WE NEED TO SECURE OUR BORDERS

I have personal ties to this subject, yet I have to stay objective.  That’s what I expect from our politicians (and yes, I go to bed disappointed regularly).

Depending on the source, estimates on the number of immigrants illegally living in the United States range from 10 to 20 million.  For the sake of argument I am going to use the average (15 million).  I know it’s not accurate, but that’s because no one, including our government, knows for certain.   Therein lays the first problem.  We don’t know for certain.  Our borders are so unsecure that people pass freely (in AND out) carrying whatever they want with them including weapons and drugs.  Keep in mind this is NOT a Mexican issue, or a drug issue, or a terrorism issue… this is a security issue.  Our borders are porous and that should concern Americans. 

The next issue is enforcement.  Why did Arizona have to pass a law to make illegal immigration illegal?  The answer is that the federal government isn’t doing their job.  This country possesses a fantastic military with weapon and surveillance systems unmatched by anything for at least 2 light years in any direction.  Yet the only borders we are securing are overseas.  Maybe it’s time to concentrate on the home front a little more?  Our borders should be the training grounds for our weekend warriors (reserve forces) when they do their one weekend a month and two weeks a year.  If we can defend a line in the sand in the Middle East against people with guns and tanks, we should be able to do the same here against people with bottled water and duffle bags.  The U.S. has not properly addressed this issue only because nothing has brought it to the forefront… so bravo, Arizona for forcing their hand.  Now they HAVE to react.  I just hope they react with more than lawyers, but we’ll see.

The next item up for bid is the damn media (again).  Tune in to any media outlet and you’ll see that the entire country is up in arms because of Arizona’s evil new law.  Of course, you’ll only see this because of the media stoking the flames of conflict.  Heaven forbid they report fairly, but fair don’t pay the bills.  A Gallup poll taken two days ago shows that what the media is portraying is actually quite contrary to the majority of public opinion.  In fact, out of all those polled about 78% were aware of Arizona’s new bill with 51% favoring it versus only 39% that oppose it.

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That’s based on opinions taken BEFORE Arizona added amendments that further outlined that profiling is illegal and will not be tolerated.  Also, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) received a 16-point bump in her approval rating after signing the current immigration bill into law and a Rasmussen Reports poll found 70 percent of likely voters in Arizona back the bill. There is little on the news about that, but I am sure today’s protests across the country will be the lead story on every network this evening as well as make the front page in the morning.  Stir that pot media, so you can charge top dollar for advertising.  The media is a money making machine, I urge you to beware what they tell - or should I say sell - you.

What else… oh yeah!  Remember the 15 million illegal immigrants I mentioned earlier?  Think about it.  That is equal to 5% of our current legal population.  So if immigration reform passes we must now provide health care to 47 million citizens, vice the 32 million who were uninsured when health care reform passed (with the President's guarantee that it would not cover those in the U.S. illegally).  That's 50 % more needing insurance with only a 5% increase in taxable citizens (almost exclusively from the low end of the tax scale; in reality most of those filing would get money back, and this assumes all 15 million are working and not unemployed, elderly or children - but they'll ALL get insured).  Also, there are estimates that up to 1 million of those illegally here have criminal records.  We have enough criminals… we don’t need to import any more.  I understand that many illegals are here to provide for family.  I respect what they are trying to do.  But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if some illegals are here because of jobs, others are here because of our too-lenient legal system.  I don’t care what you’ve heard about U.S. jails, they can’t compare to the horror stories about Mexican and Central American prisons.  If you’re going to take the easy way out and pursue a life of crime, then the good old U.S. of A. is the place to go.  Sorry, if you have a record of any felony or a string of misdemeanors, you're gone.

Here is my take on the whole thing.  The illegals that are already here need to come forth and register.  They can be grandfathered in and begin down the road to citizenship.  There should be a timeframe for all illegals to register.  When that deadline has passed all bets are off.  If you get caught, you go home… period.  Children born to illegals after the deadline get citizenship in their mother’s native country, not this one (even if daddy is American, no more loopholes).  Those that qualify and get registered must comply with the President’s statement which is that immigration legislation “must require those who are here illegally to get right with the law, pay penalties and taxes, learn English, pass criminal background checks and admit responsibility before they are allowed to get in line and eventually earn citizenship.”  This is at a minimum.  And before we do this we must lock down our borders to repel the tidal wave of people who will try to get in and register before it’s too late.  We’re talking activation of National Guard units in every border state with probable augmentation from states that do not have international borders.

I’m not sure why it took Arizona passing legislation to wake America to this issue, but I’m glad they did it.