11/05/2003
[Previously by Alex Hamilton: An Unnoticed Victory On The H1B Front! What Next?]
In his press conference the other day, President Bush strongly endorsed the idea that border controls are a responsibility of the country from which illegal aliens come:
Question: "If there are foreign terrorists involved [in Iraqi bombings], why aren’t Syria and Iran being held accountable?"
President Bush: "Yes, well, we're working closely with those countries to let them know that we expect them to enforce borders, prevent people from coming across borders if, in fact, we catch them doing that."
Wow! Will the Bush Administration apply this policy to Mexico? Most Americans view illegal Mexican immigration as one of the most severe threats to the American way of life. Mexico makes no effort to control its northern border. To the contrary, it encourages illegal border crossings from Mexico to the United States through such policies as the Matricula Consular.
Don’t hold your etc.
Amazingly, the Democrats seem incapable of taking advantage of this opportunity — yet. See below.
Reference the above piece using this permanent URL:
/articles/bush-wants-border-controlsin-iraq-etc#bush
CNN’s Lou Dobbs is perhaps first major media figure to give the issue of mass immigration the prominence it deserves. (He’s already been slimed by Julian Sanchez in Reason magazine.) In the Dobbs interview of General Wesley Clark, Democrat for President, Wesley comes out looking like a weasel. Hundreds of thousands of people saw this exchange:
DOBBS: As you know, General, turning to another important national issue that has garnered extraordinarily little attention on the part of any candidate, Democratic candidate, running for president, and certainly it has not garnered the impression or the attention of this administration.
Ten million illegal aliens in this country. We have a border that, despite all the concerns about national security, homeland security, that is absolutely porous. What would you do about a national immigration policy? What would you do about the 10 million illegal aliens now in this country?
CLARK: Well, first of all, I think we need to really put leadership into homeland security. We're just now getting started on homeland security. It’s been over two years. Jim Moore [ph], I think, has done a great job of working airline security. But we've got a long way to go on the borders. And there’s no excuse that we're seeing dozens of Mexicans and Hispanics dying in the Arizona desert each summer.
I think we need to set up a system for guest workers in this country. I think we need to encourage legal immigration. I think we need to discourage illegal immigration. For those undocumented aliens that are here, for those that have been good citizens that hold responsible jobs, I think we ought to have a procedure where they can work their way into citizenship.
DOBBS: And those illegal aliens that are in this country, those 10 million, you're basically saying amnesty?
CLARK: Well, I’m saying that you need a program where people who are here and lack the documentation can one way or another work their way into citizenship. It’s not a general amnesty. It’s dependent on their performance and what kind of citizens they'll be.
DOBBS: You use the word "undocumented" and "those who don’t have papers." The immigration service itself uses the expression "illegal alien." Is there some reason that you would not use that expression?
CLARK: Well, I think it is a question of whether you're talking about the act of crossing the border or people inside the country. There’s a wide variety of offenses against the immigration laws. And what I’m interested in are the people.
DOBBS: General Wesley Clark. We thank you for being with us.
CLARK: Thank you, Lou. It’s always good to be with you.
It was indeed good for General Clark to "be with" Dobbs — good for America. We look forward to Dobb’s "being with" more of our leaders. How about Dubya?
Reference the above piece using this permanent URL:
/articles/bush-wants-border-controlsin-iraq-etc#dobbs
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