We've been dealt a hand here in Texas (and if you've read my threads you know much of this) where we have a federal government that has not answered the call to protect the 1250 border miles Texas shares with Mexico. Gov. Perry does not believe a fence is the answer to illegals crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. He believes conservative ascendancy will. So we do the best with what we have ($100M/yr of our own state money put up to help secure an international border). We have a lot of crime to combat and pay for because of the illegal activity (drugs, human smuggling and trafficking) generated by an unsecured international border.
We can't refuse to educate or give health care, as everyone in every state is faced with the same situation, but since Perry is a border gov, he's held responsible for illegal aliens, where everyone vents their frustration about the problem using him as a whipping boy (and to make political points and take pot shots). Perry's asked for drones (went to Israel and asked how they protect Gaza Strip), has asked for 3000 people here on the TX border (crickets). Perry has set up an elite Texas Ranger unit to work on the border. Then we find out the Feds have been "running guns" across the border and we've had people killed because of that.
The Texas Dream Act was set up because we have a lot of kids here from the way the feds have allowed this to snowball. Students who have been in Texas for 3 years and graduated from a Texas high school get instate tuition (no benefits -- they pay their way) The entire Texas Senate voted for this in 1991. (The Texas Dream Act does NOT have all the hidden goodies the U.S. Congress "Dream Act" was trying to get into law.)
Perry has said: “If you show up illegally, without your card or you’re here as a criminal element, I’m for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy — we should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that.”
The Texas legislature meets every 2 years for 140 days and the governor is allowed to call Special Sessions. He called a Special Session because he had put "sanctuary cities" on the agenda and the legislature dropped the ball -- but the Senate and then the House left again -- giving Gov. Perry nothing to sign (Texas legislators also have elections they'll be facing and no doubt didn't want a vote on this shadowing their re-election bids).
In this just ended session, after about 3 tries to slip it into a bill, a law that required people to show their birth certificate to get a drivers license got through [The amendment, added by Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, to the education funding bill legislators needed to balance the state budget had originally been included in Senate Bill 9, the so-called "sanctuary cities" bill that failed in the special session. It also had appeared in an omnibus homeland security bill by Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, that died in the regular session......By putting it into law the state potentially undermines an ongoing lawsuit that argues DPS doesn't have authority to check legal status.]. However, the ink on that law was barely dry before it was overturned by a judge – as usual.
In this last Texas Legislative session Gov. Perry signed the Texas Photo ID Voting Law -- it took 6 years to get it through -- Only 6 states have a PHOTO Voter ID requirement.
Texas has a long history with Mexico and being "Mexican" does not mean that you aren't an American, or a Texan. A lot of Texans have Mexican heritage or are married to someone who does. Perry doesn't lead with his chin. He's a thoughtful man.
Rick Perry is as ready to fix this as anyone and understands it probably better than anyone running -- or commenting anonymously on a chat site.
“Legislation authored by border legislators Pat Haggerty and Eddie Lucio establishes an important study that will look at the feasibility of bi-national health insurance. This study recognizes that the Mexican and U.S. sides of the border compose one region, and we must address health care problems throughout that region. That’s why I am also excited that Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar is working on an initiative that could extend the benefits of telemedicine to individuals living on the Mexican side of the border.”
OH HELL NO!
This right here is one of my biggest problems with Perry.
I live within 30 miles of the largest border crossing plus, we have a great, partial fence (built by Congressman Duncan Hunter).....and it works. We just need more of it.
We need a multi-tiered plan that includes a strong fence, penalties to employers, and the halting of benefits to ever stand a chance of overcomming all the damage.
CA is already ruined because of illegals and what we have to pay to support them.