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Texas Gov. Rick Perry wined and dined with Republican donors Thursday in Charlotte, N.C. However, the dinner wasn’t all smiles and giggles. The fundraiser, which was held at a Tex-Mex restaurant, also drew protesters who were angry about the GOP presidential frontrunner’s stance on immigration.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the protesters carried signs with messages such as:

“Say No to Rick Perry’s In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens!” and “Rick Perry – Endorsed by Mexico!”

The protest was organized by Americans for Legal Immigration, a group that staunchly opposes what they perceive as Perry’s “soft” stance on immigration. In 48 hours’ notice, the group rounded up 15 protesters.

“The protest was a big success. We plan on announcing several other protests on Monday. We want to generate an environment where Rick Perry is protested everywhere he goes for his unpopular support for illegal immigration,” William Gheen, president of ALI, told The Christian Post.

“We are going to protest until the chickens come home to roost.”

After the dinner, Perry held a question and answer session with the media. Two men heckled Perry as he was trying to give answers. Gheen denies knowing the two men and says they had nothing to do with his organization.

“Either those two men were overzealous in their actions or they were agent provocateurs hired by Perry to make us look bad. “

“You can’t dismiss the idea that they may have been planted in order to engage in activities designed to make us look unflattering. In politics it happens all the time,” continued Gheen, who has worked on 44 political campaigns.

The Charlotte incident was just the last bump in the road for Perry on Thursday. Earlier in the day he held a press conference in Knoxville, Tenn. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that “two unidentified men with video cameras made disruptive statements about the constitution and told Texas Gov. Rick Perry to stay out of Tennessee.”
Reportedly, Perry hit back, saying he wouldn’t leave the state because “Tennessee is very important. If you look back Tennessee has been one of [the states] that has made the difference – it’s a swing state.”
Topics: GOP, instate-tuition for illegal aliens, Rick Perry, 

The first national poll conducted since last Thursday’s Republican debate shows that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s bumbled attacks on Mitt Romney and ‘heartless’ response to queries from his critics on instate tuition for illegal immigrants has cost him dearly among the Republican primary electorate.

In this new poll, Perry pulls only 19 percent of the vote, one of his worst showings since entering the race. Mitt Romney edges Perry narrowly, attracting 23 percent of the vote, while fast-food magnate Herman Cain roared into third place with 17 percent of the vote. This is the first poll that put Cain near the top of the pack.

While one poll isn’t a trend and it will take additional polls to confirm the findings, the results seem to indicate that Perry’s poor debate performance may have done more damage to the Perry campaign than originally thought.

Perry has attempted to mitigate the damage from that debate by claiming that he is truer to conservative principles, even if Romney is the more avuncular debater.
Topics: illegal immigration,GOP Debate, Rick Perry, Herman Cain

That in-state tuition law that sailed through the Texas Legislature and across the governor’s desk 10 years ago continues haunting Rick Perry’s presidential campaign in strange new ways, most recently with a hardline anti-illegal immigration group protesting outside a Perry fundraiser, and new complaints about social media censorship from the governor’s supporters.

In Charlotte, N.C., right now, outside a Perry fundraiser at San Antonio’s Modern Mexican restaurant, the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC is mounting an afternoon protest “designed to forewarn the 81% of Americans found in numerous polls to oppose in-state tuition for illegal aliens about Rick Perry’s unpopular support for illegal immigrants.”

The group announced Thursday that the protest was just one in a nationwide series, designed to tell the world that Perry, in the words of ALIPAC President William Gheen, supports the “illegal immigration invasion of America.”

“Close examination of Rick Perry shows a man that wants to appear to be tough on illegal immigration while in truth he is supporting the illegal immigration invasion of America,” said William Gheen. “Our protest today and the coming protests across the nation are designed to warn voters about Rick Perry’s real positions on illegal immigration before it is too late.”Topics: illegal immigration,Rick perry, in-state tuition,

Gov. Rick Perry was heckled Thursday in North Carolina over his stance on illegal immigrants attending Texas universities. Mitt Romney and Chris Christie joined the critical chorus.
Washington

The Texas governor was heckled Thursday by protestors over his stance on immigration at a campaign stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. To be fair, it wasn’t like Rick Perry encountered throngs of angry masses - it was more like a handful of white folks holding up signs saying “Rick Perry: Endorsed by Mexico.” Still, the protest wound up on the local news (watch the video here http://tinyurl.com/692jc2l ), which is not the kind of story the Perry campaign wants to see.

Ironically, the protest - which was organized by the group Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC) - probably received more attention than it otherwise would have because the Perry campaign had actually tried to remove a Facebook invitation promoting it.

ALIPAC is now vowing to continue showing up at other Perry events.

At issue primarily is Perry’s decision as governor to allow children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. The measure, as he has pointed out, had nearly unanimous support from both parties in the Texas legislature. But it is a position that puts him squarely on the opposite side of many conservative voters, particularly in key early-voting states like Iowa and South Carolina, who strongly believe that illegal immigrants should not be "rewarded" with taxpayer dollars.

And Perry made it a whole lot worse when, defending his stance at the last GOP debate, he said his critics don’t “have a heart.” (He has since said that comment was “inappropriate.”)
Topics: illegal immigration, Alipac, 

Texas Governor Rick Perry was loudly heckled Thursday while holding a fundraising event in Charlotte, North Carolina, despite attempts by his campaign to thwart the critics.

Some 15 members of the Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC) were outside San Antonio’s Mexican Grill, where Perry held his fundraiser. Bearing signs and American flags, the immigration reform protesters made much more noise than their number, and cars driving by the protest loudly honked their horns in support.

“Rick Perry is the only candidate that signed in state tuition for illegal immigrants into law, ” ALIPAC President William Gheen told local news outlet WCNC. “I shouldn’t have to pay to replace my own kids in college because of someone else’s criminal activity.”

Topics: illegal immigration, Alipac, William Gheen,

September 30, 2011
Reuters

The Obama administration on Friday asked a federal appeals court to block Alabama's strict new anti-illegal immigration law after a federal judge allowed key portions to take effect.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn earlier this week backed the law authorizing police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally if they cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

The judge also upheld a provision that permits the state to require public schools to determine the legal residency of children. Federal judges in other states have blocked similar state laws aimed at trying to stem illegal immigration.

The Justice Department filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, and also asked Blackburn to put her ruling on hold pending that appeal.
 
Subjects = Illegal immigration, President Obama, state immigration laws, immigration court rulings

The Obama administration is ratcheting up its efforts against state immigration laws around the country, according to a new report.

After suing Arizona and Alabama over immigration measures enacted in those states, the Justice Department is currently reviewing immigration laws in four other states to decide whether to challenge the measures, the Washington Post reported. The immigration measures being examined were enacted in Utah, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana.

The Justice Department will examine the four laws to see the extent to which the measures interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law.

Topics: Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, immigration court rulings, Justice Department

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Hispanic students have started vanishing from Alabama public schools in the wake of a court ruling that upheld the state’s tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration.

Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities.

There are no precise statewide numbers. But several districts with large immigrant enrollments — from small towns to large urban districts — reported a sudden exodus of children of Hispanic parents, some of whom told officials they would leave the state to avoid trouble with the law, which requires schools to check students’ immigration status.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, immigration court rulings, Alabama illegal immigration law

Friends of ALIPAC,

We are very pleased to report that ALIPAC's rapidly assembled protest of Rick Perry and his current promotion of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants was a huge success!

With only 48 hours notice we were able to assemble around 15 protest attendees coming and going carrying some great signs.

We received a great response from citizens who saw our signs criticizing Rick Perry as many Charlotte motorists honked their horns in support.

We achieved a massive amount of media coverage and secured our objective to use Rick Perry's event to warn more voters about his unpopular stances supporting illegal immigrants.

Our message was broadcast on four North Carolina talk radio interviews, reported in both of the largest newspapers in the state and telecast on four different television news agencies out of Charlotte, NC.

September 29, 2011
Amy Cowman
WCNC-TV, Inc.

Gov. Rick Perry greeted by protestors in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Texas Governor Rick Perry made a stop on his fundraising trail in Charlotte on Thursday, but it wasn't his supporters who made the most noise. Protestors took to the streets outside San Antonio’s Mexican Grill at SouthPark.

It was anything but a southern hospitality welcome.

"Rick Perry is the only candidate that signed in state tuition for illegal immigrants into law, " said William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration, or ALIPAC.

Subjects: Illegal immigration, William Gheen, ALIPAC, campaigns, in-state tuition for illegals, Texas Dream Act

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Police in Alabama are getting ready to enforce what is considered by many as the toughest immigration law in the nation.

Beginning Thursday, authorities can question people suspected of being in the country illegally and hold them without bond, and officials can check the immigration status of students in public schools, Gov. Robert Bentley said.

Those two key aspects of Alabama's new law were upheld by a federal judge on Wednesday. The governor said parts of the law take effect immediately.

"We intend to enforce it," Bentley said.

Topics = Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, immigration court rulings, Alabama immigration law

September 29, 2011
Mike Esterl and Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal

A federal judge Wednesday greenlighted key parts of an Alabama law aimed at curbing illegal immigration, rejecting the federal government's request to block them and strengthening the likelihood that the Supreme Court ultimately will decide whether states can pass their own immigration laws.

The Alabama law, widely seen as the nation's toughest, could embolden other states weighing stiff measures to stop illegal immigration after federal courts curbed such laws in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia in recent months. The federal government argues immigration is a federal matter.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn in the Northern District of Alabama upheld a contentious provision requiring police in Alabama "to make a reasonable attempt" to determine the immigration status of any individual they stop if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person is in the country illegally.

Subjects = Illegal immigration, state immigration laws, immigration court rulings, Alabama immigration law

Janet Napolitano spent much of the spring sounding like a broken record ensuring that the U.S.-Mexico border is safe when the reality is that stretches are controlled by drug-trafficking organizations.

A new federal report exposing the ugly truth about the southern border has left President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary with egg on her face. Published by the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, the document contradicts much of what Napolitano has preached in the last few months during highly publicized jaunts to the crime-infested region.

Remember this? The Mexican border “is as secure as it has ever been.” Or what about this; violence along the Mexican border is merely a mistaken “perception” because the Obama Administration has successfully fostered a “secure and prosperous” region. Napolitano also said that “misinformation about safety” is negatively impacting border communities and that the U.S.-Mexico border is not “overrun or out of control.”

Topics: Illegal immigration, DHS, Mexican drug cartels, gangs, Los Zetas, border violence

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens over the past week as part of “Operation Cross Check,” a law enforcement sweep that spread across all 50 states and four U.S. territories — the largest-ever ICE criminal alien operation.

The arrests came a month after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, bowing to pressure from immigration activists, announced that ICE would focus its interior enforcement efforts in the future on serious criminals and delay deportation cases for most non-criminal immigrants who don’t pose a threat to public safety or national security.

ICE described the arrests as part of the Obama administration’s “ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators.”

Subjects: Illegal immigration, ICE, DHS, illegal immigrant arrests, amnesty

For National Release

September 29, 2011

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

ALIPAC is announcing that today's protest in Charlotte, NC, at the intersection of Carnegie Blvd. and Barclay Downs Dr. near Rick Perry's fundraiser at a Southpark Mall restaurant will be the first in a series of protests at his events across America.

This first protest, being held from 11:30am to 1:30pm, will be attended by both local and national media, and is designed to forewarn the 81% of Americans found in numerous polls to oppose in-state tuition for illegal aliens about Rick Perry's unpopular support for illegal immigrants.  

Rick Perry apologized yesterday for calling those that oppose high taxpayer tuition payments to illegal immigrants "heartless."

For National Release

September 27, 2011

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

ALIPAC's prediction that "Rick Perry Is Finished" went viral on the web and in the media this weekend. This has led to the group announcing plans to protest outside of Rick Perry events in an effort to forewarn voters about Perry's numerous efforts to support the illegal immigrants and encourage illegal immigration.

Rick Perry's support levels have fallen dramatically since he reaffirmed his support for in-state tuition subsidies for illegal immigrants, legislation he signed into law in Texas which is opposed by 81% of Americans of all races and parties according to recent national polling conducted by Rasmussen Reports. Perry accused opponents of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants of being heartless.

ALIPAC has helped to defeat similar legislation in 20 states in the last six years starting with the dramatic defeat of HB 1183 in North Carolina in 2005.

"This was Rick Perry's 'Dukakis moment' when he told the over 80% of Americans who opposed his radical support for illegal immigrants that they were heartless for opposing the replacement of their own children with illegal aliens in our limited seats in college," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "How many tens of thousands of innocent American students have been denied the limited seats in the colleges of their choice thanks to Perry's incentives for illegal immigrants?"

Tired of hearing from Obama White House that the Texas-Mexico border is more secure than ever, the Texas Department of Agriculture, along with the Department of Public Safety, hired two retired U.S. generals to evaluate the true status.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples today released “Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment,” an independent study, former generals Barry McCaffrey and Major-General Robert Scales, at the Protect Your Texas Border Summit in Austin.

Among their findings is that “criminality spawned in Mexico is spilling over into the United States.”

Subjects: Illegal immigration, Border violence, U.S. security, U.S.-Mexico border, human traffickers, Mexican drug cartels

Texas governor Rick Perry has pointed to job growth in Texas during the current economic downturn as one of his main accomplishments. But in a new report for the Center for Immigration Studies, based on data collected monthly by the Census Bureau, we found that newly arrived immigrants (legal and illegal) have been the primary beneficiaries of this growth between 2007 and 2011, not native-born workers.

We found that of jobs created in Texas since 2007, 81 percent (225,000) were taken by newly arrived foreign workers (legal and illegal). The Census Bureau asks immigrants to say when they came to the United States, so it is easy to look at new arrivals who took jobs. Of newly arrived immigrants who took a job in Texas, the data show that 93 percent were not U.S. citizens. We estimate that about half of newly arrived immigrants who took jobs in Texas since 2007 were illegal immigrants. This means that about 40 percent of all the job growth in Texas between 2007 and 2011 went to newly arrived illegal immigrants and 40 percent went to newly arrived legal immigrants.

Topics: Illegal Immigration: Immigration Law: Rick Perry: CIS

PRINCETON, NJ -- A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years.

Majorities of Democrats (65%) and Republicans (92%) are dissatisfied with the nation's governance. This perhaps reflects the shared political power arrangement in the nation's capital, with Democrats controlling the White House and U.S. Senate, and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. Partisans on both sides can thus find fault with government without necessarily blaming their own party.

The findings are from Gallup's annual Governance survey, updated Sept. 8-11, 2011. The same poll shows record or near-record criticism of Congress, elected officials, government handling of domestic problems, the scope of government power, and government waste of tax dollars.

Topics: Government: Democrats; Republicans

A letter forwarded on Friday by a proven reliable source to Gun Rights Examiner and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars documents Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives management authorizing the sale of firearms, which sources say were intended for delivery to cartel purchasers as part of the “Fast and Furious” / ”Gunwalker” scandal. Written by then-ATF Phoenix Group VII Supervisor David Voth, the June 01, 2010 letter to a Federal Firearms Licensee, whose name is redacted, advises:

Per Section925(a)(1) of the Gun Control Act (GCA) exempts law enforcement agencies from the transportation, shipment, receipt, or importation controls of the GCA when firearms are to be used for the official business of the agency.
Please accept this letter in lieu of completing an ATF Form 4473 for the purchase of four (4) CAI, Model Draco, 7.62x39 mm pistols, by Special Agent John Dodson. These aforementioned pistols will be used by Special Agent Dodson in furtherance of the performance of his official duties. In addition, Special Agent Dodson has not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. If you have any questions, you may contact me at telephone number 602-605-6501.

A hand-written note at the bottom says:

Picked up guns 6/10/10

Paid Cash [underlined in original]

A copy of the letter is posted at this correspondent’s Scribd account, and a jpg version is included as this column’s sidebar photo.

Dodson is the agent who put a face to the whistleblowers in Sharyl Attkisson’s bombshell CBS News interviews. Other sources tell Mike Vanderboegh that this letter indicates Dodson would have been fearful to proceed without documentation to prove management not only knew and approved of this activity, but had directed it.

Topics: illegal immigration, ATF, Fast & Furious, drug cartels, Mexico, ICE