There has been some ongoing drama in the last few days between JB Swift and over 150 Somalian Muslim refugees that the company has hired.’

The situation has to do with Muslim observance of Ramadan, a month where fasting is done from sunrise to sunset. The Swift workers want a break scheduled at sunset so they can break their fast and pray, Non-Muslim workers don’t think there should be special treatment, and the company is trying to find the right balance.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on this situation…

El Voto Latino will have a barbeque to kick off their 2007 Latino voter registration efforts.

From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Jesus Rodarte Center, 920 A St., candidates will meet with residents. There will also be folk dancing and representatives from the Colorado Progressive Coalition, Congregations Building Community and several other groups.

Greeley Mayor, Tom Selders, has caused controversy in Greeley with his comments about Illegal Immigration

Selders’ recent trip to Washington D.C. to urge lawmakers to reform immigration policies sparked controversy last week when he told officials how December’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant negatively affected Greeley’s families.

What do you think?

On October 2nd there was a terrible accident in Weld County. A 17 year old girl was driving with her brothers, 15 and 12, and her 3 month old daugther. This girl was speeding, ran a stopsign and was hit by a pickup truck. The 15 year old, 12 year old and 3 month old were all killed.

Now, because of the actions of the liberal Greeley Tribune and conservative state Representative Dave Schultheis. Representative Schultheis sent an email to the reporter that covered the crash and asked the following questions:

• Was the driver properly licensed?
• Was the vehicle properly registered, and insured?
• Why aren’t these facts part of your published article?
• Was this person the child of parents in the U.S illegally?
• Or was she here illegally?

Rather than answer the questions, the Tribune just printed the Representative’s letter with these questions:

• What do you think of this?
• Why would Schultheis ask these questions?
• Does it have anything to do with something besides the victim’s surnames?

Now the story has been picked up by 9news, the Colorado Springs Gazette and who knows who else. Representative Schultheis is being accused of racism and the Colorado Democrats are demanding an apology from Schulthesis (not from the Tribune who actually made all of this public and is brazenly using the Bustillos family to boost their revenue).

The ironic thing is that Representative Schulthesis’ questions appear to be right on the money. Last night 9news interviewed Susanne Villarreal who said the Bustillos were in her husband’s citizenship class and were ‘just’ legal (whatever that means).

This is not a racial issue at all. This is a real, valid problem with illegal immigration. We cannot have illegal immigrants in this country driving without a license, without insurance and causing accidents. If this is the case with Miss Bustillos, as tragic as the situation is, she should face criminal charges for the deaths of her family members.

I challenge hispanic ‘activists’ in Weld County and across the nation to wake up and recognize that the illegal immigration issues in this country are not (yet) racially motivated against latinos. There are valid reasons to restrict the widespread immigration of undocumented people into this country and the Bustillos case is just an example of one of these reasons.

In the fiasco that was the Colorado legislature’s special session our own Jim Riesberg was a standout. The whole special session appeared to me to be just a power struggle between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans wanted to put the immigration issue on the ballot and let the voters decide. Democrats on the other hand wanted to ‘do their elected job’. Riesberg himself was quoted as saying

“We pass 400 laws a year, and we don’t put 400 things on the ballot,” he said. “If we can do the job the voters send us to do, why do we have to put it on the ballot?”

Good for him, I think. Problem is the Democrats then killed House Bill 1018, which would have required employers to get a state issued ID when hiring an employee, undoubtably due to pressure from lobbyists. Instead they passed the nearly incomprehensible HB1023 that bans non-emergency taxpayer-funded services from anyone without a state issued ID. Now maybe I’m crazy, but exactly what kind of non-emergency services is this going to cover? Are IDs going to be needed when enrolling a kid for school? If you call to report a non-emergency crime, like theft, are the cops going to ask for an ID? Wouldn’t it just be simpler to keep employers from hiring illegal immigrants?

I’m guessing if HB1018 had become a ballot issue it would have passed with flying colors, instead the Democrats ‘did the job the voters elected them for’. Appearantly they know what we want better than we do ourselves.

This weekend there was an anti-illegal immigration rally at the Greeley courthouse. This one allegedly held by American citizens - what a concept.

Ron Peterson, 27, a former U.S. Marine from Greeley, organized the anti-illegal immigration rally Friday at noon in front of the Weld County Courthouse.

He wore a sandwich-board-style sign, which said “Stop Illegal Immigration Now” on the front and “I’m a citizen, not a racist” on the back.

If anyone out there knows Mr. Peterson, please let him know about this site and that I would be glad to post any statements he has concerning illegal immigration. This offer is also good for anyone on either side of the issue. Any well thought out arguments are welcome.