Posted on 09/26/2002 11:22:30 PM PDT by hoosierskypilot
SAN DIEGO — The question of amnesty for illegal aliens is a hot topic not only for politicians in Washington, but also among the thin green line of U.S. Border Patrol agents here and elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"What the hell are we doing out here?" asked one veteran agent. "Why don't we just pack it in? Amnesty? It's just an open invitation for more illegal aliens to come into the country, stay low for a while and, eventually, get their citizenship papers.
"Who's in charge here?" the agent asked, staring at a group of 11 Mexican nationals preparing to vault a border fence and head north.
It's a common theme among Border Patrol field agents from Texas to California, calling into question pending proposals by both Republicans and Democrats to grant amnesty or residency status to a growing number of illegal aliens.
Further undercutting their efforts, the agents complain, is the failure of the politicians in Washington to support a strategy for dealing with the illegal immigrants who get past the agents on the border and into the interior of the United States.
President Bush; Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat; House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, Missouri Democrat; and the House Republican leadership all have proposed now-pending amnesty programs that would grant permanent residency status to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in the United States.
The proposals would allow certain illegal aliens to remain in the United States to apply for legal residency, under various conditions. The most popular proposal seeks to grant amnesty to immigrants who have been in this country since December 2000, have a qualifying relationship with a family member or employer and are willing to pay a $1,000 fine.
Is anybody minding the store?
Is anyone telling the border patrol to step aside?
The next night you arrest them again. You recognize the same people coming back over. Some of these people the border guards have seen a number of times. It's a big joke.
The Border Patrol who risks their lives have the gaul to mention it, due to feeling demoralized. Yep, let's ride their ass because nobody told them to step aside.
That's their job. If it is too tough then resign.
Where did I advocate that? I don't know if the "senior agent" exists...do you? If he does that does not alter the fact that he has not been ordered to look the other way while illegal cross the border or the fact that those that do cross got by them does it? What is his point? If he and his brethren are not up to the task then maybe they should all be let go and let the military take over.
Let's say a police officer was asked to guard a bank. He did a great job. He stopped twelve out of thirteen roberies. The perps who committed the thirteenth robbery were capture in another state. Rather than extradite them to the state where the crime was committed the, new state let them go. In addition they gave each of the robbers a $250 check since they had already spent all the money. In reaction the police officer said he felt demoralized.
Is it your contention that nobody told him to step aside so he should shut up? Or do you think he should resign rather than mention it?
I don't think the Border Patrol is out of line here. I'm surprised to hear that anyone would.
Not at all. I would never want their job and the right to bitch about the job is a right I have availed myself of many times. Bush has made proposal after proposal to increase both the number of field agents and whom they report too. It is all in the Homeland Security Act that is presently in the Senate. The agent's gripes though are based on an "amnesty" that has not occurred and that has nothing to do with his job of stopping further border crossings. If he feels that he should just "throw up his hands" then he is free to do that but to what end?
Look, we've expressed our views. Thanks for the comments. If you'd like to end up with one more, go ahead. Later.
According to latest numbers on Marine Inspector's homepage, millions more illegal aliens have entered our country since 9/11.
Thanks to comments by Bush, Ziglar, Dashle and now Laura Bush in Mexico, the illegal aliens know that once they get past the Border Patrol they're 'home' free.
They haven't been so much told to step aside as told exactly where to stand (on an 'X') and, when in vehicles, with their lights on so the illegals know where it's safe to cross.
All of Bush's limp-wristed proposals to add additional Border Patrol Agents take until 2010 to fully implement. He'll have already been out of office for 6 years. ;^)
Texasforever is right when he says that this will split the Republican Party and well it should. If the Republicans don't field candidates that all take the position that Tom Tancredo is advancing on illegal immigration, they will lose elections for House and Senate seats and the Presidency.
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No, but Bush is offering an amnesty prize to those who make it, clearly undermining the purpose and intent of the border patrol. He's made a game and joke out of it.
The joke is going to be on Bush and the other RINOs in the Republican Party.
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