FORUM: Vote to secure our nation's borders
By Jeff Schwilk - Vista resident | Friday, September 19, 2008 12:47 PM PDT ∞

Despite all the recent excitement over John McCain's energizing vice president pick Gov. Sarah Palin, he remains committed to granting amnesty to 13 million to 20 million illegal aliens currently in America.

Unfortunately, if elected, he will likely sign an executive order in 2009 to make it happen. It's a promise he has made to the "Latino Community" repeatedly, and he hasn't changed his stance, despite his recent talk of securing the border.

Barack Obama is abysmal on illegal immigration and has promised amnesty, driver's licenses, and other social services to millions of illegal aliens if he's elected. He has even publicly accused ICE of separating families when they arrest illegal aliens, which is a bald-faced lie perpetuated by illegal alien advocacy groups.

Arrested aliens always have the option of taking their families back to their home countries with them. According to ICE, very few choose to do so.

Illegal aliens are the ones who abandon and separate their own families and then try to blame the U.S. government.

Only one candidate for president this year promises to secure our borders, end illegal immigration, and immediately pardon imprisoned Border Patrol agents Nacho Ramos and Jose Compean. Chuck Baldwin is the only candidate rated "Excellent" on immigration overall by Americans for Better Immigration.

Americans concerned with securing our nation and ending illegal immigration should support Baldwin's strong Constitutional message of security and American sovereignty, even if you choose not to vote for him on Election Day.

He has the same strong message that Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul had in their campaigns ---- common-sense messages of rational enforcement that ended up shaping the GOP debates.

We also need to continue to demand from the two main candidates a promise to crack down on criminal aliens, deport the estimated 550,000 fugitive aliens hiding in our country; stronger enforcement of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers (a felony); and of course, securing our border from the massive flow of drugs, criminals, gang members and impoverished citizens from south of the border.

We also need to end sanctuary cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and dozens of others nationwide that have resulted in murders and crime committed by criminal aliens who were given sanctuary from ICE and Border Patrol in violation of federal law. Sanctuary cities should have their federal funding cut off immediately before one more innocent American is killed by a shielded criminal alien.

"Cheap lettuce" is never worth dying for. A true guest worker program could give us all the farmworkers we would ever need, without importing criminals.

There's a lot at stake in this election. Some say the future of our nation as a country that respects legal immigration and the rule of law is at stake. The local congressional races are crucial too.

Call all your candidates' campaigns and voice your opinion! Then choose carefully on Nov. 4. The government works for us, We the People. Never cede your power to out-of-touch, elitist politicians. Never let them forget the Constitution they swore an oath to and the American citizens they work for.

Vista resident Jeff Schwilk is founder of San Diego Minutemen.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/09 ... 760914.txt