Posted on 07/01/2005 10:42:29 AM PDT by Spiff
Guest Opinion: Enforcement, not reform, of immigration laws needed
RANDY GRAF
Tucson Citizen
The Tucson Citizen published a June 6 opinion piece on border policy by U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe. The irony is so thick, one could cut it with a knife. Mr. Kolbe declared, "We don't need a Band-Aid; we need major surgery." What he failed to tell readers is that he has been prescribing the small bandages all these years. Frankly, we need a new doctor.
I have read the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005, as espoused by Mr. Kolbe and U.S. Sens. John McCain and Edward Kennedy.
Nothing in the bill will satisfy the more than 80 percent of Americans who want illegal immigration stopped.
Congress already has laws that allow everything in this bill; they simply need the will to enforce these laws. Congress can appropriate more resources to secure the border, and there already are fines for lawbreakers.
We have 78 visas on the books. Why do we need two more? A plan that doubles immigration quotas because Congress lacks the political will to enforce its laws is not a plan. It's a cop-out!
Compare Mr. Kolbe's rhetoric with the facts.
He calls for more resources. He doesn't tell you Congress has not appropriated enough dollars to hire and train Border Patrol agents any faster than agents are lost through attrition.
He calls for "hefty fines and penalties." He doesn't note that more than 450,000 illegal immigrants were in custody, released and never showed up for their deportation hearings. In addition, 65,000 of these had committed crimes beyond their illegal entry into our country. I hope they are not in your neighborhood tonight.
He calls for a "crackdown on employers." We already have employers in Tucson who publicly admit they hire illegal immigrants, yet the federal government does nothing.
He calls for "Mexico to cooperate" but fails to mention that the Mexican government has in custody an individual who killed a Denver police officer. Their policy does not allow extradition if the felon could be sentenced to death or to life without parole. I'm afraid Mexico is not our friend on this one.
He calls his guest worker program a solution. He does not tell you we already have a temporary worker visa, the H-2B. It is not as generous his H-5A ("Permanent Guest to Citizenship") or the "earned adjustment" of his H-5B amnesty visa.
Americans want the border secured. After 9/11, Congress should have immediately and permanently made this a priority.
Here we are, four years after the attack on our nation, and the congressman from this border district has done nothing but micromanage the Border Patrol and support an amnesty proposal with a few cameras and sensors thrown in.
He is prescribing the 1986 amnesty plan all over again and expecting a different outcome.
While Arizona has been front and center in bringing this issue to a national debate, Mr. Kolbe has shown how out of touch he is with his constituents.
Last November, we passed Proposition 200. And in April, the Minuteman Project fostered proof that with the right resources, the border can be secured. I was proud to be a senior adviser on Prop. 200 and to support the Minuteman Project. Kolbe publicly opposed Prop. 200 and did not so much as thank the brave and patriotic Americans who sat the line in his district to protect this country. We sent a powerful message to our civic leaders that ours remains a government of the people.
My position has remained constant. I embrace original thinking to resolve the illegal immigration crisis. One solution is to deploy the military to protect our borders.
A few weeks ago, the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus published a report that validated my ideas almost verbatim. I shared those ideas with voters during the past election, and I stand by them today.
The report said such a deployment would "dramatically reduce if not virtually eliminate illegal immigration."
We can crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants by putting more agents into interior enforcement.
We need to make sure that the 600,000 local and state law enforcement officers in this country are involved in interior enforcement. Deport illegal immigrants as they come into custody, and make sure we have the detention facilities and justice system to handle them expeditiously.
Simply put, enforce the laws we have on the books and use all means at our disposal to do so.
Many of us still have a deep reverence for the rule of law and a desire to protect our liberties and way of life. This is the kind of thinking and willpower I support and will continue to cultivate should I be privileged to represent the people of Arizona's 8th Congressional District.
Randy Graf is a Republican candidate in Arizona's 8th Congressional District for the seat currently held by Rep. Jim Kolbe, also a Republican.
Randy Graf's website can be visited by browsing to www.votegraf.com.
ping
Just like gun laws. This selective enforcement is really ticking me off. The Border Patrol has been instructed to not detain illegals because it might make the Minutemen look good. I say the Border Patrol sucks.
Great words from a man who has taken the pulse of his constituents. What makes it better, is that he believes what he's saying. He definitely has my vote in next year's Primary.
Spiff, he may be coming down to speak to us next month, on the 13th, at the FNRA banquet.
Randy Graf ping
I say the top dog who gives the order for the Border Patrol to stand down sucks, and the BP agents probably agree.
This country cannot not aford billion dollar budgts to support another countries citizens. Never understood why it takes 30 - 90 days to deport an illegal alien. Should be able to do it within a few hours of being detained. The only reason I can think of is the lack of will of law enforcement and the courts.
If the problem is case backlog then hire more judges and staff to get the job done. Actually I can't understand why we need the judges, deport them as soon as they are picked up.
Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice. . . .
Try enforcing our immigration laws.. it'd be good practice then pass new laws when you get the hang of it. Look up the meaning of a Nation of Laws.
This columnist is exactly right- we don't need a new guest worker, amnesty or any other type of program FOR illegal aliens.
We need to protect our border and enforce the employer penalties that Congress passed way back in 1986 as the "stick" in the massive amnesty provision passed then.
Fortunately, it sounds like Delay gets this message- he told Bush that we need to start enforcing the border before moving on any time of guest worker plan.
But reform of immigration laws IS needed. As starters:
1) a baby should not become a U.S. citizen merely because it is born on U.S. soil; and
2) LEGAL immigration needs to be severely curtailed. Instead of letting in uneducated and ill-trained people whose only prospect is to go on the dole, we should allow in only very limited numbers of highly intelligent, well-trained, and educated people.
Otherwise, we will become a third-world nation.
NO REFORM. THAT IS NOT WHAT WE WANT. THEY WILL OPEN THE FLOOD GATES.
WE WANT PRESENT IMMIGRATION LAWS ENFORCED.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/ga09_norwood/MinutemanReport.html
All feathering their nests hoping like Jesse Jackson to be given a position of honor in Bush's New World Order.
That Kolbe guy sucks. In his particular case that happens to be true in more ways than one. Does pointing that out make me automatically guilty of a "hate crime"?. Maybe I should say something about biting pillows, too.
What is wrong with the Arizonans who keep reelecting this unethical and morally reprehensible individual? Come back, Wyatt - there's a Red Sash Ganger sashaying over the common people's interests.
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