Battle rages in Florida over private detention center
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Protesters demonstrating against the Corrections Corporation of America/Southwest Ranches proposal (Pic by Marcos Restrepo)
Residents opposed to a federally-funded, privately-managed immigration detention center in South Florida issued a statement Wednesday calling on President Obama to step in and halt the project.
A press release issued by No Prison in Southwest Ranches states: “Will the President step in and protect the people in this area from a project that has been kept silent by Corrections Corporation of America, LLC through invite only ‘advisory meetings’ policy of a ‘cone of silence’ by the Town of Southwest Ranches identified through public records requests and implemented by request of [Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and [Corrections Corporation of America]?”
Bill Di Scipio, a resident of Southwest Ranches and an opponent of the detention center, tells The Florida Independent that he and other residents have created a political action committee, Residents Against Inappropriate Development Inc., that “provides us with the legal means to raise money to defeat the hundreds of thousands of dollars that [Corrections Corporation of America] is now spending to make sure this happens.”
He adds that Corrections Corporation of America (also known as CCA) has recently sent out four different mailers and made two robocalls to residents’ homes.
DiScipio tells the Independent that, come time for the August and November 2012 elections, “we will end up supporting candidates in Southwest Ranches and perhaps on our congressional and senatorial level as well,” adding that the primary goal is to defeat the detention center.
The Florida Independent has reported extensively on the opposition to the immigration detention center set to be built in South Florida since Immigration and Customs Enforcement first announced it had chosen the Southwest Ranches/Corrections Corporation of America proposal in June 2011.
The land where the detention center is set to be built is owned by the Corrections Corporation of America, but surrounded by unincorporated Broward county land and the city of Pembroke Pines.
Pembroke Pines officials sent a letter to President Obama earlier this month asking him to intervene, along with a copy of a resolution opposing the detention center.
A CCA detention center facts website details the benefits that residents of Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines would receive from the project - including tax revenue and jobs. According to the site, “Independent studies have shown no correlation between property values and proximity to a detention or corrections facility.”
But Di Scipio says that claim is a lie, citing an FIU/FAU study which “shows a direct correlation of a drop in housing values in the Goodyear, Arizona community situated next to a prison.”
The Florida Carpenters Regional Council recently told the Independent that it is working with CCA to secure the proposed detention center. According to Regional Council spokesman Miguel Fuentes, the project would create hundreds of jobs for local workers. Fuentes told us that he has participated in the robocalls.
The Broward Group of the Sierra Club expressed its opposition to the detention center earlier this month, arguing that it would impact the environment and further degrade what remains of Broward County’s natural areas.
Supporters of the proposal to build the detention center in Southwest Ranches include Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fl., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fl.
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In the battling border state of Arizona where illegal immigration was one of the major voter concerns, the presidential candidates who “drove” the E-Verify issue benefited easily. After last week’s debate, Mitt Romney kept up the momentum and one the prize. Other than Ron Paul, the three have been supporting the national mandatory E-Verify (H.R.2885) through the campaign. But Romney, former Massachusetts Governor in last week’s significant debate made sure the voters knew his statement by emphasizing the strong aspect of the “Legal Workforce Bill” standpoint.
Currently with people worried about their jobs, it’s not at all astonishing; that exit polling established that Arizona voters were mainly troubled in regards to illegal immigration that had been strongly introduced by Romney, who they recognized as “the mandatory E-Verify candidate.” The poll results should caused every candidate of every party for every office, whether Governor, Mayor or further elected official to consider being the “E-Verify candidate” in their race. While Romney had long been predictable to win Arizona, polling showed his lead was narrowing until last week’s debate performance when promoting federal E-Verify. This has drawn verbal torment from the other side, even though crowing that he would stumble by offering the attributes of this business hiring program.
But a new national poll conducted by Pulse Opinion Research that the Left oriented media to be gibberish. The poll revealed that wide spread majorities of virtually every type of American voter support mandatory E-Verify. It also acknowledged that “the political core” of Independents and Moderates is about as delighted with national E-Verify as Republicans and Conservatives (Tea Party). Reacting to this survey even Democrats and Liberals are not poles apart on this issue.
When debating last week, the Moderator tried to tempt Romney into a confrontation of how Hispanics and other minorities saw his immigration enforcement for America.
Instead of being drawn into the harsh classification of Deportations and the border fence, Romney cleverly replied, “the right course for America is to drop these lawsuits against Arizona and other states that are trying to do the job Barack Obama isn’t doing. And I will drop those lawsuits on day one. I’ll also complete the fence. I’ll make sure we have enough border patrol agents to secure the fence.
And I will make sure we have an E-Verify system and require employers to check the documents of workers, and to check E- Verify. And if an employer hires someone that has not gone through E- Verify, they’re going to get sanctioned just like they do for not paying their taxes. You do that, and just as Arizona is finding out, you can stop illegal immigration. It’s time we finally did it.”
If you really want the facts about the illegal alien occupation, the REAL border fence, Chain Migration, Sanctuary Cities, Deportation, “foothold Babies” the Backdoor Amnesty, Contagious diseases the Vendetta by Eric Holders Department of Justice suing Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Utah, South Carolina, Indiana and many other problem that is causing Americas unnecessary pain and anguish, then you need to view the uncensored pages, not suppressed by the Leftist media at (Google) AMERICAN PATROL. For information about the dishonesty, profiting in Washington and the state congressional seats of power, check the web pages of the (Google) JUDICIAL WATCH.
Go read the statistics that in Arizona, Alabama where they are operating policing laws are leaving and the employment rate for citizens and legal residents is rising considerably. Foreign nationals are packing their stuff and turning up in less oppressive states like California and Nevada, with Liberal legislators.
We can win this battle if we all start a harassment campaign against Lawmakers, senior officials who are supposed to defend this country. The country is drowning in red ink and illegal immigration has roots in this growing problem. As a nations people we should stand with our fellow workers and demand mandatory E-Verify. This will make businesses accountable for using cheap labor and lowering wages, in the name of filling their pockets with your cash, while the U.S. taxpayer are forced to cover the cost of health care, education and the bloated prison system through the courts unfunded mandates. Contact your Senator or House member and insist they not only sponsor mandatory E-Verify, but also the “Birthright citizenship bill.” Both have their place in stringent enforcement.
This article has nothing to do with E-Verify or immigration reform. It is not about Arizona’s border problems. This is about residents of one Florida neighborhood opposing the building of a detention center in their back yards.
My issue with this is not the actual construction of the facility; it is that it will be operated by a for-profit prison corporation. While CCA promises an influx of jobs, those jobs are NOT trained positions and are low-wage. Also, it is well-documented that for-profit prisons experience more prisoner escapes than state-run facilities because of lax procedures, and inadequate/poorly-trained staff.
For-profit prisons do not profit anyone but the prison corporation. It has been shown that, despite promises of savings to taxpayers, it actually costs the state MORE to subsidize these facilities than if they were publicly-run.
We should not be having this discussion. Illegal is illegal. Stop this insanity. Under this administration, we have started having to justify deporting illegal aliens instead of illegal aliens having justify why they shoulld not be deported.
leticia olalia morales of 15501 pasadena ave #h tustin ca 92780 submitted fake documents and 5000 dollars to a person name sandman at the US embassy in manila. she also submitted fake employment records to obtain a work visa. Her husband carlos b. morales also submitted fake documents (land titles and bank statements) to obtain a tourist visa. Her son carlo iii also used such and helped 2 other people to obtain a US tourist visa.
leticia olalia morales of 15501 pasadena ave #h tustin ca 92780 submitted fake documents and 5000 dollars to a person name sandman at the US embassy in manila. she also submitted fake employment records to obtain a work visa. Her husband carlos b. morales also submitted fake documents (land titles and bank statements) to obtain a tourist visa. Her son carlo iii also used such and helped 2 other people to obtain a US tourist visa.
