Hundreds protest Chicago Minutemen Project meeting

[struggle4progress]

Associated Press

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Hundreds of protesters turned up at the inaugural meeting of a Chicago-area citizens' group whose members believe the government isn't doing enough to halt illegal immigration.

Some of the protesters were arrested after a confrontation with police outside the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, where members of the Chicago Minuteman Project gathered Saturday.

The confrontation prompted officers at the scene to call for assistance from several neighboring police departments, which quickly brought about 150 officers clad in riot gear to the scene. <snip>

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/12919523.htm

[rosesaylavee]

1. Here's their website

Hey, they say it is not about racism... that's a relief! :sarcasm:
_______________________________________

http://www.chicagominutemanproject.com/

The Chicago Minuteman Project is not about racism or disregarding legal immigration: it is about protecting our borders. We are interested in the physical and economic protection of all American citizens regardless of race, color, or creed.

What is illegal immigration doing to America?
Americans and American residents are all taxpayers paying for services like public education, healthcare, public libraries, and other government programs given to us because we pay for them. Illegal aliens do not pay anything yet still receive the same programs for free. When people illegally enter the country every day, they don't pay taxes. Why? Because they are undocumented, and the government has no way of forcing them to do so.

Illegal aliens are keeping American salaries low since illegals will work for any job at any income. An American would not agree to work for a near-minimum wage or lower salary, but someone coming from a country where an entire week's salary is equal to one day on the job will gladly do it. Illegal immigration is hurting the American economy.

[Mnemosyne]

2. No, no racism there.

:sarcasm:

Imagine...

[leesa]

3. Maybe we could send them off to patrol our border with Honduras

They would be searching for it for years.

[viper_72]

4. i dont get it?

[newyawker99]

11. Hi viper_72!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[EFerrari]

14. LOL! Or, El Salvador. I know someone with a great little

resort there. He could use the business.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

5. Uh...Illinois doesn't share any international border

So WTF will these clowns be patrolling? The highways up from Texas? The Hispanic communities? The empty lots where people gather at dawn, waiting to be hired for day work? How about the businesses that hire illegal immigrants, how about patrolling the exploiters? Nah, too easy.

I was caught by this part of the article:

The Rev. Keith Butler, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, told the group that both political parties were not doing enough to enforce immigration law.

"By not securing our borders, we are putting our wives and children at risk," Butler said.

Allow me to say :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[MarsThe Cat]

8. they'll be patrolling Oak St. Beach-

to make sure that no terra-ists try and swim down Lake Michigan from up by Sault St.Marie...

[Indy Lurker]

15. documentation

I manage a manufacturing plant in Illinois, and my employees tell me that documentation can be had for under $700.


When we hire new employees or temps, I check their drivers license and DOB, and we call up the social security admin, and check their number. If all three look good, we assume they are legal to work.

There's not much else we can do.

I did have one guy who was at the most 25 years old, but his DL (with a current photo) had a dob of 1948!!

I didn't hire him.

I also had to terminate a guy because the Social security admin called and said that his SSN was is use in another state, and he couldn't get it straightened out.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that it is easy for illegal aliens to purchase valid looking documentation.

[struggle4progress]

16. How about WISCONSIN? We don't want any place that got SIN in it ..

.. as part of our country, do we?

[Ben Ceremos]

6. So, exactly how is it...

that "illegal immigrants" can buy food, gas and other necessities without paying tax? Illinois has high sales tax, as do most States. I don't know what portion of the funds go to the library, etc, cited in the statement by the vigilante group, but I do know that you can't walk out of store without paying taxes. So the rightwing is lying as usual about something so obvious as to make me wonder why the necessity of vilifying the undocumented workers? Reminds me of a speech by Angela Davis in which she cites the nature of the "welfare mother debate" as being an exercise in "How enemies are created". The speech dates from the Reagan period...

[Bridget Burke]

9. Here in Texas, there's NO state income tax.

So sales taxes are high & getting higher. Of course, everybody pays them. And when property taxes go up--rents go up!

The racists assume that all immigrants are undocumented. If so, what about all those signs in Spanish offering help with Income Tax?

[brainshrub]

7. Corporations that outsource do more to create unemployment than illegals.

I do agree that we should have secure borders, but I'm not going to condemn any man who illegally crosses into the United States to feed his family. If I were in his shoes, I'd probably do the same thing.

Corporations that outsource jobs are more responsible for unemployment and sagging wages than the illegal immigration. The chinese factory worker, the Mexican farm hand and the Indian Engineer are not my enemies.

[Dover]

10. I don't understand....aren't they vigilante/militia types?

Why isn't the government shutting them down? Can any group decide to police another?

[Indy Lurker]

12. They (the militia) aren't doing much

Unless you are a retired or off duty police officer, you are not allowed to carry a weapon in public in Illinois. No guns, no knives over 3" no pointy sticks.

So what you end up with is a bunch of guys walking around with flashlights and cell phones, which of course is not illegal.

[CHIMO]

13. Nuts

Don't they know that they should be patrolling the Alaskan borders to prevent all that oil from being stolen.