Illegal flow from Mexico worse than any gas price concerns
By PHIL VALENTINE • July 20, 2008

It seems like forever we've been consumed with the high gas prices. This run-up in energy costs has diverted our attention away from other pressing issues that need addressing, but we can't seem to take our eyes off the pump.

Politicians are counting on that. U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., is quietly sponsoring a couple of bills in Congress that would extend federal wildlife protection to about 84,000 acres along the U.S.-Mexico border at Coronado National Forest. This would effectively move the border 30 miles to the north. It would also effectively create a safe haven for drug runners and coyotes.

The only chance we have in stopping illegal entry into our country is for Border Patrol agents to peer into Mexico to see who's coming. A 30-mile buffer zone would make it impossible to do that.

Rep. Grijalva is offering his legislation under the guise of protecting the environment, but it's clear what his intentions are. He's attempting to facilitate illegal immigration now that the Border Patrol has stepped up its enforcement.

Few know this issue better than Darrell Ankarlo. Ankarlo, former morning talk-show host at WTN in Nashville, now broadcasts out of Phoenix. Not only is he on the front line of the illegal immigrant problem, he threw himself in the middle of this mess by leading a team across the border into Mexico then sneaking back into this country. After he crawled under what passes for a fence, he was amazed at just how easy it was. He crossed back into Mexico and did it again — several times — thinking surely someone would be along to apprehend him. They never showed.

He chronicles his adventure in his new book, Another Man's Sombrero (Thomas Nelson). Ankarlo wanted to get an understanding of what drives people to risk their lives to come to America.

He interviewed dozens of people while in Mexico, from illegal immigrants to the coyotes they pay to guide them over, even Mexican border patrol agents. What we learn in this book is it's worse than we thought. Mexico is so corrupt that there's no way anything's ever going to be done on their side of the border to stem the flow.

What's even more maddening is Ankarlo's chronicling of the mindless catch-and-release policy of the U.S. government. He visited a processing center where hundreds of illegal immigrants who have been caught are fed through the system. They're fingerprinted, and the prints are run through a computer. If they come up positive, the person is held until they determine what to do with him. Most, however, are processed and released back into Mexico only to try again the next day.

Ankarlo talked to illegal immigrants at the processing center who bragged they had attempted entry on numerous occasions and laughed at our attempts to stop them.

He also exposed the deplorable conditions in which many Mexicans live. It's no wonder they want to leave. Their government is corrupt and making a living — merely scratching out an existence — is extremely difficult. The untold story is that there's a racial component to this poverty. Most of the poor in Mexico are darker-skinned, with more Indian blood. The ruling class is still made up primarily of those with more Spanish blood. Their system is broken and instead of fixing it, the Mexican government can open up the pressure valve and release the steam into the U.S.

It's time we put a cap on that valve. Pressure needs to rise to the point in Mexico that these people effect change in their own country. The compassionate course of action is to force these people to fundamentally transform their country.

Ankarlo also brings the "Reconquista'' movement to the forefront in this book. Although proponents of illegal immigration deny it, there is a popular mindset in Mexico that the Southwest United States somehow belongs to them. There is a hushed but concerted effort to take that land back by overwhelming it with illegal immigrants. This is something we can no longer afford to ignore.

For anyone who wants to truly understand our illegal immigration problem, Another Man's Sombrero is your book.

Phil Valentine is an author and syndicated radio talk-show host heard locally on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN weekdays 4-8 p.m. His column appears in The Tennessean on Sundays. Web site: philvalentine.com.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /OPINION01