Pawlenty just got his ass handed to him

by the mayors and police chiefs of St. Paul and Minneapolis! I LOVE IT! The GOP love to create problems where there are none and ignore the real problems that they don't know how to solve.


Joint Statement Opposing Governor Pawlenty's Immigration Proposal

The role of local law enforcement is first and foremost to protect public safety. Public safety is best served when people with the greatest need are able to trust the police to keep them safe. Without trust in local law enforcement, people are needlessly trapped in dangerous situations. No one is safe when trust erodes between the public and law enforcement.

As leaders of Minnesota's two largest cities with the most diverse populations in the state, we understand more than anyone the challenges and opportunities of immigration. As cities built by immigrants, we welcome and celebrate their many contributions.

We strongly oppose Governor Pawlenty's attempt to intervene in our ability to protect and serve people in our cities with misguided, unfunded and unworkable approaches that would not improve the safety of our citizens in any substantial fashion.

In particular, we oppose efforts to override our local laws that build trust between our residents and law enforcement. Our communities have made the choice to not allow immigration status to inhibit people's ability to report serious crime. This legislation would create an unnecessary barrier between local law enforcement and the people they serve, and create a culture of fear between immigrant communities and police.

In addition, this policy would hurt our officers' ability to create relationships and build networks in our community, which are our first line of defense in preventing and suppressing serious crimes, such as domestic abuse, narcotics, and terrorism.

We request an opportunity to meet directly with Governor Pawlenty prior to any further effort from his office to over-ride our locally adopted laws and change our established and successful approaches to keeping the peace.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman
Minneapolis Police Chief William McManus
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/13557130.htm

undocumented workers they'd go after the companies that hire them, not the workers who are just trying to improve their lots in life. And, I'm talking serious jail time for CEO's - not just a fine for employers who "knowingly" hire undocumented workers (prove they "knew" the worker did not have the proper visa).

The reality is, Pawlenty and his ilk don't care how many undocumented workers there are in the state - they make such a great wedge issue and maximize profits. I heard on Wendy Wilde's show this A.M. the Timmy the Tool brought immigration up in his campaign four years ago - and this is the first time he's mentioned it since.

He makes me actually miss Jesse.

I'm looking forward to giving Timmy his walking papers next fall.

Putting Randy Kelly's head on a pike outside of St. Paul city limits is already starting to pay dividends. I'm proud to be from Saint Paul again!

This is going to be a great team on many issues.

so Timmy is just going with the flow. They need to play on fears of other people to get votes.

now it's time for them to start brown-baiting.

U.S. Demographics are trending latino in a big way. Eventually this is going to come back and bite the Republicans in the ass.

I have a brother who has been an immigrant-basher for years ("What part of 'illegal' don't you understand?").
You know the type, the ones who have problems with brown immigrants, not those from Scandinavia, etc.
Anyway, I have a line that shuts him up every time:

"Someday, perhaps in your lifetime, English-speaking white people will be in the minority in this country"