Spring Break
Stop illegal immigration now
Andrew Sickinger
Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Opinion
I am amazed at how many people I have talked to who are actually aware of the recent developments along the Arizona and Mexico border. In short, American citizens have finally gotten pissed off at the influx of "undocumented workers" to the point where they are taking matters into their own hands.
"The Minutemen Project" is a vigilante group composed entirely of volunteers who are acting as civilian Border Patrol officers. The project is supposed to span the entire month of April, a peak time for illegal border crossings. Although some of the citizens are going to be armed, they are officially only supposed to be acting as extra eyes for the real Border Patrol agents. If some get trigger happy though, ehh, what can ya do? Maybe it'll send a stronger message than turning them away and allowing them to make another attempt the next week.
Either way, it's about damn time somebody took action! Illegal immigration has gotten to a ridiculous point, and the government is failing to step up. Last year, the state of Arizona alone apprehended approximately 580,000 border bandits. That's more border-crossers than the states of California, Texas and New Mexico combined!
Many citizens of our country seem to think there is some sort of huge wall or fence running along the border. I have personally taken pictures of this "fence" before, and when I show people all the resistance the illegals face, they are usually amazed. In some areas, the border consists of nothing more than a line of sawhorses with some rusty barbed wire running along the tops. Some fence.
Let's also not forget that this is the same stretch of border that inspired a $41 million dollar lawsuit. What's that? Haven't heard about this one either? Here's the rundown. In 2002, families of 11 immigrants who died trying to illegally cross the border filed suit against the Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - not because of any action on the part of the Border Patrol, but because of our supposed inaction. Apparently, in the fight to keep our borders secure, we are now supposed to put out water stations in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately, I am serious. Attorneys for the victims' families claim that since U.S. Border Patrol policies had shut down more populous portions of the Arizona border, illegal aliens were "forced" to enter through more remote areas, which lacked ready access to water.
"The Minutemen Project" is a vigilante group composed entirely of volunteers who are acting as civilian Border Patrol officers. The project is supposed to span the entire month of April, a peak time for illegal border crossings. Although some of the citizens are going to be armed, they are officially only supposed to be acting as extra eyes for the real Border Patrol agents. If some get trigger happy though, ehh, what can ya do? Maybe it'll send a stronger message than turning them away and allowing them to make another attempt the next week.
Either way, it's about damn time somebody took action! Illegal immigration has gotten to a ridiculous point, and the government is failing to step up. Last year, the state of Arizona alone apprehended approximately 580,000 border bandits. That's more border-crossers than the states of California, Texas and New Mexico combined!
Many citizens of our country seem to think there is some sort of huge wall or fence running along the border. I have personally taken pictures of this "fence" before, and when I show people all the resistance the illegals face, they are usually amazed. In some areas, the border consists of nothing more than a line of sawhorses with some rusty barbed wire running along the tops. Some fence.
Let's also not forget that this is the same stretch of border that inspired a $41 million dollar lawsuit. What's that? Haven't heard about this one either? Here's the rundown. In 2002, families of 11 immigrants who died trying to illegally cross the border filed suit against the Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - not because of any action on the part of the Border Patrol, but because of our supposed inaction. Apparently, in the fight to keep our borders secure, we are now supposed to put out water stations in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately, I am serious. Attorneys for the victims' families claim that since U.S. Border Patrol policies had shut down more populous portions of the Arizona border, illegal aliens were "forced" to enter through more remote areas, which lacked ready access to water.
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