The Mexican/Latino Invasion Finally Reaches the Front Pages

You've seen it all over the news over the last weekend -- literal armies of people in the streets, protesting. What are they protesting? They are protesting the enforcement of certain laws of these United States. "More than 500,000 people rallied in Los Angeles on Saturday, demanding that Congress abandon the House-passed measures that would make being an undocumented immigrant a felony and would erect a 700-mile fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border."(1) If you do not believe that such measures might be necessary, you might consider that "[t]he Pew Hispanic Centre estimates that there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants, and that nearly four fifths are from Mexico or other Latin American countries."(2) Illegal is the key word here. For some reason, our government absolutely refuses to adequately enforce our immigration laws where illegal Latin American immigrants are concerned. In response to major unrest among native Americans over illegal immigration, the House finally passed a bill that, in addition to what was mentioned above, "would . . . impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants [and] demand that churches check the legal status of those they help."(3) And why shouldn't penalties and other requirements apply to people who help lawbreakers? Isn't it normal to hold accomplices accountable for the crimes of people they knowingly help?

In response to the passage of this bill by the House (which is finally listening to the People), illegal immigrant supporters took to the street and "waved the national flags of Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala. Some held up signs that said "HR 4437" with a red slash through the center."(4) If I may be so bold, this is not the behavior of people who want to be a part of the People of these United States. Nor do they seem to want to be part of the People. Instead of protesting in the language of the realm, they chant, "'Si se puede' in Spanish, which means, 'Yes we can.'"(5) Yes you can, what? Break our laws? Invade our land? Refuse to speak our language? You protesters obviously don't think that the law should apply to you.

There are some realistic arguments against a law forcing the government to deport all the illegals currently here. For example, "the immigration reform bill would make the 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants felons. Sending them back to their native lands could be a huge blow to the economy."(6) The Bush Administration possibly has seen this potential problem and this may be the reason for the president's persistence in pushing for a guest worker program.(7) On that note, I might be persuaded that a guest worker program is a good idea if it is set up to reward migrants who actually bother to learn English. And when it comes down to it, I only have two requirements for immigrants. First, I ask that they learn English. It's simply rude not to. I wouldn't go and live in their country and demand that they accommodate me in my own language; I would learn theirs. Second, I ask that they respect other's rights to life, liberty, and property. If those two requirements are met, come on in. I don't care. And I think the laws should be changed to make it easy for people fluent in English to become permanent residents (but not citizens -- that honor should be reserved for those who come here legally). Why not? If they can come here and find jobs, why shouldn't they? If they're coming and collecting welfare or receiving any other social services, send them back from whence they came -- such people demonstrate by their actions that they do not respect the life, liberty, and property of others. Please note that "[t]he proportion of immigrant-headed households using at least one major welfare program is 24.5 percent compared to 16.3 percent for native households."(8)

As I write this, the "Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for immigrants. With a bipartisan coalition in control, the committee also voted down proposed criminal penalties on immigrants found to be in the country illegally. It approved a new temporary program allowing entry for 1.5 million workers seeking jobs in the agriculture industry."(9)

Alright, Senate... so you lack the backbone to actually enforce our existing immigration laws. I'm really only concerned about two things, as I said. English is a must. People who do not respect the life, liberty, and property of others should be immediately deported. I would urge the Senate to approve a measure that would allow local police to assess whether someone arrested is an illegal immigrant or not. And if they are, to have a mechanism by which they may be handed over to federal authorities for deportation. They also have to make sure that such malefactors are, in fact, deported. "In March 2000, Congress made public Department of Justice statistics showing that, over the previous five years, the INS had released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of those released went on to commit serious crimes, over 1,800 of which were violent ones [including 98 homicides, 142 sexual assaults, and 44 kidnappings]."(10)

One thing that annoys me is that the sheer scale of the crime associated with illegal immigration is simply ignored in most of the major coverage. "While the news reporters talked about illegal workers who perform jobs Americans refuse to perform, they continue to avoid mentioning the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who prey on men, women and children -- US citizens. It is these innocent Americans who are murdered, raped and robbed because of an insane immigration policy. Criminal aliens are entering the US in the tens of thousands and remaining here as they join violent gangs such as MS-13, or they choose to commit their mayhem solo."(11)

And for those of you who say that it is unfair to associate the violent beasts comprising MS-13 with "honest" hard-working illegal immigrants, consider the following: "The violent MS-13 -- or Mara Salvatrucha -- street gang is following the migratory routes of illegal aliens across the country, FBI officials say, calling the Salvadoran gang the new American mafia."(12) For those of you who are unaware of this group of two-legged beasts, "MS-13 -- the focus of a nationwide crackdown by FBI and federal immigration agents -- has become known in recent years for home invasion robberies, drug dealing and machete attacks on its enemies. . . [and even] could be far more dangerous than thought [apparently employing extremely well-honed paramilitary tactics and using military-grade weaponry]."(13)

The Senate needs to support the border fence. Whatever happens, that border needs to be sealed. Too much crime comes across it. "The U.S. Justice Department estimated that 270,000 illegal immigrants served jail time nationally in 2003 . . . the Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camorata noted in 2004: 'Roughly 17 percent of the prison population at the federal level are illegal aliens. That's a huge number since illegal aliens only account for about 3 percent of the total population.' . . . [and one] in five in our prison population were illegal immigrants who had been convicted of a felony after entering the country illegally."(14) Additionally, "heavily-armed Mexican trafficking gangs to smuggle people and drugs into America."(15)

If you think that what I just described is bad, it gets worse. There is a good case to be made that there is a full-scale Mexican invasion going on, and has been for years. The scale of these protests shows just how successful the invasion has been. One of the aims of these protests is to keep the U.S. government from attempting to stem the tide of the invasion. A lot of Americans sense this, and that is why the House felt such pressure to pass the bill they did. The Mexican government actively encourages illegal immigrations. You could say that illegal immigrants are their number one export. If you challenged a Mexican government official on this, they would deny it. Fortunately, actions speak louder than words. "[T]he Mexican government has published what could only be described as a how-to book on breaking into the United States.

The 'Guide for the Mexican Migrant' was created by Mexico's Foreign Ministry in a pocket sized comic book style and millions of copies were distributed. It describes ways for illegals to cross the border without being detected by Border Control and gives detailed information on their 'rights' should they be discovered by those charged with protecting America's borders."(16) In addition, the Mexican government has threatened to sue if U.S. citizens volunteer to monitor the border and assist the border patrol in identifying illegal border-crossers.(17) The Mexican president, Vicente Fox, was even prepared to deploy the Mexican army to defend illegal border crossers against any violent actions by American volunteers watching the Southern border.(18) If this isn't evidence of a Mexican-government sponsored invasion of the United States, I don't know what is.

Further evidence of hostile acts by Mexicans against the United States include actual military incursions into our territory. "According to [an] unnamed [Border Patrol] agent, the Tohono O'odham Police Department encountered the Mexican army unit . . . along the Santa Cruz trail inside the Papago Farms border patrol area, just south of Forest Road 21. The area is between five and 10 miles inside Arizona. . . [this was one] of a series of similar incidents along the U.S.-Mexican border -- from California to Texas. [U.S. Representative] Tancredo cites 23 such incursions [in 2001] alone. Several . . . occurred in [Spring of 2002].

The U.S. Border Patrol agent, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Tancredo during a phone conversation that one of his colleagues noticed a military helicopter flying overhead about five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The chopper was heading south toward Mexico.

Shortly after, he came upon a Humvee, which not only began to approach him, but to fire upon his vehicle. According to the agent's testimony, the vehicle's rear window and back driver's-side windows were destroyed. Fortunately, the agent was able to flee the incursion unharmed. He concluded the conversation with Tancredo saying, 'As far as I am concerned, that [incursion] should be an act of war.'"(19)

As you can see, there are a lot of issues associated with illegal immigration that are not largely reported in the debate over the current legislation. In light of the Mexican government's behavior over the last few years, the waiving of Mexican flags by protestors becomes more ominous. The fact is that there is too much crime coming across the Southern border not to close it up. If the Senate refuses to do this at least, then they will have failed in their basic duty to act in the best interests of Americans. Let's give the illegals who have made an effort to assimilate permanent status if we must, but something about the violent crime coming across the border has to be done. I urge you to contact your Senators and let them know how you feel on this issue. Illegal immigrants should not determine our national policy. They don't vote. Nor should they.

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(1) Gamboa, Suzanne. "Senate Cuts Part of House Immigration Bill" (AP) Houston Chronicle, Political news, 2006 March 27, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/3751057.html (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(2) Maddox, Bronwen. "US immigration is new mass movement," The Times, Americas, 2006 March 28, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2106321,00.html (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(3) Ibid.
(4) Warikoo, Niraj. "Latinos protest immigration bill in Detroit" The Detroit Free Press, 2006 March 27, http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/NEWS11/60327004 (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(5) Ibid.
(6) "Small Town on the Front Line of Immigration Wars," ABC News, 2006 March 27, http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1771523&page=1 (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(7) See: Yuhas, Steve. "Bush Failing the Southern Border," The Washington Dispatch, 2005 January 10, http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_10648.shtml (last accessed 2006 March 27) "President Bush has declared his guest worker program a top goal of his administration in his second term"
(8) Limbacher, Carl; and the NewsMax.com Staff Writers. "Justice Dept. Figures on Incarcerated Illegals," NewsMax.com, 2006 March 27, http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/27/114208.shtml (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(9) Espo, David. "Senate Panel Approves Immigration Bill" Associated Press, 2006 March 27, http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION?SITE=7219&SECTION=
HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-03-27-20-11-48 (last accessed 2006 March 28)
(10) Limbacher, 2006.
(11) Kouri, Jim. "The Illegal Immigration Reform Scam," Men's News Daily, 2006 March 27, http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/03/27/the-illegal-immigration-reform-scam/ (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(12) Ward, Jon. "Gang follows illegal aliens," The Washington Times, Metropolitan, 2005 May 05, http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20050504-115113-3615r.htm (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(13) Johnson, Kevin. "MS-13 gang growing extremely dangerous, FBI says," USA Today, 2006 January 05, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-05-gang-grows_x.htm (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(14) Limbacher, 2006.
(15) Sherwell, Philip. "Cowboys take up AK47s to combat drug runners on Mexican frontier," The Telegraph, 2005 November 20, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/20/wmex20.xml (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(16) Yuhas.
(17) Seper, Jerry. "Mexico accused of abusing its illegals," The Washington Times, 2005 March 24, http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050324-121935-8473r.htm (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(18) Limbacher, Carl; and the NewsMax.com Staff Writers. "Mexican Military on Standby in Response to Minutemen," NewsMax.com, 2005 March 31, http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/3/31/134212.shtml (last accessed 2006 March 27)
(19) "U.S. demands probe
of border 'act of war,'" WorldNetDaily.com, 2002 May 24, http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27734 (last accessed 2006 March 27)

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 5:15 AM

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