Posted on 08/06/2004 7:07:28 PM PDT by Equusphile
TUCSON - The Republican who hopes to be the party's candidate to replace a 10-term fellow Republican outlined what he called "a layered plan" to protect the border.
Randy Graf, who faces U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe in the Sept. 7 GOP primary for Congressional District 8, said he wants more military on the border, increased training for non-federal civilian law enforcement, going after employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and locking the international boundary down before establishing a new guest worker program.
He outlined his plan at a Tucson press conference and later explained it to the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review in a Wednesday afternoon telephone interview.
A longtime critic of Kolbe, Graf has said the sitting congressman does not represent the constituents in the border areas of the district.
Toni Hellon, who is Kolbe's campaign manager, said neither the congressman nor she would discuss Graf's plan.
"We haven't seen a copy of it, and we cannot comment about it until we see it," Hellon said.
The first layer of Graf's plan is to use the nation's military above and beyond the forces currently being used to do such things as construction projects. He said there is no reason active duty, National Guard and Reserve forces cannot be used to do surveillance work with existing technology and equipment.
In the congressional district's back yard is an important installation of the military, Fort Huachuca, Graf added.
"I believe Fort Huachuca can play a role with the Department of Homeland Security," he said.
The post has a number of training programs, such as training on unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech systems "that can be the eyes and ears for the Border Patrol," he said.
Soldiers on the fort would get practical experience before leaving for their assignments, Graf said. The post and the civilian communities would gain because new fort missions could be added.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1887 does not prohibit the use of the military when it comes to protecting the borders from terrorists, Graf said. The armed forces will be providing assistance to other federal agencies that will do the law enforcement.
Graf said there is another untapped source to be used to control the flow of illegal immigrants into the nation.
Many officers on the streets come across illegal immigrants. With 600,000 civilian law enforcement officers available, he said all that is needed is a way to train them to help federal agencies in apprehending and detaining illegal immigrants.
Because the federal government is unwilling to fully reimburse civilian agencies, some departments refuse to become involved in arresting and jailing illegal immigrants, Graf said.
Too many illegal immigrants convicted of civil crimes are released pending a deportation hearing only to disappear because the federal facilities to hold them until their case is decided are inadequate, Graf said.
Workplace enforcement must be stepped up, too, he said. This involves employers who hire illegal immigrants being punished.
"We have to make it difficult for employers to hire illegals," he said.
While going after employers, Graf also has a carrot idea to expand a test program where employers can process people by checking on their Social Security numbers, which will help weed out illegal immigrants.
The final part of his layer plan is to "close and lock the door (on the border)," he said.
Once the border is controlled, he said, the process can begin to establish a guest-worker program that "will reopen the door" to legal immigrants who will fill jobs for which there are no American workers.
He wants to divert our military from their training and service needed in Iraq to stop laborers who might compete with union pukes who demand unreasonably high wages for less work.
He wants to punish businesses that provide goods and services for his constituents, pay state and local taxes, create jobs for legal residents as well, and provide support for local charities, youth programs, and community activities. He wants to force them out of business or out of the country.
He wants to divert local police from protecting local communities to helping international labor unions keep their wages prohibitively high.
Graff sounds like that other idiot Tancredo who proposed imposing a 5% tax on transactions that, unknown to him, affected only one company--the largest employer in his district.
Go Tancredo, Go Graff! There's an invading army coming over our Southern Border, and to some who are uninformed and do not care about our sovreignty, no problemo. God help us!
ping
Vote for Graf.
And you sound as if you have no idea just WTF is happening in our border communities. Ignorance is correctable, stupidity isn't. Where do fit? Ignorant or stupid.
I see that bayourod, Free Republic's resident Race Card waving illegal immigration cheerleader, has shown up on this thread to badmouth Randy Graf, a patriotic American, because Graf dares to suggest enforcing our southern border in order to keep millions of illegal alien lawbreakers from sneaking in.
Just ignore bayouNIMROD, the brainless troll. He posts this kind of stupid crap in every border, illegal immigration, or Tancredo-related thread just to see if he can start a flame war. He's a drooling moron who should be ignored.
Sorry, sir, that's ignorance speaking. The activities Randy Graf is speaking about having the military perform are already being done. What he is suggesting is to have the UAV trainees shift their observation areas from training areas north and east of the post to the areas just south of the post. No impact on current training activities.
I think your point about Union labor is also wrong, but I can't prove it so I won't address that any further.
Security Begins at Home SEAL the Border from LEGAL 24/7 Manned Crossing point to LEGAL 24/7 Manned Crossing point!
KAN KOLBE VOTE GRAF!
This is an impasse. Many local police forces refuse to do their sworn duty to the Constitution and the Federal Government refuses to reimburse local police departements for their work. It gets worse than that: when local law enforcement does get around to arresting illegals, the Feds refuse to even go and pick them up!
I don't know a damn thing about Graff, or Tucson, but this is exactly where the paradigm shift has to take place. What about "illegal" is so hard for everyone to understand?
This is one of the most interesting Illegal Immigration threads I've seen on FR. It is the first discussion where a viable political response to the challenge is offered.
This is perfect. The Party Primary is the place for disserved and mistreated constituents to rise up and throw the bum out of office.
You guys have spent a great deal of time and effort painting a hellish Cochise County landscape of social upheval caused by the encroachment by a swarm of illegally resident Mexican interlopers. Crime, intimidation, social taxpayer burden and general insecurity in your homes and neighborhoods.
Kolbe seems to be a large part of that problem. I have to assume on September 7, he's history. Toast. Graf must be a lock in that lawless, war-torn district.
But, on the infintessimal chance that Jim Kolbe wins this primary ... what are we to make of that? Given the World you've described again and again,. why would anyone vote for that traitor?
Is Graf the favorite in the Primary?
If Jim Kolbe wins September 7, there's two explanations. Either a majority of GOP registered voters are too stupid to know how bad they have it; or perhaps the grave situation in Southeast Arizona is not what it is portrayed to be by individuals on this site.
This will be interesting indeed.
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