Minuteman Project

So Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor is a member of the Minuteman Project, huh? Interesting. Even intriguing. Nothing wrong with it, we suppose. But we’ll come back to what strikes us as wrong about this revelation. First, the background. Mansoor has been a passionate proponent of legal immigration and a vocal opponent of illegal immigration. Costa Mesa is the only city in Orange County that has a federal agent check the citizenship status of suspects arrested by police.

Latino organizations, Minuteman Project set to square off over city's plan to have police enforce laws.Sparks could fly tonight when supporters and opponents of a controversial immigration enforcement plan in Costa Mesa face off at a City Council meeting. Two citizens groups that marched to the Costa Mesa police Department Dec. 23 to protest the immigration plan will rally before the City Council meeting, although there is nothing about the plan on the meeting agenda. Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist also plans to come to the meeting with supporters.

Minuteman description won't appear on ballot A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Friday denied Congressional candidate Jim Gilchrist's request to be listed as a Minuteman on ballots for the Oct. 4 special election for the 48th Congressional District. Gilchrist was challenging a decision by the secretary of state that designations mentioning the Minuteman Project -- which Gilchrist founded -- did not comply with state code. Because Judge Judy Hersher denied Gilchrist's petition, the Orange County Registrar of Voters will have candidate lists printed for sample ballots beginning Tuesday, chief deputy registrar Neal Kelley said.

Nearly two years after the Costa Mesa City Council took a controversial vote to have police enforce immigration law, the issue has cooled significantly, mainly because the city never took on enforcement duties. But one aspect of the issue has never been resolved. Police arrested 26-year-old Benito Acosta at a Jan. 3, 2006, City Council meeting after he spoke at the podium and urged supporters to stand up. County prosecutors declined to file the charges under their jurisdiction — resisting arrest and battery of a police officer, Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Schroeder said at the time — but the city pursued alleged municipal code violations.

Demonstrators gather outside council chambers to support, protest immigration plan.Costa Mesa police arrested a protest organizer, and afterward the City Council broke up its meeting for about 45 minutes when the crowd became unruly Tuesday night. People supporting and opposing the council's Dec. 6 decision to train city police to enforce federal immigration laws demonstrated outside City Hall before the meeting and then filled the council chambers to speak about the issue, which wasn't on the agenda.

Protesters against immigration plan ask for city attorney to look into mayor's conduct at meeting.COSTA MESA -- A group that has opposed the City Council's immigration enforcement plan on Tuesday staged another protest to complain about the Jan. 3 arrest of one protester. The enforcement plan has been a recurring issue at every meeting since the council's 3-2 vote in December and isn't likely to go away soon. The Tonantzin Collective, an activist group, has been vocal in its opposition to the council's vote to train city police to check the immigration status of people being investigated for other crimes.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher invited the wife of a convicted Border Patrol agent to Tuesday's State of the Union address, hoping to increase the pressure on President Bush to pardon the man and another agent. The agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, began a prison sentence Jan. 17 after being convicted of shooting a drug smuggler who later claimed he was unarmed. Rohrabacher, who represents Costa Mesa, said he invited Monica Ramos to the speech as his guest so the president could see her face-to-face.

Though he says he's not running on one topic, Jim Gilchrist says immigration is `the major issue.' It's never certain that credentials will translate into votes, but when it comes to fighting illegal immigration on the ground, American Independent Party congressional candidate Jim Gilchrist has more credentials than most. Illegal immigration is shaping up to be one of the biggest issues in 2006 political campaigns. As the founder of the Minuteman Project, a group of volunteers who patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, Gilchrist has put the issue in focus with his own bid for a U.S. House seat.

In his letter to the editor of April 13 ("Cities must step up to enforce immigration law"), Fullerton resident Gerry Nance used a half a page to provide us with his take on the current immigration plan proposed by Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, beginning with a primer on what a good job center should be. It's a curious subject, considering our job center, thanks to the ruling trio on the City Council, is long gone. His rambling tome ends with the following statement: "Some may say I am spewing hate, but I will say I am trying the 'truth and tough love' approach first; the 'hate with extreme prejudice' may be needed later, so I'll keep that on the back burner."

Nearly two years after the Costa Mesa City Council took a controversial vote to have police enforce immigration law, the issue has cooled significantly, mainly because the city never took on enforcement duties. But one aspect of the issue has never been resolved. Police arrested 26-year-old Benito Acosta at a Jan. 3, 2006, City Council meeting after he spoke at the podium and urged supporters to stand up. County prosecutors declined to file the charges under their jurisdiction — resisting arrest and battery of a police officer, Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Schroeder said at the time — but the city pursued alleged municipal code violations.

So Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor is a member of the Minuteman Project, huh? Interesting. Even intriguing. Nothing wrong with it, we suppose. But we’ll come back to what strikes us as wrong about this revelation. First, the background. Mansoor has been a passionate proponent of legal immigration and a vocal opponent of illegal immigration. Costa Mesa is the only city in Orange County that has a federal agent check the citizenship status of suspects arrested by police.

Many local lawmakers applauded the death of the immigration reform bill on Thursday that would have legalized millions of illegal immigrants and said the issue will spark debate in the 2008 presidential race. "It's a dead issue in Congress," said Huntington Beach Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. "I would hope the [presidential] candidates pay close attention to the lesson the Senate has just learned: Americans will oppose any bill that supports legalizing the status of those who are here illegally … they will not be bamboozled by Congress or presidential candidates."

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher invited the wife of a convicted Border Patrol agent to Tuesday's State of the Union address, hoping to increase the pressure on President Bush to pardon the man and another agent. The agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, began a prison sentence Jan. 17 after being convicted of shooting a drug smuggler who later claimed he was unarmed. Rohrabacher, who represents Costa Mesa, said he invited Monica Ramos to the speech as his guest so the president could see her face-to-face.

The assignment of an immigration and customs enforcement officer full time to the Costa Mesa city jail is a good start. Hopefully, Costa Mesa will be able to staff four or five of these officers full time in the near future. The City Council is certainly on the right track to maintaining public safety. Mayor Allan Mansoor has made a bold step forward in restoring the rule of law to the community. JIM GILCHRIST Founder The Minuteman Project Finally somebody is doing something about these people being illegal in jail and committing crimes.

Repeating a theme that has been a constant in this space since the illegal immigration debate heated up, the Los Angeles Times recently pointed out that — stop the presses — illegal immigrants may contribute more to our economy than they extract. The Times factored in part of an old argument here, that is that the sales tax and retail revenue spent by illegal immigrants is an important but often overlooked part of the equation. Now there is more cause for concern.

What wonderful irony. George Bush is at the nadir of his presidency. By almost every polling yardstick, he has hit record lows. The once solid underpinning of his support from the political and religious right is being splintered by the morass in Iraq and the corruption at home. Members of his own party are avoiding photo ops with him. The tiny margin by which he won elections has long since been swallowed up by doubt. And to rub salt in the political wound, Neil Young has just released an album calling for Bush's impeachment, and a Seymour Hersh article in the current issue of the New Yorker lays bare some shattering plans in Washington for Iran that reprise the build-up for Iraq.

In his letter to the editor of April 13 ("Cities must step up to enforce immigration law"), Fullerton resident Gerry Nance used a half a page to provide us with his take on the current immigration plan proposed by Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, beginning with a primer on what a good job center should be. It's a curious subject, considering our job center, thanks to the ruling trio on the City Council, is long gone. His rambling tome ends with the following statement: "Some may say I am spewing hate, but I will say I am trying the 'truth and tough love' approach first; the 'hate with extreme prejudice' may be needed later, so I'll keep that on the back burner."

Protesters against immigration plan ask for city attorney to look into mayor's conduct at meeting.COSTA MESA -- A group that has opposed the City Council's immigration enforcement plan on Tuesday staged another protest to complain about the Jan. 3 arrest of one protester. The enforcement plan has been a recurring issue at every meeting since the council's 3-2 vote in December and isn't likely to go away soon. The Tonantzin Collective, an activist group, has been vocal in its opposition to the council's vote to train city police to check the immigration status of people being investigated for other crimes.