Posted on 12/01/2004 8:02:27 PM PST by CHARLITE
IN THE QUAINT little city of Alexandria, Virginia there lives a woman whom I humbly classify as my new friend. Her name is Alicia, and she works on King Street, the gateway to the village's glittering Old Town district. A hard worker and indeed a very good worker, she is an immigrant; for almost a decade she has happily made her home in the United States.
After leaving the Philippines, Alicia went where many new immigrants go: San Francisco. Today just a stone's throw from the nation's capital, she tours Washington like every other American, in awe of its grandeur and history.
Alicia is what immigration is supposed to be about. The best and the brightest from all over the globe are supposed to congregate in America. Instead, immigration in this country has been hijacked. Rather than being embraced by Americans, immigration scares us; we understand, as sad as it may be, that every person who enters the U.S. illegally--from anywhere--increases the likelihood of another 9/11.
If that sounds like crazy alarmism, just examine the evidence. Mexican citizens come to the United States illegally everyday, and everyone knows it. I know it, you know it, Vicente Fox knows it, George W. Bush knows it, and Osama "Paper Tiger" bin Laden knows it. So in lieu of politely waiting for Osama to take advantage of the problem, Bush must fix the problem. This will require not only a harder stance against Mexican leadership, but a concerted effort by the White House to work with the governments of border-states. A private, no-cameras-allowed heart-to-heart between President Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is needed.
All nineteen of the 9/11 hijackers could have come from Mexico. They didn't, but they could have. That means that other would-be hijackers, with similar intentions as their fallen compatriots, could come from Mexico. And why not? San Diego is a nice town, and, as far as I know, it has an airport.
Conservatives who relentlessly rail against Bush on the Mexican immigration issue are partly wrong. The Administration's Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) helps monitor foreigners' activities within our borders, and has led to the arrest of dozens of illegal aliens. If it was truly successful, it would be responsible for thousands of arrests, but what we have is better than nothing.
As of July of this year, over 77,000 foreign students and visitors were registered with SEVIS, as were 100,000 of their dependents. This is good. But, pardon me, if I was planning to escape into southern California from Mexico, hijack a commercial aircraft, and crash it into a Los Angeles skyscraper, I probably wouldn't register with the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition to SEVIS, Congress just appropriated over $300 million to increase the availability of inkless fingerprinting kits, digital cameras, and other equipment to be used to fight illegal immigration. But we've done this before--and the problem still exists.
Immigration is no longer a fun socioeconomic issue. Now it's a war issue. If we mistakenly forget to fund the National Endowment for the Arts, the republic will likely survive through the night. But if terrorists convene en masse in California, New Mexico, Arizona, or Texas, plotting my murder, President Bush will have done very little to thwart them.
The U.S.-Canadian border, despite the little attention it's given, is also a problem. A Canadian news agency recently reported that crossing the northern border "has just become more difficult for anyone who is not a Canadian or American citizen." But the same source points out that "the United States will not be singling out people because of their birthplaces."
That kind of brazen naiveté can only be answered with a pop quiz:
For ten points, which of the following is more likely to carry out a terrorist act on U.S. soil?
(a) a young man from France
(b) a young man from Britain
(c) a young man from Australia
(d) a young man from Saudi Arabia
On the basis of this news report, the American government is earning a big, bloody F on this test. We must button up the borders today, before L.A. is a pile of rubble.
Copyright by ISAIAH Z. STERRETT
Comments:isterrett@hotmail.com
They don't have enough bombs to do that. LA is way too big and spread out, no mass transit, no trains, tunnels, no subways to speak of. IMO, if we ever get hit again, it'll be a large city in Texas, or DC or NY.
I must say, the articles about these open chaotic borders are sure making the headlines all over the place. Could the rest of America finally be waking up?
That's all true. But what is to be done explicitly on a grassroots level to make the change now? "Immigration reform" is just another political phrase as yet, even given the underlying truth it represents. Everyone wants 'something' done--but what? Wishing for political leadership to do it hasn't (as yet) yeilded any results. I suspect there are some laws already on the books that aren't being enforced. So what exactly is/would be reformed?
Uh. I hate to say this, since I grew up in LA County a LONG time ago. But....LA already is a pile of rubble. The traffic jus' keeps tryin' to tamp it down.
I don't know but a little bit of Kboom in LA or SF would probably make a lot of those free thinkers see RED!!
Unfortunately a lot of people would get hurt, sometime that has to happen though, just to get people to wake up!!
Until something or someone really bad makes it over the Mexican border, nothing will be done. That's the only way we'll ever get any positive action on shutting it down.
"I don't know but a little bit of Kboom in LA or SF would probably make a lot of those free thinkers see RED!!"
Firstly, Bush got about 44% in California, and the most votes from any state (Texas #2).
Elected Arnold, too.
So I agree, that if California got a terror hit, a strong defense candidate would be a walk-over. California isn't all that partisan; a large independent faction.
Note that NOW Hillary is moving towards an anti-immigration stance. I'll bet she expects a terror hit in the next 4 years, and wants to be well positioned on ALL related issues.
Time has come to refuse Bush's pro-immigration stance. He won't be running again, but Congress and Senators will.
I'm hoping the House majority forces some tighter measures, in this 9/11 Commission package of legislation. Even if Bush doesn't like it.
BTTT
ping
I was just about to make that same observation.
Could the rest of America finally be waking up?
Let's hope so.
The answer is more legislation/propositions like Arizona's Prop 200 - boy, did that piss off the pro-illegal lobby!
And people like Roger Barnett of Douglas, AZ, who has almost single-handedly detained and turned over to the Border Patrol 14,000+ illegal aliens over the last five years.
>>Alica >>A hard worker and indeed a very good worker, she is an immigrant; for almost a decade she has happily made her home in the United States.<<
Alica is also an illegal. I'll bet $250 on it. No, boasting about how she's legal and the visa problems she had, just "After leaving the Philippines, Alicia went where many new immigrants go: San Francisco."
I also noticed there was no consternation towards Alica.
ISAIAH Z. STERRETT, are you sleeping with this woman? Is that why she received such a nice interview?
Another sensible article...keep 'em coming.
Michnews -- would that be Michigan?
As far as i'm concerned terrorists are the minor problem.
Unless the invasion of illegals is stopped and those here are deported or made so uncomfortable that they leave on their own this country won't be worth saving or living in.
If the terrorists wiped out 1000/week it wouldn't equal the highway deaths in this country.
Most informed opinion holds that such is already here. Whether it gets used or not depends on what sort of retaliation they think might occur.
Tanker trucks full of pot have been crossing the U.S. border since the early 1970's. In addition to tomato trucks, auto parts trucks, buses, trains, automobiles and the occasional airplane. In addition to battalions of illegal alien "mules" with back packs.
Do you really think someone out there has bothered to wait till now?
If Americans don't wake up soon to this invasive problem, their states will soon be in the same mess that California already is. All I can say to them is BEWARE, and TAKE ACTION.
Wrong! People entering this country illegally without the requisite paperwork, backround checks, etc scares me.
Secure the borders or be prepared for vigilanteism in the streets. One or the other will happen.
Not to mention the diseases they're bringing in that had been practically stamped out in America.
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