October
19, 2007
From
the Desk of Judicial Watch President Tom
Fitton:
JW
Complaint Leads to Illegal Alien Arrests
A few
weeks ago, I told you that Judicial Watch filed a complaint with
Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff Joe Arpaio on behalf of
Phoenix
businesses
who are being harassed and victimized by illegal aliens.
Sheriff Arpaio promised to take action, and this week he made good
on his word.
On
October 15, Sheriff Arpaio, widely known as “
America
’s
toughest Sheriff” for his no-nonsense approach to illegal
immigration, arrested
six illegal aliens during routine traffic stops
near 36th
Street
and Thomas
Road in
Phoenix
.
Of course, the arrests caused an uproar on the part of
illegal immigration activists who have threatened protests and
boycotts in response.
Sheriff
Arpaio was forced to take action because Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon
and the Phoenix Police Department completely abandoned their
responsibilities, refusing to punish solicitation, trespass,
loitering, littering and public health ordinance violations by
dozens of “day laborers” congregating in the district.
Actually,
it’s even worse than that. When frustrated Phoenix business
owners, organized as the “36th and Thomas Coalition,”
hired off-duty police officers to do the job the Phoenix Police
Department refused to do, Mayor Gordon intervened. During a
meeting in his office, the mayor issued an ultimatum: Either
drop the enforcement efforts, which were extremely effective, or
face continued protests and boycotts. And so, the problems
continued.
Judicial
Watch then took action, filing a formal
complaint with Sheriff Arpaio, leading to the recent
arrests. Our lead investigator Chris Farrell
led the citizen delegation that met with Sheriff
Arpaio in Phoenix
.
When
questioned by the media, Mayor Gordon issued a tepid endorsement
of Sheriff Arpaio’s actions: “The Sheriff is using his
resources as he believes, but he also has officers that are
trained as federal immigration agents that have the legal ability
to do certain things that our officers don't,” the mayor
said. (In other words, “Don’t blame
us!”)
This
is pure hogwash. Every local police officer is empowered to
uphold the rule of law and ought to cooperate with federal
officials on immigration matters. However, if the mayor is
concerned about his police department’s lack of training in
immigration enforcement, he is more than welcome to take advantage
of the federal government’s training program, 287(g),
created for this purpose. The program lasts five weeks and
costs approximately $520 per
officer.
In the
meantime, I hope the rest of
America
learns a lesson from Sheriff Arpaio’s
strict law enforcement approach to the illegal immigration crisis.
Hillary’s
Campaign Leads the Way in Donor Refunds
New
campaign finance reports indicate that Hillary Clinton’s
fundraising operation is up to its old tricks, raising funds from
suspicious and corrupt sources. This according to The
Washington Times:
“Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton's presidential campaign has cut nearly $1.3 million in
refund checks to hundreds of donors since July 1 — more than
triple what the rest of the Democratic field returned to
supporters combined, new campaign filings show. Mrs. Clinton
returned nearly 700 contributions to individual donors, including
$804,850 to 249 donors linked to disgraced Democratic fundraiser
Norman Hsu.”
(In case you need a
refresher
on Hsu, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of grand theft in
1991, and failed to show up for sentencing. He fled
California
and reappeared in
New
York several years later
as an apparel executive and major Democratic donor. Hsu was
charged last month by federal authorities for creating a $60
million Ponzi scheme. He also faces charges of using “straw
donors” to contribute to Hillary and other Democrats and
threatening investors who refused to support his favorite
candidates.)
So, why would a
political campaign choose to return funds to donors? Usually
because the contributions are illegal and the campaigns don’t want
to get hammered by the press over their corrupt fundraising
practices.
And how do the other
presidential candidates stack
up to Hillary in terms of refunded donations?
Democrats:
Obama ($193,599), Edwards ($75,706), Richardson ($29,285), all
others combined (less than $10,000).
Republicans:
Giuliani ($221,959), Romney ($267,709), Thompson ($97,480).
In
other words, even if you take Hsu, Hillary’s leading fundraiser,
out of the equation, Hillary would still double the amount of
returned contributions of any other candidate in the race.
Another record for Clinton corruption!
I’ve
said this many times, but it bears repeating. When it comes
to the Clintons
, what
is past is prologue. They have cheated
the system time and time again in past political campaigns,
and this campaign is no different.
Reporters
should take the lead and ask Hillary tough questions about her and
her husband’s fundraising practices. But they won’t.
That’s why Judicial Watch is so aggressive in its investigation of
Hillary’s
records from the first Clinton
administration,
which are currently housed at the Clinton Presidential Library in
Little
Rock ,
Arkansas
.
In fact, our investigations team is down in
Little
Rock as I
write this week’s update, reviewing records related to Hillary’s
botched attempt to stage a government takeover of the nation’s
healthcare system in 1993. Whatever we find, you can rest
assured that we will release it to the American people as soon as
possible.
I’ll
have more updates for you on our Hillary-related investigations
soon…
Prince
William
County
, VA Passes Measures Against Illegal Immigration
While
some local communities across the country have chosen to respond
to the illegal immigration invasion with sanctuary policies and
other incentive programs, here’s one local community that’s
getting it right.
This
week, the Prince
William
County
,
Virginia
,
Board of Supervisors, which consists of six republicans and two
democrats, voted 8-0
to deny some public services to illegal aliens, including rental
and mortgage assistance and a county jail substance prevention
program. The Board denied access to business licenses for
illegals and voted to create a new Criminal Alien Unit, which will
dedicate seven new officers and approximately $1 million to
enforcing immigration laws. This new unit will also
participate in the 287(g) program designed to train local police
officers in immigration enforcement techniques.
According
to John
Stirrup, the county supervisor spearheading these policies,
"We could have done more…but it's a good start, and another
step.” I’ll say.
Last
summer, the Prince
William County
board voted to allow local police officers to
ask residents if they were in the
United
States
legally, and to arrest and turn them over
to federal immigration authorities if they lacked the proper
documentation.
The
unanimous vote early Thursday morning followed an emotional
12-hour marathon county meeting which included more than 350
speakers from both sides. Unruly illegal alien activists
attempted to disrupt the proceedings with shouts of “racist” and
“xenophobe,” while instigating scuffles in the streets, but they
were ultimately unsuccessful in their bid to intimidate the
elected officials. The controversy, of course, has captured
the attention of the national media.
There
is no question in my mind that Judicial Watch’s work on the
illegal immigration issue in Herndon,
Virginia, and elsewhere
has provided the impetus for local officials in
Prince William
County to take
on the issue of illegal immigration. That has been our goal
from the very beginning, to inspire local officials to follow our
lead and help enforce federal immigration laws. It appears
to be working.
Still,
powerful illegal immigrant special interest groups are prepared to
challenge these new policies. In fact, the Puerto Rican
Legal Defense Fund has already filed a lawsuit in federal
court. Judicial Watch will continue to monitor the situation
and will consider its legal options as well. Stay tuned…
Please Support
Judicial Watch
Earlier
this week, I sent you a request
to support Judicial Watch and I highlighted our immigration
enforcement and anti-government corruption work. To those of
who have responded with a generous contribution, thank you.
If you
get this update each week, you see the breadth and depth of our
public interest work to uphold the rule of law. All of our
efforts – litigation, investigation, and education – have real
costs. Judicial Watch relies on individuals like yourself to
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page and give a contribution (which is
tax-deductible to the full extent of the law). I think it is
important to have Judicial Watch keeping an eye on things here in
Washington
and states across the
USA
– and I hope you do, too.
Until
next week.
Tom
Fitton
President
Judicial Watch is a non-partisan,
educational foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue code. Judicial Watch is dedicated to fighting
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