Grading the mainstream corporate media

Well, the test results are in. Friday, marches were held across the country to urge President Obama administration to adhere to his campaign promise to reform immigration policy in America, and the marches were forecast to draw attendees comparable on a nationwide level to those ludicrous, hate-filled "tea parties" on April 15. As I suggested, the mainstream corporate media had a chance this weekend to demonstrate just how "fair and balanced" they (allegedly) are by covering these "liberal" marches to an extent equivalent to how they drooled all over themselves promoting and reporting from the "conservative" tea parties.

So, how'd they do? Well, about as well as one would expect from a "Fourth Estate" that is securely suckling at the teat of the Republican Party.

That's not to say there was no coverage at all. Here in America's Wang™, for example, one of the state's leading newspapers, the Orlando Sentinel, took the bold step of publishing an Associated Press pool piece about the marches ... although to their credit there also was an article about the Orlando march that drew about 125, well below the estimated 20,000 who attended in 2006.

Meanwhile, the Naples Daily News provided local coverage of a march in Immokalee that, like the aforementioned AP article, focused less on the message of the marches than on the supposed cause for their "disappointing" attendance: the swine flu scare.

And although organizers didn’t expect to see numbers quite like those of the 2006 marches, they were disappointed when just over 100 people attended the Immokalee event.

The event’s timing was not the best, organizers admitted, as health officials tried to clamp down on a swine flu epidemic.

For most rally organizers, swine flu was secondary to promoting immigration reform, including pathways to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who have renewed hope buoyed by Barack Obama in the White House and a Democratic-controlled Congress.

But the swine flu scare took a toll, Hernandez said, especially when a second case was confirmed in Lee County.

“I think that the people got scared,” Hernandez said after the event adding that she would have cancelled the event had she known of the second case earlier in the day.

Attendance of over 100 in Immokalee, 2,000 in Washington, D.C., and similar crowds elsewhere (2,000 in Chicago, a "large" but undefined gathering in Milwaukee, about 1,000 in San Jose, even 400 in Greeley, Colo.) might suggest -- even in light of the lower numbers allegedly due to the swine flu scare -- that this was a major undertaking whose total attendance rivaled estimates of the national "tea party" turnout. But, naturally, other than a handful of patronizing articles about how fewer people marched this year than in the past (due in part, it was supposed, not so much to swine flu as to fears of arrest and deportation or "lost hope" in the immigration-reform movement), the media chose to ignore it.

Heckuva job, mainstream corporate media. Thanks for reminding us once again how much you're in the pocket of the right wing in this country.

Test day for the mainstream corporate media

Well, class, I hope you've been studying hard, because today you have a chance to show some evidence that you folks in the mainstream corporate media are not just shills for the Republican Party in America. Yes, today you can show the country that you'll cover newsworthy events with comparable attendance and impact in the same way regardless of whether they're organized by the Right or the Left.

Remember last week I notified you that you'd have a chance to redeem yourselves somewhat by covering today's immigration marches with the same fervor and allocation of resources with which you slobbered all over those essentially meaningless (but wingnut-approved) "tea parties" on April 15? Well, today's the big day -- are you ready?

Judging by the preliminary test results, I'd have to say no fucking way. While admittedly I haven't checked every news outlet, I've only seen one report regarding today's immigration marches, specifically pertaining to the march in Immokalee, Fla. (and that one focuses largely on the impact of the swine flu scare on these events). Of course, one certainly didn't need to monitor every news source in order to be inundated with reminders, coverage, and analysis of the Teabaggers' Balls a couple of weeks ago ... but maybe it's just early in the day and those marches, which drew upwards of 1 million in 2006, will get the kind of coverage their national attendance -- possibly dwarfing that of the tea parties -- deserves. Right?

Then again, maybe we'll just get more confirmation that the American press is in the tank for the Right. Call me skeptical, but I'm not holding my breath for comparable coverage ...

Another test for the so-called "liberal" media

Earlier today I showed you yet another example of how the media's right-wing bias shows clearly, even in an article that ostensibly sets out to report something favorable about President Obama.

Well, they're going to have another chance May 1. And I'll bet I already know how it's going to turn out.

People in hundreds of cities across the United States will march next week to urge President Barack Obama to move ahead with promises of immigration and labor rights reform.

"The unified message [of the marches] is support for the Obama Administration in moving humane immigrant reform this year, an affirmation of the importance of immigrants to the U.S. economy, and challenging the failure of enforcement only policies under Bush that have created so much suffering and violations of civil, labor, and human rights," writes Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group. The May 1 Nationwide Immigration and Labor Rights March is spearheaded by the U.S.-based Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a network of over 300 organizations.

A press release accompanying the article explains that in Milwaukee, where Voces de la Frontera is based, 70,000 people marched in similar demonstrations in 2006 and 2007, although the press release is unclear whether that's 70,000 each or in toto. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to predict, I think, that if a march in Milwaukee draws even 35,000, then there likely will be well over 200,000 -- estimating very conservatively -- in all the marches throughout the country. And that kind of attendance in turn will put it into the ballpark of -- you guessed it -- the Tea Parties' national turnout.

So if the immigration marches have numbers approaching those of the Teabaggers' Balls (the events, not the body parts), then surely they'll have nearly the same press coverage, right?

*crickets*

Binghamton shooting predictably brings out the bigots

The tragic shooting in Binghamton, N.Y., yesterday left 14 dead, including the gunman, and dozens, perhaps hundreds of other lives altered forever. Sadly, though, it also gave the crazed wingnuts another reason to rant.

Looking at the extensive online coverage of the incident from the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, I was disgusted to read comments from one local citizen person who calls herself "Nemesys." She is truly a disturbed and sick individual, as these comments* attest:

When your life is seconds away from ending - help is only minutes away. Gun restriction laws are EVIL. "Diversity" and gun grabs created THIS mess.

*****

He probably was despondent over a loss of "honor" (shame) if he was laid off. Asians are shame-based. He would percieve himself as an utter failure, in HIS culture. The picking-yourself up/moving forward is a White cultural more.

*****

[responding to a comment about the language barrier] Well - this is a huge issue for emergency personnel, all over the Nation. The Tower of Babel social engineering is a DISASTER. "Diversity" is a nightmare.

*****

Thousands of Americans are out of work. Why are these "employers" (slavers) bringing in all this dangerous, unstable, unassimable foriegn "help"? The dislocation makes the immigrant worse, and adds to the utter destruction of the USA.

*****

Vigilantism is much more effective in controlling crime, then your type of totalitarian hatred. You WANT people to be sitting ducks, just ripe for the mowing down. You are evil.

*****

There are plenty of examples of well-trained, armed citizens DROPPING shooters. Just ordinary people. Responsible gun owners practice shooting. So when some foreign born nutjob throws a lead-filled tantrum, it's really good to have actual American shootists around.

*****

I am condemning a truly racist Racial faction seizing power, and shutting down the First Amendment. No-one is more arrogantly racist than a Jew.

*****

...they hail from a DISTINCT Racial Supremacist ethnic group. The group that owns Wall St. The group that literally owns the "Fed". And they are NOT White. They pass as White - but they are NOT White. They tend to be "dual" citizens, with loyalty to another Nation.

Who am I referring to? Think fast.

...It's Jews. They've been kicked out of 109 Nations, over a perios of 200 years. They play nice, at first. That's how they get their cloven foot in the door.**

*****

Just think. If [the victims] had stayed in their own countries, they might very well have lived to see the sunset. Terrible sad, really.

Nemesys' profile picture is very small and you can't see much detail, but it's obviously a young woman outdoors aiming a rifle into the sky. Lovely. (This counters the very reasonable supposition that these comments were written by CNN's anti-immigration troll Lou Dobbs.)

Hate speech always seems to rise to the surface when something like this happens, especially on the Internet when writing such drivel from the safety of Mommy's basement. Whether it's Binghamton, Virginia Tech, or the Beltway sniper case, if a non-white shooter is involved, it comes down to bigotry. They certainly weren't spewing their racist hate after Columbine, or the recent shootings in southern Alabama ...

The bottom line is that this incident, like all those before it, is a senseless tragedy. And these tragedies are compounded by the thoughtless racists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis who find empowerment in them.

UPDATE (9:51 am 4/5/09): PatchyFog makes an excellent point in Comments: I assumed that "Nemesys" was from Binghamton ("local citizen," "deranged cretin in Binghamton"), and I shouldn't have done so. She could be from anywhere, thanks to the anonymity of the Internet. I apologize.

I've changed the "local citizen" reference above as well as the title of the post. Thanks to PatchyFog for bringing that unwarranted leap of logic to my attention.

---

* Links are to articles from which each comment, and the ones that follow without links, are taken.

** Edited for clarity, drawn from two different comments.

Florida GOP Police Blotter #11: Palm Beach judge involved in Goodling fiasco

We haven't had an addition to the GOP Police Blotter since May, and while this one is only a tenuous connection, I'm going to say it qualifies, since the investigation is ongoing -- and it might end up involving federal charges. (Besides, it's my sucky blog, so bite me.)

Immigration Court Judge Rex J. Ford (right) of Palm Beach has been named in the Department of Justice probe of the GOP favoritism practice that put Monica Goodling in the public spotlight. Judge Ford, whose court is in Broward County, allegedly reviewed and recommended candidates for appointment to the Immigration Court based solely on their Republican bona fides.

The process used in naming Immigration Court judges was not as high profile as the firings of U.S. attorneys, but it was also part of the illegal politicizing of the Justice Department, according to congressional critics.

Immigration Court judges, who hear petitions to remain in the U.S. from immigrants in more than 50 specialized courts around the country, are considered career Justice Department employees and not political appointees.

"Both (Justice) Department policy and federal law prohibit discrimination in hiring for career department positions on the basis of political affiliations," investigators said.

The investigators said that in 2006, Ford joined with two other immigration court judges - Garry Malphrus and Mark Metcalf - in recommending to Goodling six candidates for the court.

Before being named as immigration judges during the Bush administration, Malphrus had been associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Metcalf was a failed GOP congressional candidate from Kentucky.

Both were named immigration judges without being interviewed by the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which was the traditional procedure.

You'll no doubt be shocked -- SHOCKED -- to hear that Judge Ford had no comment, and even if he did, "Immigration Court regulations prohibit him from speaking to the press," according to, well, him.

Gee, it sure is too bad that impeachment is off the table ...

Since when is immigration a state concern?

I can't believe I have to admit that I'm on the same side as Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-aving lunatic), but for once I am.

This other wingnut in the state House, Trudi Williams (R-Fort Myers), has introduced an immigration bill in Tallahassee:

A package of immigration-related bills has been slated for a workshop session today in the House Committee of State Affairs.

Included in the half-dozen proposals is a measure by Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, that would allow illegal immigrants being held in jail to be voluntarily returned to their country of origin at state expense.

No votes or action can be taken at a workshop, which is for discussion only. At this late point in the session, a workshop for bills means its outlook is bleak.

The Senate companion to Williams' bill is sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and it had its first committee hearing about a week ago.

It passed, but only after Bennett revised it to mirror an already-existing federal program, saying that could help it survive questions about legality and intrusion into federal matters.

Putting aside for the moment the obvious-yet-customary GOP racism and xenophobia inherent in this kind of immigration "reform," the biggest problem is that such a program could cost the state up to $70 million, at a time when Florida faces its biggest fiscal crisis in decades.

Moreover, as Rep. Rubio points out, the Wangian™ legislature has, well, other priorities:

Additionally, House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, and a likely candidate for Miami-Dade mayor after being termed out this year, said he, too, had problems with the bills intruding into federal matters.

While the measures have been popular with many voters — some anti-immigrant organizations have produced ads attacking Rubio for blocking the proposal — Rubio said the House has other pressing matters taking members' attention.

So Marco and I agree. Great.

Perhaps I should see a doctor.

GOP candidates afraid of Brown People

And in other news, water is wet.

The University of Miami and Univisión invited the eight Republican presidential candidates to participate in a history-making debate conducted in Spanish on September 16. The Democratic candidates -- all of them -- will attend a similar debate on September 9.

But, lo and behold, every Republican candidate save one has "scheduling conflicts" and can't attend. Only John McCain RSVP'd "yes."

"As we have not released the schedule of events for that day, I'll just have to leave it at 'scheduling conflict,' " Giuliani spokesman Elliott Bundy said. "The campaign would love to attend all of the debates we're being asked to participate in, but our campaign has had to make tough decisions, based on the accelerated schedule and fundraising demands, about the number in which we can realistically participate."

While it's true a candidate running a national campaign can't accept every invitation, the Univisión debate is not on par with the the Midwest Leadership Conference in Indianapolis that Giuliani blew off last week. Univisión reaches 1.5 million viewers each night. It's the fifth-largest television network in the country, behind the major broadcast outlets, but ahead of cable channels like CNN and MSNBC, which have already aired debates.

Let's make this perfectly clear: the Democrats managed to schedule the debate, a week ahead of the Republicans, yet almost every Republican couldn't make it? That's a massive, steaming pile of bullshit, and I hope the Hispanic population in Florida and elsewhere sees the GOP candidates' decision for what it is: fear and loathing.

"This shows the lack of priority Hispanics play in the Republican agenda, bottom line," said Miami political consultant Fred Balsera, who worked on Hispanic outreach for Democrat Jim Davis' campaign for governor in 2006. "They're very good at putting out paid messages to Hispanics, but they don't want to answer difficult questions when the cameras are rolling."

Sure, that's Democratic spin. But at a time when South Florida voter registration statistics show the GOP losing ground among Hispanics, at a time when the heated debate over immigration left some Hispanics with a bad taste in their mouths, why would the GOP let the Democrats have the spin room at the debate all to themselves?

"I'm disappointed because it's a forum all of the Republican candidates should be engaging in," said Hialeah Council President Steve Bovo, who has endorsed Giuliani. "I hope there will be another opportunity in the future for a debate in Spanish. . . . As far as I'm concerned, there is no excuse for candidates not to engage different segments of the population, and the Hispanic vote is only going to get more important as time goes by."

Let's face it: the Republicans are dodging the immigration issue because they know their vehement opposition to anything approaching compassion for illegal immigrants (the exception being McCain, interestingly) is an indefensible position, especially here in south Florida. Indeed, the debate puts the GOP candidates into a no-win situation: take the heat from Hispanics for missing the debate or anger their mouth-breathing, bedwetting base by agreeing to debate in a "furriner" language.

Bottom line: when Republicans (candidates or otherwise) have the choice to be bigots or be right, they'll be bigots every time. Count on it.

Today's sign of the apocalypse: Mayor Naugle will guest host a radio show

Man, they'll let anyone host a radio show, won't they?

This coming Friday, Fort Lauderdale's homophobic and utterly ludicrous mayor Jim Naugle will guest host "Mitchell & Morley in the Morning" on NewsHate-Talk 850, WFTL. The show will air from 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning local time.

Naugle is no stranger to controversy. He recently made news by inciting the South Florida Gay & Lesbian community after making comments about a planned $250,000 public toilet and how it would help prevent homosexual sex encounters. When he announced a press conference to “apologize,” his apology was to the citizens of Fort Lauderdale for underestimating the problem of men having sex in public restrooms.

He says he uses the term "homosexual," not "gay," because gays are "unhappy."

Naugle has been a City Commissioner since 1985 and was elected Mayor in 1991. He’s now in his 6th term in that position: the longest serving Mayor in the history of Fort Lauderdale. Although a lifelong Democrat, Naugle frequently votes for and supports Republicans, earning the title “renegade democrat” from the Washington Post.

This guy is a sick, twisted idiot, and WFTL's decision to give him a forum from which to broadcast his hate is unconscionable. However, I'm sadly forced to admit that it probably will increase ratings, too, which undoubtedly is the point. It's also not surprising that this brilliant idea comes from Hate-Talk 850, which also carries such assbags as Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage Weiner, and Laura Ingraham, and whose website includes gems like "No Amnesty! Secure the Borders! Deport Illegals!" and really balanced polls like this one:

What should we do about the question of illegal immigration in the U.S.?

• All illegals should be thrown out of the U.S. immediately and our borders closed.



• Close our borders, work with the ones currently here and come up with some new immigration laws.



• The current immigration laws are just fine. Force everyone who is here illegally to abide by them.



• Amnesty for all current illegal immigrants and let anyone who wants come to this land of opportunity for work!



• I don't care about illegal immigration. It doesn't affect me at all

If you've been reading Blast Off! recently, you know that Naugle's comments lately, about a public restroom on the beach and a gay-themed library, are nothing short of outright hate speech and bigotry. Yet, because the hate-radio barons will stop at nothing to allow people to air their deranged viewpoints, Naugle's going to get his three hours.

I'm all for the First Amendment, and certainly Hate-Talk 850 can do whatever it wants in this regard. But don't be surprised if I call in Friday morning ...

Now this is news

You might want to be sitting down for this one: the federal government actually admitted they made a mistake, and they fixed it.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the INS) announced that they were withdrawing 60,000 slots for permanent resident visas based on employment. These were slots reserved largely for highly skilled workers such as artists, scientists, and educators; indeed, I am aware of one Florida university that already was taking steps to ensure that its foreign faculty members would be able to stay in this country.

Yesterday, though, USCIS changed its mind. They're not really adding 60,000 slots, but rather delivering the slots they had promised, since the earlier withdrawal essentially was a cut from 140,000 to 80,000.

Hundreds of workers had sent bouquets to Washington as part of a peaceful protest, while the American Immigration Lawyers Association prepared a federal lawsuit to demand the government stick to its original plan of opening a two-month window to accept the green card applications.

"The public reaction to the July 2 announcement made it clear that the federal government's management of this process needs further review," said Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a statement that confirmed the application slots would once again be open. "I am committed to working with Congress and the State Department to implement a more efficient system in line with public expectations."

The immigration agency said it would begin accepting employment-based green card applications immediately from eligible immigrants. This includes technology experts, artists and workers deemed to have "exceptional" skills. Applicants have until Aug. 17 to file their petitions.

You have no idea how weird it feels to write that the federal government did something right for once.

The Bush crime syndicate: making America safer since ... well, never

I know this is a shocker, but a major Bush maladministration initiative is, um, flawed.

Apparently US-VISIT, the federal government's enormous computerized database of information, photos, and fingerprints of foreign visitors to the United States, has fallen and can't get up:

Congress asked Homeland Security's chief information officer, Scott Charbo, who has a Masters in plant science, to account for more than 800 self-reported vulnerabilities over the last two years and for recently uncovered systemic security problems in US-VISIT, the massive computer network intended to screen and collect the fingerprints and photos of visitors to the United States.

Charbo's main tactic before the House Homeland Security subcommittee Wednesday was to downplay the seriousness of the threats and to characterize the security investigation of US-VISIT as simultaneously old news and news so new he hasn't had time to meet with the investigators.

"Key systems operated by Customs and Border Patrol were riddled by control weaknesses," the Government Accountability Office's director of Information Security issues Gregory Wilshusen told the committee. Poor security practices and a lack of an authoritative internal map of how various systems interconnect increases the risk that contractors, employees or would-be hackers can or have penetrated and disrupted key DHS computer systems, Wilshusen and Keith Rhodes, the GAO's director of the Center for Technology and Engineering told the committee.

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) pondered the worst case scenario for US-VISIT.

"Terrorists or nation states could get in there and change or alter their names rendering our watchlists and visa program useless," Etheridge said.

Charbo cited the absence of evidence as the evidence of absence: "There are other controls placed around that system and there is no evidence that the system has been hacked by outsiders." (ed. note This is false since US-VISIT was infected by a worm.)

Feeling secure now, America? When you hear testimony that ...

Whoa, whoa, hold on there a second. The CIO for the Department of Homeland Security has a master's degree in what?

Charbo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Tampa and a Master of Science degree in plant science from the University of Nevada-Reno.

Not only that, but he has connections to my beloved home county:

As an extension agent for the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences from 1989 to 1993, Charbo had regulatory responsibilities for the Agriculture Department in Palm Beach County.

He's an agriculture expert, overseeing the information technology for the entire Department of Homeland Security.

How is that possible?

Charbo is focused on integrating new and existing sources of essential homeland security information in full compliance with our broader values of privacy, civil liberties, and openness.

Oh, well, that explains it. Anytime the Bush crime syndicate mentions "privacy, civil liberties, and openness," you can be sure it's in the context of drowning them in the bathtub.

Speaking of batshit crazy ...

America's Glans™ welcomes Sen. John McCain (R-Insanity) to our subtropical paradise.

McCain, who reneged on his promise to commit suicide if the Democrats won a majority in Congress in 2006, will speak today in Coral Gables -- the subject: immigration.

In the speech, parts of which were made available to reporters before its deliver [sic], McCain rips his Republican rivals, including Mitt Romney who has described the [Senate immigration] proposal as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Among the lines the Arizona senator is expected to deliver: "I would hope that any candidate for president would not suggest doing nothing. And I would hope they wouldn't play politics for their own interests if the cost of their ambition was to make this problem even harder to solve. To want the office so badly that you would intentionally make our country's problems worse might prove you can read a poll or take a cheap shot, but it hardly demonstrates presidential leadership."

Sen. McCain, there's a call for you on line two ... he says his name is Mr. Irony.

Timing is everything

I guess I'm not really expecting Drunky McStagger to roll over and play dead for the last couple of years of his maladministration, but trying to push forward his unpopular immigration policy at this point is kind of like a boxer taking punch after punch and coming out for the 10th round daring the other guy to hit him.

The president's relations with Congress these days have been soured by the war in Iraq. He is at odds with Democratic lawmakers over a bill to extend war funding in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On immigration, the White House has been quietly trying to build momentum.

Administration officials, led by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, have been meeting privately for weeks with Republican senators. That expanded to a meeting in late March with key senators from both parties.

Out of that session, a work-in-progress plan emerged — one described as a draft White House plan by officials in both parties and advocacy groups who got copies of the detailed blueprint.

The White House disputes that characterization. Spokesman Scott Stanzel said it was only a starting point, an emerging consensus of Republican senators and the White House.

Regardless, the floated proposal has already met opposition. Thousands of people marched through Los Angeles on Saturday, fueled in part by what they called a betrayal by Bush.

The plan would grant work visas to undocumented immigrants but require them to return home and pay hefty fines to become legal U.S. residents. They could apply for three-year work visas, dubbed "Z" visas, which would be renewable indefinitely but cost $3,500 each time.

The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to become legal permanent residents with a green card, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.

That's far more restrictive than the bipartisan bill the Senate approved last year.

Yeah, charging undocumented aliens thousands of dollars in fees and fines is evidence of Bush's "compassionate conservatism." Sure. It's just further proof to me that the guy has absolutely no political sense whatsoever. Back in 2001, when he first stole took office, I remember thinking that he'd have to govern towards the center in order to appease an evenly divided country. Instead, he treated his court victory like a landslide mandate, and he's spent the next six years burying America under a mountain of debt, death, and diminished world standing.

And so he presses onward, oblivious to the fact that the vast majority of Americans opposes him and his policies; not unlike his hug-buddy John McCain on "60 Minutes" last night, who when asked why he continued to support the surge in Iraq when most Americans oppose it, said (paraphrasing), "Well, I think the majority of the people are wrong."

It's sad, really ... but what's worse is that the country has to endure another 21 months of Bush, the megalomaniacal idiot, in the driver's seat.

Fearing the knock on the door

I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank in high school ... how Anne and her family hid in the attic of a Dutch home her father's business in Amsterdam (there you go, Soprano) to avoid detection (and detention) by the Nazis.

I don't mean to draw too much of a parallel between deportation and extermination, but I imagine there's more than a few people worried every day whether it will be the day the INS comes knocking on their door.

Far from the dusty Mexican border and Florida's coastal waters, federal authorities have stepped up the battle to control immigration, and, in many cases, the new front is just down the block.

A fast-growing network of fugitive squads is tracking and arresting undocumented immigrants inside the United States, in living rooms and on front doorsteps.

Though the squads' principal targets are terrorism suspects and convicted criminals, more than half of the people they snare are immigrants who lost legal bids for asylum or other relief, and then remained here illegally. Many have paid taxes, sent their U.S.-born children to public schools -- and quietly ignored a judge's order to leave the United States.

They're called "absconders," and increasingly they are the targets of federal fugitive squads.

Yes, I understand that there are immigration laws, so please don't give me that bullshit about how the law has to be enforced. What troubles me is the growing intensity of these squads, made worse by the draconian anti-terrorism hysteria of the Bush maladministration:

"People need to be identified. Post 9-11 taught us this," said Mike Rozos, field director of Detentions and Removals in Florida, and one of the creators of the Fugitive Operations Program. Rozos said his forces go after criminals and noncriminals alike.

"We have 12 million illegal aliens in the country," he said. "Who are they? Are they your domestic, doing the house cleaning chores, or are they here to do something else?"

Yes, it's factually true that they are going after both criminals and non-criminals, but check out the trends:


Certainly no one reasonably would argue that criminals illegally in this country ought not be deported. But if people who have been contributing in a positive way to society have their lives destroyed on a whim merely because they have failed to legalize their immigration status, or if they have to be separated from their American-born children abruptly, there is something seriously wrong with the system.

Instead of expending valuable resources on going all "Dog the Bounty Hunter" on non-criminal illegal aliens, doesn't it make more sense to direct those resources first toward apprehending those whose presence in the U.S. is harmful, i.e., criminals? Moreover, there are administrative and judicial processes for immigration violations that are being circumvented or ignored by these vigilante gangs. The procedures exist for a reason; if deportation or some other sanction is necessary, the government should go through the proper channels, not hunt these people down with these federally-supported gangs of enforcers.