Say Anything Blog

Is the President coming around on border security?

L.A. Times - With increasingly fierce debates over border security exposing divisions in the Republican Party, President Bush on Monday endorsed a policy of strict border enforcement.

His comments during appearances in California and Arizona were an apparent response to some state officials and conservatives in his own party who say the administration has failed to adequately address human trafficking from Mexico into the United States.

Officials in the two states have struggled to balance the need to guard against waves of illegal immigration with the demands of agriculture and other industries that rely on migrant labor. They also have been mindful of the growing importance of Latino voters, many of whom are sympathetic to looser enforcement.

The president did not mention the emergency declarations, signed two weeks ago by Democratic Govs. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Bill Richardson of New Mexico, that require the federal government to spend millions more combating human trafficking and, at the same time, paint the Bush administration as weak on immigration. Nor did he mention his own proposal for addressing the immigration crisis, one that is strongly opposed by many conservatives within his party: a guest worker program that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to work and live in the United States legally.

Instead, Bush offered language apparently designed to appease the growing chorus of critics — assuring audiences in El Mirage, Ariz., and Rancho Cucamonga, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, that as a former governor of Texas he was no newcomer to border-state concerns. He did not, as he had in the past, discuss the benefits of immigration or the value that immigrants bring to the U.S. economy.

"I understand the challenges of enforcing our border," Bush told the audience at the James L. Brulte Senior Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

"My pledge to the people of California is that the federal government will work closely with the state government and local government to provide assets, manpower [and] detention space to do our duty — and that is to make sure this border of ours is secure."

Officials are working to balance the need for migrant workers with the illegal immigration problem? What a load of bunk. Illegal immigrants are criminals. If there are labor demand problems lets make it easier for these immigrants to get here legally so that when they fill those labor positions they can pay taxes and Social Security contributions like the rest of us.

As for the President's words, I hope he's ready to back them up with action. He spends a lot of time talking about keeping this country safe from terrorism. Anyone with common sense is able to see that the 3,000,000+ illegal immigrants who wander across our southern border with Mexico alone every year constitutes a majority security hole.

If this President truly is interested in keeping this country safe let's seem him look past business interests who want cheap labor and Hispanic voting blocks and plug this hole.

Update:

This is why the President (and politicians throughout our government) need to start taking illegal immigration seriously.