[FITZ]

Bush doesn't want to close the border because it might offend a hispanic ---but now some hispanics complain to democrats that the border is too open.

[templar]

Congress is shortchanging West Texas on money for homeland security needs and is ignoring the potential for terrorism along the U.S.-Mexico border, two top El Paso officials told Democratic House lawmakers Tuesday.

Hmmmm... Wonder why? Oh, well it's the Republicans doing it so it must be OK; the right thing to do. No need to trouble our little minds about it.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The task force, which has no legislative authority, was created by Democrats to push for more federal spending on homeland security and to monitor the White House's efforts on the issue.

If a democrat comes along promising to close the border and enforce immigration laws he might stand a chance of winning nationally. I would never believe he'd actually do it, too many votes crossing that border. The party is more than willing to sacrifice towns like El Paso for the common cause.

[Risa]

>>Bush doesn't want to close the border because it might offend a Hispanic ---but now some Hispanics complain to democrats that the border is too open.<<

Absolutely. The Bush administration DOES NOT want the borders closed. But not because he fears offending a few Hispanics. In response to a powerful coalition of business interests, Bush and the Republicans practice an extreme form of free-trade THEORY, called libertarian economics. He needs a lot of cheap foreign labor if our country is to compete in his radical libertarian world. That's why he won't stop the flow of illegals, and that's why he and Congress continue to import hundreds of thousands of H1-B workers to replace our own citizens.

Bush and Congress know that the American populace is extremely anxious about his open border policy--so he employs a "Visibility Strategy" to give the appearance of control (Clinton did this, too), so we will think they are "doing something." (big spotlights at the border, a triple-layer fence south of San Diego.) They stage friendly media events such as INS raids on meat factories for our benefit. The reasons they do this are self-interest--they want to be re-elected. (see reference below for "visibility strategy.")

Reference: Andreas, Peter (1998) “The Escalation of US Immigration Control in the Post-NAFTA Era,”Political science quarterly 113, 4:591