Archive for the 'Immigration' Category

ILLEGAL

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Not that you would know it from any of the other news coverage out there, but Noe Gonzalo Mendez-Perez, the deceased driver of the Chevy Surburban that was involved in a horrific crash Saturday night at the intersection of Route 9 and Route 30 in Georgetown, was here illegally. Also, Apoliar Gutierrez Santico, the man who fled the scene, was here illegally. From WGMD News:

State police have charged a Laurel man with leaving the scene of the five-vehicle accident near Georgetown that killed four people. Police say 38-year-old Apoliar Gutierrez-Santico surrendered to police Monday morning. Other charges against him include driving without a license and failure to have proof of insurance. Police say he was driving a car that was struck during the chain reaction crash. The crash happened Saturday night at the intersection of Routes 9 and 30. Three of those killed were inside an SUV that rear-ended a car, sending it into the car driven by Gutierrez-Santico. His car also struck another vehicle. The driver of the first car, 29-year-old Rolanda Ayers of Lewes, also died. The operator of the SUV has been identified as 30 year-old Noe Gonzalo Mendez-Perez of Georgetown. Both Gutierrez-Santico and Mendez-Perez were in the country illegally. LINK 

The two passengers of Mendez-Perez’s SUV have not been identified yet. They were burned beyond recognition. Everyone else involved in the crash was a citizen of the United States, including Rolanda Ayers of Lewes who was also killed.

According to Cpl. Wes Barnett of the Delaware State Police, the cause of the crash is still being investigated.

From all accounts to date, it appears that Mendez-Perez failed to stop at the intersection, hit the cars in front of him, and triggered the crash. Why? We don’t know. But this is where we need to really stop and understand why it’s so important that people who are in the United States are here legally.

What if Mendez-Perez simply had poor eyesight, something that would have been caught at the DMV, something that could have been corrected with glasses? What if he had a history of traffic problems, like maybe a string of DUIs? Maybe Mendez-Perez was someone who wouldn’t have qualified for a driver’s license in Delaware even if he was a citizen.

The situation is unacceptable.We need to have a population of people living under the same laws. We also need a population that goes through the same processes to get certain privileges, like a driver’s license. It’s that simple.

Beautiful Downtown Milford

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

I took some time to enjoy the wonderful sunshine and take a lunchtime walk around Milford Delaware.  With my trusty camera in hand I snapped these photo gems:

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 This is the back of a local doctors office.  It started first as “SSV”  (South Side Vatos), then the other groups sought to mark the territory with the “18″ and the “crown” plus all the other garbage on top.

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ESA appears around town usually near or over top of SSV.  Here is a blurb from Yahoo Answers:

When a gang member calls another gang member an “Esa” or “SA” What does it mean?
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
It is written ESE because it is the sound of the letter S in Spanish. S for sureano meaning southerner! It is often used by gang members(Mexican American/Chicanos) mostly in California to refer to their fellow members or friends. It is not, however, used by Mexicans in Mexico nor is it typically used by Mexicans that move to the US. They will be very offended by the term! The word can also be offensive if you are not Hispanic. (It is like using the N word for a friend and you are not black!) Do not assume all Hispanics are Mexican or that all Mexican use this word so my advice is not to use it!

My husband and both brother in laws HATE this word and they are from Mexico!

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Can you translate any of this?

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No it’s not the movie from the 80’s called “Goonies”.  More gang stuff.  Not sure if it’s a Crip subset or a Blood subset.  I find different meanings on the net. 

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“F Crips” “Goonies” “Blood For Life”  So, maybe these are Bloods, saying “F” the Crips?

This is a large sized spray paint area, maybe 15′ X 20′.  Near the library and behind an arcade.

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Large on side of a house.  South Side Vatos

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It’s nice to see the city with so much “art on display”. 

030508-1-069.jpgGood ol’ East Coast Mafia

I have more…but you get the picture.  I hope Milford gets the picture too, and starts a clean up campaign. 

 

 

 

The Tale Of An Iraqi Boy And A US Soldier

Monday, December 24th, 2007

I wanted to share this story that I read about a US soldier, a single man, who opened his heart to an Iraqi boy with cerebral palsy:

Capt. Scott Southworth knew he’d face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad’s most dangerous areas. But he didn’t expect Ala’a Eddeen.

Ala’a was 9 years old, strong of will but weak of body _ he suffered from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds. He lived among about 20 kids with physical or mental disabilities at the Mother Teresa orphanage, under the care of nuns who preserved this small oasis in a dangerous place.

On Sept. 6, 2003, halfway through his 13-month deployment, Southworth and his military police unit paid a visit to the orphanage. They played and chatted with the children; Southworth was talking with one little girl when Ala’a dragged his body to the soldier’s side. READ MORE HERE…

Justice For The Deer In The Headlights

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Earlier today, WGMD News reported the story of three men arrested by the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife for spotlighting deer:

Three men have been charged with spotlighting and killing deer in Fenwick Island. Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Agents arrested 28 year old Manuel Galvan, 32 year old Ariosto Lopez and 36 year old Javier Mendez on Wednesday after receiving a complaint about spotlighting. Each of the men face a variety of charges and officials also seized a truck and .22 caliber rifle as evidence. All three are being held at SCI in default of $3500 dollars secured bond.

Since then, and after making more phone calls than a teenager on a Friday night, WGMD has learned that the trio of deer poachers were in the United States illegally. Here’s what we know so far:

- The Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement had to make the determination as to whether or not the men were legally in the USA.

- The men are “Mexican nationals.” This was determined by ICE (much cooler name than “INS,” by the way), as the men sat at the Sussex Correctional Institution.

- Only one of the men had a driver’s license. The license was from Florida. Florida is one of the few states that will issue a driver’s license to an illegal immigrant. Big thanks to the Sunshine State for aiding a series of criminal acts with their slacker policy.

- The three were caught in Fenwick Island “spotlighting” deer, which is illegal. No one had a hunting license. They killed an antlerless deer that did not have a tag. Some of the other charges against them are shooting near a road, hunting out of season, and conspiracy. They were hunting with a .22 caliber rifle, which is also illegal.

- They were apparently not shooting from their truck, but they did throw the deer in the truck, and the truck has been seized.

- The .22 caliber rifle was the only weapon they were caught with. But that still begs the question as to how people in the USA and Delaware illegally got their hands on a rifle like that.

- The Delaware Fish and Wildlife officers were unable to communicate with the armed criminals because of a language barrier. They had to get an officer from Laurel to translate. What an incredibly dangerous situation for our men and women at Fish and Wildlife, fully armed people who can’t understand each other face to face in the middle of a crime scene.

- According to Michael Gilhooly from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the men may be entitled to a hearing, but when the State is finished with them, ICE will take them into custody and deport them, which is eerily similar to the way law abiding citizens of the United States want situations like this to be handled.

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Dramatic reenactment of the deer’s final moments.

So “thank you” to Delaware Fish and Wildlife and ICE for administering some much needed justice. At a time when Delawareans are getting ready for a wave of regulations and financial costs associated with the State’s new Salt Water Fishing License, it’s nice to know that this is at least one area where being a lawful US citizen is an advantage. I’m sure that deer would totally agree with me.

Alan Levin on WGMD

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

Possible Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Alan Levin, was live and local on WGMD Radio Wednesday. Levin was joined by Costal Conservative Judson Bennett and a friend, and Sussex County Coulcilman Vance Phillips stopped by before we went on the air to show his support for Levin. 

The questions I asked Mr. Levin came from people around Sussex County…some were submitted by e-mail, some I sought out, some questions were asked by live callers, and Mike Protack, who may face Levin in a primary, stopped by the station earlier in the day to drop off his question.

HIGHLIGHT CLIPS: 

Alan Levin expresses his displeasure at the deal made between DNREC and NRG Energy, calling it “wrong.”  You can check out what he said HERE.

If you want to know if Alan Levin’s campaign contributions are a reflection of his voting record, you can LISTEN HERE.

A short and sweet summary of what Levin thinks should be done about the DSTP (the Delaware State Testing Program), can be heard by clicking HERE.

My favorite clip from Mr. Levin’s visit has to be when he urges Delawareans not to be “embarrassed” by Delaware Senator Joe Biden.  You can LISTEN to that classic clip HERE.

THE INTERVIEW:

I’ve broken down the interview by question, and it’s in the order the questions were asked, so without further ado, here is Alan Levin answering Delmarva’s questions:

Are you running for Governor?  LISTEN

If you run, what would prompt you to do it?  LISTEN

Question from a Cape educator on the DSTP:  LISTEN

Local Sussex Countian, Bob Coleman’s question about illegal immigration:  LISTEN

A live caller asks about the cigarette tax:  LISTEN

Rich Collins from the Positive Growth Alliance has a question about free enterprise:  LISTEN

Alan Levin answers Judson Bennett’s question about infrastructure:  LISTEN

Most Frequent Caller, Frank, asks Levin about his campaign contributions to Delaware Democrats and about casino gambling in Delaware. LISTEN

Sussex County doctor and small business owner, Dr. Jeff Hawtoff, has a question about health insurance:  LISTEN

A question from a “concerned citizen” about the deal between DNREC and NRG Energy:  LISTEN

Steve Elkins from Camp Rehoboth has a question about civil rights:  LISTEN

Mike Protack, who Alan Levin will meet in a GOP primary for Governor if Levin decides to run, has his question answered:  LISTEN

A live caller asks Levin a more in depth question about illegals:  LISTEN

Captain Bill Baker’s question was about the new salt water fishing license, and Mr. Levin admitted to not knowing the answer, he’ll get back to us on this one:  LISTEN

Levin answers Dr. Jeff Hawtoff’s question about the 2 hour delay for emergency neonatal transportation in Sussex County:  LISTEN

A “concerned citizen’s” question about nuclear power in Delaware is addressed:  LISTEN

And these are Mr. Levin’s final comments to the people in WGMD’s listening area:  LISTEN

I’d like to thank everyone who submitted questions for Alan Levin, some of which I didn’t get a chance to ask…but maybe next time….

Racist Watermelon Soda

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

I thought racist stereotypes in advertising art went out with Jim Crow.  I bought this soda yesterday in Milford, Delaware at a Spanish/Caribbean market that caters to the local Hispanic population.  This is 2007 right?

 

When Catching Crabs Goes Wrong

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

From WGMD News:

DNREC officials say since 2005 seven adult Chinese mitten crabs have been documented as being caught in both the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. They say that last week commercial crabbers did catch four mitten crabs, which are a potentially invasive species. DNREC asks that if you do catch a Chinese Mitten Crab – document the exact location it was caught and either freeze or ice it – or take a close-up photo and report it to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. They also advise NOT to release the crab alive – officials call the Chinese mitten crab an injurious species which has the potential to cause ecological and economic damage.

These are the horrid creatures in question:

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Thanks to DNREC for the photos.

These nasty invaders are competing with our beloved Maryland blue crab for food, and I love soft-shelled blue crabs on the grill in the summer….

Softies on the Grill

Take a cleaned, soft-shelled Maryland blue crab, brush it with olive oil, put a little horseradish under it’s flaps, salt and pepper to taste, toss it on the grill till done.

So as you can see the situation is desperate.

TB Terrorist

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

So a man decides his wedding and honeymoon are more important than anyone’s health…never mind his own…sprints through several countries to Greece and back, sneaks in via Canada when the CDC tell him he is NOT to fly aboard commercial airlines, drives from Montral to the US and, courtesy of the CDC is taken to Atlanta to be hospitalized. Now airlines, several countries, an hotel and who knows how many others are on a search for those who had close contact with this…pompous jerk. He calls himself a “successful, intelligent man” yet freely admits that when told he had to turn himself into Italian health authorities…”…you’re nuts! I wasn’t going to do that!”

Okay, so “they” say he isn’t a threat despite the fact that it was already termed a “fatal form of the disease” as well as “rare” and drug resistant. Oh…that’s reassuring…and NOT the point. Currently under armed guard quarantine in Atlanta, he’s got the nerve to be choked that he’s being guarded. Why? And why is he not being prosecuted? Anyone else who threatened GBH would be…and rightly so. This man…not only is he as bad, he’s worse. And certainly not what I would call intelligent.

Me, I’d do the same with him as has been done with other, most of them only so-called Domestic Terrorists…lock him up, let him sit and wait a trial that could take a few years and let’s see how “intelligent” he thinks he is, then. 

Legitimate Question or Shot in the Dark

Friday, March 16th, 2007

Given the news today I have to wonder if anyone checked into the possibility that those who tested positive on the PPD’s had ever had the BCG vaccination? Many countries take this preventative step, including some, if not all, of the Latin American countries, Sweden, several Eastern European countries and, if not now at one time, the UK. Were I to be tested tomorrow I’d show positive because, at thirteen years of age British schoolchildren were, with parental consent, vaccinated for such. In more recent years, many children were vaccinated against TB in infancy.

I could see where the problem might arise. Not long after I arrived in this country a family member was exposed to someone found to have TB. PPD was carried out, tested positive and made to daily medication for one full year even though he did not have active TB. Then again, as a toddler, his mother had had it, he probably contracted it then which served only to scar his lungs. Since he had a family, we had to then also be tested at the time he was ordered to take the medication. I went for the skin test, told the nurse I would likely test positive, she asked why and ridiculed me for my response. A nurse…and she was not aware that there was such a thing as a BCG vaccination nor the positive Tyne or Heaf tests following. I did have to have the second PPD which, of course, showed positive. On my return for the reading she was insistent upon me taking the same medication for a year until I insisted on discussing this with someone perhaps more qualified. I finally succeeded and the corpsman concurred with me, suggesting the nurse do a little more research. This wasn’t a small medical practice…this was at a military dispensary with a civilian, registered nurse. Thank heavens for a navy corpsman. At the same time, shot records had to be red-flagged so that further PPD’s not be given. What I didn’t know at that time was if one has had a Tyne/Heaf test, vaccination and then the subsequent Tyne/Heaf test for results, no other skin tests should be given.

Today, the thirty-three ’suspects’ were cleared. Did somebody panic, others jump to conclusion and I can’t help but wonder…did anyone know enough to ask if those people had ever been vaccinated in the past? Let’s hope the news today calms others amongst us, down.

Delaware Citizens for Immigration Control

Friday, January 5th, 2007

Elsmere Councilman John Jaremchuk (who ran unsucessfully in the 13th representive district in 2006) has formed a new state-wide organization called “Delaware Citiznes for Imigration Control” to deal with the problems caused by illiegal immiagrants in the first state.

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Jaremchuk says meetings will most likely be held in Kent County. Delaware Citizens for Immigration Control are currently seeking like-minded Delawarians as new members state-wide.

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Jaremchuk championed the cause against illegal immigration in a 2005 proposed Elsmere town ordinance which would fine landlords and employers for knowingly employing or housing illegal immigrants.

Jaremchuk says that the problems facing Delaware in the illegal immigration struggle effect us all.

“These problems run the gamit from anything from code violations; being too many people living in a residential unit, to parking on grass, all the way up to gang problems and murder resulting from gang problems,” Jaremchuk tells WGMD. “In addition to that you’ve got the economic problems caused by it, which is depressing the wages of indiduals who are US citizens. Also, the cost of healthcare, which effects all of us. Also, the cost of education.”

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Jaremchuk says that illegal immigration has fostered the growth of gangs up-state Delaware. He says the recent controversy regarding gangs on Delmarva is a moot discussion. Speaking from his upstate experience, he says it’s simply a matter of time before a gang presence is felt in Sussex County.

“They want to bury their heads in the sand and say we don’t want to see a problem, therefore we don’t see a problem,” he says. “As far as MS-13 is concerned, to say they won’t be in our area or not in our area right now, I think is playing the ostrich roll.”

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For more information, you can visit the Delaware Citizens for Immigration Control website (currently under construction) at www.delcic.org or call 302-994-3455

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