San Bernardino to Vote on Illegal Immigrant Crackdown Measure (AP Wire 051606)

Who ever wrote the law that states that you cannot Rent to an Illegal Immigrant was a very smart person. I am not trying to say that it is bad to be an Immigrant, after all my Mother and Two Brother's were Immigrants from Europe, after the War. My Mother and Brothers both had to learn English, and were so not sure of the language, but my brothers learned the language pretty fast as they were both on the Honor roll. Every Year they were in School. They were Valedictorian's and just were very smart. However being from another country they were made to feel like they were stupid. My brother for example, didn't make it through collage, and my other brother was going to save before entering collage and just never went. I went to collage and did as much as was needed to start my career as a Law Enforcement Officer.

They did what they could to get by, it cost them a great deal of money and dignity to come over and first get their Resident Alien Card, better Known as "The Green Card!!". Then they wen through several more tests and Cash, and Cash and more tests and they passed to become US Citizens to vote and everything. They have done it ever since. If there is one thing that is true and they passed that one to me that is that Voting is very important and you should never take that right for granted. Get out and vote!! That is what I am told every year!! So that is what I do every year!!

BSRancher...

San Bernardino to vote on illegal immigrant crackdown measure

GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Residents of this heavily Hispanic city will vote on a sweeping measure to crackdown on illegal immigrants after the City Council decided against adopting it.

The City Council's 6-1 decision Monday to send it to voters was greeted with cheers from both supporters and opponents. Both sides promised major campaigns to convince voters.

The proposal would prohibit landlords from renting to undocumented people, force day laborers to prove legal residency to work, ban taxpayer-funded day-labor centers, mandate that city business be in English and deny permits to businesses hiring illegal immigrants.

The measure had already qualified for a special election, and the council faced the decision of whether to adopt the initiative outright or let it go to voters.

"I'm excited. I'm very happy. Now I've got to start building the infrastructure," said Joseph Turner, the proposal's author.

Councilman Rikke Van Johnson cited his upbringing in Alabama as he denounced the measure.

"In Alabama, you knew who the Klan were. They openly paraded around in sheets," Johnson said. "In California, racism has taken on a more covert approach. Here they wear suits, they have Web sites and they use initiatives to spread their message of hate."

Roberto Arreola, 30, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, addressed the council before the decision.

"We are not criminals and it doesn't make sense for the city to pass a law against us," said Arreola, speaking in Spanish with a translator.

When the election would be held was unclear. After a council rejection, a special citywide election must be held in 90 to 135 days, according City Clerk Rachel Clark.

San Bernardino, 70 miles east of Los Angeles, has a population of 200,000. Just under 50 percent are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Its previous mayor was a Hispanic woman elected to two terms.

At a press conference before the meeting, Mayor Patrick J. Morris said the measure would cost the city more than $1 million in enforcement and lost business, and the election alone would cost $300,000.

"This will burden our local taxpayers with unnecessary costs simply because Washington, D.C., has failed in its immigration policy. This makes no sense at all," the mayor said.

Nationwide, cities are dealing in different ways with an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, a majority of whom are Hispanic. Some cities have built day labor centers and declared themselves immigrant "sanctuaries," while others have used ordinances to arrest day laborers and proposed using their police forces to enforce immigration law.

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