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| State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) |
State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has not only ignored the best interests of his California residents. He even refuses to listen t the concerns and outrage of his constituents and California residents in general fed up with illegal immigration, and the pandering of the California State legislature to dishing out taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens, instead of providing the basic services required by law (and the Constitution state and federal) for citizens.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
Illegal-immigration opponents say lawmaker barred them from public meeting
Members of a group that opposes public benefits for immigrants in the country illegally have filed complaints with the state alleging that a lawmaker violated their civil rights by excluding them from a public meeting on the issue.
The rhetoric from Los Angeles Times writer Patrick McGreevy is blatant and offensive: "Immigrants in the country illegally". The term "immigrant" implies legality. If the individual is in the country illegally, then that person has become an illegal alien. The war of words has led to a war against citizenship, immigration, and border security.
The state Department of Fair Employment and Housing is looking into complaints by four activists alleging that they were improperly excluded from a recent meeting in South Gate to which the public had been invited by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens).
The public was invited to the meeting. The Public. Was Invited. Could not be much clearer. The First Amendment could not be clearer. Individuals have the right to petition their government through peaceful assembly.
The complaints come as state lawmakers have worked to increase public benefits to immigrants who live in California illegally, including the right to driver's licenses, college financial aid and healthcare coverage for those 18 and younger.
Notice the language change in this passage: "Immigrants who live in California illegally". So, does the columnist suggest that migrants can live in Arizona or Oregon legally, but not California? That language trick makes no sense at all. They are illegal aliens, period, regardless of which state they reside in, if they have not followed the proper — legal — naturalization process.
"We have four complaints against Sen. Ricardo Lara," said Fahizah Alim, a deputy director of the agency. "They are open and under investigation."
One has to wonder how far this investigation will go. Does anyone really believe that any government agency in the state of California is going to expose let alone hold a Democratic state senator accountable for anything? It would be better for the We the People Rising group to determine whether Lara actually lives in his state senate district in the first place. Or maybe find out if he has been running illegal firearms to gangs and terrorist groups. That kind of crime seems to get people run out of office much faster.
The activists accuse Lara of violating California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, according to Alim. The Act prohibits certain kinds of discrimination.
The accusations were made by Raul Rodriguez Jr., Robin Hvidston and other members of a Claremont-based group called We The People Rising. Rodriguez said complaints had also been filed against the California Highway Patrol, which provides security for lawmakers and whose officers kept activists out of the South Gate meeting.
This passage exposes one of the lies of the Amnesty Advocate movement. Many of them claim that anti illegal-immigration groups are racist enterprises, comprised mostly of old, white residents looking for any excuse to discriminate against Hispanic individuals or people of diverse ethnic status. First, one Hispanic – Raul Rodriguez, was himself discriminated against, in large part because Senator Lara would not permit him to protest Senator Lara and his hand-outs to illegal aliens.
Rodriguez's complaint, like the others', alleges that Lara took "adverse actions" against him and denied him "full or equal accommodations" on the basis of his political affiliation.
Wow! Political discrimination. When does this inanity end? I have experienced similar discrimination, when Congressman Henry Waxman (D-retired) shut me down in an open forum in Redondo Beach. Democrats do not like permitting people with different or opposing views sharing their upset or outrage with unaccountable, unelected leaders.
"He violated our rights, and I want to hold him accountable," Rodriguez, an Apple Valley resident, said in an interview.
Members of the group said they responded to an RSVP request for the March 27 event in advance. When 12 members showed up for the 6 p.m. gathering, California Highway Patrol officers told them they could not attend because Lara and his staff feared they would be disruptive, according to a video of the encounter.
They were afraid. The state senator feared that these twelve individuals would cause a disturbance. In effect, anyone who disagreed with anything agreed upon in the state legislature is automatically viewed as a threat. Lara overplayed his hand, to put it plainly.
Officers ordered the activists to move away from the building or face being handcuffed, the video, made by a group member, shows.
Rodriguez said the group had attended other events and had not been disruptive.
Exactly. Protest is always deemed as "disruptive" when the protestors call to people's attention the poor decisions and immoral actions of our representatives.
A hundred other people were allowed into the event, according to a report by Lara's office. When a Highway Patrol commanding officer showed up an hour and 45 minutes after the event started, members of the group were allowed inside for the final 15 minutes, Hvidston said.
"We were discriminated against," she said. "We were only let into the event at the end under police escort and under the threat of being removed."
No one should ever feel threatened when speaking to their elected officials. Such behavior is inexcusable. So, this is what California has become: a haven for illegal aliens, but a labyrinthine hell for legal residents.
Rodriguez said some people in the audience who were sympathetic to immigrant benefits were allowed to make comments, but his group was not. "We could not exercise our 1st Amendment rights," he said.
WHAT?!
Lara said in a statement Wednesday that he was familiar with We The People Rising, whose members have "met on several occasions with my staff … and have had the opportunity to express their views.
"They have also attended Senate events and at times disrupted official Senate business," the senator said. "Without having reviewed this alleged complaint, I cannot comment on this matter further."
A state Justice Department fact sheet on the Unruh Civil Rights Act says it covers discrimination by businesses and other entities on grounds including race, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities but adds: "The Unruh Act also prohibits discrimination based on personal characteristics, geographical origin, physical attributes and individual beliefs."
Wow! Finally, conservatives are fighting back against government discrimination, and demanding that their leaders respect the opinions of conservatives, patriots, and freedom loving advocates of secure borders and legal immigration.
Members of We The People Rising have been in the news before. Some attended heated protests in Murrieta last year against the transfer of Central American immigrant detainees from Texas to the city's Border Patrol station.
Their stance against the busing illegal aliens into California caught national attention, and inspired pride and respect from conservatives across the country. Breitbart reported on the incident (hyperlinked in the quote above). The main picture showcases that opposition to illegal immigration includes young minority residents, too.
Final Reflection
This disrespect is untenable. I am surprised that The Los Angeles Times even reported on this matter, yet even within the text, the editorializing stands out, and offensively at that.
The First Amendment is now applicable to. . .illegal aliens, but not legal residents? Apparently, State Senator Lara thinks so.
Senator Lara and the Democratic caucuses in the California state legislature have effectively silenced the will of the California voter, and supported causes contrary to the best interests of the state. The last thing that any government should do, particularly debt-ridden, overspending, under-funded and badly-resourced California, is expand public benefits to illegal aliens. The whole process has become marred with corruption, waste, and bad faith.
Immigration must be safe and legal, with emphasis on the second part in order to enhance the first part. Safety counts not just for the migrants, but for the legal residents, both born and naturalized.
Now, with the allegations that State Senator Lara has shut out "We the People Rising", let us hope that more people will rise and remind our legislators, and all residents, that we are indeed a nation of immigrants, legal immigrants, citizens, and should not see our welfare and posterity seized and redistributed by legislative fiat.
So, what has it all come to? Government for the illegal alien instead of "We the People"?