FEAR AND FURY OVER SIGN POSTED IN LAKEWOOD

Fear and fury over sign posted in Lakewood

By ZACH PATBERG • TOMS RIVER BUREAU •
October 30, 2009

LAKEWOOD — An obscure sign on a dilapidated Second Street house has spread fear and fury over one business owner's threat to start a volunteer immigration watchdog group in an effort to clean up the downtown commercial district.

Day laborers waiting for work Thursday morning could not help but notice the sign hanging between boarded-up windows across the street: "Coming Soon To This Location ICE: Immigration & Customs Enforcement Volunteer Corps."

One laborer said he was worried 'they were going to pick up the people' like himself who were undocumented immigrants.

But Hershel Herskowitz, owner of Toys For Thought, who put up the sign, said the message was not intended for day laborers but for downtown Hispanic-owned storefronts that he accused of engaging in criminal activity such as drugs and money laundering.

"I'm hoping that this will be a wake-up call for our town to our landlords that have allowed a certain element to come into the downtown," Herskowitz said in a video posted on The Lakewood Scoop blog site as well as YouTube. "I hope no one misunderstands this as anti-Hispanic or any way a racist statement. We are merely trying to point out that we have businesses in downtown that are not legitimate businesses."

Immigrant advocates, however, failed to see the sign as anything but an intimidation tactic for undocumented Hispanics.

"It's unthinkable that in Lakewood, where we're supposed to be building tolerance and respect, we'd find a something like this," said Lydia Valencia, CEO of Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey, based in Lakewood.

She said she has received several calls and emails from those concerned about the sign since it went up over the weekend. Yet it's unclear whether such an immigration group would be valid. I.C.E. Spokesman Harold Ort said no volunteer corps' exist within the agency. And, while he has included the I.C.E. name and seal on the sign, Herskowitz said the group would have no affiliation with I.C.E. He added he plans to renovate the site of the rundown house into a four-story office and retail building. A volunteer immigration enforcement office will likely never be part of the plans, Herskowitz admitted, calling the sign more of a warning.

"We're not quite sure what he's trying to accomplish," Mayor Robert Singer said. "But we can't stop someone from doing something like this if it's legal."

Zach Patberg: (732) 557-5739 or zpatberg@app.com


THESE ADVOCATES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS MUST BE HIGH!!! ARE THEY SERIOUSLY TRYING TO CLAIM THAT LAKEWOOD IS ENGAGING IN FORCING THE RESIDENTS OF LAKEWOOD TO BE "TOLERANT" OF ILLEGAL ALIEN ACTIVITY????!!!

GOOD FOR THIS STORE OWNER!!!!!!!

WHEN HE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERS ASKING FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR HIS IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENTS MEMBERS COUNT ME IN!!!!!! HECK I'LL BE THE FIRST TO SIGN UP FOLKS!

IF THE ILLEGAL ALIEN DAY LABORERS, WHO ARE NOT PAYING A DIME IN LABOR TAXES OR STATE TAXES; BUT ARE MAGICALLY RECEIVING FREE EDUCATION FOR THEIR ILLEGAL CHILDREN; AND FREE HEALTH CARE FOR THEIR ENTIRE FAMILIES AND ALL THE BABIES THEY ARE BRINGING INTO LAKEWOOD; DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT THERE ARE ACTUALLY SOME TRUE BLUE AMERICAN CITIZENS, WHO DO PAY TAXES; THAT OBJECT TO LAW BREAKERS!!!

YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW - DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHY AMERICANS ARE ANGRY? WHY AMERICANS ARE RESENTFUL OF YOUR FREE; FREE; FREE; MENTALITY; OFF THE BACKS OF HARD WORKING AMERICANS?!!!

YOU ARE NOT LEGALLY ALLOWED TO WORK IN THIS COUNTRY IF YOU ARE HERE ILLEGALLY IN THIS COUNTRY. IF YOU NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING THIS CONCEPT PLEASE LOOK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY AND TELL ME WHAT "THEY" DO WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!!!!!!!!!

I DON'T HAVE AN OUNCE OF PITY FOR ANY OF YOU - YOU HAVE THROWN IN OUR COLLECTIVE FACES THAT YOU DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT OUR LAWS; YOU BREAK THEM AT WILL. YOU DON'T LIKE IT; YOU BREAK IT. AND YOU FEEL YOUR SOMEHOW JUSTIFIED IN DOING SO!!!!!! WELL, YOUR NOT!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA - THE GREATEST, MOST TOLERATE, COUNTRY AND ILLEGAL ALIENS KNOW IT AND TAKE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF IT. MEN AND WOMEN SHED THEIR BLOOD FOR OUR FREEDOMS EVERY SINGLE DAY - YET YOU WALTZ INTO OUR NATION ON THEIR BLOOD AND TRULY BELIEVE WE WOULD HAVE OPEN ARMS FOR ANY OF YOU???!!!! THINK AGAIN!!

WORK YOUR WAY THROUGH THE SYSTEM LIKE EVERY ONE OF MY ANCESTORS DID! THEN I'LL HAVE RESPECT FOR YOU. UNTIL THEN YOUR NOTHING BUT A LAW BREAKING ILLEGAL ALIEN WHO IS TAKING AWAY FROM MINE AND MY GRANDCHILDREN WHO HAVE A RIGHT TO WHAT YOU ARE STEALING!!!

A PISTED OFF AMERICAN !!