In this latest roundup of issues and stories regarding the US border we find numerous items. Al-Qaeda is looking at the southern border as the way in, officials are not doing their jobs, the
border czar takes a "sensitive" approach to lawbreakers and scared residents up and down the border are fearing for their safety as criminals traipse through their backyard in large groups.
So, put the coffee on, sit back and have a good read on how we're enforcing our laws, securing our borders and handling threats against our country from terrorists.
1
From
Immigration Daily we have these comments from Dick Cheney at a town hall meeting in Iowa.
Q Illegal immigration, border safety and the President's amnesty policy, if the government doesn't come down hard on the people who are employing the illegal immigrants, and what is to prevent them, or what is the disincentive for them coming here?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we've tightened up significantly on the borders since 9/11. We've had to. We've significantly beefed up our border security and so forth. But it continues to be a problem. Part of the difficulty that we're faced with, and one of the things that the President talked about with respect to the immigration policy is that we've got so many people coming across illegally -- primarily for economic reasons, that want to come to work in the United States. But we have no idea who is here.
We have no idea what they do once they get here. We have no idea how long they're going to stay, and that there was a need to try to regularize this process. And what he has suggested is that we ought to consider the possibility of having what, in effect, would be a guest worker program so we'd know who was coming in, and that once here, then, they'd stay for a specific period of time. And they they'd have to go back home once their period of time was ended. They could not become citizens. But we would have track of who, in fact, was in the country. That's been proposed. Now, it's just an idea, a concept.
It hasn't gone anyplace legislatively at this point. And the problem we're faced with is that we need to find ways going forward to make sure we do, in fact, have knowledge of who is in the country and whether or not they've stayed, and how long they've stayed and what they're doing while they're here. And at present that's a very hard thing to do because of the enormous flow of people we've got back and forth. We've improved our system with respect to those that come in legally by visas and so forth. But we still don't have as good a grip as we need on all of those who come into the United States illegally, stay for a period of time, and then go back home.
And we need to do a better job than we are to make certain we screen out terrorists to the maximum extent possible. So it's an attempt to try to address that problem. It's not clear yet exactly how it ultimately gets sorted out or gets resolved. But that's at the heart of what is being talked about here.
Well Mr. Cheney, you can't do a damn thing until the border patrol not only gets its requirements met and is expanded to a size capable enough to actually enforce the laws in place. Currently there are politicians out there who refuse to enforce these laws strictly for political and personal reasons. Until the country's safety is put before individuals personal gains this issue will not be resolved.
Hat tip: Lonewacko
2
The next article is from
Terence Jeffrey who comments on the Republicans inaction and inattention to border control.
... the delegates to the Republican National Convention convened in the city that suffered the greatest loss of life on that infamous day, and approved platform language on the Border Patrol that is difficult to take seriously.
Says the platform: "We must strengthen our Border Patrol to stop illegal crossings, and we will equip the Border Patrol with the tools, technologies, structures and sufficient force necessary to secure the border."
In August, the AP said, "the U.S. embassy in Juarez, Mexico, put out a media alert that suspected terrorist Adnan G. El Shukrijumah might try to cross into Arizona or Texas." ... "Shukrijumah, who remains a fugitive, has been identified by the FBI as the apparent mastermind of an al Qaeda plot to launch a mass-casualty attack in the United States,".
If the bulletin the State Department put out last month in Mexico about Adnan Shukrijumah is correct, al Qaeda may have come to the same conclusion as many economically driven illegal immigrants: The U.S. is still not serious about securing its southern border.
There's more in the article, mainly on the numbers of detained individuals increasing over the past couple years. Jeffrey concludes it is not because of the increased number of Border Patrol agents, from 9,100 in 2001 to 9,900 in this fiscal year, but the incentive for jumping the border has increased due to the impression of amnesty coming down the road.
Hat tip: Lonewacko
3
Next is an interview in the
Washington Times with Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson AKA "the nation's border czar" as they introduce him in the article.
The nation's border czar yesterday said it is "not realistic" to think that law-enforcement authorities can arrest or deport the millions of illegal aliens now in the United States and does not think the American public has the "will ... to uproot" those aliens.
Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson also said taxpayers "might be afraid" to learn how much it would take in manpower and resources to control the nation's borders and described as "probably accurate" a statement that no law-enforcement officials are looking for the vast majority of the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the country.
...
Most Americans adamantly oppose increasing the amount of legal immigration to the United States and legalizing those immigrants here illegally. On no other foreign-policy issue do average Americans disagree more with government and business leaders and other "elites" than on immigration.
But Mr. Hutchinson, a former Republican congressman from Arkansas, said although there is "strong support" nationwide for the enforcement of immigration laws and the public expects it to be accomplished, "they expect us to do it in a way consistent with our values."
OK this guy is a fucking jackass. The American people have spoken. They've told you to do your damn job Mr. Hutchinson! They want our borders secure, law breakers taken care of and no incentives given to remain here. They want deterrence.
Border czar my ass, we should re-title him
Greeter as in a Wal-Mart greeter, except for our country.
Somebody please tell me how to get this asshat thrown out of Washington. A border czar or Homeland Security Undersecretary should be hard nosed and be attempting to crack down on potential terrorists, criminals and lawbreakers, not playing some bullshit "touchy feely" game of sensitivity.
Yeah, this guy is a real leader. We might be afraid to see how much manpower and resources it would take. Well why don't you tell us Mr. Border czar? Instead of dodging the issue why don't you put an actual proposal together and release it and then we'll let you know if we're scared.
Man, he pisses me off so much!
Lonewacko has this to say about the interview.
In order to avoid sending my blood pressure through the roof, I'm not going to quote from the Washington Times interview with our so-called "Borders Czar" Asa Hutchinson. The article is called "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'" and it includes a picture of a thoughtful Hutchinson as he presumably ponders ways not to do the job Americans want done.
First of all, very few Americans are suggesting putting illegal aliens on cattle cars. And, most Americans realize that there will always be some illegal aliens. However, we'd like to think that those who run the government are doing their jobs and trying to reduce the flow of illegals as much as possible. Especially since there are politically doable, time-tested ways to do that.
...
For example, in the first five months of this year, just one company in the whole country was fined for immigration violations. If, say, a thousand companies had been fined, there would be far fewer jobs for illegal workers, and hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens would simply deport themselves.
I agree, this is a disgrace in its finest form. Lonewacko goes as far as to say:
So, why doesn't the administration do that? The answer is simple: because they don't want to. Can America stand another four years of this administration?
I wouldn't go that far on it, as John "F'in" Kerry isn't gonna do a thing about this issue. As a matter of fact he'd probably take the exact same stance as Hutchinson above.
*Takes a couple deep breaths and counts to 10* . Ok, next story.
4
A recent
Arizona Repubic poll finds that 66% of support thier latest initiative
Protect Arizona Now.
The anti-illegal immigration initiative known as Protect Arizona Now has widespread support across party lines, a new Arizona Republic Poll says.
The survey of 600 registered voters indicates Republicans favor the measure by an 8-1 ratio and Democrats favor it by an almost 3-1 ratio.
More specifically, 91 percent of those surveyed favored Proposition 200's requirement that individuals submit evidence of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.
...
Regina M. Weiss, 74, a Republican and retired New York City teacher who lives in Scottsdale, agreed.
"We need a crackdown on people crossing our borders," Weiss said. "These people are getting an awful lot of freebies, and I think we need to stop it."
According to the poll, voters also support the portion of Proposition 200 that would make it a crime for state workers to fail to alert immigration authorities upon discovering that an undocumented immigrant was applying for public benefits.
"Why are we given the burden of taking care of an immigrant not reporting themselves or their income?" asked Michael Nickerson, 55, of Mesa.
Laurie Lange, vice president of public affairs of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, said Arizona could lose at least $108 million in federal and state funds because state workers would potentially violate a federal law if they had to check the immigration status of patients.
"These are funds hospitals need to treat immigrant patients," Lange said. "Proposition 200 will not prevent immigrants from becoming sick or getting injured."
Once again the ones against an initiative to crack down on lawbreakers and voter fraud are worried about
their funding. "Screw all the taxpayers who are footing the bill, what about us?". Most of the ones speaking out against this are business people, who are probably reliant on these illegal aliens, or Republicans who are saying it doesn't actually stop illegals from coming there in the first place, just getting benefits.
I agree with the Republicans that it doesn't go far enough. It's a no brainer to require proof that you have the right to vote by supplying proof of citizenship, who could be against that? Welfare benefits should have the same requirement, a proof of legality. I don't see how that would be asinine to require someone to prove that they are eligible to receive benefits, who could be against that? I'll tell you who. Someone who is just looking out for their own career and pocketbook and are willing to sacrifice everyone else to get what they want, that's who.
Guess who gets the Hat tip? Lonewacko
5
Time magazines latest cover story "
Who left the door open?" delves into the ease with which illegal aliens walk across the border while you are forced to practically undress at security points.
Despite all the talk of homeland security, sneaking into the U.S. is scandalously easy and on the rise. Millions of illegal aliens will pour across the U.S.-Mexican border this year, many from countries hostile to America.
The next time you pass through an airport and have to produce a photo ID to establish who you are and then must remove your shoes, take off your belt, empty your pockets, prove your laptop is not an explosive device and send your briefcase or purse through a machine to determine whether it holds weapons, think about this: In a single day, more than 4,000 illegal aliens will walk across the busiest unlawful gateway into the U.S., the 375-mile border between Arizona and Mexico. No searches for weapons. No shoe removal. No photo-ID checks. Before long, many will obtain phony identification papers, including bogus Social Security numbers, to conceal their true identities and mask their unlawful presence.
The influx is so great, the invaders seemingly trip over one another as they walk through the old copper-mining town turned artist colony of Bisbee (pop. 6,000), five miles from the border. Having eluded the U.S. border patrol, they arrive in small groups of three or four, larger contingents of more than a dozen and sometimes packs of a hundred. Worried citizens who spot them keep the Bisbee police officers and Cochise County sheriff's deputies busy tracking down all the trespassing aliens.
At night as many as 100 will take over a vacant house. Some crowd into motel rooms, even storage-compartment rental units. During the day, they congregate on school playgrounds, roam through backyards and pass in and out of apartment buildings. Some assemble at the Burger King, waiting for their assigned drivers to appear. Sometimes stolen cars are waiting for them, keys on the floor. But most continue walking to designated pickup points beyond Bisbee, where they will ride in thousands of stolen vehicles, often with the seats ripped out to accommodate more human cargo, on the next leg of their journey to big cities and small towns from California to North Carolina.
The U.S.'s borders, rather than becoming more secure since 9/11, have grown even more porous. And the trend has accelerated in the past year. It's fair to estimate, based on a TIME investigation, that the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S. this year will total 3 million enough to fill 22,000 Boeing 737-700 airliners, or 60 flights every day for a year. It will be the largest wave since 2001 and roughly triple the number of immigrants who will come to the U.S. by legal means. (No one knows how many illegals are living in the U.S., but estimates run as high as 15 million.)
Speaks for itself. What the hell are we thinking?
Hat tip: Alpha Patriot
6
The
Tucson Weekly investigates Al-Qaeda, south of the border, with an article on OTM's (Other Than Mexican) coming across from Mexico.
In early August, the Washington Times reported that al-Qaeda is allying with Mexican organized crime groups to infiltrate the United States via Mexico.
In late July, ABC News reported that the Border Patrol had arrested a woman named Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed. The arrest was made at McAllen-Miller airport in South Texas, where Ahmed was attempting to board a flight to New York. She acknowledged that smugglers brought her across the Rio Grande from Mexico; the FBI declared Ahmed a "person of interest."
Congressman Solomon Ortiz, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, was quoted in the Brownsville Herald as saying that Mexicans with possible terrorist ties have been detained after entering the country from Mexico, but are being released for lack of jail space. "It's very, very scary," said Ortiz.
On Los Angeles radio station KFI AM's John and Ken Show, Congressman John Culberson, a Texas Republican, said federal prosecutors had told him that Middle Eastern men with al-Qaeda links are adopting Hispanic names, acquiring fake Mexican ID cards and mixing with the stream of illegals coming across our southern border. They're choosing this route, he said, because the screening process for incoming airline passengers is increasingly effective.
The Chicago Tribune recently reported on the arrest of Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a Tijuana, Mexico café owner, on charges of smuggling Arabs into this country. The Tribune wrote that the case set off alarm bells among U.S. security officials, because it illustrated the vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Two Arab men, Ali Safia and Can Azif--whose names scored hits on U.S. watch lists--arrived in Mexico City in the winter of 2003 on one-way tickets from Europe, reported the Dallas Morning News. While in Europe, they also had purchased one-way tickets for a flight from the western Mexican city of Culiacan to Los Angeles. The pair failed to show up for the flight and have not been seen since, the paper said.
In mid-August, the Arizona Daily Star reported that officials had issued an alert for al-Qaeda cell leader Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, who they thought might cross from Mexico into the United States through Arizona or Texas. Two days later, the alert was jerked back. Maybe he's not coming after all, but Shukrijumah is still missing. A reward of up to $5 million is out for his capture.
"I've been saying for a long time that in your next Sept. 11 hit, you're gonna find out how many of them came across this border right here," says Gary McBride, a rancher who lives 35 miles north of Douglas. "I feel like I'm living in a big ol' train station, and here comes one train, and here comes another, and here comes another, and they just never stop, people from every country you could name. Nothing has changed since Sept. 11. If anything, it's worse. It's a goddamn three-ring circus down here."
It's really a great article. Lots of information, numbers and residents quotes. They even have a dirt road they refer to as "Arab Road" because of the number of Arab illegals streaming across and using it. It's a long article, so get some coffee and have a good read. The reporter is very good and well balanced, giving both sides of the story.
Hat tip: The Command Post. Mr. Wacko is on the story as well.
7
Houston Chronicle's article entitled "
Flow of migrants puts border's agents on alert" says officials worry terrorists can mix with workers.
A late-night tip led U.S. Border Patrol agents to five rooms at the Matador Motor Inn, where human smugglers had abandoned 22 men from China.
Although the Chinese nationals were economic migrants, their discovery Aug. 16 in downtown McAllen left many with an uneasy feeling. If a large group of men seeking work could be moved across the Rio Grande undetected, why not a squad of terrorists?
... critics contend little has changed on the border since the 2001 terror attacks.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents 6,500 agents, said the government needs to bring additional personnel, equipment and training on line to secure the vast border region. The union official claimed no agents have been hired since March, and next year's budget cuts $19 million from the agency and moves $75 million from operations to technology.
"It's only a matter of time before we are attacked again because, incredibly, nothing has changed. We are doing business on the border as usual," said Bonner, a Border Patrol agent who is stationed near San Diego, Calif.
Agency officials denied the budget was reduced, and said 50 agents are in training at the agency's academy.
Ooooh, a whole 50 agents! We're really going to be protected now. We need way more than that number to stop the flow and prevent a potential terrorist from crossing. The article goes on with this asinine and most ignorant statement ever!
Because of a lack of space in that and other detention centers, immigration officials have released thousands of non-Mexican migrants - 23,222 of the 57,633 detained this year - on their own recognizance after obtaining a promise to appear before an immigration judge.
More than 70 percent fail to show up for their court dates, agency officials have confirmed.
OK, you admit that isn't the right course of action to just let them go on a promise, but you continue to do it? What the hell is wrong with you people? Don't just continue doing something that doesn't work, find a solution. This is the worst agency ever, the head of this agency that just says to continue the practice of "Catch and Release" needs to be canned immediately because he/she is not doing his/her job. It doesn't work so they keep doing it *shakes head*. Stupid!
Hat tip: Lonewacko.
Beltway Traffic Jam, Here I Come
