From the 5/7/07 Cincinnati Post:

 

Latinos rally in state capitol

Post staff report

 

Cincinnati-area Latino immigrants and their supporters joined a statewide rally for immigrant rights Sunday at the state capitol in Columbus.  Rosita Urcia of the Coalition for the Rights and Dignity of Immigrants in Cincinnati estimated that 500 people participated in the rally sponsored by the Ohio Immigrants Network (Red de Immigrantes de Ohio, or RIO).

 

Urcia spoke at the rally and urged Congress to reform immigration laws.  "We in RIO, as a community-based immigrant organization, are encouraged by the fact that many of the 12 million undocumented workers, regardless of their time in the U.S., would be put on a path to citizenship under one of the proposals" for immigration reform in Congress, Urcia said in a telephone interview from Columbus.

 

MORE: http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070507/NEWS01/705070373

 

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From the 5/7/07 Wooster Daily Record:

 

Orrville plans to integrate Hispanic residents

By PAUL LOCHER

Staff Writer

 

ORRVILLE -- The city took its first step toward bridging the disconnect between mainstream government and traditional population and a growing number of Hispanics moving into the community.

 

A handful of city leaders representing the Orrville Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Orrville, the Orrville Ministerial Association, the city's development office and city government met with L. Rafael Rodriguez, a consultant with the Northeast Ohio Regional Hispanic Business Program and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for Ohio, to see whether there were items of mutual interest to address.

 

MORE: http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/1964322

 

From the AP, 5/8/07:

 

Asian immigrants say visa backlogs hurting families

 

CLEVELAND (AP) — Asians, Ohio’s largest immigrant population in recent years, say visa backlogs are keeping families split up and that the problem isn’t getting enough attention in the national immigration debate. “They’re worried a new law will not consider people like them,” said Margaret Wong, an immigration lawyer with many Asian clients. “They’re worried it will only cover Latinos and not Asians.”

 

Marcela Gallardo was 52 in 1995, a newly sworn-in American citizen, when she applied to have her children join her from the Philippines. Twelve years later, she’s still waiting for visas for them. “It’s very hard,” said Gallardo, who has been filling out forms, paying filing fees and praying. “I want to be with my kids, too. I’m getting old now, and I need them here.”

 

As a naturalized U.S. citizen, Gallardo is entitled to bring over her children. But her family must wait in line for visas that are especially scarce for the Philippines, India and China. While Mexicans can walk across the border into America, Ohio immigrants arrive increasingly from India, China and the Pacific Rim.

 

MORE: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=353029

 

From the 5/10/07 Dispatch:

 

Checkpoint for Latinos, not drunks, critics charge

Thursday,  May 10, 2007 3:50 AM

By Stephanie Czekalinski and Matthew Marx

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Some central Ohio Latinos say they were targeted this past weekend when law-enforcement officials ran a checkpoint for drunken drivers on the Cinco de Mayo holiday, just blocks from apartment complexes with heavy immigrant populations.

 

Instead of the arrests netting a large number of people who had too much to drink, they largely hauled in unlicensed drivers, nearly all of them with Latino names. The DUI checkpoint has drawn criticism from Latino community leaders.

 

The checkpoint "appears to target Latinos in three ways: where they put it, the fact that it was on Cinco de Mayo" and the number of people who were charged for not having a driver's license, said Jose Luis Mas, a local lawyer and chairman of the Ohio Hispanic Coalition board of directors.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/10/duimayo.ART_ART_05-10-07_B1_SA6LFID.html

 

From the 5/13/07 Warren Tribune Chronicle:

 

Brookfield firm to work with Latino group on ID cards

By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

 

BROOKFIELD — One path to controlling the nation’s illegal immigration crisis and other security issues may run nearly 2,000 miles from the Mexican border through Brookfield — at least if Zerco Systems International Inc. has its way.

 

That road began to take shape May 4 when the Latino Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dealing with Hispanic issues in the United States, tapped Zerco as its official technology adviser.

 

Privately held Zerco will work with the coalition on pilot programs this spring focusing on visiting worker identification problems. A second program is expected to start this summer on a comprehensive health care ID system.

 

MORE: http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=18036

 

Link contains a photo.  From the 5/20/07 News-Herald:

 

 

Federal crackdown rattles community

Families gather in Painesville, protest door-to-door search for illegal immigrants

Justin Maynor

05/20/2007

 

Painesville's Hispanic immigrant community was stirring Saturday amidst a crackdown on illegal aliens by federal agents. The door-to-door raids started early Friday morning, with armed officers of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency targeting individuals who had not complied with deportation orders.

 

Painesville City Police Sgt. Eric Miller said local officers accompanied the agents, who were looking for 15 to 18 specific individuals who had already been through deportation hearings but had not left the country. Carl Rusnok, communications director for the central region of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said the operation was part of a nationwide effort to round up fugitives.

 

"The operation is called 'Return to Sender,' and it is operated by our Fugitive Operations Team," he said. "The Fugitive Operations Teams are specifically trained and dedicated to target aliens who have received final orders of deportation from a federal immigration judge but have refused to comply with those orders."

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18364328&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

PHOTO: Manuel Gutierrez, 7, sits draped in an American flag atop his uncle Edgar Gutierrez’s shoulders as immigrant protesters fly the Mexican flag Monday on Painesville Square.  Michael Blair/[email protected]

 

Marching to stay

Mexican community hits the streets in search of support

By: Sandra M. Klepach

[email protected]

05/22/2007

 

Rosa Maria Martinez stood on the steps of Painesville's gazebo Monday evening to tell her story, in tears, to anyone who would listen. She speaks only Spanish, but roughly 300 listeners already knew the language.

 

Waving equal numbers of American and Mexican flags, Painesville's strong-willed Latino community marched the streets Monday to denounce door-to-door raids that snatched up a number of illegal immigrants, including Martinez, Friday.

 

The crowd walked from St. Mary's Catholic Church on North State Street to Painesville's gazebo, stretching the entire length of the courthouse side of the square.

 

Early Friday, armed officers of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency began seeking out 15 to 18 individuals who had not complied with deportation orders, Painesville Police Sgt. Eric Miller said.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18371087&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

  I do NOT feel sorry for the illegals..no matter what country they come from!  You are here illegally, you are breaking the law plain and simple...and you should face the consequences.  If YOU chose to make children while you are here, then YOU are at fault to put children in that circumstance.  Instead of protesting here, protest in your own country to make changes to make life better for you.  Do you think if I was an illegal in another country, I would "think" I somehow have a right to be there?  Of course people will use the excuse "they do jobs Americans won't"...of course that will be said by employers that pay crappy wages (for here) and offer no health care , and can get rid of you if you get hurt because they know you can't complain for fear of deportation (the illegals).  They should punish the people that hire illegals as well...they are only encouraging people to break the laws of this country.  Hell, most of our industrial jobs went out of this country, many to Mexico...you would think there would be an abundance of jobs down there.  I am SERIOUSLY venting...but really...illegal means exactly that....why should it be okay to break the law?  Maybe if our borders were secure (with Customs agents, coast guard, port police, etc etc) and illegals wouldn't get in...and the people that visas expired...we get them out as well.....we wouldn't need our troops in Iraq to "keep us safe"!.....this whole thing just gets me fired up....

From the 5/23/07 Zanesville Times Recorder:

 

Authorities arrest 10 illegal immigrants in I-70 stop

By KATHY THOMPSON

Staff Wrier

 

ZANESVILLE - The Muskingum County Sheriff's Office conducted its third criminal interdiction traffic detail this year on Interstate 70 Tuesday and are now conducting a criminal investigation on 10 illegal immigrants who were stopped in a van.

 

Capt. Mark Ross said late Tuesday morning two of the six deputies patrolling the Interstate - Deputy Jay Lawhourne and Deputy Gary Hargraves -stopped a 2002 green Town and Country Chrysler van for following too closely at Mile Post 164 eastbound.

 

MORE: http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070523/NEWS01/705230313/1002/rss01

 

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From the 5/23/07 Enquirer:

 

School centers debate

45 percent of students unable to speak English well

BY MICHAEL D. CLARK | [email protected]

 

HAMILTON - Kids in the hallways of this school chatter in Spanish and English.  Most of the staff is bilingual. Many classes include interpreters, and signs use both languages to direct visitors to the office.  Jefferson Elementary could be ground zero in America's escalating debate over immigration and its impact on schools.

 

Here, 45 percent of the school's 505 kindergartners through sixth-graders cannot speak English proficiently.  In fact, Hamilton City Schools has the highest percentage of any big-city Ohio district of students learning English as a second language.  Almost all of those students are Hispanic.

 

In Hamilton schools, the growing Hispanic population means that 550 of 8,956 students districtwide require remedial language instruction each school day.  Schools are required by law to enroll the students, be they legal immigrants or not.

 

Outpacing other cities

Hamilton's city schools have a larger share of non-English-speaking students than any other big-city school district in Ohio:

 

Hamilton: 6.1 percent.

Columbus: 4.7 percent.

Cleveland: 4.6 percent.

Cincinnati: 2.1 percent.

Dayton: 1.6 percent.

 

Source: Ohio Department of Education and Hamilton Schools[/color]

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070523/NEWS01/705230406/

 

From the 5/25/07 News-Herald:

 

Immigration bill will take its toll locally

Lake nurseries employ about 2,700 immigrants

By: David S. Glasier

[email protected]

05/25/2007

 

People in Lake County's $100 million wholesale nursery industry are paying close attention to events unfolding on the streets of Painesville and in the halls of power in Washington, D.C.

 

An estimated 2,700 immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are employed by the 115 licensed nurseries in Lake County and surrounding communities.

 

Many of those nursery employees live in Painesville, where 24 immigrants have been arrested since last Friday in sweeps conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Officers from the Painesville Police Department and Lake County Sheriff's Office have assisted in some of the arrests.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18386714&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

From the 5/26/07 Enquirer:

 

Employers eye immigration bill

THE ENQUIRER

 

The immigration bill being hashed out in the U.S. Senate raises concerns for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky businesses, including whether they will be saddled with burdensome record-keeping requirements, a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber executive said Friday.

 

Doug Moormann, vice president of government affairs at the Chamber, said the immigration bill's impact extends to employers of both skilled and unskilled workers. "We do believe there needs to be an increase in the number of visas, because there are companies in this area that are having trouble bringing in the type of skilled labor they need," Moormann said. "There should be some path to citizenship that is documentable and that is understandable, so that the jobs that are filled by these people don't go undone."

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070526/BIZ01/705260324/

 

From the 5/27/07 Enquirer:

 

Latino group to form new chapter

BY FEOSHIA HENDERSON | [email protected]

 

A Latino organization in Cincinnati that recently protested WLW-AM's "Big Juan" billboards is forming a Butler County chapter.  Jason Riveiro, president of the Cincinnati League of United Latin American Citizens chapter, is helping organize the Butler group.

 

Riveiro was among several local Hispanic leaders whose protests led WLW to yank its "Big Juan" billboards earlier this month.  The ads showed a man in a large sombrero with a donkey, which protestors found offensive.  The billboards were a spin on WLW-AM's "The Big One" branding as the area's No. 1 radio station.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070527/NEWS01/705270423/

 

From the 6/2/07 PD:

 

Latinos stay home while feds launch more raids

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Robert L. Smith

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Bodegas in Painesville were unusually quiet Friday afternoon. People who normally would have been out shopping in small neighborhood markets for the weekend stayed home, as federal immigration agents ratcheted up the pressure on Lake County's Latino immigrant community.

 

Agents from the Cleveland office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement descended upon select homes and workplaces Thursday and arrested 13 more people accused of being in the country illegally.

 

The action brings to 37 the number of immigrants reported arrested in Lake County since May 18, when federal agents conducted the largest immigration raid the community had seen in nearly 20 years, sending Painesville's Latino community into a panic. Some 400 people sought refuge in St. Mary Catholic Church May 19. The reaction to Thursday's arrests was far more subdued but the fear was real.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/118078386269880.xml&coll=2

 

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From the 6/2/07 Enquirer:

 

Mexican consul thanks Jones

THE ENQUIRER

 

It looks like the Butler County sheriff, known for his anti-illegal-immigration stance, might have a new and unlikely ally.  Martin Alcala, the Mexican government's consul in Indianapolis, wrote Sheriff Rick Jones a thank-you letter for his hospitality during Alcala's staff's recent visit to Butler County.  That May 18 visit included a tour of the county jail, where signs read, "Illegal Aliens Here." 

 

Jones' trademark candor apparently impressed Alcala's staff.  "I appreciated very much the frankness and openness of our discussions," Alcala wrote.  Jones said the exchange clarified the consul's role for him, as he learned the consul intends to "assist Mexican prisoners only with family and personal issues, not to interfere with criminal proceedings or court-ordered incarcerations."

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070602/NEWS01/706020386/

 

From the 6/3/07 News-Herald:

 

Anti-immigration rally

Residents decry U.S. policies on illegal immigrants

Jenny May/News-Herald.com

06/03/2007

 

With the Bruce Springsteen song "Born in the USA" blaring in the distance, Painesville resident Sue Kramer stood at the edge of Veterans Park on Painesville square Saturday morning, waving an American flag and a sign bearing the message "Revolt, America, Rebel!"

 

Trying to capture the attention of passing motorists, Kramer stood apart from about 60 other demonstrators at a rally to protest illegal immigration.  The hour-long event was organized by a loose coalition of Lake County residents called the Grass Roots Rapid Rally Response Team.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18420090&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

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From the 6/3/07 Times-Reporter:

 

Bound to grow: Area Hispanic population at 1,000 to 2,000

By KYLE KONDIK, T-R Staff Writer

 

As the U.S. Senate prepares to debate changes in immigration law, area officials and citizens differ on what the federal government should do about immigration.  And, while the number of illegal immigrants in Tuscarawas County is unknown, the total probably is growing, several sources said.

 

Federal estimates statewide indicated that somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 illegal immigrants lived in Ohio in 2000. Those figures almost certainly have grown.  People of Hispanic or Latino origin make up about 1 percent of Tuscarawas County’s population based on U.S. Census information from 2005.  That would be about 900 people.

 

However, that amount probably is artificially low, because it does not include undocumented people who are not citizens, said Richard Renner, a Dover attorney and founder of Hispanic Ministries.  It is probably safe, he said, to double any census figures on Hispanics to get a truer picture of the total population.

 

MORE: http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=68684&r=2

 

Link contains a photo.  From the 6/4/07 Enquirer:

 

Multimedia

Chart: Hispanics living here (PDF)

 

Border proposal divisive

More immigrants here, and more controversy

BY TONY LANG | [email protected]

 

FAIRFIELD - Businesswoman Lourdes Leon thinks new immigration rules would boost the U.S. economy and free millions of undocumented people from hiding in the shadows of U.S. life. "They would be able to buy houses, take out loans to buy a car and travel," she says.

 

But like other Latinos, Leon is skeptical that poorer families here could pay for permanent residency, as outlined in a historic U.S. Senate bill.  It includes a streamlined path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, although that path is strewn with big fines, background checks and years of probation.

 

Leon partners with three other Latinos in a strip mall that includes a Mexican grocery, restaurant, bar and bakery along Ohio 4.  A naturalized citizen for 11 years and proud of it, she can only speculate why business has slowed in recent weeks.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070604/NEWS01/706040388/

 

From the 6/5/07 Xenia Daily Gazette:

 

Illegal Mexican pleads guilty to drug felonies

Alvarado second of alleged gang to agree to prison, three more cases pending

AARON KEITH HARRIS

Staff Writer

 

XENIA -- An illegal immigrant from Mexico, Monday, became the second of five men indicted for running a drug ring in Greene and Clark counties to plead guilty to felony charges in Greene County Common Pleas Court.

 

Manuel Barajas Alvarado, 31, agreed to a 12-year prison sentence as part of his guilty plea to all eight charges in his November indictment, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, trafficking in cocaine, and possession of cocaine and criminal tools.

 

Alvarado, who was in the United States illegally at the time of his arrest, also agreed to major drug offender and firearms specifications, said Greene County First Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Hunt.

 

MORE: http://www.xeniagazette.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=155410&TM=46990.81

 

From 06/06/07 Hamilton Journal News:

 

Local leaders say no to immigration reform plan

By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

 

HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and state Rep. Courtney Combs are proposing a state resolution to oppose an immigration reform plan, noting that immigrants should be required to speak English to gain citizenship. Jones and Combs said Tuesday they are proposing a "resolution of non-support" in the Ohio House to ensure the voice of state residents are heard on the federal bill. Their proposal also calls for no amnesty for those who sneaked across the border to the United States

 

"I strongly believe the vast majority of my constituents do not favor any kind of amnesty for those immigrants who have simply sneaked into our country while the federal government turned a blind eye toward our borders," Jones said. "For the federal government to try to fix the mess they created by basically forgetting that millions of immigrants committed crimes by entering our country illegally is ridiculous."

 

Combs, R-Hamilton, said the government should adopt strict requirements that immigrants be required to speak English before legally coming to the U.S.

 

MORE: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/06/hjn060607resolution.html

^Classy

From the 6/8/07 Martins Ferry Times Leader:

 

Illegal workers targeted

By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff Writer

 

BELLAIRE VILLAGE Council voted Thursday to outlaw “unauthorized workers,” in the village in a crackdown to stop illegal immigration.  During the regular village council meeting, council unanimously passed an ordinance that will make it unlawful to hire workers who do not have proper documents to work in the United States.

 

Under the ordinance that had all three readings Thursday, those who employ undocumented workers who work in the village of Bellaire will be subject to a maximum $500 fine and up to six months in jail for each day of each offense.

 

The legislation, which was brought in by village Solicitor Ed Sustersic, was drafted after Bellaire Police Chief Michael P. Kovalyk requested the village create the legislation.

 

MORE: http://timesleaderonline.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=7846

 

From the 6/10/07 Dispatch:

 

Illegals face varying policies

Some jurisdictions don't call feds in minor offenses

Sunday,  June 10, 2007 3:43 AM

By Stephanie Czekalinski

DISPATCH FRONTERAS

 

When an illegal immigrant gets stopped for speeding or a missing taillight, he might get a ticket -- or an order to leave the country.  It all depends where he is driving. As Congress struggles to pass comprehensive immigration legislation, law-enforcement agencies in central Ohio are left to develop their own policies on dealing with people they suspect are in the country illegally.

 

Local police cannot enforce federal immigration laws, so they either can hand the immigrant a citation and send him on his way or call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and hold him until they get there.  The result is a patchwork of policies.

 

"It's sort of the luck of the draw," said Cmdr. Jeff Blackwell of the Columbus Police Division.  "In minor crimes, we simply don't have the manpower to contact ICE on every person we encounter who doesn't have proper ID and may or may not be illegal."  Blackwell said that has more to do with money and staffing than an attitude about someone's immigration status.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/10/ice.ART_ART_06-10-07_B1_T36VSCD.html?type=rss&cat=21

 

From the 6/11/07 Canton Repository:

 

Illegal alien here hoped for Congressional help

BY KELLI YOUNG

REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER

 

NORTH CANTON Lidia is caught between two lives - one where she can freely drive a car and work, and one that promises better opportunities for her three sons.  She dreams of watching her three boys - the twins are 12, and the youngest is 10 - attend college, get jobs and raise families.  But she must watch from the shadows if the family continues to live in Stark County.

 

As an illegal immigrant from Mexico, Lidia can't always attend her sons' activities.  She can't drive them to appointments because she can't get a driver's license.  And she can't help earn money for their college tuition because she can't get a job.

 

The Repository has agreed not to disclose Lidia's last name to protect her identity.

 

MORE: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=359297

 

From the 6/14/07 News-Herald:

 

HOLA urges Brown, Voinovich to continue work for immigration reform

Group leader says immigration system badly broken

John Arthur Hutchison/[email protected]

06/14/2007

 

A Lake and Ashtabula County Latino-based organization hopes that Ohio's two U.S. senators will continue to work for immigration reform.

 

HOLA (Hispañas Organizadas de Lake y Ashtabula) delivered about 800 postcards Wednesday to the Cleveland offices of U.S. Sens. George V. Voinovich, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.

 

Until recently, legislation that seeks to reform immigration laws was under debate in the U.S. Senate. It remains to be seen if lawmakers will pick up the discussion.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18472127&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

From the 6/15/07 PD:

 

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Latinos plan rally Sunday to protest immigration raids in Lake County

Friday, June 15, 2007

 

The Latino community in Lake County, unnerved and angered by recent immigration sweeps, plans its strongest response yet Sunday.  Advocates for the region's Spanish-speaking community will hold a Father's Day prayer vigil and march beginning at 2 p.m. in Painesville's Recreation Park. Latino groups from elsewhere in Ohio are sending supporters.

 

Baldemar Velásquez, founder and president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, is expected to arrive with a busload from Toledo and address the rally.  Guatemalan immigrants organized by Miguate, a Mayan support group, are coming up from Tuscarawas County.

 

Since May 18, agents from the Cleve land office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have arrested more than 40 people in Lake County suspected of being in the country without valid visas.  Several have already been deported.

 

The ICE says it is targeting illegal immigrants who have ignored court orders, but most of those detained have been illegal immigrants nabbed in passing, so-called "collateral arrests."  Veronica Dahlberg, one of the organizers of the march, contends the strategy persecutes hardworking people and tears apart families.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1181897101245060.xml&coll=2

 

From the 6/15/07 PD:

 

 

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Latinos plan rally Sunday to protest immigration raids in Lake County

Friday, June 15, 2007

 

The Latino community in Lake County, unnerved and angered by recent immigration sweeps, plans its strongest response yet Sunday.........

 

 

 

 

And Grassfire will be out in full force again on Saturday June 23rd at the Gazaebo in Painesville to Rally for effectively secured borders and enforcement of our immigration laws!

 

 

Also, a rally in conjunction with Let Freedom Ring America’s National  “March to Take Back America”, will be held in Columbus on Fourth of July Weekend, Saturday, June 30th, from 1pm until 3pm (EST) on the South Plaza of the Capitol.

 

NOW is your chance to make a VISUAL difference. Invite your family, friends and neighbors to join us in letting Senators Voinovich, Brown and ALL of our D.C. leadership know that we will NOT accept ANY legislation being passed that threatens the very sovereignty and security of our Country!

 

 

EFFECTIVE BORDER SECURITY! 

 

ENFORCMENT OF OUR CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAWS!

 

JUST SAY NO TO AMNESTY!

 

 

 

LET FREEDOM RING AMERICA

www.lframerica.com

Ohio Contact:  Kimberly  ( let me know you’ll be there!)

[email protected]

 

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 

According to the (2000) U.S. Census Bureau, AMNESTY for 12 to 18 million illegal aliens would be equal to the combined populations of the States of:

 

Wyoming,

Vermont,

Alaska,

North Dakota,

South Dakota,

Delaware,

Montana,

Rhode Island,

Hawaii,

New Hampshire,

Maine, Idaho,

Nebraska,

West Virginia,

New Mexico,

Nevada,

and the District of Columbia.

 

 

 

I love how some people confuse or try to merge Immigration and border security.

 

Yes some people enter the US illegally, and I dont agree with that.  Come to the US through the proper channels.  However, some undocuments immigrants practice better citizenship than many American's who take all that they ahve for granted.

 

I'm torn on this issue.

I love how some people confuse or try to merge Immigration and border security.

 

Yes some people enter the US illegally, and I dont agree with that.  Come to the US through the proper channels.  However, some undocuments immigrants practice better citizenship than many American's who take all that they ahve for granted.

 

I'm torn on this issue.

 

Perhaps that's because of the failure by some to differentiate between legal and illegal immigration.

 

The agenda of Border Security advocates is to stop ILLEGAL immigration. 

From the 6/18/07 News-Herald:

 

PHOTO: Jose, center, who gave only his first name, showed up in Painesville Sunday to protest recent raids on the homes of illegal aliens.  Brandon Baker/[email protected]

 

ICE raids protested

Father's Day carried different meaning during protest

By: Brandon C. Baker

[email protected]

 

For the nearly 200 people who gathered on Painesville's city square Sunday, Father's Day represented a few non-traditional themes.  With the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's "Return to Sender" operation fresh on their minds, Hispanas Organizadas de Lake and Ashtabula hosted a Father's Day march and prayer vigil.

 

The crowd, largely comprised of the area's Hispanic community, marched from the city's recreational park to the square in protest of the crackdown that has resulted in the arrests and deportations of more than 40 illegal immigrants since May 18.

 

"We chose Father's Day because mainly the people being picked up in these raids and sweeps are fathers," said Veronica Dahlberg, director of HOLA. "They are decent, hardworking people who work in our fields, and we think it's not fair. (ICE) isn't taking terrorists, they're taking farm workers."

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18487869&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

Link contains photos.  From the 6/20/07 Enquirer:

 

Kids rally for reform

THE ENQUIRER

 

A small group of mostly Latino children paraded in a circle in front of Cincinnati City Hall mid-day Tuesday, carrying signs on behalf of what they called "fair immigration reform" and "family reunification."  Signs included such messages as "We're All Americans Just Like You," "Don't Split Our Families Apart" and "Our County Needs Me and My Talents."

 

The children were joined by about a dozen adults, including union members demonstrating for the "Janitors for Justice" campaign. The group chanted as they marched: "What do we want? Family reunification! When do we want it? Now!"

 

Organizers, including volunteers with the International Center of Greater Cincinnati, said the children's rally was to show that immigration is a local issue and immigration reform should uphold family values. Parts of a Senate bill could split families and block foreign adult children and parents from reuniting with families already in the U.S., they said.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070620/NEWS01/706200358/

 

Sycamore Twp. Trustees Pass Resolution On Illegal Workers

Posted By: Neil Relyea

Jun 21, 2007 11:21 PM

 

Sycamore Township board of trustees are asking businesses in the township to sign a document agreeing not to hire illegal immigrants.  If a business is found to have hired illegal workers, that business will be have to pay a fine of $5,000 or 10% of the contract's value, whichever is greater.

 

The policy would also apply to outside businesses that have a contract with the township.  The resolution passed unanimously with no arguments against what would be put into action.  The board is planning to treat the resolution as an emergency order.

 

MORE: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3b73f062-dc97-42dd-9b68-bbe2e0fe87dc

From the 6/15/07 PD:

 

 

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Latinos plan rally Sunday to protest immigration raids in Lake County

Friday, June 15, 2007

 

The Latino community in Lake County, unnerved and angered by recent immigration sweeps, plans its strongest response yet Sunday.........

 

 

 

 

And Grassfire will be out in full force again on Saturday June 23rd at the Gazaebo in Painesville to Rally for effectively secured borders and enforcement of our immigration laws!

 

 

Also, a rally in conjunction with Let Freedom Ring Americas National  March to Take Back America, will be held in Columbus on Fourth of July Weekend, Saturday, June 30th, from 1pm until 3pm (EST) on the South Plaza of the Capitol.

 

NOW is your chance to make a VISUAL difference. Invite your family, friends and neighbors to join us in letting Senators Voinovich, Brown and ALL of our D.C. leadership know that we will NOT accept ANY legislation being passed that threatens the very sovereignty and security of our Country!

 

 

EFFECTIVE BORDER SECURITY! 

 

ENFORCMENT OF OUR CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAWS!

 

JUST SAY NO TO AMNESTY!

 

 

 

LET FREEDOM RING AMERICA

www.lframerica.com

Ohio Contact:  Kimberly  ( let me know youll be there!)

[email protected]

 

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 

According to the (2000) U.S. Census Bureau, AMNESTY for 12 to 18 million illegal aliens would be equal to the combined populations of the States of:

 

Wyoming,

Vermont,

Alaska,

North Dakota,

South Dakota,

Delaware,

Montana,

Rhode Island,

Hawaii,

New Hampshire,

Maine, Idaho,

Nebraska,

West Virginia,

New Mexico,

Nevada,

and the District of Columbia.

 

 

 

 

 

**** stands in lorain, arms crossed, shakes head ***

 

 

i didnt really notice this thread, but its interesting look over and to see illegal how illegal immigration seems to be happening all over the state these days. not so long ago it was only seasonal in nw on the farms and less so in the few hispanic commmunities around ohio. now its everywhere.

 

personally i dont see it as that big of problem, but if anyone was to be serious about limiting illegal immigration then they would get serious about fining the hell out of the employers. i mean how easy is that to police vs border patrol? much, much easier. but of course reality is nobody is serious about it.

 

 

From the 6/24/07 News-Herald:

 

Immigration foes turn out against amnesty, illegals

John Arthur Hutchison

[email protected]

06/24/2007

 

Leroy Township resident Dave Genis does not support amnesty for those who have come to this country illegally.  It was one of many viewpoints about 100 people shared at a rally in downtown Painesville's Veterans Park, speaking out against illegal immigration.  The 90-minute event was organized by a coalition of residents called the Grass Roots Rapid Rally Response Team.

 

Proceedings began with a prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" and dozens who spoke publicly.  American flags decorated the gazebo, and patriotic music was prevalent during the rally that ended with a march around the park.

 

The proceedings were peaceful, as Painesville police were seen patrolling the area.  Anti-illegal immigration supporters also held signs around the outside of the square so passing motorists would know what was under discussion.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18511706&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

Link contains a photo.  From CityBeat, 6/27/07:

 

News: Strangers in Our Midst

Hispanic leaders call on media to be more culturally intelligent

BY Margo Pierce | Posted 06/27/2007

 

Some people call it pandering or special treatment. Others, with a sarcastic tone, call it being politically correct. But those who care about inclusion, diversity and embodying the principles of freedom on which our country was founded call it being respectful, considerate and inclusive. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Bridges for a Just Community and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) call it education.

 

On June 21 these organizations, Fifth/Third Bank and individuals from the Hispanic community hosted the Press and Media Forum on Tristate Hispanics to do just that: educate the media. The meeting fulfilled a commitment made last month by Jason Riveiro, president of the local LULAC chapter, at a press conference criticizing WLW (700 AM) for its racially offensive "Big Juan" billboards (see Porkopolis, issue of May 9).

 

MORE: http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=139947

 

Link contains a photo.  From the 6/29/07 Dispatch:

 

Immigration bill's defeat leaves many in lurch

Friday,  June 29, 2007 3:32 AM

By Jeffrey Sheban and Kelly Lecker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The debate raged for months about what to do with illegal immigrants. Some people wanted amnesty for them. Others wanted Congress to close the borders and send them home. Now, it appears nobody will get their way, leaving tens of thousands of Ohio workers in limbo.

 

In a blow to President Bush, the Senate would not limit debate yesterday and clear the way for a vote on a major immigration bill, meaning it likely is dead. Senators from both parties said it is unlikely the highly contentious issue will be revived before the 2008 presidential election.

 

The bill's Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to end debate and clear the way for a final vote on the legislation. The vote to limit debate failed 46 to 53.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/business/stories/2007/06/29/immigrants.ART_ART_06-29-07_A1_BL75IG0.html

 

---

Link contains a photo.  From the 6/29/07 Middletown Journal:

 

Deputies: Illegal immigrant made fake ID for terrorist

By Meagan Engle

Staff Writer

Friday, June 29, 2007

 

MIDDLETOWN — An "admitted illegal alien from Mexico" was arrested Wednesday for producing a half-dozen fake identification, Social Security and permanent residency cards and selling them to undercover police officers, the Butler County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

 

Abel Gaston Gudino-Arenas, 33, of Middletown, was charged with six counts of forgery — a fifth-degree felony — and no operator's license — a misdemeanor — for manufacturing fake documents, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. Deputies said the man admitted to manufacturing the cards for more than three months.

 

Gudino-Arenas was arrested after he allegedly delivered a fake ID to undercover officers for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed of Pakistan, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to the news release, officers asked Gudino-Arenas to produce the ID for Mohammed "in an attempt to see how far (he) was willing to go."

 

MORE: http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/29/mj062907illegals.html

 

From the 7/1/07 Lima News:

 

Amnesty Un-American? Immigration issues boil over?

Brian Evans | [email protected] - 07.01.2007

 

LIMA — Working as a border agent for more than 27 years, Larry Wren, of Elida, saw a lot of crazy things in the line of duty.  In the early 1970s, he remembers stopping a car coming across the U.S.-Mexican border on a bridge and searching it for contraband.

 

“We would look through the whole car, inside, in the seats, the trunk, we’d check the tires.”  Lastly, he remembers, in this case he looked under the hood.  “I couldn’t believe it,” Wren said. “I found a Mexican guy hiding under the hood. He was on a piece of cardboard, all curled up, on the engine. … He was a little guy. I would never get in an engine like that.”

 

Wren said the problem with illegal immigration has gotten much worse during the past couple of decades; it’s flourished through the years, in fact, and now it’s one of the most controversial issues in American politics.  With statistics showing the majority of Americans are against granting the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States amnesty, many local residents are angry with political leaders supporting a bill voted down Thursday in the U.S. Senate — Senate Bill 1639 — which would have done just that.  Wren is among the bill’s vocal opponents.

 

MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=40164

 

Excellent article.

yeah that was a cool article. sounds like the protestors were a minority themselves.

Immigration proposal greeted with opposition

Groups: State would be interfering with federal government

BY JANICE MORSE | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

July 25, 2007

 

MONROE - Opponents say a proposed bill calling for Ohio to take actions to restrict illegal immigration improperly tries to take over duties of the federal government and could violate civil or human rights.  Leaders of several community groups held a news conference Tuesday to speak out against the proposed bill unveiled last week by Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton.

 

The bill, which Combs said he plans to introduce in September, calls for stronger efforts to authorize local police to enforce federal immigration laws.  It also would prohibit employers from laying off citizens to hire illegal immigrants, and would make it a felony to conceal or transport illegal immigrants.

 

News: Alien Removal

Proposed immigration legislation plays on fears

 

BY Margo Pierce | Posted 08/08/2007

 

Proposed laws targeting immigrants will lead them to fear police, according to Marilyn Zayas-Davis, immigration lawyer. 

A bill in the Ohio House of Representatives would set significant new requirements for law enforcement and businesses, with a mind to making it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to live and work in the state.

 

The bill, proposed by State Rep. Courtney Combs (R-Hamilton), is so new that it hasn't yet been assigned a legislative number.  But advocates for immigrants are already criticizing the bill, saying it will feed a growing animosity to newcomers, encourage racial profiling and create cumbersome requirements for business and law enforcement.

 

The bill would make it a felony to knowingly transport or "conceal" an undocumented immigrant and would regulate the issuing of government ID cards. Other provisions include:

 

· a requirement for businesses that have state contracts to verify the immigration status of job applicants;

· a requirement for law enforcement and prisons to verify the immigration status of those who are arrested; and

· a presumption that undocumented immigrants are flight risks and should be denied bond.

 

MORE: http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A140747

this is going to turn into a witchhunt.  estancia fuerte mi gente!

Rep. Combs didn't respond to repeated requests for an interview.

 

Well who saw that coming...propose a ridiculous bill and then hide away from public comment and interview (that is until your publicists come up with something clever to say in a controlled environment).  What a hack!

This whole argument against immigration sounds like a very suburban ideal to me.

 

It's just like those who tear down some woods to build a McMansion, but then once they're in, they oppose all of the people that wish to come in and build a new development.

 

I would bet that most of these protesters had ancestors who came to the country under similar circumstances.  The only difference was that our government made it easy for them to become legal.

 

This is similar to calling people who drank during prohibition evil and criminals, but then after prohibition these same people were law-abiding citizens.  Illegals are only illegal because we say they are.  Maybe they should make shopping at Wal-Mart illegal, so we could then arrest all of those protesters for breaking the law as well.

^There are soo many things that I love about that post.

From the Plain Dealer:

 

Census asks immigration agents to cool it during 2010 count

Friday, August 17, 2007

Stephen Ohlemacher

Associated Press

 

Washington - The Census Bureau wants immigration agents to suspend enforcement raids during the 2010 census so the government can get a more accurate count of illegal immigrants.  Raids during the population count would make an already distrustful group even less likely to cooperate with government workers who are supposed to include them, the Census Bureau's second-ranking official said in an Associated Press interview.

 

Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite said immigration enforcement officials did not conduct raids for several months before and after the 2000 census.  But today's political climate is even more volatile on the issue of illegal immigration.  Enforcement agents "have a job to do," Waite said. "They may not be able to give us as much of a break" in 2010.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1187339680133830.xml&coll=2

Raid nets 200 at chicken plant

BY DAN HORN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

August 28, 2007

 

PHOTO: Law enforcement officials stand by men arrested at Koch Foods during an immigration bust at the company in Fairfield.

THE ENQUIRER / LEIGH TAYLOR

 

FAIRFIELD - Immigration agents raided a poultry packaging facility in Fairfield early today and arrested as many as 200 illegal immigrants who were working there.  The raid, one of the largest of its kind this year in Greater Cincinnati, is part of a two-year investigation into the hiring practices at the Chicago-based Koch Foods Company. 

 

The Fairfield processing facility is located at 4100 Port Union Road in Fairfield.  Immigration officials described Koch Foods as an “egregious violator” of U.S. immigration laws, which means the company is suspected of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

 

Brian Moskowitz, a special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Ohio and Michigan, said agents arrived with search warrants today and seized documents and other materials that could be used to build a criminal case against company officials.  Search warrants also were served today at the company’s Chicago offices.

 

wow.

The Enquirer has now changed their headline to read:

 

Raid nets 160 at chicken plant

Restaurant owner sentenced in illegal alien case

August 28, 2007 | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

 

FAIRFIELD - The owner of a Fairfield restaurant drew a prison sentence of one year and one day for hiring illegal aliens, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio said Tuesday.

 

Jing Fei Jiang, owner of Bee's Buffet, pleaded guilty in January to one count each of inducing, transporting and harboring an illegal alien. He was also fined $3,000 and ordered to either forfeit the restaurant property to the United States or raise $100,000 within 30 days in lieu of forfeiture.

 

In addition, Jiang, who is in the United States illegally as well, faces deportation after serving his sentence.

 

Jiang said in a statement filed with the plea agreement that he employed illegal immigrants at his Nilles Road restaurant between October 2005 until at least June 2006. He also housed them in a Fairfield residence that he owned, and drove them to work at the restaurant.

 

Agents from the Cincinnati office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the home in June 2006, arresting Jiang and several Chinese and Mexican nationals who were living there.

...Supposedly there is a complex off 747 in West Chester Township that has gone largely hispanic. A Butler County employee told me the hallways smell of refried beans. :lol: What an odd thing to say.

 

Oh, for the good old days when the hallways smelled of twinkies, mayonaise and deviled ham.

 

The total number from the chicken plant raid is now 161.

Another opportunity for Jones to grab the spotlight.  This will do wonders for an already low percentage of immigrants.  I think before ICE goes too much further they should consider that America's population growth or lack thereof would look much more like Europe's without the "illegals".  I am still of the opinion that this is a federal issue, and I would much rather it be dealt with on that level than some hillbilly sherriff launching his own crusade.  And although he protests, there seems to be some not so subtle racism toward Hispanics, like WLW.

 

Many of these families and friends will simply move to another US city.

I don't know if anyone reads Sheriff Jones' blog, but here's the recent entry about the bust:

http://butlersheriff.org/blog/?p=54