The measure — set to take effect in late July or early August — would make it a crime under state law to be in the U.S. illegally. It directs state and local police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal.

“If you look or sound foreign, you are going to be subjected to never-ending requests for police to confirm your identity and to confirm your citizenship,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which is exploring legal action.  (……………..)

Currently, many U.S. police departments do not ask about people’s immigration status unless they have run afoul of the law in some other way. Many departments say stopping and questioning people will only discourage immigrants from cooperating to solve crimes.

Under the new Arizona law, immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500. That is a significant escalation of the typical federal punishment for being here illegally — deportation.  People arrested by Arizona police would be turned over to federal immigration officers. Opponents said the federal government could thwart the law by refusing to accept them.  [Associated Press]

The usual suspects are of course going nuts over this claiming discrimination and racial profiling.  Here is the silliest critic of all:

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the law is discriminatory and warned that trade and political ties with Arizona will be seriously strained by the crackdown.

You can read this TIME magazine article on how Mexico treats people who do not have proper immigration documents, plus what do you think would happen in Mexico if you refused to show your passport to a Mexican policeman?  It may also be helpful to understand what the people of Arizona are responding to when in recent years Phoenix has become America’s kidnapping capitol:

Phoenix has become the kidnapping capital of the United States, because of illegal immigration and human smuggling, according to the head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

In the past year, there were 359 kidnappings in Phoenix, and not one was legitimate involving a truly innocent victim, said Mark Spencer, head of the union which represents more than 2,500 Phoenix police officers. He said all the kidnappings were connected to illegal immigration and the numbers may represent just the tip of the iceberg.

“The investigators up at the violent crimes bureau are estimating that this 359 represents just one-third of the reported kidnappings that take place in Phoenix,” Spencer said.

The resources needed to handle such cases are immense, Spencer said. He said the violent crimes bureau has exceeded its overtime budget by as much as 300 percent in the past year dealing with illegal immigration.  [KTAR News]

Then you add in the fact ranchers along the border are being murdered by illegals and prisons filled with illegal immigrants you can only what the response would be in other countries like Korea if illegals were conducting such activities.

Anyway for those that have never lived in the American Southwest you may not know that on the roads leading from the border there are border patrol checkpoints setup on every road miles away from the border to check for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers that may have gotten passed the first layer of security along the border.  The Border Patrol also patrols remote areas far away from the border in order to catch people trying to get around the checkpoints.  When in the Southwest my wife had to show her permanent residency card every time at these checkpoints.  She didn’t care because she has nothing to hide.  However, is this discrimination to ask my wife to prove her immigration status because she looks Asian?  If you have something to hide I guess you would say that.

The way I interpret this Arizona law is that if a police officer pulls you over for speeding they ask to see identification verifying your immigration status.  Once again like at a Border Patrol checkpoint if you have nothing to hide what’s the big deal?  Most of the people claiming discrimination are the same people that don’t want to improve the current system to make it less frustrating, but instead just want to give amnesty to these people that didn’t follow the system to get the proper documents to reside in America in the first place.

As I have explained before, I am all for reforming the immigration system to simplify paperwork and actually staffing the US Bureau of Citizenship Immigration Services with enough people to where they actually care about quality customer service.  I once waited on the line with the BCIS for two hours to get helped to only have the guy tell me I needed to talk to another department, which I had just talked to who transferred me to this guy in the first place.  I could go on and on with BCIS horror stories,  however despite how bad the BCIS is just giving these  illegals that broke the law amnesty is a slap in the face of everyone who followed the law.

I mentioned this before over at the Marmot’s, but think the illegal immigrants should not only be fined, but they should also be told they cannot receive any immigration paperwork until they file at the US Embassy in their home country. For example the illegal Korean immigrants should wait two hours in the line that wraps around the US Embassy building surrounded by riot police just like every other Korean immigrant.  Plus illegals should not be eligible to receive a proper visa until they pay the fine and if they remain in the US and continue to violate immigration laws than the fine should increase. There would be no need for deportations because illegals would voluntarily go back to their home countries to get their visa status in the proper manner.

However, this all should be incorporated with improvements in the BCIS in regards to the paperwork process and the horrid customer service which makes the TSA folks at the airport seem pleasant in comparison.  That is my plan I would love to see if anyone has any better ideas?

She’s toast! The player I heard that was quitting golf didn’t but another did, I was told. Angela Park has packed it in. Jimin Kang was included in the field as her replacement.

For those of you who don’t know who Angela is, here is some biographical information from SeoulSisters.com-

Angela Park was born in Brazil. As a young girl, she moved to southern California, where she grew up. She took up golf and became one of the top young amateur golfers in the country, finishing in the top 10 in 24 of the 29 AJGA events she played. Perhaps her biggest achievement as an amateur was beating In Kyung Kim at the 2005 US Women’s Amateur before losing to Morgan Pressel in the semifinals.

Note- Angela was born in 1988. She will turn 21 next month.

Angela turned profession in 2006. At the end of the year she made it through qualifying school and began playing on the LPGA Tour in February 2007. She almost immediately had success. In the 2nd LPGA tournament of 2007, she finished tied for 3rd. She followed this up with seven more top 10 finishes on the year and finished with nearly one million dollars in earnings and won the Rookie of the Year title in a rout. Angela’s strongest finish in 2007 was a tie for 2nd at the U.S. Open.

The 2008 campaign while not as impressive for Angela, was still solid. She lost the Evian Masters in a playoff to Helen Alfredsson and again contended at the U.S. Open. This time she finished third in the most prestigious event there is for Ladies Professional golfers.

It was also during 2008 that Angela became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Two of her brothers are also naturalized and currently serving in the United States military.

Angela began 2009 strongly with two 3rd place finishes but has played very poorly for over a month. In fact some LPGA bloggers began to speculate if Angela was injured. Then comes this news.

Note- Caddy blogger Larry is not a  fan at all of the Korean players. You have to take most of what he says about them with a heavy grain of salt. In this case, I don’t believe at all that Larry would make up a player’s retirement. It is possible he is misunderstanding Angela’s future plans.

I wasn’t able to find Angela’s twitter page, but a golf blogger said she twittered recently about needing another profession.

Bottom line- If Angela has given up pro golf, I wonder what the cause is.  Injury, personal illness, family problems? Remember Angela has two brothers serving in the U.S. military. I sincerely hope nothing happened to either of them.

Steve Elling wrote an excellent article in 2008 about Angela. I have put it underneath the fold.

Sunday, Angela Park said she plans to wear a specially selected blouse, embroidered with an American eagle and all the colors of the U.S. flag.

Angela Park’s 6-under 67 included an eagle. (Getty Images)

It’s not a sappy move because it’s U.S. Women’s Open week, and she was the event’s 36-hole leader for the second year in a row, we swear.

Actually, she has taken an oath, too. The reigning LPGA Rookie of the Year became a United States citizen earlier this month, attending a massive naturalization ceremony at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Along with about 5,000 other teeming, beaming immigrants.

Unlike the vast majority of international athletes competing in this country, Park went through weeks of preparation for the tests required of new citizens, exams most of us homegrown sons and daughters of Uncle Sam would butcher beyond comprehension.

“I thought it was going to be easy, like, ‘What are the colors on the flag and how many states are there?’” she laughed. “But it was way harder than that.”

As the biggest tournament in women’s golf is contested this weekend, just days before the July 4 holiday will be celebrated, Park could soon represent the quickest American success story on record. It’s hard for native Yanks to imagine how a victory would be received in her family, because in an era when many Americans take their lives and luxuries for granted, the Park clan has paid its dues and then some.

Park, whose parents are of South Korean heritage, was born in Brazil, where her father had relocated to pursue a business opportunity. Angela, now 19, thus was considered a Brazilian citizen. But since moving to Southern California at age 9, she’s become as All-American as any homegrown mall rat.

When the family relocated, the Parks made it a point to become fast immersed in the culture and traditions, which in her case, included golf. Angela, the youngest of four kids, has three brothers — all of them have already passed the difficult U.S. naturalization exam.

More impressive, two of her brothers are in the armed services — one in the Marines, another in the Navy.

“My dad is so proud of that,” Angela said. “It was such a long journey for him, to Brazil, to the U.S., so for us to become citizens, he took great pride in that.”

That said, if the baby of the litter was to win the U.S. championship, dad might keel over in a dead faint, and Park seems headed in that direction. Playing in her second Open last year on North Carolina, Park finished in a tie for second with Lorena Ochoa, making a huge impression in what amounted to her coming-out party. NBC analyst Johnny Miller, a man who does not sling around praise lightly, gushed several times that she owned the best swing on the LPGA Tour.

After beginning the second round at even par, Park on Friday matched the low round of the week with a 6-under 67 to climb atop the leaderboard in the morning wave of players at Interlachen Country Club. In keeping with the general Americana theme here, Park’s round included an eagle.

Hard as the U.S. Open might be to negotiate, it amounts to her second-toughest test of the month. Applicants for U.S. citizenship are grilled on language, history and other exam topics that many of us spoiled natives purged from our memory banks before we exited high school. Park said it was not a multiple-choice exam, either, so luck played no part in the process.

After surviving the testing, Park was blown away when she arrived at the Staples Center, waded through hours of lines and thousands of excited candidates. Then the federal judge appeared before the throng, Park raised her right hand and solemnly swore to root, root, root for the home team.

On the U.S. Golf Association website, this week’s live tournament leaderboard features a miniature flag next to the score of every player, and as ever, the international players are doing a great job of whacking us in our own backyard event.

Having not heard the news, which Park only casually mentioned after completing her second round, the green Brazilian flag is still linked to her name on the Internet scoreboard. On Sunday, dressed in her blouse festooned with the U.S. flag, there will be no mistaking her new, true colors.

If our newest national Park should happen to hoist the U.S. Open trophy overhead, she’d be the embodiment of the new Lady Liberty.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Think that story might have some legs in the upper Midwest, smack in the middle of Heartland, USA? Raise your right hand and repeat after me: Heck, yes.

It’s hard enough to envision becoming a national champion at age 19, but in a span of days after becoming a national citizen, too?

Her dad wouldn’t just burst a button, but a blood vessel. A few thousand friends from the Staples Center, might, too.

Mental health records for Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho that were missing for more than two years have been discovered in the home of the university clinic’s former director, according to a state memo sent to victims’ family members.

Cho killed 32 people on April 16, 2007, then committed suicide as police closed in. His mental health treatment has been a major issue in the vast investigation of the shootings, yet the records’ location had eluded authorities.

They were uncovered by attorneys for two families of Cho’s victims who are suing the former director, the university and several other parties, claiming gross negligence in failing to prevent the massacre.

A memo from Gov. Tim Kaine‘s chief legal counsel to victims’ family members says Cho’s records and those of several other Virginia Tech students were found last week in the home of Dr. Robert C. Miller. The memo was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The memo said Cho’s records were removed from the Cook Counseling Center on the Virginia Tech campus more than a year before the shootings, when Miller left the clinic.

Kaine said a Virginia State Police criminal investigation was under way into why the records disappeared. Removing records from the center is illegal, he said.

Dr. Miller had no comment. Why the records were at the doctor’s home, changes little. Cho was a very disturbed young man who rarely communicated his thoughts with anyone. Instead of Cho’s doctors,  I blame University officials for not warning students after the first two killings. Over 30 people were killed and Virginia Tech Presiident Charles Steger was allowed to keep his job. How many lives have to be taken before someone is held accountable. 100? 200? I asked that question two years ago.

Sociologists and demographers are just beginning to study how the children of immigrants who have flowed into the country in recent years will date and marry. The generation that is coming of age is the most open-minded in history and living in the Obama era — where hues mingle in classrooms, nightclubs and the White House. Conventional wisdom has it that they will begin choosing spouses of other ethnicities as the number of interracial marriages rises.

But scholars delving into the U.S. Census have found a surprising converse trend. Although interracial marriages overall have increased, the rate of Hispanics and Asians marrying partners of other races declined in the past two decades. This suggests that the growing number of immigrants is having a profound effect on coupling, they say.

The number of native- and foreign-born people marrying outside their race fell from 27 to 20 percent for Hispanics and 42 to 33 percent for Asians from 1990 to 2000, according to Ohio State University sociologist Zhenchao Qian, who co-authored a study on the subject. The downward trend continued through last year, Qian said.

“The immigrant population fundamentally changes the pool of potential partners for Asians and Hispanics. It expands the number and reinforces the culture, which means the second generation . . . is more likely to marry people of their own ethnicity,” said Daniel T. Lichter, a sociologist at Cornell University.  (………..)

“They make little comments, like, ‘Have I found anyone?’ and ‘We just met our friends who have grandchildren,’ ” said Rich Park, 33, a Korean American from Annandale. “I want someone who understands what my life story is. I’m the oldest son, so there are some responsibilities I have to do, like be the communicator between my sibling as well as my cousins. If my parents need anything, I’ll be the first to be asked.”   [Washington Post]

According to this academic interracial marriages have a higher rate of divorce compared to marriages within the same ethnic group.  I don’t care either way as long as people s long as people are happy and getting married to people they are compatible with.

A South Korean native who joined the US military and died two and half years ago in Iraq has been honored with a gate named in his honor at Ft. Dix, New Jersey:

Fort Dix honored a fallen River Vale soldier Friday morning when it renamed its
Wrightstown Gate as “Pfc. Min Soo Choi Access Control Point.”

Speakers at the emotional ceremony remembered Choi, a South Korean native who
was killed in Iraq 2½ years ago, as a “Korean-American hero” who
gave his life while serving a country that was not yet his own.

“Pfc. Min Soo Choi will always remain alive in our thoughts, our prayer,
our memories, and now in our lives as we dedicate this gate to remember his selfless
service to our nation,” said Brigadier General Karl R. Horst.

There are many Korean-Americans serving in the US military today and PFC Choi is just an example of one of them who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending their adopted country. 

Seriously this Judge Roy Pearson needs to get over it.  After losing his $54 million dollar lawsuit over a pair of pants, he is again going after the Chungs:

He’s baaaa-ack: Roy Pearson, the D.C. administrative law judge who filed, fought and lost a $54 million lawsuit against the Korean immigrants who own his neighborhood dry cleaners, chose the Fourth of July holiday to make it clear that he will not be going away.

Despite a clear finding by D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff that Pearson’s case against Custom Cleaners had no merit and that the cleaners’ possible misplacing of a pair of Pearson’s pants was not worth a penny to the plaintiff, Pearson is back. He wrote to defense lawyer Christopher Manning this week to let the Chung family know that Pearson plans to file today a motion arguing that Bartnoff failed to address Pearson’s legal claims and asking the judge to reverse her verdict in the case.

Get this, Pearson says that he is fighting on the behalf of all Washington residents.  What an idiot and a disgrace to the legal profession.  Support the Dry Cleaners!

Woo expresses her passion for Korean studies in her praise of Korea’s potential.

“The country has excellent human capital with people so energetic and intelligent,’’ said the professor. “Korea had many geopolitical conditions starting in 1945 that had to be resolved before becoming a truly developed country.’’

“North Korea is undoubtedly an important country,’’ she said. “It can choose to be a country of peace and stability or go the other way and become a tremendous problem to East Asia and the world.’’

On the matter of the North’s nuclear detonation in October, Woo said, “It was unexpected because North Korea is always in a guessing game, but after the test took place, the anticipated thing was done.’’

I agree with her about South Korea, but she is kidding herself if she thinks North Korea as long as Kim Jong-il is alive, will ever be interested in “peace and stability”. Kim Jong-il brings in all the international aid money by being a threat. Plus he has to keep the US and South Korea as the boogeymen of the North Korean state in order to validate his juche ideology. So it isn’t in his interest to suddenly want peace. So that is why I say plan around them being a threat to the region for some time.

I can’t tell from the few above comments and I’m not saying she does, but I do wonder if she shares any of the views of her North Korea apologizer husband?