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Illegal-immigration Forum Barred by School Officials
Scheduled event nixed over risk of damage to facility, feared injury to audience members A town hall meeting scheduled by a California legislator to discuss illegal immigration has been told to find a new location after officials at the planned high school site said they feared altercations could damage the facility or injure those in attendance. The forum, "The Illegal Immigration Crisis: A Frank Discussion," sponsored by Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow, was scheduled for Thursday evening at Carlsbad High School in San Diego County. The town meeting is also endorsed by the Republican Women Federated Board, a GOP volunteer group. A week before the event, Morrow's office was contacted by Superintendent John A. Roach who denied use of the newly remodeled Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center on the high school campus, citing emotional outbursts and scuffles at other demonstrations over illegal immigration. Despite Morrow's event being a town hall meeting held by an elected official and not a demonstration, Roach cited district rules allowing him to "refuse the use of the Cultural Arts Center if an event poses an unreasonable risk of damage to the facility, equipment or furnishing, and that might jeopardize the security, health and well-being of an audience of the community." "Based on my understanding of the recent events in Garden Grove, Baldwin Park and Campo," Roach told Morrow's office, "it is my belief that the event you had planned poses exactly such a risk." In May, two demonstrators protesting the Garden Grove appearance of Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, were struck by a motorist attending the event. Also in May, a large contingent of police was called into calm protestors and counter-protestors at a taxpayer-funded memorial that proclaimed "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." As reported by WorldNetDaily, SaveOurState.org, a nonprofit anti-illegal immigration organization was calling on Baldwin Park officials to remove the memorial for its "anti-American message." Three weeks ago, an aide to Morrow told police he had been assaulted by a U.C. Riverside professor who was protesting the California Minuteman Project in the city of Campo. A Carlsbad school district office secretary told the San Diego Union-Tribune the cancellation had resulted in numerous calls from upset Carlsbad citizens. A spokesman for Morrow's office says the town hall meeting is still planned for Thursday and a new location will be identified by Monday. Scheduled speakers include U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, Los Angeles medical attorney and author Madeleine Cosman, and Pete Nuñez, former U.S. Attorney in San Diego. Conservative radio host and former San Diego mayor will moderate the town hall event. |