A (legal) immigrant dies in Brian Bilbray's district

Reza Lavasani Dana, an Iranian tourist from Sweden who went jogging near Escondido last weekend, has been found dead.

What did Resa Lavasani Dana die from?
It appears he died from the heat (and the fact that no one stopped to help him as he was crawling along the roadside).
He seems to have crawled into the ravine looking for relief from the heat.

It's odd that he was found at the bottom of a ravine; he had been seen hobbling along the road. How and why did he (or his body) leave the road? Why didn't anyone stop to help? Were they afraid he was illegal, and therefore they didn't want to get involved?

Jogger's body believed to have been found
By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 19, 2010 at 10:33 a.m.

The body of a man believed to be that of a Swedish tourist who went jogging Thursday in a rural area north of Escondido was found by Sheriff’s Department detectives Monday morning.

The body was located at 8:30 a.m. in a ravine off a driveway on Mountain Meadow Road. Two sheriff’s officials said there is no reason to suspect foul play at this time, but until the body can be examined the cause of death can’t be known for sure.

The general description and clothing of the man who was found match that of Reza Lavasani Dana, 33, who was last seen Thursday afternoon in the area. High temperatures that day reached the mid-90s in the area.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said witnesses came forward over the weekend saying they had seen a jogger hobbling along the road, as if his leg or ankle had been injured, but thought no more about it until seeing news reports over the weekend about the search for Lavasani Dana.

Detectives Monday morning went to the area and found the body in heavy brush at the bottom of the ravine...

Deputies Search For Vacationer Who Never Returned From Run
Channel 10 News San Diego




WHERE'S YOUR SUGGESTION FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM, MR. BILBRAY?

I'm afraid you're encouragement of anger at immigrants may send the wrong message to those who feel the urge to commit hate crimes. Police need to investigate events like this one, not immigrants just looking for work.


Lawmaker plans to file brief criticizing Obama lawsuit against state
North County Times
By EDWARD SIFUENTES
July 16, 2010

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said Friday that he and a group of lawmakers plan to file a court brief in opposition to the Obama administration's legal challenge of Arizona's controversial new immigration law...

"It comes as no surprise," said Pedro Rios, San Diego director of the human rights group American Friends Service Committee. "Brian Bilbray has always pushed for anti-immigrant legislation at the local, state and federal level."

...Arizona overstepped its authority by passing the immigration law, said David Blair-Loy, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

"Whether you think the federal government is doing its job or not is beside the point," Blair-Loy said. "The state of Arizona trespassed into the legal prerogative of the federal government. ... Arizona doesn't get to play in the immigration sandbox."


[Maura Larkins note: An acquaintance of mine remembers Brian Bilbray visiting city hall in Imperial Beach in the seventies wearing a motorcycle jacket with a swastika on the back.]


Open Congress.com:

Bilbray was born in Coronado, California, growing up in Imperial Beach, California. He worked as a tax consultant before entering politics. He and his wife, the former Karen Walker, have five children. He is a cousin of former Nevada Democratic Representative James Bilbray.

Bilbray became interested in politics during an attempt by Mayor Bert Stites to carry out an extensive program of eminent domain. He ran successfully for the Imperial Beach city council as a populist, serving during 1976–1987, and was mayor during 1978–1985. Bilbray's tenure as Mayor was marked by his attempt to build a yacht marina in the Tijuana Estuary and build a 1.5 mile breakwater off of the beach of Imperial Beach. [1] Both projects were stopped by the opposition of local environmentalists and surfers. The Tijuana River Estuary is now a National Estuarine Research Reserve and California State Park. The breakwater project was halted with the help of the then fledgling Surfrider Foundation...



Neighbor: Bilbray being investigated by grand jury
North County Times
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT
October 27, 2006

NORTH COUNTY --- A neighbor of Republican 50th District Rep. Brian Bilbray said Thursday that he was subpoenaed to testify before a San Diego County grand jury in August and spent about an hour and a half answering questions about whether Bilbray lived in his Carlsbad neighborhood...



SAN DIEGANS GOING TO ARIZONA TO PROTEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW

San Diegans, led by Mar Cardenas, are asking everyone who opposes SB1070 to come to Arizona on July 28-30th for Days of Non-compliance. They will be meeting at the Unitarian Church in Hillcrest.


From the website:

We are all Arizona! Don't let this happen here or anywhere else! We must do this as a community and as a nation.

The passage of SB 1070 by Governor Brewer sparked national outrage catalyzing a movement for immigrant rights and lending a sense of urgency to stop the hate and terrorizing of immigrants and people of color in Arizona and across the nation.