Vigilantes Or Patriots?
By Tom Barrett (05/11/05)
I am quick to praise President Bush for his many accomplishments. Therefore, in good conscience I must be just as quick to criticize his failures. Our president has failed us miserably in the area of illegal immigration. The US government is involved in tens of thousands of useless activities, most of which are unconstitutional. But it has failed to do its duty in the single most important area of responsibility assigned to it by the Constitution: the defense of our borders.
Regardless of how the Democrats, the vast Left-wing conspiracy, the Mexican government, and our own president try to spin it, illegal aliens are a threat to our nation. Yet our own president refuses to call a spade a spade. Instead of calling them what they are, he refers to them as “undocumented aliens.” I’m very sorry, Mr. President, but the problem isn’t that they don’t have documents. The problem is that they have entered this nation illegally; they have broken US law.
A group of American Patriots has taken responsibility for assisting our overworked and understaffed Border Patrol by adding hundreds of pairs of eyes to those watching our borders. They simply watch and report illegal activity to the proper authorities. They do not take action to apprehend these illegal aliens (although US law would support such action; under common law any citizen who observes a crime in progress is allowed to make a citizen’s arrest). They do not take the law into their own hands. And yet our president has chosen to insult these Patriots, who travel to Arizona to defend our borders at their own expense, by referring to them as “vigilantes.”
I suggest that the President assign a staff member to check the dictionary before he makes such rash statements. (All definitions below are from www.Dictionary.com.)
“Vigilante: One who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands.” Interestingly, in the light of today’s subject, the definition goes on to give the origin of the word. It is Spanish, and it means “Watchman.”
“Patriot: One who loves, supports, and defends one's country.” We might well add, “One who defends one’s country when its government refuses to do so.”
“Illegal: Prohibited by law.” The example given was “An illegal alien.”
After reading those definitions, I believe our President needs to be more concerned about how the citizens of THIS nation feel, than the feelings of a nation that is systematically invading our country and causing us great financial harm. (See LINK below: “It’s All About the Money.”)
I would like to thank subscriber Holly Whitman for the photograph that accompanies this article. She wrote in response to my April 18, 2005 article, “A Mexican Invasion.” Following is part of her note that accompanied the photograph (the entire letter is included at this week’s EMAIL OF THE WEEK on our website, www.ConservativeTruth.org):
“I live in the vortex of this immigration problem. I teach in Tombstone, AZ, and was there the day the Minutemen rolled in. I was glad that they came. They have been effective just by their presence.
“This situation is insane. I am attaching a photo of illegal immigration that I took across the street from where I live, in March 2004. It is the most alarming issue facing our nation today. Many of my neighbors find themselves in desperate situations with destruction of property that they can't sell because no one wants to buy property that lies in the pathway of this river of people.
“And it isn't all Mexicans. I know several Border Patrolmen. They say that there are Muslims, Chinese and many others. They kill animals, destroy buildings, and commit all kinds of crimes. They aren't just a bunch of nice, desperate people eager to work and contribute to our economy. Anyway, thanks for your article. Holly Whitman.”
As she says, Holly is in the middle of this problem, and she has expressed it far better than I could have. So I will close with some thoughts on the Minuteman Project.
Many, if not most of the millions of illegal aliens pouring across our borders were criminals in their own countries. That’s one reason their governments, in particular Mexico, are eager to be rid of them. Law-abiding immigrants follow legal channels of immigration. Criminals do what criminals do; they break the law to get what they want. In this case, they break our immigration laws, and expect us to welcome them. Then they continue their lives of crime in this nation. It is no wonder that crime is far higher in area where illegals settle than elsewhere in the nation.
I found this statement on the website of US Border Control (see LINK below): “Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country.”
It is clear that our government has the ability to halt this dangerous flow of humanity into our nation. It is also clear that it does not have the political will to do so. The government could do many things. It could use the computer technology described above to track down and deport illegals. It could place service bases on our borders to help the Border Patrol. This could be done without adding to the military payroll simply by reassigning existing troops. Why do we need Army bases in Kansas or Navy bases in Nevada, anyway? What are they protecting us from there and in many other ridiculous locations?
So instead of protecting us, they choose to persecute those who try to help. The Minutemen are Patriots who take 30 days off from their jobs, pay all their own expenses, and spend 10 to 12 hours a day in hot, dusty desert country observing illegal aliens entering our sovereign nation. They do not carry weapons, they do not interfere with the activities of law enforcement officials; they simply watch and report.
The Bible says, “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Simply exposing the truth threatens the “coyotes” (men who take the life savings of illegals to get them across the border, many times killing them in the process). So Mexican gangs have threatened the lives of the Minutemen in an attempt to intimidate them. The ACLU has joined the gangs in this intimidation by announcing that they will “monitor” the activities of the Minutemen.
The president should stop trying to ingratiate himself with the corrupt government of Mexico and stop calling these brave people “vigilantes.” He should publicly apologize to them, and call them what they are: Patriots.
INTERNET RESEARCH:
A Mexican Invasion
http://www.conservativetruth.org/article.php?id=2857
Official Website of US Border Control
http://www.usbc.org/
'Minutemen' seek a voice
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C600126928%2C00.html
US Border Control Statement on the Minuteman Project
http://www.usbc.org/minuteman1.html
Illegal Immigration: It’s All About the Money
http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=69523
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