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."
"Social concerns" aren't considered as important enough to give a license to kill people looking for a job. Americans won't ever bite that bone, sorry.
"Security concerns" may be considered important enough, though. It's not viewed as a security problem now, and until it is, don't expect any serious change at the border.
And in any event, don't expect US soldiers gunning down people. I can't imagine many right thinking troops would go for that, and most would quit in time.
I'm talking about a multigenerational flow of history, both in Kosovo and in our Southwest. What happened to the Serbs in Kosovo is going to happen in the Southwest if we don't get control of our borders.
What worries me is the kinds of people who WOULD enlist for that mission.
And what use someone like Hillary Clinton or Janet Reno would put them to.
A word to the wise (party).
Not Switzerland, a tiny tax haven which grew rich by hiding the gold of dictators including the Nazis.
Come on, you can give some examples, can't you? Is Switzerland the only example you can think of?
That is the problem. Alright then, let's build the superhighways from the border down to South America and call it the United Islamic Socialist States of the Americas and be done with it.../s
Shooting at unarmed persons crossing the border is beyond the pale.
I don't think anyone has much of a problem with Border Patrol agents or any military force deployed there, defending themselves with lethal force against the armed smugglers. I sure don't.
Work on getting the Socialists out of local government and the Judiciary.
That's 95% of the problem.
We have a 2000 mile border with Mexico. When the incentives to come here outweigh the risks, Mexicans will come.
I'm about disincentivizing, not amping up their risks by making the Southwest a police state.
You are a liar.
I find this statement incredible. I agree 100% that this can never apply if the employer is diligent and only prevented from knowing that he is hiring an illegal by other federal, state or local law.
Otherwise there is no excuse. Don't like the penalty? Don't do the crime. Every law on the books has the potential for abuse and/or misapplication.
IMHO, routine visual examination is still good enough to foil all but the most sophisticated forgeries. Employers normally pursue more thorough background checks for positions with greater responsiblities anyway. (at least they should)
Good commentary. Bravo.
How does it "jettison the Constitution" to make businesses obey the law?
What example does it serve when some laws are totally ignored by the govt, while other laws are ruthlessly enforced with a zero-tolerance attitude?
What do our illegal alien immigrants learn about the rule of law in the USA, when they break the law on day one and every day, and politicans wink at them and pander to them?
What does this dual-track approach to law enforcement do to legal Americans, who watch entire classes of society get away with daily law breaking on a massive scale, when they would be sued out of business by the EPA or EEOC for the tiniest irregularity?
Do you have ANY pity for the struggling contractor who uses legal labor and pays all the taxes etc, who is put out of business by bastards who employ illegals for half the pay, who don't pay for insurance etc, who let the taxpayer pay for their healthcare at your ER?
Don't you have ANY concern about the law-abiding American businessman, put out of business by these illegal-employing bastards, while the govt just winks at them?
The same govt who would parachute in a SWAT team if that legal-employing businessman filled in a puddle without spending years on impact statements etc.
I just want to know which laws "really count" and which laws we can all ignore.
This is the fast track to Banana Republicdom.
Okay, set the tiny tax-haven of Cuckooclockland aside. Name some other long term successful bilingual bicultural nations.
Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I buy it.
You see, the way you phrased that is exactly like the headline that says "Man arrested for petting dog", when the reality is that the "man" was a rapist, breaking and entering, and neutralizing the dog. That dog won't hunt with me.
Technically correct, though: It's "Switzerland" with a 't.'
United States, 1776-1880s. There were very large tracts of this country that didn't speak English until the advent of compulsory public education, which in turn was a product of the Industrial Revolution.
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