Category: Immigration


France’s Le Pen demands political asylum for Snowden

Filed under: Freedom, Government, Immigration, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Whistle Blowers, World News — 2 Comments
June 10, 2013

***************************************************************************
FRANCE 24 latest world news report
© AFP

The leader of the French far-right National Front is better known for demanding big reductions in the number of refugees taken in by France. On Monday, she demanded that France give political asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s anti-immigration National Front (FN) party, has demanded that the country give former American defense contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden immediate political asylum.

In an open message, Le Pen said she was demanding French President François Hollande “to ask him to give, in the name of the French Republic, asylum to this young man who had the courage to reveal to humanity a very serious threat to democracy and to public freedoms.”

The FN leader is better known for calling on cuts to French asylum quotas.

During her campaign ahead of the 2012 presidential election, she called for an 80 percent reduction in the number of refugees taken in by France over five years.

Read Full Article and  Watch Video Here

******************************************************************************

FORBES

Icelandic Legislator: I’m Ready To Help NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Seek Asylum

Icelandic legislator and Icelandic Modern Media Initiative co-founder Birgitta Jonsdottir

When WikiLeaks burst onto the international stage in 2010, the small Nordic nation of Iceland offered it a safe haven. Now American whistleblower Edward Snowden may be seeking that country’s protection, and at least one member of its parliament says she’s ready to help.

On Sunday evening Icelandic member of parliament Birgitta Jonsdottir and Smari McCarthy, executive director of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, issued a statement of support for Snowden, the Booz Allen Hamilton staffer who identified himself to the Guardian newspaper as the source of a series of top secret documents outlining the NSA’s massive surveillance of foreigners and Americans.

“Whereas IMMI is based in Iceland, and has worked on protections of privacy, furtherance of government transparency, and the protection of whistleblowers, we feel it is our duty to offer to assist and advise Mr. Snowden to the greatest of our ability,” their statement reads. “We are already working on detailing the legal protocols required to apply for asylum, and will over the course of the week be seeking a meeting with the newly appointed interior minister of Iceland, Mrs. Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, to discuss whether an asylum request can be processed in a swift manner, should such an application be made.”

It’s not yet clear whether Snowden has officially applied for asylum in Iceland. A press contact for the Icelandic Ministry of Interior, which handles asylum requests, said that he hadn’t yet seen an application from Snowden and that the ministry couldn’t comment until one was received.

Read More Here

******************************************************************************

Hunt on for NSA Leaker as Extradition Battle Takes Shape

Sen. Feinstein Condemns Revealing Truth About Surveillance as ‘Treason’

by Jason Ditz, June 10, 2013

A manhunt of sorts is beginning for the source of the NSA leaks revealing PRISM and the rest of the huge surveillance state watching Americans. In some ways it’s straightforward. Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden has confirm he was the source, and confirmed that he is in Hong Kong, just a block from the US Consulate.

And while a handful of Congressmen have praised Snowden for uncovering the truth about rampant privacy violations, most officials fall in the category of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D – CA), who condemned Snowden as a traitor for allowing the American public to know the truth which, she insists, she had been privy to for quite some time. They are determined to capture him, and make an example of him.

But knowing where he is and being able to actually get him are two very different things. Snowden is in Hong Kong, and the city has an extradition deal with the US, but it is expected to be a very long, very difficult battle.

Read Full Article Here

******************************************************************************

Related articles
About these ads
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Did you know the immigration reform measure would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system?

Filed under: bureaucracy, Fundamental Rights, Government, Government Overreach, Hypocrisy, Immigration, Indoctrination, Invasion Of Privacy I, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Secrecy, Security, Special Interests, Surveillance — Leave a comment
June 3, 2013

Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform

Illustration: National Institutes of Health

The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.

Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation (.pdf)  is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named “photo tool,” a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID.

Employers would be obliged to look up every new hire in the database to verify that they match their photo.

This piece of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act is aimed at curbing employment of undocumented immigrants. But privacy advocates fear the inevitable mission creep, ending with the proof of self being required at polling places, to rent a house, buy a gun, open a bank account, acquire credit, board a plane or even attend a sporting event or log on the internet. Think of it as a government version of Foursquare, with Big Brother cataloging every check-in.

“It starts to change the relationship between the citizen and state, you do have to get permission to do things,” said Chris Calabrese, a congressional lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union. “More fundamentally, it could be the start of keeping a record of all things.”

Read Full Article Here

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Senate Panel Approves Even More Stringent Biometric Measures

Filed under: bureaucracy, Freedom, Fundamental Rights, Government, Government Overreach, Hypocrisy, Immigration, Indoctrination, Invasion Of Privacy I, Lack Of Transparency, Legislation, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Psy - Ops, Secrecy, Security, Special Interests, Surveillance, Unethical — 1 Comment
May 22, 2013

Permission = Freedom?

Eric Blair

Activist Post

“The secret in propaganda is that when you demonize, you dehumanize,” says James Forsher, a film historian. “When you dehumanize, it allows you to kill your enemy and no longer feel guilty about it.”

Apparently illegal immigrants have been sufficiently dehumanized to force them into biometric tracking. There’s no way the government would use biometrics to track the superior law-abiding natives, right?  More on this later.

Illegal immigration is a hot-button issue that genuinely affects many communities and the motivation to do something about it is understandable.  However, anti-immigration supporters may be playing right into Big Brother’s hands by being tricked into supporting the hi-tech enslavement of themselves.

Some have referred to the sweeping immigration reform bill in Congress as a “Trojan Horse for Biometrics.”  These systems are a clear indication that illegal immigration is being used to put the final touches on the full-spectrum surveillance grid in America.

And, shockingly, politicians are making the immigration reform bill more stringent instead of less, apparently fueled by anti-immigration zealots.

According to NBC News, the senate hopes to finalize a bill for a vote by the end of the week. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been debating many biometric identification mandates and have now approved a more stringent biometric “test system” for U.S. airports.
Carrie Dann of NBC News writes:

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amendment sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a Republican considered to be a swing vote on the 18 member committee. That amendment, a less stringent version of a biometric proposal that failed last week, would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a fingerprinting system at the 10 U.S. airports with the highest international traffic within two years. After six years, that system would have to be in place at the nation’s 30 biggest airports.

One of the key authors of the legislation, Marco Rubio (R-FL), said ”The amendment adopted today is a good start and I will continue to fight to make the tracking of entries and exits include biometrics.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) called it “a start” as well.

 

Read Full Article Here

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Rep. Speier: U.S. Should ‘Create Refugee Status for Any Afghan Woman Who Wants to Leave the Country’

Filed under: Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It, Global Community, Goodwill, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Immigration, Women's Rights — 1 Comment
April 30, 2013

burqa

Afghan women cover themselves as required by Islamic law. (AP Photo)

April 30, 2013

Afghan women cover themselves as required by Islamic law. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – A U.S. lawmaker, expressing concern about the lives of Afghan women when most U.S. troops leave the country in 2014, said those who want to do so should be allowed to come to the United States:

“I’m really concerned about these women,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told a House Armed Services subcommittee on April 25. “I think everyone on this panel is very concerned about these women…But I think there is something we can do. And that is to create a refugee status for any Afghan woman who wants to leave the country and is seeking asylum in our country.

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

ICE Admits It Released More Than 2,000 Illegal Aliens, Including Serious Offenders

Filed under: Budget Cuts, bureaucracy, Fiscal irresponsibility, Government, Hypocrisy, Immigration, Lack Of Transparency, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Psy - Ops, Security, Special Interests — 3 Comments
March 15, 2013

March 15, 2013
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press
via  CNS News
March 15, 2013
John MortonIn this Jan. 3, 2013 file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton speaks during a news conference at ICE headquarters in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Washington (AP) – After weeks of denials, the Obama administration acknowledged Thursday that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget concerns during three weeks in February. Four of the most serious offenders have been put back in detention.

The administration had insisted that only a “few hundred” immigrants were released for budgetary reasons, challenging as inaccurate a March 1 report by The Associated Press that the agency had released more than 2,000 immigrants in February and planned to release more than 3,000 others this month. Intense criticism led to a temporary shutdown of the plan.

The director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, told a congressional panel Thursday that the agency had actually released 2,228 people from immigration jails over the course of three weeks, starting February 9, for what he described as “solely budgetary reasons.” They included 10 people considered the highest level of offender.

After the administration had challenged the AP’s reporting, ICE said it didn’t know how many people had been released for budget reasons but would review its records.

Morton, who testified with two other agency officials, told lawmakers that the decision to release the immigrants was not discussed in advance with political appointees, including those in the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said the pending automatic cuts known as sequestration was “driving in the background.”

“We were trying to live within the budget that Congress had provided us,” Morton told lawmakers. “This was not a White House call. I take full responsibility.”

 

Read Full Article Here

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Senate plan would give Napolitano the final say on border security

Filed under: bureaucracy, Government, Immigration, Legislation, National Sovereignty, Security — 1 Comment
February 3, 2013

By Alexander Bolton – 02/02/13 01:00 PM ET
 The Hill

Under a bipartisan Senate framework, Democrats say, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano would have final say over whether the border is secure enough to put 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

If Napolitano does not provide the green light for putting illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, the responsibility for judging whether the metrics for border security have been met will be given to her successor.The early debate over immigration reform has yielded two thorny questions: What metrics will be used to determine whether the goals for border security and other safeguards against illegal immigration have been met? Who will decide whether the metrics have been achieved?

Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan immigration reform framework unveiled this past week, said Napolitano should decide.

“What we’ve proposed is that the DHS secretary, whomever it is, will have final say on [whether] whatever metrics we proposes are met,” Schumer said. “We think those metrics will be quite objective.”

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the lead Republican sponsor of the framework, said the issue is under discussion within the Gang of Eight.

“We’re working on a lot of it,” he said.

But the idea of letting Napolitano, who plans to stay in the cabinet for President Obama’s second term, or a future secretary of Homeland Security make the final call on the border has sparked alarm among other Republicans.

“My constituents are not going to accept a Washington bureaucrat making a representation the border is secure when they know it’s not true. So that’s unacceptable,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn, who represents Texas.

There are other tough issues that could derail immigration reform negotiations. These include the establishment of an entry-exit visa system to track whether persons who enter the country leave when they are supposed to. An estimated 40 percent of illegal immigrants have overstayed their visas.

Another is the question of how to handle the future flow of workers for so-called low-skill jobs in meat processing, hospitality and other service industries. Some lawmakers say disagreements over a guest worker program blew up a comprehensive reform bill in the Senate in 2007.

The proposal to make border security a condition for allowing illegal immigrants onto a pathway to citizenship has emerged as the biggest disagreement in the early debate. Obama pointedly did not call for it during a speech in Las Vegas, Tuesday.

 

Read Full Article Here

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Tina Turner to become Swiss citizen and give up U.S. passport

Filed under: Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It, Global Community, Immigration — Leave a comment
January 26, 2013

By Agence France-Presse
Friday, January 25, 2013 7:14 EST
Tina Turner via AFP

US pop legend Tina Turner, who has been living in Switzerland since 1995, will soon receive Swiss citizenship and will give up her US passport, Swiss media reported Friday.

“I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. … I cannot imagine a better place to live,” Turner told German language daily Blick.

Turner, 73, who was born Anna Mae Bullock, lives in picturesque town of Kuesnacht, on the shores of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland, and has passed a local civics test and interview, according to an official announcement published in the Zuerichsee-Zeitung daily.

The woman behind such hits as “Private Dancer”, “Simply the Best” and “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” will still need a green light from the canton of Zurich as well was federal authorities before she can receive red passport, the two papers reported.

Turner spokeswoman Karin Rhomberg told the Zuerichsee-Zeitung that the singer wanted to “clarify her situation”.

“Tina Turner will therefore also give back her US citizenship,” she said.

Turner, who has learned German, reportedly moved to Switzerland in 1995 when her longtime partner, German record executive Erwin Bach, was transferred here.
Read Full Article Here

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

The Resistance Begins: New York Gun Owners Refuse to Register; “Largest Act of Civil Disobedience in State History”

Filed under: Activism, bureaucracy, Conspiracy Theories, Corruption, crime, Excessive Use Of Force, Fraud, Freedom, Fundamental Rights, Government, Government Overreach, Harassment, History, Immigration, Irrational Violence, Legislation, Politics, Politics, Legislation and Economy News, Power Struggle, Provocation / Incitement, Rule Of Law, Security, Signs Of The Times, Special Interests, The American Constitution, Weaponry / Armament — 2 Comments
January 26, 2013

Mac Slavo
January 25th, 2013
SHTFplan.comResistance Begins

With emotions running high in the aftermath of the Newtown Sandy Hook shooting, politicians on the State and Federal level have begun introducing legislative actions to curtail access to firearms protected by the Second Amendment. In Missouri, parents may soon be forced to register firearms with their child’s school under threat of criminal penalties. In Massachusetts, another proposal would require storage of semi-automatic rifles at government approved storage depots. And, in the State of New York, congressional representatives have already passed legislation that requires registration of every semi-automatic rifle and reduces maximum magazine capacity to 7 rounds of ammunition, and Governor Cuomo has floated the idea of gun confiscation.

Now, in what is sure to be a growing trend across the entire country, New York gun owners are organizing a resistance against what many believe to be the most, “brazen infringement on the right to keep and bear arms anywhere in the nation,” according to The New American:

Preparations are already being made for mass resistance.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of people that they’re prepared to defy the law, and that number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, when the registration deadline comes,’’ said President Brian Olesen with American Shooters Supply, among the biggest gun dealers in the state, in an interview with the New York Post.

Even government officials admit that forcing New Yorkers to register their guns will be a tough sell, and they are apparently aware that massive non-compliance will be the order of the day. “Many of these assault-rifle owners aren’t going to register; we realize that,’’ a source in the Cuomo administration told the Post, adding that officials expect “widespread violations” of the new statute.

Threats of imprisoning gun owners for up to a year and confiscating their weapons are already being issued by governor’s office, headed by a rabid anti-Second Amendment extremist who suggested before the bill passed that “confiscation” of all semi-automatic rifles was being considered. If tens or even hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens refuse to comply, however, analysts say New York would either have to start raising taxes and building a lot more prisons, or give up on the scheme that experts say will do nothing to reduce violence and that lawmakers say is aimed at eventual confiscation.

Activists involved in the state-wide boycott against the unconstitutional statute who spoke to the Post almost taunted authorities, saying gun owners would essentially dare authorities to “come and take it away.”

According to the paper, leaders of some of the state’s hundreds of gun clubs, dealers, and non-profit organizations, citing the New York Constitution’s guarantee that gun rights “cannot be infringed,” are currently involved in organizing the resistance. Among the primary concerns is that, with registration, authorities would know where to go for confiscation, an idea already proposed openly by Governor Cuomo himself.

“They’re saying, ‘F— the governor! F— Cuomo! We’re not going to register our guns,’ and I think they’re serious. People are not going to do it. People are going to resist,” explained State Rifle and Pistol Association President Tom King, who also serves on the National Rifle Association board of directors. “They’re taking one of our guaranteed civil rights, and they’re taking it away.”

Opponents of the right to bear arms, take heed. The American people know what you’re up to and they will not stand for it.

The resistance has begun.

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

Arizona Police can now ask for immigration status ,so says U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton

Filed under: Immigration, Legislation, Politics, Legislation and Economy News — Leave a comment
September 19, 2012

Politics, Legislation and Economy News

 

 

Legislation : Immigration

Judge: Police to enforce Arizona immigration law now

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has ruled that police in Arizona can immediately start enforcing the most contentious section of the state’s immigration law, marking the first time officers can carry out a requirement that officers, while enforcing other laws, question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally.

The decision on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton is the latest milestone in a two-year legal battle over the requirement. It culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that upheld the provision on the grounds that it doesn’t conflict with federal law.

 Opponents who call the requirement the “show me your papers” provision responded to the Supreme Court decision by asking Bolton to block the requirement on different grounds, arguing that it would lead to systematic racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions of Latinos if it’s enforced.Other less controversial parts of the law have been in effect since July 2010, such as minor changes to the state’s 2005 immigrant smuggling law and a ban on state and local government agencies from restricting the enforcement of federal immigration law. But those provisions have gotten little, if any, use since they were put into effect.

Arizona’s law was passed in 2010 amid voter frustration with the state’s role as the busiest illegal entry point into the country. Five states — Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah — have adopted variations on Arizona’s law.

Despite the decision that lets Arizona’s questioning requirement take effect, some backers of the law questioned the level of cooperation they will get from federal immigration agents, who will be called to verify people’s immigration status and be responsible for picking up illegal immigrants from local officers.

Federal immigration officers have said they will help, but only if doing so conforms to their priorities, including catching repeat violators and identifying and removing those who threaten public safety and national security.

If federal agents decline to pick up illegal immigrants, local officers in some cases will likely have to let them go unless they’re suspected of committing a crime that would require them to be brought to jail.

To the supporters of Arizona’s law, the questioning requirement was the most salient part of the statute, whose stated purpose was to make attrition through enforcement the state’s immigration policy. Immigrant rights groups believe the requirement presented the most opportunities for civil rights abuses.

Among the opponents of the law was the Obama administration, which filed a challenge that led to the most controversial parts of the statute being put on hold.

Shortly before the law was to take effect in July 2010, Bolton prevented police from enforcing the questioning requirement and other parts of the statute, ruling the Obama administration would likely succeed in showing federal law trumps the state law.

Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the measure into law, appealed the ruling, lost at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and took her case to the Supreme Court. The Obama administration failed to persuade the nation’s highest court to strike down the questioning requirement on the argument that federal law trumps the state law.

A coalition of civil rights, religious and business groups then asked Bolton in July to prevent police from enforcing the questioning requirement. They offered different reasons in trying to put the brakes on the provision.

This time, the opponents sought to block the provision by arguing that Latinos in Arizona would face systematic racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions if that section is enforced.

Lawyers for Brewer urged the judge to let the requirement go into effect. They argued that the law’s opponents were merely speculating in their racial profiling claims, that police have received training to avoid discriminatory practices and that officers must have “reasonable suspicion” that a person is in the country illegally to trigger the requirement.

Bolton denied the coalition’s request on Sept. 5.

 

Latest on POLITICO

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Authorities in Greece are rounding up thousands of suspected illegal immigrants in a large-scale deportation drive to combat what a government official compared to a prehistoric invasion.

Filed under: Corruption, Economic News, Financial, Fiscal Irresponsibility, Fiscal irresponsibility, Fundamental Rights, Global Economy, Government, Government Overreach, Human Rights, Hypocrisy, Immigration, Jobs, Politics, Rising Costs, Security, World News — Leave a comment
August 6, 2012

Greece arrests thousands in mass migrant sweep

Greece arrests thousands in mass migrant sweep

Athens police staged a mass sweep of undocumented migrants over the weekend, questioning some 6,000 people and pledging to deport nearly 1,600. A conservative government minister described the country’s influx of foreign nationals as “an invasion”.

By News Wires (text)

AP – Authorities in Greece are rounding up thousands of suspected illegal immigrants in a large-scale deportation drive to combat what a government official compared to a prehistoric invasion.

Greece has long been Europe’s main entry point for illegal immigrants from Asia and Africa seeking a better life in the West. But Greece’s severe economic problems and high unemployment are making the problem worse than ever.

Police said Monday that 6,000 people were detained over the weekend in Athens in a massive operation incongruously named after the ancient Greek god of hospitality, Zeus Xenios.

Officers across the city were seen stopping mostly African and Asian people in the street for identification checks. Most were only briefly detained, but about 1,600 were arrested for illegally entering Greece and sent to holding centers pending deportation.

Left-wing opposition parties criticized the crackdown, while the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees voiced concern that migrants from war-torn countries and genuine asylum-seekers could be denied the right of protection.

Some 100,000 illegal immigrants are estimated to slip into Greece every year, mostly from neighboring Turkey, and up to a million are believed to live in Greece, which has an official population of about 10 million.

The uncontrolled influx, which coincided with a recent spike in crime, contributed to the sharp rise of an extreme-right political party which uses aggressive rhetoric against immigrants.

Once beyond the pale of Greek politics, the extreme right Golden Dawn gained nearly 7 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections six weeks ago. Mainstream parties also pledged to curtail immigrant flows.

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said Monday the rounding-up of illegal immigrants would continue, arguing that their unchecked entry has brought Greece “to the brink of collapse.”

“The country is being lost,” he told private Skai TV. “What is happening now is (Greece’s) greatest invasion ever. Since the Dorian invasion some 3,000 years ago, the country has never received such a flow of immigration.”

Ancient tradition linked the invasion of Greek-speaking Dorian tribes with the end of the heroic Mycenaean age, although historians believe that the Mycenaean palatial civilization was brought down by financial and social unrest.

Dendias said arrested immigrants will be temporarily held at police academy buildings in northern Greece, which are closed for the summer, and at a detention center outside Athens. He claimed that by the end of the year Greece will be able to detain up to 10,000 people.

“Whoever is arrested will be held and then deported,” he said.

The Greek office of the U.N. High Commission for refugees said that while Greece has the right to carry out checks on immigrants, it should ensure that vulnerable groups do not suffer. “People who truly need protection must be able to request it,” said Petros Mastakas, associate protection officer at the UNHCR office in Athens.

“It is very difficult, practically impossible, for asylum seekers to apply for protected status, and we are concerned that among those arrested there may be people who want protection but were unable to submit their requests because access to the relevant authorities is practically impossible,” he said.

Related articles
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 836 other followers