WELCOME
Help Save Maryland.com is a multi-ethnic, grassroots, citizens' organization dedicated to providing facts regarding illegal aliens who live and/or work in Maryland. Help Save Maryland.com fosters public awareness and education, supports analyses and research, facilitates effective engagement by citizens in the Maryland legislative process, and provides helpful facts for citizens otherwise frustrated by Maryland policies which encourage illegal immigration. Please read more about our mission.
Help Save Maryland is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions to Help Save Maryland are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE! See details below.
Please follow our Facebook Group, Help Save Maryland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judge dismisses lawsuit against sheriff, county
Salvadoran woman sought $1 million
Originally published February 08, 2012
By Nicholas C. Stern, News-Post Staff
A federal judge has thrown out a $1 million discrimination lawsuit filed by Salvadoran native Roxana Orellana Santos against Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, two deputies and the Board of County Commissioners.
"I'm very pleased," Jenkins said Tuesday, hours after he learned of the move by U.S. District Court Judge Benson Everett Legg. "It's a huge decision."
Legg granted a summary motion by the defendants and ruled that Santos' Fourth Amendment and due process rights were not violated when she was detained Oct. 7, 2008, by sheriff's deputies Jeffrey Openshaw and Kevin Lynch near Evergreen Square on Buckeystown Pike, said Jenkins and Santos' attorneys.
Jose Perez, a lawyer with LatinoJustice PRLDEF who, along with immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland, represents Santos in the case, said he respectfully disagreed with the decision.
"We're still reviewing and digesting the court's decision in order to determine what steps, if any, we may take," he said.
Santos' lawyers have said she was eating lunch when the two deputies saw her, stopped their car and questioned her about her immigration status, even though she had broken no laws. Jenkins has said Santos tried to hide from deputies, which prompted a request for her identification. Deputies then learned Santos was wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a deportation warrant, he said.
Perez and Santos' CASA attorneys have said the deputies -- encouraged by a 287(g) agreement between the sheriff's office and ICE that allows local law enforcement to enforce parts of federal immigration law -- overstepped their authority and improperly detained Santos, in part because of her race and ethnicity.
Jenkins reiterated Tuesday his statements that Santos' arrest had nothing to do with the 287(g) program and that the deputies were not discriminating against her.
"I think this has a potential to be a landmark case nationwide," he said.
Other police agencies across the country involved in similar 287(g) agreements were closely watching the outcome of the case, Jenkins said.
Zorayda Moreira-Smith, a CASA staff attorney who represented Santos, said regardless of what steps she and other attorneys take in this case, she believes 287(g) and similar immigration enforcement programs -- such as Secure Communities -- create a climate of racial profiling and undermine local communities' trust in police.
"We will still continue to battle for the elimination of 287(g) programs and Secure Community programs," she said.
In October, ICE stayed a deportation order for Santos until Sept. 29, according to her lawyers, who had argued she should be given relief under an Obama administration announcement that it would review removal proceedings under certain circumstances, including for parents of children who are U.S. citizens.
Santos, in her early 30s, has a young son, her lawyers have said.
Perez said Tuesday the court decision may have an impact on whether Santos can remain in the country.
published in FrederickNewsPost.com .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more than the year, Help Save Maryland has asked the Gazette and other media institutions to host a forum where citizens could listen to both sides of the illegal immigration issue and ask questions of panelists participating. Our requests have been repeatedly ignored.
That is about to change however, thanks to the good people from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Prince George's County Chapter.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Tuesday October 4, 2011 at 7:30pm in the Ascension Baptist Church in Suitland, Maryland.
Law abiding citizens will have the opportunity to ask CASA of Maryland head Gustavo Torres all the questions the Washington Post and Montgomery County Sentinel refused to ask in recent powder puff interviews.
Help Save Maryland and People for Change in Prince George's County are honored and pleased to represent all Maryland citizens concerned about the growing financial, social and educational costs of illegal immigration. See the announcement below for details!
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Prince George’s County Chapter
“Transforming Jangling Disharmony Into Agreement”
A Dialogue:
“Solutions to Illegal Immigration in the United States”
“Illegal Immigrants Students Paying in-state Tuition”
Ascension Baptist Church
3803 Regency Parkway
Suitland, Maryland
October 4, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Panelists:
Brad Botwin, Help Save Maryland
Gustavo Torres, CASA of Maryland
Pastor Sinclair Grey, III, SCLC, Prince George’s County Chapter
Sandra Pruitt, People for Change
The purpose of this dialogue is to provide an open debate to promote critical thinking, education and provide facts.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
For information Contact: McArthur Bishop
301.773.1274
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meet author JAMES SIMPSON, former OMB economist and budget analyst, and writer who will talk about his latest report,
"CASA DE MARYLAND:THE ILLEGAL'S ACORN"
JAMES SIMPSON WILL REVIEW CASA'S QUESTIONABLE ACTIVITIES AND HIGHLIGHT STATE AND LOCAL PANDERING POLITICANS WHO SUPPORT CASA IN ATTRACTING AND SUSTAINING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MARYLAND.
GET DIRECTIONS AT THE WEBSITE BELOW:
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/libraries/branchinfo/ro.asp
(AFTER ENTERING THE LIBRARY FROM THE PUBLIC SQUARE SIDE ENTRANCE (ACROSS FROM BUFFALO WILD WINGS), TAKE ELEVATOR TO 2ND FLOOR)
For further information please contact Brad Botwin, Director HSM 240-447-1884 or bb67chev@aol.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Neil Parrott
PHONE: 240-329-0293 Del. Parrott
410-238-0025 Del. McDonough
E-MAIL: MDPetitions@gmail.com
Hagerstown, MD - The Maryland State Board of Elections has officially certified the validity of 108,923 of the total 132,071submitted petition signatures. This amount exceeds the minimum 55,736 signatures required to allow the voters of Maryland to decide the issue in November of 2012 through the referendum process. The success rate of the signature count was an unprecedented 82.5%.
Delegate Neil Parrott, Chairman of the petition drive, said that, "Today the voters of Maryland have achieved a huge victory. Volunteers across the state have worked diligently over the past two months to bring the bill that would provide in-state college tuition benefits to illegal aliens to referendum." Delegate Parrott went on to say, "When we started this petition drive, we knew that Maryland voters wanted more financial responsibility in Annapolis and wanted the enforcement of our immigration laws, not ways to skirt around the law. Today marks the beginning of the end for an illegal alien benefits bill that simply does not make sense."
Asked why people are so motivated to overturn this bill Delegate Parrott indicated that, "This bill doesn't make sense financially or legally, and people are glad to be able to do something about it."
Delegate Pat McDonough indicated that, "Today shows that the Petition Drive was successful. We are now going to begin our campaign and work to make sure the referendum effort ultimately succeeds at the ballot box in November of 2012."
The first round of signatures showed that approximately 30% of the petition signers were Democrats and 15% were unaffiliated voters. Democrat Senator James Brochin said in a previous interview that, "It's important to note that this is not just a Republican effort. I'm a Democrat and this is bad public policy."
He went on to say that, "I think the proponents of this bill are going to be shocked when they see, not just that they are going to lose at referendum, but the margin by which they're going to lose by."
If you have questions please call Del. Neil Parrott, Chairman, at 240-329-0293, or Del. Pat McDonough, Honorary Chairman, at 410-238-0025.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*************************************************************************************************************************************
Straw Men Arguments Used to Promote
Sanctuary Status and Amnesty in Maryland
Every so often we receive an e-mail from a disgruntled person. The latest from Eduardo de Ron Santiago titled "You should be ashamed" was classic. Eduardo wrote -" If you are going to put up this type of website, you should at least try to put truthful information in it. I hope you fail."
Eduardo, here is some "truthful information" for you to contemplate:
Help Save Maryland.com is a multi-ethnic, grassroots, citizens' organization dedicated to providing facts regarding illegal aliens who live and/or work in Maryland. Help Save Maryland.com fosters public awareness and education, supports analyses and research, facilitates effective engagement by citizens in the Maryland legislative process, and provides helpful facts to citizens otherwise frustrated by Maryland policies which encourage illegal immigration.
Join fellow citizens as we fight to eliminate the use of our tax-dollars on programs and services for illegal aliens in Maryland. Let’s work together to end Maryland’s unlawful sanctuary policies at the state and local level. Help us achieve the following goals:
Help Save Maryland.com welcomes as members all U.S. citizens and legal residents of any ethnic heritage who believe that the presence of illegal aliens in Maryland poses an unacceptable economic burden and physical threat to our communities and families, and must be opposed in a manner consistent with the law and due respect for the inherent worth of all individuals.
If you want to engage in these issues in a reasonable manner, I encourage you to join us. Together we can make a difference. Please fill out the membership form and mail to:
Help Save Maryland
P.O. Box 5742
Rockville, MD 20855
We will periodically e-mail you with updates and events. Please regularly check this website for the latest Help Save Maryland.com activities and media articles.
Brad Botwin, Director
Help Save Maryland.com
Help Save Maryland is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions to Help Save Maryland are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
You may contribute online:
Or you may mail contributions to: