Posted on 08/14/2004 7:33:19 PM PDT by Conservative Firster
TEMECULA ---- A town hall meeting that was supposed to ease concerns about illegal immigration in the region left many frustrated with top federal officials.
More than 900 people attended Friday's raucous meeting at Margarita Middle School in Temecula. Most were there to support recent immigration sweeps that have captured hundreds of illegal immigrants but appear to have been halted by immigration officials.
Hundreds of additional people were left waiting outside the school's auditorium. Many in the crowd showed their anger at illegal immigration with brooms, picket signs and messages on T-shirts.
Latino advocacy groups from San Diego and Riverside counties, including those who earlier this summer held rallies to protest the sweeps, were noticeably absent at Friday's event.
The town hall meeting was organized by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who wrote a letter to immigration officials in June supporting the sweeps and asking that they be expanded to other areas of the country.
Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson and other officials told the crowd that enforcement operations would continue, but they deflected questions from the audience about when and where they would occur.
Hutchinson would not call the operations "sweeps" because he said the term implies "indiscriminate" arrests.
"When I say 'indiscriminate rounding up of people,' that's when you don't have reasonable suspicion," Hutchinson said. "You are acting upon what they look like, and that is the fear that we don't need among those people who are legally in our country."
From June 4 to June 22, a total of 492 people were arrested in Escondido, Corona, Ontario and other areas north of the border by a squad of 12 Border Patrol officers, called the Mobile Patrol Group. The squad arrested people on street corners and outside supermarkets and swap meets.
Immigrant rights groups protested the sweeps, calling them discriminatory. Latino representatives in Congress asked that the operations be stopped. Soon after, the operations appeared to be discontinued.
Hutchinson issued a letter in late June saying that the Temecula station acted "within its legal authority," but that the operations were not "pre-approved" by the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
The crowd at the meeting wanted answers, primarily to questions about why the sweeps stopped and when they would resume.
Hutchinson's answers did not please some in the audience.
"It's just lies and the same old garbage," said Emily Cressman of Oceanside.
Before the meeting, more than 1,000 people stood in light rain outside the school auditorium. Cars that could not get into the school's parking lot overflowed into the streets.
While waiting to get in, many people carried picket signs in support of the Border Patrol, which read, "High five for the Border Patrol."
Another sign read: "Illegals: bag 'em, tag 'em, deport 'em."
Some people carried brooms and signs that said: "Keep sweeping."
Those who attended traveled from as far as Fullerton, San Juan Capistrano and Costa Mesa. Popular radio talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou publicized the meeting on their show and attracted hundreds of listeners.
Inside the auditorium, the crowd became restless and often interrupted the speakers with jeers.
At one point, Issa was booed by the audience when he said, "This is my microphone, I paid for it."
"No, we paid for it," several people answered back.
Issa and Hutchinson answered questions from the audience for nearly two hours. The issues raised at the meeting ranged from overcrowded schools to Mexican identification cards and driver's licenses.
Hutchinson touted increased efforts to arrest illegal immigrant fugitives, stepped-up labor enforcement and more high-tech resources for immigration agencies. Nationwide, 500 companies have been audited to check for illegal immigrant workers. In Southern California, 179 businesses have been targeted, he said.
Some in the audience showed their skepticism frequently interrupting speakers saying that illegal immigrants were taking jobs away from U.S. citizens and depressing wages for all workers.
One speaker from the audience fell into tears when she described running out of materials for her classroom because of overcrowding.
"You are right, that's the enormous social cost (of illegal immigration)," Hutchinson told the woman. "My responsibility is to reduce that burden through border control."
Outside the meeting, several hundred people gathered in the school's parking lot listening to the proceedings on speakers.
Former Lake Elsinore Mayor Kevin Pape was among those not able to get a seat inside.
"You've got a group of people here who are very concerned, and they're not getting any straight answers," Pape said. "They're (Hutchinson and Issa) speaking in generalities with no specifics. People are concerned and their concerns are not being addressed correctly."
Staff writer John Hunneman and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
Is that seriously the best argument you have? If so, Bush has lost already.
No, the best reason I have for voting for Bush is that Kerry would be worse on judicial appointments. That was not the subject of the post to which I was responding. Post 3 suggested that Bush could lose because of the issue of illegal immigration. See also your post 21). "George W. could should lose the election because of this. 21 posted on 08/16/2004 10:26:15 AM CDT by StoneColdGOP"
Sice you think Bush should lose, you must think that Kerry should win, since there is no viable alternative. So I'll ask you the question that freekitty hasn't addressed. Do you seriously believe that Kerry would be any better [on the problem of illegal immigration]?
Kerry is for open borders and complete amnesty. Bush is not. Take your choice.
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.