Posted on 05/17/2007 9:26:31 PM PDT by pissant
Romney is a moderate Republican like Bush. He IS the “status quo”.
Fact is, Thompson said nothing about ICE or "interior enforcement." He only mentioned the border patrol. That's consistent with his other statements in which he says he wants the fence and he wants to stop further entry. It's also consistent with his stated view that removing those who are already here is "unrealistic."
No doubt you mean that I sought to suppress the fact that Thompson wants stronger border enforcement against newly entering illegals?
It would be kind of late in the game for me to embark on that sort of "disinformation" project, since I've always allowed that Thompson's statements on border enforcement are strong. I've conceded that on this and many other immigration threads.
My point on this thread is that Thompson is weak on the continuing problem of the illegals who are already here. I was not addressing his laudable support of border enforcement, I was addressing this other issue and that's why I quoted on that part of the quote.
Who doesn't already know that Thompson wants to beef up the border against further incursion?
Here is the first source I found. This was a huge flap in Southern CA a couple years ago.
http://www.michellemalkin.com/archives/000165.htm
Dale Franks at QandO has a great summary and analysis of the Homeland Security Undersecretary’s appearance yesterday on KFI-AM’s John and Ken show in Los Angeles. These guys are doing what the Los Angeles Times editorial page ought to be doing: holding government officials accountable when they make pander-driven decisions that jeopardize public safety and encouraging citizens to get involved. (Guess the Times is too busy spreading disinformation and issuing non-apology apologies to pay attention to anything that actually matters to Californians.) KFI listeners have apparently burned up DHS phone lines and forced the bureaucracy to respond to questions about the department’s lack of support for southern California Border Patrol illegal alien sweeps. In an interview yesterday, John Kobylt pressed Hutchinson hard on why DHS has retreated on interior enforcement. Hutchinson squirmed.
Dale reports:
A month ago, immigration activist groups like La Raza (The Race. How’s that for a nice inoffensive name?) were howling in uproar because the 12 Border Patrol officers of the Temecula office were conducting sweeps in Temecula, Escondido, and Corona, all of which are cities located in Riverside and northern San Diego counties.
Complaints about these sweeps aroused the ire of not only the activists, but the Mexican government, whose LA consulate expressed its displeasure in no uncertain terms. Members of Congress also got involved, berating Homeland Security for the sweeps as well.
About a week after the complaints, spokesmen for the Border Patrol said that Asa Hutchinson the undersecretary responsible for the BP, ordered them to stop the sweeps. So, John got an interview with Hutchinson, which aired live this afternoon in the 4:00 hour.
John, who is not a tactful guy, bluntly asked Hutchinson why he ordered the patrols stopped. Hutchinson began droning on about the need for coordination, and about how many illegals (16,000 per week, according to Hutchinson) were being stopped from coming into the country in Arizona.
John cut him off and began demanding to know how many illegals were being rounded up in California. Hutchinson didn’t know. John then began grilling him about how many employers had been indicted in Southern California for hiring illegals. Hutchinson said he didn’t know. (John did. The answer: 0) John asked if interior enforcement sweeps would begin again. Hutchinson said he couldn’t give away specifics about planned operations, for, you know security reasons.
John then pointed out that, if we were unable to stop economic refugees from pouring across the border, how could we possibly stop al-Qaida? Hutchinson said that, yep, that was a pretty important question. You betcha. John asked how Hutchinson planned to react when, after the next 911, we learn that the terrorists came through the Mexican border in California. Hutchinson said that it was really important to stop them.
At the end of the interview, John kept demanding a yes or no answer to the following question: “Can I tell my listeners that Asa Hutchinson assured me that the interior sweeps by the border patrol would begin again?” Hutchinson refused to answer.
******
In my opinion, Fred meant to say both the border patrol and ICE. I would probably refer to the border patrol only if I were in a rushed situation such as an interview. I suggest you wait and see what he says after he is free to announce. He is somewhat constrained in what he can say now, because he could easily trigger the Equal Time Rule by being too
explicit.
And thanks for the link and the information. Your posts are always great.
But I can only comment on what I've seen and heard so far, and it's not impressive.
I did a couple FR keyword searches, first under "ICE" and then under "border patrol."
ICE raids were conducted all over the country, not just in areas within close striking distance of the borders. Their raids also seemed to be much more numerous than similar raids undertaken by border patrol.
For now, I'm going to go by what Thompson actually says, even though I might wish he said something else or something more.
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