O Tempora, O Mores! (October, 2008)

They Did it Their Way

In August, the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) launched a program in five US cities — Charlotte, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, and Santa Ana — to encourage illegal aliens to turn themselves in and leave the country. The offer was only to the 457,000 illegals already under a deportation order — so-called absconders — who hadn’t committed any other crimes since they got their deportation orders. Instead of going to jail, which is where they would end up if ICE caught them, they would get an ankle bracelet and 90 days to close out their affairs in the US before they left. ICE cancelled the program after just two and half weeks because only eight illegals turned themselves in. ICE spent $41,000 advertising the program, but says it saved money because the cost of keeping the eight in jail would have been $54,000.

Critics says ICE will use the failure of “self-deportation” as an excuse to step up workplace immigration raids, like the one in Postville, Iowa in May the netted 400 illegals. “It seems to me ICE used this as nothing more than a publicity ploy as a means to justify their harsh enforcement of immigration law,” says Charles Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. [Feds Say Self-Deportation Program Didn’t Work, AP, Aug. 21, 2008.]

Illegals don’t need a pat on the head from ICE to clear out. According to the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC, 11 percent of them — 1.3 million — have gone home on their own since August 2007. “Remittances, which is the money immigrants send back to Mexico, have gone down dramatically over the past year,” says CIS executive director Mark Krikorian. “Again, probably part the economy, but also part enforcement, leading to fewer people being here.” The Mexican consul general in Dallas says more Mexicans are coming to him for the paperwork to go home permanently. “It’s almost 100 percent more this year than it was the previous two years,” says Enrique Hubbard. Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he welcomes his countrymen back, but worries that they “could drive down wages and put pressure on social services.” [Kris Gutierrez, Illegal Immigrants Returning to Mexico in Record Numbers, Fox News, Aug. 22, 2008.]

Kwame Resigns

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s colorful administration came to an end on September 4 when he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and resigned from office. Things began to fall apart for Mr. Kilpatrick in 2004 when two former police officers accused the mayor of retaliating against them after they started investigating the mayor and his security detail. Later, Mayor Kilpatrick denied under oath that he was having an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, but explicit text messages to her proved him a liar. Earlier this year he was also involved in a shoving match with a police officer who was trying to serve a subpoena on one of the mayor’s associates, and he pleaded no contest to an assault charge as part of the deal.

The mayor will serve four months behind bars, reimburse the city no less than $1 million, surrender his law license, and will be banned from running for office for five years. Mr. Kilpatrick was under great pressure. The plea deal came just one day into a hearing convened by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm on whether the state should remove him from office. City council president Ken Cockrel, Jr., will take over as mayor in late September.

His wife dutifully at this side (only appropriate, since one if his early scandals involved leasing a luxury Lincoln Navigator, at taxpayer expense, for her), Mr. Kilpatrick did not exactly sound contrite. He told a wildly applauding throng of supporters and city employees: “I always said I would stand strong for the city of Detroit. But sometimes standing strong means stepping down . . . I truly know who I am. I truly know where I come from. In Detroit I know who I am. And I know because of that, there’s another day for me. I want to tell you, Detroit, that you done set me up for a comeback.”

The son of Congressman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Mr. Kilpatrick became the youngest mayor in Detroit history when he was elected in 2001 at age 31. As the AP puts it, “His youth, energy and diamond stud earring endeared Kilpatrick to many fellow blacks, especially young ones.” Now, many blacks are sick of him. “This gives us hope. He’s not a king,” says Monica Smith, a Detroit college student. “This is a huge victory for the city of Detroit. He was not a role model. He was a thug. I’m definitely optimistic.” [Ed White and Corey Williams, Detroit Mayor, Soon Off to Jail, Talks of Comeback, AP, Sept. 5, 2008.]

Going . . . Going . . .

For some years now, the Census Bureau has been telling us that whites would become a minority by 2050 in the country their ancestors settled. As suspected, the assumptions used by the Census Bureau were wrong. New data suggest whites will be just 46 percent of the population in 2050; they will become a minority in 2042, just 34 years from now. For comparison, Richard Nixon resigned from office 34 years ago, and one of the most popular television shows in 1974 was “Happy Days.” Non-whites are about a third of the population, up from around 10 percent in 1960.

More than half of all American children are projected to be non-white in 2023, just 15 years from now. Bill Clinton took office 15 years ago, in 1993. [Thomas Penny, US White Population Will Be Minority by 2042, Government Says, Bloomberg News, Aug. 14, 2008.]

We are shocked, shocked!

The US State Department lets African refugees bring in relatives. The refugee — the anchor — applies on behalf of spouses, parents, minor children and siblings, and they go through an interview, medical screening, and a security check. Recently, State Department officials began to think many people claiming to be related to refugees weren’t. In February, the State Department began asking for a cheek-swab DNA sample. The samples went to a lab in the US, which found many applicants were fakes. “We had high rates of fraud everywhere, except the Ivory Coast,” explains a state department official. In April, the department suspended family reunification.

Refugee advocates aren’t happy. “No one condones people gaining entry by false means; the integrity of the program must be ensured,” says Bob Carey, chair of Refugee Council USA and vice president of resettlement for the International Rescue Committee. But, he adds, “DNA is not the only means to assess family relationships.” Refugee advocates also say the African definition of “family” is loose. “Some families are raising children who aren’t their own but whom they call son or daughter,” says Angela Fox of Catholic Charities.

For the fiscal year that runs from Oct. 1, 2007 to Nov. 31, 2008, the US has admitted 45,644 refugees. The ceiling for Africans for that period was 16,000, but by August only 6,780 had gotten in. [Miriam Jordan, Refugee Program Halted as DNA Tests Show Fraud, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 20, 2008.]

Hawaii Update

On Aug. 15, rowdies from the Kingdom of Hawaii Trust took over the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, forcibly evicting the staff and chaining shut the doors. As the protestors swarmed the building an employee called the Honolulu police for help, only to be told that the palace was not in their jurisdiction. The would-be usurpers issued a press release stating, “Majesty Akahi Nui, the King of Hawaii, has now reoccupied the throne of Hawaii. The Kingdom of Hawaii is now re-enacted.” After two hours, state police scaled the fence and arrested 20 protestors, including King Akahi Nui. A rival group calling itself the Hawaiian Kingdom Government occupied the palace grounds on April 30.

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle appears to be losing patience with pro-sovereignty activists. The day after the takeover, she promised to investigate the slow response by the police, adding that those who occupied the palace “have to be shown it’s not going to be acceptable.” Her administration says it will prosecute the trespassers “to the fullest extent of the law.” For a full account of the separatist movement in Hawaii, see Duncan Hengest’s “Diversity in Hawaii” in the May 2008 issue of AR. [Activists Arrested After Hawaiian Palace Takeover, AP, Aug. 16, 2008.]

Navy Diversity

Forty-seven percent of enlisted personnel in the US Navy are non-whites and women, and Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler, superintendent of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, wants that same mix of midshipmen. Twenty-eight percent of the class of 2012 is non-white and female, making it the most “diverse” in the academy’s 143-year history. As part of the quest for diversity, the Navy will be running a “flashy” new commercial during Navy football games and will publish a “graphic novel” — that is, a comic book — to help recruitment this fall. Admiral Fowler says it took a generation to make the enlisted force representative of America’s diversity, and that it will take another generation to do the same to the officer corps. [Navy Looks to Boost Diversity with Graphic Novel, AP, Aug. 22, 2008.]

Crystal Mangum, Author

Crystal Mangum, the black stripper-student-single mom-rape victim-perjurer at the center of the Duke lacrosse rape hoax has written a book, The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story. According to a press release, the book is about “the truth about Crystal’s life, her account of what happened on March 13, 2006, accusations and the motives of the people criticizing her.” Miss Mangum graduated from North Carolina Central University last spring, and is “looking into” graduate or law school. [Duke Lacrosse Accuser Writes Memoir, WRAL-TV, Aug. 21, 2008.]

Dangerous Doo

A didgeridoo is a long tubular musical instrument, a sort of wooden trumpet, used by Australian Aborigines in rituals. The Australian edition of The Daring Book for Girls, a cutesy manual of what young women should know (an imitation of The Daring Book for Boys), includes instructions on how to play the thing. According to Aboriginal custom, only men can play the “didge,” and Abo leaders warn that the book is putting Australian girls in great danger. “We know very clearly that there’s a range of consequences for a female touching a didgeridoo — infertility would be the start of it, ranging to other consequences,” says Mark Rose, general manager of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association (VAEA). “I won’t even let my daughter touch one.” The VAEA calls the book an “extreme cultural indiscretion” and wants the publishers to pulp the entire run. [Girls Warned Playing Didgeridoo Could Cause Infertility, AFP, Sept. 3, 2008.]