Immigration Revisited

In light of this topic continuing to be a source of contention, I thought it worth visiting this quote:

"In the last five months alone, the Border Patrol has arrested 42,722 aliens with criminal records attempting to cross the border. Among them were 6,770 felons; 148 persons wanted in connection with a homicide; 42 associated with a kidnapping; 164 associated with a sexual assault; 298 associated with a robbery, 1,957 wanted for assault, and 4,161 connected with drug crimes. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 139,000 of the 1.1 million people apprehended on the border in 2005 were criminal aliens seeking to illegally reenter the United States." Senator John Kyl

Hat tip to RightWingNews for the quote

While the good Senator from Arizona and I differ on a couple of issues, this is one on which I completely agree with him. The arguments I’ve seen that these are “just people trying to make a living” and that they’re no different than you or me, blah blah blah, every argument designed to make illegal immigrants appear harmless never addresses the above facts. It never addresses that there are more people involved than Pablo and Consuela coming over to make a better life for themselves. For one, frankly, they can do it legally. You don’t start down the road to being a good citizen of the United States if you start by breaking the law.

For two, the vast number of KNOWN thugs that enter the country and get deported back, criminals all, are just a drop in the bucket. Of the 1.1 million people apprehended, how many weren’t apprehended? Was it another million? Two? If we assume 12% or more of those are violent criminals, how do we condone their entry? Why and how can we tacitly approve of the entry of rapists, murderers, drug dealers, and burglars? It’s the equivalent of emptying 139,000 people out of prison and then setting them loose in the hopes we’ll either recapture them or they’ll not do anything we will catch them at. How is that realistic? Answer: It isn’t. It’s not realistic to think we can rubber stamp such a vast and colorful array of criminals coming into this company by establishing “amnesty” or a “guest worker” program. They have to be captured and thrown out, then kept out.

Anything shy of that puts millions of Americans, including legal immigrants, at risk. Face facts. There is no way to have an open border policy given the sheer volume of criminals who use Mexico and Canada as highways into the United States. A sovereign nation is defined by its borders and how well it protects them. If we cannot do that, then why not simply merge with the countries around us and call it a day? Adopt Canada’s socialist medical system and draconian gun laws. Accept Mexico’s staggering socialist bureaucracy with its equally staggering legacy of corruption and economic mismanagement and forget there even is an America. Or, keep the wolves at bay along with the sheep. Encourage them to come through the gates we’ve provided so we can separate the two and that I have no problem with.