Oregon Legislature

Who's REALLY in charge?

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Sun, 03/31/2013

A recent letter sent to Causa supporters:

On behalf of all of us here at Causa Oregon, we want to thank you for all your work and support. While there are still some big fights to win this year, we have accomplished so much in the first three months of 2013.

With your help, we have forged new alliances with our sisters and brothers in the LGBT, labor, faith, business and education communities. Together, we've harnessed the political power to pass the ten-year-long struggle for tuition equity in Oregon and gained national recognition for our collaborative work in registering new Americans to vote. And, just this week it was announced that Causa, the Act Network and our allies were successful in forcing the Multnomah County Sheriff to end his policy of detaining undocumented immigrants for low-level crimes and non-violent misdemeanors.

It's only three months in to 2013 and together we're already making history. Thank you for being a tireless ally in our mission to promote the rights of Latinos and immigrants in Oregon. Together, we are ensuring a healthy, vibrant American democracy.

In Solidarity,

Francisco Lopez
Executive Director

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I would like to take a moment to address the "successes" listed in the letter:

1.) Causa appears to be a group whose mission is to cause the ruling bodies of our state to CAVE IN to their demands.

2.) Causa appears to be a group that, by hooking up with legitimate minorities with issues, they hope that the public won't notice that they are advocating for the RIGHTS(?) of those in our country illegally.

3.) Illegal aliens perpetrate crimes in far greater numbers than their 'legal' peers. Yet, they seem to feel they shouldn't be in jail and that they deserve special treatment from the Multnomah County Sheriff....and he obliged their demand.

4.) The last line was the worst: Thank you for being a tireless ally in our mission to promote the rights of Latinos and immigrants in Oregon. Together, we are ensuring a healthy, vibrant American democracy.

First of all, Latino's and legal immigrants have rights. Do Latino's have special rights? Causa simply chooses to drop the word ILLEGAL from their immigrant vocabulary and hopes that no one will notice. After all, who doesn't want to help an 'immigrant'? And, to make matters worse, claiming they are ensuring a healthy, vibrant American democracy is just a LIE! Here in Oregon, the cost of services to illegal aliens tipped the BILLION dollar mark.

Since when do any of us get to pick and choose which laws we obey and which laws we ignore? People who come here illegally are breaking immigration laws. If they work, they are breaking labor laws. If they steal, buy, or borrow a social security number, they are committing identity theft. But, shhhh...don't say anything about that....that's not nice. They are bringing the culture of corruption from their homeland, right to our front door.

But, all that aside, the thing that bothers me the most, are the lawmakers that are bending over backwards to work with groups like Causa. That's the most disappointing of all! Elections are a great opportunity to clear the decks! Read more about Who's REALLY in charge?

Played like a fiddle

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Fri, 03/22/2013

It's been a rough month for those of us working to stop the move to legitimize the presence of illegal aliens in our country. Sadly, we lost a 10 year battle against giving instate tuition benefits to students here illegally. We tried to negotiate with both the House and Senate Education Committees and nearly all the Legislators, either in person, by phone or email.

OFIR brought good, reasonable suggestions to the table. But, it was as if they could smell blood in the water and they didn't need to give an inch in any negotiations. Democrats sensed they could ram the bill through with lightening speed without any amendments that would protect Oregon students and Oregon taxpayers.

It was really quite sickening to hear the debate on the Senate floor as several Democrats and even a Republican gushed about giving every opportunity to students here illegally. They made no mention of the fact that these students and their families have likely "gamed the system" for years. They have stolen identities, have been working illegally, maybe even being paid under the table and are likely driving without licenses or insurance. But, aside from all that, the most important point is they are here illegally! When we have elected officials working so hard for the special benefits for illegal aliens, citizens have to wonder what's next!

I fear that we have taken the first step onto a very slippery slope. If our Legislators do not hear utter rage from their constituents now, the next move will be drivers licenses for all...legal, illegal...who cares!

Find out what happened in Tennessee and New Mexico when they started giving driver licenses to illegal aliens. It wasn't pretty!

Mark your calendar - Saturday, April 6 @2:00pm

Alert date:

March 22, 2013

Alert body:

Take the weekend off, enjoy the Spring weather, go for a drive or work in your garden. It's time to step back and take a little time for ourselves.

But, be certain to mark you calendar for Saturday, April 6 from 2 - 4pm for OFIR's next meeting in Salem at the Best Western Mill Creek Inn, across from Costco, in Salem.

Bring a friend, bring your anger, bring your ideas and we will strategize about how to defeat the driver license bill lurking in the shadows at the Capitol.

Call every Oregon Senator today!

Alert date:

March 20, 2013

Alert body:

Citizens likely have only today to stop passage of HB 2787 which would give in-state tuition benefits to illegal alien students. The bill has passed the House and was heard by the Senate Education Committee yesterday. Recent reports tell us us they will send the bill to the Senate floor for a vote as early as Thursday.

CALL, email or visit your Senator. Tell them you are a constituent and you VOTE. Tell them you do not support, nor appreciate, that they would put the demands of people illegally in our country, ahead of the rights of US citizens. Even our veterans are getting shafted in their zeal to get this bill passed ASAP.

If you don't know who your Senator is, find out here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

In-state tuition for immigrants heads to Senate vote

The Oregon Senate might vote as early as Thursday on a bill allowing in-state tuition for immigrant students.

The Senate Education Committee voted 3-2 along party lines Tuesday to advance House Bill 2787. The committee did not amend the bill, and a spokesman for Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said the bill could be up for a final vote Thursday.

Courtney will be the bill’s floor manager when it comes up for a vote. He also sponsored the original bill a decade ago.

He said students should not be held responsible for what their parents did entering the United States illegally.

The bill would allow in-state tuition for students without immigration documents, if they graduated from high school or its equivalent in Oregon, attended Oregon schools three years before graduation and U.S. schools for five years. Students also would have to show intent to seek legal status or citizenship in the United States.

Out-of-state tuition typically is three or four times the rate for in-state residents.

Committee members heard from 28 witnesses split equally for and against the bill.

One of those in favor was Ayrton Nicolas, 17, a senior at North Salem High School, who said his ambition is to be a neurosurgeon. Nicolas, a member of the Junior ROTC drill team, said he has been accepted by several colleges.

“Unfortunately, because of my legal status in America, my tuition costs are twice or sometimes three times more than that of my fellow classmates who I studied with, played sports with and volunteered with,” he said. “This cost is the only thing keeping me from chasing my dream.”

But Mark Callahan of Salem, who has twice run for the Oregon House from Eugene, was among those who opposed the bill. Read more about In-state tuition for immigrants heads to Senate vote

Tags:

jobs

deferred action

illegal aliens

tuition

Gov't acknowledges thousands released from jails

The Obama administration reversed itself Thursday, acknowledging to Congress that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget constraints during three weeks in February.

The director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, said his agency had released 2,228 illegal immigrants during that period for what he called "solely budgetary reasons." The figure was significantly higher than the "few hundred" immigrants the Obama administration had publicly acknowledged were released under the budget-savings process. He testified during a hearing by a House appropriations subcommittee.

Morton told lawmakers Thursday that the decision to release the immigrants was not discussed in advance with political appointees, including those in the White House or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said the pending automatic cuts known as sequestration was "driving in the background."

"We were trying to live within the budget that Congress had provided us," Morton told lawmakers. "This was not a White House call. I take full responsibility."

The Associated Press, citing internal budget documents, reported exclusively on March 1 that the administration had released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants since Feb. 15 and planned to release 3,000 more in March due to looming budget cuts, but Napolitano said days later that the AP's report was "not really accurate" and that the story had developed "its own mythology."

"Several hundred are related to sequester, but it wasn't thousands," Napolitano said March 4 at a Politico-sponsored event.

On March 5, the House Judiciary Committee publicly released an internal ICE document that it said described the agency's plans to release thousands of illegal immigrants before March 31. The document was among those reviewed by the AP for its story days earlier.

The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost about $164 per day per person. Immigrants who are granted supervised release _ with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices _ cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.

Morton said Thursday that among the immigrants released were 10 people considered the highest level of offender. Morton said that although that category of offender can include people convicted of aggravated felonies, many of the people released were facing financial crimes. Four of the most serious offenders have been put back in detention. Other people released include immigrants who had faced multiple drunken driving offenses, misdemeanor crimes and traffic offenses, Morton said.

After the administration challenged the AP's reporting, ICE said it didn't know how many people had been released for budget reasons but would review its records. Read more about Gov't acknowledges thousands released from jails

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Dorchester Conference 2013

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Mon, 03/11/2013

Over 200 people attended the 49th annual Dorchester Conference in Seaside, Oregon March 8, 9 and 10th. The conference is great opportunity for conservatives to get together, talk politics and have some fun. Check out our photos. Read more about Dorchester Conference 2013

HB 2787 - express yourself at the Capitol - March 19th @ 1:00pm

Alert date:

March 6, 2013

Alert body:

If you traveled to the Capitol early in the morning for the opportunity to testify against HB 2787 last time and never got to speak, there is another chance. The bill giving instate tuition benefits to illegal aliens has passed the House and moved to the Senate. The Senate has announced that there will be a hearing on HB 2787 at 1:00pm on Tuesday, March 19 in Hearing Room C. Bring quarters for the meter ($1.50 an hour).

This bill is misguided and unfair to US citizens from other states that would like the opportunity to attend an Oregon University. Please, take the time to come to Salem, testify or lend support to those who do. If you have questions about what to do, please call 503.435.0141.

Your Legislator is under constant pressure from illegal alien advocates to cave in to their demands. Ask your Legislator to stop this bill in its tracks. Oregon should not be usurping Federal law to grant benefits to a special group of illegal alien students.

California man found with 4.5 pounds of meth on a bus near Medford

A Stockton man was arrested Monday for allegedly carrying 4.5 pounds of methamphetamine on a bus passing through Medford.

Police received a tip that Flavio Jaimes-Toribio, 18, was hauling the meth north from California and into Oregon, Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement officials said in a news release.

Jaimes-Toribio was charged with delivery and possession of methamphetamine and lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $510,000 bail.

Flavio Jaimes-Toribio - ICE HOLD

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Rep. Esquival hits the nail on the head

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Tue, 03/05/2013

e southern
OREGON.com IBLOGS

Tuition equity unfair to citizens

The session has taken off like a rocket. Our office is flooded with meeting requests and we have been surprised by a number of visitors from home.

Tuition Equity –HB 2787 allowing Oregon students who are here illegally to pay in-state tuition for Oregon colleges.

As many of you know this is a difficult issue for me. I open my arms to anyone who wants to come to America but obeying the law is first and foremost. By encouraging students to stay here illegally, Oregon violates federal law.

“It is a violation of law for any entity to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection in any place, any illegal alien who is in the United States in violation of law. Harboring means any conduct that tends to substantially facilitate an alien to remain in the U.S. illegally. ”

If you are a U.S. citizen from another state you have to pay approximately $114,000 for out-of-state tuition – but Oregon colleges will accept students here illegally at approximately $32,000 per year. Basically I see this legislation as a direct discrimination against U.S. citizens.

In 2009 when I presented the legislation to allow U.S. veterans to receive instate tuition in Oregon schools there was a fiscal cost to the state of more than $7,000 per student per year. Interesting enough with HB2787, the carrier stated there was no fiscal impact involved. In other words it costs Oregon to have U.S. veterans attend at in-state rates but doesn’t cost for illegal students?

HB2787 passed the House 38-18.

Rep. Sal Esquivel

http://blogs.esouthernoregon.com/southern-oregon-legislators/2013/02/28/tuition-equity-unfair-to-citizens/

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