I reviewed a blood pressure-raising book for Townhall.com called Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, And the War on Terror.
Congressman J.D. Hayworth, a Republican from Arizona who once voted against immigration legislation, decided to write a book that exposes the dangers we face from lax immigration enforcement. Legal, law-abiding citizens are at risk, and the government turns a blind eye. Read the review.
Speaking of blind government, American patriots are doing what our federal government refuses to do: deter border jumping. Beginning in April, 6,500 volunteers will guard and patrol the Mexican and Canadian borders. These are volunteers of the Minuteman Project, a subject I’ve written about a lot. I was so glad to learn that some people are doing instead of just talking. (I forgot to mention that I met Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project, at CPAC.)
Contrary to popular opinion, the Minuteman volunteers are not “rednecks” or “white supremacists” threatening Mexicans trying to cross the border. They peacefully stand watch at the border, breaking no laws. Just the sight of them seems to deter would-be illegal aliens. In fact, it’s so simple, even a government can do it. 
Needless to say, Mexicans weren’t too thrilled when they found out what these Americans were up to. When George Bush called the peaceful, law-abiding volunteers vigilantes, I realized more keenly than ever why the president is surrounded by so much security.
The Minuteman have to fight Mexico’s president (our “co-president”), thug gangs, and even their own president, but they’re still volunteering and risking their lives to protect our country from invaders:
Minuteman founder Chris Simcox yesterday announced plans for a new nationwide “Secure Our Borders” campaign in April, saying 6,500 civilian volunteers will man observation posts and conduct patrols along 800 miles of U.S. border with Mexico and Canada.
…“Last year, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps revolutionized the national debate about border security and illegal immigration by focusing the nation’s attention on the dangers of America’s wide-open borders in a post-September 11 world,” Mr. Simcox said. “The Minutemen have demonstrated that the borders can be secured with sufficient political will and dedication.”
In April, more than 800 civilian volunteers shut down a 23-mile section of the Arizona border near Naco with day and night border vigils. In October, similar operations were conducted along the U.S.-Mexico border and in seven states along the Canadian border.
Mr. Simcox said the volunteers this year will again observe and report suspected illegal border crossings to the proper authorities and maintain a “no contact” policy with the aliens except to provide water or medical assistance when needed.
He said that since the operations last year, interest in joining and supporting the Minutemen has “exploded nationwide.”
To date, he said, 6,500 men and women have passed the required background check and interviews to qualify to become volunteers — with more waiting for approval. (Source)
They will always be in my prayers.
Related:
Update: Perhaps more dangerous than our open borders is the United Arab Emirates, rumored to have connections with Al Qaeda, controlling six U.S. ports. Isn’t there something in the Declaration of Independence or other document about creating a new government when the old one isn’t working anymore?
Michelle Malkin has links and news here and here.
Joe Gandelman notes bipartisan opposition to the deal.
Bill Frist is blogging?
Pet peeve: A single blog entry is not called a blog. It’s a post. A blog is the entire collection of posts.
Sources:
- Dubai Company’s Control of Six Ports ‘Boggles the Mind’
- Chertoff Defends Dubai Port Deal (For this and other reasons, Chertoff should be fired.)
Another Update: King George says get a life!
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One of the simple reasons our government along with the Mexican government refuses to address this issue, is a rough estimate of 30 Billion dollars was wired back into Mexico last year from America. American Banking companies are stumbling over each other to get in on this cash cow.
Multi-culturalism (and failing to assimilate) was one of the failures of the Roman empire also.
If history teaches us anything, it’s that history teaches us nothing (due to our ignorance). We want to feel so “enlightened”, we can do better, we are more educated, etc., etc., etc.
What amazes me most is the silence of the “black” politicians (especially on the left). Illegal immigrants and rights of gays being compared to blacks being demeaned and abused for the color of their skin. Basically what they are saying (by their silence) is: to be black is a sin and to be black is a crime.
I respect the right and appreciate the motivation of any American to stand guard at the Mexican border (although, I wonder why there seems to be relatively little concern about the equally porous Canadian border).
But it must be said that the Minutemen are to illegal immigration what a band aid is to a hemorrhaging wound. That’s why I think Bush’s guest-worker program should be taken more seriously. After all, it at least gets at the root cause of this problem; instead of merely treating it prophylactically.
I live in Texas, and for years I lived in El Paso…
I will tell you, plain and simple, we ARE at war in Texas, have been for a long time…
I have ranted, raved and blogged about this on several occasions…
Here’s one of them…
And THAT is MY Opinion – Mexico warns of long drug fight, more deaths ahead
Anyone that doesn’t think there is a war on the Texas Border, go to ANY big town on the Texas/Mexican border and just talk to the local cops or the Border Patrol, and be prepared to hear HORROR stories…
I am a conservative in a state that does not have a right-to-work law. It was of no import to me before, but I wondered, if states like Texas and Arizona and California weren’t right-to-work states (which I believe they are) and laborers had to be in a union and get union scale, would there be such a problem as there is now?
And if my state adopts a right to work law, would we be subject to all these immigrant work crews taking over whole industries like landscaping, road repair and building trades? So far we’ve been happily immune from these problems.
A bill was introduced in the State of Kansas this year to overturn a bill passed a few years ago which allows for illegal immigrants to get in-state college tuition provided they had graduated from a Kansas High School, attending 3 years. The new bill went to Committee, the vote was a tie and died in Committee. So, now someone who is a legal citizen of Missouri has to pay out-of-state tuition but someone who is illegal all over the U.S. continues to pays in-state tuition. And, people, this is KANSAS!! I’m beginning to think we need some minutemen on our Kansas borders.
While I appreciate the efforts of the minuteman in bringing attention to the illegal immigration problem, I dont think their efforts will solve the problem.
The solution would be very simple if there was a will to solve the problem (and there isnt). Start putting the employers in jail for hiring them!!After a sufficient number of executives at Carls Jr., Pollo Loco,your local restaurant, and your local construction company, etc. were put in jail, the hiring would stop. When the hiring stopped and the illegals were fired, they would go back home to mexico.
I fell over laughing when President Bush said in a recent speech that employers are hiring illegals without knowing they are illegals. I think Bush is a decent man but I also think he has lived a life of privelege and if he truly believes what he said then he is somewhat disconnected from reality. The blue collar worker who works with illegal aliens knows that the employers know darn well what they are doing.
Basically its a problem of greed.How many american employers as a matter of principle refuse to hire illegals?
And I wonder how many congressman and senators have illegals working in their businesses, factories,etc. Maybe we could start by putting a few of them in jail first.
There is no will to solve the problem. Even Homeland security has no desire to solve it. The places where they work are well known. There are corners where the day laborers congregate in many cities. Why dont they pick them up? Once they get over the border about 50 miles or so they are in a safe zone.
There are powerful interests that dont want the problem solved. As a people we have become dependent on the explotaiton of illegal immigrant labor from Mexico due to our own greed.
People have talked this problem to death for the last 40 years and the problem has only gotten worse.
Of course their efforts won’t solve the problem, but what they’re doing has some effect and more than that, it’s symbolic. If the government understands what ordinary citizens are willing to do to protect the homeland, perhaps it will do something about the porous borders.
What the volunteers are doing is certainly better than merely complaining about illegal immigration, as most of us do.
Also, from a previous post linking to a story:
The deployment of 36,000 National Guard troops or state militia on the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the illegal flow of foreigners into America, says a congressional report that credits the Minuteman Project with proving that additional manpower could “dramatically reduce if not virtually eliminate†illegal immigration.
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/05/24/troops/
According to a congressional report, the Minuteman Project has definitely had an effect.
If you put 36,000 troops on the US-Mexico border, what would stop them from using the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and Canada as way to enter the country? Plugging one of the many holes will not fix the problem. It just sounds good to say that.
No kidding. I am a New York City girl with a fiance in Texas. Every time I visit him, I am blown away by the fact that American police officers just drive by the dozens of illegals that stand on corners in groups at busy intersections looking for work.
All people in living the US ought to be properly documented! Shame on GWB.
God bless the Minutemen.
La Shawn:
I believe that conservatives and Leftists alike are sorely misinformed about the Dubai port deal.
Conservatives naturally are concerned about security , so Leftists are falling over to prove they “care about security” more than conservatives do.
I have seen credible evidence that this is just a buy-out – an investment – by the UAE, which is, in truth, more pro-USA than many Arab countries.
The only thing about this deal that really bothers me is that Jimmy Carter says it is a good deal.
Wow. This is some stuff I didn’t know. Dang. Another book to put on the pile. Oh well.
)
Wow. So the administration that makes such a big deal about National Security is selling our ports to the highest bidder, huh? Bidders that may or may not have ties to terrorists. Nice.
May we all sleep as soundly as collicky babies from now on.
“Isn’t there something in the Declaration of Independence or other document about creating a new government when the old one isn’t working anymore?”
Classic…
I’m still trying to figure out WHY a British company had ownership…
Ally or not, don’t American’s own anything in their country anymore? There is a time when you come face to face with what happens when GREED runs amuck!
I would be even more worreid that UAE is only in it for “investment”…
that means “money”…
which means if enough money changes hands, that little bit of info about something called “security” at ports can be sold at a price (and you can best believe if someone owns it, they don’t have to be on the dock to know what security measures are in place, it is an investment and part of being good at that means knowing what’s going on with the company and keeps it making money)
1.) What to do about the illegals crossing or avoiding the Mexican border.
I am afraid that it is National I.D. card time folks. If you have one, you have no work problems. If you do not have one or a guest worker I.D. you have a real problem, as does any employer who hires you anyway.
The I.D. is going to be sophisticated with some type of DNA match built in and counterfeit safe.
2.) The UAE ownership of the US port facilities.
This is purely a classic, capitalistic money deal. The UAE has tons of oil profits. Their oil is finite. Best they invest the money they have to take them beyond the cheap oil days. They are investing in vibrant economies. In other words, they are acting like any smart pension fund.
They are also betting (silently) that the USA will come out on top in the battle with extreme Islam.
After all, the US can nuke every Muslim or it can divide them and woo those who cooperate and hunt down those who don’t. The UAE has pretty well got it figured out: camel riders finish last.
Their ownership neither gives them access to security information nor a way around security.
3.) LaShawn’s peeve about posts vs. blogs.
William Safire has a good page on the language of the internet in last Sunday’s NYT magazine.
Great post, La Shawn. I’m a big Dubya fan, but I get a bit hot under the collar when I hear of him doing stuff like calling the Minutemen “vigilantes.”
Nice blog, Phil! And nice pictures. A man in uniform…
Thank you for your service to this great nation.
I haven’t commented for a while – but this thing about handing our our ports over to the UAE is driving me nuts!!!!! It seems we are just giving our country over to foreign governments!!! Sorry – but I just don’t get it!!!
We should secure (seal) our Mexican border. The Minutemen embarrassed the government, which was their goal, and I say: “well done!”
Sometimes citizen initiative sticks a dirty thumb in diplomacy, but that is the price of democracy. I am not one who sees the Minutemen as vigilantes.
There is a dynamic at work along the US side of the Mexican border that is not readily apparent to the most in the US. There is a wide strip of US nationals of Mexican origin who live along the US border with Mexico. They cleave to their heritage, folk customs and family ties while being committed to the advantages of US citizenship. In other words, they are in the melting pot, but not yet melded.
I suspect that the politicians in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are at best stymied by these border Mexican-Americans. I do not know how volatile this strip of mixed-Americans is, but I seriously doubt that it is all smooth sailing in the region.
All of the governors and senators of these four states tread lightly when dealing with the US border Mexican-American citizens. That should tell us all a great deal.
Obviously, President Bush was first the Governor of Texas and I suspect that his sensitivity to border issues is born of unspoken practicalities.
As I recall, when Texas was admitted to the union, there was an understanding that because of its size, it could be further subdivided into smaller states. I would not be surprised if the Mexican-American population of Texas was not big enough to create a rather sizable border state.
This is not to say that there is any move to fracture Texas into smaller parts. But, I suspect, there is a sleeping giant in the border states that like the proverbial sleeping dogs are best left alone in the minds of politicians of the region.
However, the border problem is far greater than the politics of the four border states. Furthermore, national pressure can force the politicians of the border states to take action, while giving them cover with their citizens.
The Minutemen are merely an example of the pressure on the politicians that cause them to face the inevitable. Nobody appreciates a wake-up call in the form of ice water in the face.
Another good read, La Shawn.
>>That’s why I think Bush’s guest-worker program should be taken more seriously.>>
There is no doubt that we need to re-evaluate our immigration policies with regard to Mexico. But if I’m in a sinking boat, it doesn’t help to speed up bailing the water out if the water keeps flowing in. Stop the influx, then address some of the other issues. For example, skip the guest worker part, but allow higher immigration levels, and require whole families, not just a worker. One of the reasons a worker can come in and send money back as a form of economic aid to Mexico is because single men will tolerate conditions that would not be tolerable for a family. The cost of living is so much lower in Mexico, that “Papa” can work for barely livable wages here and when the earnings are sent home, the family lives fine and may even have savings. Having “Mama” and the kids in the USA would create a need for higher wages to support them, and stop sending cash out to Mexico to serve as their no-pay welfare system. Add to that, “Pop” is definitely going back to Mexico because his family is there. I’d rather have someone who definitely wants to stay and become a citizen – even if originally they need a hand up – which they _might_ do if they have family with them. We also need to establish English as the official US language.
However, the border problem is far greater than the politics of the four border states. Furthermore, national pressure can force the politicians of the border states to take action, while giving them cover with their citizens.
Frank, don’t forget that Jimmah Cartah also gave away the Panama Canal and now look at who owns management right? Does anyone doubt that if the US & China got into a standoff, that our Atlantic assets & fleet would be denied transit?
Another tidbit on ‘democracy’, while under US protection, the Panamian dollar had 1 to 1 parity with the US dollar. And all in all their economy was a model for the rest of the Southern Hemisphere. Nowadays, it’s not much different from the rest — corruption, graft, inflation etc, etc have conspired to put her back in 3rd world status.
Anyhoo, I think anything of vital interest should remain firmly with American entities. Not that it guarantees security, it’s just a matter of mitigating risk, notwithstanding Dubai’s desire to expand their portfolio for generating income.
Dubai could really help their case by actively combatting the Islamofacist message machine. One way would be to shutdown Al Jezeerah and cracking down on anyone that promotes radicalism. With action like that, I could be persuaded to accept the notion that this is all about economic growth/free trade and not a caliphate 5th flank maneouver.
The two things the illegal immigration issue and the port deal have in common is that the root of the problems are corporate criminals (in the latter case possibly traitors) who give capitalism a bad name and phony Republicans posing as conservatives are too corrupt to stop them. Their fake conservative defenders may follow them blindly, but we real conservatives have the advantage of strength in numbers. And that’s the kind of power that money can’t buy.
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