Thread: Lawmakers Propose to Tighten US Border with Mexico

US Lawmakers Propose to Tighten US Border with Mexico
By Jim Malone
Washington
08 June 2005

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Man tries to climb border wall separating Mexico and US in Nogales, Mexico
Some members of Congress are pressing the Bush administration to shore up the U.S. border with Mexico, warning it could become a transit point for terrorists.


Ever since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both major political parties have focused on the southern border with Mexico as a potential weak link in keeping terrorists out of the United States.

Earlier this year, FBI Director Robert Mueller warned lawmakers that immigrants with ties to al-Qaida could easily enter the United States illegally from Mexico using false identities.

In recent months, some members of the president's majority Republican Party have stepped up pressure on the administration to do more to crack down on illegal immigration.

Arizona Republican John Kyl, a member of a Senate subcommittee that deals with immigration issues, expressed concern about the continuing influx of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border during a recent hearing.

"Many of these aliens, incidentally, are not from Mexico, but they come from countries all over the world, usually flying into Mexico and then sneaking across the border on foot," he said. "Many do not have authentic identity documents. Many do not carry documents at all. We do not even know who many of them are. We do not know whether they intend to simply find work or whether they plan to engage in acts of terror in the United States or are here to commit crimes in our society."

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But federal immigration officials insist they are making progress in stemming the influx.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar recently briefed a Senate subcommittee on immigration about his agency's efforts since last October.

"The Border Patrol as a whole has apprehended over 800,000 illegal aliens, interdicted 886,000 pounds of marijuana and 7,400 pounds of cocaine. Our objective is nothing less than a border under operational control," he said.

But with that success have come other problems. State and federal officials complain they are running out of room to detain illegal immigrants suspected of criminal intentions or from so-called countries of special interest, which are known to have links with terrorist organizations.

Immigration officials have instituted a limited expedited removal program that detains the most suspicious illegal aliens and usually results in them being deported in about a month's time.

Large numbers of other illegal aliens who are not deemed a threat are often released inside the United States and told to appear in court at a later date to determine whether they are eligible to remain. A large number of them never make their court appearances.


Senator John Cornyn
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn is joining forces with Senator Kyl to sponsor a bill that would double the size of the Border Patrol over the next five years.

"We cannot continue to ignore our border security or at least fail to provide the resources necessary to let our hard working men and women who are given that assignment and who have graciously accepted it, to be successful," he said.

If approved, the Cornyn-Kyl bill would authorize 10,000 new Border Patrol agents to the current total of 11,000. It would also offer a version of a temporary guest worker program similar to that proposed by President Bush last year.

The president's plan would allow unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States to apply for legal status to work and would impose new penalties on companies that knowingly hire illegal workers.

Stewart Verdery is a consultant on immigration issues and a former official in the Homeland Security Department. He told lawmakers that the creation of a guest worker program is an important part of helping law enforcement focus on terrorist and criminal threats coming across the border.

"Providing those who want to work have no prior criminal or terrorism record a means to enter the country legally through ports of entry will make it much more likely that the Border Patrol will be able to locate and arrest criminals and terrorists who will lose their cloak of invisibility that the current situation offers," he said.

But the guest worker proposals have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum.

Immigration opponents are worried about the government's ability to administer a massive new program while immigration advocacy groups are concerned that the plan will not do enough to protect the rights of temporary workers.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-06-08-voa46.cfm

GET TROOPS TO THE BORDERS NOW!!

Fine....get some more Border Control Agents, God knows we need them. But we need Troops on the Borders Now in addition to additional Border Control Agents. It will take months to hire 10,000 more Border Control Agents given the complexity of what can go wrong there. The National Guard is already hired and trained, ready to go secure the United States. They stand the Guard, every day, waiting for an Assignment. Give them one. Please!!

NO GUEST WORKER PROGRAM!! We do not need workers, what is wrong with you people??? We need jobs, not workers!! What is wrong with you!! Look around; check your unemployment figures; check your personal debt figures; check your personal saving figures; check your wage and salary figures; check your figures.....you are driivng the US into a Third World Economy with more workers than you have jobs and you can't be that uninformed and be a member of the US Congress or sit in the Oval Office. There is no way that you can have access to this information and not know that.

So what are you tryin' to do with a Guest Worker Program except create a Third World Economy in the United States?

WE don't need any of our laws changed. WE want them ENFORCED to the damn letter of the law. We want all these employers rounded up and locked up. WE want all these illegal employees deported.

WE want our borders SEALED so no immigrant, no person can enter the United States without our permission.

PERIOD!!

That is the LAW and the expressed and legal WILL OF THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

If you are incapable of understanding the task of enforcing these laws to the letter or are unwilling to do so, then you must resign so we can get someone in those chairs and at those desks who does.

These United States are not a "boy toy" for Globalists, for corporations, for profiteers, for currency manipulatorss, for communists, socialists, traitors, or terrorists.

More border patrol agents in five years??? Gosh...we'd have 25 million more illegals here in five years. Why does everything they propose have to be somewhere in the distant future? The old carrot and donkey routine...promise 'them' something and 'they' will shut up....NO WAY...

RR

RoadRunner, didn't you mean, "No Way, Jose?"

Roadrunner is right. The government is peeing on our legs and telling us it is raining. They are throwing up the old smoke and mirrors hoping that will pacify seriously concerned Americans. They are seriously wrong.

"Many of these aliens, incidentally, are not from Mexico, but they come from countries all over the world, usually flying into Mexico and then sneaking across the border on foot," he said. "Many do not have authentic identity documents. Many do not carry documents at all. We do not even know who many of them are. We do not know whether they intend to simply find work or whether they plan to engage in acts of terror in the United States or are here to commit crimes in our society."

I am so shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Like, why is it we are demanding the military cover our borders...because that's where the freakin' enemy is sneaking in. Not to mention the hordes of poverty stricken workers, gang members, drug runners, etc. This is way beyond the Border Patrol's abilities.

Just like they let the chain saw murderer in from Canada yesterday. They are not equipped to deal with what is a grave and imminent threat from people who want to do us serious harm.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar recently briefed a Senate subcommittee on immigration about his agency's efforts since last October.

"The Border Patrol as a whole has apprehended over 800,000 illegal aliens, interdicted 886,000 pounds of marijuana and 7,400 pounds of cocaine. Our objective is nothing less than a border under operational control," he said.

That's great. What about the millions that you missed? A few thousand smokey bears ain't gonna get the job done.

Put the army and/or the national guard and their technology on the border and this problem gets solved real quick.

Hoorah!

We definitely need troops on the borders....I'm beginning to believe for more reasons than one.

Something big is Afoot.

Remember that post I made about the Saudis putting their largest oil refinery up for sale?

The Saudis selling their largest refinery?

Why?

Do they not have enough cash?

Give Me a Break.

And who is bidding on it?

Who will end up with THAT!

Who bought out IBM?

Who has $600,000,000,000 cash in $$$$$ to buy just about anything their little hearts desire?

Who needs oil refining capacity?

Yep.....

We'll see what happens.

ALL WITH OUR MONEY!