Forum on [Illegal] Immigrant Issues to Be Held Aug. 3

Cross posted from The Uncooperative Blogger

MY wife, who works for the State of Montana, received this gem today…

For immediate release
July 25, 2006

Forum on Immigrant Issues to Be Held in Helena

A one-day forum on issues faced by immigrants in Montana will be held Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena.

The purpose of the forum is to raise awareness and increase understanding of immigrant issues that exist in Montana. It also provides an opportunity for service providers, policymakers, advocates, and the immigrant community to have interactive discussions about the ability of immigrants to access governmental programs for which they are eligible and about the rights immigrants have under civil rights laws.

The forum is sponsored by federal, state, and local agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Montana Human Rights Network, the Montana Food Bank Network, and the state Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). The cost to register is $25, which includes breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.

The event will feature a presentation by Dinah Wiley, senior civil rights analyst with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Ms. Wiley will review key federal policies governing immigrant access to public benefit programs, with an emphasis on health and social services programs.

A lunchtime panel discussion will feature representatives from Montana immigrant advocacy groups, including the Montana Legal Services Association, Montana Food Bank Network, and Montana Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Council.

Participants will talk about what their organizations do and how they work with and for immigrants. They also will discuss the presence of immigrants in Montana, the fact that immigrants have rights to receive certain services, and how their organizations have improved the quality of life of the immigrants with whom they work.

Breakout sessions will address:

• Medicaid
• Racial and ethnic health disparities
• Mexican Consulate
• Housing/energy assistance
• Limited English proficiency
• Food assistance
• Immigration
• Domestic violence
• Labor/employment

During the morning session, Salvador Jimenez, Consul of Mexico in Salt Lake City, and Anna Whiting-Sorrell, policy adviser to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, will provide opening remarks.

To register, contact Brenda Falconer, DPHHS, at 406-444-7056 or bfalconer@mt.gov. The deadline to register is July 31.

For more information, contact Emily Prehm at 1-800-368-1019 or 303-844-7893, Emily.Prehm@hhs.gov or Hyla Schreurs at 1-800-368-1019 or 303-844-7508 Hyla.Schreurs@hhs.gov, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights.

What they should be saying is illegal alien invaders, not immigrants. Notice the programs they will be discussing, those are programs the brain dead in this country say illegal aliens cannot access.

How can they even discuss labor/employment when that is AGAINST THE LAW! They are also not entitled to Medicaid, so what is there to discuss here? If you don’t think this is about illegal alien invaders from Mexico than ask yourself, why is the Mexican Consolate involved in this “forum”?

I have some more whys for our government:

Why are you allowing the Mexican Consolate to help illegal aliens open bank accounts and get home loans? You would think giving a home loan to someone who faces deportation would be a high risk loan. Do they have some kind of assurances from our government?
Why do they allow them to give out consular cards for id or help illegals civily sue USA citizens and steal their land?

Why are they allowing these “forums” around the country?

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let Brian know at what level you would like to participate.**

Obrador Declares Self New President of Mexico!

Cross posted from Red Hot Cuppa Politics

So, Obrador has declared himself the new president of Mexico, although he lost by a small percentage during the elections, and the tribunal is not finished settling the election:

MEXICO CITY — Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who finished a close second in the disputed Mexican presidential balloting July 2, ratcheted up the election standoff Wednesday by declaring himself “the president of Mexico.”

Cesar Nava, a spokesman for ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón, who won the election by barely a half-percent of the 41 million votes cast, dismissed the claim as “messianic.”

The election results are before a federal electoral tribunal, where López Obrador, a left-leaning populist, has brought charges of widespread fraud and demanded a “vote-for-vote” recount …

Nava’s “messianic” tag echoed the criticism of López Obrador’s conservative opponents, who portray him as a threat to Mexico’s nascent democratic institutions.

“A true democrat respects the majority of the Mexicans, the electoral authorities and a peaceful solution to conflict,” Nava said.

López Obrador, waving off suggestions that his continuing electoral challenge is destabilizing the nation, vowed the protest movement he’s launched “will stay within the limits of nonviolence.”

Well, he’s taking a page from the Gore campaign, isn’t he? A hand re-count makes you win — particularly when partisan counters know exactly how many votes they need to achieve.

The Mexican electoral system is one of the best, and soundest in the world. But, I guess that doesn’t count when a conservative wins by a small margin.

Meanwhile, the absentee ballot system was declared a flop.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s first attempt at absentee voting was a flop, collecting a mere 33,111 ballots, but officials hope to make it cheaper and easier for Mexicans to vote from abroad in the next presidential election.

Millions of Mexicans living abroad were allowed to mail in presidential ballots for the first time in the July 2 election, a right migrants living in the United States spent years fighting for.

Electoral authorities counted 32,632 absentee ballots on July 2. Of those, 28,335 came from the United States - home to some 9 million Mexican expatriates. Officials annulled 479 ballots for irregularities

I guess not enough Mexican ex-pats living in the US bothered to vote. Or, maybe too many of them voted for the conservative candidate.

Click to the CoalitionBlog for the latest and freshest on illegal immigration. There’s an article in MorningCoffee about how a citizen of Elgin Illinois has demanded his local police do a better job of enforcing immigration laws (after a young girl was killed by a drunk driver). Border Pundit’s featuring other small towns that are tackling illegal immigration issues. Brian’s writing about how our fearless Congressional gerbils are trying to tackle a “comprehensive”

illegal immigration reform bill once again. BTW, Kay Bailey Hutchison was one of the Senators voting against funding the border fence. After she voted to build one. Take a quick look at ChristiKing’s pithy article on “America for Sale,” if you have a minute.

Incidentally, Kay Bailey Hutchison has a variety of press releases on alot of issues, but I don’t see one that rationalizes why she voted against funding the border fence. Have e-mailed, but will be awhile before the responding snail mail arrives. Will follow and let you know.

Finally, FrauBudgie correction about MinuteMen split. Apparently, the MinuteMen split back in June, 2005. Tarantulus of CAII posted a message from a MMP yahoo group member: Toward the end of the project it was decided that Chris would continue to focus on border security and Jim would focus on interior enforcement. Jimr etained use of the Minuteman Project name. Chris formed Minuteman Civil Defense Corps … My understanding is that Chris and Jim are currently working together onthe overall project and are each moving the project ahead in theirrespective areas

StetsonTip to Tarantulus, and to Brian — and my apologies. I hope the group is able to clean up the financial questions. Mistakes can be forgiven, and we need both Gilchrist and Simcox, particularly in the light of the new round Congressional cotillion two-steppin’.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let Brian know at what level you would like to participate.**