Posted on 01/23/2003 10:51:06 PM PST by Sabertooth
Even Gore wouldn't have been evil enough to spit in the U.S. Taxpayer's faces like this.
Bush and the Republican National Committee can go to blazes.
Actually, the Roman Empire wasn't too keen on defending its borders at a certain point in its history either. Of course, the Roman Empire fell shortly after that policy indecision was made.
Me, too. Whenever he's on FOX, I hit the remote for QVC or Home Shopping Network. Bush is a traitor who should be jailed for committing treason in this country and putting Mexico's and illegals' interests before his own citizens he swore to defend. Bush is no better than Clinton -- the only difference is that he keeps his zipper up.
What makes it worse is that he prides himself as a God-fearing Christian, who "reads the Bible every night" and considers "Jesus as my role model." Despite all the pain and suffering happening in this country due to his refusal to protect our borders (including our taxes spinning out of control due to all the social services the illegals are sucking up), he only encourages it more because "those folks just want to do the work Americans won't." I only hope for this: Every time a law-abiding innocent American suffers a crime at the hand of an illegal, or has his livelihood stolen from one, I hope Bush answers for it on Judgement Day. Any man who cares more about feeding a stranger than his own hungry child is a worthless, corrupt POS.
Oh, by the way, I was initially a big supporter of his and cheered his election victory. What a betrayal.
Unfortunately, the change to Homeland Security appears to be offering little in the way of substance when it comes to border security. I am hoping the administration will rectify this through follow up reorganization.
Here is some history and current DHS info:
The United States Border Patrol currently serves as the uniformed law enforcement arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Under the recently established Homeland Security Department, the US Border Patrol will be part of the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security. The US Border Patrol will not function as an independent organization but rather will be subordinate to the Bureau of Border Security, made up of remnants of the former INS including its managers.
The United States Border is the primary interdiction agency between the ports of entry. As such, its operations have been designed to prevent the entry of persons or contraband at other than designated ports of entry and to arrest those who attempt to circumvent the law.
As the policy direction of the INS changed over the years, the Border Patrol simply adjusted to whatever new objective the agency was attempting to achieve. This resulted in "on again off again" initiatives, enforcement and non-enforcement of various statutes which directly effected Border Patrol operations. The policy direction of the INS was often seen by Border Patrol employees as "confusing", as it frequently conflicted with the mission of the Border Patrol as an organization.
The Border Patrols Mission Statement:
The mission of the United States Border Patrol is to secure and protect the external boundaries of the United States to prevent, detect, apprehend, and interdict illegal aliens, smugglers, contraband, and violators of other laws.
As currently outlined in the Homeland Security Bill, the Bureau of Border Enforcement will be comprised of various components of the former INS. They include the following programs, Investigations, Inspections, Detention and Removal, Intelligence and the Border Patrol.
The Bureau of Border Enforcement will start out as a massive agency with a myriad of critical responsibilities. It will be responsible for regulating the entry of aliens, apprehending undocumented and out of status aliens in the interior, enforcing employer sanctions, investigating and prosecuting fraud and detaining and removing immigration violators and securing this Nation's borders.
Whether developing or deploying camera systems, mapping software, interoperable communications or developing training and tactics, the priorities of the Border Patrol and that of the Bureau of Border Security will be by their very nature divergent. The issues important to the Border Patrol are singular with little or no crossover to other Bureau programs and will likely serve as a distraction from the Bureau's critical immigration related mission. As the Border Patrol will have a subordinate role in the Bureau, it is clear that border security will remain just one of many priorities to be balanced against other issues of the day.
As was so graphically illustrated on September 11th, border security can no longer be relegated or regarded as just another program. Clear lines of command and control, responsibility and accountability must be established. Those in leadership roles must have defined missions and a vision for the future of national security. Including the Border Patrol and its mission in the Bureau of Border Security fails that test.
Since INS's overall mission was not "singularly" to secure the borders there was little accountably for failure. There was no one manager in the INS who was solely responsible for border security but rather a long list of bureaucrats with fancy titles like Executive Associate Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, Regional Directors, the list goes on and on.
The U.S. Border Patrol's mission is to secure more than eight thousand miles of external boundary of the United States against all border violators, regardless of their immigration status. No other federal agency shares this responsibility. Arguably no other federal agency has such a tremendous challenge or obligation to the safety of the American public.
Additionally, given the magnitude and consequences of failure of this critical component of national security, it is imperative that the U.S. Border Patrol become a separate agency and not a subordinate of the Bureau of Border Security.
The U.S. Border Patrol's mission is direct, unambiguous and critically important to overall national security. The Border Patrol's mission represents the most fundamental of all federal responsibilities. The Border Patrol must be given the leadership and authority commensurate with their mission.
Back when the US Border Patrol was originally attached to the INS it was in fact relatively small with well under 2,000 agents. That is no longer remotely the case. Currently the Border Patrol has an authorized workforce of approximately 10,000 agents. Every indication from capital hill is that this number is totally inadequate with several congressmen calling for the doubling of the workforce to 20,000. It remains to be seen what the final number will be, but all indications are that the US Border Patrol will continue to expand for several years to come.
In looking at some other independent federal agencies we see that size is not necessarily relevant.
FBI, approximately 12,000 agents
DEA, approximately 5,300 agents
US Secret Service, approximately 3,500 agents
ATF, approximately 2,100 agents
An independent US Border Patrol will not be relatively small. Actually it will automatically be the of the largest law enforcement agency in the federal government. It already is the largest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the nation.
Unfortunately, under the current organizational structure the Chief of the Border Patrol will not answer directly to the Director of DHS as Secret Service and the Coast Guard will. Nor will he answer directly to the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security as will the US Customs Director. He must answer to the Director of the Bureau of Border Security. This Effectively relegates one of the largest and most important federal law enforcement agencies to the lowest possible box on the DHS organization chart.
A simple check of the proposed organization structure of DHS located at www.DHS.GOV/employees/NextSteps/orgchart.cfm confirms the US Border Patrol did not even rate it's own organizational box. This does not demonstrate well the seriousness with which we must focus on border security.
Thursday, January 23, 2003 9:47 AM
illegal aliens. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
I am strongly opposed to granting blanket amnesty to illegal
immigrants living in the United States. As we learned from the 1986
amnesty, the "Immigration Act of 1985," such amnesty does not end our
illegal immigration problem. Rather, it actually precipitates even more
illegal immigration. Individuals are encouraged in the belief that if
they can elude the Border Patrol and stay underground for a few years,
they will eventually get amnesty themselves. A large-scale amnesty would
lead to further violations of U.S. law instead of encouraging and
rewarding legal immigration.
As you know, the Bush administration is considering several proposals
as part of a joint effort between the U.S. and Mexico to solve chronic
problems along the border. They include the possibility of more U.S.
visas for Mexican citizens and more and better cooperation along the
U.S.-Mexico border to reduce crossings at dangerous, isolated areas. The
plan would also explore more joint investments to create jobs in Mexico
and the development of a guest worker program to allow Mexicans to
temporarily live and work in the United States, and return to Mexico upon
completion of their work.
While I do not believe in granting amnesty to illegal aliens, I do
support legal immigration through such programs as the guest worker
compromise. The farming, agriculture and nursery industries in Arizona
are a vital part of the states economy. A great deal of the labor for
this industry is supplied by immigrant workers. The truth is that if
immigrants do not hold these positions, the agriculture industry will
suffer. Therefore, I believe a compromise between our two countries will
offer a solution to allow seasonal immigrant workers an opportunity to
legally fill the positions in Arizona and across the country.
Once again, thank you for sharing your concerns. I look forward to
hearing about issues of importance to you in the future. In the meantime,
I encourage you to visit my web site at
Done!
FYI
Should U.S. citizens be organizing themselves to monitor immigration at the Mexican border? |
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.