FederalRepublic.net

From the Associated Press

BOULEVARD, Calif. — As immigrants and their supporters prepared for a massive boycott on Monday, opponents of illegal immigration went to work building a border fence meant to symbolize their support of a secure border.

About 200 volunteers organized by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California began building a 6-foot barbed wire fence Saturday along a quarter-mile stretch of rugged terrain in Boulevard, about 50 miles east of San Diego.

Tim Donnelly, the group’s leader, said volunteers ate apple pie and hot dogs as they worked on the fence, which was connected to an existing 12-foot-high fence previously built by the federal government.

The volunteers wanted to send a message to Congress that the government should block entry to the United States and not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, Donnelly said.

Thousands of immigrants and their supporters are expected to boycott work and schools Monday to raise awareness of their contributions to society.

“This was largely sent as a message to Congress so they’ll see on May 1, there are jobs that even illegal immigrants don’t want to do, but Americans are more than willing to do them,” Donnelly said, referring to the fence-building.

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Finally someone is stepping up to do something about the problem of illegal immigration in this country, and it’s certainly not the federal government. While Congress debates legislation meant to put illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship (an almost absolute amnesty for illegals), the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has voluntarily begun to build a fence in support of securing our borders.

Congress must realize securing our borders must be a priority of the most serious importance. Millions of illegal immigrants sneak into our country every year, drying out social service tax dollars, while defying our laws to the point of chaos. If the Congress does not take action on this serious matter, the silent majority must stand with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and fight for the security of our nation.

By Andrew Taylor

The Senate voted Wednesday to divert some of the money President Bush requested for the war in Iraq to instead increase patrols against illegal immigrants on the nation’s borders and increase security at U.S. ports.

An amendment cutting Bush’s Iraq request by $1.3 billion to pay for new Border Patrol agents, aircraft some fencing at border crossings widely used by illegal immigrants was adopted on 59-39 vote.

While the border security funds had sweeping support, Democrats and Republicans argued over whether the cuts to Pentagon war funds would harm troops on the ground in Iraq. The cuts, offered by Judd Gregg, R- N.H., trim Bush’s request for the war by almost 3 percent but don’t specify how.

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In a change of heart, the Senate has voted to divert money from the emergency funding bill for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Katrina victims. Personally, I think this is a smart move. There is no doubt the U.S. - Mexico border needs stronger security to keep illegal aliens out of our country.

Though shifting money to border and port security is a great move, there are serious concerns about funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe Iraq must take control of its own reconstruction and fund it via oil revenues. The Iraq War is an honorable war and I agree with its cause, but at some point, the United States must take a stand by giving the Iraqi government a nudge to fund reconstruction itself.

By Elliot Spagat

Marcial Rodriguez, a U.S. Marine who grew up in a Mexican farming village, is offended that the country he went to war for might deport his relatives who are living here illegally.

Three months after the lance corporal returned to Ohio from the fighting in Iraq, the U.S. House adopted a bill that would make Rodriguez’s cousin a felon for being one of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

Rodriguez, 20, said he enlisted in the Marine reserves to repay the debt he felt owed to a country that had given him an education and a home for his family.

“People from many different countries are fighting, not just from Mexico,” he said. “We want to participate in this country.”

It is unclear how many soldiers find their loyalties similarly divided, but at a time when Pentagon has stepped up recruiting of Hispanics to fill recruiting quotas, experts say a crackdown on illegal immigration would undoubtedly cause resentment in the ranks.

“How do you tell them we’re going to deport their parents and grandparents?” asked Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a group that has encouraged Hispanics who do not plan to attend college to join the military. “That’s not America.”

-Snip-

“After serving our country, to see our relatives now criminalized through this legislation is provoking a lot of people,” said Mariscal, director of Chicano studies at the University of California, San Diego.

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As a veteran myself, I am offended by this Marine thinking his family can continue to break the law even though he served this great nation. By oath, military members are charged to “…support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic.” The Constitution of the United States is the law of this great land; there is no greater fixed principle of justice and law.

The constitution gives Congress the authority to “…establish a uniform rule of naturalization…” Under current laws created by Congress, someone who jumps the border and is not documented under proper legal procedures are termed “illegal aliens.” Clearly, it is against the law for the person(s) in question to be within the territories of the United States. What this Marine refuses to understand is that his family broke immigration laws - laws protected through the United States Constitution, which he swore to defend.

Charles Krauthammer has written a great piece for Townhall.com considering the issues and advantages of building a wall to secure our borders from illegal crossings and to protect United States sovereignty:

WASHINGTON — Every sensible immigration policy has two objectives: (1) to regain control of our borders so that it is we who decide who enters, and (2) to find a way to normalize and legalize the situation of the 11 million illegals among us.

Start with the second. No one of good will wants to see these 11 million suffer. But the obvious problem is that legalization creates an enormous incentive for new illegals to come.

We say, of course, that this will be the very last, very final, never-again, we’re-not-kidding-this-time amnesty. The problem is that we say exactly the same thing with every new reform. And everyone knows it’s phony.

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My proposition is the following: a vast number of Americans who oppose legalization and fear new waves of immigration would change their minds if we could radically reduce new — i.e., future — illegal immigration.

Forget employer sanctions. Build a barrier. It is simply ridiculous to say it cannot be done. If one fence won’t do it, then build a second 100 yards behind it. And then build a road for patrols in between. Put cameras. Put sensors. Put out lots of patrols.

Can’t be done? Israel’s border fence has been extraordinarily successful in keeping out potential infiltrators who are far more determined than mere immigrants. Nor have very many North Koreans crossed into South Korea in the last 50 years.

Of course it will be ugly. So are the concrete barriers to keep truck bombs from driving into the White House. But sometimes necessity trumps aesthetics. And don’t tell me that this is our Berlin Wall. When you build a wall to keep people in, that’s a prison. When you build a wall to keep people out, that’s an expression of sovereignty. The fence around your house is a perfectly legitimate expression of your desire to control who comes into your house to eat, sleep and use the facilities. It imprisons no one.

Of course, no barrier will be foolproof. But it doesn’t have to be. It simply has to reduce the river of illegals to a manageable trickle. Once we can do that, everything becomes possible — most especially, humanizing the situation of our 11 million existing illegals.

By Arthur Rotstein

TUCSON, Ariz. - If the government doesn’t build security fencing along the Mexico border, Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox says he and his supporters will.

Simcox, whose civilian watch group opposes illegal immigration, said Wednesday he was sending an ultimatum to     President Bush to deploy military reserves to the Arizona border by May 25 or his supporters will break ground for their own building project.

“We’re going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise,” Simcox said.

Congress has been debating immigration reform for several months. One bill, approved by the U.S. House in December, calls for nearly 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. The fence proposal has angered Mexicans, with President     Vicente Fox calling it “shameful.”

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As said on this website before, it is essential for the security of the United States that a physical barrier be put into place to crack down on illegal crossings of immigrants from Mexico. As this article has implied, the United States Congress has been dragging its feet on the issue of physical security to keep illegal immigrants from crossing our borders. The defense of this nation must be our government’s first priority. That priority includes the protection of our country by guarding our borders.

From the Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The two top Republicans in Congress, confronted with internal party divisions as well as large public demonstrations, said Tuesday they intend to pass immigration legislation that does not subject illegal aliens to prosecution as felons.

A written statement by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, did not say whether they would seek legislation subjecting illegal immigrants to misdemeanor prosecution or possibly a civil penalty such as a fine.

“It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony,” the two men said. An estimated 11 million men, women and children are in the United States illegally.

The Republican-controlled House passed legislation late last year that is generally limited to border security measures. It makes illegal immigrants subject to felony prosecution.

Senate efforts to write a broader bill — covering border security, a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million in the country illegally — are gridlocked with lawmakers on a two-week vacation.

Frist has said he intends to bring the issue back to the Senate floor, although he stopped short of a flat commitment and the prospects for passage of an election-year immigration bill are uncertain.

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When it comes to correcting the illegal immigration problem in our country, most lawmakers, both GOP and Democratic Party, have it all wrong. As a nation of laws, the United States must apply the law to illegal aliens.

Gridlock in the Senate and controversy in the House over the possibility that illegal aliens could be all considered felons it not only silly, but it displays how much the Congress of the United States has no interest in securing our country from those who enter illegally or punishing those who have broken our entry laws.

Our lawmakers MUST secure the borders first. They must take the steps to secure our borders from unlawful entry, while preserving the integrity of the legal immigration process. Building a fence and increasing funding and manpower to our border control agencies would be a start. Second, Congress must punish illegals for entering our country and breaking our entry laws. There must be strict penalties, especially in terms of deportation. Third, there must be legislation in place to punish employers of illegal aliens and force employers to verify social security numbers of their employees. Finally, Congress must realize how unfair it is being to lawful immigrants who waited years to enter the United States. It is not in the best interest of the country to reward illegal immigration, while subjecting those who wish to enter legally to red tape and unnecessary delays. We must honor those who wish to enter lawfully and punish those who don’t.

By Robert Pear

WASHINGTON, April 15 — More than 50 million Medicaid recipients will soon have to produce birth certificates, passports or other documents to prove that they are United States citizens, and everyone who applies for coverage after June 30 will have to show similar documents under a new federal law.

The requirement is meant to stop the “theft of Medicaid benefits by illegal aliens,” in the words of Representative Charlie Norwood, Republican of Georgia, a principal author of the provision, which was signed into law by President Bush on Feb. 8.

In enforcing the new requirement, federal and state officials must take account of passions stirred by weeks of national debate over immigration policy. State officials worry that many blacks, Americans Indians and other poor people will be unable to come up with the documents needed to prove citizenship. In addition, hospital executives said they were concerned that the law could increase their costs, by reducing the number of patients with insurance.

The new requirement takes effect on July 1. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will save the federal government $220 million over five years and $735 million over 10 years.

Estimates of the number of people who will be affected vary widely. The budget office expects that 35,000 people will lose coverage by 2015. Most of them will be illegal immigrants, it said, but some will be citizens unable to produce the necessary documents. Some Medicaid experts put the numbers much higher, saying that millions of citizens could find their health benefits in jeopardy.

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In order to curb abuses of our current medical and state welfare systems, it is benficial for citizens to produce some sort of identification to use taxpayer-supported services. Not only will this action cut down on the number of people abusing the various welfare systems, it eliminates yet another avenue of security for millions of illegal immigrants who shouldn’t even be here in the first place.

To help tame the illegal immigration problem, we must do much more than protect our borders, although that is an action urgently needed. We must crack down on employers of illegal aliens and eliminate systems of welfare for illegals. Many illegals come here to the United States looking for a better life, but instead have no motivation to be legal, productive members of society. Thus, many illegals live off the welfare system that legitimate American citizens and residents have contributed tax dollars to. As a country, we must dry up the flow of illegal aliens, while eliminating welfare incentives that are easily abused.

From Newsmax.com

President Bush accused Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday of “single-handedly thwarting” action on immigration legislation, and got a brisk retort in return.

“President Bush has as much credibility on immigration as he does on Iraq and national security,” shot back the Nevada Democrat.

The exchange was the latest in a series of maneuvers among party leaders trying to assign blame for Senate gridlock over comprehensive immigration legislation. A pending measure would strengthen border security, create a guest worker program and offer eventual citizenship to many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

Supporters claim the bill has more than enough votes to pass. It was sidetracked last week when Reid insisted on a procedure for voting on politically charged amendments that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., rejected.

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This is yet another example of the obstructionism we’ve seen the Democratic Party use time and time again with issues they cannot win in terms of votes. Harry Reid, as minority leader, has used his position to obstruct legislation, which must be resolved as soon as possible, for purely political reasons. Mr. Reid has demonstrated yet again he places party and politics over the needs of the nation.

While the legislative compromise in the Senate may not be the perfect bill, it’s much better than anything the Democratic Party has submitted to Congress - absolutely nothing. The Democratic Party under the leadership of Harry Reid has transformed its position as the loyal opposition into a position of unpatriotic obstructionism.

Is President Bush correct in his assessment of the obstructionism of Harry Reid? With no doubt, yes, he is correct. From legislation dealing with tax cuts, to the confirmation of Supreme Court justices, to the current illegal immigrant fiasco, Harry Reid has offered nothing constructive, but instead continues to denounce President Bush and the Republican Party.

By Paul Vitello

While lawmakers in Washington debate whether to forgive illegal immigrants their trespasses, a small but increasing number of local and state law enforcement officials are taking it upon themselves to pursue deportation cases against people who are here illegally.

In more than a dozen jurisdictions, officials have invoked a little-used 1996 federal law to seek special federal training in immigration enforcement for their officers.

In other places, the local authorities are flagging some illegal immigrants who are caught up in the criminal justice system, sometimes for minor offenses, and are alerting immigration officials to their illegal status so that they can be deported.

In Costa Mesa, Calif., for example, in Orange County, the City Council last year shut down a day laborer job center that had operated for 17 years, and this year authorized its Police Department to begin training officers to pursue illegal immigrants — a job previously left to federal agents.

In Suffolk County, on Long Island, where a similar police training proposal was met with angry protests in 2004, county officials have quietly put a system in place that uses sheriff’s deputies to flag illegal immigrants in the county jail population.

In Putnam County, N.Y., about 50 miles north of Manhattan, eight illegal immigrants who were playing soccer in a school ball field were arrested on Jan. 9 for trespassing and held for the immigration authorities.

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“I took an oath to protect the people of this county, and that means enforcing the laws of the land,” said Donald B. Smith, the Putnam County sheriff. “We have a situation in our country where our borders are not being adequately protected, and that leaves law enforcement people like us in a very difficult situation.”

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“The untold story of immigration law is that there are just not enough federal immigration officers to enforce the immigration laws we have,” said Kris W. Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City who as a counsel in the Justice Department worked on several cooperative agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies.

“The only way our programs can work is with help from local law enforcement, and we’re expecting to see that happening more and more,” he said.

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Stories like these are very encouraging to say the least. As a nation of laws, we must promote cooperation of local and federal law enforcement officials to actually enforce our laws, especially in cases of illegal immigration.

First and foremost, illegal immigrants must realize they are not above the law, as everyone in the United States must follow the same laws. Those laws include those governing the correct way to enter the United States. We must work to deport as many illegals as possible, while upholding the rule of law and preventing new ones from coming across our border.

From the New York Daily News

When a Brooklyn judge sentenced transit union boss Roger Toussaint to 10 days in jail for leading last year’s strike, it wasn’t just Toussaint backers who were surprised. Count me among those who didn’t expect state Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones to be so firm or use the magic word: illegal. Said Jones in passing sentence: “It is unfortunate that it came down to an illegal strike, but it was nonetheless illegal.”

How quaint - and refreshing. The rule of law still matters, at least in some quarters.

-Snip-

Perhaps there is hope for America after all. Now if we could only apply the same respect for the law to the immigration debate.

The nationwide protests are usually described as a reaction to a House of Representatives bill that would make it a felony to live here illegally or assist those who do. No doubt some marchers are motivated by that measure, which is too harsh and unrealistic in seeking to change immigration violations from civil to criminal matters.

Yet to watch the majority of marchers and their advocates is to realize that the protests are not aimed only at the House bill. They are aimed at the rule of law itself.

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Indeed, many marchers publicly identified themselves as illegal without fear of being arrested. Their bravado demonstrates that the legal-illegal line is already blurred and that our government has a severe case of schizophrenia. At the very moment that border agents were risking their lives to enforce our laws, top elected officials were giving an effective thumbs up to the lawbreakers among the marchers. As Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton faced the New York throng, Clinton said, “Your faces are the faces of America.”

It is often said that America is the land of immigrants. That’s true, but incomplete. The overriding historical fact is that America is the land of legal immigrants. We forget that distinction at our peril.

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As talk radio host Mark Davis has said, the illegal immigrant fiasco across the country is not a matter of civil rights or inequality, it is a matter of behavior - illegal behavior.

The United States is a nation of laws, a nation in which the rule of law is its underlying principle. The fact is, millions of illegal immigrants have broken our laws to come into our country. The legislation before Congress is not a matter of promoting inequality or establishing a new lower class - its purpose is to enhance the rule of law and prevent new immigrants from entering the country illegally.

Some may argue the immigrant protests of today are similar to the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. That assessment is totally and utterly absurd. The civil rights movement of the ’60’s was attempted in order to give existing, legal American citizens equality under law. However, today millions of illegals immigrants have broken our country’s entry laws. They are considered law breakers under our laws, not legal Americans who haven’t had their fair share of civil rights. Illegal immigration and employment must be dealt with swiftly and without compromise.