Thread: Illegal border crossing, smuggling an everyday event

Illegal border crossing, smuggling an everyday event
By: Zack Space

I always have been a strong supporter of protecting American jobs - especially from people who come here illegally to take those jobs.

It is obvious to anyone who lives and works in rural Ohio we have an illegal immigration crisis. There are Americans who go without work, and there are illegal immigrants who receive benefits provided by a system that they do not pay into. I always have believed this was wrong.

But traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border this week has given me a much more comprehensive view of this crisis. I went to Tucson, Ariz., and El Paso, Texas, where I visited with Border Patrol agents, inspected police facilities and ventured out along the border.
Despite the Border Patrol agents' best efforts, the flow of illegal immigrants into our country continues virtually unabated, and that is completely unacceptable.

I saw smugglers sitting just inside Mexico with radios they would use to alert others when Border Patrol agents approach. I learned smugglers must be caught with 500 pounds of marijuana before they would be arrested and prosecuted. I witnessed people climbing over rudimentary barriers with little trouble - anything less and they are turned loose. This was an eye-opening experience that revealed just how porous our border really is.

The Border Patrol agents I met who are down there guarding the border are some of the most dedicated, hard-working people I have met. They do the absolute best with the limited resources they have, but they are tasked with an impossible mission. They do not have the legal and technological tools, the manpower or the international support to stem the tide of illegal immigrants wishing to cross our border.

This is not only an economic issue, but one of national security. If someone wants to enter our country with the intent of doing harm, there is little standing in their way. Every day that people are allowed unfettered access to our country is another day we run the risk of allowing a terrorist in.

As I have said from the very beginning, we must remove both their ability to get here as well as their desire to come.

All immigration reform must start with securing our borders. That is a no-brainer. We need to construct barriers, invest in new technology, and hire more Border Patrol agents to physically prevent people from entering the country illegally.

Secondly, we must increase enforcement and punishment for employers who hire undocumented workers. If there are no jobs to be had, there will be no reason to come here.

And finally, we must make America the land of inopportunity for illegal immigrants by enforcing the laws we have on the books preventing them from receiving government assistance. If you have not paid into the system, you should not be able to take from it.

We have made some significant strides in Congress in the last year toward dealing with this problem. I have joined my colleagues in Congress in passing legislation that will provide 3,000 more Border Patrol agents, help fund states in their efforts to jail undocumented aliens, and crack down on alien smuggling, but these bills do not go far enough.

I have signed onto a bill called the Secure America with Verification and Enforcement Act. This bill is a simple three-part plan to deal with our illegal immigration crisis. It strengthens the border, increases employer verification and cracks down on interior enforcement.

We still have a long way to go before we begin to stem the tide of illegal immigration, and I will take what I have learned from my border mission back to Washington to push for much stronger enforcement through measures such as the SAVE Act.

We simply cannot afford to wait any longer.

Space, D-Dover, represents Ohio's 18th Congressional District, including Chillicothe
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/ ... /711250311

I like he is getting the word out. He's from Ohio yet he goes to the border to check it out.

The movie Redacted only brought in a record busting $25,000 this weekend. Yep 25 thousand not million. The war is going better and illegal immigration is becoming a larger issue for this next election. I predict the anti-illegal immigration groups will grow and become more vocal during this election. Thanks to Tom Tancredo who brought this issue to the forefront in Congress and people like Roy Beck who have worked tirelessly for over 16 years on this. We need to keep getting the word out.