Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Perpetuating Turmoil
Costa Mesa is in turmoil these days because our young
jailer/mayor has proposed a plan to usurp the responsibility and
authority of the federal government when it comes to screening
criminals who might be illegal aliens. For more than two months,
since he proposed his ill-advised plan, this city has been
engaged in a big tug of war - pulled every which way.
One thing that really bugs me about this fiasco is that the most vocal and divisive groups addressing this situation are from outside this city. On one hand we've got the slick and suspect Nativo Lopez - recalled from the Santa Ana School Board by the wise electorate up there a couple years ago - leading the call for boycotts, demonstrations and non-cooperation with local police. Abetting his efforts is the angry "nativist", OCC student Benito Acosta and his band of chanting compatriots. Acosta has done a great disservice to his cause by, in two consecutive city council meetings, cussing out our mayor with language not usually heard in civilized company and managing to get himself arrested. More recently, he disrupted a community forum at a local church where our police chief was attempting to explain the current plan and answer questions posed by a frightened Latino community.
On the other side we have Minuteman Project founder and failed congressional candidate, Jim Gilchrist, who, along with his cadre of wild-eyed vigilante disciples, have embraced our mayor as some kind of savior. They practically genuflected in his presence as Gilchrist anointed him as an honorary Minuteman and presented him with a baseball cap last month. That must be pretty heady stuff for a young man who spends most of his day job as an Orange County Deputy Sheriff assigned to the jail dodging body fluids and hearing epithets from the worst among us.
I wish these outside rabble-rousers on both sides would just take a hike and let us try to sort out this issue ourselves. The most calm, reasoned viewpoints presented before the council on both sides of this issue have come from residents of this city - those with a real vested interested in doing what's best for the city. Most of the frothing rhetoric has been delivered by the outside agitators, elbowing each other out of the way for face time on camera.
The mayor's plan is a bad idea - for Costa Mesa and for this country. He's got the cart before the horse. First, we need to close our borders and make sure they are secure. Then the FEDERAL government needs to exercise some wisdom when addressing the issue of the illegal immigrants among us. This might involve some kind of an amnesty program. It might involve a guest worker program. I'm comfortable with those concepts and/or a combination of both. Once those issues are resolved, then - and only then - should consideration be given to the kind of plan Mansoor proposes. Without secure borders, the deported criminals he says he wants off the streets will just keep coming back across the border to prey on residents at will. Without the assurance of secure borders his plan will only divert precious law enforcement resources from their real jobs. Until the broader federal issue is solved Mansoor's plan will only continue to divide this community.
5:32 pm pst
One thing that really bugs me about this fiasco is that the most vocal and divisive groups addressing this situation are from outside this city. On one hand we've got the slick and suspect Nativo Lopez - recalled from the Santa Ana School Board by the wise electorate up there a couple years ago - leading the call for boycotts, demonstrations and non-cooperation with local police. Abetting his efforts is the angry "nativist", OCC student Benito Acosta and his band of chanting compatriots. Acosta has done a great disservice to his cause by, in two consecutive city council meetings, cussing out our mayor with language not usually heard in civilized company and managing to get himself arrested. More recently, he disrupted a community forum at a local church where our police chief was attempting to explain the current plan and answer questions posed by a frightened Latino community.
On the other side we have Minuteman Project founder and failed congressional candidate, Jim Gilchrist, who, along with his cadre of wild-eyed vigilante disciples, have embraced our mayor as some kind of savior. They practically genuflected in his presence as Gilchrist anointed him as an honorary Minuteman and presented him with a baseball cap last month. That must be pretty heady stuff for a young man who spends most of his day job as an Orange County Deputy Sheriff assigned to the jail dodging body fluids and hearing epithets from the worst among us.
I wish these outside rabble-rousers on both sides would just take a hike and let us try to sort out this issue ourselves. The most calm, reasoned viewpoints presented before the council on both sides of this issue have come from residents of this city - those with a real vested interested in doing what's best for the city. Most of the frothing rhetoric has been delivered by the outside agitators, elbowing each other out of the way for face time on camera.
The mayor's plan is a bad idea - for Costa Mesa and for this country. He's got the cart before the horse. First, we need to close our borders and make sure they are secure. Then the FEDERAL government needs to exercise some wisdom when addressing the issue of the illegal immigrants among us. This might involve some kind of an amnesty program. It might involve a guest worker program. I'm comfortable with those concepts and/or a combination of both. Once those issues are resolved, then - and only then - should consideration be given to the kind of plan Mansoor proposes. Without secure borders, the deported criminals he says he wants off the streets will just keep coming back across the border to prey on residents at will. Without the assurance of secure borders his plan will only divert precious law enforcement resources from their real jobs. Until the broader federal issue is solved Mansoor's plan will only continue to divide this community.
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