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  1. #1
    Senior Member Darlene's Avatar
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    Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders

    http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm


    Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders

    By Chris Strohm
    cstrohm@govexec.com

    After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal government.

    On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging two Homeland Security Department bureaus.


    The two main organizers of a group in Arizona that set up citizen camps to stop illegal immigration during April met with members of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.


    "The time for hand-wringing, the time for worrying about hurting people's feelings, is long past," said Chris Simcox, one of the organizers, during a press conference in Washington. "Will it take the blood of an American citizen being spilled on that border, perhaps an 80-year-old great-grandmother sitting in a lawn chair, to get the attention of the president? We hope not."


    The group, organized as the Minuteman Project, set up citizen camps along a 20-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border. Participants in the all-volunteer project were prohibited from making contact with illegal immigrants, but only observed and reported activity to the Border Patrol. Organizers said that illegal immigration had been almost stopped in their observation area, showing that a physical presence on the border can work.


    The group wants foreigners coming into the United States to do so through legal immigration channels and official U.S. ports of entry.


    Simcox said the citizens' effort will now continue under the name Civil Homeland Defense. He said his group has about 15,000 volunteers ready to set up camps along U.S. borders, and will continue to do so until the federal government orders the military to the regions.


    "I'm here this week to bring a very simple, blue-collar message to our elected officials," Simcox said. "... the people are going to pick up the slack from this point on. We must take care of our own property. We must secure our borders. We must protect our neighbors and our families and our way of life."


    "While our soldiers, men and women, are fighting for the cause on foreign soil, it's time we begin fighting for the cause here in America on our own soil," he added. "My message is direct and is simple, and it's a challenge. We challenge the federal government to relieve us from duty."


    Simcox said the group will start in New Mexico, and then move to California and Texas, and also to northern border states.


    "We're going to seal that border as citizens, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean," he said. "There's no compromise. That's my message."


    Members of the immigration reform caucus also heard from Charles "Chuck" Floyd, a retired U.S. Army officer and former manager for the State Department's Overseas Buildings Operations. Floyd presented the caucus with a four-page plan that calls for a multilayered, integrated security system for the borders, including $12 billion in emergency spending.


    The plan also calls for DHS to merge the bureaus of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement "so one agency is responsible for the total illegal immigration services issue." Such a merger has been suggested by some lawmakers, as well as current and former DHS officials.


    Floyd said he is hoping to be appointed by Bush to an open slot within DHS, hopefully in the area of border security.


    Some lawmakers in the caucus expressed support for sending the military to the borders.


    "I support utilizing troops on the border to supplement the U.S. Border Patrol," said Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. "I think it would send a strong message that the United States means 'no' to illegal immigration."


    Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., agreed.


    "National security dictates protection of our borders," he said. "This is the irony. In this war on terror, we have put in place elements of our military on the borders of Iraq and Afghanistan. If we are willing to help protect those countries' borders, shouldn't we do the same in America?"


    Critics, however, think that efforts such as the Minuteman Project are distorting the image of immigrants in the United States.


    Priscilla Monico, a student at George Washington University in Washington, came to Wednesday's press conference out of concern that rhetoric against illegal immigrants is dehumanizing those in the Hispanic community.


    "I think our community is hard-working and I think that they deserve a right to come here," she said, adding that her mother migrated here from Colombia. "I'm concerned that it's going to come down to people having misinterpretations of what the Latino community is."


    She said she knows immigrants who are in the country illegally, and they mean no harm.


    "It's a matter of feeding your family, and I think that Americans sometimes forget the humanistic aspect of this," she said. "You have to understand that people are trying to live; they're just trying to survive. It's not like they're trying to scam the United States or anything like that."

  2. #2
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    Critics, however, think that efforts such as the Minuteman Project are distorting the image of immigrants in the United States.
    DISTORTED, eh? No, they're putting everything into perspective for many who've not been watching our government with scrutiny & scepticism......which happens to be an AMERICAN TRAIT.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    Go Minutemen!!
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  4. #4
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    My reply to Miss whatsherface from Columbia would be: America and Americans have been much too kind to far too many for far too long. We have been rewarded by attempts to steal our country, to import gangs whose numbers are in the high six figures, by arrogance, by name calling...the list is too long. Our patience has run out. No one has misrepresented the hispanic community...except the hispanic community who desire to shield, protect and import more of the same ilk. Thank you, miss whatsherface...but NO THANK YOU

    RR
    The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. " - Lloyd Jones

  5. #5
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    "It's a matter of feeding your family, and I think that Americans sometimes forget the humanistic aspect of this," she said. "You have to understand that people are trying to live; they're just trying to survive. It's not like they're trying to scam the United States or anything like that."
    I have news for you. They ARE scamming us. They are costing us BILLIONS. Wake up! Pull your head out.
    http://www.alipac.us Enforce immigration laws!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    SCAM = Illegal

    SCAM = Lying for Money

    SCAM = Prosecutable FRAUD

    SCAM = State Court Fraud

    SCAM = Local Jurisdiction for Civil FRAUD Against Americans

    You lost a job or know someone who lost a job to an illegal alien??

    You lost a business or know someone who lost a business to illegal aliens?

    You don't need the feds, you need a complaint filed with your local District Attorney!!
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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