Posted on 02/21/2005 2:42:11 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
That's all we ever hear. How lettuce will cost $4 a head. Well, it friggin' cost about $3 a head last winter. I survived. The country survived. And our enemies were not emboldened by the fact that we were paying so much for lettuce.
We could use more Border Patrol agents, true. But it wouldn't take very many, certainly not a million. We could make a real dent just by having a President and congress who understand the problem and stop acting from their special interests.
BPAs want to do the job, but are slapped down every time by politcians, or hopeful ones like Asa Hutchinson. Politicians want to pander to the Hispanics, but don't realize that even legal Hispanics want the illegals stopped.
All it takes is the political will to ENFORCE the laws on the books, and to get the heck out of the way. To say (like Asa)that Americans don't really want this fixed is assinine and patently false.
I think they are still around. But their political and policing mission isn't needed much any more, ever since NYC got serious about cracking down on crime.
Go figure.
And I was simply explaining what I perceive to be the rationale for that approach.
I'm no lawyer (husband is) but I believe an illegal immigrant's mere presence in the country is a felony, as is any aiding, abetting or harboring an illegal entrant.
While part of the solution lies in Washington, DC, part of the problem in enforcement lies in cities and states with sanctuary laws that prohibit agencies from reporting or even asking about a person's legal status regarding their presence here. But they are felons and can be detained as such...it's just not encouraged because there are too many and it's not profitable or practical to go after them.
As for citizen's arrest, that's not an issue for bounty-hunters. They're licenced and permitted, just like private detectives and security agents and work closely with local, state and federal agents.
I doubt the unarmed citizens on the 20mile project will get more than a whiff of any illegals. After all, this is hardly a secret. They'll just cross at another place or wait another day.
>>I think they are still around. But their political and policing mission isn't needed much any more, ever since NYC got serious about cracking down on crime.
Go figure.<<
Good. Maybe we'll get a repeat at the border.
No, not so long as the line Jim drew regarding the allegedly racist organization isn't crossed.
This is news, it's published, and it's worthy of discussion as long as calls for violence are avoided.
The previous article - the one that is still up - was written by a flaming Liberal and didn't come close to telling us the real workings of the Minuteman Project. This one comes closer.
And, FWIW, I have a hard time believing there may be a connection between Gilchrist and Stormfront. I know my Sheriff and another organizer too well to believe otherwise.
My boss had a great line for folks like you: "Any job is easy if you're not the one doing the work."
I've done the manpower studies; you need enough BPAs on post to deter people from attempting to cross in the first place. Once the border jumper makes the decision to go, the battle is half lost. Deterring the border jumper means that you have to make it obvious that he will almost certainly be detained and deported. That works out to about 50,000 on patrol, 50,000 as a reaction force, and 5 bodies per individual on duty (unless you're planning on not enforcing the border at night and on weekends). Then add 1 support position for each person employed in actually chasing down illegals. Guess what the number works out to?
All it takes is the political will to ENFORCE the laws on the books, and to get the heck out of the way. To say (like Asa)that Americans don't really want this fixed is assinine and patently false.
One BPA could change your tune in an instant: "Your papers, sir."
Followed by your vanity post about how America just became a police state...
It is not. Most are guilty of an administrative offense. To make a citizens arrest, you need to witness either a felony or a very restricted set of misdemeanor offenses (such as riot) in progress.
As for citizen's arrest, that's not an issue for bounty-hunters. They're licenced and permitted, just like private detectives and security agents and work closely with local, state and federal agents.
Bounty hunters go after someone who has posted a bail bond. That waives certain rights. A Mexican walking along a trail in Southern Arizona has signed no such paper.
This does not mean I agree with the law. But these are the laws in force. They would have to change at the state level.
saw a little piece on The History Channel the other night about Area 51...the government has the miles and miles of desert surrounding 51 ringed with infrared cameras, motion detectors, sensors, etc. Signs clearly posted state that guards are authorized to shoot on sight, and when the reporters wandered too far onto the property...a fleet of guards in humvees was there in a flash.
So much for the theory that miles and miles of open, empty desert cannot be defended.....IT CAN!
Can't we put at least as much effort in protecting our southern border as we put into protecting the UFO's in Nevada?
This article is still up. It is up to the anti-illegal immigration posters on FR to police our own threads and not allow calls for violence or illegal actions - and not tolerate bigotry. And posters also need to resist flame wars, petty insults, and especially widespread outbreaks of PFS - Persecuted Freeper Syndrome - that require JimRob to take time out from his other activities to deal with a bunch of kids who won't play nice.
The debate is ours to win. The popular support is there. It needs to be translated into political support. We need to stay on the high road to get there.
Kindly note the difference in length between the perimeter of Area 51 and the US-Mexican border.
Can't we put at least as much effort in protecting our southern border as we put into protecting the UFO's in Nevada?
1. Divide the length of the US-Mexican border by the length of the Area 51 perimeter. Save this number.
2. Multiply the Area 51 security budget by the number generated in Step 1.
3. Try not to faint from sticker shock.
There's another line: It's the job that's never started that's the hardest to finish. Samwise Gamgee, from Tolkein.
You won't need to deter nearly so many if they know that they'll end up in jail, won't get driver's licenses, won't get free health care, won't get a job, and won't get to vote. You won't have to deter so many if they know that they'll still get arrested in DeMoines, or Albequerque, or New York City even if they somehow get past the border.
And I don't mind providing my papers, I live here legally.
You're right, Poohbah, we shouldn't bother. It's too expensive.
And that WWII thingy - that cost a lot of money as well. We should have just let Hitler keep Europe.
Exactly. This isn't about a single line of defense. It's about changing the entire federal, state and local interaction with illegals.
Please explain where you get your figure of $150,000 a year from. Who are you hiring? Ex-congress critters or maybe out of work CEO's.
Getting three hots and a cot might e an incentive. Try again.
won't get driver's licenses, won't get free health care, won't get a job, and won't get to vote.
They don't get driver's licenses now, nor do they get driver's licenses. As for jobs, as long as someone's offering money, and someone's willing to do the work, there will be jobs. And the higher the minimum wage goes, the more cash-under-the-table jobs there will be.
Your complaint is that we mandate that all hospitals offer emergency room treatment to all comers. Well, that provision also covers a lot of Americans, too.
You won't have to deter so many if they know that they'll still get arrested in DeMoines, or Albequerque, or New York City even if they somehow get past the border.
Oh, I see...you're one who favors defense-in-depth.
And I don't mind providing my papers, I live here legally.
Oh, I see; you're a serf already, and you want everyone else to be one, too.
If you want to live in a police state where you must provide ID without any probable cause on the part of the government, there are a great many to choose from; kindly relocate your a$$ to one of those, and leave us to the bsiness of living in a free republic.
I know of one illegal alien whose bill has topped $3 million and it is still going. How many illegals come across the border for "free" dialysis usually costing at least $40 to $50 thousand a year? We know for a fact that these bills are huge as Bush snuck through the Medicare Bill $1 billion for the hospitals on the border.
Question for you. How many more border patrol agents would the $1 billion pay for?
That is the average loaded rate for a federal employee. It includes salary, benefits package, administrative overhead, infrastructure costs (lights in the office, flush toilets, et cetera) and other costs associated with hiring a person.
Salary is actually the smallest part of personnel costs.
Ex-congress critters or maybe out of work CEO's.
Then the loaded rate would be over a million a year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.