall. Many said they feel its up to them to do something about the impact illegal immigration is having on their communities.
"Our goals are to help find solutions to the residential overcrowding problem to help find ways to make sure our public safety is promoted -- we don't have lawlessness and gangs; that are schools continue to remain strong and that our county budget and city budget aren't overwhelmed by the cost of supporting illegal aliens," said Greg Letiecq of Help Save Manassas.
But, advocates for immigrants claim the new citizens' group is discriminating against Latin-Americans who have settled in the community.
Ricardo Juarez of the group Mexicans Without Borders said the group's agenda is unconstitutional ethnic profiling and the city shouldn't give Help Save Manassas a place to meet.
Virginia officials said they have tried to combat overcrowding of homes in Prince William County by limiting occupancy to blood relatives. However, community members said, hundreds of immigrants were put out of houses while the law was still tied up in the court system.
In Virginia, officials said immigrants in the county jail who are serious repeat offenders or violent criminals may be reported to federal immigration authorities.
Help Save Manassas said membership to its group is open to all U.S. citizens and legal residents residing in the community.
Isn’t Manassas the home town of Lorena Bobbitt? Just give her a set of knives and let her take care of the immigration problem.
That's because voters keep on electing "leaders" who are not trustworthy.
..but if a liberal along the line gets their clammy mitts on it, it will disappear, thus the criminal will be released to commit crime after crime. They'll shrug their shoulders, "we had to release them", and no one will look into past possibilities or options.
Given the behavior of Mexicans Without Borders it's become necessary to do "ethnic profiling."
In the end, we get the government we’ve proven we deserve. If we don’t advocate for the policies we want to see, it’s a crapshoot whether we will be happy with the outcome.
A couple of comments on this:
1. Ricardo Juarez leads Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, an organization associated with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, which is continuing an armed insurgency in several areas of Mexico and promotes policies that can accurately be described as communist. In addition to supporting a guerrilla war in Mexico he is demanding full amnesty for all illegal aliens in the United States and massive public outlays in order to support these illegal aliens, many of whom have no interest in becoming citizens of the United States. His qualifications to speak on this issue are questionable, at best.
2. Ricardo Juarez complains that we are engaged in discrimination against Latinos. To date, the only thing Help Save Manassas has done is elect officers and approve bylaws which declare that the organization is open to all citizens and legal residents, regardless of ethnic background. Not having actually done anything other than form an organization, it is laughable that we’ve actually engaged in unlawful discrimination. He clearly doesn’t understand what he is talking about.
3. Ricardo Juarez’s command of the English language is somewhat rudimentary, so I would encourage everyone to be understanding when he renders dubious legal opinions related to the founding documents of the country, which being written in English may be somewhat challenging for him to fully comprehend.
Greg Letiecq
President
Help Save Manassas
I just went through the experience of trying to replace my drivers liscense here in PWC and I was shocked. I had a copy photocopy (front and back) of my DL and my SS card and my birth certificate but that wasn’t enough. I had copies of my tax (VA and PWC) bills, my car registration, a recent pay stub and a utility bill but that wasn’t enough. I had to get officail seal copies of my college transcripts and my DD-214 (army discharge paperwork) in order for them to re-issue my DL. However, had I been a immigrant on a temp visa I had a choice of around 10 different documents I could have provided that would have sufficed. It is sheer madness here in VA. Try cashing a check at the Bank of America on a Friday in Woodbridge, VA............can’t swing a dead cat without hitting an illegal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.