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He’s Not done…
Posted by Raven on September 27th, 2005
I wish I could have been here for this conference. Work gets in the way of some important stuff!
The New Hampshire police chief who charged an illegal alien with trespassing lost that battle last month when a district court judge ruled that only the federal government could enforce immigration laws. But New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain told an audience in Concord last night that he’s not done trying.
He won’t be alone, judging by the applause from about 250 people who packed the Grappone Conference Center’s ballroom for the New Hampshire Center for Constitutional Studies’annual celebration of the signing of the Constitution.
Chamberlain was among the featured speakers, along with Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican. In workshops and speeches throughout the day, many presenters focused on curbing government welfare or immigration.
Gilchrist was shaken again by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Last fall, he was inspired to action when he heard a radio interview with Chris Simcox, a private citizen who was doing border patrols in Arizona. Gilchrist sent out e-mails inviting others to join him in a one-month citizens’ patrol of the Arizona border called the Minuteman Project. He got more than 1,000 takers.
“We did, in the first 10 days, what our federal government has failed to do in 40 years,” he said.
Tancredo, a possible presidential candidate who gave Chamberlain an award in February, echoed Gilchrist and Chamberlain’s sentiments. He also cautioned against the “cult of multiculturalism” that he saw in such practices as printing signs in both English and Spanish, saying that it was an “attack on citizenship.”
“That is a dagger pointed at our hearts,” he said.
Tancredo also touched on the other major theme of the day, general welfare. Like other speakers, he said that the country’s founders didn’t intend for taxes taken from all citizens to be used to help some citizens, and he said that welfare had created a culture of dependence.
“Over the past 40 or 50 years, we have succeeded in making people think the federal government is their salvation,” he said.
He said other groups, such as individuals and private charities, are a better option for helping people.
September 27th, 2005 at 10:36 am
I’m really growing fond of Tancredo. And work sooooo gets in the way of so much stuff. I’m tempted to go back to college and get a political science degree and somehow make money in my passion.
September 29th, 2005 at 8:14 am
I like him a lot too. Rumor has it he will be running for POTUS but in name only…to make a point. He has my vote.