When we suffer another 9-11 due to inadequate border security and/or unenforced immigration laws, Congress and the White House might finally take notice, if we tax-paying, law-abiding citizens haven't already sacked them in the immediate aftermath.
On the Homeland Security front...
After 9/11, President Bush authorized 2,000 new border-patrol agents per year for five years. Unfortunately, the figure now stands at 200, due to budget constraints (budget constraints that, sadly, have not applied to other agencies, such as DoEd, DoT, and PBS). Strangely, $74 million has been substituted for surveillance and aerial technology, in the hopes that this will make up for the lack of manpower on the ground. But if there was any message in the 9/11 report, it was that technological intelligence is no substitute for human intelligence.
This is not simply about Mexican illegals looking to work on a farm. Al-Qa'ida already has a foothold in countries like Venezuela, where it is suspected that the Chavez government had (has?) been protecting them with false-identity papers and passports. Former Taliban mullahs also fled there in 2000. If these cutthroats try to enter the U.S., it won't be through Nova Scotia.
The Federalist Patriot (FederalistPatriot.US)
http://FederalistPatriot.US/current2004a.asp
Feb. 4, 2005
_________