Kolbe/Bush Amnesty Proposals Protested!

Kolbe/Bush Amnesty Proposals Protested!
Meeting on January 15, 2004
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Rep. Kolbe, whose amnesty/guest worker legislation was closely mirrored by President George W. Bush's amnesty proposal last week, held a town hall meeting in Sierra Vista last night. Awaiting his arrival were a dozen protestors who disagree with Kolbe and Bush's proposals which would provide amnesty for illegal aliens. Among the protestors' signs were some that read, "No Amnesty! No Rewards!", "Terrorists Love Open Borders", and "Deport Kolbe".

Protestors brought along several bags of trash gathered from a campsite in a wash near 2 of the protestor's homes. The trash was laid out on both sides of the sidewalk leading to the entry of the City Hall where the town hall meeting was held. Items in the trash included clothing, backpacks, spoiled food, cans and wrappers bearing Mexican labels, toiletries, medication, and interestingly a number of black ski masks.

Greeting meeting attendees as the door to City Hall was a full-sized, stuffed Border Patrol agent who was kneeling, slumped over a bench, with a large knife in his back which bore the labels, "Bush Amnesty" and "Kolbe Amnesty".

Upon his arrival, Rep. Kolbe was met with chants and catcalls from the protestors. One protestor used a bullhorn. Chants included, "No Amnesty! No Rewards!", "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Illegal aliens have got to go!", and "No Bush Amnesty! No Kolbe Amnesty! No McCain Amnesty! NO Amnesty!" Kolbe approached the building using an alternate sidewalk in order to avoid acknowledging the trash. When the protestors noticed him and aimed their comments his direction, Kolbe simply forced a chuckle and walked on. Kolbe did not acknowledge the Border Patrol agent effigy with the large "Kolbe Amnesty" knife in his back placed at the entrance of the building.

The town hall meeting was standing room only as over 100 people crowded the room and spilled out into a hallway. The meeting was repeatedly interrupted by loud and angry audience reaction to Kolbe's explanations of his and Bush's amnesty proposals. Two attendees voluntarily ejected themselves from the meeting after they stood up and loudly denounced Kolbe's amnesty plans. After Kolbe explained the supposed economic benefits his guest worker plan would bring to employers in other parts of the country, among other things unrelated to people in his district, Kolbe was loudly interrupted with the comment, " There isn't a person in this room who will benefit from your plan! You represent us, the people in your district - not the rest of the United States, not the economy! You represent us! Act like it!" The audience at the town hall was decidedly hostile to Rep. Kolbe and, particularly, his and the president's amnesty proposals.

After the meeting, Kolbe was met again by angry protestors who loudly denounced his amnesty legislation. He refused to acknowledge their presence as he and his aides walked quickly to their cars.

Protestors later delivered the illegal alien trash to Kolbe's Sierra Vista office, leaving it leaning up against the office door. Along with the trash was a printed list of the names of 174 people from all around the country who claimed responsibility for the last time bags of illegal alien trash was left on Kolbe's doorstep. All trash was bagged in "Cochise County UDA Cleanup" bags provided by the county. UDA stands for "Undocumented Alien" and the bags were purchased by the county after receiving a $4 million grant from the Federal Government to clean up the thousands of illegal alien campsites, lay-up points, drop points, and open latrines which pervade the desert in the county. The county provides bags so that citizens can do the clean up themselves. The county does not allow the citizens to dump the garbage in the county's dumps free of charge and instead charges them to dump there.