Posted on 09/27/2004 11:40:43 PM PDT by Robert Lomax
The U.S. has no plans to deploy troops along the Mexican border to stanch the deluge of illegal aliens currently pouring into the country at the rate of 3 million per year, President Bush said in an interview broadcast on Monday.
"As the governor of Texas, I was very aware of this issue," Bush told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly.
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"There is a long border, that makes it hard to control. We have beefed up places along the border to try to stop" the flow, he said. When told that his policy didn't seem to be working, Bush insisted, "It’s working a little better.
"They're doing a pretty good job down in Arizona, which is the main border crossing. ... I think there's a thousand more border patrol agents along the border. We’re modernizing border techniques, we’re using better surveillance methods to stop this crossing at the border."
The president contended, however, that illegal immigration was driven primarily by the economic realities of the region.
"If you can make 50 cents in the interior of Mexico and five bucks in the interior of the United States, you're coming for the five bucks," he explained.
"I happen to believe the best way to enhance the border is to have temporary-worker cards available for people," he said. "I think the long-term solution for this issue on our border is for Mexico to grow a middle class. That's why I believe in NAFTA."
When warned that "a lot of people are not going to like that answer," Bush told O'Reilly, "Well it’s a, a truthful answer."
For me it's not. If it were millions of British streaming in illegally, I'd be just as pissed. I don't really care about language or culture as I speak several languages. I'm also into different things, so a whole bunch of King Taco restaurants doesn't bother me any more or less than a a whole bunch of O'Malley's pubs, Korean BBQs, Japanese Shabu Shabu restaurants, etc., would.
It depends on how you are getting here. If you are coming here illegally, I don't want to have to pay for you. Regardless of where you come from.
Well, it's a problem to me. I do not advocate property confiscation. Period.
And I agree with eliminating the incentives.
I oppose IRS confiscation of property.
Show me your papers please? What happened to the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated??
And I oppose asset forfeiture. I'm not about to oppose it on one hand and favor it on the other.
No, we should end property confiscation, not advocate more of same.
I'm waiting to see what Bush does after he's re-elected. If the border problems persist, I'm confident conservatives will rise up and put the heat on their Congresscritters and the administration. Conservatives need to fight the GOP establishment on this volatile issue and not lose their cool and waste a vote on the LP or CP. Bush needs to get a clue about the borders though.
Right. I'd like to see the source of "3 million" illegals per year please.
If we don't get blown up, we'll be there, unarmed and defenseless to a suicide bomber, holding our noses and voting for Bush...
The taxpayer assistance is the key.
In order for us to gauge what a devestating loss of support this will be ... did you vote for him in 2000?
I'm no fan of the IRS either, but how about in the case of knowingly trafficking illegal invaders and stealth terrorists over the border?
In the context of 9/11, our government has absconded its duty to button down the borders.
This is A method of SOME enforcement.
They're not just coming from Mexico bud, try the entire Central American countries. Guatemala. Honduras. Believe me, this is true. Bush looses me on this. Very frustrating. If kerry wanted to cut into Bush's base, deep, all he'd have to do is say he will build a friggen wall the entire length of our southern border. He won't do it either. What the f^%%# is it gonna take?
Apprehensions by Border Patrol this fiscal year:
Mexico - 927,582; Honduras - 17,862; El Salvador - 12,985; Guatemala - 8425; Brazil - 6,026; Nicaragua - 1,073; China - 618; Ecuador - 420
Mind you, these are only apprehensions, not a projection of the total number of illegal crossings.
Marine Inspector is more qualified to estimate the percentage of apprehensions vs. total crossings than I, so I defer to MI.
Maybe some families are that large, and I realize there are sometimes entire families that come here illegally, but I suspect most of the illegal aliens we're complaining about here are young able bodied working people and probably mostly males.
By the way, I'm from a family of 9 children.
I'm opposed to confiscation of property period.
According to the statistics linked above, looks like way more than the lion's share comes from Mexico.
I heard last night that MI estimates we only apprehend 5% - 10% of the border crossers. Using the 1,000,000 number of apprehensions you mention, that would mean, according to MI's apprehension rates, somewhere between 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 come across every year. At this rate there will be no able bodied working class people left in Mexico within a couple more years. I think something is drastically wrong with the numbers and rates. Would like to see some actual stats and or reliable numbers.
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