Posted on 06/14/2006 6:51:01 AM PDT by conservativecorner
With lawmakers from the House and Senate yet to reconcile their competing immigration bills and President Bush still touting a temporary worker program, some rank-and-file defenders of the border are lambasting the notion that deporting illegal aliens is impractical.
Moreover, they view this solution as a betrayal to those who have risked their lives patrolling the borders.
The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) union represents the U.S. Border Patrol's 10,000 non-supervisory agents. The largest local of the NBPC is Local 2544, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona - a busy sector accounting for more than half of the 1.15 million illegal aliens apprehended last year by the Border Patrol.
Local 2544 members serve on the front lines, and they are hopping mad with the administration and with some lawmakers in particular.
Mike Albon, Local 2544's public information officer, told NewsMax, "All the comments on our Web site are the opinions of the Local and can be taken as the Union's point of view."
To say the least, the Senate bill's gradual amnesty program for many who have crossed the border illegally is unpopular with Local 2544:
"We strongly oppose any attempts to reward illegal alien lawbreakers. We have risked our lives to keep them out of this country. The slick politicians can call it ‘guest-worker' or ‘earned legalization' all they want, but it's amnesty."
‘Amnesty John' McCain
Particular union vitriol is reserved for the man they call "Amnesty John," who voted for the Senate bill. "Amnesty John" is the union's handle for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"Senator McCain has never been a friend to rank-and-file Border Patrol agents," says the union. "He routinely ignores correspondence from Border Patrol agents and often gives the impression that he is just too big and too important to deal with us. He attempts to undermine our mission at every turn and actively supports the criminals who violate our laws. He always tries to downplay the fact that illegal aliens knowingly and willingly violate our laws."
According to Albon, the root of the rank-and-file frustration is that McCain and others who want a road to citizenship for some of those already unlawfully in the country are at best unrealistic when it comes to the paperwork burden of proving who was where and when: "Your government is nowhere near being capable of handling all those claims.
"They will buckle at the slightest hint of pressure from any activist/social services group. They will issue waivers like candy to any illegal alien who says he or she can't afford the 'fines' levied by the government. They will accept one fraudulent document after another. The entire thing will be mass chaos."
The union fears a reprise of what they say occurred under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of Nov. 6, 1986. Under that act, say union officials, many who had just entered the United States falsely claimed they had entered years before so they could qualify for amnesty.
Case-in-point: a large group was tracked down and apprehended on the Tohono O'Odham Indian reservation about 10 miles from the border. Two of them had freshly minted "amnesty" cards. The cardholders claimed they had entered years before and were just visiting the rest of the group:
"We were told that if we wanted to prove their claims false we would have to ‘back track' them all the way to the south side of the border to prove they were in Mexico. It was logistically impossible to do this under the circumstances."
As to the argument of Sen. McCain to simply say to those "undocumented workers, who are working the jobs that the rest of us refuse, come out from the shadows," the union is adamant:
"Senator, they put themselves in those ‘shadows' by breaking our laws and they need to go home. They weren't forcibly placed in the ‘shadows' by some murdering tyrant from the Middle East. They freely chose to break our laws, steal our jobs, and take advantage of our wobbly-kneed politicians who let them do it. Instead of using all that energy to fix their own corrupt country, they sneak into ours and then demand that we change our system to fit their crimes. It's pretty simple stuff . . ."
The Union's Solution
The local has a simple solution to the border crisis: Shut the border down to illegal crossings, and then start hammering the greedy employers who hire them:
"Start deporting, we repeat, deporting, the illegal aliens who are here in violation of law. It may take years, but you don't build a house overnight."
As to criminalizing the illegals – one of the great sticking points in the immigration reform debate – the union does not understand what all that fuss is about. They explain that it is already a federal crime to enter the country without inspection – specifically under title eight of the U.S. Code, section 1325.
Under that current law, a first offense is punishable by a fine and up to six months in jail, a second offense is punishable by a fine and up to two years in jail.
Says the union: "Many media outlets are incorrectly reporting that it is only a ‘civil offense.' No, it's just that we can't persuade the U.S. attorney's office to prosecute anyone for 8 USC 1325 – unless they're also an axe murderer, so they are charged with the ‘civil offense' and sent home."
The National Guard at the Border
The union says that it abhors the fact that President Bush has gone out of his way to assure Mexican President Vincente Fox that the United States. will not "militarize" the border:
"Fox has already ‘militarized' the border. Mexico has plenty of troops on the border. We know this because we see them all the time and they shoot at us with rather large .50 caliber rifles. All we can do is hope their aim is bad, run from them, and then watch as the cowards from our government hide from the issue, and their government lies about them even being there."
Albon points out that Local 2544 had not been consulted regarding the deployment of National Guard troops in the Tucson sector. "We were told we would be consulted. We weren't."
Local 2544 is also quick to point out that it and its membership has absolutely no complicity or involvement in reported management directives to report the location of the Minutemen volunteers to the Mexican government:
"Our position on the Mexican government and the Mexican military is very clear. They are corrupt; their soldiers shoot at us; they smuggle drugs; they help illegal aliens invade this country by the millions; they are not to be trusted, and they should have zero input into the internal policies of the United States of America."
Albon reports that union leadership has received a lot of e-mail on this issue:
"It's been a standing joke for years that we should ‘check with the Mexican Consulate' to see if they approve before we do anything. Their influence on our politicians and upper managers is absolutely disgraceful."
Meanwhile, Arizona's Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano has just vetoed a Republican immigration package that would have allowed local police to arrest illegal immigrants for trespassing.
This did not sit well with the union:
"Napolitano is like many other tough-talking politicians. She talks about ‘illegal immigration' and ‘out-of-control borders' a lot – and that's about it. If she was half as hard on illegal aliens as she was on Border Patrol agents when she was the U.S. attorney for Arizona, we would be a lot better off."
Looking to the Future
The union is very cynical of the future:
"While Bush is in office nothing will get done. That much is obvious after six years. And the current crop of prospective presidents who are posturing for a run in 2008, including our wonderful in-state non-supporter, ‘Amnesty John' McCain, will probably be worse. That should take us through 2012, when we'll be hearing the same old tired ‘get tough' political posturing over ‘securing our borders' all over again. Does anybody really think Hillary Clinton is going to be a tough, enforcement-minded leader on illegal immigration if she gets elected? Get real folks . . ."
Related to the article. From Polipundit this AM:
Hastert Uses Sunshine to Kill Mold, Mildew and Immigration Bills
The media is calling it, “Hastert Deals Blow to Immigration Bill.” To myself, it looks like Speaker Hastert is going to use sunshine to kill the mold, excuse me kill “the bill.”
Hastert said hearings on the Senate bill should be held before appointing anyone to a House-Senate committee to negotiate a compromise immigration bill. Later, he said he was unsure what the House’s next move would be.
“We’re going to take a long look at it,” Hastert said late Tuesday.
Ahem…."take a long look” is Washington code for lets bury this thing.
Remember that John McCain was in a hurry to get this abomination all wrapped up and to the House before Memorial Day. Why? Because he clearly understood that too much “sunshine” would have a harmful effect on his creation.
John McCain and Teddy Kennedy just love to have hearings. Especially, when they are open to the Press. It will be priceless to now listen to McCain and Kennedy, two men that are normally in love with hearings, to now talk about rushing things. Speaker Hastert, please make sure the hearings are all in public.
House Majority Leader John Boehner made a very reasonable statement, in fact it was a statement that should be considered very reasonable;
I think we should know clearly what’s in the Senate bill.
I wonder what Lindsey Grahem would have to say about the House wanting to know “clearly what’s in the Senate bill?”
Looks like this will look real good for members of the House, who will nit pick this to death, and show what a good job they are doing, and it will look very bad for Republican Senators, up for election, that supported this.
I would now suspect that that Minority of the Majority that supported this thing will try to kill the bill so hearings do not occur.
-- Oak Leaf
This bill is dead Jim
"While Bush is in office nothing will get done. That much is obvious after six years. And the current crop of prospective presidents who are posturing for a run in 2008, including our wonderful in-state non-supporter, ‘Amnesty John' McCain, will probably be worse. That should take us through 2012, when we'll be hearing the same old tired ‘get tough' political posturing over ‘securing our borders' all over again. Does anybody really think Hillary Clinton is going to be a tough, enforcement-minded leader on illegal immigration if she gets elected? Get real folks . . ."
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This says it all, but these good folks should be mad at the ENTIRE SENATE as well. Yes, Bush, as President should be insisting on closed borders for many reasons, but we all know that will NEVER happen given his lofty one-America and globalist agenda. And McCain is just another pandering chameleon looking for support and votes from anyone or anything, just like the rest of the libs (McCain is no conservative, like Bush) ---- they should express their ire to the entire Senate. It is encouraging to see them standing up on this horrible situation which Washington has created over the years. And needless to say, we know Hitlery would not touch an illegal or close the borders either -- afterall these are critical LIBERAL votes we a talking about!!!
List of senators up for reelection in 2006 and voting Yea on Senate S.2611 (20):
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Chafee (R-RI)
DeWine (R-OH)
Frist (R-TN)
Lugar (R-IN)
Snowe (R-ME)
ping
Excellent article! And this is one of the few times I've ever sided with a union.
Finally! A union I can agree with!
They're angry with McCain? Join the bandwagon.
MEGA BUMP! Great points.
I think this passage of the article really hits home.
Yes you are entirely correct that President Bush has demonstrated for six years his refusal to enforce our democratically enacted laws against illegal immigration. In doing this, he is violating his oath of office and repudiating every principle of republican self-governance. There is a constitutional remedy, however, which would in all probability induce the President to uphold his duties and that remedy rests with Congress and the people.
It is really about whether the people of this country care enough about their right to govern themselves to insist that their Congressional representatives hold the executive branch to account on this issue. The ultimate constitutional remedy of course is impeachment and if members of the House took any serious step that might lead toward impeachment on this issue -- like hearings on the President's deliberate failure to enforce our immigration laws -- then I believe even George Bush would see the light.
This is not a partisan issue because President Bush's refusal to bow to the legislative authority of the people as expressed through our democratically enacted laws is a direct challenge to our constitutional regime. It is the substitution of the will of a ruling elite for the will of the people and that is what our founders called "arbitrary" government or a tyranny. In the end, it is really up to us to demand that our elected officials respect and defend our republican system of government.
ping
People forget Bush is a Moderate.
Moderates are part Republican/Conservative in policies and part Democratci/Liberal in policies.
That the Dem/Lib's vent so much hate speech vs Bush, a moderate, really says something bad about the Dem/Libs.
It is the substitution of the will of a ruling elite for the will of the people and that is what our founders called "arbitrary" government or a tyranny.
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And it is done with impunity, no remorse, and in total arrogance.
Says the union: "Many media outlets are incorrectly reporting that it is only a ‘civil offense.' No, it's just that we can't persuade the U.S. attorney's office to prosecute anyone for 8 USC 1325 – unless they're also an axe murderer, so they are charged with the ‘civil offense' and sent home."
Hmmmmm........Looks like gov't not only practices *selective* enforcement of our laws, it would seem they're already handing out THOUSANDS of AMNESTIES per day.
So a Predator can't see the slum city in the middle of the desert? This is why their [Administration and Congress]excuses are ludicrous.
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