Blogger, filmmaker join forces to protest immigration policies
The politically-charged subject of illegal immigration and all the debate that surrounds it has led to the formation of yet another local grassroots group.
The makers of the YouTube documentary “9500 Liberty“ are combining with local blogger Alanna Almeda to protest policies recently implemented by Prince William County and Manassas directed toward illegal immigrants.
The group has yet to come up with the name, but around 75 people came out for the group’s first meeting at the Mexican restaurant El Portal in Woodbridge last Friday.
According to Almeda, the group plans on meeting for dinner every other Friday to discuss the direction of the group and to support area Hispanic businesses.
“By joining of the forces, I think we will have a powerful medium,” said Almeda, a stay-at-home mother of four in Haymarket who runs the political blog http://www.antibvbl.net. “They have video and we can provide the discussion with the blog. We’ll put those two things together to put message out there.”
“9500 Liberty” was created last year to stir up the immigration debate as county policy makers were in the midst of forming legislation to deny certain services to illegal immigrants. The documentary’s name specifically refers to a partially demolished house in Manassas that has sported numerous political messages regarding race, the county’s resolution and the city’s imminent involvement in the Immigration & Customs Enforcement 287(g) program.
Almeda said she supports the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center’s involvement in the 287(g) program, which helps process and deport criminal illegal immigrants. However, she said the resolution passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors last October as well the county and city’s involvement in the 287(g) program were fiscally unnecessary scare tactics.
Enforcing the resolution in the jail and on the streets, buying cameras for police cars, employing the criminal alien unit and restricting social services to illegal immigrants will cost the county an estimated $6.4 million in fiscal 2009, according to Prince William County spokeswoman Liz Bahrns.
“How can we spend more money on this than transportation improvements?” asked Almeda. “... It definitely has scared people, the resolution has already had its intended affect, to rid the county of Hispanics.”
Almeda started her Web site as a response to the political blog run by Greg Letiecq, the president of the anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Manassas. Almeda claims that she was shut out of posting on Letiecq’s blog, bvbl.net, because he didn’t like what she was posting online.
Consequently, Almeda created a nearly identical Web site with the opposite name.
On a recent post, Almeda thanked her supporters for showing up at the meeting. Many of the attendees at the first meeting are bloggers on antibvbl.net.
Almeda hopes many of those voices present at that meeting will be raised as the county goes through its budget process this month.
“The immigration resolution is a ‘failed’ experiment in Prince William County,” wrote Almeda on her blog. “Socially and fiscally, our county is crumbling under its pressure. Let’s talk about specific ways we believe we can move forward.”
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“Calling someone a racist is a judgment, and cannot be substantiated!“
Racism:
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Racist—one who prmotes or practices racism.
dictionary.com
There. Substantiated.
And I don’t have to do anything but watch videos and attend county meetings to see who and what groups are racist. They live up to the definition and we know who they are. Do these words sound familiar? “Invasion; our culture; brown faces; cancer in our society;deport them all.“ How about forming a group that takes policy from a hate group, markets it off the local politicians, and then screams for implementation without a vote from the general public?
I can go on. The motivations of these people are quite clear in this instance. No need to quote from my website.
Sure, illegals pay some taxes. That’s because they can’t be avoided. But the bulk of our taxes are paid via income taxes, which the vast majority are able to avoid by not having social security numbers or any sort of documentation.
The differences between historical references to illegal immigration and the current dilemma is two-fold: First, the poplulation of this nation wasn’t anywhere close to 300 million. Secondly, our resources weren’t stretched as thinly as they are now. Beyond that, there was no rule of law at that time. No governmental infrastructure, vaguely declared borders, and most importantly no declarations of national sovereignty by nations such as the United States and Mexico. The two situations aren’t even close to comparable.
Beyond that, the immigrants coming to the United States aren’t interested in becoming Americans. They want the priveleges and opportunities that this country provides, but they have scant desire to assimilate, learn the language, or embrace the American flag over all others. As Teddy Roosevelt prophetically stated in 1907:
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes
here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he
shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an
outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or
birthplace, or origin. But. this is predicated upon the man’s becoming
in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no
divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but
something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one
flag, the American flag ... and this excludes the red flag, which
symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it
excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have
room for but one language here, and that is the English language. And
we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is a loyalty to the
American people.“
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(kgotthardt)using the"RACIST” word is slanderous and hateful! FOLLLOW YOUR OWN POLICY!!!!!!!
KGotthardt:
PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH!
Calling someone a racist is a judgment, and cannot be substantiated!
“We cannot intrinsically know why a person would make one decision as opposed to another, and so we cannot presume to judge motives or character. Leave judgments to God, in whatever form you find Him, and in the meantime, do what you can to mend”.
Mark, do you know that many illegals pay taxes? Sales tax, personal property tax, business tax, state tax. By the way, the federal govt. gives out what they call an ITIN number so illegals file taxes every year. So you can stop that allegation about taking up our tax dollars. Do you know who is spent all of my tax dollars? PWC. That’s who!
I find the word “illegal” when applied to human beings distasteful. As I remember it, the Nazis made Jews illegal and the communists made kulaks illegal and both acts led to the killing of millions of persons. As I see it, most immigrants want to leave bad economic circumstances and move to something better. Therefore, please call these people “economic refugees” for that’s what they are.
Oh, and by the way this program is not affordable by the county at the present time. The tax rate is going up because the value of our property is going down. This program may have merit, but let’s wait until the county’s coffers are flush again.
But the illegal immigrants who allegedly “founded” this couuntry do have a rich racist past, don’t you agree? And it is passed down from generation to generation.
Everybody was an immigrant to the Americas according to fossil evidence from the Pacific coast, and commonly accepted Land Bridge proof between Eurasia and the Americas. Looks like everyone in the Americas is of European or Asian descent according to recent DNA evidence and of course recent mixing of the races in recent centuries, Spanish into Mexico and South America. One should always follow the laws of a country they are a visitor too, this includes illegal aliens as well albeit they are unwelcome visitors. Chris Cummings
LOL. dothetright thing, lots of people have called our chair and his buddy Stirrup racists. I’m proud to be one of those people.
Go Anti! Go Anti! Go 9500Liberty! Go!!! Rah! Rah! Rah! (visualize cheerleading pom-poms here)
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