Battlefield
Tulsa, Oklahoma, more than 500 miles from the Mexican border, is an unlikely spot to be one of the real battlegrounds over illegal immigration. But citizens there are fed up with what they are seeing as a hostile takeover by people making a silent invasion of the United States.
Tulsa is on the leading edge of local and state efforts to crack down on illegal immigration following passage by the Oklahoma Legislature of what is arguably the toughest anti-illegal immigration measure in the nation. The Tulsa City Council also embraced the get-tough approach by adopting a resolution calling on police officers to check the immigration status of “all suspected illegal aliens.”
Those actions have sparked a fierce political battle, spread fear among Hispanics — both legal residents and those in the country illegally — and triggered an angry public face-off between demonstrators on either side of the great divide.
Among the longtime residents shaken by the changes engulfing his city is Gary Rutledge, an MSNBC.com reader who said the demographic shift took his family and friends by surprise.
“It’s happened so quickly and our neighborhoods have changed so rapidly,” said Rutledge, a political science professor at nearby Rogers State University.
In East Tulsa, just across the main thoroughfare from his comfortable brick home, the broad avenues are now peppered with signs in Spanish and malls catering to Latino shoppers — offering everything from soccer wear and piñatas to check cashing services and Latin pop music.
“That whole part of the city has become a miniature Juarez or Tijuana or whatever you want to call it,” said Rutledge.
Like many longtime residents, Rutledge is quick to say that he is not opposed to immigration by legal means. But he says he objects to being unwillingly taken over by another culture as the result of unchecked illegal immigration.
“I’m very concerned that this last wave (of immigrants) has no interest in becoming Americanized,” he said.
It is quite a long article. What triggered Rutledge into action was an automobile accident. Hit from behind by what police at the scene believed was an illegal immigrant who spoke no English, had no driver's license and was uninsured, Rutledge was told there was nothing that could be done about the situation. Well, something has to be done about the situation and localities are having to do it themselves since the Federal government has been asleep at the switch for many years now.
Rutledge began comparing notes with friends and family and found that many had a similar story with a similar outcome. That got him thinking about the bigger picture.
“I think that when someone comes in this country illegally, it starts a tradition or culture,” he said. “You come in illegally; everything you do from that point on is illegal. And so it's almost impossible to get a driver’s license or insurance so you just start breaking one law after another. I think it’s seductive. I think after a while … you don't pay too much attention to rule of law that this country was established on.”
Tulsa's schools and medical services are under severe strain because of the flood of illegal immigrants. Expect the issue of control of the borders to become a major issue in 2008.
Immigration Reform | Gaius Monday, 9 July , 2007
By feeblemind, Monday, 9 July , 2007 @ 11:50 am
I keep thinking immigration will be a white hot issue in the next election, but if that is to be the case, why aren’t people flocking to Trancedo? His support hovers near zero.
By Laurence F. Sheldon, Jr., Monday, 9 July , 2007 @ 2:59 pm
Why is it that very often when somebody publishes an article about the ugly and awful things the illegal immigrants are doing, the bulk of the article is about “just across the main thoroughfare from his comfortable brick home, the broad avenues are now peppered with signs in Spanish and malls catering to Latino shoppers”, “catering to Latino shoppers”, “offering everything from soccer wear and piñatas to check cashing services and Latin pop music”.
What parts of those activities are like to to be clear evidence of illegality?
And how does that compare with things like down town San Jose (which looked mostly like East Berlin (bombed out and destroyed) for most of the years that I worked there, that now or was last I was there full of thriving brightly painted stores (with mostly Vietnamese names), or large parts of the Great Plains where the signs and experience suggest a fluency on German or Danish would be a boon?
Are we really concerned about the “illegal” or are we really concerned about the change, and those brown people?
By Ted Goldman, Monday, 9 July , 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Stand tall, or surrender.
Take back our country!
By Ted Goldman, Monday, 9 July , 2007 @ 3:29 pm
Since law abiding citizens like Mr. Rutledge “can not do anything against illegal aliens who run into the back of their cars” I have a suggestion for the Tulsa city council:
Law:
“No illegal alien will have the right to make any claim of any type against any U.S. citizen for any reason whatsover”.
“If an illegal alien chooses to bring a suit against a U.S. citizen, they will be required to first pay the American citizen 100 million dollars, as well as pay all court costs invloved”.
By Chris, Tuesday, 10 July , 2007 @ 8:12 am
None of those things are indicative of illegal behavior. Being involved in an accident and having the local authorities wash their hands of it is a different matter. What about Rutledge’s point that committing a crime entering the country leads to more illegal behavior? That seems to be very much on target.
I’ll bet good money that the Vietnamese immigrants came here legally, and have continued to be law-abiding, just like most of the rest of the citizens.
By Quilly Mammoth, Tuesday, 10 July , 2007 @ 8:47 am
The rise in crime in East Tulsa has had a serious impact on Tulsa. With a stagnant budget there is no money for increased numbers of police officers. As a result officers are shifted to East Tulsa. One result is the reduction of pre-emptive patrolling and presence…which has led to a resurgence of gang violence in North Tulsa.
Mayor Taylor reached a compromise with the city council. Her police department will only question the residency status of people arrested for serious misdemeanors and above. IOW: if you get pulled over for a violation which does not involve putting the cuffs on you skate.
Meanwhile, Mayor Taylor is working on a solution to the crime problem…increased gun control.
By Karl, Wednesday, 25 July , 2007 @ 6:26 pm
Rutledge’s definitely encountered a problem. Getting hit by an illegal immigrant with no driver’s license, no insurance and the police washing their hands is a big problem.
But then the problem cannot be extended to ALL illegal immigrants or to ALL mexicans or latin people.
There’s millions of illegal immigrants who have driver licenses, pay insurance and pay taxes (although they cannot benefit directly from social security)
So the problem cannot be simplified by just crucifying all illegal immigrants
then rutledge is going to have a greater problem, who’s going to take care of his kids, garden, clean the restaurants where he eats, office where he works, etc
burning the harvest by 1 bad seed is simply being shortminded