State Treasurer Dean Martin sends Napolitano her own bill

State Treasurer Dean Martin, widely expected to announce his bid for Arizona governor, is sending a bill for the state’s uncompensated prison costs for incarcerating convicted criminal illegal aliens to free-wheeling spender, and former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, now U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. The total tab, including interest, exceeds $1 billion – money our cash-strapped state could use.

“The cost of illegal immigration has exhausted the Arizona State Treasury. In order to pay for the federal government’s responsibility of securing our national borders and incarcerating individuals who enter the United States illegally and commit crimes, the state has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to pay these bills,” Martin said.

As governor, Janet Napolitano in her own March 17, 2008 invoice wrote, “The federal government is required by law to pay these costs, but has failed to pay more than pennies on the dollar.”

“The updated invoice, including accrued interest, is over one billion dollars,” said Martin. In an unveiled warning he advised, “Illegal immigration has literally broken the bank here in Arizona. Napolitano is now responsible for securing our borders and is in a position to make good on the bill that she said the federal government owed. It’s time for this bill to be paid before legal remedies are pursued to recoup this long overdue debt to Arizona taxpayers.”

Read the letter accompanying Martin’s invoices here.

8 U.S.C. § 1231(i)(2), requires that the federal government “provides for compensation to the State. . .with respect to the incarceration of the undocumented criminal alien” and the compensation be based upon “average cost of incarceration of a prisoner in the relevant State,” Martin reminded Napolitano.

Census chills the senses

The Census is upon us. Who could miss the numerous articles in the daily; most fretting over whether Hispanics will participate for fear of reprisals by law enforcement? “Years of debate over immigration reforms could have a chilling effect on Hispanic participation in this particular census,” they write.

Of course if those “Hispanics” are legal, they have nothing to worry about. If they are not, they shouldn’t be participating in a crucial headcount of America’s citizens. But this year about 13 million forms in Spanish will be sent to areas with high concentrations of people who speak Spanish. And for the first time ever, the 2010 count will tally “immigrant indigenous groups,” charmingly described as having a “distrust of the government.”

Wonder why?

There is a lot a stake, as we are reminded. Congressional representation is allotted based on population count, meaning a couple of new congressional districts could be in Arizona’s future.  Where the population growth is recorded has the possibility of shaking up the redistricting lines currently in place. Merit selection of judges is sure to be expanded beyond Maricopa and Pima counties, when the 250,000 population threshold is exceeded in growing rural counties –  thrusting them into a mix that removes their right to elect their judges.

The daily wrings its hands over what they view as Arizona being shortchanged by tens of millions of dollars in federal funding over the next decade, if the count is “inaccurate.”

Since the government does nothing to generate money, this federal manna from heaven is actually the feds dipping into our own back pockets to make us think we are getting something without cost. The newspaper phrases it this way: “The census directs the flow of trillions of dollars from Washington.” They have it exactly backwards, and are not factoring in the increasing national debt, but that’s the liberal mindset.

The Obama administration is allocating $340 million for this sham, with the certain involvement of the criminal enterprise ACORN, under whatever alias they might be using this time around.

But regional office spokesman, Doug Wayland said the Census Bureau plans its own targeted media campaign, a strategy that helped lift the national response rate in 2000. “This time it will be directed at ethnic media outlets in traditionally hard-to-reach communities,” he said.

Figure that?

Let’s hope we don’t get a reprise of Compean, Ramos and Corbett

The shooting death of an illegal alien by a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was attacked with rocks in southern Arizona, is being investigated by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and Border Patrol, according to an AP report in the Los Angeles Times.

The Sierra Vista Herald reports on the marked increase in violence against U. S. Border Patrol agents — up a stunning 300 percent in the first two months of this fiscal year (October and November). The latest reports indicate 108 attacks on agents in the Tucson sector alone. Last year there were 27 such reports.

Another border agent continues to recover from a gunshot wound he suffered this past Sunday. His assailant remains at-large.

Along with gunshots, many of these assaults have involved rocks large enough to inflict serious injury or death. The attacks are used as a tactic to evade apprehension or draw agents away from other illegal smuggling activity nearby. The Border Patrol has countered these tactics with rock-proof vehicles, enhanced body armor and the deployment of less-lethal options for self-defense.

Seeing Red AZ gave extensive coverage to the inappropriate and excessive prison sentences given Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean in the shooting of a Mexican drug dealer.

The pair finally had their sentences commuted as a parting gesture by President George W. Bush.  And although there was bi-partisan congressional support for the agents, not a single member of the Arizona delegation voted to commute their sentences to time served.

Another agent Nicholas Corbett, was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the shooting death of a Mexican national, an act which Corbett said was in self-defense. And who was the special prosecutor brought in to level charges against the agent?  None other than Grant Woods, who is listed as the chairman of Gov. Jan Brewer’s gubernatorial campaign.

The daily: Winding down and ginning up its pro-illegal beat

For the Arizona Republic, the end-of-the-year is no different from the beginning or middle when it comes to promotion of their favorite topic. Today, the daily unfailingly gives us our dose of open border tonic in the form of an inane editorial which sounds like an assignment from the Cronkite School farm team — conveniently mixing both legal and illegal Mexicans in the stew. The vast difference between the two groups is intentionally given short shrift.

With regard to the border jumping illegals, readers are urged to “embrace and celebrate” them and question ourselves as to our reactions when we hear the “beautiful language” of Spanish spoken in the mall. The editorial poses this foolish question: “Are we welcoming these visitors? Or will Arizona’s attitude toward Mexico make it more attractive for Mexico’s growing middle class to skip Arizona and fly into Las Vegas to shop?”

If this was April 1^st, we could rightfully conclude they were funnin’ us.

Then we are further counseled that “a continuous drumbeat of blame directed at those who cross the border illegally can have a pernicious effect…”

If only.

And finally: “These questions matter because the border represents a potential source of economic development on many levels. Our attitude matters because Arizona owes much of its culture and heritage to Mexico, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.”

Along with, we might add:  Armenians, Basques, Chinese, Danes, English, French, Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Japanese, Kuwaitis, Lithuanians, Malaysians, Norwegians, Poles, Russians, Spanish, Thais, Uruguayans, Vietnamese, Welsh, Zimbabweans…….

A counter to this tedious blather can be read here.

How can we ever thank you President Obama, Ms. Napolitano?

Or at least that’s the takeaway after reading how it is due to the joint efforts of these open borders aficionados that seizures of cash bound for Mexico’s violent drug cartels have more than quadrupled this year along the Arizona border, thanks to the Dem Duo’s beefed up screening at U.S. checkpoints.

Checkpoints? Most of the traffickers trying to avoid detection, going either way across the border are using more circuitous routes than traveling through border checkpoints.

Then we have to pinch ourselves as a reminder of the fact that it was Napolitano who, as governor of Arizona, did everything within her power to facilitate increased illegal entries accessing the United States — having long advocated for mass legalization. 

And after socializing our medical delivery system, the next item commanding Obama’s attention will be granting amnesty to the approximately 30 million who have entered our sovereign country in violation of the law. He has already begun his mission with a concerted retreat from criminal enforcement.

The Obama administration has pledged to pursue amnesty legislation early in 2010. The administration’s renewed commitment to action was ratcheted up in a recent speech by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who declared victory on securing our Southern border, according to a well-documented report in Human Events.

Such declarations would be humorous if not so serious.

The twosome are aided and abetted in their efforts by liberal Illinois Democrat, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who is leading the House effort to secure an amnesty bill. Gutierrez often partners on these measures with Arizona Republican U.S. Rep Jeff Flake.

“Until the murder, he didn’t have a criminal history with us”

Just a few more good people coming to do the work Americans refuse to do

Naples News columnist Brent Batten tells “another side” of illegal immigration. One which we, Arizonans living in a border state, know all too well.

Batten details the tragedy of a 17-year-old Hispanic youth who was stabbed to death by an illegal alien for the unpardonable crime of daring to speak English in America with his friends.

From his column, we detected Batten’s previous efforts to coddle the illegals, rather than stress the lawlessness involved in the issue of illegal immigration. In this column, however, he writes: “So much for the notion that illegal immigrants are universally a hard-working, law abiding set committed to doing the jobs Americans won’t do, all while trying to assimilate.”

Batten also describes a scenario similar to ours in Maricopa County where our former governor and current head of Homeland INsecurity, Janet Napolitano, has put the skids to law enforcement curtailment of  illegals unless they have a previous criminal record.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission has dramatically changed, making them toothless tigers in Obama’s zoo.

“Until the murder, he didn’t have a criminal history with us,” the Collier County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said.

“Until the murder.”

Roll those words around in your mouth, Ms. Napolitano.

A simple solution to avoid long waits getting into Mexico

A lengthy article in today’s daily details the travails encountered by Mexican nationals traveling home to Mexico for Christmas. Entering their homeland, they have to contend with inconvenient rules, long waits for vehicle permits and corrupt government officials seeking bribes. They have to be careful not to exceed Mexico’s value limitations — of $300 per person in new merchandise – on holiday gifts brought to family and friends. Even navigating the traffic is described as arduous. 

In the holiday sprit we offer a simple solution: Break into Mexico.

It worked like a charm getting here in the first place. In fact, John McCain, Jon Kyl and Barack Obowma are eager to enact rewards in the form of amnesty for such successful efforts.

Anyway you slice it, this is a win, win.

Napolitano’s Homeland Security approves sensitive security clearances for illegals

In the latest of many shameful lapses, the federal agency in charge of securing the nation’s transportation system approved background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport, according to a report by Judicial Watch.

Illegal aliens from Central America and Mexico, worked in operational areas of Stewart International Airport, a 2,400-acre facility located about 60 miles north of New York City. Stewart is a major passenger airport for the state’s mid-Hudson region that also handles large quantities of cargo and serves as a military field.

Each of the illegals had security badges approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency created after the 2001 terrorist attacks mainly to protect airlines. The TSA’s national background check failed to detect the fake Social Security numbers and other bogus documents provided by the illegal immigrants to obtain clearance.

So the embattled 43,000-member Homeland Security agency, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars from Congress to fulfill its mission, granted the undocumented aliens “trusted agent” security badges. This allowed them to work at an airport warehouse business and access key operational areas. An alert airport employee noticed the suspicious documents and reported the illegal aliens.

This sort of negligence is par for the course for the TSA, which has come under fire in recent years for leaving airplanes extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Just last month the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General revealed that the TSA is failing to ensure the security of tens of thousands of cargo packages transported daily in the bellies of passenger planes, leaving aircraft at risk of a terrorist attack.

That probe also found that workers who handle the cargo had not received the required background checks or training, further adding to the security crisis. Previous Inspector General probes have over the years revealed similar problems in the TSA’s dismal air cargo security system and exposed dozens of security failures in other crucial areas nationwide.

(Editor’s note: Due to the dangerousness and vulnerability this situation poses, we have printed the Judicial Watch report in its entirety.)

ICE’s “mission” cool to immigration enforcement

So here’s the analogy: Intruders break into your home, attempting to take your valuables. But unless they rape your wife or kill you, the police refuse to act, saying “the crime doesn’t yet meet our standards for enforcement.”

Would you like that? Of course not.

Yet that’s the parallel to what is going on with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the Obama administration with open-border proponent Janet Napolitano installed as chieftain of Homeland INsecurity.

The Arizona State Legislature passed a bill which took effect last month that denies public benefits to illegal aliens, establishing new identity-verification requirements. Acting in good faith, the state Department of Economic Security (DES) has provided federal authorities nearly 800 names of people who were unable to verify their status as they sought to obtain public benefits such as food stamps, cash assistance and unemployment stipends.

This large number reflects the fraud that has been attempted against the state and its taxpaying citizens since mid-November alone.

Although DES sent those names to ICE as the law requires, the federal agency responded by announcing it plans to review the referrals to determine the individuals’ immigration status and whether they have a criminal history, according to ICE spokesman Vincent Picard.

“ICE will continue to investigate cases that meet our priorities and further our mission,” Picard is reported  to have written in an e-mail. “Top priority is given to aliens who pose the greatest threat to public safety.”

We are left wondering if Immigration and Customs Enforcement works for us — the citizens who pay their salaries — or the illegals to whom they are now giving cover.

In a recently released Rasmussen poll, 56 percent of those questioned think the federal government encourages illegal immigration. This is consistent with a previous poll that indicated 83% of those voicing strong concerns about the problem direct their anger at the federal government.  Read more here.

Just a few more good people coming to do the work Americans refuse to do

A widespread drug-distribution organization with ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel has been broken up by police after a year-long investigation that encompassed every city in the Valley.

The daily reports that Tempe police have called it the biggest bust in their city and one of the most extensive ever in the county

Investigators arrested 130 people across the organization throughout the year, including 30 to 40 high-level dealers with connections to the cartel. The rest were foot soldiers in a network that pushed drugs all the way to California, New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska.

Read the complete report here.