VoteKansas.org

September 24, 2011
Carl Cameron & the Associated Press contribued to this report
FOX News Network, LLC

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's stance on immigration is causing an uproar among conservative voters, jeopardizing his front-runner position in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Perry's support of education benefits for illegal immigrants has led one national immigration group to say he is finished. And a key Iowa conservative said evangelical supporters are abandoning Perry after he doubled down on his support of the policy in the last two GOP debates.

"If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought here by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," Perry said at Thursday's Fox News/Google debate in Orlando.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, ALIPAC, William Gheen, Gov. Rick Perry, GOP, in-state tuition for illegals

September 23, 2011
Jay Root
The Texas Tribune

ORLANDO — Welcome to the Rick Perry pile-on.

After his relatively lackluster debate performance Thursday night, the conservative political pundit class has basically concluded that the Texas governor is not yet ready for prime-time.

Influential blogger Erick Erickson, the RedState editor who hosted Perry’s announcement speech in Charleston, called the governor’s showing a “train wreck,” and said Perry had “flubbed” and “stumbled” during the Fox/Google debate.

It wasn’t much better in the conservative National Review, where editor William Kristol wrote a special editorial entitled “Yikes.”

Topics = Illegal immigration, ALIPAC, William Gheen, campaigns, Gov. Rick Perry, in-state tuition for illegals

New is wearing off for Perry; doubts grow after debates, but supporters say he's still strong

Perry on shaky ground? Doubts among some in GOP

Rick Perry is struggling.

Republicans in early voting states, once excited about the Texas governor's presidential bid, are openly questioning the strength of his candidacy. High expectations have been met by the sudden national scrutiny that comes with the front-runner bull's-eye.

Perry is leading national polls, but he is also facing intensifying criticism from the right and left. Some Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire are expressing doubts, especially after debates in which rivals raised questions about his record on immigration, public health and Social Security.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, ALIPAC, William Gheen, Gov. Rick Perry, campaigns, in-state tuition for illegals

ORLANDO, Fla. - Mitt Romney and others kept Texas Gov. Rick Perry on defense Friday over a state law that offers discounted college tuition to illegal immigrants, as Perry worked to bounce back from an unsteady debate performance that left some conservatives wondering about his bona fides.

Playing off Perry's contention that anyone opposed to the tuition policy doesn't understand life on the border and doesn't "have a heart," Romney pressed the case that Texas' policy only encourages illegal immigration.

"If you're opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn't mean that you don't have a heart," Romney told thousands of Florida Republicans at a daylong convention for conservatives. "It means that you have a heart, and a brain."

Subjects: Illegal immigration, Gov. Rick Perry, campaigns, ALIPAC, William Gheen, U.S.-Mexico border, Dream Act Amnesty

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday pounced on rival Rick Perry's record on illegal immigration to try to raise doubts among conservatives about the front-runner for the party's 2012 nomination.

A day after a Republican U.S. presidential candidate debate on Orlando, Romney clearly believed he had found a weak spot in Perry's tenure as Texas governor -- a policy that allows the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Texas colleges.

At the debate Perry had defended the policy as appropriate for a state with a long border with Mexico and said to those who oppose it, "I don't think you have a heart."

Romney, speaking to the Conservative Policy Action Conference of Florida, rejected that view with a shake of his head.

"I think if you're opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn't mean that you don't have a heart. It means that you have a heart and a brain," he said.

Legal immigration, he said, is good for the country but illegal immigration is "something I will stop if I'm president."

Subjects:  Presidential candidates, illegal immigration, election, debate, William Gheen, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney.

For National Release

September 23, 2011

CONTACT: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC)
Press@alipac.us (866) 703-0864

Texas Governor Perry destroyed his chances of winning the GOP Presidential primary during last night's debate when he defended his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens which is opposed by 81% of all Americans.

"Rick Perry proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not the right choice for America by supporting these radical illegal immigration attracting measures," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "Perry's support for in-state tuition for illegals forces taxpayers to pay to replace their own children in the limited seats in our colleges!"

Prior to 2005, several states like Texas passed in-state tuition for illegals into law without adequate public or lawmaker debate and knowledge.

SANTA FE, NM (KRQE) - The heat is about to get hotter on state lawmakers over the issue of giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.

Thousands of activists from the national political strongarm "Americans For Legal Immigration" stepped forward Wednesday to support Gov. Susana Martinez' call to kill the controversial license law.

"They're calling, e-mailing and faxing New Mexico lawmakers asking them to stand with the 77 percent of Americans that oppose licenses to illegal immigrants," said William Gheen, director of ALIPAC.

The group says the current policy is hurting all Americans. They're pressuring legislators to support Martinez's efforts to repeal the 2003 law.

"It's very clear that the current laws in New Mexico are being fully exploited by illegal immigrants that need those licenses to conduct other illegal activity in the U.S." said Gheen.

But the group has some competition. A handful of religious leaders also descended on the Roundhouse on Wednesday to argue the exact opposite.

"In order to provide them with basic rights and access to the things our society provide, it's important to provide them with a driver's license," said Reverend Brandon Johnson of The United Church in Santa Fe.

Topics: illegal immigration, New Mexico, US  immigration laws, Alipac

ORLANDO --

With both jobs and immigration likely topics of sharp debate at tonight's Republican debate here in Florida, a new report suggests that newly-arrived immigrants have filled a majority of new jobs created in Texas, home to Republican frontrunner Gov. Rick Perry.
"Of jobs created in Texas since 2007, 81 percent were taken by newly arrived immigrant workers (legal and illegal)," says the report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates reduced levels of both legal and illegal immigration. The report estimates that about 40 percent of the new jobs were taken by illegal immigrants, while 40 percent were taken by legal immigrants. The vast majority of both groups, legal and illegal, were not American citizens.

Native-born Americans filled just 20 percent of the new jobs in Texas, the report says, even though "the native born accounted for 69 percent of the growth in Texas' working-age population." "Thus, even though natives made up most of the growth in potential workers, most of the job growth went to immigrants," the report concludes.

The report is based on analysis of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.

 The study notes that 56 percent of newly-arrived immigrants in Texas since 2007 have had a high-school degree or less. But it also notes that "More than one out three…of newly arrived immigrants who took a job had at least some college." It would be a mistake, the report concludes, "to assume that immigrants are only competing for jobs at the bottom end of the labor market.

Topics: illegal immigration, US Census, Texas, Gov. Perry

The stench from Washington is getting stronger. Rep. Darrell Issa has called for a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of the festering mess known as Operation Fast and Furious.

Hatched somewhere in the bowels of the Justice Department, that misbegotten scheme had the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deliberately allowing high-powered guns to “walk” from Arizona and elsewhere into Mexico: Our agents turned a blind eye toward the straw purchasers who were funneling the weapons to the drug cartels.

The (dumb) idea was to trace cross-border arms trafficking, and so prove the (false) claim that 90 percent of the guns seized in Mexican drug war zones originate in the US. (The real figure is closer to 17 percent.) But, as Issa’s Oversight and Government Reform committee continues its investigation, that pretension has evaporated -- and a major international scandal has been born.

Marisela Morales, the Mexican attorney general, estimates that at least 200 Mexicans have been killed with Fast and Furious weapons -- among them, a powerful Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle that took down a federal helicopter. Morales, who calls the program a “betrayal” of her country, told the Los Angeles Times that she first learned about Fast and Furious from news reports, and that US officials still haven’t briefed their Mexican counterparts on it.

Topics: illegal immigration, DHS, ATF, Mexico, Fast & Furious

For National Release

September 21, 2011

CONTACT: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC)
(866) 703-0864 Press@alipac.us

Americans who represent the over 77% of US citizens who oppose driver licenses for illegal aliens are converging on New Mexico by phone today. This effort is to support Republican Governor Susana Martinez and the ground swell of New Mexico residents who are fighting to stop illegal immigrants from receiving state sanctioned licenses.

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, America's most prominent political action committee fighting illegal immigration, has asked for volunteers across the US to contact New Mexico lawmakers to lobby on behalf of Governor Martinez and the American majority opposing licenses for illegal immigrants.

"Everyone knows that New Mexico is one of the last hold outs still giving licenses to illegal aliens despite the fact that almost every other state has stopped doing that due to public pressure," said William Gheen president of ALIPAC. "We want our national supporters to help those loyal American citizens on the ground in New Mexico who are fighting to stop the illegal immigrant invasion of America."

New Mexico lawmakers are caught in a jam over whether to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and, like a trip to the motor vehicle department, this fight could take awhile.

Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican who took office this year, has proposed overturning a 2003 law that allows undocumented foreign nationals to obtain state-issued driver's licenses. It is one of three such state laws in the country.

A former prosecutor, Mrs. Martinez has cast the issue as a matter of public safety and national security after a string of arrests involving criminal licensing rings, but she has hit a wall with state Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature.

Topics = Illegal immigration, licenses for illegals, Democrats, human traffickers, state immigration laws

September 19, 2011
Judicial Watch

Bucking the national trend to curb illegal immigration, the country’s most populous state has passed a law forbidding private businesses as well as state and local governments from screening workers’ immigration status.

It’s a baffling move on the part of legislators in a state—California— with well-documented financial struggles and a whopping 12.1% unemployment rate. Never the less, lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor that will essentially ban any employer—private or public—from using a national online database known as E-Verify to check workers’ immigration status. California cities that currently use E-Verify must immediately stop if the bill becomes law.

California’s famously liberal governor, 73-year-old Jerry Brown, is expected to sign the measure (Employment Acceleration Act) which couldn’t come at a worse time for the state with the largest concentration of illegal aliens. Besides record-high unemployment, the (not so) Golden State is suffering through a dire financial crisis that has forced the early release of incarcerated felons, massive teacher layoffs and a huge cut in its notoriously generous entitlement programs.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, California legislature, E-Verify, immigration bills, immigration state laws, Democrats

CBS News has obtained secretly recorded conversations that raise questions as to whether some evidence is being withheld in the murder of a Border Patrol agent.

The tapes were recorded approximately mid-March 2011 by the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its "Fast and Furious" operation: Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. He's talking with the lead case ATF case agent Hope MacAllister.

The tapes have been turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General.

Topics = Border violence, Fast and Furious Operation, Gunrunner Operation, ATF, U.S.-Mexico Border

Friends of ALIPAC,

We have fought many state legislative battles over the years and have played a key role in stopping illegal aliens from getting driver licenses in many states!

It has been a long hard road, but we are now down to only three states that still give licenses to illegal aliens thanks to your donations of time and funds.

Today, there is a fierce political battle raging between true Americans and the illegal alien supporters over licenses for illegal aliens.

The new governor of New Mexico campaigned on a promise to stop the state from giving licenses to illegal aliens...

Tiffany Hartley returns to Valley for Brownsville congressional hearing

BROWNSVILLE — A venerable panel dominated by officials declaring the U.S.-Mexico border a surreptitious battleground for drug and human traffickers offered their best arguments for more federal resources at a congressional hearing Monday.

Taking the spotlight at the congressional field hearing on border security at the University of Texas at Brownsville was Tiffany Hartley, the wife of a former McAllen man she says was killed by Mexican drug traffickers during a holiday on Falcon Lake nearly one year ago.

Tiffany recounted her story of Sept. 30, 2010, the day she said cartel gunmen shot David Hartley in the head before she made a death-defying scramble back to U.S. soil on the border reservoir.

Subjects: Border violence, human traffickers, border security, Project Gunrunner, Mexican drug cartels

ALBANY, N.Y. – People who are not U.S. citizens may be eligible for disaster assistance for damage from Hurricane Irene. 

Disaster assistance is available to residents and businesses in Albany, Bronx, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Herkimer, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, Washington and Westchester counties, which were declared a disaster area by President Obama.

The aid is available to citizens, non-citizen nationals, and qualified aliens. Qualified aliens include those with legal permanent residence (shown by green cards). Their status will not be jeopardized by requesting disaster assistance.

A minor child who is a citizen, non-citizen national or qualified alien can have a parent or guardian who is not eligible apply for assistance on the child’s behalf. No information will be gathered on the adult’s status.

Topics: illegal immigration, FEMA, U.S. Immigration, undocumented immigrants,

September 16, 2011
Milan Simonich
Silver City Sun-News

Senator may be the key for Martinez in license battle

SANTA FE - For the first time, Gov. Susana Martinez may be the favorite in the furious fight over driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Martinez, a Republican, wants to repeal the law allowing people to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses without proof of immigration status.

Democrats in the state Senate closed ranks last winter to thwart her attempt to eliminate the law.

But now, during a special session, Martinez may have enough support to win, state Sen. George Munoz said Thursday.

Topics = Illegal immigration, Gov. Susana Martinez, licenses for illegals, immigration bills

Shots were fired at DPS officers as they were working with the U.S. Border Patrol on a human- and drug-smuggling operation in Vekol Valley early Friday morning.

"It was an ambush," said Officer Carrick Cook of the Department of Public Safety. "The officers were just merely walking back to the command post."

Officers fired back at the shooter, but no one was injured in the exchange that took place just before 6 a.m. near Stanfield off of Interstate 8. The shooter ran away, and DPS officers, Border Patrol agents and Pinal County Sheriff's deputies organized a foot search.

Topics: Illegal immigration, border violence, U.S. Border Patrol, DPS officers, human smuggling, U.S.-Mexico border

JEFFERSON — Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in close partnership with local law enforcement, have arrested seven Mexican nationals and one Guatemalan in Jefferson County as part of Operation Community Shield.

According to Gail Montenegro of ICE, this is the latest local effort in an ongoing national ICE initiative to target foreign-born gang members.

One of the Mexican nationals was previously deported and is facing federal charges for illegally re-entering the United States. The remaining seven are charged with administrative immigration violations and are facing removal proceedings. Four of the Mexican nationals are documented members of the Tres Puntos street gang.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, I.C.E., Operation Community Shield, illegal alien gangs, illegal alien arrests

September 15, 2011
Eric Fleischauer
The Decatur Daily

The only reason any American wants undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens is so they eventually can vote for a Democrat, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said this week.

“We’ve got one political party who sees amnesty for illegal aliens — who are dependent on U.S. taxpayers for their livelihood — as a source for votes in the future that will empower them to win elections,” Brooks told people participating in a telephonic “town hall” Tuesday night.

“I can’t figure out a legitimate public policy reason for these elected officials to favor open borders and amnesty for everybody other than personal interest and getting elected,” Brooks said.

Topics: Illegal immigration, Rep. Mo Brooks, amnesty, Republicans, open borders, illegal alien crimes, undocumented Democrats