Archive for the 'Stop Illegal Immigration' Category

McCain flip flops on amnesty for illegal immigrants — that didn’t take long

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 22, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 1 Comment

John McCain’s masquerade as a conservative is over.

After securing the Republican nomination, the Sacremento Bee is reporting that John “Straight Talk” McCain has backed off his campaign promises to be tough on illegal immigration. This reinforces my concern that McCain only talked tough on immigration to get the the vote of conservatives during the primary season and now he’s back to his maverick ways.

Unfortunately, he is making it very hard for anyone who respects the laws and sovereignty of our country to stay committed to voting for him. Can he be trusted anymore on the immigration issue? Of course he can’t. He’s not a conservative and I’m beginning to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to let Obama win in the fall. At least Obama makes no secret that he is a Democrat. The Bee reports:

Asked by Silicon Valley panelists on what he would do to grant more visa for skilled technology workers, McCain broadly advocated the comprehensive immigration reform plan he had backed with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy in Congress.

The same issue brought McCain intense criticism during the Republican presidential primary from conservatives who assailed him as soft on illegal immigration and an advocate of amnesty.

But today McCain, the now presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said an immigration program is needed that protects America’s borders and national security. While he called for punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants, he also advocated a humane approach that treats illegal workers as “God’s children.”

Michelle Malkin has extensive coverage on the disappointing news. She wisely doubted McCain back in January when McCain claimed that he understood that conservatives want the borders enforced:

For all his supposed, newfound enlightenment about what most Americans want—protection against invasion, commitment to the rule of law, meaningful employer sanctions, an end to sanctuary cities, enforcement-by-attrition plus deportation reform, and an end to special illegal alien benefits that invite more law-breaking–The Maverick remains a Geraldo Rivera Republican. Like the ethnocentric cable TV host who can’t string a sentence about immigration together without drowning in emotional demagoguery, McCain naturally resorts to open-borders platitudes when pressed for enforcement specifics.

While I’ll never vote for one of the socialists running on the Democratic side, McCain is making increasingly difficult to be able to vote for him either. He is not a conservative and I’m not sure that he can be trusted. McCain would be wise to stop hanging around with pseudo Republicans like the governors of California and Florida and start reconnecting with conservatives and the base of the Republican party. Obama isn’t the only one who is demographically challenged.

Arizona’s governor is NOT tough on illegal immigration: Democrat Janet Napolitano “redirects” funds away from border enforcement

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 14, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 0 Comments

Through blatant abuse of her executive powers, Arizona’s Democratic Governor, Janet Napolitano, has decided to redirect funds away from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that he uses to enforce our borders from illegal immigration. According to the Arizona Capitol Times, the funds had been granted to the sheriff by the state legislature expressly for his border enforcement program. Joe Arpaio has gained national recognition for his tough stance on illegal immigration and I applaud him for his efforts.

Apparently there aren’t sufficient checks and balances to prevent the state’s governor from committing an executive power grab to override the legislature’s wishes. Unfortunately via an execute order, Democrat Napolitano canceled the funding for Arpaio’s enforcement program that has had much success. How can local politicians operate in an environment when after passing laws and funding supported by their constituency an executive can overturn them to meet her political agenda.

Hopefully this decision will be fought. There is encouragement to be taken from the following excerpt:

Arpaio was joined by House Speaker Jim Weiers and Mesa Rep. Russell Pearce, who criticized the governor’s decision as an illegal violation of the separation of powers. Weiers said the Legislature had specifically allotted $1.2 million to help Arpaio’s efforts.

Luckily Napolitano can not run for Governor again due to term limits on that office in Arizona, and I hope that the good voters of Arizona concerned about the enforcement of immigration laws exercise their rights to prevent Napolitano from gaining another statewide office in 2010 especially the Senate seat currently held by John McCain if he wins the presidency. Her redirection of these funds by executive fiat is a clear indication of the contempt that she has for the laws of our country regarding immigration.

A hidden cost of Illegal Immigration - TRASH and a lot of it!!!

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 7, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 0 Comments

We’ve all read about the stress that illegal immigration places on our countries hospitals and public school systems. There is a much stinkier problem that hasn’t been covered and that is the extreme amount of trash that illegal immigrants leave behind along our border as they attempt to break the laws of our country. Fox News has an article looking at this problem.

Who picks this cost up? Taxpayers! The article also states that the border agents pick up around 1,500 illegal immigrants a day in Arizona. When will Washington get serious about this problem and authorize the construction of a fence and possibly moat system along our borders? Here is an excerpt from the story:

Arizonia officials have spent approximately $4.4 million over five years to clean up the mess, that continues to build with each crossing. Nearly $1 million was spent for 2007 from a base BLM appropriation.

Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which covers most of the Arizona border, doesn’t have statistics about how many people cross through each year, but on average, agents apprehend 1,500 people a day, with 378,000 undocumented immigrants caught in 2007 alone.

The trash is a problem that activist groups, like the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, say will not stop until the nation’s southern border is secured.

“It’s just like a flood,” said Chris Simcox, the president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. “You can’t clean up the floodwaters until you stop the flood and fix the dam.”

Successful efforts by the Border Patrol to secure well-trafficked crossing spots in San Diego and El Paso have forced many immigrants to cross through federal and state lands along the Arizona border adding to the trash problem, McFarlin said.

Since 2003, the Arizona BLM has run a project to mitigate the damage caused by the migration of illegal immigrants along the state’s border with Mexico.

Bill Richardson has made New Mexico into the place to get false ids

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 6, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 0 Comments

Michelle Malkin has excellent commentary on a Philly.com article looking at the transportation of illegal immigration to New Mexico from New Jersey. Why is it profitable for this illegal transportation across state lines? Due to New Mexico’s almost non-existent requirements to obtain a driver’s license has made New Mexixo the place to get REAL state id’s based on FALSE information. New Mexico doesn’t even require a social security number.

This is all fine and dandy for New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson as indicated in the Philly.com article:

“These are foreigners who got into the country using some sort of identification, and clearly were not on some kind of a watch list unless they used fake documents to get into the country,” he said. “These things are complex; it’s good to have a live case here we can all investigate from A to Z and work together to improve the security process.”

New Mexico, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Utah and Washington do not require drivers to prove legal status to obtain a license.

In 2003, Gov. Bill Richardson signed a measure into law that allowed foreign nationals , including those living illegally in the country , to obtain a driver’s license. His office has said one of the deciding factors in signing the bill was public safety.

Applicants for a New Mexico driver’s license who don’t have a Social Security number can present identification such as a tax identification number, a foreign passport or a Matricula Consular issued by the Mexican government.

Chertoff makes progress on securing border with fence

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 5, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 0 Comments

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has successfully negotiated the building of a fence to enforce our border with Mexico. According to the AP, Chertoff was able to bypass environmental laws utilizing powers granted to him by Congress:

The plan soon raised environmental concerns because it replaced a planned fence that small wildlife could pass through with a 16- to 18-foot high impermeable concrete wall.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it could not sign off on the project, but last month Chertoff announced he was using authority Congress granted him to bypass three dozen laws, including many environmental statutes, to build hundreds of miles of fence in Hidalgo County and elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The agreement, hammered out between federal and county attorneys late Friday, includes two timelines for the project — a substantial completion date of Dec. 30 and a full completion date of March 31, 2009. County attorney Steve Crain declined to elaborate on what constituted substantial completion.

Any reasonable effort to curb and eventually end illegal immigration will depend on utilizing multiple techniques to deter the illegal aliens from making the journey including law enforcement, cracking down on those who hire illegal immigrants, utilizing the e-verify system, and yes building physical barriers.

Is John McCain committed to securing our border? Don’t bet on it. [Updated]

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 5, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 1 Comment

Michelle Malkin looks at John McCain’s cozying up with a pro-open borders group. Given McCain’s past record, conservatives should be ever vigilant against McCain backsliding into a pro-illegal immigration position.

Senator McCain has a long history of supporting policies that will lead to ILLEGAL immigrants being granted a pathway to citizenship. In the past, McCain has argued against enforcing US immigration law because that might cause riots.

Let’s not forget that Senator McCain also cozied up with Senator Ted Kennedy to push legislation in 2005 that would blatantly ignore US laws regarding immigration. This is a total insult to any immigrant that has enter the US legally and has become a naturalized citizen through official avenues. McCain-Kennedy amounts to amnesty to illegal aliens who have violated the United States immigration laws. Why would any sensible conservative support that? So it is fair to question McCain conservativeness on this topic!

The main way that horrible bill was stopped was by a vocal dissent from the American electorate. The nomination of Senator McCain puts conservatives in a tough position of needing to vote for an individual who is rather liberal on many important topics. I will hopefully be able to hold my nose when I vote in the fall. I certainly won’t vote for Obama or Clinton, but I’ll take no joy in voting for McCain due to policies like this.

[Update: 5/6/2008]

Michelle Malkin has information regarding earmarks for this group. Let’s see how McCain reacts!

South Carolina set to pass illegal immigrant hiring law targeted at companies

Published
by
HawkEye
on May 1, 2008
in Stop Illegal Immigration
. 0 Comments

How to help eliminate the incentive for immigrants to enter our country illegally? There are many options, but none more important than creating and enforcing stiff penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants to work for them. Many businesses knowingly hire illegal aliens in order to acquire cheap labor. In effect they create an undocumented class of workers that can be abused and fear seeking assistance because the workers know that they could face deportation. Plus the illegal immigrants place a burden on our social services, health, and education systems.

Immigration to the USA should only be allowed through documented and legal channels.

Both the Senate and House in South Carolina have passed a bill that will enact strict penalties on companies and individuals who hire illegal aliens. Fines may range up to $10,000 per illegal hire for repeat offenders. Both bodies still must approve the final wording.

Sound good right! Unfortunately, in negotiations, the bill was stripped of the requirement that employers use the federal E-verify system to verify social security numbers and names. S.C. Governor Mark Sanford rightfully criticized the compromise:

“By stripping out the e-verify requirement last night, the Senate has taken out the single most effective part of this immigration reform bill,” Gov. Sanford said. “For anyone who cares about real immigration reform, the time is now for them to email or call their Senator or House member - or better yet show up in person at the State House on Tuesday to tell their elected leaders face-to-face how they feel.”

I applaud Govornor Sanford for the courage on criticizing the elimination of the e-verify requirement. We need more state leaders like Sanford to help reduce the demand for illegal employees. We all have the obligation to notify our elected politicians that they should advocate stiff penalties to any entity that hire illegal immigrants and that verification should be made through the e-verify system.

Read more about the e-verify system on this page at the Department of Homeland Security.