Well, I was underwhelmed with the president’s speech last night.
One of the most appropriate headlines for the speech might be "President Attempts To Deceive Base With Tough Talk On Border Enforcement & Miscellaneous Canards."
Much of what he said was fine, but what he didn’t say was the problem. The main thing that he didn’t say was that we would build a wall to prevent future illegal immigration. Instead, he said:
Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border. By the end of 2008, we will increase the number of Border Patrol officers by an additional 6,000. When these new agents are deployed, we will have more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol during my Presidency.
At the same time, we are launching the most technologically advanced border security initiative in American history. We will construct high-tech fences in urban corridors, and build new patrol roads and barriers in rural areas. We will employ motion sensors … infrared cameras … and unmanned aerial vehicles to prevent illegal crossings. America has the best technology in the world – and we will ensure that the Border Patrol has the technology they need to do their job and secure our border.
Here the president calls for SOME new fences and "barriers" (what are those? trenches that you have to climb down one side of and up the other? mounds that you have to climb up one side of and down the other?) but not enough to actually seal the border.
Then there are the widgets that the president wants to use. I’m sorry, but high-tech gadgets aren’t going to secure our borders as well as a fence. They may help (and would be needed even with a wall), but they’re not enough. Even if a motion detector or an infrared camera sees someone coming across the border, that doesn’t physically stop the person from doing so and doesn’t magically transport border patrol agents to the site so that they can do the job. They’ll still let people into the country in a way that a wall would not.
These methods also are susceptible to policy changes and covertly looking the other way ways that a wall is not.
And adding 6000 border patrol agents only adds one person per shift per mile of the border. That’s not as effective as a wall, either.
I also wasn’t impressed with the president’s shift from the mantra about "Jobs Americans won’t do" to "Jobs Americans aren’t doing." His spinmeisters have apparently caught on to the fact that the first of these is in-your-face offensive, but the second isn’t much of an improvement.
It still insults our intelligence, since the only reason that Americans aren’t doing these jobs is that they are currently occupied by illegal aliens who have depressed the wages that would be paid for these jobs if the illegal aliens weren’t here.
There was more linguistic smoke and mirrors with the president’s equation of "amnesty" with "an automatic path to citizenship" and then denying that he’s for amnesty on this basis.
I’m sorry, but "automatic path to citizenship" is not the meaning of the word "amnesty," and even if we adopt this test then it will turn out that there has never been an amnesty for illegal aliens in American history, not even in 1986, when the word was being openly used.
Incidentally, the meaning of "amnesty" (in English, not Latin, folks) is:
the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals [SOURCE].
Seems to me that’s what’s being talked about: the granting of pardon (instead of deportation or prosecution) to individuals who have broken the law, even if they are made to jump through certain hoops in order to obtain this.
THE "BACK OF THE LINE" ARGUMENT IS ALSO A SCAM.
And then there were the bits of the speech aimed directly at El Presidente Vicente Fox about not "militarizing" the U.S. border.
Seeing the U.S. president pandering to a malefactor like Fox, who is openly contemptuous of the U.S.’s rights to enforce its borders and who is a prime facilitator of illegal immigration so that he can export his country’s poverty problem rather than clean up the corrupt system that prevents economic development in Mexico was postively disgusting.
There was also the canard about illegal aliens wanting to "build a better life" by coming to America. Yes, and while that is an understandable human desire, it is not a sufficient reason to let a person into this country. If it were then there would be about 5 billion people who would be entitled to enter America, many of whom would be even more impoverished and thus even more entitled than those who happen to conveniently share a border with us.
The president did get points from me for saying that
We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.
That is absolutely, 100% true, and must never be forgotten.
Illegal aliens must be treated with dignity, even if that dignity does not entitle them to residency in the United States.
BTW, before going nuts in the combox, please note that I haven’t said one word about what should be done about the 11 million aliens who are illegally present in this country at the moment. The only opinions I have expressed in this post are that a wall seems to be a crucial and compassionate way to stop the flow and that I am unimpressed with various things the president said.
While I think Pres. Bush not doing always the best thing…and I disagree with him on some things of course….
He still is a man of integrity and virtue — he desires much good and is one of our better Presidents from a Christian and human point of view. Sure every man has is weaknesses and mistakes –and yes he can be much better on a number of things–but Please — he is still a great President! One who has many of his values in the right place! (just remember the past — we have not always has Presidents who have his values!)
SO PLEASE — remember this folks in your discussions and OF COURSE LET US BE RESPECTFUL (just a few thoughts before all the comments begin!)–Thanks!
While I think Pres. Bush not doing always the best thing…and I disagree with him on some things of course….
He still is a man of integrity and virtue — he desires much good and is one of our better Presidents from a Christian and human point of view. Sure every man has is weaknesses and mistakes –and yes he can be much better on a number of things–but Please — he is still a great President! One who has many of his values in the right place! (just remember the past — we have not always has Presidents who have his values!)
SO PLEASE — remember this folks in your discussions and OF COURSE LET US BE RESPECTFUL (just a few thoughts before all the comments begin!)–Thanks!
Jimmy- I can’t help but agree with you regarding a wall. I honestly don’t understand why politicians who claim to be serious about regulating immigration (regardless of how they feel about the immigrants themselves) are so strongly opposed to a wall.
Bush is not going to earn much popular support by opposing the wall, so my only conclusion is that he simply doesn’t want to stop the influx of illegal immigrants.
The reasons for this are manifold, and none of them have to do with helping the average American. He wants illegal immigration to continue so that corporations can continue to profit from the exploited labor of these poor immigrants.
A wall (especially a well-monitored one surrounded by razor wire) is not inhumane. It would serve to deter those who would enter the US anonymously and illegally, and compel them to enter the country in an orderly and legal fashion (be that under a guest worker program, permanent immigration, or whatever.)
To me, the address was basically a waste of 20 minutes, especially since I don’t think the president knows what compromised and ineffective bill congress will decide to pass.
And please, Mr. President, when you build the wall, don’t build a corrugated wall like the one that exists now. A 3-year old could climb over it. Take a lesson from Israel. Now that’s a wall.
With all due respect, Jimmy. I think you’re completely off base. I thought the presidents’ “5 points” were precisely what we need in a reform bill. He outlined the vision, now congress needs to draft and pass legislation that sufficiently addresses his 5 criteria. That’s a leadership role. A wall simply won’t do what you claim it will do, either.
Israel’s Gaza Wall seems to be doing the job. All their terrorism problems appear to be coming from the West Bank. The Berlin Wall was effective, too.
Additonal benefit of a wall: It will make it harder for smugglers to get drugs into this country.
Jimmy,
I think a wall has weaknesses. For instance, we cannot see over it to know who and what is coming.
There is no wall that cannot be climbed over or tunneled under, as has been proved here in Arizona over and over again. Were it a Chinese type wall convered with sentrys it might work, but I do not think we can or will do that.
A trench, rolled barb wire, a fence with a south facing overhang, a road and more wire and fence plus high tech monitors and sentrys would take care of most of the problems associated with a fence and it would be cheaper I think. The trench would be to preven motorized vehicles from coming easily.
I really cannot express the extent of my disappointment with Bush. The depression of wages and the huge drain on our social sevices will continue under his plan, whether the immigrant is legal or illegal. A little bit of attrition would occur if the employer sanctions were to be enforced. Employer can and I emphasize can find out if an employee has forged documents. Not to do this will destroy our culture and the families, if not the cultures, of the immigrants.
A comprehensive plan must include Pope JPII’s instruction about fixing the reasons for emigratin.
I am appalled at how the US has allowed its border to be so leaky.
But a WALL to keep out Mexicans just doesn’t feel like America. It seems inhumane and reeks of the Berlin wall, Guantanamo, isolationism, etc.
Instead of a wall to keep out Mexicans, why not use semantic technology (ie, wordplay) and build a wall to keep them in Mexico, help Mexico prevent the scourge of human smuggling, secure the leaky Mexican border and therefore enhance Mexico’s security?
Heck, you’ll even build the wall in US territory just because you’re such a good friend.
That way, it doesn’t conflict with the sentiment of ‘bring me your tired masses’
HA! Did I just read someone call Bush a “man of integrity”…WHEN!?
How about a sort of “anti-Amnesty” that declares that declares that any illegal aliens will *never* be able to legally immigrate or work in America, and that for every illegal deported, a law-abiding legal immigrant who has been waiting in line will be let into the country?
It seems to me the most just thing to do.
A thought just occured to me, why do we need a wall?
To be just, any plan must, in my opinion, consider the people who wish to migrate, but have not done so out of respect for our laws.
A plan that allows those who have broken the law to gain an advantage over those who haven’t, seems to me unjust.
I think there should be a guest worker program, combined with a considerable resettlement grant ($1000 per person (e.g. $5000 for a family of five)), that must be applied for in one’s home country.
That would provide an incentive for those here illegally to return home, and reenter in a legal fashion, while treating all who aspire to come to the U.S. equally.
On a pragmatic basis, we need to make sure we take control of the GOP. My personal inclinations are third party, but that would result in uncounted millions of babies dead at the hands of the Supreme Court, more strongly in the Thanocrat camp after Hillary’s election. The current GOP is more and more lost to us, it seems. We need someone like Alan Keyes in charge of the party, and someone like Rep. Ron Paul as our presidential candidate. We need to secure the Supreme Court even more than we need to secure the border.
I’m not sure where this idea of not being able to see over the wall comes from. The Romans had no problem building wall forts. And UAVs typically fly at a higher altitude than the wall would reach. Equip the border patrol with horses, motorcyles, and ATVs to chase down anyone who manages to get over, through or under. Allow the State governors to deploy and rotate their guard units to back up the border patrol at say 20 miles back from the border, able to sorty out in HMMVs to pick up large parties that get through, or others spotted by IR video from Predators loitering at altitude, with the video feed piped to the Guard unit encampments.
Repatriate all illegal aliens. Amnesty should only extend to not holding this against them when they apply legaly for immigration. The border is so open, that they could reasonably claim that there is no border, and that they were invited.
With roughly 30 million unemployed Americans, we need no guest workers at this time. Certainly not for anyone with less than a Ph.D. We cannot absorb the 100 million illegals Bush’s guest worker plan would result in. We cannot absorb the 20-30 million we already have. We ahve to send them back.
If Vincente Fox wants to give the US the northern tier of Mexican states for us to govern and reform, we might consider that in Congress, but we don’t take their people without taking their territory in compensation. If he wants to submit Mexico as a US Protectorate, we could think about it. Decolonialism has done more harm than good these past 60 years. I’m afraid Kipling was more right than wrong. Ideas do make a difference. Mexican atheist communism (PRI) is not a viable model.
Francis, do you also have that feeling about Hadrian’s Wall? Or the Great Wall of China? The Berlin wall was -within- a country, to prevent -emigration-. This is a defensive wall to guard the border of an independant nation. A nation with no borders is no nation at all, which has been the argument of the fascist organization calling itself La Raza.
The present situation is almost as bad, in its own way, as Ruth Bader-Meinhoff submitting these united States to the laws of a foreign sovereign. (though only God is sovereign)
I don’t think Bush can talk about building a wall, especially because of his last visit to China when he made the statement, “President Hu, tear down this wall!”
Israel’s 750km wall (it’s not really a ‘wall’, some places it is a fence) cost $2B. It is very effective against a much more organized set of interlopers. Our border w/Mexico is about 750 miles. $2-3B seems a cheap solution to me.
You know, if the US had been able to secure its border with Mexico in 1830….
then that would have kept all those Americans out of Texas, and we would have avoided the (First?) Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and Mexico would still have Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Now the “squatters” are going to other direction…
The difference between the Wall in China and the wall we should build is that the wall in China is meant to keep people in.
Jimmy,
A wall is extravagant idea. The extra men will help. There needs to be more men out ther that are helping in protecting the borders. A fence will do the job as long as it is dug deep into the ground. Bush has offered a sound plan. There may still be those that can get over, but I guarantee it will be a great deal less than ever. As for the 11 million illegals here now, he did say that the people with deep roots and jobs would be allowed before the ones that recently arrived. Remember there are those on this side of the fence that are interested in getting some of the illegals out there. Some for horrid unthinkable reasons, but others for the cheap labor. I agree that Bush should be aware that it isn’t because we won’t do the jobs, it is because the employers don’t want to pay and they can get it cheaper through an illegal AND avoid a payroll addition. He will crack down on the employers and that I would like to see.
“A wall is extravagant idea(sic)”. Actually, a wall is a very simple idea, and, as has been pointed out above, can be extremely effective in stopping gate-crashers.
“He will crack down on the employers and that I would like to see.” Me, too. I just don’t think it will happen. I think that what the president gave us last night was an example of “symbolism over substance”.
I don’t know.
I’ve read about every article and points of view I can find on this subject.
“Let build a wall…” That somehow doesn’t seem like the solution. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Especially coming from a Catholic Website that I frequent.
If I’m going to error on this subject, I’m going to error on the side of the POOR.
I keep remembering that phrase…how does it go?
Something like, “Whatever you do to the least…you do to me?”
Did God set a limit on how much to give? I know he didn’t set one for how much to forgive (70 x 70).
Something like that.
I guess the enthusiasm placed around building a fence is unsettling.
“Let’s keep THOSE people out!”
“They’re law breakers. How dare they want to feed their families? How dare they…this and that.”
I hear, “Technically, it says we only have to give just so much…and we can all go home with a clear conscience.” I know Mother Teresa didn’t say that!
Then I hear the condescending arguement,”If I were in their shoes, I’d do the same thing…but since I’m NOT, Let’s Build a Wall! A gigantic wall; deep, barbed wired, trenched accompanied, with troops, and search lights, Predator drones, guard dogs, etc… etc… etc…
A guest worker program? Heck no! We don’t’ want them here at all.
ON THE OTHER SIDE: “We were here first, we’re taking our land back!”
Well, if this land were handed back, it would be Mexico and you wouldn’t want to live here!
Dah!
I just don’t get it. Where did our society go wrong?
Where did our Christian values get side tracked? We can hide behind the intellectual word playing games and arguments.
I know about the terrorist thing. I’m afraid for my family too.
I (we) need to pray about this whole thing… and ask for God’s wisdom…and forgiveness that we don’t end up on the wrong side of God’s will.
God Bless everyone.
tim +<><
Good fences make good neighbors. A wall/fence may not be sufficient, but it is necessary. I like to have visitors to my house, but it doesn’t mean I don’t lock my doors.
With roughly 30 million unemployed Americans, we need no guest workers at this time. Certainly not for anyone with less than a Ph.D. We cannot absorb the 100 million illegals Bush’s guest worker plan would result in. We cannot absorb the 20-30 million we already have. We ahve to send them back.
Apparently it does take a Ph.D. to read unemployment statistics. In 2005 the unemployment rate was about 5%. Given a generous labor force estimate of 75% and a population estimate of 300 million, it’s about 11 million unemployed Americans, not 30 million. And that’s probably high, given that the official estimate was 6 million in 2000. I have no idea why you would even think the unemployment rate is that high. If you’re going to throw around numbers, they should at least be correct.
I have a lot of sympathy for the people crossing over illegaly from mexico, especially the women who try to cross into the US to have their babies in US hospitals so that their baby might have citizenship. They live in a poverty-stricken place where a man isn’t what he makes of himself, the way it is here. They live in a country with a government so interested in perpetuating it’s own corruption and vice that they have no interest in the little guy, in those poor struggling families. If they did care more about the people of their own country, they’d work on stamping out the corruption and at least working on developing a functional economy. Instead, they encourage their citizens to sneek into the US, then earn money to send it back into the Mexican economy, which is just a bandaid over a big gushing wound. Amnesty is just a bandaid, ignoring the illegals is just a bandaid… all this stuff does is continue feeding into the corruption and problems that make people do the desperate things they do to come here. Doing things that, on the surface level, appear to be compassionate really just perpetuate the misary that we are showing compassion towards.
When politicos turned the other way at laws currently on the books, why on Earth would new laws make any difference? They won’t and they know it. Both sides of the aisle are eager to pander to naive newcomers, for the rest has wised up and is jaded by big government.
As a LEGAL immigrant myself, I am furious to see officials bending over ILLEGAL aliens while the book was thrown at me for doing things by the book. I love this country and its people, but I’m getting to despise the American politicians almost as much as those in my home country.
May Our Lord Jesus Christ give Americans more wisdom at the voting booth, steering away from the DNC and the GOP.