Border disorder, fantasy

It's easy to be cynical about politicians. Whether they're in Congress or in city hall, too many of our elected leaders are more interested in lining their nests. Rare is the leader who strives to live by his oath of office and defend the individual rights and freedoms of the citizens that he was elected to serve.

One such diamond in the rough is Murrieta City Councilman Doug McAllister. Bucking political correctness, McAllister proposed that Murrieta police officers increase their role in federal immigration enforcement.

Open-border advocates are throwing red herrings: separation of powers or the claim that immigration enforcement would curtail local police's ability to fight local crime. These are fantasy.

First of all, there are plenty of precedents in which local, state and federal agencies overlap each other to fight crime. Such forces are regularly utilized to target criminal organizations. One example is the use of regional auto theft task forces comprised of federal agents, highway patrol officers and local police.

Other examples include narcotics task forces and joint anti-terrorism task forces. Lawmen in these units use a variety of local, state and federal statutes to target sophisticated criminals and terrorists.

While their badges signify a particular federal, state or local agency, all of the officers work together by pooling their resources to combat crime. As citizens, we are safer as a result.

The other misconception is that local crime would increase because police are diverted to immigration duties while ignoring community policing. Enhanced immigration authority for police could only realistically be used in the course of ongoing local investigations.

The granting of immigration enforcement authority would not supersede the primary duties of local police. It would merely add another enforcement tool into an officer's toolbox to keep our communities safe.

More must be done to address illegal immigration. Our borders are in chaos and the crime associated with broken borders affects us at all levels.

Border agents recently shut down two sophisticated smugglers tunnels in San Diego. In Texas, border incursions by the Mexican military are now becoming regular incidents. According to local law enforcement in Texas, the Mexican military is safeguarding the smuggling of narcotics across the southern border.

Just as outrageous, Mexican drug cartels are now reported to have threatened the families of sheriff's deputies in Texas. This is in an effort to discourage the deputies from interfering with the cartels' drug trafficking at the border.

Despite the fumbling of our federal government, the lion's share of the blame for our current border disorder lies with the Mexican government. The corrupt plutocracy based in Mexico City is the force that nurtures the drug mafias and that drives the Mexican people north.

The notion that Mexico is our good neighbor is yet another fantasy. The Mexican government is in fact becoming an adversary to the United States.

We will need more leaders with the vision of Councilman McAllister if we are ever going to face down this growing threat.

Rick Reiss of Temecula is a regular columnist for the Californian. E-mail: RickReiss6@netscape.net.

Make Employers Check Work Eligibility

You can now pressure your local employers to check the eligibility of prospective employees.

Social Security numbers can now be verified by using the following toll free number: 1-800-772-6270. Up to 5 names can be verified over the phone and up to 50 by faxing a inquiry to your local Social Security office. It is all explained in a publication put out by Social Security- " Employer Reporting Instructions & Information. "

I also heard today that verification can be done online through Social Security after a business signs up with SS to do that. The online verification is set up to accept a database for employers who employ large numbers of people. It is set up for a company to check all current employees quickly because it accepts database and you can also check a few at a time after that as you hire people.

I also heard that there are companies that you can contract with to do employee verification for you for a fee if you just don't want to do it yourself.

Anyone who looks upon Mexico as our friend is indeed living in Disneyland.

"I am going to Disneyland!". George Bush.

They must have moved the White House.

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico.

It is a tribute to a promising new president -- and a tribute to a visionary out-going president as well.

Later today, I will meet with the president-elect of Mexico, and begin what I hope is a strong and constant friendship. I have a vision for our two countries. The United States is destined to have a "special relationship" with Mexico, as clear and strong as we have had with Canada and Great Britain. Historically, we have had no closer friends and allies. And with Canada, our partner in NATO and NAFTA, we share, not just a border, but a bond of good will. Our ties of history and heritage with Mexico are just as deep.

George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000.

You can read the speech here.

Here is an excerpt of a good critique of that speech:

In equating our intimate historic bonds to our mother country and to Canada with our ties to Mexico, W. shows a staggering ignorance of the civilizational facts of life. The reason we are so close to Britain and Canada is that we share with them a common historical culture, language, literature, and legal system, as well as similar standards of behavior, expectations of public officials, and so on. My Bush Epiphany By Lawrence Auster

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