Mr. President: You are Astonishly Mistaken on Many Accounts

EDITORIAL

Mr. President: You are Astonishingly Mistaken on Many Accounts

May 15, 2006

Sixty-four months into his presidency, George W. Bush delivered an address to the nation tonight aimed at beefing up the Border Patrol and mollifying a restless and disenchanted Republican base as mid-term elections approach. Mr. President, your plans will accomplish neither goal.

Your plan to double the Border Patrol, from 9,000 strong to 18,000 strong, during your presidency is a step in the right direction, but the addition of 6,000 border guards this late in your presidency is years late in coming.

You stated, "At our southern border, others have organized to stop illegal immigrants from coming in." That ought to be an embarrassment to you and your administration.

President Bush, you have further antagonized conservatives by insisting on your temporary worker plan, falsely denying that it amounts to amnesty. You are incorrect in asserting that a temporary worker plan will end illegal border crossings; it won’t – not by a long-shot, but will rather increase them. Temporary worker programs/amnesty undermine the American worker and shortchange the American family.

Your speech coddles lawbreakers, incorrectly characterizing them as law-abiding people. They have broken the law to get there. Rewarding lawbreakers is amnesty.

Your speech failed to even address the dozens of visa programs which citizens from other nations can use to legally immigrate here.

The plan you outlined to use fingerprinting in ID cards skirts the issue of preventing our border from being invaded. You stated that employers have a hard time determining which applicants are legal citizens; when there is doubt, those applicants should not be hired.

You stated that employers must not hire illegal aliens; tell that to the employers directly.

You said: "We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that." This is an insulting statement. It would have been more accurate to state that your administration, like President Clinton’s before, has refused to take control of the border, as you wink at corporate interests which do not have the best interests of the nation in mind.

The following statement you made is almost incomprehensible coming from a U.S. president:

Illegal immigration puts pressure on public schools and hospitals, it strains state and local budgets, and brings crime to our communities. These are real problems. Yet we must remember that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard, support their families, practice their faith, and lead responsible lives. They are a part of American life, but they are beyond the reach and protection of American law."

So many problems with this statement! How can lawbreakers lead "responsible lives"? How do you know they are "decent" people? Many of them are not coming here for jobs. Why are they beyond the reach of American law? Is it the responsibility of Americans to protect lawbreakers? The inconsistencies in this statement leave one's head spinning.

Mr. President, you have a profound propensity to blur the distinction between immigration, border invasion and the decisions on whether or not to enforce our laws. If your aim is to dissolve the U.S.-Mexico border, why go to the trouble of spending a lot of money on high-tech enforcement and surveillance equipment? Why the talk of amnesty and returning detainees to their homeland?

Perhaps all Border Patrol agents, when apprehending invaders, will now ask detainees if they are coming across as "illegal aliens" or as "temporary workers." Not a tough question for them to answer.

Another troubling statement:

"It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation."

Then, why, Mr. President, did you also boast that during your administration, six million illegals have been captured and deported? Which is it? If it is rational to consider automatic citizenship for border invaders, then why not scrap the Immigration and Naturalization Service and save the taxpayers billions of dollars? And, Mr. President, which other laws are we not going to enforce? Those lawbreakers are interested in knowing.

Yet another troubling statement, Mr. President, is your acknowledgement that the new border guards will not engage in law enforcement.

Governors will have the option of refusing to send troops and it is not hard to imagine Janet Napolitano doing just that. Real border patrol requires teeth with enamel.

Regarding your words that those who want to earn citizenship should have to assimilate into society, learn English, pay fines for breaking the law and pay back taxes: Why not prevent invaders who do not want to assimilate from crossing our borders in the first place? If you are going to absorb the millions of illegals already here, why then are you increasing the number of beds for detainees and fining the most recent invaders? The logic is lacking.

Mr. President, if your temporary worker program becomes operational, how would an influx of foreigners through that program reduce the stress on our hospitals, schools and social services? It will almost assuredly increase those strains.

Additionally, Mr. President, can you assure that the American people will be protected from the contagious diseases carried into this nation by illegal immigrants?

You further anger conservatives with the statement:

"What I have just described is not amnesty. It is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen."

We citizens do not require a debt to be paid to us by foreign nationals who have come here without a visa. We are not interested in judging their character, their citizenship or their deportment. Stop them, send them home and use the existing visa program to facilitate legal, orderly immigration.

Mr. President, this could have been your grand-slam homer, but you hit into a force-out. Millions of Americans will be more upset with you after this speech than they were before. The Border Patrol and the Minutemen will no doubt detect a new surge in illegal border crossings already in progress, thanks to your renewed call for amnesty.