Immigration & Border Security

President Bush will speak to the nation this evening about immigration and border security. Apparently he will propose using National Guard troops to stem the flood of illegals crossing from Mexico. Border security has gotten much more coverage in the media since September 11th. Lou Dobbs of CNN has particularly used this soapbox effectively to boost his ratings. I wonder sometimes if he'd be as shrill if the problem was Swedish immigrants crossing over from Canada.

I think it's impossible to remove the specter of racism from this entire discussion. It is an element. Look at the Minutemen and the others at the forefront of the debate. Scratch the surface and you'll find white supremicist groups underneath.

The larger debate however, goes to the legality of using troops, the overextended nature of our current military, and Bush's previous budget priorities. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents the use of the military for domestic police purposes. The idea was to prevent the United States from becoming a police state. The Bush Administration has been trying to find a way to repeal this law ever since they took office. I worry that this may be their back-door method to success. We should never allow this to happen. Let's make sure we never become a banana republic where the Army has periodic checkpoints where your National ID (yes, that law was passed recently) is examined and your whereabouts tracked (NSA anyone?) This is dangerous territory.

(Update) News was posted on CNN that the Guard won't have any law enforcement rold. No power to arrest, detain, or transport. What are they there for then? They won't be able to do anything other than wear out their equipment and troops. Folks this is nothing more than a symbolic move to shore up Bush's record low approval numbers.

A second argument against thisis th efact our military and, especially the National Guard, has been critically overused and overextended in Iraq. Deploying them across the border with Mexico will only tax them further. This isn't the task of these units. They have no training for this mission and their equipment probably isn't suitable for the project either. What happens when another Katrina hits and our National Guard units aren't available?

The best solution is for more Border Patrol agents, equipment and support. This is a law enforcement issue, not a military assignment. In his 2006 Budget Budget George W. Bush eliminated 9,790 new agents for the Border Patrol. The proposal was to hire 10,000 new agents to secure the borders. Bush only funded 210. The money went instead to tax cuts for the rich and the War in Iraq. How many new agents could that $70 billion tax cut passed last week have funded?

The other solution to the immigration issue is enforcement. Current laws are not enforced. Illegals are allowed to work and live here with no threat of being cuaght and deported. Businesses are not raided and not punished for hiring illegals. Take away the jobs and these people will return to their home countries and stop coming back. It's simple economics: supply and demand. As long as American businessmen demand cheap, unregulated foreign laborers they will come to take the jobs. As long as the Federal government allows business unfettered use of illegals they will.

Current laws are quite strict. let's enforce them, hire the 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and do this right. Bush's sudden interest in the issue bothers me. He was AWOL when we needed leadership in 2005.