Minuteman

Tom Clancy’s new book The Teeth of the Tiger has four groups consisting of four Jihadists each entering the United States to commit acts of terror. While airport security is frisking your grandmother these guys take a short walk across the border into New Mexico. After 9/11 everyone was saying "we never considered terrorists would hijack a plane and fly it into a building", Clancy had already written a novel where that happened. He is probably equally prescient in the border crossing scenario. But everyone knows this, at a time when we are at war our borders are practically unguarded. Overwhelmed Border Patrol agents apprehended 1.1 million illegal immigrants last year, but untold hundreds of thousands slip through. Most of these are of course hard working immigrants that are vital to the American economy. But how many are terrorist or smugglers? We have no way of knowing and apparently our government doesn’t care.

I’ve just become a Minuteman. The Minuteman Project that highlighted the problem on the Arizona border has expanded and they need our help. In October the Minuteman organization will monitor the borders of New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and California. They will observe and report any crossings to the border patrol. They will not make contact with anyone, will not be armed, will not trespass, will not make arrests. In effect they will be a neighborhood watch program the type of which have helped law enforcement all over America.

But they are not wanted by the Border Patrol, at least not officially.

U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.

They are not wanted by our governor.

"The Minutemen should not feel that they need to come to New Mexico. We've got the Border Patrol. We've got New Mexico law enforcement,'' Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday. "We can enforce our laws.''

No we can’t Governor. For a man that is considering running for President that is an idiotic thing to say. For anyone that can read that is an idiotic thing to say. Tens of thousands cross into the U.S. a year through New Mexico alone. Senator Bingaman says;

"What we need are an adequate number of highly trained Border Patrol agents securing the border, not untrained volunteers."

I can’t argue with that except to say that we don’t have an adequate number of highly trained Border Patrol agents securing the border.

"I don't know that a Minutemen organization is the best solution to the rampant illegal immigration problems on our border, but I can clearly understand the mounting frustration in the region."

So says Senator Domenici. I’m sure it’s not the best solution but doing nothing is worse and that frustration is my motivation for joining in this effort to at least draw attention to the problem. The senators and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., sent a letter Wednesday to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner asking that security be increased along New Mexico's border. The letter said New Mexicans have growing concerns about their safety and the security of their property. "Daily, our constituents along New Mexico's southern border deal with illegal aliens who travel across their land, cutting their fences and damaging their property," the letter states. "Our constituents who have first-hand knowledge of the situation believe hundreds of illegal aliens cross into New Mexico this way every day."

I believe in legal immigration. My Grandparents were legal immigrants. We should vastly increase the number of legal immigrants who wish to enter the U.S. Our local labor force can’t fill all the jobs our economy creates, the low unemployment rates of around 5% show that even with massive illegal immigration we are close to full employment. But we have to have control of who we allow in and that means control of our borders. Hopefully the Minuteman project will point out that need before Clancy’s terrorists.