Posted on 02/26/2006 2:09:29 PM PST by SandRat
At one time, only the staunchest advocates for cracking down on illegal immigration backed the idea of putting National Guard troops along the porous Arizona-Mexico border.
But now the idea that was rejected in the past as being outside the National Guard's responsibilities has the blessings of Arizona's Democratic governor and cleared one half of the Republican-led Legislature.
--- snip ---
(Excerpt) Read more at kvoa.com ...
Border PING
First, how long do you keep the guardsmen deployed? The state has to pay them for all that time, and they probably don't want to be away from their regular employment very long.
Second, what happens if somebody shoots? For the moment the drug gangs and the corrupt cops on one side and the border patrol on the other side are going to great lengths to hold their fire. Once somebody opens up, it's going to get a lot worse. (Everybody ready for that?)
Deploying the guard is really just another politician's chimera.
Employ more regular border guards (answerable to Washington) and build some fences (call Israel for info).
"Critics say.... that stationing troops at the border could hurt the morale of those who may have already served in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Note the sudden concern about troop morale from among a group with a majority of members who've spent the last three years doing everything they possibly could to undermine it.
What if somebody shoots? Do you believe our pourous borders are a political problem, LE problem, or military problem?
Must be an election year.
Yep her State Heiniousness JihadiJanet NapoleonReno is up for election as well as a good chunk of the state reps and senators.
I reckon anything is better than what we have now which, effectively, is nothing. The article speaks about cracking down on businesses who employ Criminal Aliens. IMHO, this should be the first step. Increasing the Border Patrol, etc. can come later. Remove the reason for the Criminal Alien Invasion (jobs) and the number of invaders will most likely drop.
I'd just as soon want Democrats leading a shooting war with Mexico than have a Republican inviting more temporary guest workers. Enough is enough.
"Employ more regular border guards (answerable to Washington) and build some fences (call Israel for info)."
Personally I'd rather the guards be answerable to state/local authorities, so the PC politicians in far off Washington cant sabotage their ability to keep invaders out.
But the fence idea is great. I hope the fence is electrified,and topped with barbed wire, with a moat in front of it.
and if someone shoots..
i remember this scene from Black Hawk Down when a soldier manning the .50 MG on a humvee yells to the Colonel "they're shootin' at us!!!!"
and the Colonel looks at him and says, "Well shoot back."
The Senate is meeting in March to consider the House bill, which called for 700 miles of twin 15 foot steel fence, with sensors. The word is the Senate is not in favor of the fence, and is going to reject it as not workable. That said it worked wonders in Israel. We need to lean heavily on our Senators to put one up, otherwise it is going to be business as usual.
Good news.
And a health and social services problem.
"The Senate is meeting in March to consider the House bill, which called for 700 miles of twin 15 foot steel fence, with sensors. The word is the Senate is not in favor of the fence, and is going to reject it as not workable. That said it worked wonders in Israel. We need to lean heavily on our Senators to put one up, otherwise it is going to be business as usual."
It's always interesting how the House, which more closely represents the people since the districts are much smaller, passes legislation but the more elite (and elitist) senate, which represent the people less, often disagrees.
It's a wonder that even with a republican senate, this sort of bill can't easily pass. What on earth is wrong with these so-called "conservative politicians"?
Even the House bill isnt as strong as it should be.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if the Senate was abolished and the number of Reps in the house multiplied by 4. That would be a lot more representative of the people, IMHO.
Im going to write to my Senators about the House bill not that it will do any good. I have Menendez and Lautenberg :(
regards,
Hill of Tara
You are wrong about the drug smugglers and corrupt LE or Mexican military holding their fire. There are frequent incidents of them shooting over the border at BP and other LE and even on this side of the border. Up to this point, usually those on this side do hold their fire, though there have been several actual shootouts. It is a tense situation and I will be surprised if the NG is not drawn into a shootout. I have been concerned about the tension on the border for years, more so recently, and am not sure what the reaction will be if NG is involved when this powder keg goes off.
The very first step needs to be troops on the border to help control the chaos. Step two needs to start at the same time which is to build a major fence/barrier to slow the flood into this country to a managable level so the troops can go home. Then we need to enforce all immigration laws. Without a fence, nothing else will really work, including troops.
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