B.A.N. Blog

Newly appointed Ban Amnesty Now President, Sen. Russell Pearce, tonight kicked off his new radio show, "The Russell Pearce Show" sponsored by Ban Amnesty Now on KFNX News Talk Radio. The show is broadcast live in Phoenix and is heard on 1100AM statewide in Arizona and nation/worldwide online at the KFNX website.

In addition to extensive local print and blog media coverage of Pearce assuming presidential responsibilities at the nation's fastest growing anti-illegal immigration organization, a number of media outlets picked up on Sen. Pearce's new radio show, including Phoenix's own ABC news affiliate, Channel 15 News, whose talented Christopher Sign interviewed Pearce in-studio prior to his innaugural show.


While B.A.N.'s previous radio show, hosted by yours truly, was already number one in the evenings for conservative talk radio, we were inundated throughout the show with a constant stream of callers, emails, facebook posts and texts from BAN fans and concerned citizens who want to get involved.

Not only are we proud of the job Sen. Pearce is doing as president, but we're proud of all the support Arizonans, and Americans, are showing. Without you, none of what we accomplish together would ever be possible!

With just her signature, Gov. Brewer can change the American political landscape.  HB 2177 has already passed the Arizona State House and State Senate. The legislation would require candidates for the highest office in the land to prove their qualifications.

Among those qualifications, candidates for United States President must have been born in the United States – or at least on a military base near the Panama Canal, in Sen. John McCain’s case.

Alas, despite having been elected, Mr. Obama has seen fit to show little proof to the American people that he is, himself, an American. At least by birth. If he was born in Hawaii, where is the certificate? Why do their seem to be more people in Kenya who remember his birth than here in America?

Whatever the case, it is not for us at BAN AMNESTY NOW or the Conservative Leadership Coalition to judge. We aren’t about the candidates, we’re only about the issues. In this case, the issue is good government, honesty in public service and transparency in politics.

It may be easy to criticize Mr. Obama for refusing to produce his credentials, but the fact is, the American presidency is one of the foremost seats of world power. The U.S. Constitution explicitly states what qualifications must be met for a candidate to run.

We should herald the passage of HB 2177 in Arizona, and call for its quick passage in all 50 states, because without bringing harm to any individual it further strengthens the trust the American public can and should have that our system is still working after more than two centuries.

With that in mind, we fervently hope that Governor Brewer will sign HB 2177 into law and ask likeminded Americans from across the nation to contact her office and encourage her accordingly.

***

Illegal immigrants leave when laws are enforced.

The Migration Policy Institute report cited in the article found that consistent enforcement leads illegal immigrants to leave the United States voluntarily. This counters arguments that amnesty is the way to solve illegal immigration. Fully enforced immigration laws send the message to illegal border crossers that we take our laws seriously. Amnesty signals that they're welcome to violate U.S. laws. And when illegal immigrants leave on their own, limited taxpayer-funded resources are no longer drained and scarce jobs are opened up for unemployed Americans and legal immigrant workers.

Enforcing all immigration laws would better protect the lives and well-being of all Americans.


Rep. Elton Gallegly
The writer (R-Calif.) is chairman of the House subcommittee on immigration policy and enforcement.

(CLICK HERE to read this article in the Washington Post.)

Flashback March 2010:

What a busy little “bipartisan” bee Lindsey Grahamnesty has been lately.

He’s holding hands with John Kerry to push carbon caps and unrepentant global warming cultism.

He’s collaborating with the White House to close down Gitmo.

And he’s schmoozing with Chuckie Schumer on another illegal alien amnesty campaign — an effort that has been in the works for months.

Here he goes again:

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have rekindled their alliance on immigration reform, taking some early steps to test the political will for addressing the contentious issue this year.

Their call list hasn’t focused so much on House and Senate members who’ve been reliable pro-immigration votes in the past. Instead, they’re looking to a strange-bedfellows mix of conservative and liberal constituencies that can provide a “safety net” of support, as Graham put it, once the issue heats up.

“It’s in the infant stage,” Graham told POLITICO. “I don’t know what the political appetite is to do something.”

The man is hard of hearing.

Say it with me: God save us from “bipartisanship.”


..........Please CLICK HERE TO READ THIS AND OTHER ARTICLES AT MICHELLEMALKIN.COM!

PAT BUCHANAN: "Is This OUR America Anymore?"

Buried in the Oct. 30 Washington Post was a bland headline: "Report Points to Faster Recovery in Jobs for Immigrants."

The story, however, contained social dynamite that explains the rage of Americans who are smeared as nativists and xenophobes for demanding a timeout on immigration.

In the April-May-June quarter, foreign-born workers in the U.S. gained 656,000 jobs. And native-born Americans lost 1.2 million.

From July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, foreign-born Hispanics gained 98,000 construction jobs. Native-born Hispanics lost 133,000. Black and white U.S. construction workers lost 511,000 jobs.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, from Jan. 1, 2000, to Jan. 1, 2010, 13.1 million immigrants, legal and illegal, entered the United States, a decade in which America lost 1 million jobs.

From 2008 and 2009, the figures are startling. In 24 months, 2.4 million immigrants, legal and illegal, arrived, as U.S. citizens were losing 8.6 million jobs...


...to read the rest of this article, please CLICK HERE!

In the days since Jared Lee Loughner seriously wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl who, we’ve since learned, had been born on September 11, 2001, many of us in the so-called “right” have been on the defensive. Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, conservatives and the “right wing” have all been blamed by liberal commentators, members of the media, and politicians for the tragic attack. We have all been blamed because of our tireless, vigilant voice against a government out-of-control and a liberal media run amok.

And nowhere has this been more apparent than in the days when a brave, centrist young congresswoman lay fighting for her life and rather than blame her would-be assassin, the liberal establishment blamed us. And ironically, it was supposed to have been OUR rhetoric which created the atmosphere which led to the shooting, not theirs.

On January 12, 2011, President Obama joined state and federal lawmakers, friends and family of the victims of the recent Tucson shooting, and thousands of citizens looking for healing, hope, solace and even closure. At the memorial service, in his speech, Mr. Obama spoke around the issue of blame for the tragedy. He neither chastised his fellow liberals for their outrageous political attacks not defended those of us who have weathered them. But he said something important: “I believe we can be better.”

I believe we can be better, too.

I believe we, as a nation, can be better if we focus on the issues and challenges we must confront, rather than the people themselves who may disagree with us.

I believe we can be better advocates for our positions, and as such, we can win victories for our causes. And I believe we can make our states and our nation safer and more prosperous as a result.

At BANAMNESTYNOW we oppose amnesty for illegal aliens who committed crimes to come to the United States in violation of our laws – just as we applaud and welcome with open arms those immigrants who come here legally, who make the American dream work.

At BANAMNESTYNOW we support securing the border – which is not just an immigration issue, but an economic, community safety and national security issue as well.

And at BANAMNESTYNOW we seek to inform, educate and further the public debate on these and related issues because jobs, lives and the direction of our nation are all at stake.

Those who disagree with us – elected officials, the open-borders lobby, and the pro-amnesty crowd – have been vocal opponents. Recent protests have likened leaders in our movement to Hitler, and encouraged acts of violence. Often times, “racist” is the most polite term they use, but still entirely wrong and very inappropriate.

I believe we can do better – and I hope others can, as well. Passion in politics and political discourse should be applauded, but when our opponents and the left resort to threats, name-calling and worse, their desperation is evident and they are hurting their own cause.

The Obama administration’s indifference to securing our borders, willingness to pander like shameless puppies to illegal aliens, and unconditional commitment to promoting amnesty is becoming more and more obvious (as well as more and more damaging). The Department of Homeland Security is designed to keep our borders strong, our country safe, and to enforce our immigration laws. Under Obama and Janet Napolitano, however, the DHS is not guided by any of these key values, but rather, by their own self-serving agenda... regardless of how unfair that agenda is to U.S. citizens.

Recently, Napolitano actually went so far as to claim that Congress must pass the DREAM Act because the DREAM Act will make our borders stronger and will allow DHS to “do its job of enforcing the nation’s immigration law.” Re-read that quote and ponder just how unbelievably stupid it is. Essentially, Napolitano is saying that we should give millions of illegals amnesty so that DHS can punish those who have entered the country illegally. Huh? If Napolitano needs the DREAM Act passed to do her job, it reflects her incompetence and the misguided state of DHS not any merit of the DREAM Act, itself.

In the spirit of honoring both our current laws and the will of the people, DHS should forcefully condemn the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act will provide amnesty to millions of illegal aliens who can then petition to grant their family members citizenship. The DREAM Act will irreparably bankrupt this nation. The DREAM Act will unquestionably increase illegal immigration and weaken the security of our border. The DREAM Act will increase the presence of human smugglers. The DREAM Act will make it harder for Americans to get jobs, legal students to attend colleges, and U.S. families to pay for their children’s education. As Iowa Rep. Steve King stated, the DREAM Act is a “20 billion dollar giveaway to illegal aliens”… the DREAM Act is also a slap in the face to all the legal citizens of this nation.

By Sen. Russell Pearce

"All officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws shall have authority to make arrests for a violation of any provision of this section" (affirmed US v Perez-Gonzalez 2002 Fed App 0360, 6th Circ.).

Congress has firmly established that there is a significant public interest in the effective enforcement of immigration law. Congress could have chosen to limit local enforcement pursuant to its plenary power over immigration, but it has not done so.

In the absence of a limitation on local enforcement powers, the states are bound by the Supremacy Clause of the United ‘States Constitution to enforce violations of the federal immigration laws.

Sanctuary policies are illegal. Local, state, or federal government agencies that sanction or retaliate against employees or officials who report immigration law violations to ICE or the Border Patrol can be sued by the whistleblower under 8 U.S.C. 1373 or 8 U.S.C. 1644 for damages and costs.

Citizens have a constitutional right to expect the protection of federal laws which prohibit unauthorized activities by non-citizens are denied equal protection when a police department or magistrate acts in a manner that encourages or assists persons selected on the basis of nationality or alienage to engage in such unlawful activities.

Illegal aliens are not a suspect class entitled to Fourteenth Amendment based strict scrutiny of any discriminatory classification based on that status, nor are they defined by an immutable characteristic, since their status is the product of conscious unlawful action.

"The statutory law of the United States is part of the law of each state just as if it were written into state statutory law." States do not need a 287g, IGA, MOU or a permission slip to arrest illegal aliens. The 287g goes beyond the arrest powers as states already have inherent authority to make arrests, 287g is for post arrest, not anything to do with authority!!!!

Illegal is not a race, it is a crime. SB1070 simply codifies federal law into state law and remove excuses and concerns about states inherent authority to enforce these laws and removes all so called“sanctuary) policies.

Obama and D.C. would have you think that Arizona made illegal, illegal, when actually it was already illegal!

The media and Washington would have you think that it is illegal or unConstitutional to make a law to enforce the law!!

When do we stand up for Americans and the rule of law, if not now? We are a nation of laws, a Constitutional Republic.

Arizona did not make illegal, illegal. Illegal was already illegal. It is a crime to enter or remain in the U.S. in violation of federal law. States have had inherent authority to enforce immigration laws and has failed or refused to do so. Sanctuary policies are illegal under federal law (8 USC 1644 & 1373) yet we have them all over the United States.

Well here in Arizona we are going to enforce our laws, protect our citizens and stand firmly behind the rule of law.

If law enforcement could not stop someone before this law, they cannot stop them now. If you did not have to carry ID before this law, you don't have to carry ID under this new law. We did not expand law enforcement authority or require any "new" requirements or put new conditions on citizens. We simply took the handcuffs off from law enforcement and allow them to enforce our immigration laws, like any other law.

• The new Arizona law mirrors federal law, which already requires aliens (non-citizens) to register and carry their documents with them (8 USC 1304(e) and 8 USC 1306(a)). The new Arizona law simply states that violating federal immigration law is now a state crime as well. Because illegal immigrants are by definition in violation of federal immigration laws, they can now be arrested by local law enforcement in Arizona.

• The law is designed to avoid the legal pitfall of “pre-emption,” which means a state can’t adopt laws that conflict with federal laws. By making what is a federal violation also a state violation, the Arizona law avoids this problem.

• The law only allows police to ask about immigration status in the normal course of “lawful contact” with a person, such as a traffic stop or if they have committed a crime.

• Estimates from the federal government indicate that more than 80 percent of illegal immigrants come from Latin America.12 Thus, there is concern that police may target only Hispanics for enforcement.

• Before asking a person about immigration status, law enforcement officials are required by the law to have “reasonable suspicion” that a person is an illegal immigrant. The concept of “reasonable suspicion” is well established by court rulings. Since Arizona does not issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, having a valid license creates a presumption of legal status. Examples of reasonable suspicion include:

• A driver stopped for a traffic violation has no license, or record of a driver’s license or other form of federal or state identification.

• A police officer observes someone buying fraudulent identity documents or crossing the border illegally.

• A police officer recognizes a gang member back on the street who he knows has been previously deported by the federal government.

• The law specifically states that police, “may not solely consider race, color or national origin” when implementing SB 1070.

• When Arizona’s governor signed the new law, she also issued an executive order requiring the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board to provide local police with additional training on what does and what does not constitute “reasonable suspicion.”13

Rancher Rob Krentz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a month ago. I held a senate hearing two weeks ago on border violence.
One only had to hear the concerns and pleas from these folks to recognize the monumental failure of government to secure our borders and enforce our laws and the cost to our citizens.

Here are just some of the highlights from those who testified.

The people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border have for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the daily invasion of humans who cross their property. One Rancher testified that 300 to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch, vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles and property, cutting down his fences, and leaving trash. In the last two years he has found
17 dead bodies and two Qur’an bibles.

Another rancher testified that on a daily basis drugs are brought across his ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards. These people are violent and they will kill anyone who gets in the way. This was not the only rancher we heard that day that talked about the drug trains.

One man told of two illegal's who came upon his property, one shot in the back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced them to carry the drugs and then shot them. They listen to gun fire during the night; it is not safe to leave his family alone on the ranch and they can't leave the ranch for fear of nothing being left when they come back.

The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them, then they can take them back across the border.

Federal prisons have over 35% illegals incarcerated, and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegals who have committed felonies. In the last few years, 80% of our law enforcement personnel who have been killed or wounded were done by an illegal alien.

The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the Border States.

We have been overrun and once they are here, Arizonans have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education costs have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare costs for illegal aliens runs into the billions of dollars. Our State is broke; $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.

The border can be secured. We have the technology; we have the ability to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come in legally so that we can assimilate them into our population and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation of laws. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to protect the integrity of our country and the government which we live under.

It will do no good to forgive them because millions more will come behind them, and we will be over run to the point that there will no longer be a United States of America but, a North American Union of open borders. I ask you what form of government we will live under.

How long will it be before we will be just like Mexico? We have already lost our language; everything must be printed in Spanish. We have already lost our history since it is no longer taught in our schools. And we have lost our borders.

The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. The ACLU, cheap labor advocates and the leftist courts will do everything to protect those who are here illegally, but it was an effort to try and stop illegal's from setting up businesses, and employment, and receiving state services and give the ability to local law enforcement when there is probable cause, such as a traffic stop to determine if they are here legally. Federal law is very clear if you are here on a visa you must have your papers on you at all times. That is the law. In Arizona all you need to show you as a legal citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card, Native American Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a hunting license, etc... So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is going to be stopped walking down the street. The leftists here and in DC are angry because we dare try and do something. They want the "Transformation" to continue.

It is not too late to save America. As an elected official I must try to do what I can to protect our Constitutional Republic. Living in America is not a right just because you can walk across the border. Being an American is a responsibility, and it comes through respecting and upholding the Constitution, the law of our land which says what you must do to be a citizen of this country or a legal resident.

The following article was sent to B.A.N. by Senator Russell Pearce, one of America's greatest border security and anti-illegal immigration advocates, and the author/sponsor of SB-1070.
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I knew Arizona’s SB 1070 would be controversial when I introduced it, but I did not expect the national immigration debate to revolve around a state law.
While the anti-American open borders Left attack me and the law as “racist,” “nativist” and their other empty smear words, the vast majority of the people of Arizona and America support the law.

Naturally, politicians of both parties on the state and local level are trying to jump on the bandwagon as the election approaches.

On the state level, dozens of gubernatorial and attorney general candidates are campaigning to enact SB 1070 style legislation. Even Democrats like Georgia’s Roy Barnes say they’d sign such a bill. Of course a politician’s promise isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Even if they would in fact sign the bill, they must also pledge to fight the Obama administration and its far left buddies like the ACLU and Mexican American Legal Defense Fund who are sure to file lawsuits and do whatever they can to block implementation of the law.

On the federal level, just saying “I support SB 1070” is even emptier without any commitment to fight the open borders agenda of the Obama administration and the courts.

Any Senate candidate who supports SB 1070 needs to guarantee that they will vote against any activist judge. Any RINO who voted for a board member of “LatinoJustice” (which filed an amicus brief against SB 1070) like Sonia Sotomayor knew how she would vote on immigration cases.

Additionally there is legislation that can affect the legal challenges against SB 1070.

Sen. Robert Menendez’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 would try to nullify every single state and local law that fights illegal immigration. Congressman Luis Gutierrez’s CIR ASAP Act with over 100 Democratic co-sponsors does the same thing.

Menendez’s bill also restricts the 287(g) program to allow state and local law enforcement to enter into formal agreements with federal immigration authorities to fight illegal immigration. Gutierrez’s bill completely repeals it.

287(g) is a useful program, but it is unfortunately viewed by many as a permission slip that must be granted by the federal government to allow states and localities to enforce immigration law. Former INS Commissioners Doris Meissner and James W. Ziglar wrote an Op Ed in the Washington Post claiming that SB 1070 is unconstitutional because it goes beyond what is permitted by 287(g).

Obama and Janet Napolitano restricted the agreement so that it can only be used to enforce the law against illegal aliens who also commit other crimes, and unfortunately many local law enforcement agencies stopped pursuing the law.

When Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio cracked down on illegal immigration without getting permission from Obama, they threatened to revoke his 287(g) status. When Sheriff Joe refused to balk, they filed suit against him with a frivolous civil rights claim.

The truth is that Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act explicitly acknowledges that states have the inherit authority to enforce immigration law stating:
"Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require an agreement . . . in order for any officer of a State . . . to communicate with the [Secretary of Homeland Security] regarding the immigration status of any individual . . . or otherwise to cooperate with the [Secretary] in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States."

Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal [CLEAR] Act further clarifies the states’ rights over immigration by “reaffirming the existing inherent authority of States…to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, or transfer to Federal custody aliens in the United States…for the purposes of assisting in the enforcement of the immigration laws of the United States in the course of carrying out routine duties. This State authority has never been displaced or preempted by Congress.”

I’m flattered that my law has become a litmus test on immigration, but I hate to see Democrats and RINOs pretend to defend it to win votes. In Arizona a number of vulnerable Democratic Congressmen including Gabrielle Giffords and Ann Kirkpatrick tried to sound tough by opposing the federal lawsuit with much fanfare. Yet these same Democrats opposed SB 1070 initially, and they refuse to defend Arizona’s right to enforce the law. Rather they simply demand that the federal government take action (i.e. amnesty.) Needless to say, they have not co-sponsored the CLEAR Act.

With friends like these, SB 1070 does not need enemies. Any candidate or politician on the federal level who claims to support SB 1070 needs to put their money where their mouth is. This means supporting the CLEAR Act and acknowledging a state’s inherit right to enforce the law, opposing activist judges, and demanding that the federal government enforce all laws.

Of course the federal government needs to enforce its own laws and secure the border. But until they do, the least we can ask of them is not to interfere with states that care about the rule of law.