Congress Allows Government Funding, for Now

 

Congress reached an agreement to fund the government, as most people have heard. Their idea of funding the government is a three-week stop-gap measure and not an actual budget. Reports told that DACA amnesty supporters were furious that the Democrats permitted funding without any guarantee of amnesty. In reality, it should be those supporters of the wall who should be disappointed with this so-called compromise. The DACA amnesty is not the main bone of contention when compared to building protection on the borders. We were wondering if anybody out there has kept count as to how many times the wall has been promised and then pushed off and never considered after gaining the promised prize of amnesty again. Does anybody remember when President Ronald Reagan exchanged amnesty for border security and a wall across the majority of feasible regions to be financed the next session of Congress? We fully expect at some point the Democrat leadership to offer holding a vote next year for funding building the border wall. This is the ruse used by before and even getting to the point of voting for funding initially but when the time was imminent for building, the funding was mysteriously diverted elsewhere. The Democrats have supported a border fence as stated by President Barack Obama in his speech in El Paso, Texas on May 10, 2011. Allow us to first quote the President and then show a picture of his completed fence for discussion. President Barack Obama stated fence along the border with Mexico is “now basically complete.” But he continued on to describe the whining he expected from Republicans over his wall stating,

“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.”
“They’ll want want a higher fence. Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics.”

Jim DeMint wrote the response to President Obama stating, “Five years ago, legislation was passed to build a 700-mile double-layer border fence along the southwest border…This is a promise that has not been kept. Today, according to staff at the Department of Homeland Security, just 5 percent of the double-layer fencing is complete, only 36.3 miles.” So, was the fence completed as stated by President Obama or do the Republicans have an argument that the fence was not built as promised. Below is a picture of the fence near San Miguel, Arizona, part of the seven-hundred-mile fence described above.

 

Picture of the Fence near San Miguel, Arizona

 

The promised double fence, does this really appear to be what was promised? Granted, there are two different sized posts but does that make it a double fence? Then we are told that this fence is designed to stop vehicles from crossing the border. We are willing to bet that most of us were under the impression that the entire idea behind a double fence was to prevent people crossing, with or without a vehicle not to mention it is doubtful that most people crossing at this location are coming across on vehicles from dune buggies to recreational vehicles but rather they would probably be walking. We seriously doubt anybody thinks that this fence would prevent people walking across the border or matches the concept of a double fence by any rational concept of a double border fence designed and built to secure the border. Surprisingly, we actually believe a double fence requires two distinct and separate fences in relative close proximity equally difficult to traverse with an enforcement dirt track between them providing an area for ease of enforcement personnel patrolling in vehicles and responding to sensors and other alarms (see image below).

 

This is What We Believe a Border Fence Looks Like

 

Now we have cleared up the definition of a double fence, which is why we advise the members of Congress desiring a real double fence include pictures, diagrams and other necessities so there will be no confusion as to what they mean by a double fence. The coming debate over the fence and the DACA refugees who are, and never forget this part, illegal immigrants who face deportation for crossing the border illegally, granted not of their own choosing as their parents brought them when they crossed the border illegally. The pivotal word is illegally. All the claims to the DACA having Constitutional rights are a bogus argument meant to allow these illegal immigrants to get around enforcement by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents. Constitutional rights are for United States citizens which illegal immigrants are not. If the government was to dispatch ICE agents to one of the rallies supporting the DACA individuals and they were to arrest those announcing their being a, “proud child of an illegal immigrant whose parents brought them across the border,” to hold for a hearing and potential deporting, they would be well within legal rights to do so. Such has not been done nor have the ICE agents been ordered to even monitor these events. We guess that perhaps those enforcing the immigration laws are not the heartless beasts described in the media.

 

The DACA illegal immigrants should be treated with dignity and understanding with always in the background the fact that they are illegal perched over the proceedings. Those who were too young to have some say in their being smuggled into the United States should have that taken into account. If a DACA individual has no other criminal record should be permitted to stay once they have shown proficiency in English, United States Laws, the Constitution, and American Customs. But those with further felony convictions or several misdemeanor convictions, those should be deported. It will not be up to us to decide their fate, but they should be given a brief and defined period of time to come and apply for asylum, thus having a hearing on whether they deserve asylum or deportation. Those who do not voluntarily apply for a hearing should be deported as soon as possible after the grace period has passed. Providing hope and a fair and reasoned approach with the promise of fairness is what should be offered but making the grace period’s beginning dependent upon completion of the border fence would also be fair. Exchange of a period of a few weeks or months while requiring the completion of the border wall is only a fair and true offer which if refused would reveal whether or not the Democrats are being honest about the wall and remove their ability to later pull the funding by placing the grace period after the wall being completed. The grace for the DACA “children,” as most of them have grown into adulthood, must be placed as secondary to building the wall so as to finally guarantee the wall being constructed this time around. Time will tell.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Immigration Reform and Illegal Immigration

Jeb Bush speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference stated, “Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans.” Where this may be backed by statistics it is of no importance in addressing illegal immigration. Nobody has been arguing against overhauling the current Immigration Laws in order to allow faster approval for those who wish to immigrate to the United States and meet the criteria we set. The current backlog where it takes on average a decade or more in order to obtain approval to enter the United States does nobody any measure of service. Much of this obstruction to legal immigration is very likely a reason behind some measure of those who simply choose to enter the United States illegally or by any visa they can obtain and then simply not leave when it expires. But Jeb Bush’s argument that immigrants create more businesses than native born Americans does not apply to illegal immigrants and as such is not a pertinent argument for granting amnesty to twelve to fifteen million illegal immigrants. There are great doubts that illegal immigrants are responsible for starting even a paltry dozen businesses as getting licensing and all the other required approvals to start a business is not something an illegal immigrant is likely to apply for as it would really be drawing way too much attentions and inspection by government agencies. Let’s say this and say it loud enough that all these politicians who constantly insist on making references to the great contributions made by legal immigrants and then try to pass off that the illegal immigrants would be just as productive if only they were made legal. Anybody who has attained the permits and gone through the entire gambit of government hoops and hurdles has shown simply through such perseverance that they are very likely to have the drive to succeed at any venture they may take on which would translate to their greater propensity for starting a business and making it an unadulterated success. On the other hand, an illegal immigrant has entered the United States through an illegal act and has shown a disregard for the rule of law and actually following rules and keeping the obligations expected of a legal immigrant which are not exactly the most desirable traits for somebody who is starting a business.

 

The truth of what is going to be implemented under the title of Comprehensive Immigration Reform is really a mistitled piece of legislation. The three areas which make up a comprehensive overhaul of the mess which is immigration law and the illegal component of immigrations would require enforcement of the border, streamlining and simplification of immigration law and lastly some form of either amnesty, path to citizenship or deportment for as many illegal immigrants as possible in a continuing effort to locate them. Everybody very probably will agree that we should commit to streamlining and simplification of immigration law and border enforcement. Where there is a great deal of disagreement and debate is what path we should take in dealing with the twelve to twenty million illegal immigrants currently thought to be within the United States. If one wishes to be technical about enforcement they would demand that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) put forth whatever efforts were required to locate and deport every single illegal immigrant no matter how long it would take. The only debate that people in this group might have is whether or not local and state law enforcement officers should be included in the search and detention of illegals in order to assist ICE and how much leeway should be allowed if their assistance is desirable. Then there is the debate for the more lenient who believe that the vast majority of the illegal immigrants deserve to be allowed to remain and become citizens. The question here is whether these illegal immigrants deserve blanket amnesty or should be required to go through a procedure in order to attain citizenship and exactly what such a path to citizenship should be required. The one requirement that those who would prefer deportation of all or the vast majority of illegal immigrants would likely demand that there be no possibility for blanket amnesty but that there should be an arduous and intricate set of requirements and some monetary fee imposed in order for any illegal immigrant to attain citizenship. It is also likely that other than those for blanket amnesty would also desire that any illegal immigrant who has a felony record be deported or passed through some very serious and in depth assessment before being rewarded with a chance for citizenship.

 

The considerations over how to treat the existing illegal immigrants should not be undertaken before the border has been hermetically sealed. The reason should be obvious even to the most casual of observers, but just in case, closing the border first and preventing any further increase to the numbers of illegal immigrants, and especially if amnesty is still being considered is absolutely necessary to prevent a flood of new illegal immigrants attempting to gain entry and try to utilize the amnesty system to gain citizenship. Should amnesty be granted it must be the absolute amnesty ever granted and the amnesty offer should have a set time limit after which the offer be withdrawn. There should be a path necessitating each undocumented immigrant to perform certain actions, meet certain specific requirements and possibly pay back taxes and/or pay a processing fee or fine for having broken United States immigration laws. No matter what is chosen as the way the illegal immigrants will be handled, the offer should require voluntary reporting within ninety days or some similar period after which any illegal immigrant caught will not be offered any deal and will be deported. As far as closing the border to future illegal immigration, this should be done with the utmost intentions and seriousness.  A double or even triple fence completed with raked sand between the fences which will immediately show any crossing making detection of trespass readily detectable should be erected. There should be sensors placed liberally throughout the border areas which are capable of detecting tunneling and there should be randomly scheduled ground-penetrating-radar sweeps conducted along the borders so that no matter how deep any tunnels are excavated they will be detected. And as the final deterrent that will demonstrate that the United States border is most definitively to be inviolate, place the United States Army and Marines stationed on the borders. This could be easily accomplished simply by placing every Infantryman and Marine on the border for six months immediately after they have completed their basic training. The ranking NCOs and Officer Corps would be chosen to assure that these troops have absorbed their training and understand military rules and discipline which was intended to be imparted by their basic training. This would benefit the newly trained troops as they would get practical experience utilizing the tactics and disciplines of their initial training by carrying out a set of tasked missions before they might be required to be placed in a far more hostile environment. This is not an unusual manner in border enforcement as it is the method used by many countries, if not most countries. By utilizing well trained Military troops the Border Patrol Forces would be freed to operate and man border crossings and free others up for ICE enforcement as well as allowing for increased border enforcement at our ports, airfields, and other entry points for cargo and people. Also, finally the Immigration and Custom Services would have sufficient personnel freed up to actually monitor those here on student visas, temporary work visas, visitor’s visas or other limited term visas such that we no longer have foreigners overstaying their visas or violating the limitations of their visas such as the thousands of people with student visas who never reported to the school in which they were presumably to be registered with. But since for disparate reasons both parties appear to have a fairly large percentage of politicians who desire and approve of allowing illegal immigrants to violate the laws of the land we can expect the final solutions they implement will have two very distinct properties, first they will have either straight amnesty or unenforced minor requirements defining the path to citizenship and second there will be no honest intent to seal the borders to the extent that it will either be unimplemented or not even defined by the bill and promising to address the border at a later date, a date that will never arrive. My bet is those who honestly care about immigration already know who the miscreants are that will refuse to serve their country and protect the Constitution that sit in Congress. My question is will those who know reveal these traitors and make sure they do not get reelected and no longer cross into the floor of the House of Representatives or the Senate.

 

Beyond the Cusp