What should be done about illegal immigration?

If Ritter wins, God help Colorado.

Of course all you left wingers want illegal aliens to stay, so you can let them vote.

I've always been a moderate, but the tactics and stances of the left have driven me far, far right. Bush is a liberal.

So they polled Boulder.

By the way, that stat Walter posted was part of my premise.

By Lou Dobbs
CNN


Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears every Wednesday on CNN.com.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush will sign the Secure Fence Act into law Thursday at a public ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room, reversing his earlier decision to withhold the pomp and circumstance.

House Republicans demanded the formal proceedings for public relations purposes, claiming this fence is a major accomplishment for Congress ahead of our November midterm elections.

I've said from the beginning that we can't reform immigration laws until we control immigration, and we can't control immigration unless we control our borders and our ports. Constructing the border fence certainly is a good beginning to our efforts to control our borders, but let's be honest about the legislation: It isn't nearly enough, and far more must be done. A congressional victory lap isn't in order for funding only half of a 700-mile fence along a nearly 2,000-mile border.

We'll find out more about how American families rate the job Congress and the president are doing with respect to illegal immigration and border security tonight, when our broadcast presents another special town-hall broadcast, "America Votes 2006: Broken Borders." Many middle-class families will finally have the chance to express their opinions about how illegal immigration is affecting their quality of life.

American middle-class families are all too often left out of the discussion of immigration reform in Washington. Instead, this country's special interest groups dominate the debate. Big business associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organized labor unions enjoy the benefits of open borders and hope to keep the status quo: big business, to exploit the cheap labor that is provided by illegal aliens, and labor organizations, to add to their membership rolls.

Between 12 million and 20 million illegal aliens are living in the United States. But as that range suggests, no one -- not the Border Patrol, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security -- has any true idea how many illegal aliens are here. Why not?

I suspect one major reason is the same federal government that refuses to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws is determined not to accurately measure the number of illegal aliens in the country so as to further cover up both the cost of illegal immigration and the necessity of creating a rational public policy.

We do know that the government of Mexico encourages its poorest citizens to cross our border, to live and work in the United States. And we know that illegal aliens are sending back to Mexico more than $20 billion in remittances per year, according to the Bank of Mexico. Those remittances from Mexican citizens living in the United States are one of the largest sources of foreign income for the nation of Mexico, neck and neck with oil revenue.

No wonder that President Vicente Fox and the government of Mexico not only encourage Mexican citizens to illegally cross our borders, but also fight strenuously against American efforts to control that border.

Illegal aliens are an important part of a one trillion-dollar underground economy in America, according to Barron's. Illegal employers hire illegal aliens who pay little or no income taxes, and whose children are provided free schooling. Illegal aliens receive medical and social services, and over the past decade have displaced more than two million low-skilled American workers from their jobs.

Because the federal government refuses to enforce immigration laws, cities and towns all over the country are being forced to take on the illegal immigration crisis. Escondido, California, became the latest city with the courage to pass an ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting to illegal aliens.

Escondido joined cities as far away as Hazelton, Pennsylvania, and Avon Park, Florida, which have taken similar measures in curbing the overwhelming influx of illegal aliens. Hazelton's ordinance has become the model for local regulation of the crisis: The ordinance requires certain employers doing business with the city to participate in the federal government's pilot program to verify that their employees are here legally.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta says he's doing what his community elected him to do and says more local governments should act on behalf of their citizens: "I think there are a lot of Hazleton, Pennsylvanias, in the United States and people feel the same. They want a quality of life. They feel that people that are in this country illegally are draining the resources and draining budgets that are meant to be used to provide services for those that are here legally and paying taxes."

Increased drug trafficking constitutes another reason we must control our borders immediately. No matter how the government of Mexico resists, the Drug Enforcement Agency says as much as $25 billion in drug money crosses the U.S.-Mexico border each year. And that doesn't even count the money made from middleman and end-user transactions in the drug trade. In fact, more cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana enter the United States from Mexico than from any other point.

Control of our border with Mexico must be established if we are to be successful in resolving our illegal immigration crisis and winning the war on drugs. We do want to win, don't we?

In the department of those items that are not being widely reported in the media, I ran across this today:

Texas Sheriffs Say Terrorists Entering US from Mexico
By Kevin Mooney
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
August 21, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The chief law enforcement officers of several Texas counties along the southern U.S. border warn that Arabic-speaking individuals are learning Spanish and integrating into Mexican culture before paying smugglers to sneak them into the United States. The Texas Sheriffs' Border Coalition believes those individuals are likely terrorists and that drug cartels and some members of the Mexican military are helping them get across the border.

Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez of Zapata County, Texas told Cybercast News Service that Iranian currency, military badges in Arabic, jackets and other clothing are among the items that have been discovered along the banks of the Rio Grande River. The sheriff also said there are a substantial number of individuals crossing the southern border into the U.S. who are not Mexican. He described the individuals in question as well-funded and able to pay so-called "coyotes" - human smugglers - large sums of money for help gaining illegal entry into the U.S.

Although many of the non-Mexican illegal aliens are fluent in Spanish, Gonzalez said they speak with an accent that is not native.

"It's clear these people are coming in for reasons other than employment," Gonzalez said.

That sentiment is shared by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.).

"For years, Muslims and other 'Special Interest Aliens' from places other than Mexico have been streaming into the U.S. across our porous border," Tancredo told Cybercast News Service. "These people are not paying $50,000 or more a head just to 'take jobs no American will do.'

"Terrorists are working round the clock to infiltrate the United States," he added. "Congress and this administration must address this gaping hole in our national security and they must do it now."

Some of the more high profile pieces of evidence pointing to terrorist infiltration of the U.S. have been uncovered in Jim Hogg County, Texas, which experiences a high volume of smuggling activity, according to local law enforcement.

"We see patches on jackets from countries where we know al Qaeda to be active," Gonzalez explained.

The patches appear to be military badges with Arabic lettering. One patch in particular, discovered this past December, caught the attention of federal homeland security officials, according to Gonzalez and local officials familiar with the investigation.

Sheriff Wayne Jernigan of Valverde County, Texas, told members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in March about one patch that read "midnight mission" and displayed an airplane flying over a building heading towards a tower. Translators with DHS have said some of the various phrases and slogans on the items could mean "martyr," "way to eternal life," or "way to immortality."

Gonzalez told the House International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation in July that the terrorists are getting smarter.

"To avoid apprehension, we feel many of these terrorists attempt to blend in with persons of Hispanic origin when entering the country." Gonzalez stated. "We feel that terrorists are already here and continue to enter our country on a daily basis."

Sheriff Arvin West of Hudspeth County, Texas, told Cybercast News Service that he believes some Mexican soldiers are operating in concert with the drug cartels to aid the terrorists.

"There's no doubt in my mind," he said, "although the Mexican government and our government adamantly deny it."

Statistics made available through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show more than 40,000 illegal aliens from countries "Other Than Mexico," designated as OTMs, were apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in the period ranging from October 2003 to June 2004, as they attempted to cross the southwestern border. An overview of border security challenges produced through the office of Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicates that almost 120,000 OTMs were apprehended while attempting to cross into the state from January through July 2005.

Local authorities are particularly concerned about illegal aliens arriving from Special Interest Countries (SICs) where a radical version of Islam is known to flourish. Perry's office cites Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and Bangladesh among those countries. A Tancredo spokesperson said the list also includes Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported an internal audit of DHS that combines the number of illegal aliens arriving from SICs with the documented instances of illegal aliens arriving from countries identified as being state sponsors of terrorism (SSTs) yields a grand total of over 90,000 such illegal aliens who have been apprehended during the five year period from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2005.

The border security report delivered by Perry's office focuses attention on the "Triborder region" of Latin America, which spans an area between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

"The Triborder Region is a focal point of Islamic extremism," the report states. "Al Qaeda leadership plans to use criminal alien smuggling organizations to bring terrorist operatives across the border into the U.S."

Carlos Espinosa, a press spokesman for Tancredo, said his office is aware of a training camp in Brazil that actually teaches people from outside of Latin America how they can assimilate into the Mexican culture.

"They come up as illegal aliens and disguise themselves as potential migrant workers," Espinosa said.
SOURCE

Our government thinks the solution is a 700-mile fence. Go figure.

Well, you've got only two land borders, to Canada and Mexico, if I'm not totally wrong.

No pronlem to built another fence up North - the terorists might learn French or English before entering from border, too!

Walter, It's obvious why the 700-mile fence will not stop illegal immigrants into our country. Only our dumb and stupid government thinks it does. Just another billion down the drain.

If the aim is to get rid of illegal aliens the government should as some towns are doing. Levy heavy fines on businesses that employ and home owners that rent to them. In addition stop the practice of holding illegals when caught and take them to the border and if need be pushed across Regarding the fence, I think it is certainly a step in the right direction. In addition, the law that grants citizenship to children born in the US to Illegal aliens should be voided. { most nations do not follow that practice}

au, Fences alone will not stop illegals from coming into our country. Our government has failed by not enforcing laws already on the books concerning the hiring of illegals. If the government doesn't enforce the laws they make, there is no chance a 700-mile fence will have any effect.

That's over one billion spent for naught; that same money could be used to support health insurance for our children - even illegal ones.

CI
No but fences are part of the puzzle

IMHO a very small part. Over 90 percent of containers coming into our country is not inspected for drugs or WMDs.

I see the 700-mile fence the same way I viewed the Berlin Wall. It's symbolism is all negative. Contrast that to the Statue of Liberty.

On the other hand, sincee all persons entering or leaving the USA are now screened with the ATS-program - you can feel securer than any other person in any other country.

Walter, Screening of passengers coming into and out of the country is one of the better policies to restrict terrorists, but there are other issues that are being ignored.

When flying out from Israel to the US, all persons coming to the US must go through US-type security in addition to Israeli security. Liquid restrictions on carry-on bags are enforced by the US.
They threw out my "cheap" after shave lotion.

Walter
As long as the land borders are nothing more than a sieve the terroists or anyone who wants to can enter the US undetected.
Closing the door and leaving the window open never protected anyone or any thing.

au, Excellent analogy.

You really should contact some of the GDR-engineers who built their border defenses - worked excellently, even from inside.

Victor Hanson comes at this issue from a different perspection; i.e. the negative impact on Mexico. A piece worth looking at I think.

November 10, 2006
Rethinking Illegal Immigration
By Victor Davis Hanson

Now that the bitter election season is over, both parties will have to return to the explosive issue of illegal immigration.

Increased border patrol, a 700-mile fence to stop the easiest access routes (something President Bush signed into law two weeks ago), employer sanctions and encouragement of one official language can all help solve the crisis. But once the debate is renewed, congressional reformers will be blitzed by advocates of the failed status quo with a series of false assumptions concerning the issue.

Take, for example, the shared self-interest argument - that the benefits to both the U.S. and Mexico of leaving our borders open trumps the need for enforcement of existing laws and outweighs the costs to U.S. taxpayers that result from massive influxes of poor illegal aliens.
Libertarian supporters of relatively open borders, for example, have long argued that illegal immigration is a safety valve for Mexico, one that prevents violent revolution south of our border. By allowing millions of poor people to cross illegally into the United States, we supposedly stabilize Mexico. Billions of dollars in remittances are sent back home to the needy left behind.

Yet for the last several weeks, the Mexican city of Oaxaca has been in near-open revolt. What started out as calls to remove the state governor, Ulises Ruiz, on charges of fraud and corruption has spiraled into a popular uprising of the type that's been seen in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Yet the state of Oaxaca is also one of the chief sources of illegal immigration to the United States. Hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Oaxacans have fled to the U.S. and now send millions of dollars back southward. Why, then, is the city on the brink of chaos?

Could it be that far from stabilizing Mexico, the continual flight of millions of Mexico's disenchanted - one in 10 currently live in the U.S. - has only made things worse?

Young fathers and sons leave families torn apart and without immediate social support. The Mexican government puts off needed changes, assured that its most unhappy will leave for the U.S., and that their subsequent cash infusions will cover up state failures. Anger, corruption and cynicism, not market reform and stability, often follow. A corrupt Mexican government always survives, but its people each year fare worse - as we see now in Oaxaca.

Another canard about illegal immigration is that religious and family-oriented Mexican aliens are often corrupted by American popular culture, thus explaining why poverty, high-school dropout rates and arrests among Hispanics in the United States remain at high levels. In addition, in 2002, half of all children born to Hispanic parents in America were illegitimate.

But as Heather MacDonald points out in the current issue of the urban-policy magazine City Journal, there is reason to believe that illegal aliens did not develop these problems solely upon their arrival in the United States. Indeed, illegitimacy is far more common in Mexico than it is in the United States. Likewise, fewer students per capita graduate from high school in Mexico than they do here.

Finally, employers plead that without cheap foreign labor they would not be able to find enough American workers to maintain the surging American economy. But here, too, this seemingly logical supposition doesn't quite fit with reality.

Some U.S. counties with higher than average unemployment rates - such as California's Central Valley, where the unemployment rate often has been in the double digits - are a favored destination of illegal aliens. That suggests that there are already enough American laborers to meet job needs, but a fundamental failure to attract such manpower back into the workplace.

The ultimate - and more challenging - solution to a shortage of laborers may not be illegal immigration or even guest workers, but higher wages, a change in entitlement eligibility laws or a return to our own former positive attitudes about hard, physical work.

Areas in the United States that have experienced far less illegal immigration seem to have no insurmountable problems in manning restaurants, cutting lawns or serving the needs of hotel guests. Travel to the Midwest, for example, and you'll see that students are employed as cooks and maids. Construction relies on legal laborers.

The evidence suggests that massive illegal immigration causes as much upheaval inside Mexico as it supposedly prevents - while aggravating, not solving, problems in the United States.

What we need from this new Congress is not more hysteria about illegal immigration, but more re-examination of what seems true but really is not.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War." You can reach him by e-mailing [email protected].
SOURCE

Bring it on Foxy!

With the exception of ballot initiatives in Arizona I am pretty happy with the future for immigration reform after this election.

The candidates that ran on an anti-immigrant platform (i.e. they railed against earned citizenship as "amnesty" and wanted enforcement only) almost all lost-- including Graf and the Republican who ran for Governor in Arizona.

Now Democrats have the house and there will be no more obstructionism from House Republicans clearly out of touch with the American public.

I hope we can deal.