Stop The Illegal Invasion
February 8, 2013 by Chip Wood
So now a “Gang of Eight” in the U.S. Senate has come up with new proposals for immigration reform. In a brilliant public-relations move, the Republicans have chosen Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a Tea Party favorite, to win conservative support for the proposals.
But before you jump on this bandwagon, let’s look at some recent history.
Do you remember that in 1986 President Ronald Reagan proposed and Congress approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act? That legislation was supposed to solve the immigration crisis once and for all. It granted amnesty to nearly 3 million “undocumented workers” then living in this country. We were told this would set them on the path to becoming law-abiding, English-speaking, taxpaying citizens.
We were also assured that the flood of illegal immigration into this country would be stopped. Congress subsequently approved legislation to build a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and to hire thousands of additional agents for the Border Patrol.
None of this happened. Not a single thing we were promised 27 years ago came true.
Instead, the flood of illegal aliens into this country became a tsunami. Where we once had 3 million or 4 million illegal aliens, we’re now told the correct number is more than 11 million — several times higher than we faced in 1986, when we allegedly solved this problem “once and for all.” It’s enough to overwhelm our schools, our hospitals, our prisons and our law enforcement officials wherever illegal aliens settle in any significant numbers.
This is not immigration. It’s an invasion. And we need to deal with it as such. This is not just my opinion. It is what our Constitution says.
Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion…”
Right now, there are around 11 million illegal aliens within our borders. Practically all of them came here by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. More are entering every day. It’s worth noting that the Constitution does not specify a military invasion or the use of arms. No, it simply says “invasion.” And if that is not what we are facing, what is?
Faced with such an invasion, what must our response be? There is only one promise I want to hear, only one action our government must take.
First, we must secure our borders.
Yes, it is time for Congress to act. It’s way past time, in fact. Stop blathering about an omnibus immigration bill that tries to be all things to all people. We must demand that Congress pass and the President enforce legislation that will stop the invasion — nothing less and nothing more, at least for now.
Will that mean hiring thousands of new border guards? Fine. Let’s do it. Hire them, train them and give them the equipment they need to do the job.
Will that mean building a wall along the border with Mexico, stretching from California to Texas? Then appropriate the money, get bids on the contracts and let’s build the darned thing.
Forget about spending billions of dollars on a high-tech fence that won’t work. We don’t need it. Just build a regular old fence, like the Israelis did across the West Bank. I agree with Charles Krauthammer, who said: “It’s very simple. Fences have worked for 5,000 years, and they work everywhere. Why don’t we build one…?”
In addition, we must tell the government of Mexico that we require its cooperation in halting the tidal wave of illegal immigration pouring out of its country — a tidal wave that it has been actively encouraging. That must stop. This is not a request; this is a condition for our continuing friendship.
We must also warn the people of Mexico (and their friends, family and allies in our country) that the United States is going to enforce its laws. Make it clear that we will no longer look the other way or compromise on enforcing our rules and regulations. There will be no way across the border except legally. Period.
And most important of all: We must demand that our government do whatever needs to be done to secure our borders. No more excuses. No more delays. The time to act is now.
There is much more that could and should be said on this subject. As we move to resolve this crisis, let’s make sure that illegal aliens who knowingly and deliberately broke our laws aren’t given a better deal than all those applicants for entry who have played by the rules.
Let’s make it our choice who gets to come here — when, from where, how many and for how long. If we need more temporary workers, fine. Let’s decide how many can come, how long they can stay and what they must do (and not do) while they’re here.
And let’s also insist that we get to decide what to do about the millions of illegal aliens who are already here. I’ll agree that if they’ve been law-abiding, tax-paying contributors to our society since they arrived, they deserve some consideration. But just because someone got away with a crime for years doesn’t mean they’ve earned a free pass to citizenship.
Yes, I know the Democrats are drooling at the thought of millions of new and very grateful voters. The Republicans would be committing electoral suicide if they went along with this scheme.
All of these secondary issues and more we can debate and decide later on. For now, there is only one thing that must be done: We must secure our borders.
If you agree, then there are two things you can do. First, forward this column to several other friends and family members. Urge them to read it, to act on it and to pass it on to others.
Then, contact the three people in Washington who have been elected to represent you: your two Senators and one Representative. It takes only a moment to call their office or send them an email and tell them: “Before doing anything to fix the immigration mess, I demand that you secure our borders. If you won’t help stop the invasion of our country, I will elect someone who will.”
If you’re not sure how to contact your Congressmen (or even who they are), there’s an easy-to-use website that will give you this information in moments. Simply go to www.contactingthecongress.org and click on your State. Everything you need will be just a keystroke or two away.
It isn’t often you get an opportunity to help decide the kind of country your children and your children’s children get to live in. This is one of them. So please, do it now, while you’re thinking about it and while we still have time.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
–Chip Wood
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