The attitude that the laws of the land are "fine print" is not a good one. Changes to the Posse Comitatus Act should not be undertaken lightly. Right now, there is an exemption for drug-related cases. That exemption led to military support at Waco--all the BATF had to do was say that they'd heard a rumor that there was a meth lab at Mount Carmel. In the future, all they'd have to say is that they'd heard "F16Fighter" was smuggling illegal aliens.
Realistically, and until then, can any "civilian" BP ever be large enough to be a deterent OR effective?
I have very bad news for you: the military can't be large enough to be effective, either, unless you start mass conscription just for the purpose of patrolling the border. BTW, you'd probably have to start drafting women of child-bearing age into a "Maternity Corps" and only discharge them after they've birthed four kids--because absent that, you start running out of draft-age bodies in about 20-30 years. American citizens and legal residents have fertility figures that are BELOW replacement rate. As America's demographics shift more towards the older end of the spectrum, that problem will get worse.
While I agree with you in principle Poob, shall we have a little talk with the Commander-In-Chief AND our Legislators about this one?
There has been a selective enforcement and upholding of Constitutional Law of everything from deficit spending to this issue of border enforcement -- due to chronically ignoring the "fine print."
"The military can't be large enough to be effective, either, unless you start mass conscription just for the purpose of patrolling the border."
Fine then -- then let's give BP priority and realistic resources in which to enforce to borders. Better late than never, but WHEN?? At the present -- even after 9/11 -- it's painfully obvious that for whatever reason, our government has still regarded the Southwest invasion as a triviality. Rhetorically speaking --why??