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MORGAN HILL TIMES
JANUARY 26, 2018
OPINION LETTERS Medal of Honor holder to speak in MH Friends and Family of Nisei Veterans (FFNV), a locallybased, multi-state Japanese-American veterans’ group, will hold its annual meeting Feb. 10 at the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center, 16450 Murphy Ave. The main guest speaker will be Congressional Medal of Honor recipient James Taylor, who was the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Independence Day Parade in Morgan Hill. The host will be Lawson Sakai, who is President of FFNV and also Grand Marshal of the 2014 parade. On Nov. 9, 1967, First Lieutenant Taylor was serving in Vietnam as a cavalry officer. When his troops came under intense enemy fire and one armored assault vehicle was hit, Lt. Taylor jumped into action. The Medal of Honor citation reads: “His actions of unsurpassed valor were a source of inspiration to his entire troop, contributed significantly to the success of the overall assault on the enemy position, and were directly responsible for saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers.” The public is cordially invited to attend at 12:30pm. Brian Shiroyama Morgan Hill
Businesses are in middle of potential ICE squeeze
T
he stories began flying last week: Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would raid businesses across California and deport undocumented workers. As of this newspaper’s press time, the raids had not started, but the specter remains. Heightened anxiety about federal immigration policies has already intensified at the ground level of the nation’s biggest economy earlier this month. A new state law, passed in 2016, went into effect Jan. 1. It makes it a crime for business owners and managers to cooperate with ICE in certain circumstances. Rumors of pending ICE raids prompted our outspoken Attorney General Xavier Becerra to warn California employers last week that he wouldn’t hesitate to hit businesses with fines up to $10,000 if they assisted ICE in violation of the new state Immigrant Worker Protection Act. “It’s important, given these rumors that are out there, to let people know – more specifically, employers – that if they voluntarily start giving up information about their employees or access to their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws, they subject themselves to actions by my office,” Becerra said. This followed a warning earlier this month from President Trump’s acting director of ICE, Thomas Homan, via Fox News that “California better hold on tight... If the politicians in California don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will.” A Republican candidate for California governor, Travis Allen, said last week that employers should help federal authorities conducting immigration raids and defy the law that went into effect Jan.1. He said federal officials should consider bringing charges of their own against the attorney general. The new state law: • Requires employers to ask immigration agents for a warrant before granting access to a worksite • Prevents employers from voluntarily
sharing confidential employee information without a subpoena • Requires employers to notify their workers before a federal audit of employee records • Gives the attorney general and labor commissioner exclusive authority to enforce new provisions of state labor laws • Prohibits employers from reverifying information on employment verification forms, unless compelled to by federal law. Employers must inform employees of potential lawful ICE raids 72 hours in advance, under the new law. The new law, combined with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies and Becerra’s aggressive stance, leaves business owners and their managers unprotected on the front lines of a pitched national immigration battle. Becerra apparently is willing to let the men and women behind the counters and in other workplace settings slowly twist in the breeze, uninformed and unprotected by their state with orders to face off against the intimidating presence of armed federal ICE agents. This heavy-handed confrontational approach by both California and the federal government hurts our most vulnerable businesses and their managers, as this latest immigration enforcement spectacle plays out. Of course there is a larger context: cannabis laws, offshore drilling, solar tariffs, sanctuary cities, pesticide safeguards, student loans, abortion rights, net neutrality and immigration policies are just some of the federal-state flashpoints that seem so clearly directed at us, the biggest and most blue state. Rights of our immigrant workers must be protected, but our small business owners and managers also deserve support and guidance from state officials, instead of threats. To state and federal agencies: These battle lines should be drawn in courtrooms, not in our neighborhood businesses, or our communities will become collateral damage in the immigration wars.
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FROM THE WEB Re: ‘Council rejects ‘traditional flag’ over City Hall’ Thank you Morgan Hill City Council for doing the right thing! [thumbup] “David Edelstein” via morganhilltimes.com
Re: ‘Council wants more info on Prop 64, marijuana regs’ Stop being a bunch of prohibition era prudes. It's legal. Law enforcement does not have to worry about it. No more then they do alcohol. Takes the money right out of gang bangers hands. Takes it right off the streets. Frees up the police for more important issues,like all the theft and crime that happens in MH. “nyeff” via morganhilltimes.com
People will just go to San Jose to buy it. I don't get it, we sell liquor all over town but people freak out about a dispensary. Keep in mind a Good majority of people buy high CBD Products at these stores for medical use. These particular high CBD products have no psychoactive effect but because they have a minute amount of THC they can only be sold in the stores. People immediately want to associate all marijuana Products getting stoned. I wonder how many that are against the dispensaries Will go out this weekend and have a drink. Traci Monroe-Valdez via Facebook
If 58% of the MH registered voters and who voted, were in favor of legalized marijuana then I’d say it’s up to the council to follow the voter’s wishes and not their personal feelings about the issue. And, I would dedicate all the tax revenue to MHPD. They get an unfair bite of the impact fees on new homes. The city could limit the number of sales outlets to one. Easy to monitor and Police. Close to the MHPD station with a direct real time video feed to the police station. Larry Breniman via Facebook
Re: ‘Letter to the editor: Bore underground for High Speed Rail’ And yet every report I've read says the opposite, that tunnels are expensive and will have the potential to increase costs dramatically due to things like the geologic makeup of areas our valley has. The HSRA noted in a letter to the city of San Martin that tunneling is 4-5 times more expensive than raised or at-grade construction. The 1.5 mile tunnel proposed for San Martin, which is needed due to the airport, is projected to cost $1.4 billion. Tunnel proposals have been rejected in other areas, such as the two near Dodger Stadium, which were estimated to cost $260 million per mile, due to costs and practicality. The only non-public financial option would be from a private funding source, which I can't see as practical since rail lines for public transit don't generate the profit investors would want to see in return. An article in the Mercury News reported that communities would have to pay several hundred million dollars for the luxury of having the rail lines run underground. Morgan Hill can't even find the $5+ million it needs annually to fix its streets. “CPaul” via morganhilltimes.com
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