200 rally in support of stricter border control

Richard Goetsch, of San Marcos, brought his 5-foot by 8-foot American flag to Saturday's rally in support of U.S. House Bill 4437 at Pala Park in Temecula. More than 200 people were on hand waving American flags and listening to speakers on the topic. DAVID CARLSON Staff Photographer Order a copy of this photo Visit our Photo Gallery

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Lupe Moreno, with Latino Americans for Immigration Reform and a California state Senate candidate, speaks to the crowd gathered at Temecula's Pala Park on Saturday. DAVID CARLSON Staff Photographer Order a copy of this photo Visit our Photo Gallery

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TEMECULA ---- Though the 200-plus supporters of stricter border control who packed a Temecula park Saturday couldn't compare numbers to the 500,000 immigrants' rights activists who jammed downtown Los Angeles, many of the local participants said their staunch opposition to extending rights to illegal immigrants was shared by a majority of Americans.

A few speakers at Pala Community Park, however, acknowledged that they were upset that law enforcement didn't arrest the thousands of illegal immigrants marching the streets of Los Angeles on Saturday.

Tim Donnelly, a leader of the Minutemen of California, said he "dreamed" that all Border Patrol cruisers stationed in Campo had been relocated to Los Angeles on Saturday to deal with the illegal immigrants and their supporters who marched "on our streets."

The Minutemen voluntarily monitor the U.S.-Mexico border, and report any curious activity to law enforcement officials.

Ralliers in Temecula ---- particularly the Minutemen ---- support the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives, but oppose some senators' campaign to add a guest-worker/amnesty plan to the bill.

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, said it is "time to stop rewarding the lawbreaker" with reduced college tuition, food stamps and limited health care.

Some speakers issued a warning to President Bush should he ultimately back the guest-worker addendum.

"If he thought the Dubai ports things was a challenge, he hasn't seen anything yet," said Arne Chandler, referring to Dubai Ports World, a United Arab Emirates company, which had been granted federal approval to manage a half-dozen major American ports ---- but withdrew following a public outcry.

A common theme woven throughout the two-hour rally was the belief that the U.S.-Mexico border is too porous.

"We have lost control of the border," said Richard Randall, a Norco resident who is a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. "There are probably 5 million illegals in Southern California. You go to construction sites all over and you see them having other people's (citizens') jobs."

But the problem isn't limited to the border, said Marie Waldron, an Escondido city councilwoman and candidate for state Assembly.

She encouraged the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to better support local law enforcement.

Speaker Lupe Moreno, a resident of Orange County who is seeking a seat in the state Senate, received the most applause. She is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant and a Texan. She was born in the United States.

Moreno, a member of Latino Americans for Immigration Reform, said it wasn't odd that she is vehemently against giving rights to illegal immigrants.

In 1990, her 13-year-old nephew, Ruben Morfin, was shot in the head, allegedly by an illegal immigrant in Salinas. Ruben died a day later.

"We need to tell illegal aliens: 'You cannot break our laws; we won't accept this. Go home,'" Moreno said.

The event, which was patrolled by two Temecula police officers, was peaceful ---- with the exception of the participants' reaction to Temecula resident Eric Scharf's statement that they were "white people" and "racists."

About 30 people chased Scharf ---- before the officers stepped in. Scharf, 21, and his 16-year-old brother, Matt Illich, were issued warnings by the officers.

Scharf, who is white, said he overheard the public address system while at his sister's house, which is about a mile from Pala Community Park, and decided to counter the rally participants' message.

"I'm sick of extra taxes like these people, but it's not the Mexicans' fault for coming here," Scharf said in an interview. "If you had a family, I'd imagine you'd come over here, too."

But Chandler, citing two recent car accidents he had with uninsured illegal aliens, said Americans suffer because there are "no consequences" for the actions of illegal immigrants.

Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or beckhouse@californian.com.

"Temecula resident Eric Scharf's statement that they were "white people" and "racists.""

Actually he ran up to the microphone between speakers, raised both hands with middle finger extended and screamed twice, You f***ing racists go home, and then ran being chased by rally participants.

It's past time for real americans to get out from behing their keyboards and show that the majority of citizens won't support the demands of illegal aliens!

Sadly, all this hand-wringing over illegal immigration is just a symptom of a larger problem.
Unfortunately, People in general and we Americans in particular have this all too human tendency to ignore growing problems unless they are either in-your-face-ominous, or until it is very late in the day. Like the growing Al Qaeda threat of the 1990s, the rise of this form of social and ecomomic guerilla warfare has been largely ignored. Cleaning up this mess will be just as long and just as difficult.

i'm active in the ovement to eliminate illegals not only for the good of the country but they greatly affected me personally.

I was forced into a position of either hiring illegals and paying them cash or going out of business.

It was a hard decision and I delayed going out of business 3 years past where I should have and dumped over $150k in savings into it before shutting down a 56 year old construction business.

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