Ever lived in a foreign country or two, where you had to go through their immigration process to obtain a visa to voluntarily live and work there? Ever had to go through the same process several times when your visa was about to expire in those countries? Ever been through the extremely arduous LEGAL process to bring a foreigner, your spouse of several years, back to America to live - wondering why it's so difficult as an officer in the US armed forces, and that you have American citizen children together? Ever felt proud when your spouse finally obtained that cherished Green Card, knowing you were playing by the rules in getting it? ..... DTogo
"Yes", to many those questions, DTogo, in regards to my own MOTHER and sister and I was a U.S. Naval officer. { ... Still am, actually: CDR, MC,USNR (ret.) ... } As you will see, I took "playing by the rules" extremely seriously.
I left Cuba as a 6 year old with my divorced father when Castro took over but my maternal grandfather had been aiding the anti-Castro opposition and received a 30 year prison sentence. My mother, as the daughter of somebody convicted of treason, was not allowed to leave Cuba, remarried in Cuba and had my half-sister after I left. In the 1980's, after my grandfather had died, my mother could get a Cuban exit visa. However, Cuba/U.S. politics and no U.S. consular services in Cuba in the mid-1980's (long and complicated politcal mess) required my mother and sister to enter a "Third Country" to apply for her U.S. visa there. It was a Catch-22 because Third Countries required a guarantee that she would get a U.S. visa but no guarantee was possible until she actually applied there.
I was stationed in San Diego and, in my Lieutenant Commander dress blue uniform, went to the Mexican Consulate to plead my case, in fluent Spanish, with the Mexican consular officer, a rather polite lady. A couple of days later, she called me back and told me that is was all arranged but that $3,000 was required for somebody. In short, it was a, ... wink, wink, ... "under the table" deal and not really legal under Mexican law.
I could well afford the $3,000 but I declined since I, a Cuban-born U.S. Naval officer, had more respect for Mexican law than Mexico's own consular officer. (After another year and a half of dead ends, my mother and sister eventual got their visas after I made a direct appeal to President Reagan. The rules were "bent", on my behalf, by order of the White House, and my mother and sister got their visas without having to travel to a "Third Country".)
Yes, I am as "Rule of Law" as you can get. I sacrificed a year and a half of my mother's and sister's life because I respected Mexican law more than the Mexicans did.
However, as discussed in my Posts 55 and 58, the Texas objections to the "Fence in the middle of the Texas desert" that steals the entire Rio Grande riverfront from Texas property owners and gives that riverfront to Mexico have to do with common sense practicalities and not the "Rule of Law".
Not even the Israelis build a Fence in the Negev Desert. The HOSTILE COUNTRY is the Fence.
Perry has been the "Gotcha!" punching bag in these "30 Second Sound Bite" debates and, as I have posted on these threads, Perry was lazy and extremely dumb in not adequately preparing a response as to why 98% of the conservative Texas Legislature supported in-state tuition for 18 year olds that grew up in Texas through no fault of their own. Even the 18 year old son of the most despicable murderer on Texas Death Row has in-state tuition if he grew up in Texas through no fault of his own.
Perry was lazy in not preparing adequately for the debate and very stupid for using the word "heartless" in a response that was directed at everybody else on the stage that had been attacking him all night long and not to people watching on TV.
Perry has apologized for saying that.
Rick Perry apologizes for ‘heartless’ comment on immigration question
Just remember that the "winners" of this game were Romney and Cain, who has been a Romney supporter since 2008 and still is. See my earlier post.
Back in '08 Romney probably was the better choice of three bad choices. The only good thing that came out of McCain '08 was his running mate.