Governor's program works against citizens of Maryland

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Help Save Maryland Newsletter

I am so proud of Governor Martin O'Malley and his "New Americans" Council Co-Chairs - State Labor Secretary Tom Perez & Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. Despite all the bad economic news in Maryland, growing joblessness, housing foreclosures, business failures, growing state and local budget deficits, state and local worker furloughs, rising sales and income taxes, and more, these 3 "leaders" have the vision to waste our tax dollars on a Council to Promote "New Americans". An unnecessary Council which will be stacked with O'Malley's cronies including CASA of Maryland reps, and which will surely recommend new spending for illegal aliens and their support groups in Maryland.

No end in sight as Maryland's job picture worsens

By DAVID HILL, Capital News Service

Published December 18, 2008

WASHINGTON - For the past two years, Frank Tennessee has been able to get by working a few part-time jobs. But lately, even those opportunities have dried up.

Twice a week, he goes to the MontgomeryWorks One-Stop Job Center in Wheaton to look for work. "Right now, I need a steady job," said Tennessee, a 35-year-old Rockville resident. "They're sending us places, giving us leads and stuff, but nobody will hire us."

Tennessee is one of the growing number of jobless Marylanders. The state's unemployment rate hit 5 percent in October -- its highest rate in 12 years -- according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And with the country mired in a recession, it could be a while before things get better."This is going to probably be the longest recession we've had in the post-war," said Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland. "It's going to be very difficult to re-emerge from because the things that caused it were structural breakdowns in the economy that have not been repaired."The major issues that caused the recession -- foreign oil dependence and a crippled banking industry -- remain unresolved, Morici said. Until corrections are made, he said, the nation will continue to suffer.Maryland has not suffered quite as much as other states. While its unemployment rate has risen nearly 40 percent since April, the October rate of 5 percent was the 15th-lowest in the nation. It also sits well below the national rate of 6.7 percent.

The low rate is largely due to the many government jobs in the state. But with a potential billion-dollar budget shortfall for state government on the way next year, the once-reliable government sector is now facing potential layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes."We've been in discussion with (the Department of Budget and Management) regarding that," said Andy Moser, assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor. "We're basically waiting to see what their final approach is going to be."

While government jobs may not be as plentiful, the state is trying to help the unemployed in other ways.The job center in Wheaton is one of more than 30 publicly run career centers throughout the state. They provide job-seekers with free resources like printers, copiers and fax machines, and they host workshops and career fairs.

"We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of people utilizing our services," said Barbara Rodriguez, director of the Wheaton One-Stop Career Center.In past months, the center in Wheaton used to see 70-80 job-seekers each day, Rodriguez said. She estimates that they now see 200-250.State officials aren't entirely sure when the situation will get better and they are even less sure how bad it will get before then.

"It depends on what economist you listen to, but the projection is that by next summer the situation should start to level off," Moser said. "How high the unemployment rate's going to go? I don't know the answer to that question."

For 2009 and beyond, lets all commit ourselves to working together to fight the likes of O'Malley, Leggett and Perez and their misguided programs and policies. By 2010, we will have a special Day Laborer Center setup for these 3 unemployed politicians and their cohorts in Annapolis. Help Save Maryland!

Brad Botwin

Governor O'Malley Establishes Maryland Council for New Americans Executive Order Establishes Council to Promote Full Immigrant Integration into Economic and Civic Life of Maryland; Montgomery County Executive to Chair Statewide Council

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 5, 2008) - Governor Martin O'Malley today signed an Executive Order that establishes the Maryland Council for New Americans. Executive Order 01.01.2008.18 rescinds Executive Order 01.01.1996.18, signed in 1996 by then Governor Parris Glendening, and creates a new Council for New Americans to promote full immigrant integration into the economic and civic life of Maryland. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Secretary Tom Perez were named as Co-Chairs to the statewide Council.

"Maryland faces chronic labor shortages in a number of critical industries and immigrants living and working in Maryland are a vital component of Maryland's economic engine, Maryland's tax base, and Maryland's social and cultural fabric," said Governor O'Malley. "Immigrants' access to mainstream financial services helps ensure the economic health of our state and promotes the full-fledged participation of immigrants in community life. Creating a proactive policy for New Americans in Maryland within a fair and legal framework will ensure that workers get the protection they deserve, while increasing Maryland's economic competitiveness."

"The Federal Government has failed to enact meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform and has placed significant pressure upon state and local governments," added Governor O'Malley. "This Executive Order is a proactive step in ensuring that New Americans in Maryland have a meaningful opportunity to succeed." "Maryland is a richly diverse state and Maryland's immigrants have contributed mightily to our success and will continue to do so," said Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett. "This effort will lend a helping hand to integrate immigrants into the fabric of the Maryland of the 21st century.""Maryland has one of the nation's most highly educated immigrant populations, but too often barriers keep them from contributing everything they can to our social and economic fabric. All too often foreign trained doctors and engineers are underemployed, not realizing the best use of their talents," Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Secretary Tom Perez said. "Maryland's immigrant community has a wealth of skills and knowledge that, when tapped, can help us diminish workforce shortages in health care fields and other areas. With this executive order, Governor O'Malley is recognizing the importance of helping immigrants realize their full potential in our country, and the critical contributions they can make to our state."The Council for new Americans will consist of a partnership between public, private and civic sectors in Maryland and is charged with:

Reviewing and recommending new policies and practices to expedite immigrant integration into the economic and civic life of the State;
Providing a Maryland Council for New Americans Report and Recommendations no later than nine months after the date of this Order; and
Performing any other duties that may be requested by the Governor.

The Council will also establish four working groups to make recommendations to the Council to address specific challenges facing immigrants.

The working groups include:

The Workforce Working Group, which will focus on helping to address the State's workforce shortage by examining credential transfer, training, and the attraction of key workers to create the region's most competitive workforce; examining the role of "One Stop" employment centers in streamlining the economic integration of new Americans; and identifying best practices that expedite English as a Second Language, both for children in the public school system and for working adults.

The Citizenship Working Group, which will plan a broad, coordinated citizenship promotion and assistance program to naturalize Maryland's legal permanent residents at a faster pace.
The Governmental Access Working Group, which will focus on how to improve accessibility of State and local government services to new Americans. This will include an assessment of resources necessary for compliance with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) requirements; an assessment of the availability of vital documents in other languages; and identifying best practices at the county, community and municipal levels. This group is also charged with developing specific government-wide StateStat measures to track capacity to serve these communities; and

The Financial Services Working Group, which will examine strategies for increasing immigrants' access to mainstream financial services, stable homeownership, and family financial planning. The Executive Order also renamed the Maryland Office for New Americans to the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees, and will remain an office under the Department of Human Resources. The purpose of the office is to administer Maryland's federally-funded Refugee Resettlement Program.Eighteen percent of Federal, State and local taxes paid by Marylanders come from immigrant households. Forty-three percent of immigrants working in Maryland have a college degree or higher, and one in five doctors and one in four scientists in Maryland are immigrants.

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/PIO/pdfs/NewAmericanExecutiveOrder01.01.2008.18.pdf www.HelpSaveMaryland.com

ACLU works AGAINST Maryland Citizens!

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Help Save Maryland Newsletter


ACLU & CASA of Maryland - Working against the Citizens of Maryland.

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008ACLU seeks county policies on immigrants in Maryland
by Sebastian Montes Staff Writer

This story was corrected on Dec. 17, 2008. In a first-time initiative modeled after projects in other states, the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is probing every county in the state to see if their stated policies toward immigrants match up with practice. The state ACLU sent requests under the Maryland Public Information Act to all 23 Maryland counties and to Baltimore City Dec. 10 asking for "any internal or public statute or regulation of documented and undocumented immigrants," especially English-only requirements; policies that restrict access to social services, housing and employment and participation in enforcing federal immigration law, said Ajmel Quereshi, an ACLU attorney who will head up the project for two years.

Similar probes by other ACLU chapters have found instances where local governments were exercising powers beyond what they had publicly acknowledged, he said. "So we're wondering if that's the case in Maryland. These types of [requests] in other states have led to the uncovering of policies - formal, informal - that target immigrants" and hinder immigrants' trust in local governments and police agencies, he said. As of Tuesday morning, Carroll and Anne Arundel counties had told the ACLU they were working on the request, while Kent County responded that they do not have any such regulations, according to an ACLU spokeswoman. The Maryland Public Information Act gives government agencies 30 days to respond.

The ACLU will work with advocates in those counties to "get on the ground and see how those laws are being enforced" before analyzing "state and constitutional questions," Quereshi said. As examples, he pointed to inconsistent practices on whose immigration status was checked; how long or for what reason people were detained before being charged; and situations where suspects were detained on charges that never materialized and were then simply handed over to federal immigration agents.

Dubbed the Immigrant Rights Project, the initiative comes amid a surge of measures across the country - Quereshi said 1,500 were proposed and 240 passed last year - a handful of them in Maryland. Last year, Gaithersburg city leaders passed an anti-solicitation ordinance that the state Attorney General later opined was unconstitutional. This spring, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins enrolled in the federal 287g program to deputize officers and correctional facilities.

Since August, Anne Arundel County Executive Jack Leopold (R) has required county contractors to prove U.S. citizenship and last week began more vigorously notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of detainees who are immigrants. And in Montgomery County, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) is in internal discussions over enacting stricter measures for handling illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes. Steps such as Frederick County's are the most troubling, Quereshi said, so the ACLU helped the state's largest immigrant advocacy group sue the Frederick sheriff earlier this month for information on arrests made under the 287g program.

In the lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Casa of Maryland claims that many of the arrests have been made under racially discriminatory or otherwise questionable pretexts.

Sheriff Jenkins bristles at the accusation. At a Help Save Maryland rally Dec. 8 in Rockville, he was adamant that enrolling in 287g was motivated only by what he has seen as a steady increase in serious crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

"This is about saving America on a grass-roots level," he said, adding that the program has led to "not one complaint" and "not one illegal arrest" and describing the process as only an "extra step" in the normal course of criminal investigations. Among the 261 people that his office has handed over to federal agents since April - 8.5 percent of the Frederick jail's intake - were nine MS-13 gang members, a "trained Nicaraguan sniper," "former El Salvadoran guerillas" and others arrested for assaults, sex crimes and domestic abuse, he said.

In front of the standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 at the Rockville library, Help Save Maryland director Brad Botwin laid out a strategy to bolster their lobbying efforts, including more fundraising and a more concerted push in the coming state legislative session, which begins Jan. 14. "We're going to turn you into a monster to get out there to Annapolis and change things," said Botwin, a Derwood resident who formed the group last year along the model of similar groups in Virginia.

Letter to Gazette -


It Is What It Is In response to yet another disturbing letter from Henry Montes ("Being undocumented is not a criminal offense", Dec.10), one has to seriously question the judgment of Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett for appointing him to his Latin American Advisory Group. It is quite clear from the overwhelming correspondence received by the Gazette that Mr. Montes is out of touch with the citizens of Montgomery County regarding illegal immigration. How can a senior spokesperson for the County Executive's Office seemingly compare the status of the illegal alien criminals and MS-13 gang members responsible for the recent murder and crime wave sweeping Montgomery County to citizens getting tickets for j-walking or littering? Mr. Montes calls illegal aliens "good decent persons". Crossing the border into the U.S. without permission or overstaying a travel visa are not acts of "good decent people". They are deportable offenses and if the Montgomery County Police and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were doing their jobs by enforcing the law and screening lawbreakers, six good decent citizens would still be alive today. Determining immigration status is not a difficult task. By the simple stroke of a pen Mr. Leggett can order Montgomery County Police Chief Leggett and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Arthur Wallenstein to fully cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That same pen can also terminate the services of Mr. Montes. Brad Botwin, DirectorHelp Save Maryland

www.HelpSaveMaryland.com

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