National Guard at the Border....???
Moms View Message Board: The Kitchen Table (Debating Board): National Guard at the Border....???
How do you feel about this? Do you feel that it is needed, or a waste of resources? We already have a Border Patrol.
Also, do we really need to tighten our borders? And, does this smack of racism and prejudice?
Opinions, please.....
I think the problem is allot bigger than those coming in from the border. I live in a state where the Arabic community is huge and they do not speak english they live on welfare and they do not pay taxes. So what is he going to do about these illigals.
If these people cannot come into the country correctly send them home. If the US is such a great place to live do it the right way the way that we have to.
I believe there are a ton of problems that he is not addressing that are allot more important than this at this point and he is just not doing it.
Our troops are still in Iraq dying but he is not dealing with that. There ar eso many things in the US that need to be improved but they are not they are all overlooked.
My thing is if you are not a US citizen or have papers showing you are attempting to become a US citizen them you do not work.
There are too many US citizens that are looking for work and not finding it and too many non-US citizens working that shouldn't be.
It kind of seems suspicious to me. I admit I did not watch the address last night. So I may be way off base. I think there is a problem but why all of the sudden are they hot to address it? We already have our resources spread out in another country. I wonder if there has been some kind of credible threat they have recieved that has to do with the border? The timing just seems off to me, and that is what makes me suspicious.
Ditto Beth.
I absolutely agree with Beth but I'm also angry that our National Guard will be used now to control the border. IMO, the immigration issue is a federal one and the National Guard is for state use. California isn't protecting its state border from other states. We're protecting our country's border from illegal immigrants coming in from another country and that is a federal issue. We have a border patrol. Beef that department up and make them more effective. This is not a state responsibility.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060515-8.html
Please read or watch the address before you shoot down the ideas presented in it.
The whole point of placing National Guard troops at the border IS to help beef up the border patrol. The National Guard is the fastest way to respond at this time. They will be placed at the border for a period of one year which will allow time for new border patrol officers to be trained and put in place at the border.
I think this is greatly needed. As long as immigrants are pouring in over the border, there is no end in sight to the numbers of illegal immigrants that pour into our country every year and any attempt to deal with them will be futile.
Oh, and I wondered the same thing about "why is this such a big deal all of a sudden?" I am not sure why, but it happens about every 20 years. The US House of Representatives passed a bill in December '05 and referred it to the Senate Judiciary committee in January '06. The senate began debating the bill in March, which is when all the Immigration Demonstrations began. Hope that helps!
I heard some interesting facts the other day. The quota for unskilled workers is 5,000 a year; the quota for skilled workers who do not have a sponsoring employer is 66,000 a year - and, these quotas are divided up among all nations, so that Mongolia, for example, has a quota of as many visas for unskilled workers as Mexico, Ireland has as many as Indonesia.
As for the timing, I have been suspicious of the timing all along. I think the huge furor about immigration is, at least by some, intended to draw attention away from the war in Iraq and other political issues. And I really wonder why a problem that has existed for decades, and certainly since the last immigration "reform" of 1984, has to be solved (or at least legislation has to be passed that will be called a solution) by the end of the summer.
Ginny (and others) - I couldn't agree more. I have gotten to the point where I am suspect of ANYTHING that this administration does, and I voted Republican in the last Presidential election (only because I did not want the other guy). My sister and I were talking about it yesterday, and she said, "I didn't think that there were any National Guard left! I thought they were all in Iraq".
In defense of those who come here...people say that they take jobs away from Americans. Well, at least in this part of the country, and others, I see menial, dirty jobs being done by Hispanic workers. Whether they are "legal" or not, I don't know. My DS used to work in a movie theater. There was a crew of Mexican people that arrived on a bus at 1:00AM, after the theater closed, and would clean the building and parking lot all night. I see them working at our local Wendy's, emptying trash and mopping floors. In the summer, I see them at clam stands, sweating over fry-o-lators, making clamcakes and doughboys. The local businesses advertise, but they can't get Americans to apply for the distasteful jobs. We have family in Nebraska that tell us that their economy would shut down if it weren't for the Mexican laborers. They work in the slaughterhouses and meat packing plants (the main industry in Nebraska). They also work in the fields, planting and harvesting crops; laying bricks, doing roofing, etc.
Life here is so good that they want a slice of the American dream, and they will work hard to get it. I think the image of the lazy, welfare dependent foreigner, while true in some cases, is overstated.
As far as speaking English; if you suddenly had to flee to Mexico to work, how long would it take you to speak Spanish, just living among the people, with no formal instruction? And wouldn't you still speak English at home with your family?
I think many come here HOPING that if they work real hard, they can become citizens. I DO believe that that should be their goal, if they are going to stay. My family immigrated from England in the 1920's, and they had to have a sponsor here, and my Grandpa had to prove that he had a trade. Let's just remember that, except for the Native Americans, we were ALL foreigners at one time.
As far as the National Guard protecting their own State...that is correct. They are a descendent of the local militia in colonial America. They are a "Home Guard" that serve at the discretion of their individual state governors. Their job is protecting the homefront in times of natural disasters, civil unrest, etc.. That is precisely why they should not be in Iraq.
Now the Reserve units (Army Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, etc) are FEDERAL, and serve at the discretion of the Department of Defense. While I personally believe that we should not be in Iraq at all, the Resrves are under contract to serve outside the United States.
I think after 9/11 we need to secure our borders anyway possible.
I am happy to see it happen, I think it will help "lock out" more illegals from coming while congress figures out how to handle the millions already here. Ginny this problem has been going on for years, however not in these numbers, where I am, the BP sector had it's highest rate of captures in history April 06, so the problem is gaining momentum. Something has to be done.
Also it is my understanding that yes they will be using the States' Guard but will be paid for with Federal Money
Tonya, I'm interested to hear how you feel "he" is not doing anything about the soldiers in Iraq? And what other aspects here that are far more important than Securing borders from terrorists and illegal aliens attempting to enter our country and burden our tax system at an incredible rate! I think these are very important issues that not only is "he" addressing but both sides of Congress and the Senate as well. The time has come!
As Ginny said in another thread, this may all be wasted indignation. It is becoming more obvious to me that the only thing that matters to those who are in favor of giving the illegal immigrants the easiest path possible to legal status, Democrats mostly but Republicans as well, is acquiring a new voting base with the hispanic population. No one has ever been serious about actually solving the problem, which is why it has grown to such a gigantuous dilemma, and no one is serious about it now.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/05/how_2006_will_affect_the_2008.html
But ever since Clinton's 2-point win in 1996, Arizona is a state the Democrats definitely have on the radar - primarily because of the state's 25% (and growing) Hispanic population.
The problem is that if the senate passes the compromise presently before them, here is what will happen.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060516-125016-4401r.htm
The Senate immigration reform bill would allow for up to 193 million new legal immigrants -- a number greater than 60 percent of the current U.S. population -- in the next 20 years, according to a study released yesterday.
As I tried to say earlier, there is a reason why we can only allow so many immigrants into our country legally- they have to be allowed the necessary amount of time to assimilate and also time must be allowed for our economy to absorb the added number of new citizens.
How on earth are we going to be able to increase our population by nearly 2/3 its current size in the next 20 years?????
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