OHIO DEPORTATIONS: The Columbus Dispatch (May 5) reports that deportations of illegal aliens are up. After relating the deportation story of an illegal immigrant first nabbed for driving without a license, the Dispatch said, "As the United States has strengthened enforcement of its immigration laws in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, people such as Fabian increasingly have been snagged in the net. While illegal immigrants from largely Muslim countries have been the targets of the government’s more aggressive deportation efforts, undocumented immigrants who overstay visas or who, like Fabian, sneaked into the country illegally also are being shipped home." In fact, noted the paper, "Nationwide, deportations through February were up 25% from the previous fiscal year." The new Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is taking a different tack than the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Said a Columbus immigration lawyer, "Right now out of Licking County, among Hispanic clients, I’m seeing 100% deportation. In Delaware County, it’s 80, 90%." But, said Seneca Co. Sheriff Tom Steyer, illegal aliens from Mexico know that they can just walk across the border again. "He recalled one recently who waved goodbye as he left and said: ‘I’ll see you next year,’" said the Dispatch.
ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE: Two Republican senators, Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) and Judd Gregg (N.H.), have joined with Democratic Sen. Tom Carper (D.-Del.) to introduce legislation that could cripple the American economy for the foreseeable future. S 843, the "four pollutant" bill more formally called the Clean Air Planning Act of 2003, would cap emissions from power plants around the country. One of the "pollutants": carbon dioxide, the harmless gas produced by the burning of any organic substance including coal, natural gas, and products derived from petroleum. The other pollutants are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Said Carper, "We have a bipartisan approach supported by environmentalists and industry that gives us an excellent chance of getting something enacted this year."
PALESTINIANS FOR PEACE? As the United States and her partners push their "road map" for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, a new poll of 1,201 Palestinian adults from the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center shows that the attitudes of Palestinians are still an obstacle. Three-quarters of Palestinians support the continuation of the violent intifada, and an astonishing 65% support continued terrorist attacks against Israel. Worst of all: 60% favor suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Only 30% think new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas will further the peace process.
HESTON RETIRES: After five remarkably successful years as president of the National Rifle Association, Charlton Heston stepped down. The actor suffers from Alzheimer’s. A career law enforcement officer, Kayne Robinson, was elected Heston’s successor. "It’s been a privilege to serve Mr. Heston, to campaign with him and to call him my friend," Robinson said. "To succeed him as NRA president is a humbling honor. Together we have achieved great success for NRA members, and I look forward to continued success in following the footsteps of Moses in defense of freedom."
ARAB-AMERICANS V. BUSH: Arab-Americans, a group often noted for hard work and traditional morality, may be abandoning Republicans because of the Bush Administration’s aggressive war on terrorism at home and abroad. But at least one Arab-American leader is making a distinction between the Republican Party and President Bush, embracing the former while rejecting the latter. Khalid Turaani of American Muslims for Jerusalem has founded Arab-American Republicans Against Bush (AARAB). "The presidency of George W. Bush will undoubtedly be remembered for generations to come for having eroded the civil rights of U.S. citizens and residents while simultaneously undermining American credibility and standing abroad," says the group’s website, www.aarab.org. "The Bush legacy is particularly relevant for Arab and Muslim Americans, who have borne the brunt of his alleged ‘war on terrorism.’ Notwithstanding his platitudes about ‘Islam is peace’ and occasional photo-ops with Muslim leaders, no American administration has done more to alienate, intimidate, and disenfranchise the Arab-American and American Muslim communities than that of George W. Bush."
