The Border Patrol and the state or local police officers in a border area will likely "get the message" that the convictions are supposed to send - no aggressive pursuit of illegals or drug smugglers. The net effect will be to turn the border into a modern day version of 1920s Chicago or a north of the border version of Mexico. The gangsters will rule openly, and their hit men will be the law enforcers from Brownsville to San Diego. In due time, Anglos and assimilated Mexican-Americans will move northward to escape the narco-gangsters. Perhaps even the U.S. Armed Forces will abandon long standing bases like Fort Bliss and Fort Huachuca.
I do not know if this is the intent of President Bush and Attorney General Gonzales. But it will happen if the Border Patrol and local and state police are neutralized.
You are describing what is taking place in Los Angeles right now.
My own Mother is buried at Ft. Huachuca and my father will be laid to rest there when he's called home. I've often worried about the base being abandoned.
I don't know what is going on in Bush's mind when it comes to assimilating all of Mexico, but it doesn't appear normal to me.
sw