LETTER: Immigration isn’t a laughing matter

Maybe some of these slumlords-oops I mean landlords ought to be made aware of the law (if there is one)

What have the immigrants done to you? it looks like every one is trying to blame the immigrants for all their problmes. I'm sorry to tell you that this is not your country, are you a native ameican? if you are then you can say "my country" but if you are not you have no place to say it. We are all immigrants and you are lucky that you can move aroung here with no problems at all but for the rest of us even if we are legal residents or citizens we are always going to be called immigrants, before I had a better concept of the people from fremont but now I see that you are a bunch of racists. Remember we are God creation and to his eyes we are all equal no matter what color your skin is.

JV:
I wouldn't necessarily say racist, mostly really ignorant. Racist implies knowing the group that you're prejudiced against. Fremonters don't know the immigrant, nor do they even want to.
But then again, I remember a Fremonter telling me some years ago that there was a perfect racial balance in Fremont: All white-so maybe you're right.

Sorry JV, but you are wrong. I am not an immigrant. The only migration my family has made was from Lincoln to Fremont when I was very young. I am a natural born citizen of the USA. What happened 600 years ago with the native Americans and the settlers has nothing to do with the way things work today. Many countries and lands throughout thousands of years have been conquered by non-native peoples but that does not make their country and laws any less relevant. The fact is this is the United States of America and we have laws, rules and regulations as do other countries in this world. We have laws on the books concerning immigration for many reasons. One of those is disease control. Our country has strict guidelines on immunizations and people from other countries that have not had the same immunizations could (and have) bring diseases that have been extinct or dormant in our country for decades. Also our country does background checks to be sure we are not getting criminals from other countries. We have enough of our own we don't need theirs. Immigration control is not about bigotry (well not always) it is about keeping our country safe. Nobody is blaming immigrants for anything, they are blaming the ILLEGAL immigrants, no matter the skin color. There is a HUGE difference. The very definition of illegal should be all that needs to be said. Legal = good Illegal = bad at least that is what my parents always taught me growing up and all the nice policemen who came to my schools when I was young and even the priests and ministers of the churches I attended. My teachers told me this, so did my grandparents, even politicians from time to time will elude to this fact. I really do not see how so many people can not understand the difference.

We are all immigrants in one way or another, but alot of us were legal from the get go. Remember Ellis Island. My grea-grandparents on both sides came here & became legal citizens. They did not "sneak" into this country. They came into this country legally, worked hard & SPOKE ENGLISH. The frustrating thing is that if we stopped illegal immigration, we would save so much money. From welfare to our prison system. I see more illegal's driving nicer vehicles than I ever would, but then go to the store and check out with a cart full of food then pay with food stamps. Frustrating? Absolutely! What can we do though! Maybe lobby to congress a little harder? We need to figure something out and figure it out soon!

JV,
I agree with LSB. I am tired of hearing the line that illegal immigration is OK b/c of Europeans "taking" America from Natives.
1. The "native" americans came from Siberia & Mongolia if one goes back far enough in world history. NO race is "native" to the US if one goes back far enough.
2. In world History evry nation has been invaded or invaded another nation at one time or another. Even the "Native Americans" had border wars with other tribes.
3. Using that logic if 300 million "Legal" citizens of the US are supposed to leave this nation to the Native Americans, then a. where do we go? b. Who is going to pay for costs to move 300 million people? c. we would have to practice a "scorched earth" policy to destroy everything not built by native americans in order to give it to them as we found it hundreds of years ago.EVERYTHING! Sounds stupid does it? So to keep bringing up European settlers from Hundreds of years ago does NOT settle today's ILLEGAL immigration issues.
4. We have LAWS in this country (A Soveriegn nation of our own) to determine who can & cannot enter due to health or crimminal reasons.
5. My ancestors came over from Europe via Ellis Island. They were inspected medically & crimminally. They never owned, bought, or sold a slave nor shot or de-homed a "native" american. They learned English and moved on with life. They immigrated LEGALLY and got no government welfare.

I only have one question for Loretta Seidenglanz - are you going to work for Hormel or any other packing plant that these "illegal's" are doing? I doubt it - but let me guess "if these packing plants would pay better." Ha - then we pay more in the grocery store. Like it or not, we are going to pay for it in the long run. Get over it and let these people live their life without the punishment of the Mexican goverenment and you. Put your feet in their shoes, wouldn't you want to find something better for your family at any cost?

Loretta this answers all you stated. But who will enforce it????


Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii)
"Any person who . . . encourages or induces an illegal alien to . . . reside . . . knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such . . . residence is . . . in violation of law, shall be punished as provided . . . for each illegal alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs . . . fined under title 18 . . . imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."
Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):
A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:
assists an illegal alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or
encourages that illegal alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or
knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.

Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime. Anyone employing or contracting with an illegal alien without verifying his or her work authorization status is guilty of a misdemeanor. Aliens and employers violating immigration laws are subject to arrest, detention, and seizure of their vehicles or property. In addition, individuals or entities who engage in racketeering enterprises that commit (or conspire to commit) immigration-related felonies are subject to private civil suits for treble damages and injunctive relief.

Recruitment and Employment of Illegal Aliens
It is unlawful to hire an alien, to recruit an alien, or to refer an illegal alien for a fee, knowing the illegal alien is unauthorized to work in the United States. It is equally unlawful to continue to employ an illegal alien knowing that the illegal alien is unauthorized to work.
It is unlawful to hire any individual for employment in the United States without complying with employment eligibility verification requirements. Requirements include examination of identity documents and completion of Form I-9 for every employee hired. Employers must retain all I-9s, and, with three days' advance notice, the forms must be made available for inspection. Employment includes any service or labor performed for any type of remuneration within the United States, with the exception of sporadic domestic service by an individual in a private home. "Day laborers" or other casual workers engaged in any compensated activity (with the above exception) are employees for purposes of immigration law. An employer includes an agent or anyone acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the employer. For purposes of verification of authorization to work, employer also means an independent contractor, or a contractor other than the person using the illegal alien labor.
The use of temporary or short-term contracts cannot be used to circumvent the employment authorization verification requirements. If employment is to be for less than the usual three days allowed for completing the I-9 Form requirement, the form must be completed immediately at the time of hire.
An employer has constructive knowledge that an employee is an illegal unauthorized worker if a reasonable person would infer it from the facts. Constructive knowledge constituting a violation of federal law has been found where (1) the I-9 employment eligibility form has not been properly completed, including supporting documentation, (2) the employer has learned from other individuals, media reports, or any source of information available to the employer that the alien is unauthorized to work, or (3) the employer acts with reckless disregard for the legal consequences of permitting a third party to provide or introduce an illegal alien into the employer's work force. Knowledge cannot be inferred solely on the basis of an individual's accent or foreign appearance.
Actual specific knowledge is not required. For example, a newspaper article stating that ballrooms depend on an illegal alien work force of dance hostesses was held by the courts to be a reasonable ground for suspicion that unlawful conduct had occurred.
It is illegal for nonprofit or religious organizations to knowingly assist an employer to violate employment sanctions, regardless of claims that their convictions require them to assist illegal aliens. Harboring or aiding illegal aliens is not protected by the First Amendment. It is a felony to establish a commercial enterprise for the purpose of evading any provision of federal immigration law. Violators may be fined or imprisoned for up to five years.

Encouraging and Harboring Illegal Aliens
It is a violation of law for any person to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection in any place, including any building or means of transportation, any illegal alien who is in the United States in violation of law. Harboring means any conduct that tends to substantially facilitate an alien to remain in the U.S. illegally. The sheltering need not be clandestine, and harboring covers aliens arrested outdoors, as well as in a building. This provision includes harboring an alien who entered the U.S. legally but has since lost his legal status.
An employer can be convicted of the felony of harboring illegal aliens who are his employees if he takes actions in reckless disregard of their illegal status, such as ordering them to obtain false documents, altering records, obstructing INS inspections, or taking other actions that facilitate the alien's illegal employment. Any person who within any 12-month period hires ten or more individuals with actual knowledge that they are illegal aliens or unauthorized workers is guilty of felony harboring. It is also a felony to encourage or induce an alien to come to or reside in the U.S. knowing or recklessly disregarding the fact that the alien's entry or residence is in violation of the law. This crime applies to any person, rather than just employers of illegal aliens. Courts have ruled that "encouraging" includes counseling illegal aliens to continue working in the U.S. or assisting them to complete applications with false statements or obvious errors. The fact that the alien is a refugee fleeing persecution is not a defense to this felony, since U.S. law and the UN Protocol on Refugees both require that a refugee must report to immigration authorities without delay upon entry to the U.S.
The penalty for felony harboring is a fine and imprisonment for up to five years. The penalty for felony alien smuggling is a fine and up to ten years' imprisonment. Where the crime causes serious bodily injury or places the life of any person in jeopardy, the penalty is a fine and up to twenty years' imprisonment. If the criminal smuggling or harboring results in the death of any person, the penalty can include life imprisonment. Convictions for aiding, abetting, or conspiracy to commit alien smuggling or harboring, carry the same penalties. Courts can impose consecutive prison sentences for each alien smuggled or harbored. A court may order a convicted smuggler to pay restitution if the illegal alien smuggled qualifies as a victim under the Victim and Witness Protection Act. Conspiracy to commit crimes of sheltering, harboring, or employing illegal aliens is a separate federal offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or five years' imprisonment.

Enforcement
A person or entity having knowledge of a violation or potential violation of employer sanctions provisions may submit a signed written complaint to the INS office with jurisdiction over the business or residence of the potential violator, whether an employer, employee, or agent. The complaint must include the names and addresses of both the complainant and the violator, and detailed factual allegations, including date, time, and place of the potential violation, and the specific conduct alleged to be a violation of employer sanctions. By regulation, the INS will only investigate third-party complaints that have a reasonable probability of validity. Designated INS officers and employees, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws, may make an arrest for violation of smuggling or harboring illegal aliens.
State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to do so by state law. There is no extant federal limitation on this authority. The 1996 immigration control legislation passed by Congress was intended to encourage states and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws. Immigration officers and local law enforcement officers may detain an individual for a brief warrantless interrogation where circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the U.S. Specific facts constituting a reasonable suspicion include evasive, nervous, or erratic behavior; dress or speech indicating foreign citizenship; and presence in an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens. Hispanic appearance alone is not sufficient. Immigration officers and police must have a valid warrant or valid employer's consent to enter workplaces or residences. Any vehicle used to transport or harbor illegal aliens, or used as a substantial part of an activity that encourages illegal aliens to come to or reside in the U.S. may be seized by an immigration officer and is subject to forfeiture. The forfeiture power covers any conveyances used within the U.S.

RICO —Citizen Recourse
Private persons and entities may initiate civil suits to obtain injunctions and treble damages against enterprises that conspire to or actually violate federal alien smuggling, harboring, or document fraud statutes, under the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO). The pattern of racketeering activity is defined as commission of two or more of the listed crimes. A RICO enterprise can be any individual legal entity, or a group of individuals who are not a legal entity but are associated in fact, and can include nonprofit associations.

Clearly you are unaware of the real reasons why the American public education system is falling, it's not because of illegal immigrants but because of what the Bush Administration is doing or not doing for our education system. Instead of being ignorant and uneducated about what immigrants are really doing for this country(notice it is not your country), do your research!! This is the richest country built by immigrants!!!!! This country would not be the abundant land of opportunity if it were not for immmigration. It is people like you who give Fremont a Bad name!! EDUCATE YOURSELF!!!!!The Media wants you to beleive our economy is fizzling because of illegal immigrants, the truth is they are helping to sustain this slumping economy. Our government knows the benefits of immigrants,and that is why they are not stopping them. If we loaded up the 11 million undocumented workers, our ecomony would crash!! The economy here in lovely little Fremont would be affected as well because Hormel would not be able to find employees.

To Ignorant Fremonters.... Funny how 20 yrs ago Hormel was able to find plenty of workers and people would actually be begging to work there. I am wondering where you get your information that they wouldn't be able to find workers? And were I am very much against Bush and his administration, I do not see how we can blame all of our education woes on him. Our education system was struggling before he was in office and will continue to do so after he is gone until some real changes are made. The fact that teachers spend so much time with those that have a hard time understanding the language and those with learning and behavioral problems (white and Hispanic alike)they dont have time to really teach those student who want to learn. Plus the fact that they have to spend so much time "teaching the test" that they dont have time left to actually teach our children real information and make learning fun so they are interested in what is being taught.