Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Schwarzenegger's Border Remark
Governor Ah-nold is taking a lot of heat from Hispanic group-identity types for his recent remark that the federal government should close/control the border with Mexico. The Governator is right and the critics are wrong.
Schwarzenegger is not anti-Hispanic, or anti-immigrant. What he is against is the illegal human traffic across our borders which is costing the State of California over $10 billion annually at a time when it is nearly insolvent. I don't know if that figure includes the money that the illegals send back home, but if it doesn't, then that cash outflow (estimated at $13 billion in 2004 to Mexico alone) represents another drain on the economy of California and the Nation.
One organization estimates that 10.3 million illegal immigrants resided in the United States in 2004. That's about equal to the entire population of Los Angeles County. I suspect that the actual number is greater, given that illegal immigrants are not likely to advertise their status, or discuss it with strangers carrying clipboards.
I am not anti- Hispanic, or anti-Asian or anti-anyone. I'm not anti-immigration -- I'd like it to be easier for people who want to come to the US and live here and contribute to our society to do so, with the caveat that everyone is thoroughly screened and anyone who is perceived as being a potential threat to the United States be banned from entering, even as a tourist. But I am against illegal immigration because it is dangerous to the country. The federal government has got to get control of the borders or the United States is in deep, deep trouble. Failure to act on this issue is my biggest disappointment with the Bush administration.
Ronald Reagan is attributed with saying, "A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation." If the United States cannot or will not control its borders, it is only a matter of time before the likes of al-Qaeda and Hamas will exploit the weakness. And it will take only a little more time before the US has the kinds of problems that Canada has with Quebec.
Schwarzenegger is not anti-Hispanic, or anti-immigrant. What he is against is the illegal human traffic across our borders which is costing the State of California over $10 billion annually at a time when it is nearly insolvent. I don't know if that figure includes the money that the illegals send back home, but if it doesn't, then that cash outflow (estimated at $13 billion in 2004 to Mexico alone) represents another drain on the economy of California and the Nation.
One organization estimates that 10.3 million illegal immigrants resided in the United States in 2004. That's about equal to the entire population of Los Angeles County. I suspect that the actual number is greater, given that illegal immigrants are not likely to advertise their status, or discuss it with strangers carrying clipboards.
I am not anti- Hispanic, or anti-Asian or anti-anyone. I'm not anti-immigration -- I'd like it to be easier for people who want to come to the US and live here and contribute to our society to do so, with the caveat that everyone is thoroughly screened and anyone who is perceived as being a potential threat to the United States be banned from entering, even as a tourist. But I am against illegal immigration because it is dangerous to the country. The federal government has got to get control of the borders or the United States is in deep, deep trouble. Failure to act on this issue is my biggest disappointment with the Bush administration.
Ronald Reagan is attributed with saying, "A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation." If the United States cannot or will not control its borders, it is only a matter of time before the likes of al-Qaeda and Hamas will exploit the weakness. And it will take only a little more time before the US has the kinds of problems that Canada has with Quebec.
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