http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html
DOBBS: Tonight, President Bush is asking Texas and other states to
review the cases of 51 Mexican nationals now on death row for crimes
they committed in this country. The request from the Bush
administration raises new concerns about the influence of
international courts over what was once U.S. policy and law.
Just last year, the World Court ordered the same reviews. That court
found the convictions violated international law because the Mexican
nationals were not told they could seek legal advice from their
consular officials. A Justice Department brief on the president's
decision said he made it based on "foreign policy interests."
My guest tonight has introduced legislation that would make English
the official language of the United States. Congressman Steve King of
Iowa says the bill would ensure that immigrants to this country learn
to speak English. He's a member of the House Judiciary Committee and
the Immigration Subcommittee joining us tonight from Capitol Hill.
Congressman good to have you with us.
REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Hi, Lou, I'm glad to be on board.
DOBBS: Why is your legislation necessary?
KING: Well, we need to put this in place so that this country doesn't
continue to be divided by the people who want to promote the
multilingual society that actually encouraging enclaves of people who
don't learn how to absorb themselves into this economy. It's a
disincentive for people to hire employees if they don't speak English.
In fact, not speaking English is a guarantee on average you'll make 17
percent less. So, English is a language of opportunity. It's a
language of unity. And the most powerful unifying force known
throughout all of history is a common language. This country need to
stay united, and we need to be united into the future.
DOBBS: As you know, many -- many of our schools now are bilingual in
their educational approach. Many times you pick up a phone to connect
for any service and you're offered two languages, typically Spanish
and English. Language signs in various parts of our huge cities are
many times in Spanish rather than English. What would be the impact
there?
KING: Well, we just establish in the law that all public proceedings
and all officials documents -- I'll say government proceedings and
official documents are in English. We don't interfere with the private
sector, they can do what they want to do. But we want to bring it back
to English as the official language for our documents and for our
proceedings. And so, if they are posted on the public square, we're
going to make exceptions that are common-sense exceptions with regard
to public safety, and health and justice, those kind of things. But
what you'll see is a progression towards more English and less foreign
language.
DOBBS: Well, English on a ballot, for example, would it be only
English on ballots? Would that be a requirement?
KING: We don't specify that today, but that's where we want to get. I
only wanted to take a so big of a battle, and if we go that far, it
might be more than we can win.
DOBBS: Well, help me out here, Congressman. I'd like to show our
audience a -- from the Immigration and Nationalization Service, the
requirements for citizenship for naturalization in this country --
residence, good moral character, attachment to the Constitution,
knowledge of civics and English. There are others as well. The INS
then goes on to explain -- immigration and nationalization goes to
explain what that means, knowledge of civics and English. To become a
citizen, you must -- to be eligible for naturalization, you must be
able to -- if we could see that reference. You must be able to read,
write and speak basic English. So with that statement, it's a matter
of law. Why in the world is this necessary?
KING: Well, it is a matter
of law there. But also we know that we're having naturalization
ceremonies conducted in Spanish, for example, and other languages.
There's a effort by...
DOBBS: Wait, wait, wait Congressman. I'm sorry, I've got to interrupt
you. Say that again.
KING: I say that there's been a constant effort by people who meet
immigrants at the border to tell them, you don't need to assimilate.
You don't need to learn the language. We'll take care of you and we're
going to adapt to the incoming cultures. And so, that's why we need to
change it. But we've set it up so that homeland security writes the
rules and enforces this at the naturalization ceremony as opposed to
where it is now.
DOBBS: And you were saying that naturalization ceremonies are being
conducted in languages other than English?
KING: Yes, sir.
DOBBS: Despite the fact that the law is quite clear?
KING: Despite that fact. And it's part of this effort to ignore the
laws that you don't want to follow. And this effort that is designed
to accommodate newly arriving immigrants, and in fact, they're doing
them a disservice. The more we can encourage people to learn English,
the more successful they will be. In fact, they can't understand this
culture without being able to understand this English language.
DOBBS: Nor can they drive or communicate nor be communicated with
importantly within our society. You know, Congressman, the more I
learn about what's going on in this country in terms of immigration,
now naturalization, border security, you know, one starts looking for
the causal agents.
One looks to the Mexican Government, for example, for not providing
for its people. One looks to U.S. employers who would hire illegal
aliens in absolute disregard for the law, exploiting cheap labor. And
the next thing one has to look at is the United States Congress. What
in the world are you people doing up there on Capitol Hill? What are
you colleagues doing? Have they just given up on the idea of America
altogether?
KING: The immigration issue -- Lou, the immigration issue, those of us
who want to enforce our borders and immigration laws are caught in
this trap from two sides. The side on the left that says let's have
unlimited immigration. They will come in and they will vote for
Democrats. The side on the right that are multinational corporations
and pure libertarian capitalists that argue that they should have a
ready supply of cheap labor where ever their factories might be.
That's the two forces that have joined together. And those of us in
the middle are interested in maintaining the unity of this nation. And
English is the most unifying force. Every other nation in the world
has at least one official language. We're just seeking to establish
Noah Webster's dream, which was to establish the English language as
the official language of the United States.
DOBBS: And I think, probably, millions of people are shocked to
learned that it is not already the official language, as you know
congressman. Let's hope that some in Congress remember that they're
there to represent. With your example, I should hope they would be
helped along. But they're to represent the middle class in this
country, the men and women who work every day to make this country
work. It'd be nice to see some representation of American interests.
We thank you for taking a step in that direction.
KING: Thank you, Lou. There are over 80 percent of the Americans that
support this, and we just need to follow American's wisdom on it.
DOBBS: Congressman Steve King, we thank you for being here.
KING: Thank you.
DOBBS: That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. Do you
believe English should be the official language of the United States,
yes or no. I have no idea how this one is going to turn out. Cash your
vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have the results later here in the
broadcast.
Taking a look now at some of "Your Thoughts."
Pat from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, "I got such a chuckle when I saw
the upcoming show will be discussing English as the national language.
What will become of all the automated phone messages that tell us to
press one if we wish to continue in English?"
Eugene Womack in Myers Flat, California, "Our borders are broken.
Immigration laws continue to be ignored and unenforced. National
security is a farce. Jobs are outsourced without regard to the
consequences. The Social Security fund is raided on an annual basis,
by every administration. Our leaders ignore us and refuse to make
tough decisions. Corporations run our nation."
Diane Gallagher in Waterloo, Iowa, "Do you believe the sale of a U.S.
defense contractor to a foreign company compromises U.S. national
security? I'm confused, what national security?"
Kevin McDonald in Novato, California, "My school in California is
being flooded with illegals, draining resources and lowering the
academic level of the class. Parents are running to private schools.
If someone thinks cheap immigrant labor saves them money, ask them to
think about how much it would cost to send their kids to a private
school from kindergarten through high school."
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Tonight our special report, "Broken Borders," our
border patrol agents are overwhelmed, not only by illegal aliens but
also by illegal drugs. Incredibly, the White House says only a few
more border patrol agents are required. Tonight, we report from the
wide-open border with Mexico where we've lost the drug war. Have we
also lost our sovereignty?
And making English the official language of the Unites States. It's a
bold and, some might say, shocking proposal. Tonight I'll be talking
with a congressman who's introduced legislation to do just that, to
require the federal government to conduct business in English.
Still ahead here, "Broken Borders," our special report. Our Border
Patrol agents are simply overwhelmed by the number of illegal aliens
crossing our borders and illegal drugs as well. Tonight we'll have a
special report for you from our wide-open border with Mexico.
DOBBS: Tonight, an outrageous demand from the Mexican government,
which is asking the United States now to help protect illegal aliens
who cross our border with Mexico. Mexico's foreign ministry raised its
concerns about the upcoming Minuteman Project, which we have reported
here extensively. Thousands of volunteers are expected to spend next
month monitoring the border and reporting illegal aliens who cross
that border.
Mexico is now calling upon U.S. officials to make sure the minutemen
"do not abuse" Mexicans who cross the borders illegally. That is
despite the fact that the Mexican illegal aliens themselves are
abusing U.S. immigration laws. And the minutemen, by the way, refer to
themselves not as vigilantes, but rather as undocumented Border Patrol
agents.
Our nation's Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed not just by the
millions of illegal aliens who are crossing into country. They're also
trying to stop millions of dollars in illegal drugs. Yes, the war on
drugs remains.
Border agents have seized hundreds of thousands of pounds of marijuana
in just the past six months. Casey Wian has the report from Nogales,
Arizona.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nogales Border Patrol
agents have a nickname for the 31-mile stretch of border under their
watch, Mogadishu, because here, south of Tucson, agents are under
siege from potential terrorists, desperate illegal aliens and violent
drug smugglers. Agents took us on patrol Monday evening, and within 10
minutes, the radio comes alive.
The chase is on. Another agent has spotted two suspicious vehicles.
When we arrived, two Mexican nationals are already in custody. So is
their cargo, nearly 300 pounds of marijuana worth about $250,000.
(on camera): How do you think they got across the border? Any way to tell?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this point there's really no way to tell.
WIAN: In just the past six months, Tucson sector Border Patrol agents
have seized more than 215,000 pounds of marijuana. This two- ton load
was discovered just last week.
(voice-over): The load was packed in two pickups. Sometimes 25- pound
bails of pot are strapped two at a time on the backs of illegal
aliens, as this agent demonstrates.
(on camera): How long do they walk sometimes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes up to four days, five days.
WIAN (voice-over): Last summer, as part of the Arizona Border Control
Initiative, the Nogales station received more digital remote cameras,
monitors and censors. From this command center, they can see most of
the border even at night. That's made crossing more difficult for drug
and alien smugglers, so they've gone underground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we unearthed the drug tunnel. They
commonly run aliens and drugs, narcotics through these tunnels. And it
originated in Mexico and came straight north. They would have tunneled
up inside of a home up there, or an abandoned building, and then
loaded the contraband or the aliens in a vehicle and driven them out.
WIAN: Nogales agents found this tunnel last week. Four days later, a
more sophisticated passage was found under the border in California.
The Bush administration is counting on technology and a few additional
agents to gain control of the border. Agents here welcome the tools
but privately say they could use more man power.
Casey Wian, CNN, Nogales, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
