Scumbag of the Week - John Derbyshire

John Derbyshire is an immigration hardliner who has regularly vilified undocumented immigrants, particularly those from Mexico and other Hispanic countries in the National Review.

A typical comment consists of:

"hordes of Central Americans pouring into our country."

Derbyshire has also expressed this sentiment:

"Impose draconian penalties on visa overstayers, including lifetime exclusion from the U.S.''

Get this, this piece of work was an undocumented immigrant who overstayed his visa by 5 years. I say if we are going to implement his policies, let's start with this ungrateful asshole. Kick him out and see how he likes it. If he self-deports and doesn't mind being separated from his family and never seeing his home again, then maybe I'll take his proposals more seriously.

Here he is bragging about his years as an undocumented immigrant, he seems rather proud. I guess it's only the brown kind of undocumented immigrants he hates. Just in case you have any lingering notions that this guy is anything but the scum of the earth read this quote:

"The U.S.A. was born with two race problems: the African Americans and the Native Americans. We struggle with those problems still, and must continue to struggle. Would it be wise to import a new one? "

I refuse to link to the National Review for paying this asshole to write this crap. Go to the comments section of this post and copy and paste the urls if you think I'm making this up.

Gay Couples And Immigration

Today in the U.S. if a gay U.S. citizen falls in love with a non-citizen they cannot legally sponsor their partner to remain in the U.S. like heterosexual citizens. This is true for many countries and often the couple has no choice but to have one continue to live without documents or forever be separated.


This is the story of Lee a 35, stay-at-home mother, from South Africa
When Lee came to New Jersey at the age of 19 to work as a nanny, she planned to stay just one year. But when the year was up, she didn’t want to go back to her hometown of Durban in apartheid-era South Africa. “My eyes had been opened,” she says. Plus, she was beginning to question her sexuality, at a time when being gay in South Africa could be grounds for arrest. At a party in Manhattan three years later, she met an American girl and fell in love. They now have 2-year-old twin boys (with the help of an anonymous sperm donor). But because Lee and her partner cannot get married, she remains undocumented. “I do not have legal rights to my kids,” she says. Being in the U.S. illegally has meant that she has had to choose between the family she’s made here and the one back in South Africa. “We’ve become really sad,” she says, “at the notion of me not being able to go home and show our beautiful children to my family.”

Click here for more stories

Son of Undoucumented Immigrants Wins Gold

BEIJING — The American flag landed on the scorer’s table, launched by a family member with exceptional aim. Henry Cejudo grabbed it from his coach and draped it around his body. He stood there for the longest time, fighting back tears, the son of illegal immigrants wrapped in stars and stripes.

Click here for the full story

Check out my Olympics tag

Lopez Lomong

The post underneath this one talked about how all 3 U.S. Olympians running the metric mile are immigrants. All three have very compelling stories and make this immigration blogger very proud of them and this country. This is Lopez Lomong's story.

"At age 6, he was abducted from a Sudanese church by a militia faction that wanted to turn young boys into child soldiers. He eventually escaped the militia camp through a hole in a fence with three older boys who carried them on their backs as they walked for three days until they reached Kenya, where police arrested them and sent them to a refugee camp. He spent 10 years in the camp, living on one meal a day." click here for his whole bio

He probably doesn't take anything for granted or wastes an opportunity like so many of us do everyday.

He hasn't forgotten where he came from and if you look on his site, he doesn't link to running sites but rather to www.teamdarfur.org and www.savedarfur.org.

So let's all watch the mile at Beijing and hope some nativists are watching as well and they learn what this country truly stands for and maybe next time they'll think before calling refugees and immigrants the scum of the U.S.

Check out our Olympics tag

Third World Invasion of Our Olympic Team

Just in case you have any doubts, I'm being sarcastic. The anti-immigration crowd loves to complain about non-European immigration to the U.S. and what you're about to read must kill them.

The three people representing the U.S. for the 1500 meter run all have one thing in common. As the nativists put it, they're all part of the "importation of the third world". Those third worlders are doing pretty well for themselves and dare I say even better than some native born Americans. GASP, how dare they!

— Bernard Lagat came to America to attend college at Washington State from Kenya.

— Leo Manzano was driven across the Mexican border by friends already living in the U.S. and posing as his parents when he was 4.

— Lopez Lomong was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," the name given to young refugees of the grisly civil war in Sudan who made it to the U.S.

A Kenyan, a former DREAMer, and a refugee are the top milers in the country - can't get more American than that. I love it!

Oh yeah and that former DREAMer Manzano, hasn't forgotten where he came from, I found this.

What are your hobbies outside the sport of running?
"Yeah, I've been in a couple of organizations on campus. Last semester I was in this Longhorn program. I advocated for the Dream Act. It's for immigrants that are raised in the U.S, went through the public school systems, who have completed their degrees and have a good moral character. Really it's a pathway for these kids to gain their citizenship, to having their education, and having good moral standards. At the same time there is another way which you can gain your citizenship, it was a bill that never became a law. It was actually denied. I really try to advocate for that and it was going on last semester. I was with that organization and trying to advocate for the Dream Act."

Good luck to you all and we'll see you in Beijing!

Check out my Olympics tag

Undocumented Immigrant to Brain Surgeon

The Immigration Prof Blog had a post about Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa earlier this year, well he's on ABC's new show " Hopkins ". Watch and enjoy, it's pretty interesting.

Click here for his story and the full episode (his story is in the first few minuets).

"A graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, Quiñones-Hinojosa has been named to Popular Science Magazine's annual Brilliant 10 list." - Immigration Prof Blog

Undoucumented Immigrant - Cesar Millan

Cesar Millan is a former undocumented immigrant and professional dog trainer (although in his words, he "rehabilitates dogs, trains people"). He is best known for his television series, Dog Whisperer, which is currently in its fourth season and airs on the National Geographic Channel. He is also the co-author of a 2006 best selling book, Cesar's Way. Millan and his techniques were also depicted in a South Park Episode.

^{* If you know of any other notable undocumented immigrants, let me know}





Click here for part one of the full episode
Click here for part two of the full episode

Notable Undocumented Immigrants

This list is not comprehensive, if you know of someone, let us know.

1) Arnold Schwarzenegger - Governor of California

2) John Derbyshire - blogger for the Conservative Publication The National Review

3) Alda V. Domenici -The Mother of Republican U.S. Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico

4)Ayann Hirsi Ali - Member of Dutch Parliment, 2005 Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Persons of the World

5) Fionnula Flanagan -Emmy Winning Actress

6) California Republican Party Official - also a prominent D.C. Lobbyist

7) Mitt Romney's Family

8) ALFREDO QUINONES-HINOJOSA - neurosurgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins University looking for a breakthrough in the treatment of brain cancer. Named in Popular Science magazine's annual brilliant 10 list.

9)American Idol Contestants (And no. they aren't the Hispanic ones)

10) Eddie Sotelo - Spanish Radio DJ, His show beats Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Tom Joyner every weekday morning, according to Arbitron ratings.

11) Leo Manzano - U.S. Olympian in the 1500 Meter Run

12) Cesar Millan - Prominent Dog Trainer with his own show on national Geographic (The Dog Whisper ), had a south park episode depicting him.

John McCain's a DREAMer (of sorts)

Thousands of American children grow up believing they are American only to find out that because they weren't born here, it doesn't matter how American or patriotic they are, or even that they don't remember their birth country. The government does not recognize them as Americans. We call them DREAMers (after the DREAM Act).

John McCain can honestly say he can relate (a little) to what it feels like to have a technicality such as birth place determine if he is American enough ( in this case to be our president).

Have no fear John, Barack Obama sponsored a bill that would allow children of service members born abroad to still qualify for the American presidency just for John. Obama himself has been hit recently with fear politics trying to paint him as a foreigner. McCain recently distanced himself from a supporter who constantly brought up Obama's middle name (Hussein) in an attempt to portray him as a Muslim terrorist (obviously, he isn't either). If these two are our nominees, I will be very proud of my country.

Click here for the Immigration Prof blog's analysis of this issue.

He’s an... Illegal Eh-lien

He’s stealing our jobs and our women. Plus, he talks funny.......click here for the story

This is the story of Morgan an undocumented immigrant from Canada. Go on read the story and laugh, it's pretty funny. But never forget that Morgan is not typical. He gives undocumented immigrants a bad name. Unlike most undocumented immigrants, he does not pay taxes, repeatedly crosses the border, and has a general ambivalence towards the United States. He does not want to provide a better life for his family or even himself. He is exactly what the anti-immigration crowd likes to point to when they start spewing their hate except they seem to be tolerating him because he a white Canadian. Check out the discussion on the hypocrisy of the anti-immigration groups over at ALIPAC.net . They find Morgan more acceptable than say Dr.Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa. The same anti-immigration site tolerating Morgan wanted Alfredo gone. Not about race eh?

In all fairness, Morgan's a good guy and the first to admit that he doesn't compare to the immigrants who come here looking for a better life. He also acknowledges the racism behind people's acceptance of him but not his brown skinned counterparts as yet another sign that this country isn't as colorblind as it likes to think it is.

Political Officials - Undocumented Immigrants?

A former California Republican Party official who resigned last year from his $130,000/year position in a controversy over his immigration status had no valid visa or work permit during his high-profile career as a Washington lobbyist. The man is a Polish-Australian immigrant who is just now in the process of legalization after several years as an undocumented immigrant. Here is a link to the Wonkette post

He's got good company, our buddy Arnold the governor violated the terms of his visa and would have been deported if ICE had been notified. Instead, Arnold went on to become a legal resident, then citizen, and now he is our very own self hating governor.

Another self hating politician with an "undocumented past" is Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico who's mother was an undocumented immigrant.

Then of course there is Ayann Hirsi Ali who was an undocumented immigrant in Denmark who made it into the Dutch Parliment and in 2005 TIME Magazine labeled her amongst the 100 Most Influential Persons of the World. She now works and lives in the U.S. for a conservative think tank.

The point of this post is to highlight how the shadow population is hidden in plain sight. It isn't always the day laborer, sometimes it's our high paid lobbyists or politician. I also offer this up as supporting evidence about my statement in this post regarding "wealthy" undocumented immigrants.

Mixed Status Families

I found this interesting thread over at the DREAM Act Portal. It's a great window into the lives of undocumented immigrants. 28 out of 37 immigrants brought here as children are part of a "mixed status" family, which just means there are both documented and undocumented individuals all in one family. It explores the variety of odd yet heartbreaking situations created by our immigration laws.

Click here for the thread

The pictures are all of mixed status families, click on the images to view their stories.

Why Mitt Romney's a Scumbag

So what about Mitt Romney? It turns out his great-grandfather was a polygamous Mormon who evaded prosecution by crossing the border into Mexico with his family, including his son Gaskell, Mitt’s grandfather (see reference). George Wilcken Romney, Mitt’s father, was born in 1907. The Romneys re-entered the United States in 1912, during the Mexican Revolution (although some relatives still live there).

In other words, the Romneys violated federal law, and rather than face the music they fled the United States, crossing illegally into another country, where their Mexico-born descendants acquired the rights of citizenship in the host country. Sound familiar?

Click here for the full post

This is why I find Mitt Romney's position on undocumented immigrants so ironic. Never mind that he hires undocumented gardeners, but the fact that he can so easily brush aside his immigrant roots is appalling.

For even more on Mitt Romney click here, here, here, here, and here.

Tearing a Family Apart

The bathroom situation in the village was worse than Mike Brown imagined. No running water to flush the toilet. Heating water on the stove to bathe. And the flimsy curtain over the doorway provided little privacy.

But he was determined to make the best of it. He had no choice.

It was the Christmas holidays. Brown was visiting his wife, Virginia Carrillo, and son, Bryan.

Their separation began in September the day the family applied for legal status for Carrillo, Brown's illegal-immigrant wife. They hoped Carrillo would qualify for a green card based on her marriage and child to Brown. Instead, Carrillo was barred from returning to the U.S. for 10 years.

Now, the family is forced to live separately on opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.
Brown, 44, lives in Mesa. Carrillo, 29, lives in Mexico. She is raising their son Bryan, a U.S. citizen who turned 3 in December.
Click here for the full story

No time in American History have immigrant family members of U.S. citizens been treated so poorly. Bryan could easily grow up to be senator Pete Domenici who is himself the child of a U.S. citizen father and undocumented immigrant mother. The only difference, back then immigration laws were more compassionate and allowed Senator Domenici's mother to adjust into a legal immigrant instead of being separated from her family.

To see more instances of families being torn apart by immigration, click here , here, and here

Tom Lantos 1928-2008

Tom Lantos, U.S. Representative from California passed away today. He was a holocaust survivor who spent much of his career fighting for human rights. Representative Lantos held a special place in the heart of the immigrant community and his death is a tragic loss to millions across this nation.

Randolph J. Sealey Jr

Growing up in Brooklyn, Randolph J. Sealey Jr. never felt like anything other than a typical American kid with an immigrant's background. ''I was either going to play for the New York Yankees or be a doctor,'' said Mr. Sealey, who arrived in the United States from Panama at age 8.

He went the latter career route. On a scholarship at Lawrenceville, a prestigious boarding school in southern New Jersey, he emerged as a leader in the classroom, on the playing fields and in student life. He worked his way through Duke University and then medical school at the State University of New York.

Few would guess that Mr. Sealey, with all his accomplishments and prep school manners, has lived in the United States unlawfully for most of his 27 years. Like others in his situation -- remarkable students running, often unwittingly, under the radar of the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- he has had to wage a quiet crusade to finish his education.

Click Here for More

Who is this Guy?

If you don't speak Spanish, the odds are you've never heard of the Eddie Sotelo. In a nutshell, he is a former undocumented immigrant who is now a Spanish radio DJ.

Get this
His show beats Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Tom Joyner every weekday morning, according to Arbitron ratings.

What???? That's awesome, if anyone needs their egos deflated it's Stern and Limbaugh.

I heard he was applying for American citizenship so he could vote in 2008 election and was encouraging others to do the same. Good for him, he's not turning his back on his heritage.Click here for a Washington Post story on him if you want to know more.

Undocumented Immigrant - Eddie Treacy

Eddie Treacy lived in the shadows and died in his bed, the covers pulled up, his lungs full of fluid.

He was 33 years old, and there is no other way to say this: He died too young.

Eddie was a master carpenter and made a decent living. For a young man, he was old school, using a simple tool called a square.

Eddie was a rare Irishman, in that he was a great listener, not a great talker. If he agreed with you, he would nod, almost imperceptibly. If he thought you were full of it, he would raise an eyebrow, a silent indictment.

Like other illegal immigrants, he wanted to legalize his residency. He would have paid anything, done anything. But there was no way.

Eddie died in his own bed. We will never know if it was stubborn pride or a fear of being deported that kept him from going to a hospital to treat the pneumonia that killed him. Maybe he just didn't realize how sick he was.

Brendan McCann, a senior at BC High, stood near the altar and played "The Fields of Athenry" on his fiddle as they wheeled Eddie Treacy's casket down the aisle of St. Brendan's Church.

All around the church, there were images of another carpenter who died at 33, nearly 2,000 years ago, another carpenter who some people dismissed as a criminal.

After Mass, about 200 people posed on the front steps of the church for a photo to send back to Eddie's mother, Ann, so she would know that Eddie mattered here. Many of the young men standing there had given up a day's wages to pay their respects.

On Monday night, as President Bush told the nation that we need to find "a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally," Eddie Treacy's body was in the cargo hold of Aer Lingus Flight 132, somewhere over the Atlantic, heading home.

Eddie Treacy was buried today, where he wanted to be, in the fields of Athenry.

Click here for the Full Story

Originally posted by the Irish Voices Blog .

Oklahoma's Anti-immigration Climate

Oklahoma used to have a positive view of migrants. They even allowed children who grew up in Oklahoma but did not have legal status to pay in-state tuition. Last year that all changed and the new climate in Oklahoma made it possible for a harsh new law regrading migrants known as bill number number 1804. However, some of the harshest consequences of this new climate have been felt by innocent US Citizens.

Recently a 2 month old baby died as result of the hostile climate put forth by measures such as 1804.

Edgar Castorena was sick and his undocumented parents had nowhere to turn. If they took him to the hospital, they could be taken in and deported. So they waited, when Edgar did not become better his parents made a difficult choice and took him in anyways knowing they would be deported and Edgar would be either be destined to a life of extreme poverty in Mexico with them or as an orphan in the U.S. foster care system. Sadly, Edgar would not live to face either fate. It was too late and he passed away soon after being taken to a medical facility. If his parents had been able to take him to a hospital at the first sign of illness like most other parents without fear of losing their son or giving him a future in extreme poverty Edgar would have lived.


Last year we heard about a U.S. citizen who was arrested on felony charges under 1804 for giving her boyfriend who happened to be an undocumented immigrant a ride.
Here is the definition of a felony if you don't know: A serious crime usually punishable by a prison term of more than one year.

Prison time for giving your boyfriend a ride and death for being born to undocumented parents. What happened to people's sense of justice?

Tearing Families Apart

Click here for the full story

Now Zekri "Zack" Paputchi, owner of The Old Mill Run Pizzeria in Sciota, is frantically fighting to stop the federal immigration officials from deporting his wife, Rukie, who, like Zack, is a native Bulgarian.

After nearly 16 years in this country, including 11 in Monroe County, she's under arrest, lodged in Pike County Jail and facing deportation. And after many years serving pizzas here, after the birth of two children in the United States and despite an unblemished record here.

After 16 years the government wants to uproot this woman and send her to a hostile nation. What is the point of this? This family owns a successful business and are raising 2 U.S. citizen children. What does the government have to benefit by tearing this family apart?

This reminds me of another case where the government went after a doctor and his wife after 20 years of building a life here. Click here for their story