In a recent editorial defending Utah’s Driving Privilege Card for illegal aliens, the Salt Lake Tribune openly acknowledged that illegal aliens will resort to blackmail in order to defeat Representative Stephen Sandsrom’s Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act.
According to the Tribune, if Sandstrom’s bill passes, illegal aliens “would be forced to drive without insurance and without learning the rules of the road” and that “our highways would become a more dangerous place.”
The Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration took strong exception to the Tribune’s assertion that the people of Utah are forcing illegal aliens to drive unlawfully.
According to the Coalition, illegal aliens have either (a) voluntarily broken American laws by unlawfully entering the United States or (b) they have voluntarily lied to American Consular officers and port-of-entry officials in order to obtain visas and to enter the United States under false pretenses.
If illegal aliens now elect to drive illegally in violation of Utah laws rather than using public transportation or other means of transport that will be another voluntary decision to violate American laws.
The Coalition further asserts that powerful legislators who were the driving force behind Utah’s Driving Privilege Card for illegal aliens, purely and simply caved into blackmail from illegal aliens.
“When illegal aliens threatened to create mayhem on Utah’s highways unless they were given drivers license, rather than calling their bluff and enforcing existing traffic laws, Utah politicians gave into their blackmail” said a Coalition spokesman. “Now, the illegal aliens and their supporters are once again resorting to blackmail in order to defeat Representative Sandstrom’s bill which is supported by the vast majority of Utahns.”
According to the Coalition, illegal aliens have a long history of successfully blackmailing Utah officials into providing them numerous special benefits. They point out that the illegal aliens have effectively said:
“We are coming to Utah illegally, whether you like it or not, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“If you refuse to give us drivers licenses, we will drive anyway. We will kill and maim Utahns on your highways and we will not purchase auto insurance to help defray the cost of the carnage that we create.”
“If you do give us Driving Privilege Cards, you have to promise us that you will never share our information with law enforcement or immigration authorities or we will refuse to get the cards and drive anyway.”
“Unless you guarantee that we will never be asked about our immigration status, we will refuse to cooperate with law enforcement authorities and we will let drug dealers, gang members and human smugglers operate in our midst.”
“If you refuse to grant us Utah Working Privilege Cards, we will continue to steal your children’s identities in order to get jobs and we will continue to ruin their credit histories and corrupt their medical records until you finally give in to our blackmail.”
“We will drop out of school, join gangs and rely on our American childrens' public assistance benefits unless you continue to give us special in-state college tuition benefits.”
“Unless you provide free medical services for our children, we will not vaccinate them and they will spread communicable diseases to your children.”
The record shows that these blackmail threats have been extremely effective in obtaining a wide range of benefits for illegal aliens – Driving Privilege Cards, in-state college tuition, immunity from arrest from job related felonies, free medical services, and repeated promises from senior state officials to protect state records that show illegal immigration status from disclosure to law enforcement and immigration authorities.
The Coalition expects illegal aliens and their supporters to increase their blackmail efforts in order to retain the special status that that they have achieved through blackmail over the years.
Given the historical willingness of certain very powerful legislators and senior civil servants to give into illegal alien blackmail, in the opinion of the Coalition, this tactic may once again work unless there is a strong public backlash against it.
Comments
EVERY INCUMBENT, CAREER LAWMAKER WHO HAS A DISMAL IMMIGRATION RECORD, BEGINNING WITH SEN. HARRY REID AND HIS CZARS MUST BE REMOVED FROM THEIR SEAT IN WASHINGTON. THIS ASYLUM IN WASHINGTON NEEDS A CHANGE OF GUARDS? JOIN NumbersUSA AND AID IN FIGHTING AGAINST AMNESTY OR ASTRONOMICAL COSTS FROM THIS INVASION. On our soil are poor people from other countries, depleting our welfare for Americans and residents. Are you Sick & Tired of this travesty? Tell your Representative in Washington at 202-224-3121 and State level officials. Remember illegal aliens could have voted in the midterm elections? The Obama administration has shown its true colors, that illegal immigration is a great way to accumulate votes in the future by pacifying large minority groups.
Get them OUT of America NOW!!!!!!!
BLAME THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS AND A SMALL MINORITY OF REPUBLICANS, FOR THE CHAOS CAUSED BY NOT CONSTRUCTING THE DOUBLE FENCING? We have billions to spend on wars abroad, but Sen. Harry Reid(D-NV), Texas Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn are also to blame for discarding the second fence, which if completed would have been topped with ugly razor wire. This is truly "Cause and Effect" by eliminating the second border fence, is why we still have mass volumes of people entering America. This unceasing issue of this chaos is the government having failed to seal the border. now Immigration Czar John Morton has decided to allow ICE to deport serious criminal offenders, instead of--ALL--illegal aliens, which to most Americans is a "De Facto" Amnesty. As that means Catch & Release" is back on the rails, with thousands are out-- and--about, taking jobs and lowering wages. A COUNTRY WITH ALL THE TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE CANNOT CLOSE THE BORDER? THIS IS A INSULT TO ALL CITIZENS AND LEGAL RESIDENTS?
SO I ASK ONCE AGAIN, WHEN IS PROTECTION OF INNOCENT AMERICANS BECOME TOO EXPENSIVE? AFTER ALL WHO PAYS FOR IT ALL? TAXPAYERS! If the border region that cuts across California, Arizona, New Mexico, could have likely have saved thousands of lives? Even the original 2006 secure fence act of one fence is still not complete. Many hundreds of miles have no real barrier at all, just rusting fence posts adorned with drooping barbed wire. IN OTHER WORDS THOSE IN WASHINGTON TODAY AND YESTERDAY CARE NOTHING FOR THE SAFETY OF LANDOWNERS SCATTERED IN OPEN RANGE ALONG THE BORDER, OR HAVE BEEN INTIMIDATED BY THE OPEN BORDER-FREE TRADE ZEALOTS. A large margin of Americans cannot blame Arizona’s Governor Brewer or State Senator Peirce for not trying to protect its own state inhabitants from the illegal alien invasion, costs of welfare using whatever laws are available to them; including SB1070. Then again we cannot blame numerous state Representatives on tweaking the 14th Amendment for instant baby citizenship, that is also costing billions of dollars in welfare programs.
It's understandable that the mainstream of Liberal oriented newspapers have not headlined the mishandling of the 2006 Secure Fence Act. Its original design was for two parallel fences separated by a two track highway for rapid deployment of US border Patrol vehicles. The upset came in the same year of 2006 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations bill that directly contradicted the enacted law. The Senate insiders decided it was too expensive and cut funding; concluding in a major provision that the double fence was too expensive? So we as the American people should adamantly ask, when is the defense of our country from the illegal immigration invasion or from criminals or certainly terrorists--too expensive? The success of fences was shaped after the original construction in San Diego, California, and has been remarkable in cutting back of illegal aliens in a 50 mile huge swath of open land.
Illegal aliens are destroying this Country, and one would have to be almost blind not to see this. How much longer do we have to support these illegal aliens? How much longer do we have to school their illegal alien children? How much longer are we going to let them have our jobs? How much longer are we going to put up with all the crime, stolen identities, forged documents, fake green cards? How much longer are we going to allow these illegal aliens to send money out of this Country and bring our Country down? Oh, amnesty will correct all this. WRONG! Nothing will change except we wouldn't be able to call them illegal aliens any more. Let's get rid of these illegal aliens! Let's get them back to their own Country where they belong!
It's time for ZERO TOLERENCE with these illegal aliens. It's time for them get out of this Country and back in their own Country where they belong. When we get rid of the illegal aliens, we will get rid of all the problems that go with them. THAT IS A FACT!
Our politicians here in Utah had better start paying attention! Utah has had enough. The idea that we've been okay with their actions should have been apparent clear back when Chris Cannon lost his seat. Next came Bob Bennett. Both of these guys were unseated by the promise that the other guy would act on illegal immgration.
We're so fed up, and we're highly energized! They'd better act in our best interest or say good bye.
If you are very lenient on the definition of blackmail, you are still wrong. . . and who exactly are you quoting? A good writer tells. . . My thought is you just make things up and post them in quotes or not-to-be-named characters.
In the complaint sent to your boss:
Only by changing the definition of "blackmail" does this even become plausable. The author makes reference to SL Trib in accusing unauthorized drivers of blackmail, however SL Trib has never made any such sentiments or statements public, nor does the autthor reference any of the data in the story. No quotes, SL trib pages or information is referenced in any form.
This would certainly present an interesting libel case should the Tribune choose to persue legal action over the misinformation.
This is all BS! Pathetic!
There should be laws passed against yellow journalists like these!
Keep up the good work!! STOP illegals in there TRACKS!
Its up to the voting people to be sure to vote only for those candidates who will have a spine and be willing to say NO to the illegals blackmail schemes. This is America after all and we should care what illegals think or say. They have no say so here and are all just criminals. They wouldn't have gotten those perks such as drivers license if the politicians had the bal!s to just say no. I will be sure to check the voting records of candidates and only vote for those who support enforcement of our immigration laws, no amnesty for illegals, no more beneifts to illegals, without pandering or giving in to irrational demands of the illegals and their racist advocates.. If you vote for anyone else, then you get what you vote for. Those who support the illegals do not represent what is best for America and should not be voted into office,
This is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Blackmail by the illegals...whatever! These ludicrous claims by the coalition are just fodder to feed the political fire. Another fine pandering moment!
Tea Party True Americans need to stop Illegals Now! Their Illegal ID Manufacturing is big business in Utah and in America! The Utah Compact ("ignore Federal law and allow the illegals to stay") endorsed by the LDS Church sides with the Illegal aliens to continue to break the law for cheap labor! For the LDS church its really all about the money. They don't care about "separating families"; look at the Indian Placement promgram ``families were torn apart at the direction of the church!
The news article below demonstrates how Illegal Aliens are destroying America and sending our money back to Mexico! The Manufacturing of FAKE Identification; Social Security Cards, Driver Licenses, Work Permits is a Multimillion Dollar Business to Defraud Americans of OUR Tax Paid Money and Services! Enforce the LAWS to SEND the Illegal Aliens back with their families! We want law-abiding citizens; not criminals. The greedy LDS Church wants their cheap labor, their tithing money, and their membership and wants the blindly-obedient members to now DISOBEY the law!!!
Utah AG Shurtleff compromises and does NOT protect the Utah General Public from corruption from within the Utah One World Order. The Minuteman Project is an activist organization started in April 2005 by a group of private individuals in the United States to monitor the United States–Mexico border's flow of illegal immigrants. The minutemen were among the first people to fight in the American Revolution. Their teams constituted about a quarter of the entire militia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen
Utah Minutemen are dedicated anti-all-illegal-immigrants fighters while Mark Shurtleff is a former Navy attorney who likes to keep everybody happy! He doesn’t realize that the Latinos want to destroy Utah and then take over the US. Utah is where the battle ground has been set! Why? Because of the Tar Party Revolt there by the members of the Mormon Church. They are tired of being told what to do in everything they do each do – Social Mormonism!
AG Shurtleff’s methods handicap law enforcements because they are to leave alone all the illegals who have Temple Recommends from King Hinckley and now King Monson! Mark Shurtleff, who opposes Arizona-style law, says targeted approach is better alternative. Pretty lousy figures for all the hours of surveillance and failed arrests! Most of the cases fall into these categories: Fraud/forgery » 114; Agency assists » 30: Drug » 22: Community » 20; Sex offenses » 8; Weapons » 8; Theft » 5
Fighting crime inside Utah’s undocumented immigrant population
By david Montero, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 22, 2010
West Point • The Jeep slowed to a crawl along the dark street and the driver killed the headlights before it even stopped next to the curb.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/50712403-78/force-strike-agents-mcquis...
Rex Ashdown, squeezed into the passenger seat between a CB radio and a pile of jackets, pulled out his binoculars and scanned the targeted house — a tri-level.
Behind the wheel, Agent Rhett McQuiston cupped his hand over his cell phone to conceal the soft glow. He ducked slowly to his right.
“We’re in position,” he said quietly.
Ashdown called out what he saw — an SUV in the driveway. Two cars pulling into the garage. Minutes passed.
Nothing.
McQuiston idled the car to keep warm. The two talked in hushed tones.
Suddenly, there was movement.
Red taillights emerged from the driveway. Ashdown’s binoculars went up. One of the cars was on the move.
While Ashdown peered through his binoculars, McQuiston noticed heavy traffic two houses down. People were being picked up and dropped off right where agents planned to line up for the raid.
The plan the Attorney General’s SECURE Strike Force had been strategizing for more than a week suddenly seemed to be in jeopardy. During that time, they had carefully pieced together a case against a fake identification mill being used by and run by undocumented immigrants. They had already conducted a successful undercover buy, rehearsed the raid and were primed to go.
But now the neighbors were in their way, and the car from the targeted house was leaving — possibly with the prime suspect in it. Things seemed to be falling apart.
“Murphy’s Law,” McQuiston grumbled.
— Immigration » The debate over illegal immigration has been fought on moral grounds and legal grounds. Federal enforcement versus state enforcement. Much of the furor from those who support Arizona-style enforcement laws and a closely related bill proposed by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, ties the issue to identity theft.
But while the debate rages, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is getting ready to make a pitch for continued funding for the SECURE Strike Force — a collection of agents who investigate major crimes committed by the undocumented.
It launched in June 2009 and is financed by a two-year $1.2 million grant from federal stimulus funds.
Shurtleff said the federal money was a one-time appropriation, and he’ll need to get the state to fund it through 2012. To continue, he needs about $400,000.
Because he’s used only about half of the money, he’d like the state to “buy into the program” for the future.
“This seems like a good time for it,” Shurtleff said. “A lot of people are calling for enforcement, and this does just that.”
The strike force is viewed by Shurtleff and others as a practical alternative to Sandstrom’s proposed bill, which would require local law enforcement to check legal status under “reasonable suspicion” in the course of another crime or infraction.
Since it started, the strike force has arrested more than 100 undocumented suspects engaged in crimes ranging from manufacturing identities to illegally selling drugs and guns.
The strike force works closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to bring down rings of criminals operating within Utah — though ICE primarily works in a supporting role by identifying the legal status of those arrested.
Supervising Special Agent Leo Lucey said the sophistication of the criminal activity has grown exponentially since they started, and they’ve had to employ new tactics and recruit new undercover officers to keep making successful busts.
“We can’t hardly keep up,” Lucey said. “We’re trying.”
Right now, Lucey and the unit are focused on the tri-level house in West Point where surveillance has observed robust buying and selling of fake Social Security cards, driver licenses and residency cards.
The prime suspect, Maximino Garcia, allegedly sold fake documents to an undercover officer already. The strike force did enough investigative work to secure a warrant.
Now they could pounce.
— Wait until dark » Agents Eric Varoz and Rex Ashdown have their hands stuffed inside jacket pockets, bracing against the chilly air.
They are in the parking lot of an LDS meetinghouse about a mile away from the targeted tri-level house. Behind them, the sky looks like it’s on fire, and a few other agents milling about — bundled up in jackets and bulletproof vests — stop to admire the view.
But Varoz and Ashdown are huddled near the front of an SUV. On top of its hood is an iPad, which is taking a live feed from surveillance cameras trained on Garcia’s house. They are waiting on a tip that another person is looking to buy equipment from Garcia to start up his own ID fraud mill.
“He’s franchising,” Ashdown said.
The agents kill time until the fire-red sky behind them fades so they can approach in the dark. With about a dozen agents set to raid the house, there is concern about Garcia getting away.
The plan is to consolidate everyone into a few cars and approach the house from the north. A few units are expected to settle behind the house in case anybody tries to escape.
A Davis County sheriff’s deputy drives into the church parking lot and is told what is going to go down.
Now it’s dark. Time to roll.
McQuiston and Ashdown get into the SUV to be the “eyes on” prior to dispatching the raid.
“If the hairs on the back of your neck aren’t standing up, then it’s time to quit doing this,” Lucey said. He’s been doing it for 25 years.
— Oblivious » Inside the house, there are six people — all alledgedly undocumented immigrants — including Garcia.
In the main room, there is a computer and a printer. Overlooking the operation is a crucified Jesus hanging on the wall. In the corner, a shrine to the Virgin Mary sees it all. On the stove, beans are cooking and the suspects are making fake IDs. The main television in the house is tuned to a Spanish-language station.
They appear to have no idea a massive mobilization effort is lurking within a mile of their house.
While McQuiston and Ashdown crawl to a stop along the curb a few houses down from Garcia’s property and the rest of the task force makes final checks in the parking lot at the church, two of the suspects leave the house and pull out of the driveway — catching everyone off guard.
Lucey and Mutter are already en route to the house. McQuiston is getting antsy, afraid the prey is going to escape. He gets his cell phone.
He tells the approaching task force that the bystanders two houses down have finally left, but he is concerned Garcia might get away in the white car.
The decision is made quickly to have the Davis County Sheriff’s deputy pull over the car.
From behind McQuiston’s parked car, a van and four vehicles park quickly where the party two houses down has gone dark.
“Let’s go,” McQuiston said.
— Doing business » Lucey said the quality of fake identifications varies. It’s a lucrative business, however, and he said an ID maker can pull upward of $1 million a year in revenue. The IDs sell for around $300 for a set of three — Social Security card, driver license and residency card.
They can be hard to track because the entire operation can be run out of a small apartment. He said past raids into small apartments have been sparse — often with just the items for making IDs inside.
Lucey said the profile of these criminals also makes them tough to spot.
They don’t live lavishly and, in fact, often live below their means. He said money is made and usually almost immediately wired back to their hometowns in Mexico.
“These guys are here for one reason only,” Lucey said, “to make money.”
There is crossover with relatives working guns and drugs, but the bulk of the crimes investigated by the strike force are fraudulent IDs.
Shurtleff said nobody has a good handle on how many Social Security numbers are stolen from Utah children to provide an illegal population with identification.
But Lucey said the ones buying the IDs aren’t usually looking to use the numbers for fraud — they’re using them to secure legitimate jobs.
Shurtleff said that’s why the strike force is focused on the manufacturers, not users.
“It’s like going after the drug rings,” he said. “We’re not interested in the guy smoking a joint. We want to cut the head off the snake.”
But Shurtleff said the strike force has a lot of heads to chop off and is currently limited to the Wasatch Front.
He wants to expand to southern Utah.
— Going in » The agents form a dark conga line, quickly moving down the sidewalk toward the house.
Within minutes, they’re up the driveway and through the door. Agent Steve Metcalf would later say the suspects appeared “startled.” The fear of armed suspects never materialized.
Six are taken into custody within an hour of breaching the door from the garage. The Davis County sheriff’s deputy pulls up with the suspects who left in the Honda.
The executed warrant allows the agents to seize any computers, hard drives, zip drives, printers, laminators, cutters and financial information.
McQuiston said the suspects face a variety of forgery charges and that the warrant yielded 20 completed fake IDs and another 12 to 14 that were partially complete.
And on the computer were photos and numbers that could make many more.
dmontero@sltrib.com
the morman church is behind this amnesty bill they and there members hire them.cheap laber,monsen and the 12 aposeles need to be locked you in prison for breaking the law,,its a false church anyway
boy anonamus you got that right.we got a big lds church farm down here at elberta utah.thats all that works here,,no speaky da englash.old monsen should be in jail.our kids of high school age youst to get jobs there in the sommer but now its josa& hos b
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!