Turn Down the Volume

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Citizens for Limited Taxation

Volume control needed on Wolfe bashing Monday, October 20, 2003

In response to Rob Haneisen's critique of my questions posed to the Board of Selectman, I start by pointing out that Haneisen would have us believe that any statement against an illegal alien makes one a racist. If Haneisen were an illegal, I'd be the first to call immigration enforcement.
The questions I posed to the Selectman are posted on my web site at http://www.abetterframingham.org, then look under Recent News.
I would not call Rob Haneisen an idiot, but had he read the law in question to completion (it is rather lengthy), it states quite clearly that any facility used to harbor illegals can be seized by the Feds.
Perhaps, Rob Haneisen suffers from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and simply forgot to take his daily dose of Strattera the day he was reading US immigration laws.
In general, the article Haneisen wrote against me is excellent material to be posted at the web site tinybrainedfolks.com.
Rob Haneisen seems to have difficulty understanding the difference between an immigrant and illegal immigrant, so I have developed a couple of analogies that might help him in this matter.
Analogy 1: Two men walk into a store. The first finds what he wants, pays for it and walks out. The second finds what he wants and walks out. The store calls the first one a customer and the second one a thief. The sole difference between the two men is that one complied with a law, while the second one did not. In Rob Haneisen's imagination, there is no difference.
Analogy 2: Two men are driving down the road. One stops at the stop sign while the second one believes that they are merely advisory postings and ignores them. Again, in Rob Haneisen's imagination, there is no difference,
Does Rob Haneisen have the courage to state unequivically and unambiguously that he wishes to directly violate US immigration laws? If not, he should quit whining incessantly.

Volume control needed on Wolfe bashing	Monday, October 20, 2003
In response to Rob Haneisen's critique of my questions posed to the Board of Selectman, I start by pointing out that Haneisen would have us believe that any statement against an illegal alien makes one a racist. If Haneisen were an illegal, I'd be the first to call immigration enforcement. The questions I posed to the Selectman are posted on my web site at http://www.abetterframingham.org, then look under Recent News. I would not call Rob Haneisen an idiot, but had he read the law in question to completion (it is rather lengthy), it states quite clearly that any facility used to harbor illegals can be seized by the Feds. Perhaps, Rob Haneisen suffers from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and simply forgot to take his daily dose of Strattera the day he was reading US immigration laws. In general, the article Haneisen wrote against me is excellent material to be posted at the web site tinybrainedfolks.com. Rob Haneisen seems to have difficulty understanding the difference between an immigrant and illegal immigrant, so I have developed a couple of analogies that might help him in this matter. Analogy 1: Two men walk into a store. The first finds what he wants, pays for it and walks out. The second finds what he wants and walks out. The store calls the first one a customer and the second one a thief. The sole difference between the two men is that one complied with a law, while the second one did not. In Rob Haneisen's imagination, there is no difference. Analogy 2: Two men are driving down the road. One stops at the stop sign while the second one believes that they are merely advisory postings and ignores them. Again, in Rob Haneisen's imagination, there is no difference, Does Rob Haneisen have the courage to state unequivically and unambiguously that he wishes to directly violate US immigration laws? If not, he should quit whining incessantly.

Volume control needed on immigrant bashing Friday, October 17, 2003

Rob Haneisen Framingham Tab

What outspoken critic Harold Wolfe submitted to selectmen on Oct. 2 lends itself to the old saying, "Material for the circular file cabinet."
Normally, I would not devote a column to such material but given the rising volume of immigrant bashing I feel compelled to address Mr. Wolfe's cry for action.
Wolfe likes to show up at Board of Selectmen's meeting, grab the spotlight during the time allocated for public comment, and then leave. Most recently, he directed his inflammatory critique on the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager and Chief of Police for their inaction in dealing with illegal immigrants living in Framingham.
Wolfe's comments would be completely dismissible if he didn't have an audience. But there are people in town who subscribe to the same sort of views he put forth: Get rid of Brazilians living here illegally because they are a burden on our community.
For months, I've been under the impression that there is a growing anti-immigrant movement in Framingham. One local official told me I'm wrong. It's something that has always been here, it is just something that now appears louder thanks to Internet chat loops, anonymous messages to the newspaper and a President in the White House who makes suspicion of foreigners embraceable.
"I am truly surprised at the number of biased persons in this community who use their concerns of 'Homeland Security' as a front for their bigoted views," wrote one town official to me last month after I wrote a column on this very subject.
I'm not about to flatly call Wolfe a bigot, nor the others who continually call for a large boat armed with Homeland Security officers to take Brazilians back to South America.
There is no argument to be made against the point that there are large numbers of Brazilians living in Framingham illegally. They overstayed their visas, opened up shop and see no reason to leave. Some pay taxes on their earnings, others don't. Very few exploit the welfare system.
A Pollyanna solution would be to change immigration laws to make it easier for immigrants to stay in the United States if they are working and stay out of trouble. It's Pollyanna because of the big 'W' in the big house.
A Gestapo solution would be to expunge our community of foreigners.
A completely unworkable solution would be to put the burden of the problem on local police or local officials. The feds agree with that because local police are not allowed to question potential illegal immigrants about their residency status. For police, it's none of their business. If they shoot someone, it's their business.
But Wolfe persists and has asked the Board of Selectmen to address his complaint stated: "If our police chief can selectively enforce laws ... shouldn't the taxpayer have the right to selectively pay taxes on government programs that they want? I would suggest to the Framingham taxpayers that they should withhold taxes until this board makes it clear that the Framingham police will enforce US immigration laws."
It gets better.
"As a footnote, if the police bring any illegals into Nevins Hall but do not turn them in to the US Immigration department, they are harboring and aiding an illegal. Accordingly, Nevins Hall can be seized by federal agents."
Wolfe is a frequent fiscal critic of the town so I can only surmise that his comments are indicative of how the town should be spending taxpayer money.

Volume control needed on immigrant bashing	Friday, October 17, 2003
Rob Haneisen	Framingham Tab
What outspoken critic Harold Wolfe submitted to selectmen on Oct. 2 lends itself to the old saying, "Material for the circular file cabinet." Normally, I would not devote a column to such material but given the rising volume of immigrant bashing I feel compelled to address Mr. Wolfe's cry for action. Wolfe likes to show up at Board of Selectmen's meeting, grab the spotlight during the time allocated for public comment, and then leave. Most recently, he directed his inflammatory critique on the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager and Chief of Police for their inaction in dealing with illegal immigrants living in Framingham. Wolfe's comments would be completely dismissible if he didn't have an audience. But there are people in town who subscribe to the same sort of views he put forth: Get rid of Brazilians living here illegally because they are a burden on our community. For months, I've been under the impression that there is a growing anti-immigrant movement in Framingham. One local official told me I'm wrong. It's something that has always been here, it is just something that now appears louder thanks to Internet chat loops, anonymous messages to the newspaper and a President in the White House who makes suspicion of foreigners embraceable. "I am truly surprised at the number of biased persons in this community who use their concerns of 'Homeland Security' as a front for their bigoted views," wrote one town official to me last month after I wrote a column on this very subject. I'm not about to flatly call Wolfe a bigot, nor the others who continually call for a large boat armed with Homeland Security officers to take Brazilians back to South America. There is no argument to be made against the point that there are large numbers of Brazilians living in Framingham illegally. They overstayed their visas, opened up shop and see no reason to leave. Some pay taxes on their earnings, others don't. Very few exploit the welfare system. A Pollyanna solution would be to change immigration laws to make it easier for immigrants to stay in the United States if they are working and stay out of trouble. It's Pollyanna because of the big 'W' in the big house. A Gestapo solution would be to expunge our community of foreigners. A completely unworkable solution would be to put the burden of the problem on local police or local officials. The feds agree with that because local police are not allowed to question potential illegal immigrants about their residency status. For police, it's none of their business. If they shoot someone, it's their business. But Wolfe persists and has asked the Board of Selectmen to address his complaint stated: "If our police chief can selectively enforce laws ... shouldn't the taxpayer have the right to selectively pay taxes on government programs that they want? I would suggest to the Framingham taxpayers that they should withhold taxes until this board makes it clear that the Framingham police will enforce US immigration laws." It gets better. "As a footnote, if the police bring any illegals into Nevins Hall but do not turn them in to the US Immigration department, they are harboring and aiding an illegal. Accordingly, Nevins Hall can be seized by federal agents." Wolfe is a frequent fiscal critic of the town so I can only surmise that his comments are indicative of how the town should be spending taxpayer money.

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com