Unlikely Alliance: Put The Impeachment Movement on Steroids

[Chipster]

Unlikely Alliance: Put The Impeachment Movement on Steroids - Join with the Conservatives on Illegal Immigration

Even Carter did not exercise a quitclaim deed of America to Mexico!
All he gave away was a tiny strip of Panama.
Bush wants to give the whole f****** country away.

Treason has been on my mind lately, ever since I read that the US is now arming Iraqi insurgents. And it came to mind again again, as I watched ABCNews report that al Qaeda and the Taliban had a 'Graduation' for their terrorist attack teams bound for United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.

The tape shows Taliban military commander Mansoor Dadullah, whose brother was killed by the U.S. last month, introducing and congratulating each team as they stood.

"These Americans, Canadians, British and Germans come here to Afghanistan from faraway places," Dadullah says on the tape. "Why shouldn't we go after them?"

The leader of the team assigned to attack Great Britain spoke in English.

I'm alarmed, I think understandably, that US intelligence officials commented that it was "an aggressive and sophisticated propaganda campaign" in view of the fact that there were numerous pre-911 warnings that were ignored by the Bush administration. So naturally, I have to wonder if warnings are again being ignored as the Homeland Security's Advisory System hasn't budged.

History does have a way of repeating itself, as it did last week when Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) reached a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) allowing the Senate to take another kick at the immigration can, a piece of domestic legislation that Bush desperately wants to sign – while demanding that it be "comprehensive." (Never mind that the deal that Reid made was that he would place the bill back on the schedule if senators would limit the number of their amendments thereby impeding coordinated comprehensiveness to an arbitrary figure - wouldn't want that comprehensiveness to be too thoughtfully considered and refined. Don't send Harry to dicker for a used car.)

If fact, one of the central problems with the "comprehensive" immigration bill is that it's a patchwork of provisions that aren't well-calculated, well-coordinated or thoughtfully designed to address the actual issues, so the ramifications are often unanticipated and difficult to enforce, with undesirable outcomes. No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, it's still a pig (with all due respect to that little fashionista Ms. Piggy), and we're going to be subjected to a whole new round of make-up which is carefully contrived to avoid the most expedient, practical way to solve the problem: vigorously enforce the existing laws – especially against employers. When the government makes hiring illegals expensive, troublesome and embarrassing for corporations, the illegals will head home.

Of course, corporate interests have, and continue to pay, their dues to the Bush administration, and are now demanding that the supply of cheap labor continue so they can maximize their profits on the labors of illegals. We all get that.

But what is less apparent is the very real danger our nation is facing because of Bush's laissez-faire, and I suggest, treasonous, non-enforcement of our nation's existing immigration laws.

In March, 2006, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House Appropriations subcommittee that "...Hezbollah operatives were assisting others with some association with Hezbollah in coming to the United States," and admitted "Hezbollah had succeeded in smuggling some of its operatives across the border." That wasn't an isolated instance.

Before the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq, the U.S. State Department offered congressional testimony that both al-Qaida and the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah were taking firm hold in "America's backyard."

Mark F. Wong, the State Department's acting coordinator for counterterrorism, told the House International Relations Committee about the threat posed by both groups in Latin America.

Anti-terrorism experts say extremist cells tied to Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida network are operating in Argentina, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. Although cooperation between al-Qaida and Hezbollah has been known for some time, the two groups have formed a much closer relationship since al-Qaida was evicted from its base in Afghanistan.

Both al-Qaida and Hezbollah were active in the common border area of Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, according to an earlier statement of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in hearings before the Foreign Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, cited in a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

In March, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a congressional panel that illegal aliens from countries with ties to al-Qaida have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico using false identities.

Mueller said some of the aliens are people with Middle Eastern names who have adopted Hispanic last names before coming into the U.S.
"We are concerned, Homeland Security is concerned about special interest aliens entering the United States," Mueller said.

Mueller said one route takes Middle Easterners to Brazil, where they assume false identities before entering Mexico and then crossing into the U.S. Bush administration officials have previously said al-Qaida could try to infiltrate the United States through the Mexican border.

Islam is gaining adherents rapidly in Mexico and South America, and the head of the Attorney General Office's special terrorism investigation unit, Gen. Jorge Serrano, said that his office is investigating alleged terrorist activities being carried out by Mexicans.

And US federal law enforcement agencies know that linkages between illegal immigration, expanded trade, Mexican narcotics organizations and terrorist groups are growing, according to DEA documents. Terrorist groups are aligning with drug cartels to fund terrorism.

We saw "home-grown" terrorists in Britain, and the Bush administration recently made a startling revelation that could well mean that we can expect "home-grown" terrorists on our soil, too.

On May 7, 2007, six foreign-born Muslims were intercepted in a terror plot to attack Ft. Dix solders.

"Authorities said there was no direct evidence connecting the men to any international terror organizations such as al-Qaida. But several of them said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," according to court papers...Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one was born in Jordan and one came from Turkey, authorities said. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently; and the sixth is a U.S. citizen."


So, half the danger of this band - who were caught when they asked a Circuit City employee to transfer video onto a DVD – would have been averted with enforcement of existing immigration laws.

In 2002, Richard M. Stana, Director of Justice Issues at the US General Accounting Office, testified before the House's Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, saying "Historically, Congress and INS have devoted over five times more resources in terms of staff and budget on border enforcement than on interior enforcement." He continued to summarize his main points:

• INS’s interior enforcement strategy is designed to address the detention and removal of criminal aliens, the dismantling and diminishing of alien smuggling operations, community complaints about illegal immigration, immigration benefit and document fraud, and employers’ access to undocumented workers. INS faces numerous enforcement issues in each area.
  
  
• INS could do a better job of using its limited interior enforcement resources. For strategy implementation to be effective, INS needs better data to determine staff needs, reliable information technology, clear and consistent guidelines and procedures for working level staff, effective collaboration and coordination within INS and with other agencies, and performance measures that help INS assess program results.
  
  
• Having an effective interior strategy is an essential complement to having an effective border strategy. Addressing management challenges is important if INS is to achieve their full potential.
  

Who benefits - profits - from lax interior enforcement of immigration laws?

While Bush uses the scare tactic that we "must fight them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here," while he depletes our own homeland defense with repetitive draining overseas deployments of police/fire/EMT/Guardsmen that are fertile terrorist training grounds, he continues to acquiesce to his corporate benefactors demands.

Is that not treason? Is it not "adhering to ... Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort?"

But then again, perhaps it serves his own egocentric, megalomaniacal proclivities very well, as he recently signed a presidential directive that essentially declares that in the event of a “catastrophic event”, George W. Bush can become what is best described as "a dictator."

"The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government."

Why, in the name of national security, is a toddler's sippy cup suspect – and yet our porous borders are tolerated?

And we should legitimize between 12-20 million people whose first acts in our nation were illegal?

Is it benign neglect – treasonous - presidential benign neglect? And now Congress is considering being complicit in the circumvention of our nation's laws?

Anti-immigration laws are already on the books of the country for enforcement. Are these too harsh?

• There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for election, and all government business will be conducted in our language.
  
  
• Foreigners will not have the right to vote, no matter how long they are here.
  
  
• Foreigners will never be able to hold political office.
  
  
• Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, No food stamps, No free health care, nor any other government assistance program.
  
  
• Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.
  
  
• If foreigners do come and want to buy land that is fine, but options will be restricted. You are not allowed to own waterfront property. That property is reserved for citizens naturally born to this country.
  
  
• Foreigners may not protest; No demonstrations, no waving a foreign flag, no political organizing, no criticism of our president or his policies. If you do any of these things you will be deported.
  
  
• If you do come to this country illegally, you will be hunted down and sent straight to jail.
  

Too harsh you say? The above laws happen to be the immigration laws of Mexico.

Do you agree with this quote?

"This is a bipartisan issue not a Conservative or Liberal issue BUT AN AMERICAN issue."

It's quoted verbatim from a FreeRepublic.com post.

[baldguy]

1. Immigration created America.

The fact that all kinds of people from every corner of the Earth come HERE to work hard & make a life for themselves is one of the things that makes America a great nation.

[Chipster]

2. Summary Dismissal

Baldguy, your summary dismissal makes me wonder if you even read this. It's not against immigration. It raises questions about treason and about whether illegal immigration should be legitimized. There's legal immigration and there's illegal immigration. As for the US being a great nation, well, times change. If you characterize a great nation as one that:

• invades other sovereign nations to kill their citizens for natural resources
  
  
• has governmental entities acting contrary to the will of the majority of its people
  
  
• is unable to control its borders
  
  
• routinely usurps its constitution
  
  
• promotes the exploitation of poor people's labors for corporate profit
  

to mention a few things, your ad hominem belies your reliance on history rather than reality.

[KurtNYC]

3. there is no specific crime named "illegal immigration"

it is an umbrella term that takes the focus off of illegal hiring.

Your idea about tapping into the general discontent across the politcal spectrum with the Administration's actions in order to move forward on impeachment has merit but I don't think pumping up racism and hysteria about foreign boogie men is the cure. In fact, that is a big part of what got us to where we are now.

[Chipster]

5. Thanks for your take on it Kurt

Thanks for your take on it, Kurt. Illegal immigration is when foreigners enter a country without going through the government process. Legal immigrants follow the process; illegal immigrants don't.

This illegal immigration issue has the conservatives calling for impeachment. I said it was an unlikely alliance, but if the impeachment movement wants to go on steroids, this is the way to do it.

Is there something wrong with enforcing the law? Should we reward lawbreakers?

I'm not surprised that a law breaker like Bush would suggest legitimizing other law breakers.

Acknowledging a problem isn't racism, and I'm certainly not pumping up racism. The issue is how to deal with people who are coming into the country illegally. I totally agree that a central part of the problem is the exploitation of workers' labor to increase corporate profits.

[baldguy]

4. If the restrictions you suggest had been around when I was born, they would apply to me.

*I* would not be able to vote.

*I* would not have free speech.

*I* would not be able to own property without restrictions.

Watch who you're calling an ad hominem.


Terrorism has absolutely nothing to do with immigration, illegal or otherwise. To conflate these issues is ill-conceived at best. To do so merely for political gain is destructive and dangerous to democracy. That sort of manipulative thinking is best left the the neocons & their minions.

[Chipster]

6. Baldguy

First off, if you're referring to the last section as "restrictions" - please read the article. They are Mexican restrictions. I am contrasting the difference between the two nations immigration laws.

>Watch who you're calling an ad hominem.

Are you warning me as to what I should write? Or threatening me to not write something with which you disagree?

>Terrorism has absolutely nothing to do with immigration, illegal or otherwise.

The article contains documentation to substantiate connections between terrorism and illegal immigration. Please don't comment without reading and considering the article's contents.