War on Terror Begins at US-Mexico Border!
By Letters To The Editor John W. Lillpop (12/31/05)
It's time to recognize that America's war on terror is being fought in places other than Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, our most critical theater of war is being fought at the US-Mexico border.
Our enemies are unlawful migrants who willfully violate our borders and thumb their noses at U.S. immigration laws. For the most part, they are third-world miscreants who, once in America, are bankrupting our health care and education systems. Illegal immigrants avail themselves of health care with no ability or desire to pay for services received.
Although their unpaid bills are forcing scores of hospitals here to close, illeg! als manage to send between $30-40 billion back to Mexico....each year!
Most importantly, US national security is in serious jeopardy: Al-Quaida is known to regard the porous border with Mexico as an attractive venue for entering the country in order to kill thousands, if not millions, of US citizens.
Given the extreme dangers posed by unprotected borders, it is an outrage that President Bush refuses to provide intelligent leadership on this issue, and even referred to the heroic Minutemen in Arizona as "vigilantes." Apparently the president, along with other GOP politicians, is more interested in growing big business profits than protecting American lives.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats regard American national security as a lesser priority than preserving their monopoly of the Hispanic vote. Forget about homeland security, they seem to say, political power is more important.
Some Republicans and all Democrats, encouraged by the mass media, preach that "immigration reform" is needed. But, history suggests otherwise.
In 1986 Congress enacted major immigration reforms, including amnesty for millions. That reform has been a dismal failure, because another 15 million illegal aliens have swarmed into the US since then.
Clearly, reforming just immigration law is not the answer.
To begin with, more than 1.1 million illegal aliens were apprehended at the US-Mexico border in 2004. Add to that another one half million or so who succeeded, and you have at least 1.6 million impoverished migrants to deal with each year.
However, America does not need 1.6 million additional unskilled, uneducated, non-English speaking workers each year!
So, is it reasonable to expect that reform, which allows say only 200,000 guest workers in, would fix the problem? The answer is obviously a resounding NO!
Rather, aggressive p! rotection of our borders and strict enforcement of existing laws is all that is needed. Thankfully, Minutemen volunteers in Arizona sent powerful messages to the Bush Administration and to Mexico: Illegal immigration CAN be stopped!
In just a few short weeks, these brave patriots caused the Bush administration to increase the number of government agents assigned to the border. Still woefully inadequate, but an increase nonetheless.
Even more remarkable is the success of the Minutemen in forcing Mexico to act responsibly. Before our courageous volunteers engaged this issue, the Mexican government was actively promoting illegal flight into the US, even producing "how to" booklets for would-be illegal aliens to follow.
This outrageous policy is apparently a direct result of President Vicente Fox's blatant lack of respect for US sovereignty, as shown by his repeated advocacy of open borders and amnesty for all. (Mr. Fox’s liberal philosophy applies only to migration into the US. When it comes to illegal migrants seeking to squat in Mexico, Fox is decidedly militant and deports such people ASAP).
In order to win the war on terror, President Bush must apply the same energy and passion that he used in Iraq and Afghanistan to the war being waged at our borders. And politicians from both major parties must abandon concern for profits and partisan politics in favor of responsible governance.
America can not win the war on terror without securing our borders and ending illegal immigration!
John W. Lillpop
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