(These men are what you’d call “enemies” of George Bush. They are vehemently anti-amnesty and fiercely pro-enforcement. Actually, I’m only assuming Thomas Sowell [far left] is “fiercely” pro-enforcement. Next is Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist, “Rasta Republican” Ted Hayes, and Rep. Tom Tancredo, a man who should but will never be president of the United States. Honorable mentions: Rep. J.D. Hayworth and Rep. Mike Pence.)
["An estimated 45,000 cases of illegal immigrants from terror-linked countries were released to the American alien frontier between fiscal 2001 and the first five months of 2005."
OH NO, George Bush shouldn't be impeached for his immigration non-enforcement policy. That's absurd, La Shawn. You're crazy, girl. :?]
[Wednesday, May 24: Part II of Bordering on fraud]
While I try to ignore people telling me how to think and feel about George Bush and his amnesty-for-illegal-aliens scheme, I’ll continue to provide my no-holds-barred commentary. Ironically, some of the same people are regular readers who know my style by now. I don’t go along with Republicans or conservatives (not necessarily the same thing) just because they’re Republicans or conservatives. I focus on principles and ideology.
My loyalty lies with men who put America and its citizens first, before all others. If they can’t do that, they won’t get my support. Period. I hate it when liberals, with their insipid multicultural claptrap, tell me how to think, and I hate it when conservatives do it.
That’s not to say I won’t vote in November. You better believe I’ll vote, but not to prove anything to anyone. I consider voting a duty because blacks who came before me fought and risked their lives so I, their descendant, could do so freely and without fear.
Remember when I blogged about joining the elites? Well, I’m not physically there, yet, but mentally…I’m on my way. I’ll continue blogging about illegal aliens, although the tone of the posts will be different. I decided the “join ‘em” route was better than ranting. Men like Thomas Sowell seem to have a cerebral grip on the matter, and I want to emulate people who’re smart enough to see the truth, calmly express their fact-based opinions, and move on.
Sowell has logged in countless words over the years through books, articles, research papers, etc. I appreciate him for the knowledge and insight he’s amassed and his ability to impart simple wisdom and common sense in his weekly column. In Bordering on fraud, he implies that the immigration “debate” is exactly what I know it is: fraudulent. Bush has no desire or will to enforce immigration law, and Sowell agrees:
Another insult to our intelligence is that amnesty is not amnesty if you call it something else. The fact that illegals will have to fulfill certain requirements to become American citizens is supposed to mean that this is not amnesty…But let’s do what the spinmeisters hope we will never do — stop and think. Amnesty is overlooking (”forgetting,” as in amnesia) the violation of the law committed by those who have crossed our borders illegally.
The fact that there are requirements for getting American citizenship is a separate issue entirely. Illegal aliens who do not choose to seek American citizenship are under no more jeopardy than before. They have de facto amnesty.
Lame Duck — George Bush is outta here. He has no interest in securing the borders, even in the wake of September 11, 2001, when Islamofascists murdered thousands on our own soil. It ought to be criminal. Lax immigration enforcement allowed those thugs access to the weapons they used to slaughter Americans. For that, there should be no mercy when it comes to securing our borders, solidifying our sovereignty, tightly regulating immigration, and expelling anyone and anything who threatens our safety and our way of life.
Straw Men — Says King George: “We are a Nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We are also a Nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition, which has strengthened our country in so many ways.”
This is contradictory drivel. Whether or not we’re a “Nation of immigrants” is beside the point and not at issue. No one I know wants to shut down legal immigration. We want to stop illegal aliens jumping the border and overstaying visas, and crush Bush’s call to grant amnesty despite their criminal activity and despite the fact that numerous others are waiting in line for legal status and naturalization.
And how, someone please educate me, can we be a “Nation of laws” and “enforce our laws” when the Senate is discussing at this very moment how to avoid enforcing the law?
As soon as I get permission from the subjects, I plan to write a series of columns about the feedback I got from legal aliens and residents seeking citizenship in the United States and what they’ve gone through. The money. The red tape. And time. Years. And as soon as I’m allowed to reveal the details of my new biweekly column job, you’ll know where you can find their stories.
Sowell points out another straw man argument: mass deportation of 12 million illegal aliens. Reasonable people, I suppose, aren’t calling for it. In the deep recesses of my brain, however, I think we have the power and might to do it. Politically incorrect, it definitely would be.
Cosmetics — Unarmed, paper-shuffling troops “on the border” sitting in offices doing clerical work and zero enforcement. It’s just an intelligence-insulting, superficial, lame duck, CYA maneuver.
[Note: Blogger and commenter Juliette: "The troops won’t be unarmed, assuming that AF Security Forces (and other service equivalents) will be there."]
One final note. My mission is not to “get along” or come to a consensus or “stick together.” It is to tell the truth plainly, boldly, and loudly. Along the way, I’ve made enemies. As certain as death and taxes, the list will grow. If I weren’t making enemies and/or offending people, I’d be wasting my time and insulting your intelligence. I simply would be a lame duck out here attacking straw men and applying cosmetics to dangerous, deep-rooted, and growing problems that undercut our greatness, render meaningless the rule of law and a sense of fairness, and trick people into believing others are responsible for their own weaknesses and failures. Shufflin’ along is not my style.
Can’t or won’t deal with it? Sounds like a personal problem.
Related sources:
- Founder of Minutemen targets run for president
- Is Illegal Immigration as Dangerous for African-Americans as Slavery Was?
- A Day Without an Illegal Immigrant
Bloggers: Wizbang, Daily Pundit, Ace in the Hole, Diggers Realm…
As I’ve noted before, illegal immigrants haven’t just broken immigration laws. Most of them are guilty of fraud, perjury, forgery, and other crimes. Here are some of the penalties for those crimes…
That they managed to screw us so utterly back then [by passing an amnesty bill in 1986] was because we didn’t know any better.
We do now.
At least those of us blessed with intelligence, memory, pride and principles…Cheap political whores need not apply.
“Swallow this pile of sh**,†demands President Bush of a law-abiding American citizen.
“But, Mr. President, it’s a pile of sh**.â€
Bush counters, “No, it’s not. It’s actually a ‘comprehensive’ biodegradable accumulation of organic fecal compost.â€
Yeah, this just about sums it up…
Update (5/24): From one of Steve Sailer’s readers:
This whole guest worker thing is bad no matter how you look at it. If the guest worker is tied to the job or employer, then you have at best a worker almost totally under the employer’s thumb, sort of an indentured servant. Chances are you are going to see employers advancing these workers money to come to the US etc and they will end up “working it off” kind of like a drug-addicted prostitute who never seems to be able to pay back her pimp, who got her addicted in the first place.
He’s losing the support of black conservatives, too, but Repubs don’t need black conservatives to win. The GOP needs the white, married, middle-class vote to win elections. Democrats need the black vote. Priorities are all screwed up!
Black-brown: This meandering column contains a few ideas worth discussing.
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Tancredo gets my vote (and money)
It’s been said that you are known by the enemies you have and the friends you keep.
You have garnered the right kind of enemies.
LaShawn, reasonable thinking people agree with you. The problem is the facts are not getting out to the citizens of the U.S. unless a person watches the senate debate this issue 24/7. Some of the things I learned yesterday concerning the Martinez bill: Illegals won’t have to pay back all of their taxes, only 3 out of 5 years worth and the burden is on the IRS to prove what they owe (as opposed to citizens who must prove what they owe to the IRS). Illegals don’t need an employer to vouch for their work history. They can have anyone, including a friend or neighbor, attest that they worked and when. Employers who knowingly hired illegals will not be penalized or fined for their law breaking behavior. Dianne Feinstein wants a new version of the bill which allows every illegal here since the first of this year to remain in this country (none will be deported) under her “orange card” system. Her reason for adopting this position is that she admits the current senate bill is simply unworkable … so her answer is to open the door to everybody!
It gets worse by the minute. I’d like to see ABC news report to the citizens of this country that illegals won’t have to pay their taxes but you, Mr./Ms. Citizen, if you don’t, you will go to jail. Will never happen.
I just have to sit here and laugh. You and I disagree on a lot of issues but boy you are on fire with this one.
ILLEGAL immigration just about burns this moderate to liberal black woman UP. And it is hurting black Americans. Please believe it.
We’ve agreed again..the world may stop turning on its’ axis..LOL!!!!
LaShawn - you ARE who I want to be when I grow up! Except I’m a lot older than you are - foiled again!
Seriously, Dr. Sowell’s column is brilliant and you are always so. I admire your passion, your intelligence and your wonderful writing style.
Keep on, keeping on!
La Shawn, Tancredo SHOULD be the next POTUS, you hit that one on the head..
There is a “Bush is God” crowd in this nation and they subscribe to everything that Bush or his administration say as being nothing less than the Gospel…
I have lost several readers, in fits of anger, because I DARED to criticize the POTUS or question the direction in which he is taking this nation… Oh well, all it did was make my site grow and my resolve that much stronger… And I know you feel the same way..
I do not, and WILL NOT subscribe to ANY party, I am an Independent Conservative and I refuse to follow blindly, what we are doing with our blogs and columns is exactly what needs to be done, whether anyone likes it or not, WE THE PEOPLE are responsible for questioning EVERYTHING our elected officials do and say, we put em there and we can make em go home too…
Keep firing La Shawn, you’re doing the RIGHT thing…
The troops won’t be unarmed, assuming that AF Security Forces (and other service equivalents) will be there.
La Shawn, right here at your Corner a few weeks ago I asked that President Bush be forgiven for wobbling, as he has been fought against and hated every day since before taking the oath of office.
I’ve been forced to change my mind. Amnesty is as shameful as abortion. And once a nation has moved away from enforcing our laws and our borders–it’s Clinton time all over again-(It depends on your definition of the word ‘Amnesty’). Smart Republicans and Conservative office seekers will find it wise to stand with Tom Tancredo rather than George Bush.
By the way, aren’t Conservatives supposed to be pandering TO us by now in an election year?
I am watching the votes carefully. I’ve made up my mind - any incumbent who votes the wrong way will not get my vote next time around. If it means we have to endure a few years of a liberal, so be it. He can be kicked out the next time around.
Here’s what I’m thinking: instead of buying iPods and trading in that Lexus for a Mercedes, why don’t we form LLC’s and start buying up land in Mexico? I’m sure that we as American citizens wouldn’t be allowed to, but surely we can go down to the local 7-11 and find an illegal to act as a front.
BTW, Ted Hayes and the Minutemen marched right down the street in front of my church this past Sunday. My pastor said that she would have been out there with them had the not decided to do it on that day. Me too.
Juliette - I read about that Hayes joining up with the Minuteman Project and linked to the story in a previous post:
http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_112202507.html
It’s so good to see other blacks speaking out publicly against this scourge!
Be it good, bad, or indifferent, the one thing you can say about Bush is, he is consistent. If you ‘ve read Karen Hughes’ book, “Ten Minutes From Normal”, you’ll learn that his reluctance to shut out Mexican immigrants has never changed. When he was governor of my fair state, he used the phrase “Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande.” repeatedly in his stump speeches.
I’m as disgusted as anyone with his attitude on this issue, but one thing I love about this man is his absolute consistency. He’s the only man I’ve ever known who never goes back on ANYTHING he says!
LaShawn–two things in particular I wanted to comment on. The first: I want to commend you for not taking the right to vote lightly. I’m glad you are not going to stay home in November, and I hope others become persuaded to exercise their right as well. Too much is at stake.
Secondly, regarding the input you received from legal aliens and residents: is there enough for a book? I would love to read a book of inspiring stories of people who came here the legal route–why they did it, what it cost them, what they think now they are here. To me, just a column is not enough (hint, hint!).
Keep up the good work.
You’re a voice in the wilderness! Keep up the excellent work.
I just ran across this on WRAL’s site:
http://www.wral.com/news/9260341/detail.html
Money shot from State Rep. Capps “…troopers should have never let the undocumented men go from the scene.”
I really dislike the use of the PC term “undocumented” but then I am not all that PC. That is one of the things that keeps me coming back here; you’re not either.
I say we make illegals go through what illegals in Mexico go through. Or hunters caught with ammo for that matter. That would stem the tide, I guarantee it.
It appears that conservatives are about to get their immigration wet dreams fulfilled.
You will need to be in a government data base to get work or to hire workers.
Just like a national ID card without the card.
Talk about the mark of the beast.
Government as usual is preying on your fears to increase its power.
I love it.
Money quote:
In August the Government Accountability Office reviewed that program and found it to be staggering under the weight of 3,600 employers. Mandatory usage would bring that number to 8.4 million.
How does the government that brought you the prescription drug benefit debacle plan to manage an electronic system involving every employed person in these United States? The GAO needs a color-coded map to explain, but here is the basic summary: Employers send data for every new hire to DHS, which then sends information to SSA, which then sends information back to DHS, which sends info back to the employer, who can either contest any rejected applicants and begin the process anew, risk fines for not complying, or accept the findings. The burden of contesting mistakes and keeping records lies with employers. The cost, says the GAO, will be about $11.7 billion—annually—”with employers bearing much of the cost.”
Another tax on business. Which will do a few things:
Make it more profitable to hire undocumented workers.
Create a black market in labor.
Encourage outsourcing.
======================================
Viva the conservative revolution.
I just love Republican Socialism.
*
And suppose you lose your job or can’t get one because of a government screw up?
Republican faith in government is touching.
Yeah, Bush is consistent, which is another word for being so pig-headedly stubborn that he will not change his spiel despite the facts, or conservatives 5X as smart as him and better-tuned to the people, saying he is dragging the Republicans to disaster.
I can’t stand the guy anymore. I don’t believe in a word coming out of his mouth, and I find myself now like my more liberal wife - changing the channel if he is on it longer than 10 seconds.
He is a close-minded ideologue who is, IMO, worse than Jimmy Carter. In the long-run, the damage he has done to America by his foreign policy neocon arrogant militarism, fiscal, and immigration stances have damaged the conservative movement and Republican Party at Nixonian levels. We will need a Newt, or Newt-like (sans Newt’s personal flaws) person to clean up his mess in a 4-8 year rebuilding process.
Even Sowell now sees you can be so pro fatcat that you damage the country and even enter into an unholy alliance with the Left just as long as Bush cronies in the richest elites can make money off mass invasion of America by the 3rd world. Even Sowell says, if imported foreign goods hold down prices, you have to be insane to think that cheap foreign labor hasn’t badly hurt wages or job prospects of native Americans.
And it looks like the group taking the worst hits from illegal immigration are blacks on the lower rungs of the economy. Who, despite that, are still totally loyal to the Democrats because they still correctly perceive Bush and the Republican leaders as beholden to the plutocrats with the big bucks.
M. Simon,
You are too funny…you really don’t understand do you? This is not a Republican/Democrat Issue nor a Liberal/Conservative issue. This is an issue of fairness and the will of the people versus Special Interests. It is really sad that you can’t see past your personal animosity towards Republicans to see the real issue.
It may indeed be unlikely to remove all 11 million. It might just be possible to use this political cycle to push for removal of the part of that group who are trouble makers tho, if we work for it together.
Will be back in a week, rollin out to Indiana to visit family. No laptop, so Internet is chancy when I am on the road.
Wish others would think upon the chance to use common effort to accomplish a specific goal, talk me into it if you have a better one. Doubt that we will have much better of a political selection until the second American civil war though.
A lot of historians put the date of the fall of the Roman Empire at 476 A. D. It didn’t actually fall that year — it was declining before then and survived in some form for centuries afterward. But 476 is a good arbitrary date because that’s when the Western Empire collapsed — when the City of Rome itself was no longer what it once was. Perhaps historians will cite the life of the United States as having been from July 4, 1776, to the weekend of March 27th, 2006, when thousands of aliens flying foreign flags marched in our streets and said “Give us this country!” and our government did nothing. That was as significant a date as December 7, 1941, or September 11, 2001.
I do not blame the illegal immigrants — hey, no one is enforcing the law, why not go to the land of opportunity? It is the fault of our government. No other country allows such insanity.
I agree with the earlier post — I am keen to know how members of Congress are voting on this. That will be a big determiner of my vote.
We told ya not to elect dubya.
Jim,
Your faith in government and their databases is touching.
Hear the news about 25+ million veterans records stolen?
OK I will ammend my statement. Republican/Democrat wet dreams. I’m sure now you will feel much better about being in the data base or not being in the data base as the case may be. Hope you don’t lose your job.
This will be like Canadian gun registration. Only worse. That scew ups went on for years until they scrapped that one.
And as for enforcing the old laws. Don’t matter. You are getting new ones.
BTW I wonder why are drug laws aren’t being enforced? There are 40 million druggies in America and only 1 million in jail. We need to punish those other 39 million. More laws and stronger penalties has always been the answer. The government always needs more tools.
mark,
Kerry would have been much better.
Better a hard leftie than a center/right guy, don’t you think?
===========================================
I mark the fall of America at the point where you have to have your government data base entry in order to get or keep a job.
“Special interests” has always been the cry of the progressives. Of course the progressives were hard core racists.
Looks like a repeat of history. Thank the Maker you can still be bigoted against Mexicans, eh?
The government is my union. It will protect me from low cost labor. For a small price. And power and control.
Reminds me of the story of the genie who offered an American a wish provided his Mexican neighbor got double what he asked for. The American was no fool. He told the genie “poke out one of my eyes.”
It looks like we are going to get a poke in the eye.
This is going to flush the economy. Just to punish those evil businesses that hire Mexicans.
Of course with the economy withering in America, Mexico’s economy will choke. Sending more folks to the north. A strategy so brilliant I wonder why no one has thought of it before. Ya, gota wonder why Bush opposes such a move.
Anybody with any sense would love to see our economy tanked if we can drive out the Mexicans.
BTW Texas with a very large population of illegal Mexicans is thriving. How can that be?
Interestingly enough there is a 15% error rate in the test databases.
And the government knows what is going to happen.
So they have a provision in the bill preventing suits against the government if you lose your job.
But hey, losing your job and your ability to work is a small price price to pay to punish the illegals.
Wow, that’s the first time I’ve heard Thomas Sowell described as “far left”!
-Matt
Go tell it on the mountain, La Shawn
Ciao
The problem with “see the truth, calmly express their fact-based opinions, and move on” is that it gets truth, justice, equality, etc no where.
The screaming, hollering of the untruthful get further, remember Goebbels (the Nazi) “a lie told often enough…….
I don’t know why anyone expected Bush to do anything serious about immigration. Am I the only person who remembers his campaign trips where he spoke Spanish to Latino groups?
I have an idea-freeze-and I mean FREEZE-all U.S. monies being sent back to Mexico by the illegal aliens. If they are here illegally to build a better life, cut off the flow to Mexico. Not one dime. If the estimated billions of US dollars are being taken out of our economy, it’s probably being done by electronic funds transfers. Freeze the ETFs to Mexico. If it’s being done by check, freeze any accounts if the checks are being cashed in Mexico. Make it so that if the illegal aliens wish to get the money back home, they will have to carry it there themselves-they certainly wouldn’t trust the coyotes or any other group to deliver what would have to be cash.
Then they will have to sneak their way back into the United States. Hopefully, this will become harder to accomplish soon.
By stopping the flow of US currency to Mexico:
1. One of the main temptations for crossing the border ends.
2. The government of Vincente Fox will feel the pressure to actually improve Mexico, or face losing power.
3. Billions of dollars of American money would continue to circulate through and improve our economy instead of Mexico’s.
According to CNN, “The Senate has voted to fine employers who hire illegal immigrants up to $20,000 for each unauthorized worker, providing teeth to a broad immigration bill before sending it to the floor for a final vote later this week.â€
But this is completely phony unless it it enforced. It hasn’t been enforced in the past, and won’t be enforced in the future unless private citizens can enforce it. I suggest that each person who believes in enforcement should email/write/call congress to insist on private enforcement against employers of illegal aliens. Here is a suggested rough draft:
“Dear ______
The Senate says it is increasing the penalty for hiring illegal aliens to $20,000, but this is meaningless if it is not enforced, as we have learned. I urge you to add private RICO actions against employers of illegal aliens for those injured by this illegal employment, and “qui tam†actions by private citizens and groups under the False Claims Act to recover the $20,000 fine and any unpaid taxes from yhis illegal employment.
Illegal aliens send up to $20 Billion to Mexico per year of illegal earnings from US employers who knowingly hire them. Please also stop this flow of illegal money, to reduce the incentive for illegal immigration. Appropriate banking regulations and fines for facilitating this flow of illegal money will help stop this. Thank you in advance for your efforts to stop illegal immigration, and to prevent a reward of citizenship for those who flaunt our laws.
Cordially,
_________â€
Here are some links about private citizen RICO and qui tam actions.
RICO case
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_13/b3977087.htm
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/education/TeachingwithCurrentEvents/ConstitutionNewswire/16086.shtml
False Claims Act info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._false_claims_law_(in_depth)
19. That is just another lie from the special interests that want cheap labor.
We could enforce legal employment today with just a call to verify an employee’s SSN. Bad SSN, no employmnet. Employers can already do this if they desire. No extra cost except for perhaps some more phone lines and an expanded automated service with email confirmation.
That’s it. No new federal departments, databases and billions in expenses. So, we can once again see that we are being lied to by those who would sell us out at first chance to make a buck.
I do not consider this to be an “immigration” issue, but rather an “invasion” issue. And now, among the invaders is the too-slick-by-half Vicente Fox who has - starting on the day AFTER 9/11 and continuing until now - to feel he has the RIGHT to tell OUR PRESIDENT and OUR COUNTRY how to behave vis-a-vis Mexico’s solution to their poverty problems - exporting it. As far as I’m concerned, Vicente Fox is an arrogant s.o.b. who ought to be denied admission to our country for any reason! What if he decided to STAY?
I am the granddaughter of LEGAL immigrants. My maternal grandparents made absolutely unthinkable (to today’s “entitlement” babies anyway) sacrifices to come to this country. My well-educated professional, multi-lingual grandfather worked in the steel mills of Pittsburgh to support his large family and even managed to put his oldest son through college AND purchase his own house. And because of the sacrifices of this man (who died in 1923 when my mother - his youngest - was 7), I have the wonderful and challenging life I enjoy today. Am I grateful to these marvelous people - my maternal grandparents? You bet! Does my knowledge of their efforts and sacrifice cause me to view these illegal invaders with contempt and fury? Again, you bet!
I live 50 miles from the border, in San Diego County. I think Mr. Bush and anyone in Congress who agrees with him should come and live in this area for a few months, as average citizens, with their kids attending public schools. I’m really tired of them shoving their fantasy world down my throat.
To say you can’t just round up 12 million people and send them back to Mexico is just obfuscating on the part of Bush & Congress. You don’t have to send out the military en masse - that would be ridiculous, and unnecessary. All you have to do is send out the good old green INS vans, and start picking up the day workers on the street corners. If this was done on a daily basis, and those apprehended were fingerprinted, taken back across the border to Mexico, and told that if they come back, and are caught again, they will be incarcerated for a long time, the problem would resolve itself pretty quickly.
Regarding the fantasy about illegals applying for citizenship: these people do not want to become American citizens. They don’t care about voting. As long as they’re getting paid cash, so that they can continue to collect welfare, they’re real happy. As long as they can buy fake documents at the flea markets, they’re happy. As long as they are allowed to break ALL of our laws and get away with it, they’re happy. Here in San Diego, Mexicans are a protected class in that respect.
I have written to the White House and the RNC to let them know that I will support any movement to impeach this president for his failure to enforce the laws of this country.
FWIW - I agree completely with Chris Ford’s comment about Bush.
Not that you don’t say it well, but here’s another article that says it all…
http://tinyurl.com/ohfff
Here’s another good info site…
http://tinyurl.com/g5n46
Interesting….
something some of us know is happening in some areas, not all, but some
(but of course not something we’ll see on the front pages until the fake facades of racial harmony and so called multi-culturalism fall on their faces, which will be sooner than later))…
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0525/p01s03-ussc.html
On this issue, the president has formed a coalition of himself, Democrats, and “moderate” Republicans to defeat the Republican party on the Senate floor. Unimaginable and, I believe, unprecedented. I can find no other example of a president with a party majority in the chamber working with the minority party to defeat his own party. Talk about a slippery slope.
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