http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
The two main organizers of a group in Arizona that set up citizen
camps to stop illegal immigration during April met with members of the
Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.
"The time for hand-wringing, the time for worrying about hurting
people's feelings, is long past," said Chris Simcox, one of the
organizers, during a press conference in Washington. "Will it take the
blood of an American citizen being spilled on that border, perhaps an
80-year-old great-grandmother sitting in a lawn chair, to get the
attention of the president? We hope not."
The group, organized as the Minuteman Project, set up citizen camps
along a 20-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border. Participants in
the all-volunteer project were prohibited from making contact with
illegal immigrants, but only observed and reported activity to the
Border Patrol. Organizers said that illegal immigration had been
almost stopped in their observation area, showing that a physical
presence on the border can work.
The group wants foreigners coming into the United States to do so
through legal immigration channels and official U.S. ports of entry.
Simcox said the citizens' effort will now continue under the name
Civil Homeland Defense. He said his group has about 15,000 volunteers
ready to set up camps along U.S. borders, and will continue to do so
until the federal government orders the military to the regions.
"I'm here this week to bring a very simple, blue-collar message to our
elected officials," Simcox said. "... the people are going to pick up
the slack from this point on. We must take care of our own property.
We must secure our borders. We must protect our neighbors and our
families and our way of life."
"While our soldiers, men and women, are fighting for the cause on
foreign soil, it's time we begin fighting for the cause here in
America on our own soil," he added. "My message is direct and is
simple, and it's a challenge. We challenge the federal government to
relieve us from duty."
Simcox said the group will start in New Mexico, and then move to
California and Texas, and also to northern border states.
"We're going to seal that border as citizens, from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Pacific Ocean," he said. "There's no compromise. That's my
message."
Members of the immigration reform caucus also heard from Charles
"Chuck" Floyd, a retired U.S. Army officer and former manager for the
State Department's Overseas Buildings Operations. Floyd presented the
caucus with a four-page plan that calls for a multilayered, integrated
security system for the borders, including $12 billion in emergency
spending.
The plan also calls for DHS to merge the bureaus of Customs and Border
Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement "so one agency is
responsible for the total illegal immigration services issue." Such a
merger has been suggested by some lawmakers, as well as current and
former DHS officials.
Floyd said he is hoping to be appointed by Bush to an open slot within
DHS, hopefully in the area of border security.
Some lawmakers in the caucus expressed support for sending the
military to the borders.
"I support utilizing troops on the border to supplement the U.S.
Border Patrol," said Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. "I think it would send a
strong message that the United States means 'no' to illegal
immigration."
Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., agreed.
"National security dictates protection of our borders," he said. "This
is the irony. In this war on terror, we have put in place elements of
our military on the borders of Iraq and Afghanistan. If we are willing
to help protect those countries' borders, shouldn't we do the same in
America?"
Critics, however, think that efforts such as the Minuteman Project are
distorting the image of immigrants in the United States.
Priscilla Monico, a student at George Washington University in
Washington, came to Wednesday's press conference out of concern that
rhetoric against illegal immigrants is dehumanizing those in the
Hispanic community.
"I think our community is hard-working and I think that they deserve a
right to come here," she said, adding that her mother migrated here
from Colombia. "I'm concerned that it's going to come down to people
having misinterpretations of what the Latino community is."
She said she knows immigrants who are in the country illegally, and
they mean no harm.
"It's a matter of feeding your family, and I think that Americans
sometimes forget the humanistic aspect of this," she said. "You have
to understand that people are trying to live; they're just trying to
survive. It's not like they're trying to scam the United States or
anything like that."
.
|
|
| User: "Woodswun" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
30 Apr 2005 01:08:14 PM |
|
|
wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
.
|
|
|
| User: "" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
01 May 2005 10:56:53 AM |
|
|
Woods wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
We need 10's of thousands of troops to seal the border, not a few
dozen customsagents.
Tony
.
|
|
|
| User: "Marvin The Paranoid Android`" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
01 May 2005 11:46:25 AM |
|
|
wrote:
Woods wrote:
wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
We need 10's of thousands of troops to seal the border, not a few
dozen customsagents.
Tony
Hire unemployed immigrants.
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Woodswun" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
01 May 2005 11:02:47 AM |
|
|
wrote:
Woods wrote:
wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
We need 10's of thousands of troops to seal the border, not a few
dozen customsagents.
I thought it was quite obvious that I would fully expect increased
staffing and training to Customs. I guess you need even more
spoonfeeding than I'd originally thought ....
9-9
Woods
.
|
|
|
| User: "" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
02 May 2005 07:59:42 AM |
|
|
Woods wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
Woods wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
We need 10's of thousands of troops to seal the border, not a few
dozen customsagents.
I thought it was quite obvious that I would fully expect increased
staffing and training to Customs. I guess you need even more
spoonfeeding than I'd originally thought ....
9-9
Woods
Wrong.
If you think we're going to hire and train 10's of thousands of
Customs Agents, well, then you;re more clueless that I thought.
Tony
.
|
|
|
| User: "Woodswun" |
|
| Title: Re: Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders |
02 May 2005 08:17:13 AM |
|
|
wrote:
Woods wrote:
wrote:
Woods wrote:
wrote:
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042805c1.htm
Lawmakers consider using military to seal U.S. borders
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
After demonstrating in Arizona that a presence of people along the
border can curb illegal immigration, border-control proponents came to
Washington to try to win over the minds - and money - of the federal
government.
On Wednesday, supporters of tighter border controls presented
lawmakers with their ideas, which include deploying the military to
the borders, authorizing $12 billion in emergency funding, and merging
two Homeland Security Department bureaus.
I think the military would be the wrong choice. Better to have U.S.
Customs have a special patrol unit.
Woods
We need 10's of thousands of troops to seal the border, not a few
dozen customsagents.
I thought it was quite obvious that I would fully expect increased
staffing and training to Customs. I guess you need even more
spoonfeeding than I'd originally thought ....
9-9
Woods
Wrong.
If you think we're going to hire and train 10's of thousands of
Customs Agents, well, then you;re more clueless that I thought.
In that case, we've become Soviet Russia.
Woods
Tony
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
