This is one of the most sickening and sad stories I've heard in a while. Two border upstanding border patrol agents face 20 years in jail for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler who fled from them and while fleeing turned to one agent with what the agent thought was a gun.

The drug smuggler was shot in the buttox (too angry for a Forrest Gump joke), and didn't act as if he'd been shot at all. He quickly jumped in a van, fleeing off back in to Mexico. The border patrol aparently has a policy that agents can't pursue people (WTF?!), and that on top of the fact that at the time the agents didn't know he was a drug smuggler carrying 800 pounds of marijuana in his van, and can't be 100% sure that what he flashed was a gun, these mens' lives are essentially over. Oh by the way, the drug smuggler is suing the Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights (wait, he's not a U.S. citizen), and he'll probably see some money considering that violiting his civil rights is one thing the agents were convicted of.

I will only post a handful of excerpts as the story is rather lengthy, but read the entire thing, pray for their families, and pray that someone in government will fix the system so this sort of tragedy NEVER happens again. Get pissed, and spread the word. I don't know what we can actually do about this, but perhaps there is a way to get this overturned in time but it would definitely require massive outrage.

EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico.

Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier.

Suddenly, the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents.

Now, nearly 18 months after that violent encounter, Ramos and Compean are facing 20 years in federal prison for their actions.

According to the U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted the agents, the man they were chasing didn't actually have a gun, shooting him in the back violated his civil rights, the agents didn't know for a fact that he was a drug smuggler, and they broke Border Patrol rules about discharging their weapons and preserving a crime scene.

Even more broadly, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof said, Ramos and Compean had no business chasing someone in the first place.

"It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone."

If there is any job in the country where someone should be pursuing someone who is fleeing, it's the fricken border patrol!!!

The smuggler was given full immunity to testify against the agents and complete medical care at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso.

Read: Your tax dollars helped heal a Mexican drug smuggler, and brought him back here to testify to put good men in jail for doing their job.

"They don't throw this many charges at guys they've caught with over 2,000 pounds of marijuana," Ramos said. "There's murderers and child rapists that are looking at less time than me.

"I am not guilty. I did not do what they're accusing me of."

Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, are set to be sentenced Aug. 22 for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican citizen, on Feb. 17, 2005, in the small Texas town of Fabens, about 40 miles south of El Paso.

A Texas jury convicted the pair of assault with serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil-rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired.

Keep that date in mind as we wait to see just how big of a tragedy we're dealing with.

But the conviction for discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence requires a minimum 10-year prison sentence. The sentences for the other convictions vary.

On July 25, the U.S. Probation Office in El Paso recommended to Judge Kathleen Cardone that each man get 20 years.

Ramos, an eight-year veteran of the Naval Reserve and a former nominee for Border Patrol Agent of the Year, now has but one thing on his mind: What will happen to his wife and three young sons if he spends the next two decades in prison?

"It's (with) a leap of faith and my devotion to God that me and my family will make it through this," Ramos said as he looked at his wife, Monica, during an interview last month in El Paso.

The van later was found to have about 800 pounds of marijuana inside.

Aldrete-Davila is suing the Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights.

As a Border Patrol agent, Ramos has been involved in the capture of nearly 100 drug smugglers and the seizure of untold thousands of pounds of narcotics. He also was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in March 2005, though the nomination was withdrawn after details of the Aldrete-Davila incident came out.

Ramos also had drug-interdiction training from the Drug Enforcement Agency and qualified as a task force officer with the Border Patrol. But Ramos' training in narcotics - as well as the numerous credentials he had received for taking Border Patrol field training classes - was not admissible during the trial, he said.

"My husband is a good man, a loving father, and his devotion to his country and his job is undeniable," Monica Ramos said. "Prosecutors treated the drug smuggler like an innocent victim, refusing to allow testimony that would have helped my husband. The smuggler was given immunity. My husband is facing a life in prison.

Again, you have to read the entire story to get Ramos's story vs. the prosecution story, as well as the laundry list of injustices done to these men.

 

This is obviously only a start, but it's about friggin' time. The Senate gives a collective "I actually did vote to fund the fence, after I voted against it."

The Senate did an abrupt about-face yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to begin paying for 370 miles of fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, just three weeks after voting against the same spending.

The amendment's sponsor said senators were so embarrassed by that July 13 vote that most felt they had to reverse course and vote for it this time -- especially after so many were on record in May voting to build the fence in the first place. The amendment, which provides nearly $2 billion for the project, passed 94-3, with 66 senators switching from "no" to "yes" votes since last month.

"I think people wanted to get right," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican. "People heard from their constituents after they voted to authorize the fence in May and then voted against funding it a couple of weeks ago."

read on...

 

(h/t Drudge)

This actually sounds like genuine progress to me, but I haven't had time to read it all yet. Any input?

The Senate voted to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday and clashed over citizenship for millions of men and women who live in the United States illegally.

Amid increasingly emotional debate over election-year immigration legislation, senators voted 83-16 to add fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the southern border. It marked the first significant victory in two days for conservatives seeking to place their stamp on the contentious measure.

I'm not clear on what these vehicle barriers are yet...

Construction of the barrier would send "a signal that open-border days are over. ... Good fences make good neighbors, fences don't make bad neighbors," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. He said border areas where barriers already exist have experienced economic improvement and reduced crime.

"What we have here has become a symbol for the right wing in American politics," countered Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. He said if the proposal passed, "our relationship with Mexico would come down to a barrier between our two countries."

I'm still not clear why Durbin should be in office or allowed to speak ever after comparing Gitmo troops to Nazis, etc. That's all I think of anytime I see his name. He's a disgrace, and he should be deported (but if he sneaks back quick enough he could gain citizenship under the new amnesty plan).

Read on for more bloviating from people on all sides, and GOPers eatting their own.

I haven't commented much on all the latest immigration developments for a couple reasons. For starters there has just been a ton of other news going on at the same time, and I know the rest of the blogosphere is saturated by border/immigration talk and I guess I'd rather not just get lost in the sea of it all. In addition to the fact that I've been covering all the other stuff going on, the immigration news is just coming in rapid fire and to try to get a post up, I know I'd be leaving out a lot of things I'd like to say about it (like I am about to here).

Anyway, here's my thing. I think we need a fence, similar to what the Minutemen have designed, running down almost all of the border. I think if we could do this, there wouldn't be a need for a bunch more guards. That is why I'm cautiously optimistic about this development, until someone tells me that I'm missing something and this doens't mean anything and I just got to excited when I saw the Drudge siren going off.

As for the President, yes I'm angry with his weak handling of the immigration issue. But I'm a supporter of most of his policies, and we're obviously a lot better than if a Democrat was in office in many different areas. And yes the border is one of the, if not the most important issue facing us. But I feel like he's kind of stuck.

This is sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If the President and GOP gets really tough on the border, what will happen? Well first the Senate Democrats will do the only thing they seem to know how to do... Rant and rave, filibuster and obstruct. Nothing will get done, the delay will go from weeks, to months, to years.

Even if somehow we did get a tough plan pushed through, what would happene next? If it hadn't already, the Dems would pull the race card. It would be all about those racist Republicans trying to keep latinos out. It would be, as it always is, all about the votes for Democrats. We saw the signs at the Dallas illegal rally with reminders to vote "Democrat in 2006" above a picture of Mexico and Texas fused together. We also saw Hillary and Kennedy become stars of the shows at a couple different rallies.

Seeing as how hispanics are the largest minority, and not far off from being a majority in this country, the libs, with the help of their trusty media, would stir all of these people up to vote Democrat if Republicans got tough. GOP would lose power, and Dems would just reverse any good they had done. Again, damned if they do, damned if they don't.

My point is that I'm a little disturbed by all the giving up on the President I've been seeing from conservative bloggers. Do you really think not showing up on election day is going to make things better?! Yes this is arguably the most important issue, but do you really want the Democrats in charge? They aren't going to be any better, and in fact we know they'll be worse. Let's just calm down the emotion, and think realisitically about what not voting could mean for the country. I'm just scared that there's this movement to "send a message", but when the dust settles it won't matter, because we'll have Democrats taking back at least one house.

Back to my personal opinion quickly... I'm absolutely for enforcement first. I'm a little less concerned about the workers who are already here, as I am about the security issue of the open border. This goes back to why I want the fence. As I said before, perhaps there could be some type of extreme tax hike on illegals after cracking down on employers and making them have records of employees, and make them pay taxes. They would pay these for their entire lives, not ever be able to collect social security, and get some type of "worker" status, and maybe after 10 years, if they can speak english and have clean records, they could apply for citizenship. Just rough, off the cuff idea that could be tweeked in all directions.

 

I'm going to add this as an update to my post on White House and Pentagon talks of using military on the border, but thought it deserved it's own post as well

MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - President Bush will address the nation about the immigration situation on Monday night as Senate passage of sweeping legislation is virtually assured by Memorial Day.

This ought to be interesting.

The story goes on to give a repeat of all what we already know and hear day in and day out, but the only new information was about President Bush's plans to address the nation. Let's hope it's not another amnesty "path to citizenship" type speech, and that he is finally getting tough, as it appears may be the case, again with talks of using military on the border. Again though, we do have to do something about the 11-12 million illegals already here, and it's illogical to think we could deport them or get them to willingly go home and go through the legal process.

Ideas float around in my head about giving them a "legal" status, but not citizenship. These "legal" workers, would then have to carry identification, pay the fines and learn English like we've heard in other proposed plans. But then they would be forced to pay taxes (this would come as a result of cracking down on businesses hiring illegals). Once set up to pay taxes, they would have to pay an extra say 5-15% "alien" tax. They would also never be elligable to receive social security, but they would absolutely pay in to it.

Is that harsh libs? Cruel? Do you think these people would rather go back to Mexico? They risk their lives getting here, many of them try many times before actually getting here. Of course they get here and protest laws that we already aren't enforcing, instead of directing their anger at their own crappy country.

Anyway, my ideas aren't a "plan", just some off the top of my head thoughts.

***UPDATE***
Hot Air thinks that the President will discuss possible use of military on the border. I'm not sure he will unless he's really going to start getting tough, because you know the race card players will be all over it if he starts publicly pumping the idea in a speech to the nation.

Previous:
BREAKING: White House & Pentagon Discuss Using Military On The Border... Finally!
"Stop The Invasion" Border Security Billboards Hit Texas
Doing What The Feds Won't, Arizona County Cracks Down On Illegals.
A Day Without An Illegal Immigrant? We Can Only Hope...
California Senate Votes To Support May 1 Illegal Immigrant / Anti-American Boycott Day
Illegals Show Love For America By Trying To "Dent" Economy
"National Illegal Alien Day" Roundup
UPDATE: More From Sunday's Illegal Immigrant Protest In Dallas
National Illegal Alien Day Is Here!!! Work Walk Outs And American Boycotts?

 

***UPDATE***
President to addres the nation on immigration Monday.

***SCROLL FOR MORE UPDATES***

Finally, discussion of real solutions to the root of the problem. Yes, the matter of the 11-12 million illegals already here is an important one, but isn't border security infinitely more important? A secure border would stop the flow while we debate what to do with the millions already here, and I think anyone with an ounce of sense realizes we could never deporpt all of them. So I don't want it to sound like I'm ignoring the illegal aliens who have already invaded, but I'm more more about hammering home the importance of border security, and it would seem that there is a glimmer of hope!

It would seem that either the bricks have made an impact, or perhaps it's Bill O'Reilly repeating for years:

You guys could stop this immediately if you put the National Guard (search) on the border to back up the border patrol.

Whatever happened, the Pentagon and White House are considering this type of necessary action... We can only hope there are also discussions about a wall and/or fence. The AP by way of CNN.com covers this latest development.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Faced with growing pressure from Southern states, the Bush administration wants the military to come up with ideas to help solve security problems along the U.S. border with Mexico.

In back-to-back moves this week, the Pentagon began exploring ways to lend support at the Southern border, while the House on Thursday voted to allow the Homeland Security Department in limited cases to use soldiers in that region.

At the Pentagon, Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials to offer options for the use of military resources and troops -- particularly the National Guard -- along the border with Mexico, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions.

Looks like "Bush's Brain", Karl Rove has his fingerprints on this:

Southern lawmakers met this week with White House strategist Karl Rove for a discussion that included making greater use of National Guard troops to shore up border control.

"The Texas delegation is very concerned about the border and are pushing urgency," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who joined other Texas Republicans in a meeting with Rove this week. He said Rove was "very forthright" about border projects that Homeland Security is starting up, its current projects and what the needs are.

Rep. Ken Marchant, R-Texas, who also attended the meeting, said the lawmakers left "very encouraged."

Let's hope they are enouraged for good reason, and that the White House is truly serious about this. I suspect this is the case, simply because some of the sources for this article are unnamed, and this isn't a message or part of any plan we've heard publicly from President Bush or anyone in the administration.

Anyway, you get the gist. The rest of the article just talks about the use of military in the homeland, who makes the calls, who controls the National Guard in certain situations, what brances of the military can be used for law enforcement and when, etc. Important stuff, but the important development here is the discussions about getting military to help secure the border. Cross your fingers that this is part of what they call the president's "third term" strategy.

As President Bush said at the White House Correspondents' dinner, "I survived the White House shake-up". New Press Secretary Tony Snow seems to be coming out swinging, and perhaps some of the other resignations and new hires can bring around some change the base has been begging for.

Personally, I'm cautiously optimistic about this.

***UPDATE***
Others:
Hot Air, The Sandbox, Outside the Beltway, Stop the ACLU, Superfun Powerhour

Previous:
"Stop The Invasion" Border Security Billboards Hit Texas
Doing What The Feds Won't, Arizona County Cracks Down On Illegals.
A Day Without An Illegal Immigrant? We Can Only Hope...
California Senate Votes To Support May 1 Illegal Immigrant / Anti-American Boycott Day
Illegals Show Love For America By Trying To "Dent" Economy
"National Illegal Alien Day" Roundup
UPDATE: More From Sunday's Illegal Immigrant Protest In Dallas
National Illegal Alien Day Is Here!!! Work Walk Outs And American Boycotts?
Hillary Clinton's Crazy Comparison Of The Day! Howard Dean's Got Some Competition!
Why Are McCain And Hillary Clinton Holding Hands With ILLEGAL Immigrants?!
Illegal Aliens Hold Massive Protest In Chicago.
Mexico: "Let my people...in" - Demanding More Immigration!?

 

Earlier I told you about Maricopa County, AZ cracking down on illegals because the federal government won't. Arizona has passed a state law that mirrors a federal law already on the books but not being enforced, so the sheriff and posses are getting it done themselves.

Well, only a few hours later we learn of another campaign by "the people". This was isn't so much action, as it is sending a message. What message? "Stop the Invasion" on giant billboards.

Some excerpts from the Dallas / Ft. Worth's CBS 11 story:

(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Conservatives are firing back at those who support amnesty and a guest worker program for illegal immigrants. Their latest weapon is a billboard located on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas.

If you work near downtown Dallas it'll be hard to miss one billboard during your commute.

Dallas is the first city to get one, but there are plans to put these signs up from California to Florida.

"Stop the Invasion" is a reference to the massive influx of immigrants who enter the United States illegally.

“We must stop the invasion. We cannot have amnesty because amnesty is in essence a surrender to the invasion,” said Steve Elliott, grassfire.org.

Read on...

As you just read, this is billboard campaign is an undertaking of GrassFire.org. Head over to their web site now to learn more about this group and how you can help fight the good fight on this, and other issues. Even swing by just to sign a few petitions if you'd like.

GrassFire's site also has a larger photo of the Dallas billboard, in addition to information on similar billboards in other major cities coming soon. See this news release for more information on this growing campaign:

Dallas, Texas. Grassfire.org President Steve Elliott announced today at the site of the first “Stop The Invasion” billboard in Dallas, Texas, that the campaign is quickly expanding into Los Angeles, California, Phoenix, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, and South Florida. “Overwhelming grassroots support is fueling this aggressive expansion,” says Elliott. “Americans are eager to get this message out and we are moving quickly to place these new billboards as soon as next week.”

The idea of going across the nation with “Stop The Invasion” campaign is the result of citizen support for the billboards, says Elliott. “These billboards are being sponsored literally one square foot at a time by citizens across the nation who are frustrated and angered by the illegal alien protests and Senate talk of amnesty,” says Elliott. “We will expand as fast and as far as the American people want, taking a simple message to our highways and to Congress -- Stop The Invasion.”

Grassfire’s Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale-Miami billboards will debut next week, with final details on Los Angeles and Phoenix still being arranged. With a Senate amnesty bill possibly to be voted on before the Memorial Day recess, Elliott says it is important to get the message out as quickly as possible. “A groundswell of opposition to amnesty is building,” says Elliot. “Senators who ignore the will of American citizens and instead listen to the shouts of illegal rights protestors do so at their own electoral risk.”

In addition to the billboards, Grassfire.org -- a national issues advocacy organization with one million active team members -- has also presented more than 300,000 “Secure Our Borders” petitions to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and other key members of Congress. Grassfire team members have also delivered over 290,000 faxes and phone calls on this issue.

Like the Send-A-Brick Project, this is a great way to send Washington a message, but I fear they are still too worried about the votes of America's "largets minority". These are great don't get me wrong, but I think massive anti-illegal protests are the only way to get the media attention, and in turn, Washington's attention... the same way the illegal protests did. But don't stop guys, these campaigns are great in spreading the message and letting people know that they aren't the only ones who want the border secured.

 

Let's hope that President Bush doesn't call law enforcement in Maricopa County, AZ "vigilantes", like he did the Minutemen. And just incase anyone isn't aware, the Minutemen do nothing more than spot border crossers, and inform border patrol. Similarly, Maricopa County is just enforcing the law and essetially saying "screw you Feds if you won't want to crack down, we will!"

Fox News has the story of what will hopefully become a trend:

A 250-member posse that will operate similarly to the anti-smuggler task force will patrol the area for illegal immigrants who pay smugglers to cross through Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

The posse will be made up of existing sheriff's deputies and members of the department's 3,000-member posse reserve of trained, unpaid volunteers.

The four illegal immigrants pulled over Monday will be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and sent back to Mexico. But those that are captured by the posse may end up in jail, charged under a state law that has been used against more than 100 illegal immigrants in Maricopa County this year.

Here's the best part. Arizona modeled a state law after a federal law that simply wasn't being enforced by the feds, so that their local law enforcement could take the power back. Are you hearing this New Mexico, California, and Texas.

The law made human smuggling a state crime in Arizona — it was already a federal crime — allowing local law enforcement agencies to arrest suspected smugglers. It was meant to crack down on smugglers, but under a disputed interpretation, County Attorney Andrew Thomas argues the law can be applied to the smuggled immigrants themselves.

Thomas maintains illegal immigrants who pay smugglers to enter the United States are committing conspiracy to smuggle and can therefore be prosecuted under the state law.

I hate to sound cheesy and steal the "you're a great American" line from Sean Hannity, but what else do you say about this Sherrif:

"I'm going to catch as many as I can and throw them in my jail," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "And the jails are not that nice."

They may not be that nice sir, but I almost have to wonder if they're better than living in Mexico. I would say that the thought of being thrown in jail, as word spreads, could act as a deterrant. But I mean, in jail they get fed free and life is probably about as good as it was in Mexico.

It remains to be seen whether a judge will uphold the smuggling law as applicable to illegal immigrants. Lawyers for some arrested illegal immigrants have filed motions to have the charges dismissed.

I've got to ask a weird question here... Where are illegal ALIENS getting lawyers!?

Let's hear more from our new hero:

"I get sued when I go to the toilet. You think I'm worried about it?" he said. "If they think I'm going to slow down because of these threats, I've got news for them — I'm not going to slow down. I'll do more of it."

Okay, well he's one liners could use a little more work. He makes his point, but with some sort of Rumsfeld-esque flair he could have really gotten a great soundbyte out of that. Read the rest of the story hear.

Either way this is great news, and they are trying to send the message "don't cross here". The bad news is that they'll just cross somewhere else unless all border counties take the same action. Let's get it done folks.

 

***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

"A Day Without Immigrants" has arrived. Sadly it's not as good as it sounds. Instead of being a good day, like it sounds, in which we ship a bunch of illegal immigrants back to their home countries, it's a day in which they intend to flood the streets in yet another series of massive protests, instead of going to work and school and they are boycotting American goods. Sadly, but not surprisingly, many Democrats are backing this behavior and the California Senate went so far as to pass a resolution supporting it!

My hope, though I doubt it will happen, is that some of the companies hiring these people will straighten up their acts and fire everyone who doesn't show up to work and perhaps May 2 will be the beginning of a real time without (or at least with less) illegal immigrants. Obviously that's wishfull thinking.

I'll probably be sleeping for most of the day's events, so for me it truly will be a day without them. I suggest following Michelle Malkin's blog, and probably the new Hot Air vlog/internet broadcast as well for blogging throughout the day. Michelle tends to be on top of these type of events, so I suspect that will be the place to go to see what's really going on (as opposed to what the MSM will be showing us. She noted the other day how the Dallas Morning News is doing less reporting, and more promoting of the illegal alien celebration.

Incase your favorite MSM outlet hasn't filled you in, let's get you caught up on the goals of those taking part in today's protests (via Reuters):

Pro-immigration activists say a national boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood America's streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it debates reform.

Such a massive turnout could make for the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, though not all Latinos were comfortable with such militancy, fearing a backlash in Middle America.

"There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno," said Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies credited with rattling Congress as it weighs the issue.

"We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is here (illegally)," Rodriguez said. "That is the message that is going to be played out across the country on May 1."

I've got a better idea amigo... How about instead we block off the streets with National Guard, direct your little march towards the border and "guide you" back home?! Seriously though, it's really sad that cops are helpless, when they should be just sitting there with a bunch of school buses and thousands of handcuffs arresting any illegal in attendance, and give us "A Day With A Few Thousand Less Illegals".

At least some people are doing something productive:

Opponents of illegal immigration spent the weekend building a fence to symbolize their support of a secure border. About 200 volunteers organized by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California worked on a 6-foot barbed-wire fence along a quarter-mile stretch of rugged terrain near the U.S.-Mexico border about 50 miles east of San Diego.

Let's keep it going. What's sad is the silent majority remains.... silent. I fear we will remain silent and passive about this until one of these events (that I suspect will only continue and grow) gets out of hands and there is some kind of violence or riot.

These people aren't here "for America", they're here, understandably because their country sucks and they need money for their families. But they are marching with Mexican flags, many with a bunch of rhetoric about "taking back" land for Mexico, etc. They're even trying to change the national anthem.

One of these days all of this anti-Americanism, in your face protests, and demands for "rights" from people who don't belong here, make exponentially greater amounts of money than they could in Mexico and have an exponentially higher quality of living than in Mexico; are going to get out of hand and tick off the wrong people. Hopefully something can be done before violence erupts, but I doubt it. As I said, I believe these will grow while we sit quietly until something terrible happens and we're going to have mayhem.

As I was about to rap this up I see Hot Air has already begun their coverage. Head over now to check out today's Vent with Michelle Malkin, and stay tuned throughout the day.

One more thing.... If you hadn't heard, to counter the anti-American boycott, some are doing extra shopping today and calling it Conservative Shopping Day.

Mac Johnson closes that piece this way:

Lastly, be sure to make note of which businesses can still function on a day without illegal aliens, so that you can patronize them everyday for a long time. Let’s turn the day without illegal aliens into an everyday thing.

TO THE WAL-MART, COMRADES!

This will be an interesting experiment for me. I do need to grab a few things at Kroger and Walgreens later, and I'm on a side of town that is right in the middle of really nice and mini-Mexico. Those two stores are closer to the nice area. But the post office I need to go to, and Walmart are just a few miles north and I instantly become a minority. I need a bulb for one of my fog lights and to pick up a few other things, and hope to get everthing at Walmart. I'll be interested to see what the worker situation is over there.

Also a quick note about that Kroger I mentioned. I tend to shop at like 3 am because it's so much easier to get a ton of groceries in a short amount of time when you're the only one there. I always noticed a dozen or so Mexicans stocking shelves every time. Not knowing their status, I didn't have a problem except when I ever had to ask a question like, "where's the powder Gatorade", and all I gut was shrugged shoulders... Not because they didn't know, but because they didn't have a clue what I had said. I would repeat the question and they would awkwardly chuckly and point at their ears and mouth and mumble something like "I no English".

Interestingly enough, I went in one time, and within a minute I was like "whoa, where did all the mexicans go"? It was like when I used to stock shelves in a grocery store back in Vermont... Just a bunch of late teens and early twenties white guys. I never thought about the reason, but as I was checking out and shooting the breeze with the regular cashier (previously, seemed to be the only white/English speaking person there) he mentioned how crazy it was in there that week because, fearing an INS sweep all of the area Krogers dumped their illegals.

***UPDATE***
Reverse Vampyr has posted a great blog roundup, which includes the following list he found at 760 KFMB, via Rick Roberts, and provides us with an in depth look in to what the illegals are really doing here (psssst, it's not just picking our produce and passing the savings on to us). Note that most of these statistics are for the Los Angeles area, and they certainly very from city to city:

Not everyone breaking into America is coming here to pick lettuce and fulfill the American dream.

Here are some facts you should know:

40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This was because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

Over 2/3’s of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.

In L.A.County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L.A.County).

(All 10 from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are on welfare.
http://www.cis.org/

Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.

The cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].

The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE.

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

Just thought you should know.

Don't expect this to be the top of the news tonight...

As I said, Reverse Vampyr has compiled a great blog round-up, so check out what everyone else is saying on this "Day With Too Many Immigrants":
Ace of Spades HQ, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Basil's Blog, Beth's Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Blue Star Chronicles, California Conservative, Chez Diva, Conservatve Outpost, Donkey Stomp, Euphoricreality.net, Expose The Left, Florida Cracker, Hot Air, Lone Wacko, National Review, The Nose On Your Face, Political Pit Bull, Publius Rendezvous, The Real Ugly American, Saintknowitall, Sandbox Blog, Say Anything, Slapstick Politics, Super Fun Power Hour, Texas Rainmaker, Thunder Run, Wizbang

I particularly recommend the Hot Air day long live blogging post here. Flopping Aces has a similar post, with a lot of live blogged information and video.

More blogging:
Small Town Veteran, Iowa Voice, Webloggin, Kokonut Pundits, Traction Control, Conservative Outpost, A Blog For All, Mike's Noise, Severe Writer's Block, Ramblings of an Ordinary Guy, Latino Issues, Beyond Borders, Where I Stand, Flap's Blog, Don't Go Into The Light, Small Dead Animals

Quick Update
Bias? What Bias? Look at the pictures selected for this AP piece. A giant American flag, little hispanic children surrounded by American flags... Where are the pictures of the thousands of Mexican flags? Where are the pictures of those holding signs claiming that the southwest belongs to Mexico and that they will take it back?

Previous:
California Senate Votes To Support May 1 Illegal Immigrant / Anti-American Boycott Day
Illegals Show Love For America By Trying To "Dent" Economy
"National Illegal Alien Day" Roundup
UPDATE: More From Sunday's Illegal Immigrant Protest In Dallas
National Illegal Alien Day Is Here!!! Work Walk Outs And American Boycotts?
Hillary Clinton's Crazy Comparison Of The Day! Howard Dean's Got Some Competition!
Why Are McCain And Hillary Clinton Holding Hands With ILLEGAL Immigrants?!
Illegal Aliens Hold Massive Protest In Chicago.
Mexico: "Let my people...in" - Demanding More Immigration!?

 

Heading to bed, but I couldn't let this slip through the cracks, and hopefully other bloggers won't allow it to....

Star Telegram

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Some Democratic state lawmakers are planning to walk off the job in California on Monday -- just as millions of others around the country are expected to -- in support of immigrants' rights.

The California Senate, controlled by Democrats, approved a resolution on a party-line vote supporting the May 1 "Great American Boycott 2006," which supporters say will serve as a warning to Congress to avoid punitive immigration changes.

Organizers say the workplace boycott will show just how vital immigrants are to America's major cities and the nation's economy. Large numbers of students are also expected to participate.

"These immigrants are fighting to embrace this nation," said Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys. "What a good time this is when people can express their anger, their frustration, desires, hopes and dreams, all for the purpose of becoming American. That's a good thing."

more...

WHAT!? Please tell me these idiots are going to be voted out of office, next time they're up for reelection, if not tossed out immediately!!! They essentially passed a resolution in support of law breakers, are supporting people skipping work and school, and are supporting a boycott designed to hurt the country!!! I'm sure there are some decent people in California, but I'm giving a big screw you to the entire state for this. Hey, you elected these people and if you don't do something about this, you're just as guilty as they are. I know this is California, but come on!!! I'm rarely shocked by liberal idiocy in this country, but this just... I don't even know what to say.

 

h/t Michelle Malkin

This is a great idea. Send a brick to Washington to wake our elected officials up to the fact that we want and need a wall built. I've said it before and I'll say it again, quit debating what to do with the 11-20 million illegals already here, we can deal with that later. The most important thing now is to seal the border ASAP! If millions of illegals can travel back and forth every year, Al Qaeda with suitcase nukes can do the same. WAKE UP WASHINGTON!!!

The Send-A-Brick Project was created by concerned citizens to send bricks to Washington encouraging our Congressmen to stand tough on border security.

Each brick sends a message to our Senators and Representatives that we want our borders secured before any other action is taken on illegal immigration.

Anyway, very creative idea to the folks who came up with this. Thanks.

Others:
Conservative Outpost, Flap's Blog, Right Voices, IMAO, Publius Rendezvous, Evil Conservative, Stop the ACLU, Almost Daily, Gateway Pundit, Myrtus, Battle Born, Nick & Family, The Urban Grind, Say Anything, Bareknuckle Politics, Ogre's View, Pajamahadeen, Freedom Folks, Grant Siebrecht, The Little Platoon, Expose the Left

Previous:
Illegals Show Love For America By Trying To "Dent" Economy
"National Illegal Alien Day" Roundup
UPDATE: More From Sunday's Illegal Immigrant Protest In Dallas
National Illegal Alien Day Is Here!!! Work Walk Outs And American Boycotts?
Hillary Clinton's Crazy Comparison Of The Day! Howard Dean's Got Some Competition!
Why Are McCain And Hillary Clinton Holding Hands With ILLEGAL Immigrants?!
Illegal Aliens Hold Massive Protest In Chicago.
Mexico: "Let my people...in" - Demanding More Immigration!?

 

***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

When it comes to news on liberal lunacy on college and high school campuses, this week has been one to remember. The following is a compilation of stories about nutty professors and teachers that have severe cases of Bush derangement syndrome and the disease of liberalism.

Recently Ward Churchill and David Horowitz appeared on Hannity & Colmes, following a debate between the two men. Churchill continued to hate on America and Hannity, though not very tactfully, further exposed what an idiot this guy is. Churchill even pretended to not be able to hear at one point. Obviously Churchill doesn't dare step in to the studio to have a realt debate, but Horowitz appeared this week in a follow-up. Follow the links for videos via Expose the Left.

If you aren't familiar with Ward Churchill, Wikipedia has some information here (thought it doesn't delve too deeply in to his hatred for America). Basically this guy called the innocent people who were killed in the WTC towers on 9/11 "little Eichmanns". He's also lied about being of a particular Native American decent. Lat I heard there isn't evidence that he's Native American at all, despite this being how he's identified himself.

Our next contestant is Dolores Huerta. I know, who? Though not a teacher, apparently she's a cofounder of the United Farm Workers Union, and some kind of big deal in the area of supporting illegal immigrants. Tucson High School invited her to speak at a voluntary assembly, which turned out to be not so voluntary. Huerta launched in to hate speech against Republicans right off the bat:

Mon-Yee Fung says, "It was just basically a hate speech. She said just downright 'Republicans hate Mexicans,' and then she repeated it again, 'Republicans hate Mexicans,' and, right away, that really, really hurt me."

Mon-Yee apparently asked to leave a number of times, but teachers refused to let her. It has also been reported that during the voluntary assembly, nonattending students were supposed to go to the library, but it was locked! Mon-Yee is set to speak to law makers about the matter. One State Representative, Jonathan Paton has already taken note (via KVOA):

Next Thursday, State Representative Jonathan Paton, a Republican from Tucson, plans to hold a hearing about the speech.

Paton says, "We don't want our high schools to turn into what our universities have been, which is basically a place of nothing but political advocacy."

Mon-Yee Fung and State Rep. Paton both appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to discuss the matter in a very revealing segment. Expose the Left comes through with the video of the Factor segment in which O'Reilly plays the audio of Huerta repeating "Republicans hate latinos" during the speech. Is this what high school education has become? Local channel KVOA has video of their news segment on this as well. You can check out Huerta's web page, with contact information here.

Next, this is kind of old news so I'll just link you to a search on Expose the Left for all the video and audio goodness on the Bush hating Colorado high school teacher Jay Bennish, who compared President Bush to Hitler. One of the nutjob's students, Sean Allen, recorded and released the tape of the unhinged teacher's rants. Bennish was temporarily suspended, but quickly reinstated. Follow that link to see many segments on O'Reilly, H & C, etc. on the Bennish matter.

Michelle Malkin has the scoop on our next guest, one Steve White. White is an 8th grade science teacher at West Limestone High School in Alabama and a Democratic candidate for the District 4 seat on the House of Representatives. HIs behavior makes it clear he's not suited for either position. Perhaps being such an whatcked out lib he deserves a place in the highest ranks of the DNC though. Athens Alabama's The News Courier has the story here.

What happened was White found it appropriate to show an internet filmstrip put together by some Bush haters that repeatedly calls the President and many other Republicans "@$$holes", to his 8th grade science class. (I must have been sick that day during biology, I missed the "Clinton is an @$$hole" internet video). Michelle Malkin first clued me in to the story here, in a post that she linked to the "filmstrip" which (as much as I hate to send them even more traffic) can be viewed here. Beyond the obvious outrage, I'm outraged that the thing isn't even remotely funny or creative. This isn't as a Republican, but as a consumer of humor (why did I hear Jesse Jackson's voice in my head as I typed that?)

The Decatur Daily is reporting that White is on paid administrative leave, and that there more allegations against him have come to light:

According to parents, the current investigation is into new allegations that White made students say "John Kerry rocks" before leaving his class and showing other inappropriate material such as an animated Internet clip about former President Bill Clinton that had sexual content.

While obviously all the truth should come out, I think the original incident is enough to make him unfit to be a teacher and he should be fired immediately unless he's denying showing the "filmstrip", in which case it should be investigated. But it doesn't seem like he's denying it. Governor Bob Riley has taken note, and I hope pressures the school to fire White if they don't act on their own.

Expose the Left has video of White's opponent for the State Rep. seat, incumbent Micky Hammon, appearing on Hannity & Colmes to discuss the matter. Hammon seems like a soft spoken non-mudslinger type, but Hannity sort of forces him in to admitting that there is no action short of of firing that would be appropriate for White. Hammond didn't want to make it a political issue and seem like he was using it to leverage himself, but it's kind of hard when you've got such a cut and dry matter so he of course had to agree that White doesn't belong in the classroom. Even Alan Colmes says that White should be fired. Check the H & C segment out here. Michelle Malkin also has an update.

I won't even try to add to Malkin's coverage of the UC Santa Cruz troop haters. She's been on top of it from the beginning and has all you need to know. A quick summary though... basically a bunch of radical far left nuts at UC Santa Cruz drove military recruiters from the campus in a show of good ol' fashioned liberal tolerance, including all the usual scarf and hood wearing types. Check out the Malkin posts here, here, and here. The latest is that, citing the Solomon Ammendment, many are calling for a cut-off in tax money that the school receives, which reached approximately $80 million last year.

Another fully Malkinized story this week was that an unnamed Bellevue Community College professor used a math problem where "Condoleezza" throws a watermelon. Of course we all immediately wonder, "what if they had said "Al Sharpton" or "Jesse Jackson" or any other prominent black liberal? Can you imagine the rallies? You know the the shakedown brothas would be there speaking in rhymes about racism in America today, reparations, and of course how George Bush opresses blacks. But we don't see any of that because this is Condi, a Bush lady.

Here's the original math problem, that others have seen and realized that not only is the professor a racist, but an idiot:

Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300 -foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second. The height of the watermelon above the ground t seconds later is given by formula h= -16t2 + 20t + 300

a. How many seconds will it pass her (she's standing at a height of 300 feet) on the way down?

b. When will the watermelon hit ground?

As I said, Michelle Malkin has been all over this one from the get go as well, and her coverage can be found here and here. In the most recent update Michelle points to this Seattle Times article, that tells us what action has been taken:

The college declined to release the name of the teacher who wrote the question. Floten said the teacher has apologized and requested cultural-sensitivity training.

The name was actually changed to Condi's from the original writing of the math problem. One might be able to play dumb had it been a name like Jim or something, but not when it's Condoleezza;

The test question was originally written with the name of a comedian, Gallagher, whose signature shtick was to smash a variety of objects, often watermelons. Later, the question was rewritten, and the name was changed to Condoleezza, Floten said.

Another big hat tip goes out to Michelle Malkin on this next one. Norther Kentucky University Professor Dr. Sally Jacobsen encouraged her students to destroy an anti-Abortion displayed, titled "Cemetary of Innocents", and then joined in the fun to destroy with them. In this photo, courtesy of Sarah Loman of The Northerner Online, you can see Jacobsen taking out expressing her liberal tolerance on the display.

The Northerner has further coverage and photos of the tolerance festival.

The original article that Malkin links to is from NKY.com, in which Jacobsen offered no comment on her participation, other than admitting to "inviting" the students to destroy the display.

"I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to," Jacobsen said.

Asked whether she participated in pulling up the crosses, the professor said, "I have no comment."

She said she was infuriated by the display, which she saw as intimidating and a "slap in the face" to women who might be making "the agonizing and very private decision to have an abortion."

I don't think Malkin and others noticed the headline on the story though, which I found a little odd. Could be just my liberal media conspiratorial mind, but doesn't "Abortion display destroyed", seem like an odd headline for a story about a pro-life/anti-abortion display being destroyed by abortion supporters? I think most people, when scanning over that headline, would assume that it means some rabid pro-lifers destroyed a pro-abortion display. Am I right?

Of course all of these stories come on the heels of the story of Eric Pianka, the University of Texas professor who reportedly called for the extermination of 90% of the human population. Apparently Pianka requested that the speech not be videotaped, so the only thing we have is hearsay, but this isn't a new position so it shouldn't be so "shocking" that we don't believe it. There is a large segment of the population who believe so strongly that we are overpopulated that we need to take the world's population down to between a couple hundred million to 1 billion (depending on who you talk to.)

The main one to push the story has been Forrest Mims III, a member of the Texas Academy of Science, chairman of its environmental science section and editor of the Citizen Scientist. Mims first reported it at the Citizen Scientist, after personally attending the speech in question. I normally don't like to copy huge excerpts, but for those who don't click through the link, I found it necessary in this case:

Something curious occurred a minute before Pianka began speaking. An official of the Academy approached a video camera operator at the front of the auditorium and engaged him in animated conversation. The camera operator did not look pleased as he pointed the lens of the big camera to the ceiling and slowly walked away.

This curious incident came to mind a few minutes later when Professor Pianka began his speech by explaining that the general public is not yet ready to hear what he was about to tell us. Because of many years of experience as a writer and editor, Pianka's strange introduction and the TV camera incident raised a red flag in my mind. Suddenly I forgot that I was a member of the Texas Academy of Science and chairman of its Environmental Science Section. Instead, I grabbed a notepad so I could take on the role of science reporter