Mary T. Pucci, 80
TILTON — Mary Theresa (Twombly) Pucci, 80 died at the Merrimack County Nursing Home on Sunday February 3, 2013.
Theresa was born in Tilton, October 15, 1932. She was the daughter of Arthur Leo and Alexandrine Marie (Montambeault) Twombly. She resided in the Tilton and Northfield area all of her life.
She attended Tilton Northfield High School, active in music and cheerleading, a graduate of 1950. After graduation she spent the summer working in the White Mountains with her friend Mary Lou Robert. She later was employed at Holmes and Nelson Department Store in Franklin as a clerk and window dresser. She married Richard Pucci in 1954 and joined him while he served in the United States Air Force, settling in Northfield in 1957. The family moved to Tilton in 1967. Mary, referred to as Theresa or "Tweet" by most that knew her, was a homemaker for many years. She loved to knit and cross stitch and used these skills to make many presents for children, relatives and friends. She was gifted with an exceptional voice and enjoyed singing in the church choir and was often asked to sing at weddings, funerals and special events. Her children recall their father would often times talk her into singing at family events to the joy of all. She volunteered her time to the Cub Scout organization, hosting meetings and serving as a den mother. Once her youngest child reached middle school, Mary began volunteering and working outside of the home. She spent several years volunteering at the Franklin Regional Hospital and at the Winnisquam Regional Middle School as a library aide before dedicating many years as a volunteer and employee at Hall Memorial Library. One of her favorite pastimes was playing cribbage.
She was a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Tilton.
She was predeceased by an infant son, Michael Richard Pucci and her husband of 41 years Richard Anthony Pucci who died April 5, 1996 and also by her sisters Anita Kelly and Madeline Gilbert and brothers Joseph, Paul and Phillip Twombly.
Family members include her children: Kathleen Anne Brooks and husband Gary of Gilmanton; Anthony Joseph Pucci and wife Gale of Northfield; Alfred Henry Pucci and wife Debbie of Belmont; Thomas Arthur Pucci and wife Connie of Tilton and Eileen Marie Pucci of Tilton, eleven grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, February 7, 2013 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the William F. Smart Sr. Memorial Home, Franklin-Tilton Road, Tilton, NH. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 11:00 AM, at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Chestnut St., Tilton, NH. Spring burial will be held in St. John Cemetery in Tilton, NH.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in Theresa's name, to the Hall Memorial Library, at 18 Park St., Northfield, NH 03276.
For more information go to www.smartfuneralhome.com.
Theresa was born in Tilton, October 15, 1932. She was the daughter of Arthur Leo and Alexandrine Marie (Montambeault) Twombly. She resided in the Tilton and Northfield area all of her life.
She attended Tilton Northfield High School, active in music and cheerleading, a graduate of 1950. After graduation she spent the summer working in the White Mountains with her friend Mary Lou Robert. She later was employed at Holmes and Nelson Department Store in Franklin as a clerk and window dresser. She married Richard Pucci in 1954 and joined him while he served in the United States Air Force, settling in Northfield in 1957. The family moved to Tilton in 1967. Mary, referred to as Theresa or "Tweet" by most that knew her, was a homemaker for many years. She loved to knit and cross stitch and used these skills to make many presents for children, relatives and friends. She was gifted with an exceptional voice and enjoyed singing in the church choir and was often asked to sing at weddings, funerals and special events. Her children recall their father would often times talk her into singing at family events to the joy of all. She volunteered her time to the Cub Scout organization, hosting meetings and serving as a den mother. Once her youngest child reached middle school, Mary began volunteering and working outside of the home. She spent several years volunteering at the Franklin Regional Hospital and at the Winnisquam Regional Middle School as a library aide before dedicating many years as a volunteer and employee at Hall Memorial Library. One of her favorite pastimes was playing cribbage.
She was a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Tilton.
She was predeceased by an infant son, Michael Richard Pucci and her husband of 41 years Richard Anthony Pucci who died April 5, 1996 and also by her sisters Anita Kelly and Madeline Gilbert and brothers Joseph, Paul and Phillip Twombly.
Family members include her children: Kathleen Anne Brooks and husband Gary of Gilmanton; Anthony Joseph Pucci and wife Gale of Northfield; Alfred Henry Pucci and wife Debbie of Belmont; Thomas Arthur Pucci and wife Connie of Tilton and Eileen Marie Pucci of Tilton, eleven grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, February 7, 2013 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the William F. Smart Sr. Memorial Home, Franklin-Tilton Road, Tilton, NH. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 11:00 AM, at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Chestnut St., Tilton, NH. Spring burial will be held in St. John Cemetery in Tilton, NH.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in Theresa's name, to the Hall Memorial Library, at 18 Park St., Northfield, NH 03276.
For more information go to www.smartfuneralhome.com.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 February 2013 00:16
Hits: 179
Edward Gibbs, III, 97
MEREDITH — Edward Gibbs, III, 97, of 21 Upper Mile Point Drive and formerly of the Taylor Community, Laconia, N.H. died at the Golden View Health Care Center, Meredith, N.H. on Thursday, January 31, 2013.
Mr. Gibbs was born July 19, 1915 in Saugus, Mass., the son of Blanche ( Petts) and Edward Gibbs, Jr. He resided at the Taylor Community in Laconia for ten years before moving to the Meredith Bay Colony Club, Meredith in 2011.
Mr. Gibbs received his A. B. from Harvard University in 1937 and his Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education in 1949. In 1938, Mr. Gibbs was a social studies teacher at Saugus (Mass.) High School and was the Director of Guidance in 1941. He served in the U. S. Army during WWII, entering as a private on the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor. He served in North Africa and Italy where he was directly commissioned a second lieutenant. Mr. Gibbs was awarded the bronze star and mustered out of the service as a first lieutenant in 1946.
Mr. Gibbs returned to his guidance position at Saugus High School. In 1951, he became principal of the Tilton-Northfield High School in Tilton, N.H. and in 1952 was principal of Attleboro (Mass.) High School. In 1955, Mr. Gibbs became principal of South Plainfield (N.J.) High School and in 1956, he became vice-principal of North Plainfield (N.J.) High School and principal in 1958. He was active in the New Jersey Association of High School Principals, serving as president in 1969. He retired from education in 1974.
Mr. Gibbs joined two of his brothers in the manufacture of endless belts at Arthur S. Brown Manufacturing Company in Tilton, N.H. and was Chairman of the Board there until retiring in 1983.
Mr. Gibbs was president of the Saugus, Massachusetts Teachers Association in 1947, was president of the Saugus Community Y.M.C.A. in 1949, a member of the New Jersey Association of Secondary School Principals, serving as president in 1969 and the Plainfield (N.J.) Area Y.M.C.A. from 1969-1970. He was a former trustee of the , Belle Peabody Brown Foundation, Tilton, N.H., a former director of the Belknap Mill Society, Laconia, N.H. and a member of the Gilford Community Church, Gilford, N.H.
Survivors include two sons, Edward "Ted" Gibbs IV and his wife, Ynette, of Pacific Beach, Washington and David Gibbs and his wife, Cheryl, of Algonquin, Illinois; daughter, Orry Gibbs of Laconia, N.H.; a step-daughter, Cyndy Weeks, her husband, Larry, and family of Pinehurst, North Carolina and family; two grandchildren, Edward "Ward" Gibbs V, and Geoffrey B. Gibbs; a brother, Charles Gibbs, of Franklin, N.H.; a sister, Alice Head, of Epsom, N.H. and many nephews and nieces. In addition to his parents, Mr. Gibbs was predeceased by his second wife of twenty-five years, Beatrice M. (Gosselin) Gibbs, who died in 2002, by his first wife of thirty-four years and mother of his children, Violet O. (Arnold) Gibbs, who died in 2009, by three brothers, Berthier Gibbs, Walter Gibbs, and, Ralph Gibbs, and by a sister, Dorothy Nelson.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, February 6, 2013 from 3:00-5:00 PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM (Noon) at the Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, N.H.
Spring burial will be in the Raymond C. Wixson Memorial Garden, Gilford, N.H.
For those who wish, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to a charity of one's choice.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.
Mr. Gibbs was born July 19, 1915 in Saugus, Mass., the son of Blanche ( Petts) and Edward Gibbs, Jr. He resided at the Taylor Community in Laconia for ten years before moving to the Meredith Bay Colony Club, Meredith in 2011.
Mr. Gibbs received his A. B. from Harvard University in 1937 and his Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education in 1949. In 1938, Mr. Gibbs was a social studies teacher at Saugus (Mass.) High School and was the Director of Guidance in 1941. He served in the U. S. Army during WWII, entering as a private on the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor. He served in North Africa and Italy where he was directly commissioned a second lieutenant. Mr. Gibbs was awarded the bronze star and mustered out of the service as a first lieutenant in 1946.
Mr. Gibbs returned to his guidance position at Saugus High School. In 1951, he became principal of the Tilton-Northfield High School in Tilton, N.H. and in 1952 was principal of Attleboro (Mass.) High School. In 1955, Mr. Gibbs became principal of South Plainfield (N.J.) High School and in 1956, he became vice-principal of North Plainfield (N.J.) High School and principal in 1958. He was active in the New Jersey Association of High School Principals, serving as president in 1969. He retired from education in 1974.
Mr. Gibbs joined two of his brothers in the manufacture of endless belts at Arthur S. Brown Manufacturing Company in Tilton, N.H. and was Chairman of the Board there until retiring in 1983.
Mr. Gibbs was president of the Saugus, Massachusetts Teachers Association in 1947, was president of the Saugus Community Y.M.C.A. in 1949, a member of the New Jersey Association of Secondary School Principals, serving as president in 1969 and the Plainfield (N.J.) Area Y.M.C.A. from 1969-1970. He was a former trustee of the , Belle Peabody Brown Foundation, Tilton, N.H., a former director of the Belknap Mill Society, Laconia, N.H. and a member of the Gilford Community Church, Gilford, N.H.
Survivors include two sons, Edward "Ted" Gibbs IV and his wife, Ynette, of Pacific Beach, Washington and David Gibbs and his wife, Cheryl, of Algonquin, Illinois; daughter, Orry Gibbs of Laconia, N.H.; a step-daughter, Cyndy Weeks, her husband, Larry, and family of Pinehurst, North Carolina and family; two grandchildren, Edward "Ward" Gibbs V, and Geoffrey B. Gibbs; a brother, Charles Gibbs, of Franklin, N.H.; a sister, Alice Head, of Epsom, N.H. and many nephews and nieces. In addition to his parents, Mr. Gibbs was predeceased by his second wife of twenty-five years, Beatrice M. (Gosselin) Gibbs, who died in 2002, by his first wife of thirty-four years and mother of his children, Violet O. (Arnold) Gibbs, who died in 2009, by three brothers, Berthier Gibbs, Walter Gibbs, and, Ralph Gibbs, and by a sister, Dorothy Nelson.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, February 6, 2013 from 3:00-5:00 PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM (Noon) at the Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, N.H.
Spring burial will be in the Raymond C. Wixson Memorial Garden, Gilford, N.H.
For those who wish, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to a charity of one's choice.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 February 2013 00:13
Hits: 198
Catherine M. Drake, 91
SANBORNTON — Catherine M. Drake, 91, of 262 Hunkins Pond Road, died peacefully at the Belknap County Nursing Home on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 with her family by her side.
Mrs. Drake was born October 18, 1921 in Northfield, N.H., the daughter of John and Margaret (Looney) O'Connor.
Mrs. Drake lived in Sanbornton for most of her life and was a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Church.
Survivors include two sons, Allen Drake and Edward Drake and his wife, Carrie, all of Sanbornton; a daughter, Patricia Merriam, of Sanbornton; seven grandchildren; many great grandchildren and several nephews and nieces.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Drake was predeceased by her husband, Lester Drake, who died in 1986, by a son, Paul Drake, who died January 29, 2012, by an infant son, Dennis, and by two brothers and two sisters.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, February 3, 2013 from 1:00-3:00 PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
A Funeral Service will follow the calling hours at 3:00 PM also at the Funeral Home.
Spring Burial will in the family lot in St. John Cemetery, Tilton, N.H.
For those who wish, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the New Hampshire Humane Society, PO Box 572, Laconia, NH 03247.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.
Mrs. Drake was born October 18, 1921 in Northfield, N.H., the daughter of John and Margaret (Looney) O'Connor.
Mrs. Drake lived in Sanbornton for most of her life and was a communicant of St. Mary of the Assumption Church.
Survivors include two sons, Allen Drake and Edward Drake and his wife, Carrie, all of Sanbornton; a daughter, Patricia Merriam, of Sanbornton; seven grandchildren; many great grandchildren and several nephews and nieces.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Drake was predeceased by her husband, Lester Drake, who died in 1986, by a son, Paul Drake, who died January 29, 2012, by an infant son, Dennis, and by two brothers and two sisters.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, February 3, 2013 from 1:00-3:00 PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
A Funeral Service will follow the calling hours at 3:00 PM also at the Funeral Home.
Spring Burial will in the family lot in St. John Cemetery, Tilton, N.H.
For those who wish, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the New Hampshire Humane Society, PO Box 572, Laconia, NH 03247.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N. H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.
Last Updated on Friday, 01 February 2013 01:15
Hits: 182
Michelle Malkin - Amnesty Gang treats law abiders as chumps
President Obama and the bipartisan Gang of Eight in Washington who want to create a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of illegal aliens have sent a message loud and clear to those who follow the rules: You're chumps!
Have you patiently waited for months and years for the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to slog through your application? You're chumps!
Have you paid thousands of dollars in travel, legal and medical fees to abide by the thicket of entry, employment, health and processing regulations? You're chumps!
Have you studied for your naturalization test, taken the oath of allegiance to heart, embraced our time-tested principle of the rule of law, and demonstrated that you will be a financially independent, productive citizen? You're chumps!
Unrepentant amnesty peddlers on both sides of the aisle admit their plan is all about votes and power. Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain continues his futile chase for the Hispanic bloc. Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez is openly salivating at the prospect of millions of new illegal aliens — future Democratic Party dependents of the Nanny State — who could be eligible for ObamaCare and a plethora of other government benefits despite clear prohibitions against them.
These cynical pols insist that the rest of law-abiding Americans and law-abiding permanent residents must support Washington's push to "do something" because "11 million people are living in the shadows."
To which I say: So? There are 23 million Americans out of work. Why aren't they Washington's top priority anymore? Didn't both parties once pledge that j-o-b-s for unemployed and underemployed Americans was Job No. 1? Why is the very first major legislative push of 2013 another mass amnesty/voter drive/entitlement expansion?
If Washington is really concerned about people "living in the shadows," how about prioritizing the jaw-dropping backlog of 500,000-plus fugitive deportee cases. These are more than a half-million illegal aliens who have been apprehended, who had their day in immigration court, who have been ordered to leave the country, and who were then released and absconded into the ether. Poof!
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, pols pretended to get serious about fixing the broken deportation system and enacted absconder apprehension initiatives to track down these national security risks. But over the past dozen years, only 100,000 out of 600,000-plus fugitive illegal aliens targeted by the program have been found. Why isn't the search and removal of these repeat offenders more important than giving "11 million people living in the shadows" a "pathway to citizenship"?
Question: If border security and immigration enforcement are truly a priority to our elected officials, why must these two basic government responsibilities be tethered to benefits for line-jumping illegal aliens? See whether any politician can answer without sputtering about "11 million people living in the shadows" or invoking the over-worn race card.
(By the way, we all know that moldy "11 million" statistic can't be right. Open borders groups have cited it for nearly 15 years as amnesty measure after amnesty measure attracted new generations of illegal aliens to the country.)
You know who else deserves more attention and compassion than "11 million people living in the shadows"? The 4.6 million individuals around the world who legally applied for sponsored green cards and followed the established legal immigration process. They've been shunted aside while the Obama administration ushers illegal alien "DREAM" waiver winners to the front of the line.
As Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies points out: "It is clear that there is no way the roughly one million or more potential Dreamers can be accommodated by (the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service) without noticeably slowing down the processing of legal immigrants (emphasis added). The agency already processes six million applications a year without the amnesty add-ons.
There have been nearly a dozen major amnesty laws, affecting at least five million illegal aliens, passed since the Reagan 1986 amnesty. These beneficiaries and their families have crowded out legal immigrants and increased their application waiting times in untold ways. GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas asked the Obama administration last summer to disclose data on how much the DREAM waiver amnesty alone has affected adjudication/processing times for everyone else. The White House has failed to answer the request.
Want a reality check? Not one of the past federal amnesties was associated with a decline in illegal immigration. Instead, the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has tripled since 1986. The total effect of the amnesties was even larger because relatives later joined amnesty recipients, and this number was multiplied by an unknown number of children born to amnesty recipients who then acquired automatic U.S. citizenship.
Hopelessly naive (or stubbornly self-deluded) freshman GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida insists that any new recipients of the Gang of Eight's Grand Pander scheme will have to "go to the back of the line and wait behind everybody who applied before them, the right way." Rubio emphasizes to conservative talk show hosts that there will be background checks and rigorous vetting.
But as I've reported for the past two decades, the background check process has been corrupted under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration turned immigration policy into a massive Democratic voter recruitment machine through the Citizenship USA program. Naturalization officers simply abandoned background checks wholesale. In 2003, an INS center in Laguna Niguel solved the massive backlog problem by putting tens of thousands of applications through a shredder. And in 2006, I exposed how some high-immigrant regions rewarded adjudication officers with bonuses for rubber-stamping as many applications as possible without regard to security.
You want "comprehensive immigration reform"? Start with reliable adjudications, fully cleared backlogs, consistent interior enforcement, working background checks for the existing caseload, and efficient and effective deportation policies that punish law-breakers and do right by law-abiders.
And please don't pretend that piling millions of new illegal aliens onto an already overwhelmed system is going to fix a darned thing. Chumps.
(Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin is the daughter of Filipino Immigrants. She was born in Philadelphia, raised in southern New Jersey and now lives with her husband and daughter in Colorado. Her weekly column is carried by more than 100 newspapers.)
Have you patiently waited for months and years for the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to slog through your application? You're chumps!
Have you paid thousands of dollars in travel, legal and medical fees to abide by the thicket of entry, employment, health and processing regulations? You're chumps!
Have you studied for your naturalization test, taken the oath of allegiance to heart, embraced our time-tested principle of the rule of law, and demonstrated that you will be a financially independent, productive citizen? You're chumps!
Unrepentant amnesty peddlers on both sides of the aisle admit their plan is all about votes and power. Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain continues his futile chase for the Hispanic bloc. Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez is openly salivating at the prospect of millions of new illegal aliens — future Democratic Party dependents of the Nanny State — who could be eligible for ObamaCare and a plethora of other government benefits despite clear prohibitions against them.
These cynical pols insist that the rest of law-abiding Americans and law-abiding permanent residents must support Washington's push to "do something" because "11 million people are living in the shadows."
To which I say: So? There are 23 million Americans out of work. Why aren't they Washington's top priority anymore? Didn't both parties once pledge that j-o-b-s for unemployed and underemployed Americans was Job No. 1? Why is the very first major legislative push of 2013 another mass amnesty/voter drive/entitlement expansion?
If Washington is really concerned about people "living in the shadows," how about prioritizing the jaw-dropping backlog of 500,000-plus fugitive deportee cases. These are more than a half-million illegal aliens who have been apprehended, who had their day in immigration court, who have been ordered to leave the country, and who were then released and absconded into the ether. Poof!
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, pols pretended to get serious about fixing the broken deportation system and enacted absconder apprehension initiatives to track down these national security risks. But over the past dozen years, only 100,000 out of 600,000-plus fugitive illegal aliens targeted by the program have been found. Why isn't the search and removal of these repeat offenders more important than giving "11 million people living in the shadows" a "pathway to citizenship"?
Question: If border security and immigration enforcement are truly a priority to our elected officials, why must these two basic government responsibilities be tethered to benefits for line-jumping illegal aliens? See whether any politician can answer without sputtering about "11 million people living in the shadows" or invoking the over-worn race card.
(By the way, we all know that moldy "11 million" statistic can't be right. Open borders groups have cited it for nearly 15 years as amnesty measure after amnesty measure attracted new generations of illegal aliens to the country.)
You know who else deserves more attention and compassion than "11 million people living in the shadows"? The 4.6 million individuals around the world who legally applied for sponsored green cards and followed the established legal immigration process. They've been shunted aside while the Obama administration ushers illegal alien "DREAM" waiver winners to the front of the line.
As Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies points out: "It is clear that there is no way the roughly one million or more potential Dreamers can be accommodated by (the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service) without noticeably slowing down the processing of legal immigrants (emphasis added). The agency already processes six million applications a year without the amnesty add-ons.
There have been nearly a dozen major amnesty laws, affecting at least five million illegal aliens, passed since the Reagan 1986 amnesty. These beneficiaries and their families have crowded out legal immigrants and increased their application waiting times in untold ways. GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas asked the Obama administration last summer to disclose data on how much the DREAM waiver amnesty alone has affected adjudication/processing times for everyone else. The White House has failed to answer the request.
Want a reality check? Not one of the past federal amnesties was associated with a decline in illegal immigration. Instead, the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has tripled since 1986. The total effect of the amnesties was even larger because relatives later joined amnesty recipients, and this number was multiplied by an unknown number of children born to amnesty recipients who then acquired automatic U.S. citizenship.
Hopelessly naive (or stubbornly self-deluded) freshman GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida insists that any new recipients of the Gang of Eight's Grand Pander scheme will have to "go to the back of the line and wait behind everybody who applied before them, the right way." Rubio emphasizes to conservative talk show hosts that there will be background checks and rigorous vetting.
But as I've reported for the past two decades, the background check process has been corrupted under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration turned immigration policy into a massive Democratic voter recruitment machine through the Citizenship USA program. Naturalization officers simply abandoned background checks wholesale. In 2003, an INS center in Laguna Niguel solved the massive backlog problem by putting tens of thousands of applications through a shredder. And in 2006, I exposed how some high-immigrant regions rewarded adjudication officers with bonuses for rubber-stamping as many applications as possible without regard to security.
You want "comprehensive immigration reform"? Start with reliable adjudications, fully cleared backlogs, consistent interior enforcement, working background checks for the existing caseload, and efficient and effective deportation policies that punish law-breakers and do right by law-abiders.
And please don't pretend that piling millions of new illegal aliens onto an already overwhelmed system is going to fix a darned thing. Chumps.
(Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin is the daughter of Filipino Immigrants. She was born in Philadelphia, raised in southern New Jersey and now lives with her husband and daughter in Colorado. Her weekly column is carried by more than 100 newspapers.)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 December 1969 07:00
Hits: 199
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