Wow….looks like the GOP will continue to cling to its tired old dogma of hate as it spirals into the dustbin of history…..

“dogma of hate” — MidwestCommonSense

I didn’t see any hate from the GOP statement. Where’s the hate?

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“By selecting Martinez, it is clear that Nixon does not plan on continuing the strong policies enacted by Gov. Blunt to curb illegal immigration activity in Missouri, and that’s a shame.”
GOP spokeswoman Tina Hervey

strong poicies…
curb illegal immigration in Missour-ee…
the Valley Park ordinance…

she’s got to be kidding, right?
blunt made us the laughing stock of the entire nation.

Linda Martinez is viewed by the majority of business owners and landlords as a knight in shining armor. Valley Park’s ordinances regarding immigration served no legitimate purpose, put the landlords in the position of immigration enforcement and, had they been enforced, would have lead to a patchwork of laws with many cities all trying to regulate federal immigration according to their own interpretation. The team that represented us wanted to protect small business from the expense of such a disjointed approach! Judge Barbara Wallace determined that Valley Park did not have the power to regulate immigration and the landlord ordinances were struck down..subsequent ordinances regulating landlords/immigration (that essentially manipulated the wording and still served no legitimate purpose) were withdrawn by Valley Park. The Ex-Mayor, Mr. Whitaker, who spearheaded this witch hunt, wasted untold numbers of dollars on litigation that did not benefit the citizens and businesses in Valley Park whose taxes paid for the defense. He was subsequently voted out of office by a large margin by the residents of Valley Park. Thanks again to all the bright and courageous attorneys who understood what was happening in Valley Park and refused to turn a blind eye…the Law Firm of Bryan Cave, St. Louis University, Washington University and others. Governor Nixon will surely benefit from Linda’s wisdom and her keen ability to make things happen.

I am surprised at the Republican response. I would thing they’d hold their criticism for an issue that had real standing. The Valley Park fiasco was akin to a village deciding to assume the Pentagon’s job for national security - what they tried to do with an immigration ordinance wasn’t workable, it wasn’t legal, it wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t their business. From my perspective, Linda Martinez did what any civic-minded lawyer should do: challenge bad acts and set them straight.

Even Valley Park knows they need serious help in Economic Development and would likely welcome a qualified person to lead that effort.

At a time when statesmen tell us to stay on task and cooperate on the real economic battle, we seriously do not need the old political ploys that got us here.

Eveyone stop,step back and make certain that your “facts” are actual facts instead of opinion or urban myths before you respond to the article.

I am a Valley Park resident and homeowner of almost 20 years. In that time, I have never witnessed nor been made aware of any tsunami of illegal immigrants swamping our litte city of less than 7,000 in population. No one has ever identified the exact number of illegal immigrants living or working in our city. If there truly existed such a large illegal immigrant population in our city, it would be self evident since our fair little city is over 90% Caucasian in ethnicity making it somewhat difficult for illegal immigrants to blend in unless they happen to be of the same ethnicity. Last I heard, the Irish, Italian, Spanish and other Western European immigration waves had long been over. Our Native American population component is hard to identify and they were the original owners anyway so should they not be the ones defining who the illegal immigrants actually are?

Our school system has not been forced to absorb a massive number of students who are either illegal immigrants or childen of illegal immigrants. We do not have a city owned hospital nor does our city offer any healthcare or social services that have been highjacked or overwhelmed by large numbers of illegal immigrants.

There are no public housing projects such as in other urban centers or even Pruitt Igoe as once existed in St. Louis City. So there are no enormous conclaves of illegal immigrants residing in our fair city. Frankly, the housing stock availability works against any large numbers of legal or illegal immigrants taking up residence in our city.

To give opposing viewpoints an equal opportunity, the following is an excerpt from a document recently written by one of our current elected representatives, who has been closely involved in the illegal immigration litigation.

“The City Officials made an attempt to do our part to address illegal immigration on a local level. This was done for all the right reasons, to protect a $50 million investment in our levee, to protect the law
abiding residents of our community, to protect legitimate businesses in Valley Park, to protect local jobs,and to prevent the establishment of a haven for illegal activity being created in our community.”

While admirable in intent, this attempt is simply misguided and ineffective. If you refer to our US Constitution, our Federal government reserves the right to create and enforce the only laws for the administration and regulation of immigration into and out of our country. The last time I checked Missouri was still part of the 50 state union fondly known as the good old US of A. Simply stated, no state, city, town, village, county or your friendly neighbor subdivision has the legal right and authority to meddle in immigration laws, regulation or administration. While you may be angry that our federal government has so blatantly ignored the issue for so long, you do not get to change the rules simply because you are upset about it. If you want representatives that will enforce the current or new immigration laws then use the ballot box to elect them. That would be those folks in Washington DC who profess every 2, 4 or 6 years to have your best interests at heart while spending the majority of their time meeting with those who invest huge amounts of money in their election campaign funds.

I fail to see that illegal immigrants pose any threat to the $50 million levee that protects our city from river flooding. Unless there is such a large population of illegal immigrants available to stand on the levee and through their combined mass crush it completely flat, illegal immigrants will not affect the levee unless they decide to tunnel under it to get to our fair city or decide to use it as building materials for new residential dwellings.

As a law abiding resident of Valley Park, I simply do see any threat to my status with the law from any illegal immigrants since no such threat has been manifested or inferred.

I also fail to see any threat to our city’s legitimate business enterprises. No one has ever documented or provided valid explanations to justify this claim. Ditto for protecting our city’s jobs. While there are jobs within our community, by and large our city is a bedroom community where the vast majority of our residents live here and work in other cities. We have no large numbers manufacturing plants, food processing plants or assembly enterprises that require huge quantities of workers. We do have food service and other minimum wage employers but not enough to absorb thousands of illegal immigrants.

As far as preventing the esatblishment of a haven for illegal activity, we probably face more of a threat from those individuals who manufacture or distribute legally banned substances than we do from some homemade tamales or tortillas. As the results of the last raid on purported meth lab owners indicated, not a one of those detained or arrested was identified as an illegal immigrant.

Since these are the facts, why the stark negativity directed to the appointment of an experienced and qualified professional to the DED post? This person, using her knowledge, skills and legal training was actually defending the rights of business owners and city residents from a hamhanded attempt by our city officials to involve themselves in areas where they do not have any legal right to legislate.

Did our city officials really believe that enacting ordinances that required business owners and landlords to become our city’s immigration laws enforcement officers would be the best solution to the issues at hand? I am not certain because after having repeatedly being asked to fully explain their decisions, we still have not gotten a coherent explanation from our elected officials.

The situation has quite a similarity to the shifting justification for the Bush administration’s initiation of the Iraqi War. They started with the WMD threat to world peace and have tiptoed from there to the noble cause of freeing the Iraqi people and creating a beacon of democracy in the Middle East. They did something there that our city officials also forgot to do. They failed to ask the people that would be most impacted by the action what they wanted or needed.

A short comment to Mr. Riopedre, of the St. Louis Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; not every governmental appointment should be a reminder or statement of political intent. Should we not demand that our officials select qualified and experienced people to actually go about the business of government?

I would remind Ms. Hervey of the Missouri GOP that before you make a comment on another person’s “clear” intent of a thought or action, it ism usually best to simply ask that person for that clarification instead of using a newspaper or other media outlet to attempt to score a few political points or reassure the “base” that you are ever vigilant in protecting their interests.

Here is a radical suggestion. Allow the political appointee to actually do the job! Why not monitor the accomplishments and failures of this political appointee over a reasonable period of time and judge the performance with the appropriate metrics? If the person succeeds more than they fail, great; tell the governor-elect that he made a good choice. If the person is a miserable failure, then make sure you register your disappointment with the governor-elect. And join with others to get a better performer appointed to the job better.

Legal Immigration=good

Illegal Immigration=bad

http://numbersusa.com Because American Jobs are for Americans

The response of the GOP to the appointment of Linda Martinez is inaccurate and disappointing. Contrary to their suggestion, Linda Martinez is one of the most pro-business attorneys in St. Louis. She has been an ardent and successful advocate of public/private economic development throughout her 25+ years at Bryan Cave. And, she is someone with the credibility and proven ability to work with both Republicans and Democrats. She is a creative and tenacious consensus builder who can work with stakeholders across the spectrum - exactly what is needed in these tough economic times.
Missouri, like the rest of the country, is in crisis. All Missourians (Republicans and Democrats alike) should be grateful that she is headed to Jefferson City to put her talents to work for the State.

The Valley Park case is misrepresented by the GOP spokesperson. I was involved in the case, along with the clinic attorneys from St. Louis University Law School and the Bryan Cave pro bono committee. The heart of this case was pro-business. The challengers were small business owners and landlords in Valley Park who resisted regulation that illegally (and unrealistically) charged them with immigration law enforcement. Judge Barbara Wallace of the St. Louis County Court agreed that the ordinance exceeded the powers of the City of Valley Park and ruled against the City. The City thereafter revised its ordinance. Subsequent revised ordinances are before the federal court. The plaintiffs in this case were not immigrants and the case in no way supported illegal immigration.

If we are to address the serious economic crisis in Missouri, we have to put old politics aside and engage in the new politics of collaboration. Together, we succeed. Divided, we fail. And, we cannot afford to fail.

Karen Tokarz
Charles Nagel Professor of Public Interest Law & Public Service
Director, Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic
Washington University School of Law
AY 2008-09: Visiting Scholar, Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation

Let me get this right. Appointee fights for free against taxpaying Americans and costs a small town lots of money. Another pro-bono lawyer defends her, a ridiculously wordy guy wrote so much I had to stop reading, a losing greedy state senator candidate that cost the town many jobs chimes in, a supposed anti-american business owner gets in their two cents, Uncle Samchez speaks sense & bean sees himself as a butt of jokes as opposed to an American. Point: Illegal immigration is bad, Valley Park defended itself successfully against multiple lawsuits and won repeatedly at all levels, the state of Missouri enacts very similar laws. In all cases the legislative bodies vote overwhelmingly in favor of taxpaying Americans, only the lawyers and some really wordy guy don’t like it.

No one was made fun of or ridiculed for making sense. Obviously comprehension was the issue here. The characterizations of a “greedy” losing state senator candidate, a business owner and another pro bono attorney appear to be a knee jerk reaction to the facts and real issues.

The litigation was not against tax paying Americans. The residents of Valley Park were never asked by their elected representatives if they would support the creation and approval of these misguided ordinances. These ordinances were never discussed with the residents nor were they ever distributed for the residents’ review and consensus. These ordinances just magically appeared at a board meeting and were approved with zero public discussion and support.

The litigation was directed against the City of Valley Park because of the decisions and actions of 9 people: the previously serving mayor and 8 aldermen. The rest of us, approximately 6,491 residents, were left totally in the dark on the purpose and intent of these ordinances.

Those who are ignorant, misinformed or uninformed of the real situation continue to attempt to portray this litigation as support for illegal immigration in one form or another. It wqas and is not. I doubt that you will find anyone involved in this situation that actually favors and actively supports illegal immigration.

As far as the Missouri’s state representatives and senators voting in favor of the Missouri taxpayers by passing new laws regarding immigration. The new laws are not about illegal immigration. They actually regulate how employers and business owners will be in compliance with laws that regulate the verfification for employment of individuals who are hired by these entitites. Read the text of the laws completely. See how many references to illegal immigration or immigrants actually exist in the text of the laws. You should also be aware that just across the river in Illinois, the state government is refusing to enforce similar employment verification laws because of the inaccuracy of the federal e-verify system that is the method that ism used for employment elgibility status verification. Think there might be a similar problem coming up here in Missouri? Just as a side note, did your state senator or representative ask for your opinion or support on the new employment laws? yes, mine did not do that either. So how do you classify their votes and actions as voting for the tax payers?

It is very clear from your comments that you are not an informed or unbiased commentator. Read the all of the comments again including the “wordy guy’s”. Identify and evaluate the facts not your emotional response to the facts. Do it with an open mind and unbiased perspective.

I agree that illegal immigration results in bad outcomes for us all. Legal immigration is the way that this should be done. If the federal goverment who employs 15,000+ border agents can not stem the flow of illegal immigrants, do you really believe that 200 or so landlords, business owners and employers located smack in the middle of the USA can by themselves stem the tide? You need a big reality check.