Confederate Yankee, writing on the Border War, makes this interesting observation:
In 2004, the equivilent of 160 12,500 military divisions simply walked northward across the U.S.-Mexican border to disappear into our country’s interior. Opposing them is an apathetic federal government, a complicit media, an overworked Border Patrol, and now, the militia the Constitution intended.
Meanwhile, Barry Schweid for myway news is reporting that the U.S. will tighten border controls by 2008:
Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday.
Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Canadians have been the only foreigners allowed to enter the United States with just a driver’s license.
An announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said.
These include a document called Sentri that is used for Mexico travel or a Nexus for Canada travel.
Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have needed only to show a driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification card.
Let’s hope all those itinerate suicide bombers with designs on destroying the US are planning on putting off their sojourns for another 3 years or so…
Not to be too upbeat but it really doesn’t matter. Whoever is going to blow us up the next time is already in the country. This will just make it harder for them to leave.
Spamword:future. Creepy.
Well, we all know that they take the long view of history, ainna? Probably don’t have anything scheduled for another four years.
You know, I voted Republican despite their general philosophy of unabashed Gordon Gekko capitalist greed at its worst, because I support a strong national defense… and Bush seemed the better war time leader.. However, in watching Bush in action over the last few years it occurs to me that one or the other of the following must be true.. either, (A) Bush cares more about profits than he does our national security, or (B) He knows something about the credible terrorist threat that we dont.. such as it doesnt really exist.. How else would you explain a ‘Tough on Terror’ president that actively opposes security on our border ? Instead of praising civilian volunteers, he calls them vigilantes… Someone please tell me how my logic is wrong…
And according to the time code I commented on this post before it was posted…
I’m so confused…
AB-
Kickbacks from the Mexican Gov’t?
So is this what we’ve come to? Business and politcal leaders that will take bribes to leave the country vulnerable? Corporations that have no problem providing substandard food and goods for the sake of a little more profit? Health and drug providers that would let the sick go untreated rather lower their profit margin. Employers that layoff hundreds or thousands and move the jobs to India or SE Asia while at the same time paying record salaries to upper management ? Where does it end ? Will it take a revolution ? or a Star Chamber approach to make examples of the most egregious abusers ? How do you teach conscience and responsibility to people that have lost theirs ?
FACT 1: Bush wants illegals here because it makes for cheaper labor in Texas.
FACT 2: Bush wants oil prices to skyrocket so public pressure becomes so enormous that all the tree-hugging laggards in Congress have to allow drilling in Alaska, pleasing his oil-buddies in Texas.
FACT 3: The public suffers the consequences of facts 1 and 2.
If it’s good for Texas, “W” don’t care who else it hurts. Get used to it.
Note that the article only states that Americans will require passports to enter the country. Mexicans and jihadists will still have free entry. To do otherwise would infringe on their constitutional rights.
So that’s why military divisions cross borders– to disappear? Most interesting.
Not to get all serious, but…
Bush can’t tighten up the border as much as everyone wants, for political and economic reasons. He’d lose the Hispanic vote and Mexico’s economy would tank. I live in AZ, and believe me, there is a vast economy based around illegal immigration. I ain’t saying that’s a good thing, but the last couple decades of lax border control has gotten us to this point. How we get out of this situation is anyone’s guess.
And another thing, high oil prices got nothing to do with Bush, or Mideast unrest. It’s pretty much totally caused by China buying up every last drop of oil they can get. Do some googling on China’s consumption of raw materials (cement, oil, wood, steel, etc.) over the last decade. It’s scary. At some point over the next 5-15 years, there’s going to be way more demand than supply for those items, and either China’s (bubble) economy takes it in the kiester, or there’s going to be yet another fight in the Pacific/Asia for access to resources. Remember, that’s why Japan went to war against the whole damn region in WWII.
I’ll shut up now. Too much serious stuff for one week, I think.
And now, back to the regular, non-serious posting.
There ya go spoiling people’s fantasies with facts, Tom.
As yet another Arizonan, I have to put forth my frivolous opinion.
The Border Patrol is only for show. They can’t stop the people who want to come here to work, they can’t stop the drugs from getting to us, and they can’t even check all the trucks entering the country. But they catch a lot of people and send them right back to Mexico, so they must be effective. And they raid countless businesses that hire illegal workers, right?
Our borders will be able to be sealed once American citizens look forward to living in squalor at farm camps, cleaning houses and dishes, not having any sort of job security, working twelve and fourteen hour days at backbreaking tasks, not demanding pay above minimum wage, and thinking of “benefits” as such things as work gloves supplied by the employer (with only a small deposit required, natch.)
When wetbacks cross the border carrying firearms, artillery, entrenching tools, supply trains, and armored vehicles, then maybe it would be reasonable to compare them to “military divisions.”
I’m off to dodge the equivalent of six tank divisions on the way to my headquarters. Otherwise known to non-immigration-hyperventalists as “commuting.”
Spamcheck word is “brown.” (Insert your own joke here.)
Illegals cost this country a net loss of $10 billion every year (They pay $16 billion in taxes, use $26.3 billion in social services). That’s as costly as a shooting war, Floyd.
Jon, we are the only country in the history of this planet who has an obese population of poor. Perhaps getting off their cellulite-ridden carcasses and doing an honest day’s work on the farm would do them some good.
TomK, if Mexico’s economy did tank, they’d be forced to finally toss their corrupt govenment and become self-sufficient. I don’t think there is anything in the law saying we have to prop up banana republics at great expense, conidering how that money can better be spent on those that acutally deserve it.
Nother idjit,
What are you going to do, institute forced labor with low-calorie diets? And we are definitely not the only country in history with fat poor people. Look here:
http://www.iuns.org/features/obesity/tabfig.htm#Figure
I read somewhere that the highest rate for childhood obesity was in Uganda.
Also, what war costs $10B these days? Invading Grenada again would probably come close to that.
Illegals cost this country a net loss of $10 billion every year (They pay $16 billion in taxes, use $26.3 billion in social services).
Does that count the sales taxes on purchases made by illegals? The income and corporate and sales taxes of those whose employees are illegals?
Anyway, there is more to America than the government exchequer. The value of illegal immigrant labor is far more than $10 billion per year.
That’s as costly as a shooting war, Floyd.
The government spends money in many ways which irritate me, but I do not complain that, say, recipients of agricultural subsidies consititute a military occupation of the plains states.
Passphrase “bill”, as in Bill Clinton, who swept most of the indigent poor of nother idgit’s imagination onto the working rolls last decade.
Floyd,
The term “wetbacks” isn’t exactly nice. Why not just go all the way and say “beaners” or “spics” if you are going to insist on using racist terminology?
Just askin’.
Why “wetbacks”? I guess because I find it absurd that people who come over here with nothing but their clothes to do backbreaking work are cast as some sort of menacing military force.
Passphrase “progress”, as in “after decades of progress toward racial equality, advocates for immigration are still using crude slurs.”
Floyd, I’ll take that as something that is about as much an apology as I think I may have been demanding. I still think you shouldn’t have used the term, but you certainly won’t wake to find una cabeza de burro en su cama.
I’m not opposed to Mexican people coming to work in this country or immigrating.. Most of the illegal aliens I’ve met or known are decent, hard working people.. I believe that they are an integral part of our society and economy (at least in the SW).. My only concern is the security of our country.. Where is the wisdom in spending huge sums of money to monitor and regulate US and Canadian cross border travel while ignoring thousands and thousands of undocumented aliens simply walking across our southern border. Doesn’t a documented alien worker program coupled with real border control make sense ?