Is Illegal Immigration why black tar heroin is on the rise in Norman, Oklahoma?

Law enforcement agents have tracked a decrease in oxycontin and an increase in black tar heroin during the last four to six months, Norman police said.

Norman Police Capt. J.D. Younger said police cannot determine how much of the drug flow has been interrupted and redirected.

"It's difficult to pinpoint the exact impact you've had," he said. "The significant impact is based on the decreased availability and increase in price."

Investigators theorize why numbers have dropped: "Operation Pill Box."

In December, state and federal law enforcement, broke up an alleged oxycontin ring in the Norman area. The investigation was dubbed "Operation Pill Box."

Younger said most of the heroin supply is coming from Mexico. Police suspect someone is acquiring heroin and bringing it into the Norman area.

Suppliers frequently use Interstate 35 and Interstate 40 to transport drugs, Younger said. I-35 runs through Cleveland County and intersects with I-40 in Oklahoma City.

The Medical Examiner's Office tracks overdose deaths across the state and has data through 2009. Data for 2010 is not complete.

In 2008, 32 people in Cleveland County died from drug overdoses. Oxycodone killed five people. One person died from a heroin overdose.

Oxycodone also is found in combination with other ingredients in prescription pain killers. In its pure form it is oxycontin.

In 2009, drug overdose deaths decreased to 28, according to state statistics. One person died from oxycodone. Statistics on heroin related deaths were not available.

So far in 2010, there have been four heroin related overdoses reported in Norman. None have resulted in death, according to state officials.

Burnett said methamphetamine and cocaine are the most common drugs that county investigators come across. However, heroin is making a come back, he said.

Heroin has a massive addictive affect, Burnett said.

"It puts you out," he said.

Dr. David Fish, who joined the emergency department at Norman Regional Hospital in July 2009, said in the past nine months, he's treated at least two heroin overdoses. Both patients lived.

Heroin relaxes the body, Fish said. The narcotic slows down the respiratory system and induces a seemingly euphoric mental state.

Overdose patients brought into the emergency department typically are not breathing, Fish said. The person also likely is in a coma.

"If you take too much you will stop breathing and die," he said.

Fish said someone can become addicted to heroin in a single dose.

"People can be psychologically addicted pretty quickly and physiological over time," he said.

He said heroin originally was designed to be a pain reliever. Another opiate, oxycontin also is known to ease physical pain.

Fish said as an emergency room physician, he treats short-term pain. Oxycodone, in conjunction with other ingredients, is marketed as Percocet. Instead of oxycontin or an oxycodone compound, Fish said he normally prescribes a short dose of Vicodin or Lortab for pain relief.

"It's not something we give out regularly," he said of oxycontin.

Fish said compared with heroin overdoses, he's treated more patients who suffer from prescription drug overdoses.

"It's almost a daily thing," he said.

Arizona Sing-A-Long: Read Immigration Law!

Two weeks ago, Governor Jan Brewer took President Obama to task for making Arizonas unsecured borders and illegal immigration crisis a laughing matter. However, since then, Washingtons comedy of errors has grown far worse, with top cabinet officials admitting that they havent even read Arizonas new immigration law. Broken borders are not a laughing matter, but the failure by Obamas trusted officials to read Arizonas law before commenting and condemning it is laughable. Read the law for yourself at: www.SecuretheBorder.org

Scott Pruitt - Suing Over Illegal Immigration?

Oklahoma Attorney General Candidate Scott Pruitt wants to sue government over state illegal immigration expenses

Baxter Black get it!

People who live in Chicago, Washington , DC or San Francisco inner cities lock their doors at night. They are careful where they travel within the city. They all have friends who have been mugged, had homes burglarized, cars stolen or lives taken. They travel the city in crowds like schools of fish. Their safety, like all prey, is in numbers; the odds are that someone else will be eaten instead of them. In rural communities, small towns, and isolated ranch houses, we do not think of ourselves as prey.

During the election, candidate Obama made a very telling comment about bitter, small towns, "clinging to their guns and religion." He is from the big-city prey mentality. He comes from a place that believes that if we take guns away from ordinary citizens, they will somehow be safer. His comment was interpreted as a slam against small-town America, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He simply doesn't have any way to relate to those who believe each person is responsible to take care of himself.

The Mexican border, once a cultural bridge, is now a war zone inhabited by killers, smugglers, and drug dealers as bad as any town in Afghanistan. Rural people who live along this poisonous border live with the daily possibility of death and destruction. Thousands of Mexicans have been killed in the drug wars already.

The situation, which has been worsening, culminated last month with the murder of a rancher by a suspected drug smuggler on his way back to Mexico.

He lived in my county along the border. He was known to the neighbors and many Mexican illegals as a generous man. His ranch has been well traveled by illegals for years. His luck ran out. All of us, his neighbors, are saddened but reminded of just how fragile normal life has become where many have put down their roots.

If the president thinks the community is bitter, he just might be right. They are on the front lines in a war to supply recreational drug users their daily toke or weekly snort. The smugglers are doing quite well. I hear of no shortages from celebrities and potheads. And, in truth, I would guess most ranchers are ambivalent about dope smokers and drug users. Unfortunately, they are trying to ranch on the battlefield where the self-righteous, self-centered stoners, snorters, smokers, shooters and suppliers are fighting The Law.

You can see in this Arizona rural community why we cling to our guns. We don't have police cars patrolling our neighborhoods. The nearest neighbor could be ten or twelve miles away and the criminals pass like ghosts in the night. We use our guns because we are not prey; we take responsibility for our own lives and livelihood. The president's unfortunate denigration of religion as a source of strength is something he probably wishes he could take back. His past church membership speaks for his faith. Suffice it to say, when we turn to God for help, it is because He has proven to be more reliable than the stream of politicians' promises that continue to pour over us like dirty water sluicing down the drain.

And nobody seems to have a clue.

Baxter Black is a former New Mexico resident who spent most of his working days tormenting cows. He now resides in Arizona and spends most of his free time tormenting cowboys and the sorts. His column appears in the Deming Headlight on Tuesday. www.baxterblack.com

Amnesty Madness

First illegal immigrate arrests made in the state

Illegal immigration was discussed in the national media for much of the year and the Oklahoma legislature passed House Bill1804 in 2007.

HB 1804 is known as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which takes a hard stance on immigration.

The new law restricts the ability of illegal immigrants to obtain legal government identification or public assistance. It also gives police the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. The law also makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide shelter, transportation or employment to illegal immigrants.

After a citizen called the sheriff’s office complaining about suspected illegal immigrants near his home, Sequoyah County Undersheriff Roy Coleman contacted Deputy Greg Cox, who went to the scene and discovered that none of the men spoke English well and only two had identification.

Cox contacted John Bennett, illegal immigration liaison officer with District 27 Drug Task Force and the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, to come to the scene.

After researching the suspects’ backgrounds, the officers discovered that all the suspects’ state identifications, which were from various states, were fake, Bennett said.

“Every one of them came back illegal,” Bennett said, noting that all the documents looked real. The men had Social Security cards with real numbers, but they didn’t belong to the men. Two of the men had previously been deported, and had criminal histories. One had been previously charged with driving under the influence (DUI) and assault, while the other had been charged with DUI and manslaughter.

The illegal immigrants were detained and later charged and convicted - making Sequoyah County the first in the state to charge someone according to this particular state law. The county was not reimbursed for the suspect’s stay in jail while waiting deportation.

At a meeting in Carol Helm with Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now (IRON), a citizens grassroots group from Jenks, presented officers and others with plaques in honor of their efforts in a recent case in which eight illegal immigrants were arrested and deported. Helm said IRON has about 2,000 members in Oklahoma, pushed for House Bill 1804.

A grassroots immigration reform group honored law enforcement, jail personal and the district attorney’s office for their part in an illegal immigration case - the first in the state that stemmed from new state immigration legislation.

Helm recognized the Sequoyah County Sheriff, Deputies, Jailers, the Judge, and prosecutors for their part in the case.

“You all will be the poster child for the rest of the state,” Helm said.

Conservatives look to Flake to rescue GOP or is He ?

by Dan Nowicki
- The Arizona Republic

Jeff Flake is positioning himself as
Arizona's Republican
maverick for the future.

Once considered almost a novelty for his relentless one-man attack on House GOP spending practices and push for Cuba policy reform, many conservatives now are looking to the five-term congressman for guidance in rehabilitating the tarnished Republican brand.

And Flake, 45, recently laid the preliminary groundwork to follow two other Arizona Republican mavericks - John McCain and Barry Goldwater - into the Senate if McCain decides to retire instead of seeking re-election in 2010 or Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., chooses not to run again in 2012.

In recent years, Flake has grown closer to McCain and is a loyal ally of the 2008 presidential candidate on priorities such as comprehensive immigration reform and in the battle against pork-barrel politics. He also hasn't ruled out a possible 2010 run for governor.

"I don't think I'm heir apparent to anything, though," Flake said.

Flake is taking on a more prominent role in statewide politics, partly because he is dismayed by the single-minded obsession some of his fellow Republicans continue to have toward illegal immigration.

Like McCain, Flake is a strong supporter of a comprehensive reform approach that would include a temporary-worker program and the legalization of undocumented workers already in the country. That stance has drawn Flake the enmity of GOP immigration restrictionists.

"I've been concerned about where the state is going and our inability to attract votes statewide. My fear is the tone, particularly on immigration, is relegating us to minority status for a long time unless we change it," Flake said. "Unless we get off that kick, we're doomed as a party statewide. ."

GOP 'star power'
Flake would hardly be a shoo-in GOP successor to Kyl or McCain. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., another McCain ally, also is interested in moving to the upper chamber, and other Republicans likely would consider entering a competitive primary for what would be the first open Senate seat in Arizona since 1994.

But some local Republicans already acknowledge the easy-going and good-humored Flake's "star power," or at least the potential for it.

"He embodies what a lot of people are looking for in Republican leadership right now," said Jaime Molera, a senior consultant to Kyl's successful 2006 bid for a third term and a McCain supporter. "Here's a guy who is incredibly intelligent, who brings a strong vision of a real conservative and who is just very charismatic. A lot of people have thought about Jeff as a gubernatorial candidate, as well."

Flake toyed with the idea of running for governor in 2004 and recently demonstrated an acute interest in state politics. Last month, Flake took the unusual step of inserting himself into the internal machinations of the state House Republican caucus. He made calls to GOP lawmakers lobbying for the election of state Rep. Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, as Arizona speaker of the House. Adams unexpectedly ousted incumbent House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix.

"We needed a change in focus and a change in tone and a change in just about everything," Flake said. "And I think that Kirk will do a better job."

In McCain's footsteps
Besides representing McCain's old congressional district (though hardly recognizable after two rounds of redistricting), Flake from the start of his congressional career displayed not only an independent streak reminiscent of McCain's but also similar reformist tendencies.

They have teamed up on McCain's long crusade to end the murky budget process known as earmarking, and they have united in the bipartisan push to revamp U.S. immigration policy.

More often, Flake has gone off on his own:


• He drew the ire of House GOP leadership and President Bush's White House with his vocal opposition to the decades-old ban on U.S. travel to Cuba. A free-trader, Flake still wants to dismantle the economic embargo on Cuba and hopes President-elect Barack Obama will take a fresh look at U.S.-Cuba relations.


• In 2006, he was instrumental in stopping disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, from returning to his leadership post.


• Flake sharply criticized McCain on campaign-finance reform, and McCain foes within the party tried to draft Flake to take on McCain in his 2004 Senate primary.

By constantly blowing the whistle on dubious spending projects and refusing to pursue any for his own constituents, Flake has long annoyed and even angered GOP appropriators and other colleagues who believe bringing home the bacon is a way to ensure re-election.

Flake is continuing to rattle with another request for assignment to the House Appropriations Committee, arguing that Republicans have become "indistinguishable" from Democrats on federal spending and "voters simply no longer associate us with limited government."

"With the executive and legislative branches under Democratic control, the primary focus of Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee needs to be on the oversight of federal expenditures, rather than merely the dispensation of them," Flake wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "Wouldn't it make sense to have at least one member on the Committee who doesn't seek earmarks?"

Fiscally conservative activists and bloggers are championing Flake's cause, but few seriously expect him to get a seat when new committee assignments are announced in January.

Flake's needling of the big spenders could help distinguish him in a future race.

"Not being well-liked by appropriators isn't a bad thing in a GOP primary," said Jennifer Duffy, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report's senior editor.

A new media darling?
It also didn't take Flake long to learn from McCain's example that there is always media demand for a Republican who takes on his own party's leaders.

For Flake, it's paying off.

In its November issue, Esquire magazine named Flake one of the 10 best elected officials in Washington.

"A true conservative, Flake is as rare as the dodo. Republicans should learn from him, and liberals and libertarians will find in him a strong privacy-rights ally," Esquire said. On Nov. 5, the day after McCain lost the White House and the Republican Party lost multiple Senate and House seats, the Washington Post published an opinion essay by Flake in which he called for fresh House Republican leadership and a return to the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets. Its headline was, "A way out of the wilderness."

Flake said he was disappointed with the re-election of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, as House GOP leader.

"I said in 2006 that it's not impossible that the same leadership will have an epiphany and know where we've gone wrong but that it's highly implausible that you'd see the same leadership go in a different direction. And that's proven to be the case," Flake said. "Let's face it, we've really not run on a message for years."

Making fans, enemies
Like McCain, Flake's maverickism has drawn criticism from local Republican factions, particularly those who consider his support for a guest-worker program and other immigration reforms as too liberal.

"Jeff has not been one of my favorite people because of his stand on illegal immigration, which I think would hurt him around the state unless he decides to change that," said retiring veteran state Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa.

Flake's anti-pork stand and vote against the economic bailout legislation could help him with some conservative activists, while his support for international free trade agreements could hurt him with others, Johnson said.

"That, to me, is sovereignty-destroying stuff. He continues to get re-elected, but I oftentimes think it's because he has never had anybody of real substance run against him," Johnson said.

Flake's public persona has taken some dings, as well.

He originally ran for Congress with a promise to limit himself to serving only three consecutive terms but broke that pledge since taking office. "As much as I hate to admit making a mistake, I made a big one here," Flake said in announcing his bid for a fourth term. Flake faced no retribution from voters; he didn't even have a Democratic challenger in the general election in 2006.

Test driving the Web
This year, faced with a weak Democratic opponent, Flake had the luxury to experiment with advertising on political-junkie Web sites such as the Drudge Report, RealClearPolitics.com and Townhall.com. He also advertised on the Web sites of the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star and other newspapers, putting his name and face in front of potential voters far outside his congressional district.

Those people who contributed money or signed up for additional information would become part of a fundraising base for a statewide run.

"I tell you, that's one area where we (Republicans) just got slaughtered in this election: technology," Flake said. "We have so far to go. I thought it would be better to spend money actually building the infrastructure to take advantage of that. A lot of it was testing it, too, to see how we did. We're pleased with the response."

Mexican wanted in sexual-assault cases arrested (deported ten times)

A Mexican national with a history of immigration violations and arrests has been taken into custody as a suspect in a series of sexual assaults, authorities said Tuesday.

Carlos Ceron Salazar, 30, was booked into jail Monday in San Diego on suspicion of assault with intention to commit rape, mayhem and sexual battery in connection with an attack in December 2006 on a woman jogging at Miramar Lake, San Diego police said.

Escondido police arrested Salazar on charges of public intoxication about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 22 on North Escondido Boulevard near West Valley Parkway, Escondido Lt. Bob Benton said.

While Salazar was at the Vista jail, officials ran a routine immigration check and found that he had extensive violations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack said he had multiple apprehensions and had been deported or voluntarily returned to Mexico 10 times.

Further checks discovered that San Diego police and sheriff's detectives suspected him in several sexual assault cases.

ICE agents turned him over to San Diego police, Mack said.

A DNA sample taken from Salazar matched DNA collected from the attack at Miramar Lake as well as DNA taken from an assault in September 2004, authorities said. In that case, a woman jogging along a trail near Community Road in Poway about 8:30 a.m. was raped by a man who came up from behind her and threw her to the ground, said sheriff's Detective Jose Baltz.

Salazar also is a suspect in an attempted sexual assault in December 2005 when a woman was attacked at Lake Poway, Baltz said.

Additional charges of rape with a foreign object and attempted rape will be sought against him, Baltz said.

Sheriff's Department records show that Salazar also had been arrested in 2005 and 2006 on driving-under-the-influence charges.

Salazar is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court. He is being held without bail.

WTF: Cole requests pardon for border agents who shot illegal immigrant

Rep. Tom Cole (Moore, OK-4) is asking President Bush to issue pardons for two border patrol agents who were convicted of shooting an illegal immigrant.

Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos were both sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for the shooting of admitted drug dealer Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks.

The agents said they thought Davila was armed.

What going on ?

Maybe Tommy Cole is looking at running for Oklahoma Governor in 2010, and know that He is on the WRONG SIDE of HB 1804 and Illegal Immigration !

And Tommy know that the Voter of Oklahoma still back HB 1804 by 77% !

And a "OU Hat Tip to my Buddy Bill @ ARRA, for this post BOOMER SOONER BILL !

It's Time to Pardon the Border Guards

Eagle Forum: The end of President Bush's final term is quickly approaching. Less than two months remain until he hands over the White House keys to Barack Obama, but we cannot let him leave office without resolving one very important issue: he must commute the prison sentences of convicted U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean!

Not only do we now know that the agents did not get a fair trial and that the prosecution's case was based on the word and testimony of an illegal drug smuggler, but the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld their mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentences for "discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence." This law, Section 924(c) of the U.S. Code, has always been interpreted to apply to criminals, not law enforcement officers engaged in their official duties.

Every U.S. citizen has the right to self defense, especially those serving in harm's way.

The severity of these charges and the harshness of the punishment are totally disproportionate to the violation in question. Even the illegal drug smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, was sentenced to less prison time than our fellow American border guards! Most recently, on November 14, 2008, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted the border guards, stated "I have always said that the punishment in this case was harsh."

Although the families of agents Ramos and Compean plan to appeal their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no guarantee that the High Court will agree to hear it. There is the possibility that the Fifth Circuit may rehear the case in front of all 17 judges at a later date, but the fastest and most effective way to free the border guards would be with a presidential pardon or a commutation of their prison sentences to time served.

It has been said that a pardon or commutation will not be considered until all legal avenues have been exhausted, but the President has the presidential prerogative, as granted to him in Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, to pardon or commute the sentences of any convicted person for any reason or for no reason. The time to act is now!

1) Please begin to flood the White House phone lines with calls asking President George W. Bush to pardon or commute the prison sentences of Ramos and Compean before he leaves office. White House Opinion Line: 1(800) 671-7887 toll-free or (202) 456-6213 Comments to the President: (202) 456-1111

2) Call and mail letters to the United States Pardon Attorney explaining why the border guards deserve to have their prison sentences commuted!

All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the Pardon Attorney for investigation and review. It is important that you make the Pardon Attorney aware that the border guards have the full support of the American people. Mail letters to: Mr. Ronald L. Rodgers, Office of the Pardon Attorney, 1425 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 11000, Washington, D.C. 20530 or Call: (202) 616-6070

Blogs4Borders! 092908

Weekly vlog/podcast on illegal immigration and border security. In this weeks edition...

Vigilance Dispatch: Everyone is talking about the massive bailouts. How has illegal immigration fed into the financial crisis that Washington plans to fix using our taxpayer dollars?

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders, when will the madness end?

Blogs4Borders! June 16, 2008

Hat Tip to MJ and Jake @ Freedom Folks
Assimilation blues: why are la Raza and several other Hispanic groups so afraid of scrutiny toward the Hispanic community? We investigate.

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders! When will the madness end?

And, Who are the people in your neighborhood? Globalists, open border freaks and diversophiles insist that we are enriched by other cultures. But is this always true? We take a look.

National Guard Being Pulled Off US/Mexican Border

Troops stationed along our border to help with fence construction and containing the Mexican invasion are being withdrawn.

IMMIGRATION ARREST - Honduran nationals taken into custody

OWASSO - Five Honduran nationals were arrested and taken into custody, Sunday at about 4:45 p.m. for immigration violations.

Immigrations and Customs Agent Van Stephens ordered the arrest.

No other information has been made available.

Oklahoma has the nation's toughest immigration laws. Lawmakers put in place HB 1804 last year.

While immigration enforcement has been the task of federal authorities, Tulsa County Sheriff's Department officers have received training on making arrests for being in the United States illegally.

HB 1804 also made it illegal for anyone to knowingly assist or provide help to someone who is in the country illegally.

(Florida) Local Latin American advocacy group supports driver licences for illegals

Local Latin American advocacy groupsupports driver licences
for illegals
By ELYSA BATISTA

A local Latin American advocacy group supports a resolution that would allow illegal immigrants to get driver licenses.

The League of United Latin American Citizens’ Civil Right Council 7115 supported the resolution, passed by its state chapter in Miami last week, during a press conference Thursday at the Golden Gate Community Center.

Council President Victor Valdes presented the resolution, aimed at providing driver licenses to undocumented immigrants with no criminal record.

On one side, there is the humanitarian issue that affects the unlicensed immigrants, Valdes said.

“But I realized that there would be racist people out there that would say, ‘Well, we don’t care,’” he said.

Instead the group opted to approach it from the safety perspective, Valdes said.

“If there are 1 million undocumented drivers in Florida, while we (licensed drivers) are on the road, the chances for an accident, regardless of who is at fault, is greater,” he said.

If undocumented drivers have licenses and insurance, the state’s drivers would be safer, Valdes said.

The way things are right now, who would pay if he were in an accident with an unlicensed or uninsured undocumented immigrant, Valdes said.

“It’s the governor’s moral obligation to guarantee Florida’s drivers that the streets are safe for us to drive on,” said Valdes.

Local government officials had a different take on the issue.

Commissioner Fred Coyle said he thought giving driver licenses to illegal immigrants would be a violation of law and that he would strongly oppose such legislation.

“They shouldn’t be driving and they shouldn’t be here,” Coyle said. “A driver’s license gives people a lot of access to things, including an airplane.”

It’s a chance that government should not take, Coyle said.

“We simply can’t tolerate that. If they are undocumented, we simply don’t know who they are, and we shouldn’t be giving them documentation,” Coyle said, adding that such legislation did not make sense. “If they think that it’s going to solve a problem, it won’t be solved by giving the official documentation.”

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office agreed.

“We don’t support changing the law,” said Collier County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Karie Partington. “Giving illegal aliens driver’s licenses would be a violation of state law and the upcoming federal REAL ID act.”

The REAL ID Act of 2005 was passed by Congress to make it more difficult to fraudulently acquire a driver license or ID card, as part of the effort to fight terrorism and reduce fraud.

The act establishes minimum standards for state-issued driver licenses and personal identification cards which include information and security features that must be incorporated into each card; proof of identity and U.S. citizenship or legal status of an applicant; verification of the source documents provided by an applicant; and security standards for the offices that issue the licenses and identification cards.

REAL ID compliant driver licenses and ID cards allow people to board a federally-regulated airplane, access a federal facility or a nuclear power plant.

“It’s a matter of domestic security, because driver’s licenses are such key pieces of documentation,” said Partington.

Valdes said he knows that there are people clamoring for the government to immediately deport all undocumented immigrants as a way to stop them from driving, but that won’t happen overnight.

“(The government) can’t guarantee that they’re going to be able to kick out, within the next 15 to 30 days, the more than 1 million undocumented immigrants in Florida,” said Valdes. “You have to at least give them a license, or else you are putting regular drivers in peril, because these people will still be on the road.”

The resolution, which was unanimously approved by the Florida League of United Latin American Citizens Assembly last week in Miami, is similar to one adopted by New Mexico in 2003 and revamped in 2007.

According to New Mexico documents, residents within that state — with or without a Social Security number— are required to present two forms of identification to obtain a driver license. A person without a Social Security card can present either a tax identification number, a Matricula Consular provided by the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque after February 2005 or a valid foreign passport to obtain a driver license.

Since 2003, New Mexico has issued 50,562 driver licenses to foreign nationals or those without a legal presence. Out of the 50,562, a total 10,790 issued since Oct. 1.

“We think this law change, has benefited New Mexico,” said Ken Ortiz, the Director of the Motor Vehicle Division for the state of New Mexico.

Ortiz said, that by being able to issue illegal immigrants a driver license, the law has helped accomplish two of the state’s main goals.

“We can test them and make sure that they are safe drivers,” Ortiz said. We know who they are, we know where they live. We feel that it brings them out of the shadows.”

He added that with a valid license, a foreign national would be less likely to leave the scene of an accident, and more likely to report a crime.

Once in the system, the state can keep track of traffic citations and monitor vehicle insurance, which is also a positive, Ortiz said.

“I think it’s an overall benefit for the state,” he said.

New Mexico is one of seven states in the U.S. that do not require drivers to prove legal status to obtain a license.

The next step is for Florida’s delegation to take the resolution to LULAC’s national convention on July 12, said Valdes.

Soon after that, he said, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature can expect to receive the proposal.

Blogs4Borders for May 26, 2008

Hat Tip to MJ and Jake @ Blogs4Borders!
Jobs Americans Won't Do? Or jobs Americans can't get hired for?

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders! When will the madness end?

Chris Simcox At Depaul University in Chicago

Hat Tip to MJ @ Blogs For Borders

Chris Simcox @ Depaul University in Chicago. The leftists, the character assassination, the false accusations, all this and more in this weeks B4B

Thanks to the Depaul Conservative Alliance for inviting Mr. Simcox to the college that you good folks would have this opportunity to see lunatic leftists in their natural environment.

Webbers Falls Police Chief nab 19 illegal immigrants

19 illegal immigrants jailed
By Donna Hales
Phoenix Staff Writer
Published May 13, 2008

When Webbers Falls Police Chief Tim Brown returned home Tuesday and saw a pickup coming down his driveway, he had no idea he was about to find 19 illegal immigrants inside.

Brown said he was at the end of his winding drive waiting on a gravel deliveryman when he saw the green 1990 Ford pickup with a camper on it driving down the hill toward him.

“I asked what they were doing coming down my driveway, and a woman in the front said they’d just stopped to take a break,” Brown said.

He said he managed to converse with the people in broken Spanish and broken English and learned they were on their way from Arizona to jobs in Tennessee.

“They told me they were illegals and knew they weren’t supposed to be here,” Brown said. “I asked the driver to show me his driver’s license, and he showed me his Mexican voting card. They were stuffed in there like sardines.”

They had been on Interstate 40 and pulled off at his place, which is 100 feet from I-40 on Ross Road, Brown said.

The people told Brown they’d been in an Astro van that broke down and that the man who owned the van then provided the pickup. Brown waited for instructions from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office said about 5 p.m. the illegals were going to be taken to the Muskogee County/City Detention Facility for the night and then would be turned over to immigration officials in Tulsa today.

The pickup they were in had a decal on the bumper that amused Brown. It was a black decal with a thin blue line through it like ones denoting the auto belongs to a law enforcement officer, Brown said.

Blogs4Borders! May Day Edition!

Blogs4Borders weekly video podcast/vlog on illegal immigration and border security issues. In this weeks edition…

May Day 2008: Chicago!

Blogs4Borders coverage of the third annual Pro-amnesty tantrum in Chicago.

Government will replace virtual border fence

Government will replace virtual border fence
CongressDaily

The government will replace its highly touted "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border with new towers, radars, cameras and computer software, scrapping the brand-new $20 million system because it doesn't work sufficiently, officials said.

The move comes just two months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff officially accepted the completed fence from the Boeing Co.

With the decision, Customs and Border Protection officials are acknowledging that the so-called Project 28 pilot program to detect illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border does not work well enough to keep or to continue tweaking.

Chertoff accepted the program Feb. 22 after Boeing apparently resolved software glitches. But less than a week later, GAO told Congress it "did not fully meet user needs and the project's design will not be used as the basis for future" developments.

Opposing view: Oklahoma is doing its job

Opposing view: Oklahoma is doing its job

Critics don’t get it:
Illegal immigration is about more than just economics.
By Randy Terrill

By now, no one credibly disputes that illegal immigration is a serious and growing problem.

Given Washington's inability or unwillingness to address the issue, no one should be surprised that states such as Oklahoma, Arizona and Georgia are taking the lead. It's federalism in action. Just as states paved the way for welfare reform in the 1990s, they are pointing the way on immigration reform.

The federal government's failure to police our nation's borders has functionally turned every state into a border state and indirectly imposed a tax on each and every citizen — especially in the areas of health care, education, welfare and corrections. From a state perspective, it is indisputable that illegal immigration is a net financial drain.

In Oklahoma, our new law tackles this issue by cracking down on identity theft, terminating taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens, empowering state and local law enforcement to detain illegal aliens for deportation, and requiring businesses to verify employment eligibility of workers or face serious legal and financial consequences.

The overwhelming majority of Oklahomans — more than 80% — support our law, and I am confident national polls would generate similar results.

Even more important, Oklahoma's law appears to be achieving its intended purpose. Numerous reports indicate that illegal aliens are leaving the state.

Some naysayers claim states that unilaterally enact real, meaningful immigration reform place themselves at a "competitive disadvantage" economically — the same argument once used to defend the subjugation of an entire group of people through the institution of slavery.

Those critics miss the point. The illegal immigration debate is about a whole lot more than just economics. It's about fundamental principles and values: respect for the rule of law, upholding our state and national sovereignty, basic human dignity and the immorality of exploiting cheap illegal-alien slave labor, and protecting taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse.

This issue is also about elected officials going to the Capitol — whether it's in Oklahoma City or Washington, D.C. — and doing what the people elected us expect us to do.

Randy Terrill is an Oklahoma Republican state representative and author of the
Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007.