Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Postville-America fights back while liberal hearts bleed and brains vanish.




Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of illegal immigration. Americans also overwhelmingly think that immigration laws should be enforced.

The law enforcement officials and judiciary in Iowa’s Northern District have provided the United States with an example when our government actually does what it is supposed to do-enforce laws that protect the population. Today’s
DM Register highlights the speed and efficiency with which the legal system can act when properly motivated. The Northern District is lucky to have one of America’s most efficient judges, Chief Judge Linda Reade, to keep the process fast and fair. It is unlikely that the liberal apologists will be able to use procedural tyranny to derail actual justice.

Reading the blogs and hearing the water cooler talk, Republicans and conservatives share TRS's satisfaction at the sight of the G hauling in hundreds of identity thieves (allegedly), who all work in the same town for the same employer. We see the injustice done to the victim of identity theft; the legal foreigner longing to enter the United States legally; the underpaid lawful immigrant or citizen whose wages are depressed by the illegal alien. While the liberal is deaf to the injustice and harm to the victims of the Postville crimes (allegedly), the liberal heart bleeds for the illegal alien (or, put another way, the criminal).

A perfect example is provided by one of the Register’s regular bloggers, David Goodner.



The foregoing
Mr. Goodner actually reduced the following thought to writing:

“ICE is herding immigrants like they were cattle into detention centers that were originally designed to hold cattle, they raided elementary schools records before they raided the Postville meatpacking plant, and now they are refusing to allow the press in to verify the so-called "humane" conditions at the holding facility in the name of privacy?”

The gist of Mr. Goodner’s post is a complaint that the Feds served an investigative subpoena,quite a routine act that Goodner characterizes as a “raid” so as to create the image of grade schoolers being held at gun point like Elian Gonzales, which "raid" bespeaks a disregard for “privacy” while refusing to allow the press inside the detention facility because the physical images of persons in federal detention facilities is protected by federal privacy law.

Now we here at TRS would characterize Mr. Goodner’s position as brainless-hence the headline. But maybe Mr. Goodner or his fellow travelers would like to defend themselves. So here are some questions, guys. Art-2000 words or less.

Mr. Goodner, share the legal authority upon which you rely to prioritize the privacy interest of the students and their parents in identification information that the government already possess (you do understand that schools are governmental facilities do you not?) over the public interest in preventing illegal immigration and unlawful employment?

Mr. Goodner, how should the government obtain information about persons who illegally living among us? If not by way of investigative subpoenas then what method of investigation meets your standard of procedural or substantive due process?

Where should the Postville immigrants be held? There’s no room in the local jails? Federal law requires the hearings to be held in the judicial district in which the charges are pending so what do we do with the 390 or so allegedly unlawful immigrants until their criminal status is defined on at least a preliminary basis?

We Republicans cannot allow the alarming infirmity of thought that Goodner substitutes for argument to metastasize into conventional wisdom by the constant repetition of our radical media and academic establishments.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goodner is the left's equivalent of Ann Coulter - no one should take either of them seriously and they certainly don't represent the majority opinion of either party.

The Deplorable Old Bulldog said...

No, Anon he most certainly is not. Maureen Dowd is the left's equivalent of Ann Coulter.

Oh, and you'd best take both girls very seriously, they very, very smart.

Anonymous said...

Just think, Ted. If you elect McCain they will all be given citizenship. Fake ID's and all!!

Unknown said...

The round-up in Potsville was a good thing. Too bad my trust level for our government makes me cynical as to what is really behind it. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The comments on the Des Moines Register site that were related to the news articles were very encouraging. The majority of comments were in favor of the raids.

Too bad we can't get the entire Iowa congressional delegation to sign on to the SAVE Act. Loebsack needs to go and I will help him pack.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of due process, Sporer, what do you think of this charge:

"The ACLU of Iowa strongly condemns the unnecessary use of criminal prosecutions to coerce hundreds of foreign-born workers detained in the recent raid in Postville, Iowa into waiving their rights to individually demonstrate why each of them should be allowed to remain in the U.S.

Of the 390 workers reportedly detained, nearly three hundred are from Guatemala, a country known for its human rights abuses. A civil deportation proceeding is the best way to address immigration cases, and each case needs to be handled on an individual basis. By converting the meatpacking plant raid into a mass criminal prosecution, the government is wasting precious legal resources and giving short shrift to the American right of due process, which belongs to all persons, not just citizens.

From the information the ACLU of Iowa has been able to gather, it appears that detainees are not receiving adequate time to meet with their lawyers, and that defense attorneys are being overwhelmed with requests to represent far more clients than is advisable – or perhaps even ethical. We are concerned that the sheer size of this raid is likely to result in numerous violations of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the due process rights for all persons in this country. It is our understanding that detainees are being threatened with prosecution if they do not waive their right to an individualized deportation hearing and that they may be forced to do so with only minimal opportunity to speak with defense counsel.

While justice delayed is justice denied -- justice in haste lays waste.

The ACLU of Iowa recognizes that the United States, like every nation, has the right to control who enters the country, to enforce the integrity of its borders, and to set immigration policy. However, the ACLU of Iowa also believes that this policy needs to be consistent with our American values of fairness, and the tradition of welcoming immigrants. While our government can determine immigration status and enforce immigration laws, it should act fairly, humanely and in accordance with our constitutional norms of due process and equal protection and adhere to U.S. obligations under international law."

----Spotlight

Anonymous said...

Spotlight here again--I also wonder how all those people worked under phoney IDs without the employer knowing about it. Seems very unlikely to me, but all your harsh tone is aimed at the workers. Why is that?

It's most ironic that all the "protection" money the plant CEO has been paying to politicians did not actually protect him. I'll bet he is in shock! That is the part of the story that makes the raid look good, imho.

Art A Layman said...

sporie:

Maybe I can use abbreviations to hold to your word limit.

As much as I hate to admit it, and if you quote me I'll deny it, but I'm probably somewhat in your corner on this one. I don't care for your vitriolic, hate filled verbiage. One can hardly argue that they technically are "criminals" but your use of the term in describing them as such is less an objective classification than an appeal to emotions to stir hatred.

These are human beings. Many are people who willingly risk their lives to seek a better way for their families. For the most part they are hard working people who go about their business not meaning to bother anyone else.

Yes, they do seek an education for their children, surely a heinous desire. Again, many are technically guilty of identity theft but they do not usually initiate the theft nor do they seek any benefit from it other than the security of appearing as American legals. The great American entrepreneurial spirit sees a market and seeks to fill it. Anyone knowingly buying stolen property is guilty of a crime but the real scourge is the vermin selling the property and profiting from it.

The crux of the problem remains the business community. The dilemma has a "Field of Dreams" quality. If you hire them they will come. If you stop hiring them they will slow down coming or maybe even stop.

One need only look at the original settlers of our great nation to see a parallel of actions. From the founders of Jamestown to the shores of the Pacific our ancestors, illegally from the standpoint of the previous occupants, moved in, took over and when necessary, commenced killing off those who were here first.

You are familiar with the "clean hands" doctrine in our justice system. Should our history not cause us to tread lightly in attempting to solve this problem?

We do have laws and laws shouldn't be enacted if they are not going to be enforced. Therefore, seeking out illegals and deporting them cannot, from my perspective, be judged as cruel and unusual punishment. The manner of how we handle the "illegal" suspects in the interim is very thin ice. There is such a thing as Human Rights and it behooves us to keep that in the forefront when rounding suspects. Should there be "legals" rounded up in the investigative phase and if they are mistreated, a violation of our Civil Rights laws may be occurring.

Lack of physical facilities no doubt aggravates the process but, especially if women and children are swept up as well, it is our responsibility to ensure that they are held in the most comfortable, safe, secure and humane conditions possible. That could include providing personnel to calm their fears and minimize stress.

Though technically "criminals" they are not bad people.

No doubt there is an impact on wages effected by these illegals. The degree of that effect varies from expert to expert. Be mindful that if farmers and many of the industries hiring the illegals were forced to pay market wages the price of their products would rise and then you'd be pissing and moaning about that.

Not sure where I stand on my word limit. I was never very good at counting.

Anonymous said...

Art and Spotlight: Very well spoken! Maybe TRS can take some writing and logic pointers from you. I have met several "illegals." They were all saving up money and living very poorly here so their families could have better lives. One man even was saving for a FLOOR for his current dirt-floored home in Mexico for his young daughter and wife. What a criminal!!

Ken R said...

Some of you equate illegals as if the crimes they’ve committed, such as identity theft, to be no more than Jean Valjean stealing bread in Les Miserables. The analogy is not the same though since identity theft is far from a victimless crime as is the willful transfer of decent jobs to illegal immigrants at the expense of our country’s citizens. Liberals want unlimited immigration because they believe immigrants will vote for Democrats since that party advocates the biggest free lunch. Yet, Democrats should heed Thomas Malthus before bankrupting the country on the altar of illegal immigrant votes when those immigrants are driving our citizens out of work and bankrupting our social systems.

Anonymous said...

YOu heard it here. democrats think it's ok to pay them $5.00 an hour and have them live 15 or so to a room so they can "save up"

We need to process apps for citizenship faster than 10 years. We need to process them faster than we currently do so they can be full functioning citizens and protected from all that protection that democrats want to give them.

Remember D Gov Vilsack and his desire to bring in cheap labor for IBP or some other slave shop?

Anonymous said...

Patty Judge took thousands of dollars from the owner of this slave shop. She was the Sec of Ag for Gods sake. She should be hanged for that.

She also has taken thousands upon thousands of money from the DeKoster's, who not only are rumored to deal in illegals, but also pollute the environment so badly they've been fined thousands and thousands of dollars.

She was sec of ag!!! What do they want from her now that she's Lt. Gov?

D's have been the ones supporting these slave shops - not r's.

Recall the UNION didn't want the raid to occur because it might hurt their recruiting of those illegals?

D's have been in charge of every level of govt in Iowa. Why haven't they acted on these bad employers, let alone the illegals themselves?

The Unions didn't want the raid, the A.G. didn't want the raid. The Gov didn't want the raid. The police haven't done any raiding. The County prosecutors haven't been bringing any charges. These are all D's.

Why haven't they protected these poor little guatamalens from these slave traders and slave holders?

Impeach Patty Judge!

R's haven't even been in the room. See other thread for that.

Anonymous said...

The social workers that processed the various forms of welfare knew they were illegal. Those Social Workers are Democrats in a Union.

The teachers and school system knew they were illegal. Those teachers and school system bureaucrats are Democrats in a Union.

The police officers knew they were illegal and didn't bother. Those police officers are Democrats in a Union.

The Mayor had to know what was going on. The City council had to know what was going on. The School board had to know what was going on. The county supervisors had to know what was going on.

All those official democrats knew that people were being abused and exploited. They did nothing but protect it and promote it.

This was the largest raid in US History. Like it or not folks, we are 1st in the nation now on this issue that lives and has thrived right here, under democrat controlled government institutions for decades - right here in River City.

Are we ready for CHANGE?

Is anyone listening? Anyone? Any leader? Bueller?

The Deplorable Old Bulldog said...

Anon 6:14. Bravo!

Anon 12:43 you prove my point. The reason a criminal commits a crime doen't justify the crime very often. Economic need never can justify the commission of crime or you would have an infinite number of "need" theories advanced to justify crime.

I think Thomas Hobbes described that circumstance as the war of every man against every man.

That's what I mean about liberals braying the brainless blood from their hearts in the endless pursuit of the next victim class to be exploited.

Anonymous said...

Following are the demographics of your average typical rural farming community, Postville, Iowa. Wow.

61.2% of residents of Postville speak English at home.

19.2% of residents speak Spanish at home (10% speak English very well, 12% speak English well, 11% speak English not well, 67% don't speak English at all).

17.5% of residents speak other Indo-European language at home (38% speak English very well, 27% speak English well, 26% speak English not well, 9% don't speak English at all).

0.8% of residents speak Asian or Pacific Island language at home (13% speak English very well, 75% speak English not well, 13% don't speak English at all).

1.4% of residents speak other language at home (45% speak English very well, 31% speak English well, 24% speak English not well).

Anonymous said...

Foreign born population: 752(33.0%)
(3.1% of them are naturalized citizens.

I shudder at what happened to their local services and tax base since they were only making $5.00 an hour.

English as a second language, and other school support, SCHIP - Medicaid, Govt Healthcare for poor people, Food stamps, rental assistance, free legal assistance, driving without training and no insurance,etc etc etc.

How did they pay for all that? their economy had to be devastated by this criminal enterprise. The people they displaced moved elsewhere and took their taxes and owned homes with them.

All those complicit in this should be exposed and the systems that sustained this long term criminal enterprise should be eradicated.

Anonymous said...

an earlier democrat thinks all of this is ok and doing the right thing. After all, these victims CHOOSE to live poorly in the United States (another version of their pro-choice alternative lifestyle agenda) so they can send the surplus on the meager $5.00 an hour earnings they make BACK TO MEXICO to cover a dirt floor IN MEXICO where their family lives and to whom they purport they wish to return.

Really? They choose it? How do you reconcile treating illegals like this as a choice, yet think Union workers are mistreated and deserve more?

How are the illegals from guatamala on $5.00 an hour not being abused and the union workers making substantially hugely more, are abused?

'Splain that to me Lucy.

Anonymous said...

What taxes would anyone pay at $5.00 an hour? How does this contribute to the US or Iowa economy?

I guess they'd pay sales taxees - recently increased to pass on to commercial real estate developers, cigarette taxes, gas taxes, bottle bill taxes, pumpkin taxes, utility user taxes (sometimes referred to as a "fee"), bunches of taxes that hurt poor people that democrats promoted and passed in the Iowa legilature, but

what else? What's that math equation again whereby it's good for our economy to pay slave wages to guatamalens because they are illegally here and somehow pay for themselves due to paying taxes??

Anonymous said...

They were being paid cash, under the table, which means they paid no Social Security taxes, they paid no Medicare taxes, they paid no Iowa taxees....what tax did they pay on anything other than those passed by democrats that come out of the weekly cash wages?

Anonymous said...

http://www.steinreport.com/

Google Postville - Lots of coverae across the nation and the world.

Here's a report you won't see in the Register.

During her trip to Postville, Susan (FAIR’s national field director) interviewed local residents and officials.

She found local townspeople hopeful that the enforcement effort to restore their town to some sense of normalcy, and that the companies that have been exploiting illegal workers and burdening the town with crippling costs would be punished.

Susan interviewed town officials who have been struggling to cope with the impact of mass illegal immigration.

Anonymous said...

Iowa Legal Aid lawyers are democrats. We are paying with our taxes for lawyers to keep the illegals here and supporting the criminal enterprise that allows this to happen to vulnerable people.

"At the center of the effort to provide sanctuary for the illegal aliens is St. Bridget’s Catholic Church.

According to Sister Mary, the church heard rumors of an impending ICE raid on Friday and began to prepare. Declaring that the church is “a safe home” for illegal immigrants and that “people have human rights above any laws,” St. Bridget’s is currently sheltering about 250 people.

They are also actively assisting illegal aliens in obtaining legal representation through Iowa Legal Aid.

Anonymous said...

'Postville officials have been coping with the growing illegal alien population for the past 20 years, but have done little to remedy the situation.

Speaking to Police Chief Michael Halse, local law enforcement was fully aware that most of the people working at the packing plant were illegal, but the town did not participate in any enforcement efforts, including Monday’s ICE action. "

Anonymous said...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008


Postville Follow-Up: FAIR’s National Field Director Reports from Scene of Largest ICE Enforcement Raid

Teachers at the local school who spoke to Susan told her that the school has been struggling to provide bilingual services to a growing number of non-English-speaking students.

None of the teachers wished to be identified for fear of reprisal.

====
I wonder who they were afraid of. THE NEA? The DEMOCRAT party? The ACLU? Iowa Legal Aid? The local Catholic Church?

Anonymous said...

FAIR is a racist organization that believe in abortion and reducing the world population to 600 million by not selling medicine to second and third world nations. Fair also believe that we need to sell arm to both side of conflicts in second and third world nations to further reduce populations. No one should be quoting FAIR unless they really believe in genocide.

Art A Layman said...

kennie:

Maybe you should confine your blogging to military strategy. You probably excel at that; on most other subjects, well, not so much.

Don't worry about Dems bankrupting the country Dumbya's already started the process.

Ken R said...

Fourteen posts later and Art finally got around to responding to me.

Art A Layman said...

kennie:

I apologize for my lateness. I was deeply involved in teaching sporie about economics and wasn't staying current.

Surely you know that I never ignore you on purpose.

Art A Layman said...

sporie:

Anon 12:43 you prove my point. The reason a criminal commits a crime doen't justify the crime very often. Economic need never can justify the commission of crime or you would have an infinite number of "need" theories advanced to justify crime.

Though true, the rationale for committing a crime quite often mitigates the punishment.

I know you know better but in your everpresent desire to condemn, you seem to have lumped all crime into one big bucket as if one crime is as heinous as another.

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