Thread: CA: Immigration topic of talk

Last comment of this article is so typical of CA journalism.
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November 30, 2007


Immigration topic of talk

Minuteman president endorses Benoit

Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun

A secure-the-borders, anti-illegal immigrant leader publicly endorsed Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, in his bid for State Senate on Thursday night.

Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in Scottsdale, Ariz., talked about immigration issues to an intimate group of about 30 mostly retired, conservatives in Rancho Mirage.

"It's the number one topic regardless of where you are," Simcox said. "Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee. Everyone's talking the issue.

"We like to think that we've helped to drive the message."

Formed in 2002, the Minuteman Corps is an activist organization of volunteers who help monitor the border and report information to Border Patrol on undocumented immigrants. Simcox said the organization has 125 chapters nationwide with nearly one in four volunteers being Latino. A new chapter is organizing in the Coachella Valley, he said.

The Minuteman solution to the country's porous borders, Simcox told the friendly crowd, would be for the next president to deploy 40,000 armed National Guardsmen to the southern border by executive order at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion.

Only Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson has outlined a plan to deal with the undocumented immigration and the estimated 12 million living in the shadows, Simcox said, and he favored Thompson by default only.

Securing the southern border and fining employers who hire the undocumented, Simcox said, would have the domino affect of forcing the Mexican government to deal with its economic issues.

Benoit is running for the senate seat held by La Quinta Republican Jim Battin, who cannot seek another term because of term limits.

"The number one issue that I get asked about it immigration," Benoit said. "Far more frequently than anything about health care, education or taxes.

"It doesn't make any sense that America doesn't have a better handle of its borders."

Simcox's message resonated with attendees.

"If we can keep (illegal aliens) from coming we can save money," said Norma Circle, 72, a Rancho Mirage resident.

Abe Siemens agreed saying the federal government is to blame for skyrocketing social service costs associated with undocumented immigration.

"I feel like some of the actions of Congress are treasonous," the 78-year-old Rancho Mirage resident said. "They're selling us down the river."

Simcox and others cited a report released Thursday from a think tank that favors stricter immigration policies that undocumented immigration is hurting the U.S. In 2002, the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. estimated the annual federal cost of unauthorized immigration nationwide at $10 billion in 2002.

Very few studies look at the cost and benefits of undocumented immigration.

A Desert Sun analysis last year, however, found that undocumented immigrants in Riverside County contribute about $1.5 billion while costing taxpayers $220 million.

www.mydesert.com

A Desert Sun analysis last year, however, found that undocumented immigrants in Riverside County contribute about $1.5 billion while costing taxpayers $220 million.

LIARS!