Democrat Finally Can Offer Government Some Applause On Immigration Policy

Finally some good news on the border
fence. The AP reported on June 23rd that
construction of the fence can continue:

"The Supreme Court on Monday

turned down a plea by
environmental groups to rein in the Bush
administration`s power to waive laws and regulations to
speed construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican
border.

“Homeland Security Secretary

Michael Chertoff has used authority given to him by
Congress in 2005 to ignore environmental and other laws
and regulations to move forward with hundreds of miles
of fencing in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

“The case rejected by the court involved a two-mile
section of fence in the San Pedro Riparian National
Conservation Area near Naco, Ariz. The section has since
been built.

“As of June, 13, 331 miles of fencing have been
constructed in California, Arizona, New Mexico and
Texas."

[Court
OK`s border fence despite environmental worry,
By Eileen Sullivan]

The same day as the Court decision,
on June 23, I was interviewed on the

George Putnam Radio Show, CRN Digital Talk, by its
producer

Chuck Wilder, about the effectiveness of border
fences as detailed in

my June 15th VDARE.com story on how well the

Israeli fence has stopped terrorism. The callers,
one of whom had been to the Mexican border to see the
effective use of

double fencing, were most pleased with what has been
done, particularly in the potential high-volume crossing
areas that had
previously been so porous.

Time
Magazine`s cover story in the June 19th issue,

"The Great Wall of America" admits that the wall
works. As a Democrat, I was pleased to read in this
article that

"Passions don`t shake out neatly along party lines.
Republican John McCain wove frantically through last
winter`s debates trying to avoid the

scarlet A-for-amnesty. His sin was promoting a `pathway
to citizenship` for
undocumented workers. Democrat Hillary Clinton,
meanwhile, tripped on a

debate question about driver`s licenses for illegal
aliens. Senator Barack Obama has stepped carefully with
the issue, voting for the fence and for more agents on
the border while saying that this covers `only one side
of the equation.`"

Actually, of course, Senator Obama
is correct—although certainly not on board with real
immigration reform. It is true that the fence alone is
not the lone silver bullet that will solve the legal and
illegal immigration crisis. But like a well-built

Mississippi levee, it will surely eliminate a
lot of grief for many Americans exposed to the

flood.

If our federal government had acted
to enforce existing immigration laws, instead of trying
to pass phony fixes like the comprehensive amnesty bill
which failed last June, or made sure employers could not
hire illegal aliens, or stopped corporate begging by
billionaires like

Bill Gates for more special unneeded

special visas or fostered a

national ID card system which could spring us
through crowded airports, then this fence wouldn`t be
the prime alien-stopper it is now.

But let`s not live in fantasy land.
These same Open Border folks will never cease trying to
spin the system so they can continue to throw the costs
of immigration onto American citizens. Any gimmick will
do. This rejected Supreme Court case was

brought by environmentalists!

"`I am extremely disappointed in the court`s decision,`
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said. `This waiver will
only prolong the department from addressing the real
issue: their lack of a comprehensive border security
plan.`

“Thompson chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
He and 13 other House Democrats—including six other
committee chairs—filed a brief in support of the
environmentalists` appeal."

Egad, have they not seen the

trashing of border areas by the

hordes of illegal aliens who

tramp across?

These folks are just worried about
ocelot mating. Not my kind of Democrats.

Could it be that Homeland Security
is actually getting the message from the majority of
American citizens about securing America`s borders? As
the AP story relates,

"Russ Knock, a spokesman for the Homeland Security
Department, said, `The American people expect this
department to enforce
the rule of law at the border`. He added that the
department is happy with the court`s decision.

" `As fence construction proceeds,` Knocke said, `the
department will continue to be a good steward of the
environment, and consult with appropriate state, local,
and tribal officials.`

“The concept of a border fence took on new life after
the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which revived the
heated immigration debate. Intelligence officials have
said the holes along the southwest border could provide
places for terrorists to enter the country."

In a time of national emergency, we
must take urgent measures.

Finally, the AP reports:

"Earlier this year, Chertoff waived more than 30 laws
and regulations in an effort to finish building 670
miles of fence along the southwest border.
Administration officials have said that invoking the
legal waivers—which Congress authorized in

1996 and

2005 laws—will cut through bureaucratic red tape and

sidestep environmental laws that currently

stand in the way of fence construction."

The Time Magazine article
notes the results are not perfect. But at least the
piece doesn`t take a blatantly open border position on
the immigration issue so often found in the news and
editorial pages of the Washington Post and the
New York Times. It reports,

"In
this cloud of intangibles, the fence is something solid.
After years of talking about it, Congress last year put
$1.2 billion into the project, and the

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) promptly
started hiring posthole diggers. DHS aims to complete
more than 650 miles (roughly 1,000 km) of barrier by the
end of the year, built in sections by National Guard
units and private contractors. That represents only
about one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border; on the other
hand, the fence clearly delineates, for the first time,
a frontier that was previously just a four-strand cattle
fence at best.

“New fence goes up every week in Arizona and California,
mile after mile of posts and plates and screens and
rails marching across

sun-blasted deserts and up rugged, rock-strewn
hillsides. No one seems able to keep track of it all.
Even agents of the newly reorganized Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) department find themselves coming upon
sections they`ve never seen before. The work is less
advanced in New Mexico and stalled in Texas, where
fierce local opposition has delayed construction—a
coalition of

border-town mayors and chambers of commerce has sued
DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, alleging he is trying to
seize land at inadequate prices. But

Texas already has more than 1,200 miles (almost
2,000 km) of

well-marked border in the

form of the Rio Grande."

Let`s give credit here for a good
start. Now. if only our Congress would stop trying to
slip open

border amendments into pending legislation and get
the message, the tidal waves of newcomers would be
reduced to those needed.

As to the future funding for the
fence in the next Administration?  Experts with whom I
have spoken are not certain.  One thinks that the fence
building will continue through the year on the basis of
already appropriated money. That will not complete
fencing on the border, but it will cover the most-used
routes. A vote in the House on June 24th indicates that
new funding to continue the effort next year may not be
forthcoming or be very limited.  Also, the Republicans (Hutchinson)
are trying to put roadblocks in the fencing effort—but
in the House vote yesterday it was the majority
Democrats who cut fencing financing.  Our job as true
immigration reformers?  Keep the heat on your
Congressional reps!

Donald A. Collins [email
him], is a freelance writer living in Washington DC and a former long time member of the board of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. His views are his own.