[kabar]

He always emphasizes the border, but because he also mentions dealing with those already here ... which we have to do, by the way ... fries the brain cells of the one-issue people here.

Rubbish. To start with, we can start enforcing the laws already on the books. Second, we need to make a concerted effort to gather data on the problem, i.e., the number of illegals and where they are located. We should require schools, hospitals, law enforcement, to gather this data as part of doing business. We can't make good public policy without this information. Third, there should be no sanctuary cities. Finally, enforcement first. Until Bush and his supporters of comprehensive reform can prove that they are serious about enforcement and securing our borders, nothing else should be done.

[spectre]

"The American people have no earthly idea what's going on down here"..

Ya got that right, George!

sw

[rottndog]

I came up with this a couple of years ago:

rottndog's 10 Simple solutions to the crisis of illegal immigration:

1. Immediately allocate funding for as many border patrol agents as necessary to effectively secure the borders. This would include the use of military forces, as defending the country against invasion is supposed to be the primary function of the Federal Government.

2. Immediately allocate funding for a modern and effective border fence.

3. Cut off all federal funds to any state, county, and/or city that has an expressed (or even unexpressed) sanctuary policy, including police noncooperation policies such as LAPD's special order number 40.

4. Immediately sue in federal court all aforementioned entities to overturn these patently unconstitutional policies (enforce the supremacy clause).

5. Cut off all federal funds to any state, county, and/or city that refuses to verify eligibility requirements for the dispensing of federally funded or subsidized public services.

6. Start prosecuting repeat illegal border crossers and put them in prison. It is a felony to recross the border after deportation. Give them a warning after the first offense, but after that, off to jail. Maybe have longer sentences for multiple offenses (I like Three Strikes).

7. End the "anchor baby" citizenship loophole. This can be done simply by federal statute.

8. Establish and implement a system of instant electronic checking of residency status for the purpose of employment. They have instant checking for firearms purchasing, why not for employment eligibility verification?

9. Fund random inspections of businesses by ICE officials to verify employment eligibility (legal residency). Include in this a task force to immediately respond to the use of bogus employee social security numbers.

10. Arrest and prosecute employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. After instant checks are established, there will be no excuses.

Some of these things could be done under current law--in other words, much of the problem would go away if our current laws already on the books were ENFORCED!


Notice the main theme is law ENFORCEMENT. The reason I am so critical of Bush is because law ENFORCEMENT is his job at the federal level, and when it comes to U.S. Border Sovereignty and Immigration Laws, Bush is not ENFORCING existing laws. Why should I believe he is serious about ENFORCING new laws, when he won't ENFORCE existing laws already on the books?

[ichabod1]

We need to plug the border before making a new guest worker program so we don’t creat another giant sucking sound of mexicans flooding in to take advantage of l’amnestia. The obvious compromise is to have a bill that both enforces the border and creates a new GW program, but I don’t think many of us really believe they would enforce it, that’s why we insist on enforcement first.