Illegal Immigration: Enforcement worst in history

Reprinted with permission from Sonoran News, Cave Creek, Arizona. Illegal Immigration: Enforcement worst in history' is the seventh in a series of articles on the Southwest Conference on Illegal Immigration, Border Security and Crime hosted by Maricopa County Attorney's Office that was held Nov. 4 – 5.

By LINDA BENTLEY,
Reporter for Sonoran News

SCOTTSDALE - KTVK News Channel 3 Anchor Frank Camacho moderated the final panel discussion of the Southwest Conference on Illegal Immigration, Border Security and Crime, titled: “Improving Border Security.” Bill King, former director of the Border Patrol Academy, opened the discussion by saying, “If this nation is truly at war, and it is, we need to secure our borders,” and said the military should be assigned to assist border patrol operations.

He said full-time backup operations have been sorely neglected along with traffic check operations.

“Currently, OTMs (other than Mexican) are being processed and turned loose the same day, and they simply disappear,” said King, “This is not law enforcement, it’s a farce.” King cited the last amnesty program and said, “I recommend we don’t go that route again. If we do a guestworker program, you’ll see the 11 million we have now, increase.” While California probably authorized double the number of agricultural visas than there are total agricultural workers in the state, King said, “Currently, Vicente Fox makes demands on this country and the President complies. That’s not what the American people want. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shouldn’t have happened.” Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Pete Nunez said, “The federal government has completely abdicated its responsibility of border control and national security,” which was why state and local governments were stepping forward.

“Let’s start with the laws we have,” said Nunez, stating there is a need for massive increases in personnel and equipment.

He also said there was a need for a “dramatic increase in interior enforcement to stop the magnet,” citing, “Two-thirds of the six billion people who live in thirdworld countries would love to come here to work.” Citing it could take at least a decade to gain border security, Nunez said, “If you want control now, and not 10 years from now, put the military on the border.

“I doubt this President will do that, but I don’t want to wait three years.” Nunez pointed out the only illegal aliens ever caught in the interior are those who commit other crimes and said, “We used to have interior enforcement and before sanctions, we had labor laws.” He called the current secretary of labor an embarrassment, citing she was “totally absent on the issue” of enforcing Social Security laws.

“We have the worst immigration enforcement in this nation’s history,” said Nunez, “Cities have become sanctuaries.” His recommendation for local law enforcement when encountering illegals was, “arrest them.” Hailing from Detroit, which has the nation’s largest Muslim population, Debbie Schlussel, a lawyer, political commentator and radio talk show host, called the latest in enforcement “a joke” and noted the influence of pop culture on the media.

“We need to end the automatic birthright citizenship,” said Schlussel, adding, “We have a guest-worker program.

It’s time for the guests to go home.” Arizona State University Economics Professor William Boyes stated, “Separate immigrants from the unskilled work force. We have a huge magnet here,” and said, “Idiots like Hugo Chavez are trying to go socialist.” To illustrate the effect illegal immigration has on costs Boyes said people living in areas with illegal immigrants paid 24 percent less for landscaping and housekeeping services.

However, he added, “The biggest cost is the increased level of government in our lives,” and said, “We need to find solutions.” Calling the potential sacrifice of individual liberties “extremely scary” Boyes said, “We need to think about how we can reduce the magnet from both ends. Closing the border is not the answer. We need to think about something other than putting military on the border,” asking, “Where’s all the money going to come from?” Camacho asked, “How do we strengthen our borders without demonizing or infringing on citizens’ rights?” Nunez responded, “Illegal aliens are criminals.” “How can you tell the difference between U.S. citizens and illegal aliens?” asked Camacho.

“Documents,” responded Nunez, “If you got ‘em, you got ‘em. If you don’t, go back to Mexico.” Schlussel said, “I’m all for profiling. Everyone profiles, even TV stations,” citing, “They don’t hire ugly anchorwomen.

“We’re not violating the rights of citizens, we’re bending over backwards,” said Schlussel, “We’re not demonizing, we’re neglecting our laws.” Boyes said, “I agree with Debbie on profiling. We spend too much time with little old ladies at the airport instead of Islamics. We don’t profile. We encourage people to speak a different language.” Nunez said, “Our history is legal immigration, not illegal.” “There is nothing wrong with not granting citizenship to babies whose parents are illegal aliens,” said King.

“The process,” he said, “takes years. The system is broken from top to bottom – side to side. We need to fix a lot of things, including the deportation process, citing there are 350,000 absconders.” Questioning why the President would call the Minutemen vigilantes while considering illegal aliens guest workers, Schlussel said, “They should be called heroes.” “The Minutemen are responsible citizens doing what the federal government refuses to do,” said King, “I agree they’re heroes. I have to applaud them.” Back in the 90s during the “Light-up-the Border” campaign, Nunez said regional commissioners of the Immigration and Nationality Service and Border Patrol participated in the project.

He cited a section of immigration law that states anyone who has been previously deported that is found in the United States has committed a felony. Nunez added, “It is a law that can be enforced anywhere in the United States. It’s not a complicated law.” Camacho asked the panel, “What can Latin American countries do to improve the lives of their people?” Boyes said, “They don’t have ownership. They’re squatters. We can do it through trade. They can do it through the rule of law. Instead, they’re promoting socialism.

Right now, we can write a check for $17,000 to every illegal alien.” “I’ve been at this for a long time,” said King, “We have wide open borders. I have witnessed the atrocities that occur against their own people.

We need military at the border for a short-term fix.

We live in a dangerous age.

Let’s enforce the border and the rule of law.” Nunez interjected, “If you don’t enforce the interior, you can’t enforce the border. The cost is high. The cost to not enforce is higher.” Earlier, when Schlussel commented “we’re bending over backwards,” she said when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials go to Muslim households to make an arrest, they remove their shoes before entering, and if a woman’s husband isn’t home, ICE had to “come back later.” She said, “Officers don’t need to come back later to arrest Islamic women because their husbands aren’t home.” Boyes said, “We have illegal immigration because we don’t call it legal. The focus needs to be on internal enforcement.”

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