Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2009

Follow the apocalypse in real-time


Google Maps has the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu map, which is updated in near real-time.


I guess it's too late to seal the border with Mexico. Horse. Barn. Door.


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Auditor: Financial Crisis caused by Open Border Policies


The Norfolk Crime Examiner features a startling interview with a mortgage contractor who "personally audited thousands of sub prime loans."

"Over 50% of the subprimes were for cash-out refi’s. Regardless of the loan criteria used to pull random samplings for audits, the majority of the last names were Hispanic. The loans I audited were primarily in CA, NV, AZ, FL, CO, compare those to the states with the highest number of foreclosures [and] illegal aliens."

Are these figures plausible? Most assuredly. A June 2007 MarketWatch article confirmed that "...[m]ore than half of subprime loans are actually cash-out refinance loans... we see subprime offers all-over the place: 'consolidate your debts' or 'tap you home's equity,' the ads read. As Lee puts it, why not pay off credit cards with 18% annual interest rates with a 9% loan?"

The auditor continued, "One borrower stole the [social security number] of a retiree and took out $3.5 million in loans, turned around and did cash-out refi’s, then fled the country. The retiree was left with ruined credit, $3.5 million in loans and trouble with the IRS."

Interestingly, cash-out refi's hit a 16-year high in late 2006.

Because subprime cash-out refi's were known to have higher default rates well before this, a reckoning could have been predicted by regulators.

"During the bailout, I called my Congressman and other leadership including Barney Frank and asked if there was a provision within the Bill that prohibited illegal aliens from being bailed out…..the answer was no. I asked if there was a provision in the Bill that helped homeowners that did not take out subprimes but are faced with losing their home due to the negative impact of subprimes and was told... no. So in other words, those that committed crimes to obtain the loans will get a helping hand to bail them out, compliments of the US [t]axpayer!"

"Of course, we all know that, on October 26, 2001, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act. However, I would wager to say that almost no one knows that contained in section 326(b) of the USA Patriot Act is a provision that allows US banks to accept Mexican Matricula Consular cards (MCCs) as a valid form of ID for opening bank accounts."

"It should be noted that while... Congress ordered American banks to recognize these Mexican-issued cards, there is not one Mexican bank which accepts their own government’s Matricula Consular card as a valid form of ID, because the bearer’s identity is basically untraceable."

In fact, members of the House Judiciary Committee confirm that Mexican banks do not accept Matricula Consular cards as valid identification.

In 2004, a Congressional effort to limit the use of MCCs was defeated by a consortium of financial institutions, immigrants’ rights groups, consumer groups, and many others. These organizations had formed a loose coalition to defeat, again, limitations on the use of consular ID cards by banks, credit unions, thrifts and other financial institutions.

By a vote of 222 to 177, the House passed a bipartisan amendment (HA 754), introduced by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Pastor (D-AZ), Hinojosa (D-TX), Oxley (R-OH) and Kolbe (R-AZ). It prohibited the Treasury Dept. from implementing regulations regarding the acceptance of FCCs by financial institutions.

But prior to that hearing, the FBI was adamantly opposed to the use of MCCs as valid identification. Assistant Director Steve McCraw's testimony before Congress in 2003 was blunt: "...consular ID cards are primarily being utilized by illegal aliens in the United States. Foreign nationals who are present in the U.S. legally have the ability to use various alternative forms of identification -- most notably a passport -- for the purposes of opening bank accounts..."

The FBI identified a variety of problems with MCCs:

* There was no centralized database of MCCs
* There were no interconnected, local databases of MCCs and, therefore, no way to authenticate the validity of a card
* MCCs could be obtained with little -- and sometimes -- no documentation whatsoever
* MCCs were easily forged (90% in circulation had no security features at all)

In 2003, Gabriel Manjarrez, Senior Vice President and Hispanic Marketing Executive of Bank of America testified before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. He explained, "...The first program I want to discuss is our initiative to accept the use of the Mexican consulate ID, the Matricula Consular. We developed this initiative [in 2001] because we wanted to make it easier for Mexican citizens living in the USA to have access to banking services from Bank of America... Today, every single Bank of America banking center recognizes the Matricula Consular as a valid form of identification."

At least a dozen U.S. banks and mortgage insurers offered home loan programs targeted at illegal aliens.

And anecodotal evidence would appear to confirm alarming abuse of the system; the infamous $720,000 mortgage to two pairs of illegal immigrants with a combined annual income of less than $50,000 comes to mind.

Consider the findings of the auditor: "Over 50% of the sub primes were for cash-out refi’s. Regardless of the loan criteria used to pull random samplings for audits, the majority of the last names were Hispanic. The loans I audited were primarily in CA, NV, AZ, FL, CO, compare those to the states with the highest number of foreclosures & illegal aliens."

* * * * * * * * *

Now that we -- the taxpayers -- have ownership stakes in most of the large banks, I have three very simple questions for the new stewards of the banks -- our Congress:

What's the total percentage of subprime loans that have defaulted?
What's the total percentage of subprime loans that used a Matricular Consular card as the primary ID that have defaulted?
And how is it that Barney Frank -- who appears to be at the intersection of every legislative and regulatory failing of the mortgage system -- isn't being investigated by every agency in the country?

The answers to these questions would appear to be critical to the avoidance of future catastrophes. I would recommend that you contact your own banker and your fine, upstanding representatives in Congress. This would seem a good subject to cover on 15 April.


Hat tip: Steve Sailer.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Sheriff Arpaio to Sharpton and ACORN: Stick It


Dawn Teo, writing at the usually execrable PuffHo, offers a reasonably balanced look at an Arizona controversy over supposed racial profiling. Al Sharpton and ACORN have called on Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign... "or else".

Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton and ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis jumped into the fray Tuesday, threatening to bring their vast national networks to march in the streets of Phoenix if Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), does not resign immediately.

In a national press event held via teleconference, civil rights leaders railed about Arpaio's immigration enforcement tactics, charging that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) engages in racial profiling, police brutality, and human rights violations. Speakers included Sharpton, Lewis, NAACP leaders, and other well-known civil rights activists.

Sharpton and Lewis vowed to come to Arizona personally if Arpaio does not resign immediately. Arpaio called a press conference in response and told local media that a small group of vocal opponents is trying to intimidate him by publicly calling him and his officers racists.

Arpaio seemed not to know Al Sharpton, saying, "What is his name? Sharpton? He wants me to resign? Have I got news for him. He can stick that in his pipe and smoke it."

Arpaio went on to say that Sharpton is "living in a fantasyland," adding, "I will never resign."

Sharpton, of course, had no comments to offer regarding Texas police officers Rick Salter (critically wounded), Rodney Johnson (KIA) and Stuart Jay Alexander (KIA), recent casualties of illegal aliens and a lawless, porous border region.

And speaking of 'racial profiling', I wonder when news outlets that offer the despicable Sharpton a bully pulpit will ask him about these incidents?

1991: A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin's funeral he rails against the "diamond merchants" -- code for Jews -- with "the blood of innocent babies" on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, "No justice, no peace." A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting "Kill the Jews!" and stabbed to death.

1995: When the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy's Fashion Mart, Freddy's white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. "We will not stand by," he warns malignantly, "and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Sharpton's National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy's are spat on and cursed as "traitors" and "Uncle Toms." Some protesters shout, "Burn down the Jew store!" and simulate striking a match. "We're going to see that this cracker suffers," says Sharpton's colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy's, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.

If Sharpton were a white skinhead, he would be a political leper, spurned everywhere but the fringe. But far from being spurned, he is shown much deference. Democrats embrace him. Politicians court him. And journalists report on his comings and goings while politely sidestepping his career as a hatemongering racial hustler.

Arpaio is a 25-year veteran of the DEA. I'll take his word over that of ACORN and Sharpton any day of the week.


Friday, March 27, 2009

Clinton's Words "Go Over Well in Mexico"


Hillary Clinton is on a world pantsuit tour, visiting random countries while insulting the United States. Of course, her disrespect of the U.S. always goes over well in other countries.

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers, and civilians," she said.

Gee, I wonder if a frickin' wall would help? A wall might reduce the transfer of firearms, drugs and illegal immigrants, right?

And anyone else find it odd that ACORN will net roughly $3 billion from the "stimulus" package, while no one can locate a damn dime for a fence?

She continued, blathering on to scattered applause, "I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."

Yes, judges and cops are getting beheaded in Mexico. But, strangely enough, not a damn thing is happening in Canada. No beheadings, no drug gangs, no machine guns...

Clinton is mending fences for the United States, at least. Headlines from Mexico's Excelsior and Financiero, and even the anti-yanqui Cuban press, hailed Clinton's admission that the U.S. has a role in the problem. Now what's President Obama going to do about it?

She praised their carbon trading and their efforts in combating "global warming"... but then joked that she wouldn't drink the water.

Yep, it's America's fault that Mexico's drug gangs are whacking city officials, beheading cops, and making life a living hell in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican cities.

Now that I think about it... it's always America's fault if you're a Democrat.



Monday, March 23, 2009

La Delgada Línea Azul


Earlier this month, undercover Houston cop Richard Salter and two fellow officers cautiously approached a tiny, battered east end house.

An informant had warned police that the East Avenue home was used for drug trafficking.

What they did not know is that an armed man, Wilfido Joel Alfaro, lay in wait.

Alfaro was watching a 50-inch flat screen -- part of a sophisticated security system that had cost as much as the house itself -- while police officers approached. He saw their every move.

Salter and two other officers were there to serve a drug warrant in the 9300 block. They loudly announced themselves while taking down the burglar bars.

Without warning, Salter was shot in the face after stepping through the doorway.

Alfaro was gunned down by police officers after Salter had been hit.

An illegal alien, Alfaro had been arrested five times for possession or delivery of drugs – including three times after an immigration judge granted him “voluntary departure” in March 2001.

Alfaro had left the country after serving time on the first felony drug charge. Alfaro was arrested again in 2002 in Pearland, and again in 2003 on a drug charge in Angleton, according to authorities.

Why wasn't Alfaro's status as a repeat offender and illegal alien available to Salter before serving the warrant?

Because Houston's mayor and police chief, Bill White and Harold Hurtt, refuse to participate in the federal 287(G) program that allows the law enforcement and immigration enforcement communities to share information.

The Houston Chronicle reports that White and Hurtt continually kowtowed to special interests and helped reinforce the policies that solidified Houston's reputation as a "Sanctuary City".

Last year, HPD jailers detained for immigration officials less than 1 percent of the 58,774 suspects booked... [in an email from] Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt to White ... reported “several thousand” illegal immigrants eligible for deportation had passed through the city’s lockups.

Police officials who requested anonymity told the Chronicle that an immigrant with a criminal history similar to the Salvadoran man who shot Officer Richard Salter might today be able to slip through the cracks if he was picked up by HPD on a minor offense.

Other officials express frustration and anger for the failure of White and Hurtt to adopt the federal 287(G) program that allows sharing of law enforcement and immigration information. A city council member said, "My constituents and citizens across the area are screaming out for illegal immigrants to be dealt with, and especially those who commit crimes."

After the Salter shooting this month, a police union official asked, "I don’t know... how many people have to be killed before we stand up and do our part?"

The union official had a point. In 2006, the murder of Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson by an illegal immigrant was basically ignored by White and Hurtt. According to KHOU 11 News, a week later White claimed that "high-level meetings" would occur and that "procedures would be reviewed". In effect, it appears nothing happened.

And just days ago in Corpus Christi, 20-year veteran of the force, police officer Stuart Jay Alexander was killed by a reported member of the gang MS-13.

* * *

Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, says enforcement of immigration laws in the United States is "un-American."

Pelosi failed to specify which laws she feels are worth enforcing.

And Pelosi says men and women like Officer Salter, who risk their lives to protect American citizens from drug gangs run by illegal immigrants, are thugs.

Pelosi and the rest of the open-border Democrats should publicly apologize to the families of all fallen officers, starting with the family of Officer Rick Salter.

For it is the Democrats' open border policies that put our police officers -- and all of us -- at risk.

Because if these scumbags go after police officers, there are truly no limits.

Just say no to the open-borders policies of the Democrats. Just say no to the disgusting treatment of our men and women in blue.

Apologize, Nancy Pelosi. Apologize. And start protecting our police officers and our citizens as is your Constitutional duty. Or just resign.

* * *

Please consider donating to the family of critically wounded Officer Rick Salter, a 27-year veteran of the Houston Police Department who is married with two children. Any amount, large or small, is appreciated.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Immigrants and the Pelosicrats



For centuries, it's been part of the American story.


Immigrants came here from every corner of the globe.


Yearning to be free and seeking a better life for themselves and their families.


They worked hard, embraced our culture, and helped make America great.


Republicans believe all immigrants should be welcomed here, provided they play by the rules.


But too often today, people enter our country illegally.


Their first act: to break our laws.


Too many Democrats want to reward them with citizenship if they pay a meaningless fine.


Selling American citizenship?


That means millions of illegals would get legal status more quickly than those who followed the rules.


On top of that, they would get Government benefits, paid for by your tax dollars:


Billions of dollars in social security and Medicare benefits.


There's a right way to come to America and a wrong way.


Democrats don't seem to know the difference.


Or, if they do know, they don't seem to care.


But, if you care, then there's only one choice.

Stop the open-borders agenda of the Pelosicrats. Let your representative hear your voice.


Hat tip: Rep. Jon Kline (hat tip: Powerline).