09/04/2006
In Texas, immigration has become a major issue in the gubernatorial race. (Border security hot issue in Texas governor race, by Brandi Grissom, El Paso Times, September 3, 2006 )The highlights:
Independent candidate Kinky Friedman says that if he is elected, he will make the Mexican government front the costs of illegal immigration in Texas or make it face what he is calling the "Israeli discount."
"We should be as ruthless as they are with the southern border," said the author and musician. He says: "I would tell [Mexican officials] to step up to the plate and pay their fair share of the cost illegals are costing the state of Texas … If they don’t do that, then I want the border on the nightly news every night."
According to Friedman, border safety has deteriorated — and will continue to do so — because politicians are afraid of offending Hispanics and the Mexican government. He supports groups such as the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps because they give the border problem proper publicity, and says "If we can’t draw a line, call it a border and protect it, then we might as well not be here at all."
The fact that Friedman’s campaign motto is “Remember the Alamo” is encouraging.
Democratic candidate Chris Bell proposes that billions in payroll taxes from illegal immigrants be used to pay back border states for the social services they’ve been forced to provide the immigrants. But he recoils from "vigilantes".
Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn — who once said that Texas has a responsibility to provide education and health care to illegal immigrants — now is says she is “adamantly against illegal immigrants” and wants to get rid of in-state college tuition for them.
All three candidate criticize current Governor Rick Perry’s attempts to secure the border, saying it’s too little, too late.
Times are a-changing!
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