driver's license

Questions for Legislators at upcoming Townhall meetings - they want to know what's on your mind

In the 2013 regular session of the Oregon State Legislature, all Democrats present voted for HB 2787, a bill to grant instate tuition to illegal aliens, and also for SB 833, the bill giving driver cards to illegal aliens.

In the House, 5 Republicans voted for the instate tuition bill: Cliff Bentz, Vicki Berger, John Huffman, Mark Johnson, Julie Parrish. In the Senate, these 3 Republicans voted for instate tuition: Bill Hansell, Bruce Starr, Chuck Thomsen.

Voting for driver cards to illegal aliens were these Republican House members: John Davis, Vic Gilliam, Bob Jenson, Mark Johnson, Greg Smith, and these Republican Senators: Herman Baertschiger, Brian Boquist, Ted Ferrioli, Larry George, Bill Hansell, Chuck Thomsen.

If you have an opportunity to attend a town hall, or to speak elsewhere to your state senator and representative, please tell them about your concerns regarding illegal immigration. We are listing some suggested questions that could be raised with your legislators, particularly with all Democrats and those Republicans who voted for instate tuition and driver cards for illegal aliens.

 
1. A legislator’s main responsibility is to put the interests of citizens first. It is not in the public’s economic interest to encourage illegal immigration by giving accommodations to illegal immigrants and making life here comfortable for them. Unemployment and very low wages are serious problems in Oregon now. In August, over 150,000 Oregonians were unemployed; our unemployment rate was 8.1%, well above the national rate of 7.4%. The U-6 unemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who want full-time work, and discouraged workers who’ve given up active job-search, was 16.9% according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Are you O.K. with forcing unemployed and underemployed citizens to compete with unlimited numbers of illegal aliens for jobs?

2. Employers should not be allowed to hire illegal labor. Instead of passing laws to give illegal aliens instate tuition and official driver privileges; you could have worked in the last session of the Legislature to make E-Verify mandatory for all employers in Oregon. This would open up jobs for citizens and legal immigrants and discourage illegal immigration. Will you promote a requirement for employers to use E-Verify for current work forces as well as new hires?

3. The rule of law is the foundation for good government. It is undermined when illegal immigrants are allowed to enter and remain in this country unimpeded, and encouraged to remain here by giving them benefits paid for from public funds. How can citizens respect law when they see it so flagrantly ignored by illegal immigrants and their employers, and legitimized in the Legislature by bills accommodating illegal immigration?

4. Giving driver cards to illegal aliens will not improve safety – quite the opposite. There is no way the Oregon DMV can accurately certify the identity of the thousands of illegal aliens who will apply for driver cards. Identify theft and falsified documents are common, and hard to detect. Besides the illegal aliens now living here, others from the 45 states that don’t give driver licenses to illegal aliens will come to Oregon to take advantage of our weak law. Safety concerns focused only on possible traffic accidents miss the larger risks. Do you care about the dangers of terrorism from holders of fraudulent driver cards issued in Oregon?

5. Before the 2008 Driver License law was passed requiring proof of citizenship for driver licenses, the state did issue licenses to illegal aliens. There is no evidence that the roads were safer then than in the 5 years since the 2008 law was passed. Therefore it’s not logical to expect greater safety now by again giving illegal aliens official driver cards. Do you think it’s worth weakening the secure driver license law enacted in 2008 for an only nebulous degree of safety from traffic accidents?

6. Expenses for attending college are daunting for most citizens, and places in public colleges are necessarily limited by taxpayer funds available for maintaining higher education. The claims by some that giving instate tuition to illegal aliens will have no effect on enrollment of citizens are illogical and unbelievable. Why should our citizen young people have to step aside to make room for illegal aliens who will be in competition with them for college enrollment? -- There was no effort by leaders in the Oregon Legislature to curtail or stop illegal immigration when there are many such steps available to state legislatures, and other states have passed such laws protecting citizens. Read more about Questions for Legislators at upcoming Townhall meetings - they want to know what's on your mind

Legislators want to hear from you at upcoming Townhall meetings

Alert date: 
September 21, 2013
Alert body: 

Our state legislators hold town halls from time to time, inviting constituents to attend and express their civic concerns. As OFIR learns about the town hall schedules, we will alert members and encourage attendance. Town halls are a great opportunity to meet your legislators and question them in person. If you learn of town halls scheduled for your district, please send the information on to OFIR.

Read more about questions to ask State Legislators at upcoming townhall meetings.


 

Opponents of driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants say they're on pace to refer law to voters

A group opposed to a new state law that grants driver's cards to undocumented immigrants says members are well on their way to collecting enough signatures – and then some – to refer the law to voters for the next general election.

The organization, which calls itself Protect Oregon Driver Licenses, has two weeks left to collect the signatures of at least 58,142 registered voters in order to meet ballot requirements.
 

Read more about SB833 - driver licenses for illegal aliens. Read more about Opponents of driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants say they're on pace to refer law to voters

Drive-thru democracy, it doesn't get any easier!

Alert date: 
September 18, 2013
Alert body: 

PODL will be hosting another drive-thru signature gathering event. This time at the famous Oregon landmark - The Bomber Restaurant in Milwaukie, this Thursday, September 19, noon to 7:00.  Drive in, sign the referendum petition, drive away - you don't even need to get out of your car!

We will be back again on Monday, September 23, noon to 7:00.

The Bomber Restaurant is located at: 13515 SE McLaughlin Blvd in Milwaukie.

Look for the B-17 bomber! Thursday, noon to 7:00.  See you there!

Call Rep. Walden today

We encourage everyone to contact Oregon Congressman Greg Walden’s office and ask him to not give into the push for amnesty by the open border, pro-illegal immigration crowds. The have singled him out as a key voter in Congress. The group is marching from Madras to Bend to put pressure on him to cave into their demands.

At a time when over 20 million American citizens are either underemployed or out of work, we do not need millions of illegal aliens stealing jobs from citizens. It is estimated that 180,000 Oregonians are unemployed and there are an estimated 120,000 illegal aliens working in Oregon. Over the past four years, real wages (inflation factored in), have dropped 10 %.

The presence of tens of thousands of poorly educated non-citizens vying for jobs not only takes jobs but reduces wages.

Make sure to tell his staff that you are a citizen, you vote and you live in Oregon.

Encourage him to be the Representative that Oregon needs...to stand strong for the citizens of Oregon.

Read the article about the three day march to Walden's office.
  Read more about Call Rep. Walden today

C. Oregonians stage march for immigration reform

MADRAS, Ore. - Signs, flags, chants and drums -- the classic parts of a rally. Dozens of Central Oregonians set the beat on Sunday to begin a three-day, 42-mile walk and send a message to Rep. Greg Walden and the rest of America.

It's a march from Madras to Bend, demanding change to immigration laws.

"This is urgent, because every day, over 1,000 people are being deported," said Central Oregon Causa community organizer Greg Delgado.

For 31-year-old undocumented Bend resident Gerardo Zuniga, the message behind the walk hits close to home.

"If my family members were to be deported, that would tear the family apart," Zuniga said. "The kids, especially my little brother, would be stuck here."

It's called the "Walk for Citizenship," led by Causa, a statewide organization supporting Latino immigrant rights.

The group is headed south along Highway 97 for three days, stopping in Culver, Redmond, and finally ending the march at Walden's office in Bend.

"We need to really partner up with our Republican delegates, and make sure they are with us on this issue, because we know they're going to be important deciders for what happens, and we know he (Walden) is a key voice," said Causa Director of Civic Engagement Reyna Lopez.

Currently, Zuniga is going through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--also known as DACA -- a memorandum signed by President Obama last year, allowing undocumented residents who came to the U.S. as children and are now pursuing education or military service to legally obtain work in the U.S.

Still. he says there's always a cloud of fear and uncertainty hanging over his family.

"My mom can't drive around," Zuniga said. "And my dad's the only one who has a license, currently. If my mom was to drive and get pulled over, she would be detained and be deported. It's a hard situation to be in."

That's the life for thousands of undocumented Central Oregonians, millions in the U.S., and a couple dozen people sporting butterflies in their walk across the High Desert.

"(Our symbol is) a migrant butterfly,"Delgado said. "The monarch butterfly is a symbol of migration -- that is natural to our human race, and it's just a beautiful symbol for us." Read more about C. Oregonians stage march for immigration reform

Legislature OK's driver's licenses for immigrants who are in the country illegally

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - After years of setbacks, Democratic lawmakers and Latino activists are on the verge of seeing immigrants who are in the country illegally granted the right to a driver's license in California. Read the full story.
  Read more about Legislature OK's driver's licenses for immigrants who are in the country illegally

Return filled referendum petition signature sheets by Sept. 27

Alert date: 
September 16, 2013
Alert body: 

Volunteers have been working hard to collect the 58,142 signatures Protect Oregon Driver Licenses needs to get SB 833 on the ballot next fall.

If you have filled signature sheets, please sign them and send them in by Friday, Sept. 27 so we can begin processing them before the Secretary of State's deadline of Friday, October 4th.

Please continue to collect signatures up until the deadline.  We need all the signatures we can get.

But, please send in now, any filled sheets you have accumulated so far.

Thank you for all your hard work, your time and dedication to get the job done!  We can't do it without you!

A happy outcome is just around the corner, if we all keep working up until the deadline.

 

 

 


 

Making himself at home

If one were to drop in at one of La Grande’s various advisory committee meetings, there’s a new face in town.

He’s been at City Council meetings, the big Main Street meeting, even an Urban Renewal Advisory Commission meeting.

Eddie Garcia moved to La Grande in June — and it hasn’t taken him long to get to work for his new home. He was appointed to the city’s parking, traffic safety and street maintenance advisory commission earlier this summer and will launch a radio talk show Thursday.

“It’s just an opportunity to invigorate people to have a discussion,” Garcia said of the show, “Speak Your Mind,” which airs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays on 1450 AM in Union County and 1490 AM in Baker County.

“I’m asking questions because if I’m going to be here and be productive, let’s bring in business,” Garcia said.

Business and moving La Grande forward will be a broad topic Garcia plans to cover on his show. But stemming from that is the parking issue raised at the August public meeting for La Grande Main Street, the presence of Eastern Oregon University,and the Blue Mountain Humane Association.

“I just hope I can be a part and do something,” Garcia said.

Already Garcia has met with the sheriff, police chief, other community leaders and residents.

“There’s a bunch of folks I’ve met that have good ideas,” he said.

But not all of them are willing to go on the air to voice them.

Garcia’s civic involvement isn’t necessarily new.

“I do political consulting for a living,” he says.

He moved to La Grande from Nashville, Tenn., where he was a consultant and wrote Christian music.

“I was able to balance music with politics,” he said.

And fortunately, he can work from wherever there’s Internet, making him flexible to make it to afternoon meetings of the Urban Renewal Advisory Commission. As he continues working on races in Florida and Tennessee, he says he’s pulling from those experiences.

“If I learn something about the mayoral race there, could that apply here?” he asks.

The flexibility also provides some time to plan his show.

The first topic for the Thursday show is the new law that will allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s cards in Oregon. Jim Ludwick, with Oregonians for Immigration Reform, will be Garcia’s first guest.

Immigration is a hot topic nationwide, but for Garcia, it’s personal. He and his parents immigrated to the United States when he was 2 years old. But Garcia isn’t convinced that undocumented people should be granted driver’s cards.

Garcia’s hope is for “Speak Your Mind” to become a place of discussion for the community about the topics that matter to the community — be they La Grande Main Street, parking, immigration, law enforcement or whatever else may come up.

His new home is getting better as each day passes.

“It’s growing on me as I meet new people,” he said.

And he understands that people may not always see eye to eye.

“In the end we may agree to disagree,” he said. Read more about Making himself at home

Volunteers make the world go 'round

OFIR and PODL extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers working so hard all over the state gathering signatures for the SB 833 referendum petition campaign.  We certainly couldn't get the job done without YOU!

Please, don't let up for even a minute!  Keep up the good work and know that the end is near and victory is in sight. 

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
  Read more about Volunteers make the world go 'round

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