Posted on 09/08/2011 3:24:28 PM PDT by Meet the New Boss
A famous poet once wrote that “good fences make good neighbors.” However, this author did not have to deal with the realities of homeland security where a wall is only as strong as it is fortified by law enforcement personal. Building a wall along the entire Texas-Mexico border would not only be cost prohibitive – in the range of billions of dollars – it would create a false sense of security. And unless the federal government is willing to put enforcement personnel all along such a barrier – something it has refused to do for decades along a border without fencing – it will be no more successful at keeping illegal immigrants out of Texas than the Rio Grande River.
Strategic fencing in high-population areas makes sense. But I would like to see the federal government invest resources in increased border security operations like Operation Rio Grande rather than build a 1,200-mile wall.
With joint law enforcement operations we have managed to reduce crime in areas patrolled by border sheriffs by up to 60 percent during surge operations. With fixed wing and rotary assets in the air, more law enforcement boots on the ground, and a stronger boat patrol presence along the Rio Grande, we have virtually shut down drug and human smuggling activity during intensive operations. The success of these operations is the reason I will be asking the legislature for $100 million to secure our border.
As I have said repeatedly, you can’t have homeland security without border security, and there is no sense in reforming immigration laws if we cannot enforce them. And I have said equally as often that immigration reform without border security is meaningless.
Divisive language on the subject of border security and immigration reform is simply not constructive or useful in solving the problem. We cannot be a nation that is anti-immigrant because we are in fact a nation of immigrants. In fact, foreign-born citizens are some of the strongest supporters of tougher border security measures. Clearly, something has to be done because our hospitals, schools, and other service providers are being flooded with illegal immigrants at a great cost to taxpayers.
But to me neither amnesty nor mass deportation is the answer. The first unfairly rewards those who broke our laws, and the latter is not only unrealistic and unenforceable, but it would devastate our economy. That’s why I support a guest worker program that takes undocumented workers off the black market and legitimizes their economic contributions without providing them citizenship status.
I would rather know who is crossing our border legally to work instead of not knowing who is crossing our border illegally to work. A guest worker program that provides foreign workers with an ID removes the incentive for millions of people to illegally enter our country. It also adds those workers to our tax base, generates revenue for needed social services and it can be done without providing citizenship.
Along with millions of Americans, I think it is wrong to reward those who broke our laws with citizenship ahead of those who have followed the law and are waiting to enter this country legally. And like millions of Americans I do not support amnesty.
With a more secure border and a reasonable guest worker program we can allow guest workers to help build our economy without offering citizenship. Many don’t even want to become citizens – they just want to provide for their families back home.
We just finished an election where the Washington politicians gave us a lot of rhetoric on immigration reform, but no real solutions. We need Washington to be a part of the solution. For us it is not just a subject of intense debate, it directly impacts how we live.
As Governor, I understand that I represent all the people of Texas, and not everyone sees eye to eye on this issue. But, I do promise that I will use reason and fact, not emotion and fear, to help us resolve this issue in a spirit of unity. We need to work toward solutions, not slogans. We need immigration reform that doesn’t compromise our security, and security that doesn’t compromise our economy. And I believe we can accomplish all of this with a guest worker program and real security measures that utilize our law enforcement tools to help secure our border.
Does that include up the coast of california, or up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico? It’s easy to say “build a full fence”. The issue is when you start thinking about what it really means.
Are you really saying everybody you talk to wants to wall off the beaches in Southern California so Americans can’t use them?
So you agree, nobody would want to build a wall on EVERY ONE OF OUR BORDERS.
Which is what I said two posts ago, and you argued with me about.
Now you understand why I was correct. The question isn’t “do we build a fence on every border” — nobody wants to do that, and you think it’s funny.
The question then is simply a matter of how much fence DO we have to build.
Now that you understand, go back and read my original post that you mocked.
If we’ve had guest worker programs, then what is it about guest worker programs that you’re not buying????
We should also fully implement the US-VISIT program to track and deport visa overstays. We have the technology to do it.
I'm sorry, but I'm really not at all interested in trading unsubstantiated barbs with you. I had a point to make, I made it, you objected to it, so I explained it to you. If you don't wish to discuss that further, you may go back to your rant, and I'll be on my way.
Every time I see that posted I have to wonder if the person saying it is simply uninformed, or if they're willfully regurgitating a long-debunked meme.
For the umpteenth time - Palin was the bottom of the ticket in 2008 and essentially toed the McCain company line when she spoke to the press about illegal immigration. It's what EVERY VP candidate does.
You never heard her real opinions on this issue until she was freed of any obligation to that campaign. Now that she's an independent politician, the views she's expressed are right in sync with conservative Americans.
I want our troops home and on the southern border Period. This is an invasion nothing less.
I'm with you. Bring 'em home and let them protect AMERICA, dammit.
And while we're at it, let's throw every other good and workable idea at the problem. That is the only way we're going to stop it.
"PALIN: Then let's keep it -- then we won't complicate it anymore. Let's keep it simple. And let's say no, if you are here illegally, and if you don't follow the steps that at some point through immigration reform we're going to be able to provide, and that is to somehow allow you to work. If you're not going to do that, then you will be deported. You will be gone."
Thanks for the update.
See post #74.
I believe that Perry is against building a fence in Texas. The river is very important to farmers along the border. It is important that their cattle have access to the river. They don’t want a fence that will cut them off from the river and in many places the border is in the middle of the river.
Texas has a huge water problem and you want to build a fence to keep them from a large source of that water.
Palin and Perry both are in favor of guest worker programs for illegal aliens, and both seem to be opposed to a “path to citizenship,” although stopping a “path to citizenship” for guest workers, in the long run, may be more difficult than they think. Palin is for the complete fence, Perry doesn’t want to block access to the river on private property.
Would Perry distribute 10 or 20 million work permits in the middle of a recession here?
Would there be any limit to the number of workers?
I wish Palin (and now Bachmann) wouldn’t essentially advocate amnesty once the border is secured—but they’re 100x better on immigration than Perry is.
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