http://www.observer.com/2007/red-eye-straight-guy
While Mr. Gutfeld tries to keep the show from idling too long on partisan territory (“They get that 23 hours a day”), his own politics are fairly at home on Fox. He dismisses liberalism as “romantic notions that are false, based on the idea of making yourself look good to other people. That’s why most men—Bill Clinton is a good example—are liberal, because they need to get laid. If you look at most left-wing guys, they’ve made a deal with the devil. They don’t really believe that shit—they’re going against their own innate nature, because liberalism is anti-man. If you believe that peace and love work, you’re not a man, because this world works on war. The only people who respect you are people who are scared of you—and that’s why Reagan was a great President. And the idea that you can negotiate with people who want you dead is a complete lie. That’s why the left is the most self-absorbed, vanity-driven enterprise. These are people who would rather feel good about themselves at a cocktail party that actually protect people’s lives. If you’re at a party and you say, ‘The war on terror is the most important thing in the world’—you won’t get a nod. But if you say, ‘Global warming is the biggest threat,’ you will get laid.”
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders
Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders
Butte, Montana
November 5, 2 006
Home invasion gone wrong for criminals.
Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez 23 and Enrico Garza 26, probably
believed they would easily overpower a home-alone 11 year old Patricia
Harrington after her father had left their two story home.
It seems the two crooks never learned two things; they were in Montana
and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.
Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the
front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and
grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the
first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-
old's knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and
genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to
the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to
death before medical help could arrive.
It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber
handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. The victim,
50-year-old David Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.
Butte, Montana
November 5, 2 006
Home invasion gone wrong for criminals.
Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez 23 and Enrico Garza 26, probably
believed they would easily overpower a home-alone 11 year old Patricia
Harrington after her father had left their two story home.
It seems the two crooks never learned two things; they were in Montana
and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.
Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the
front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and
grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the
first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-
old's knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and
genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to
the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to
death before medical help could arrive.
It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber
handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. The victim,
50-year-old David Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
More on Illegal Aliens part II
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud_part_ii.html
May 23, 2007
The Amnesty Fraud: Part II
By Thomas Sowell
Every aspect of the current immigration bill, and of the arguments made for it, has Fraud written all over it.
The first, and perhaps biggest, fraud is the argument that illegal aliens are "doing jobs Americans won't do." There are no such jobs.
Even in the sector of the economy in which illegal immigrants have the highest representation -- agriculture -- they are just 24 percent of the workers. Where did the other 76 percent come from, if these are jobs that Americans won't do?
The argument that illegal agricultural workers are "making a contribution to the economy" is likewise misleading.
For well over half a century, this country has had chronic agricultural surpluses which have cost the taxpayers billions of dollars a year to buy, store, and try to get rid of on the world market at money-losing prices.
If there were fewer agricultural workers and smaller agricultural surpluses, the taxpayers would save money.
What about illegal immigrants working outside of agriculture? They are a great bargain for their employers, because they are usually hard-working people who accept low pay and don't cause any trouble on the job.
But they are no bargain for the taxpayers who cover their medical bills, the education of their children and the costs of imprisoning those who commit a disproportionate share of crime.
Analogies with immigrants who came to this country in the 19th century and early 20th century are hollow, and those who make such analogies must know how different the situation is today.
People who crossed an ocean to get here, many generations ago, usually came here to become Americans. There were organized efforts within their communities, as well as in the larger society around them, to help them assimilate.
Today, there are activists working in just the opposite direction, to keep foreigners foreign, to demand that society adjust to them by making everything accessible to them in their own language, minimizing their need to learn English.
As activists are working hard to keep alive a foreign subculture in so-called "bilingual" and other programs, they are also feeding the young especially with a steady diet of historic grievances about things that happened before the immigrants got here -- and before they were born.
These Balkanization efforts are joined by other Americans as part of the "multicultural" ideology that pervades the education system, the media, and politics.
The ease with which people can move back and forth between the United States and Mexico -- as contrasted with those who made a one-way trip across the Atlantic in earlier times -- reduces still further the likelihood that these new immigrants will assimilate and become an integral part of the American society as readily as many earlier immigrants did.
Claims that the new immigration bill will have "tough" requirements, including learning English, have little credibility in view of the way existing laws are not being enforced.
What does "learning English" mean? I can say "arrivederci" and "buongiorno" but does that mean that I speak Italian?
Does anyone expect a serious effort to require a real knowledge of English from a government that captures people trying to enter the country illegally and then turns them loose inside the United States with instructions to report back to court -- which of course they are not about to do?
Another fraudulent argument for the new immigration bill is that it would facilitate the "unification of families." People can unify their families by going back home to them. Otherwise every illegal immigrant accepted can mean a dozen relatives to follow.
"What can we do with the 12 million people already here illegally?" is the question asked by amnesty supporters. We can stop them from becoming 40 million or 50 million, the way 3 million illegals became 12 million after the previous amnesty.
The most fundamental question of all has not been asked: Who should decide how many people, with what qualifications and prospects, are to be admitted into this country? Is that decision supposed to be made by anyone in Mexico who wants to come here?
Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud_part_ii.html at May 23, 2007 - 11:53:36 AM CDT
May 23, 2007
The Amnesty Fraud: Part II
By Thomas Sowell
Every aspect of the current immigration bill, and of the arguments made for it, has Fraud written all over it.
The first, and perhaps biggest, fraud is the argument that illegal aliens are "doing jobs Americans won't do." There are no such jobs.
Even in the sector of the economy in which illegal immigrants have the highest representation -- agriculture -- they are just 24 percent of the workers. Where did the other 76 percent come from, if these are jobs that Americans won't do?
The argument that illegal agricultural workers are "making a contribution to the economy" is likewise misleading.
For well over half a century, this country has had chronic agricultural surpluses which have cost the taxpayers billions of dollars a year to buy, store, and try to get rid of on the world market at money-losing prices.
If there were fewer agricultural workers and smaller agricultural surpluses, the taxpayers would save money.
What about illegal immigrants working outside of agriculture? They are a great bargain for their employers, because they are usually hard-working people who accept low pay and don't cause any trouble on the job.
But they are no bargain for the taxpayers who cover their medical bills, the education of their children and the costs of imprisoning those who commit a disproportionate share of crime.
Analogies with immigrants who came to this country in the 19th century and early 20th century are hollow, and those who make such analogies must know how different the situation is today.
People who crossed an ocean to get here, many generations ago, usually came here to become Americans. There were organized efforts within their communities, as well as in the larger society around them, to help them assimilate.
Today, there are activists working in just the opposite direction, to keep foreigners foreign, to demand that society adjust to them by making everything accessible to them in their own language, minimizing their need to learn English.
As activists are working hard to keep alive a foreign subculture in so-called "bilingual" and other programs, they are also feeding the young especially with a steady diet of historic grievances about things that happened before the immigrants got here -- and before they were born.
These Balkanization efforts are joined by other Americans as part of the "multicultural" ideology that pervades the education system, the media, and politics.
The ease with which people can move back and forth between the United States and Mexico -- as contrasted with those who made a one-way trip across the Atlantic in earlier times -- reduces still further the likelihood that these new immigrants will assimilate and become an integral part of the American society as readily as many earlier immigrants did.
Claims that the new immigration bill will have "tough" requirements, including learning English, have little credibility in view of the way existing laws are not being enforced.
What does "learning English" mean? I can say "arrivederci" and "buongiorno" but does that mean that I speak Italian?
Does anyone expect a serious effort to require a real knowledge of English from a government that captures people trying to enter the country illegally and then turns them loose inside the United States with instructions to report back to court -- which of course they are not about to do?
Another fraudulent argument for the new immigration bill is that it would facilitate the "unification of families." People can unify their families by going back home to them. Otherwise every illegal immigrant accepted can mean a dozen relatives to follow.
"What can we do with the 12 million people already here illegally?" is the question asked by amnesty supporters. We can stop them from becoming 40 million or 50 million, the way 3 million illegals became 12 million after the previous amnesty.
The most fundamental question of all has not been asked: Who should decide how many people, with what qualifications and prospects, are to be admitted into this country? Is that decision supposed to be made by anyone in Mexico who wants to come here?
Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud_part_ii.html at May 23, 2007 - 11:53:36 AM CDT
More on Illegal Aliens
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud.html
May 22, 2007
The Amnesty Fraud
By Thomas Sowell
Nothing is more common than political "solutions" to immediate problems which create much bigger problems down the road. The current immigration bill in the Senate is a classic example.
The big talking point of those who want to legalize the illegal immigrants currently in the United States is to say that it is "unrealistic" to round up and deport 12 million people.
Back in 1986 it was "unrealistic" to round up and deport the 3 million illegal immigrants in the United States then. So they were given amnesty -- honestly labeled, back then -- which is precisely why there are now 12 million illegal immigrants.
As a result of the current amnesty bill -- not honestly labeled, this time -- will it be "unrealistic" to round up and deport 40 million or 50 million illegal immigrants in the future?
If the current immigration bill is as "realistic" as its advocates claim, why is it being rushed through the Senate faster than a local zoning ordinance could be passed?
We are, after all, talking about a major and irreversible change in the American population, the American culture, and the American political balance. Why is there no time to talk about it?
Are its advocates afraid that the voting public might discover what a fraud it is? The biggest fraud is denying that this is an amnesty bill.
Its advocates' argument is that illegal immigrants will have to meet certain requirements to become citizens. But amnesty is not about how you become a citizen.
The word is from the same root as "amnesia." It means you forget or overlook some crime, as if it never happened. All this elaborate talk about the steps illegal immigrants must go through to become citizens is a distraction from the crime they committed when they crossed the border illegally.
Instead, all attention is focused on what to do to accommodate those who committed this crime. It is a question that would be recognized as an insult to our intelligence on any other issue.
For example, there are undoubtedly thousands, perhaps millions, of unsolved crimes and uncaught criminals in this country and we cannot realistically expect to find and prosecute all these fugitives from justice.
But does anyone suggest that our focus should be on trying to normalize the lives of domestic fugitives from justice -- "bring them out of the shadows" in Ted Kennedy's phrase -- and develop some path by which they can be given an acceptable legal status?
Does anyone suggest that, if domestic criminals come forward, pay some fine, and apply to have their crimes overlooked, they can be put on a path to be restored to good standing in our society?
Just as we don't need to solve every crime and catch every criminal, in order to have deterrents to crime, neither do we have to ferret out and deport every one of the 12 million illegal aliens in this country in order to deter a flood of new illegal aliens.
All across this country, illegal aliens are being caught by the police for all sorts of violations of American laws, from traffic laws to laws against murder. Yet in many, if not most, places the police are under orders not to report these illegal aliens to the federal government.
Imprisoning known and apprehended lawbreakers for the crime of illegally entering this country, in addition to whatever other punishment they receive for other laws that they have broken -- and then sending them back where they came from after their sentences have been served -- would be something that would not be lost on others who are here illegally or who are thinking of coming here illegally.
Just as people can do many things better for themselves than the government can do those things for them, illegal aliens could begin deporting themselves if they found that their crime of coming here illegally was being punished as a serious crime, and that they themselves were no longer being treated as guests of the taxpayers when it comes to their medical care, the education of their children, and other welfare state benefits.
Incidentally, remember that 700-mile fence that Congress authorized last year? Only two miles have been built. That should tell us something about how seriously they are going to enforce other border security provisions in the current bill.
COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud.html at May 23, 2007 - 11:51:44 AM CDT
May 22, 2007
The Amnesty Fraud
By Thomas Sowell
Nothing is more common than political "solutions" to immediate problems which create much bigger problems down the road. The current immigration bill in the Senate is a classic example.
The big talking point of those who want to legalize the illegal immigrants currently in the United States is to say that it is "unrealistic" to round up and deport 12 million people.
Back in 1986 it was "unrealistic" to round up and deport the 3 million illegal immigrants in the United States then. So they were given amnesty -- honestly labeled, back then -- which is precisely why there are now 12 million illegal immigrants.
As a result of the current amnesty bill -- not honestly labeled, this time -- will it be "unrealistic" to round up and deport 40 million or 50 million illegal immigrants in the future?
If the current immigration bill is as "realistic" as its advocates claim, why is it being rushed through the Senate faster than a local zoning ordinance could be passed?
We are, after all, talking about a major and irreversible change in the American population, the American culture, and the American political balance. Why is there no time to talk about it?
Are its advocates afraid that the voting public might discover what a fraud it is? The biggest fraud is denying that this is an amnesty bill.
Its advocates' argument is that illegal immigrants will have to meet certain requirements to become citizens. But amnesty is not about how you become a citizen.
The word is from the same root as "amnesia." It means you forget or overlook some crime, as if it never happened. All this elaborate talk about the steps illegal immigrants must go through to become citizens is a distraction from the crime they committed when they crossed the border illegally.
Instead, all attention is focused on what to do to accommodate those who committed this crime. It is a question that would be recognized as an insult to our intelligence on any other issue.
For example, there are undoubtedly thousands, perhaps millions, of unsolved crimes and uncaught criminals in this country and we cannot realistically expect to find and prosecute all these fugitives from justice.
But does anyone suggest that our focus should be on trying to normalize the lives of domestic fugitives from justice -- "bring them out of the shadows" in Ted Kennedy's phrase -- and develop some path by which they can be given an acceptable legal status?
Does anyone suggest that, if domestic criminals come forward, pay some fine, and apply to have their crimes overlooked, they can be put on a path to be restored to good standing in our society?
Just as we don't need to solve every crime and catch every criminal, in order to have deterrents to crime, neither do we have to ferret out and deport every one of the 12 million illegal aliens in this country in order to deter a flood of new illegal aliens.
All across this country, illegal aliens are being caught by the police for all sorts of violations of American laws, from traffic laws to laws against murder. Yet in many, if not most, places the police are under orders not to report these illegal aliens to the federal government.
Imprisoning known and apprehended lawbreakers for the crime of illegally entering this country, in addition to whatever other punishment they receive for other laws that they have broken -- and then sending them back where they came from after their sentences have been served -- would be something that would not be lost on others who are here illegally or who are thinking of coming here illegally.
Just as people can do many things better for themselves than the government can do those things for them, illegal aliens could begin deporting themselves if they found that their crime of coming here illegally was being punished as a serious crime, and that they themselves were no longer being treated as guests of the taxpayers when it comes to their medical care, the education of their children, and other welfare state benefits.
Incidentally, remember that 700-mile fence that Congress authorized last year? Only two miles have been built. That should tell us something about how seriously they are going to enforce other border security provisions in the current bill.
COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Page Printed from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_amnesty_fraud.html at May 23, 2007 - 11:51:44 AM CDT
Monday, May 21, 2007
How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
from the July 06, 2006 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0706/p09s01-coop.html
How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
By John Dillin
WASHINGTON
George W. Bush isn't the first Republican president to face a full-blown immigration crisis on the US-Mexican border.
Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America's southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.
President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents - less than one-tenth of today's force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.
Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ike's official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright (D) of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.
General Eisenhower, who was gearing up for his run for the presidency, said "Amen" to Senator Fulbright's proposal. He then quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: "The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government."
Years later, the late Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said in an interview with this writer that the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.
America "was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale," Mr. Brownell said. "When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint."
Although an on-and-off guest-worker program for Mexicans was operating at the time, farmers and ranchers in the Southwest had become dependent on an additional low-cost, docile, illegal labor force of up to 3 million, mostly Mexican, laborers.
According to the Handbook of Texas Online, published by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association, this illegal workforce had a severe impact on the wages of ordinary working Americans. The Handbook Online reports that a study by the President's Commission on Migratory Labor in Texas in 1950 found that cotton growers in the Rio Grande Valley, where most illegal aliens in Texas worked, paid wages that were "approximately half" the farm wages paid elsewhere in the state.
Profits from illegal labor led to the kind of corruption that apparently worried Eisenhower. Joseph White, a retired 21-year veteran of the Border Patrol, says that in the early 1950s, some senior US officials overseeing immigration enforcement "had friends among the ranchers," and agents "did not dare" arrest their illegal workers.
Walt Edwards, who joined the Border Patrol in 1951, tells a similar story. He says: "When we caught illegal aliens on farms and ranches, the farmer or rancher would often call and complain [to officials in El Paso]. And depending on how politically connected they were, there would be political intervention. That is how we got into this mess we are in now."
Bill Chambers, who worked for a combined 33 years for the Border Patrol and the then-called US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), says politically powerful people are still fueling the flow of illegals.
During the 1950s, however, this "Good Old Boy" system changed under Eisenhower - if only for about 10 years.
In 1954, Ike appointed retired Gen. Joseph "Jumpin' Joe" Swing, a former West Point classmate and veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the new INS commissioner.
Influential politicians, including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) of Texas and Sen. Pat McCarran (D) of Nevada, favored open borders, and were dead set against strong border enforcement, Brownell said. But General Swing's close connections to the president shielded him - and the Border Patrol - from meddling by powerful political and corporate interests.
One of Swing's first decisive acts was to transfer certain entrenched immigration officials out of the border area to other regions of the country where their political connections with people such as Senator Johnson would have no effect.
Then on June 17, 1954, what was called "Operation Wetback" began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.
By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.
By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.
Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.
Tens of thousands more were put aboard two hired ships, the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried the aliens from Port Isabel, Texas, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles south.
The sea voyage was "a rough trip, and they did not like it," says Don Coppock, who worked his way up from Border Patrolman in 1941 to eventually head the Border Patrol from 1960 to 1973.
Mr. Coppock says he "cannot understand why [President] Bush let [today's] problem get away from him as it has. I guess it was his compassionate conservatism, and trying to please [Mexican President] Vincente Fox."
There are now said to be 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Of the Mexicans who live here, an estimated 85 percent are here illegally.
Border Patrol vets offer tips on curbing illegal immigration
One day in 1954, Border Patrol agent Walt Edwards picked up a newspaper in Big Spring, Texas, and saw some startling news. The government was launching an all-out drive to oust illegal aliens from the United States.
The orders came straight from the top, where the new president, Dwight Eisenhower, had put a former West Point classmate, Gen. Joseph Swing, in charge of immigration enforcement.
General Swing's fast-moving campaign soon secured America's borders - an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.
Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today.
"Some say we cannot send 12 million illegals now in the United States back where they came from. Of course we can!" Edwards says.
Donald Coppock, who headed the Patrol from 1960 to 1973, says that if Swing and Ike were still running immigration enforcement, "they'd be on top of this in a minute."
William Chambers, another '50s veteran, agrees. "They could do a pretty good job" sealing the border.
Edwards says: "When we start enforcing the law, these various businesses are, on their own, going to replace their [illegal] workforce with a legal workforce."
While Congress debates building a fence on the border, these veterans say other actions should have higher priority.
1. End the current practice of taking captured Mexican aliens to the border and releasing them. Instead, deport them deep into Mexico, where return to the US would be more costly.
2. Crack down hard on employers who hire illegals. Without jobs, the aliens won't come.
3. End "catch and release" for non-Mexican aliens. It is common for illegal migrants not from Mexico to be set free after their arrest if they promise to appear later before a judge. Few show up.
The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest- worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower's team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks.
• John Dillin is former managing editor of the Monitor.
How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
By John Dillin
WASHINGTON
George W. Bush isn't the first Republican president to face a full-blown immigration crisis on the US-Mexican border.
Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America's southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.
President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents - less than one-tenth of today's force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.
Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ike's official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright (D) of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.
General Eisenhower, who was gearing up for his run for the presidency, said "Amen" to Senator Fulbright's proposal. He then quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: "The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government."
Years later, the late Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said in an interview with this writer that the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.
America "was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale," Mr. Brownell said. "When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint."
Although an on-and-off guest-worker program for Mexicans was operating at the time, farmers and ranchers in the Southwest had become dependent on an additional low-cost, docile, illegal labor force of up to 3 million, mostly Mexican, laborers.
According to the Handbook of Texas Online, published by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association, this illegal workforce had a severe impact on the wages of ordinary working Americans. The Handbook Online reports that a study by the President's Commission on Migratory Labor in Texas in 1950 found that cotton growers in the Rio Grande Valley, where most illegal aliens in Texas worked, paid wages that were "approximately half" the farm wages paid elsewhere in the state.
Profits from illegal labor led to the kind of corruption that apparently worried Eisenhower. Joseph White, a retired 21-year veteran of the Border Patrol, says that in the early 1950s, some senior US officials overseeing immigration enforcement "had friends among the ranchers," and agents "did not dare" arrest their illegal workers.
Walt Edwards, who joined the Border Patrol in 1951, tells a similar story. He says: "When we caught illegal aliens on farms and ranches, the farmer or rancher would often call and complain [to officials in El Paso]. And depending on how politically connected they were, there would be political intervention. That is how we got into this mess we are in now."
Bill Chambers, who worked for a combined 33 years for the Border Patrol and the then-called US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), says politically powerful people are still fueling the flow of illegals.
During the 1950s, however, this "Good Old Boy" system changed under Eisenhower - if only for about 10 years.
In 1954, Ike appointed retired Gen. Joseph "Jumpin' Joe" Swing, a former West Point classmate and veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the new INS commissioner.
Influential politicians, including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) of Texas and Sen. Pat McCarran (D) of Nevada, favored open borders, and were dead set against strong border enforcement, Brownell said. But General Swing's close connections to the president shielded him - and the Border Patrol - from meddling by powerful political and corporate interests.
One of Swing's first decisive acts was to transfer certain entrenched immigration officials out of the border area to other regions of the country where their political connections with people such as Senator Johnson would have no effect.
Then on June 17, 1954, what was called "Operation Wetback" began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.
By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.
By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.
Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.
Tens of thousands more were put aboard two hired ships, the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried the aliens from Port Isabel, Texas, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles south.
The sea voyage was "a rough trip, and they did not like it," says Don Coppock, who worked his way up from Border Patrolman in 1941 to eventually head the Border Patrol from 1960 to 1973.
Mr. Coppock says he "cannot understand why [President] Bush let [today's] problem get away from him as it has. I guess it was his compassionate conservatism, and trying to please [Mexican President] Vincente Fox."
There are now said to be 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Of the Mexicans who live here, an estimated 85 percent are here illegally.
Border Patrol vets offer tips on curbing illegal immigration
One day in 1954, Border Patrol agent Walt Edwards picked up a newspaper in Big Spring, Texas, and saw some startling news. The government was launching an all-out drive to oust illegal aliens from the United States.
The orders came straight from the top, where the new president, Dwight Eisenhower, had put a former West Point classmate, Gen. Joseph Swing, in charge of immigration enforcement.
General Swing's fast-moving campaign soon secured America's borders - an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.
Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today.
"Some say we cannot send 12 million illegals now in the United States back where they came from. Of course we can!" Edwards says.
Donald Coppock, who headed the Patrol from 1960 to 1973, says that if Swing and Ike were still running immigration enforcement, "they'd be on top of this in a minute."
William Chambers, another '50s veteran, agrees. "They could do a pretty good job" sealing the border.
Edwards says: "When we start enforcing the law, these various businesses are, on their own, going to replace their [illegal] workforce with a legal workforce."
While Congress debates building a fence on the border, these veterans say other actions should have higher priority.
1. End the current practice of taking captured Mexican aliens to the border and releasing them. Instead, deport them deep into Mexico, where return to the US would be more costly.
2. Crack down hard on employers who hire illegals. Without jobs, the aliens won't come.
3. End "catch and release" for non-Mexican aliens. It is common for illegal migrants not from Mexico to be set free after their arrest if they promise to appear later before a judge. Few show up.
The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest- worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower's team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks.
• John Dillin is former managing editor of the Monitor.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Video from MacArthur Park
http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2007
Contact: ALIPAC, www.alipac.us (919) 787-6009, WilliamG@alipac.us
While Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton work to ruin the careers of over 60 police officers before the official investigation truly begins, a new video has emerged that exonerates the overall actions of LAPD riot teams.
This video was shot by an illegal alien supporting blogger that refused to disperse from MacArthur Park on May 1. While his intentions were to support the illegal aliens, his video captures a wide range of hostile and anti-American sentiments present in MacArthur Park on May 1, 2007.
This video has been deconstructed, with commentary from ALIPAC, to illustrate several important points that speak to the need for riot team action in MacArthur Park.
This video shows illegal alien supporters that are clearly anarchists, communists, and gang members. After all, MacArthur park is notorious paramilitary gang territory and the birthplace of MS-13, which has led Mayor Villaraigosa to ask for Federal aid and a ‘Marshall Plan” for LA.
The illegal alien supporters have failed to show America the footage of what was done to the officers. At least eight LAPD officers were injured by the assaulting crowd.
This video contains evidence of the following actions by illegal alien supporters in MacArthur Park.
– Illegal alien supporters advancing on police lines.
– Playing native American war drum patterns.
– Refusing to disperse.
– Clearly understanding police directives to disperse.
– Holding weapons and challenging police.
– Shielding themselves with babies near advancing police lines.
– Displaying anti-American art comparing the US to sinking ships Titanic and Poseidon.
– Covering their faces like bandits and Zapatista rebels.
– Walking slowly with backs turned to the advancing police line to setup a victim scene.
– Lying about injuries to women and children
– Making comments about assaulting police
– Smiling about the mayhem.
– Displaying communist and anarchist flags.
– Blocking streets with trash cans
– Much more!
American media is encouraged to watch this video and tell America the truth! American citizens are encouraged to share this video and release with others and contact lawmakers to defend the brave actions of the LAPD.
Please comment on this video after watching it at..
VIDEO: Macarthur Park Mini riot — The Other Side Of The Story!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-XCWNe0pBTI
Please contact elected officials on behalf of the LAPD at this link….
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=62591
Share This
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2007
Contact: ALIPAC, www.alipac.us (919) 787-6009, WilliamG@alipac.us
While Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton work to ruin the careers of over 60 police officers before the official investigation truly begins, a new video has emerged that exonerates the overall actions of LAPD riot teams.
This video was shot by an illegal alien supporting blogger that refused to disperse from MacArthur Park on May 1. While his intentions were to support the illegal aliens, his video captures a wide range of hostile and anti-American sentiments present in MacArthur Park on May 1, 2007.
This video has been deconstructed, with commentary from ALIPAC, to illustrate several important points that speak to the need for riot team action in MacArthur Park.
This video shows illegal alien supporters that are clearly anarchists, communists, and gang members. After all, MacArthur park is notorious paramilitary gang territory and the birthplace of MS-13, which has led Mayor Villaraigosa to ask for Federal aid and a ‘Marshall Plan” for LA.
The illegal alien supporters have failed to show America the footage of what was done to the officers. At least eight LAPD officers were injured by the assaulting crowd.
This video contains evidence of the following actions by illegal alien supporters in MacArthur Park.
– Illegal alien supporters advancing on police lines.
– Playing native American war drum patterns.
– Refusing to disperse.
– Clearly understanding police directives to disperse.
– Holding weapons and challenging police.
– Shielding themselves with babies near advancing police lines.
– Displaying anti-American art comparing the US to sinking ships Titanic and Poseidon.
– Covering their faces like bandits and Zapatista rebels.
– Walking slowly with backs turned to the advancing police line to setup a victim scene.
– Lying about injuries to women and children
– Making comments about assaulting police
– Smiling about the mayhem.
– Displaying communist and anarchist flags.
– Blocking streets with trash cans
– Much more!
American media is encouraged to watch this video and tell America the truth! American citizens are encouraged to share this video and release with others and contact lawmakers to defend the brave actions of the LAPD.
Please comment on this video after watching it at..
VIDEO: Macarthur Park Mini riot — The Other Side Of The Story!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-XCWNe0pBTI
Please contact elected officials on behalf of the LAPD at this link….
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=62591
Share This
Oklahoma and "Illegal Immigration"
Examiner-Enterprise.com
THURSDAY MAY 3, 2007 Last modified: Wednesday, May 2, 2007 5:01 PM CDT
House sends sweeping immigration reform bill to governor’s desk
By Tim Talley Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Legislation described as the nation’s most sweeping attempt to deny jobs and public benefits to illegal immigrants was sent to Gov. Brad Henry’s desk Tuesday.
State lawmakers urged Henry to sign the measure into law after it was approved in a bipartisan 84-14 vote by the state House. The bill was approved 41-6 by the Senate last month.
“The people of Oklahoma are very strongly for this bill,” said House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah.
Immigrant groups said the bill is a wrong-headed approach to stop illegal immigration and urged Henry to veto it.
“It’s not going to control immigration. It’s going to create a long-term sour view in the Latino community,” said Ed Romo, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
“It’s targeting the Latinos, the Hispanics, and nobody else,” said Ed Madrid, state director of LULAC.
Pat Fennell, executive director of the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City, said the state does not have the authority to supersede federal immigration law.
“It opens the door for all kinds of litigation,” Fennell said. “We’re going to be paying the consequences of this silly bill.”
Henry, who has previously said he believes illegal immigration is a federal issue, has not decided whether he will sign or veto the measure, a spokesman said.
“Gov. Henry supports responsible and effective immigration reform, but he will withhold judgment on this particular bill until he has had an opportunity to review the final version,” communications director Paul Sund said.
The measure contains the toughest state guidelines on dealing with illegal immigration in the nation, said Mike Hethmon, general counsel of the Immigration Reform Law Institute in Washington.
Lawmakers in Oklahoma and other states have proposed immigration bills because of the federal government’s failure to control the flow of undocumented immigrants, now estimated at 12 million nationwide, Hethmon said.
The Oklahoma bill builds on measures passed by other states but has a stronger focus on deterring unauthorized employment, he said.
“It lays the foundations for state and local action in a very broad scope of public activities,” Hethmon said.
The legislation addresses the root cause of illegal immigration — exploitation of illegal immigrant labor, he said. Among other things, the bill contains employment, labor law and civil rights provisions to protect citizens and legal immigrants who lose their jobs at companies that employ illegal immigrants to perform the same or similar work.
“Stealing American jobs is now a civil rights violation in Oklahoma,” Hethmon said.
The measure targets employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens in order to gain a competitive advantage. Key elements of the bill focus on determining worker eligibility, including technology called the Basic Pilot program, which screens Social Security numbers to make sure they are real and that they match up with the person’s name.
Created by the federal government to verify the eligibility of government employees, use of the program is mandated in Georgia, said the author of the Oklahoma legislation, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore. It is free to employers who voluntarily sign up, he said.
Public agencies will be required to use the program beginning Nov. 1 and private companies by July 1, 2008.
Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations for The State Chamber, a business and industry group in Oklahoma City, said the group initially opposed the bill but took a neutral position after changes were approved in the Senate.
The changes widened so-called “safe harbor” provisions that allow employers to avoid sanctions for hiring undocumented immigrants if they use the Basic Pilot program and other methods to verify worker eligibility, Seney said.
“All of that goes out the window if you are participating in one of these safe harbor areas,” he said.
Terrill said the measure would limit state driver’s licenses and identity cards to citizens and legal immigrants and would require state and local agencies to verify the citizenship and immigration status of applicants for state or local benefits.
“The land of opportunity is becoming the land of entitlement,” Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, said while debating for the bill.
The measure would not affect emergency medical and humanitarian services, such as visits to hospital emergency rooms and enrollment in public schools, that are required by federal law.
Terrill said the Federation of American Immigration Reform estimates that illegal immigrants costs state taxpayers up to $200 million a year in public benefits and other resources.
“We have several thousand illegal aliens coming across our border every day,” Terrill said. “It is a situation that is not sustainable or desirable.”
THURSDAY MAY 3, 2007 Last modified: Wednesday, May 2, 2007 5:01 PM CDT
House sends sweeping immigration reform bill to governor’s desk
By Tim Talley Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Legislation described as the nation’s most sweeping attempt to deny jobs and public benefits to illegal immigrants was sent to Gov. Brad Henry’s desk Tuesday.
State lawmakers urged Henry to sign the measure into law after it was approved in a bipartisan 84-14 vote by the state House. The bill was approved 41-6 by the Senate last month.
“The people of Oklahoma are very strongly for this bill,” said House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah.
Immigrant groups said the bill is a wrong-headed approach to stop illegal immigration and urged Henry to veto it.
“It’s not going to control immigration. It’s going to create a long-term sour view in the Latino community,” said Ed Romo, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
“It’s targeting the Latinos, the Hispanics, and nobody else,” said Ed Madrid, state director of LULAC.
Pat Fennell, executive director of the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City, said the state does not have the authority to supersede federal immigration law.
“It opens the door for all kinds of litigation,” Fennell said. “We’re going to be paying the consequences of this silly bill.”
Henry, who has previously said he believes illegal immigration is a federal issue, has not decided whether he will sign or veto the measure, a spokesman said.
“Gov. Henry supports responsible and effective immigration reform, but he will withhold judgment on this particular bill until he has had an opportunity to review the final version,” communications director Paul Sund said.
The measure contains the toughest state guidelines on dealing with illegal immigration in the nation, said Mike Hethmon, general counsel of the Immigration Reform Law Institute in Washington.
Lawmakers in Oklahoma and other states have proposed immigration bills because of the federal government’s failure to control the flow of undocumented immigrants, now estimated at 12 million nationwide, Hethmon said.
The Oklahoma bill builds on measures passed by other states but has a stronger focus on deterring unauthorized employment, he said.
“It lays the foundations for state and local action in a very broad scope of public activities,” Hethmon said.
The legislation addresses the root cause of illegal immigration — exploitation of illegal immigrant labor, he said. Among other things, the bill contains employment, labor law and civil rights provisions to protect citizens and legal immigrants who lose their jobs at companies that employ illegal immigrants to perform the same or similar work.
“Stealing American jobs is now a civil rights violation in Oklahoma,” Hethmon said.
The measure targets employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens in order to gain a competitive advantage. Key elements of the bill focus on determining worker eligibility, including technology called the Basic Pilot program, which screens Social Security numbers to make sure they are real and that they match up with the person’s name.
Created by the federal government to verify the eligibility of government employees, use of the program is mandated in Georgia, said the author of the Oklahoma legislation, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore. It is free to employers who voluntarily sign up, he said.
Public agencies will be required to use the program beginning Nov. 1 and private companies by July 1, 2008.
Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations for The State Chamber, a business and industry group in Oklahoma City, said the group initially opposed the bill but took a neutral position after changes were approved in the Senate.
The changes widened so-called “safe harbor” provisions that allow employers to avoid sanctions for hiring undocumented immigrants if they use the Basic Pilot program and other methods to verify worker eligibility, Seney said.
“All of that goes out the window if you are participating in one of these safe harbor areas,” he said.
Terrill said the measure would limit state driver’s licenses and identity cards to citizens and legal immigrants and would require state and local agencies to verify the citizenship and immigration status of applicants for state or local benefits.
“The land of opportunity is becoming the land of entitlement,” Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, said while debating for the bill.
The measure would not affect emergency medical and humanitarian services, such as visits to hospital emergency rooms and enrollment in public schools, that are required by federal law.
Terrill said the Federation of American Immigration Reform estimates that illegal immigrants costs state taxpayers up to $200 million a year in public benefits and other resources.
“We have several thousand illegal aliens coming across our border every day,” Terrill said. “It is a situation that is not sustainable or desirable.”
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