Real American Heroes

As an “anti-immigrant, pro-Minutemen” xenophobe, I’m obviously dissapointed that the Minutemen aren’t getting their due support from fellow Americans - the legal citizens at least. Personally, I think that the notion of referring to them as vigilantes is ridiculous unless you’re also willing to label every neighborhood watch group just the same. It just so happens that many of these volunteers have made home along the border. The fact that they’re not actually setting out to break any laws either is another testament to the silliness of that assertion. They are volunteers and heroes, sacrifing their time and putting their safety at risk for our benefit.

I also despise being called “anti-immigrant” when infact I’m anti-illegal immigrant - and the two are very different. I’m willing to concede that US agriculture is dependent on migrant workers and that social security is getting a helping hand too, although not to the point that they actually help us more than drain us. Nor are most illegal aliens lazy but quite hardworking infact. But if illegals are so helpful to our social security system, that should mean we ought to find ways to fix the program (like reverse Bush’s ridiculous tax cuts) not bring in more illegals to sustain it. Agriculture is also an industry that produces five times the amount f food we need, constantly receives subsidies, destroys abundant overharvests and is severely overvalued, so maybe we really don’t need as many migrant workers as we like to make excuses for.

As an avid Bush skeptic, I’ll admit to having a tendency to question anything that he does or says and this case is no different. While I pretty much agree with him (a rarity) on free trade, I’m against huge companies hiring illegals at home, especially since they can afford the higher labor costs of having to hire domestic workers. Bush likes illegal immigrants because they help big industry fat cats get rich who in turn help him and his cohorts, financially and politically. And if his south of the border counterpart Vincente Fox is so worried about the safety of “his” people, perhaps he should take more care to keep them within the safety of his own country. The last time I checked, North America wasn’t the borderless European Union, which has had its own special issues in dealing with a similar issue - gypsies.

Nonetheless, there remain some pretty hefty costs that supporters of illegals conveniently forget to mention when evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of the issue. They are fully eligible for expensive taxpayer-funded benefits like Medi-Cal. Their children take up more room in school than they are able to pay back in taxes. Everytime an illegal gets into a car accident, it’s you and me who has to make up the difference in our insurance premiums because there’s simply no money to collect at the other end. Illegals are also the fastest growing segment of our prison population and the reason why you don’t hear about these skyrocketing costs (almost $30,000 a year per) is because the Fed drops the tab on already financially-strapped states. Deporting and keeping them out would save us the higher costs of having to re-catch, reincarcerate and redeport.

Then there is the very real matter of national security that seems to be brushed aside. Have people forgotten we have troops fighting a War on Terror (in Afghanistan) and that there are extremists and radicals out there just itching at a chance to strike us again on home soil? Did the pro-illegals just happen to miss that news story a few weeks back when an overcrowded classroom-sized group of Mexicans tried to smuggle in heavy Russian arms across the Rio Grande? Isn’t anyone worried about the latest bouts of brutal drug violence sweeping through the border area? Or what about just keeping the drugs out? Since when did the rights and privelages of non-citizens become more important than our own?

I can’t blame anyone for wanting a better life for one’s self or one’s family. It’s also unfortunate that you’re having a hard time feeding your family but things probably wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have five kids. On the other hand, don’t expect me to welcome you with open arms and take care of you, either. I will say that to those who find a way in and beat the system should come the fruits and spoils of their efforts, espcially if they’ve been paying taxes after several years. All in all though, we don’t need Mexico’s (or anyone else’s for that matter) problems at home in the US and we’re lucky and blessed this week because we have five hundred more patriots doing all they can to make that happen. Be grateful and be proud about that.