Did you see this??? One town,one state at a time???

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Nancy Cunningham: Victim or co-conspirator?


Nancy Cunningham has had plenty of time to gather her thoughts about the man she now refers to as "Mr. Cunningham" and the millions of dollars worth of goodies he was bringing home supposedly on a congressmen's salary. 34 Comment(s)
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Local illegal immigration laws draw a diverse group of cities

By: DAVID FRIED - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- When a City Council majority voted last month to draft an ordinance banning illegal immigrants from renting in the city, Escondido joined a diverse bunch of 30 small towns and midsize cities around the country that have considered, and in some cases passed, similar local legislation.

There are industrial cities in the Northeast, rural towns that barely stand out on a map, and growing metropolitan suburbs in 13 states that have all looked at doing what Escondido has proposed, fining landlords for renting to undocumented immigrants.

Most of the towns and cities also want to prohibit business licenses for companies that hire undocumented workers, and make English the official language of local government.


Try to determine a common denominator among the cities, however, and there is only one: Joseph Turner, the founder of Save Our State, an anti-illegal immigration group that tried to drum up support for a similar initiative he wrote.

Turner's efforts in his hometown failed earlier this year. But the 29-year-old activist from San Bernardino said that, despite his initial setback, everything is going to plan.

"Without a doubt, I was trying to franchise an idea, a cookie-cutter," Turner said in a recent interview.

Spontaneous combustion


Turner said he was sure that his initiative would tap into what he described as a growing sense of frustration with the federal government's handling of illegal immigration. Many people on various sides of the issue share this view.

An estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Research Center in Washington, D.C. And efforts to reform the country's immigration laws have been mired in political debate for most of this year.

Many residents in cities around the country, he said, are upset about overcrowded schools, high crime rates and other ills they attribute to illegal immigration.

Passing local legislation was the logical next step, Turner said.

"I believe history will show that taking it to the local level will have a profound impact on this debate," Turner said, adding that he did not anticipate how quickly the "spontaneous combustion" of copycat ordinances would crop up.

Some critics of the ordinances ---- including civil rights groups ---- say that the rapid spread of Turner's idea is more knee-jerk reaction than thoughtful response to community problems.

Feather in the cap


So far, five cities have passed laws similar to Turner's initial proposal, including Hazleton, Pa., and two of its neighboring towns, Valley Park, Mo., and the industrial commuter town of Riverside, N.J. And nearby, Vista recently passed a law requiring individuals to register with the city before hiring day laborers.

Not every city that looks at an ordinance passes one, however. Cities such as Avon Park, Fla., and Huntsville, Ala., have swatted down proposals from some council members, or simply postponed indefinitely any discussion.

In many ways, Escondido could stand out among the crowd of local immigration legislation, if an ordinance passes when it comes before the council this fall.

Located just 45 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Escondido would be the first California city to adopt part of Turner's initiative.

And with 133,000 residents, it would also be the largest city, and the one with the largest Latino population of any town, to follow Turner's lead.

Over the last decade, Escondido's Latino population has swelled significantly, from about 16 percent in 1990 to 44.5 percent in 2005, according a recent survey by the U.S. Census, which provides annual demographic updates for cities with populations over 100,000.

A recent city-sponsored survey of the Mission Park area in the city's core found that, of the 16,000 residents in the 1 1/2-square-mile area, the majority were born in other countries, especially Mexico. And 66 percent self-reported speaking primarily Spanish.

Such figures are not lost on Turner, who characterized Escondido as the next big step in his vision of communities around the country writing their own, stricter immigration laws, until Congress follows their lead.

"Escondido would be a huge feather in the cap," Turner said.

'Preventative maintenance'


Nevertheless, Turner's initiative has already taken root in a diverse range of places.

In many ways, Hazleton has led the charge. In June, it passed a broad ordinance aimed at squashing work and living opportunities for what some community members characterized as a growing population of illegal immigrants in the 31,000-resident town.

The Pennsylvania city's law denies business licenses to companies that hire undocumented workers, establishes English as the town's official language and ---- similar to the proposal in Escondido ---- fines landlords up to $1,000 for renting their property to illegal immigrants.

Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have already filed lawsuits trying to overturn Hazleton's law. On Friday, Hazleton agreed to delay enforcing the new law while city officials draft a replacement version they said would better withstand court challenges.

The initial draft of Hazleton's ordinance copied Turner's own initiative nearly word-for-word, he said. The final version was later modified somewhat, but retained the basic concepts and penalties proposed in Turner's version.

The former coal-mining city's efforts paved the way for a slew of similar proposals in 10 other Pennsylvania towns, many with populations of less than 5,000, with few Latinos and even fewer residents born outside the U.S., according to 2000 U.S. Census data.

Some larger cities, such as Allentown, Pa., have also started considering their own illegal immigration laws.

But in corners around the country, small cities such as Arcadia, Wis., a rural town of 2,400 with a Latino population of 3 percent, have also followed step. Arcadia Mayor John Kimmel recently wrote a newspaper column promising stiff consequences for those who employ or rent to illegal immigrants.

"They are not welcome here," Kimmel's article stated.

And in Valley Park, which in July passed an ordinance nearly identical to Hazleton's, the mayor has described the new law to local media as "preventative maintenance" for the suburb of 6,500 residents located about a 20-mile drive from St. Louis.

Answer 1

Bravo! Thank you for sharing this wonderful information! Some pro-illegals here will now be writing to tell you that they could not possibly read all of that - these will be the pro-illegals who are always telling us how lazy anti-illegals are, etc., etc., compared to those much harder working illegals. I imagine that their inability to "read" long posts of more than a paragraph or two are an accurate reflection of the ability of the illegals they support to work hard.

Keep spreading the good news! The snowball is rolling!

Answer 2

Baby steps in the right direction, 3 cheers for local cities/states with more intestinal fortitude on display than Congress has to show for itself these days...

Answer 3

Great article. I like this Kimmel's article. Thank you Seals.. Give that monkey a banana.. shh... Gorilla will be coming and I do not care... I agree with Daisy and Gokart and Princess...

Answer 4

Thank you for posting this. I guess the baboon can't read but she sure manages to point out every spelling error. Don't you hate people who are always talking and yet, they have nothing to say?

Thank you, Sealr. Good post. Worth the read, by the way.

Answer 5

Good about time

Answer 6

why such a long story,, i almost drunk a whole JUG OF JUMAICAN RUM, reading this stuff. DO I CARE! just give me another box of CUBAN CIGARS,,

Answer 7

I heard that ,but all scums criminal sue the law