Posted on 08/21/2004 9:04:20 PM PDT by ETERNAL WARMING
(08-21) 15:55 PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) --
President Bush's nephew, campaigning for overseas votes in Mexico on Saturday, called the federal policy of arming U.S. Border Patrol agents with plastic pellet guns "reprehensible."
Speaking in a mix of English and sometimes-halting Spanish, George P. Bush said his uncle was not to blame for the gun policy, which has angered Mexicans. He instead blamed it on "some local INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) guy who's trying to be tough, act macho."
"If there has been American approval for this policy, that is reprehensible," Bush said of the guns, essentially paintball projectiles filled with chile powder. "It's kind of barbarous."
The pellet guns, which were approved at the federal level, have been used on a trial basis since 2001 in California and Arizona. The U.S. Border Patrol fired the pepper-balls in 81 instances in 2002-03 and reported no deaths or severe injuries.
President Bush's Hispanic nephew -- he's the grandson of migrant worker Jose Maria Garnica -- is in Mexico on a week-long visit to drum up support for his uncle among the estimated 1 million Americans living there.
The younger Bush, whose father is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and mother, Columba, is originally from Mexico, acknowledged at a news conference that the war in Iraq is not popular in Mexico but defended the military action, saying "we're almost done with it."
He also acknowledged that "there are some people in our (Republican) party who don't see the benefits of immigration," but promised that President Bush was a proponent of immigration reform.
He called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "a dictator" and cast doubt on his victory last week in a recall referendum, saying Chavez had "a long history of fraud." Outside observers, including former President Jimmy Carter, have endorsed the Venezuelan vote counts.
Christopher Fussner, global chairman of Republicans Abroad, which funded Bush's trip, called Mexico "the most important country" for getting overseas votes.
Fussner said Republicans are advertising in overseas English-language newspapers around the world in hopes of capturing expatriate votes.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign also has enlisted family members to woo voters in Mexico. His sister, Diana Kerry, chairwoman of Americans Overseas for Kerry, visited Mexico City in July.
Kerry supporters also held a voter-registration and ballot-request drive in Guadalajara on Thursday.
Why, when the majority of Americans want to crack down on illegal immigration, is the Bush Administration continuing to ignore the voters on this?
Because Americans live all over the world.... Every vote counts.... Especially if they are registered in a swing state...
That is correct.... Cota Rica and Mexico are great places to retire and live on the cheap.. Also, medication is cheaper...
Many of them still own property in the United States as well as have their money in American Banks. Also their kids still live here so they do care...
So LEAVE if it's so bad.
Many retain strong financial ties, including investments, pensions and social security.
To suggest that they are no longer Americans or don't care about America is utterly absurd, and your claim to know how they truly feel or how ignorant they are is ridiculous.
It's insulting to the many members of Republicans Abroad, who have active chapters in many countries.
I'm still confused by you yourself, but I respect and appreciate President Bush's attitudes about religion. The first amendment doesn't obstruct religion as a personal beacon for our leaders, nor does it prevent them from expressing their personal beliefs. Furthermore, I think his comments about Islam are good for our current posture in the war on terror. They sound naive sometimes but they position us with more options than an outright crusade would. Finally, I think President Bush's attempts to block the redefinition of marriage, prevent cloning research, and federal stem cell funding are right for America on both secular and religious grounds. Surely you wouldn't rather that we had a completely areligious leader who also didn't have the courage to stand strong on those issues, would you?
I agree... Immigration is part of what pushes our economy. We get labor on the cheap....
Also, our country was built by immigrants... Of, all races... If it was the other way around we would be trying to move to Mexico...
It only helps people who buy houses, agricultural produce, clothes, cars; eat at restaurants, stay at hotels, have roofs repaired, drive on roads, sell equipment, provide professional services, invest in stocks, use childcare, buy gasoline, use electricity, and are dependent upon a strong growing economy.
Hermits that live off the land in remote areas and never go into town probably don't benefit from immigrant labor as much.
All things that the markets would resolve on their own without cheap, severly underpaid and under supported workers. Next?
Like America didn't have corruption and crime before Mexicans Arrived....
Do you realize how many Mexicans have fought and died for this country all the way back to the Alamo...
I was talking about on the Backs of Slaves and Immagrants... Chiness Laborors, Irish pesents, etc...
Immigrants
If that was the case then why was he pandering on amnesty and bashing the border patrol agents who actually put their lives in harm's way trying to defend this country. He slandered our border patrol --- and the retirees wouldn't have been impressed by that. Why isn't George P. Bush serving his country in Iraq?
I think all the Founding Fathers were Americans --- descended from Europeans but I would think almost all were American by birth.
Look, we don't dislike Mexicans. We just want immigration to be safe, legal, and limited. If you don't like the limits, go to Congress and lobby to get them increased. But we're asking to enforce the limits that we have. Anything else is anarchy. What we have now is anarchy. We have rich landowners taking advantage of illegal and cheap labor. We have politicians farming votes with "beach head" births. We have social program directors dreaming of more and more power. We have left, right, and center hoping to get a cheaper head of lettuce.
And meanwhile our culture is being lost. This isn't the America I was born in. It's something totally different. It's a massive social engineering experiment hatched in the minds of Greatest Generation socialists who believed they could create a utopia here.
It's no utopia now, and it won't be in the future either. This is about rule of law. The social engineers aren't above transforming a society by hook, crook, or coup. When the population of this country tips in the balance, which it will do in our lifetimes, its future will be for sale to the highest bidder.
You and your children -- of any race -- be welcomed into an Orwellian America where the founding fathers become the enemies of the people, and Christopher Columbus is burned in effigy every September 18th -- on the whitehouse lawn.
What is the biggest problem south of the border? Hernando de Soto describes it as the lack of respect for law and its rule. Do you see a correlation here? We're having massive amounts of illegal immigration and the rule of law is breaking down in the process.
I suggested at beginning of this post that you lobby for increased limits. You'll fail. Why? Because Americans want to protect their borders, their identity, and their sovereignty. They want their culture to be American. If you want to ignore their wishes, you are anything but democratic.
It is the elites of both parties who have decided to push forced diversity on us, not the common people. It is anything but democratic.
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