President Bush's recent speech on the failed immigration policies at our southern border lacked much, not the least being any suspicion from the listener that the President believes that stopping people from coming across our borders illegally is a serious problem. He doesn't. He attacks what he believes are serious problems...terrorism and Iraq. For someone who has led admirably in this new world of terrorism against our country, his lack of urgency or clear recognition of the widespread problem is dispiriting.
A recognition in the speech by President Bush of his administration's error in reducing the policing of hiring practices, late as it would be, was required to put businesses on notice that policing of hiring practices will begin again in earnest and penalties and jail time will be given if the laws are broken. That speech wasn't delivered.
A necessary speech about the importance of following laws, protecting the borders, and returning many who have entered our country illegally to their native land, was instead replaced with a skillfully worded attempt at a civics lesson to Americans, millions of whom came to our country through legal immigration, often waiting many years and after passing a test on our history, traditions, and learning English. Those Americans are also upset with illegal immigration because a nation that can't control who it allows to joins it, doesn't control how the nation will develop. Just study France over the last 30 years. That speech also wasn't delivered because President Bush doesn't understand that immigration succeeds with controlled assimilation, not the free traders think of open access determines all.
From a speech chock full of contradictions, including suggesting that we are discriminating if we don't allow people to cross our southern border because of "their" plight in Mexico and other countries, it appears that President Bush and his political party-building counsel, Karl Rove, have transferred the free traders think to our immigration laws. They believe that free immigration must be good because free trade is good and because the economy is growing, free immigration is good.
They believe, or rather, Mr. Rove has convinced the President that a politically acceptable amount of free immigration that business wants is good for the total economy by reducing labor costs. What President Bush and Mr. Rove don't understand is that real towns, cities, and states exist outside of Washington D.C. and the open lands of Texas. Yes...they visit them at times, but don't hear from them. Those people pay more in taxes to support the illegal aliens who don't pay taxes and accept welfare. The number of states being affected by illegal immigration is spreading rapidly. Once only a southwestern U.S. problem, illegal immigration has become a significant budget problem for many states. It isn't coincidence that the Senators voting for less border security, amnesty, and an easy path to citizenship for most illegal aliens, are not located near Mexico. Their states are not hemorrhaging money to pay for a lot of illegal aliens...yet!
Hopefully the more conservative House of Representatives will battle hard with the Senate in the conference over the new immigration bill. They have both the Executive Branch and the Senate firmly against them on how to secure our borders, policing business hiring practices, amnesty, and how difficult the path to citizenship will be for the millions of illegal aliens in our nation. Our tradition of an orderly assimilation of immigrants that follow our laws and strengthen our country has been put at risk by political party-building long-term legislators who don't recall what it's like to live full-time in their own state and by a President lost in a mirage of compassion that is neither conservative, nor compassionate.
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