The Minutemen upstaged the Border Patrol by performing their duties more effectively (and for a lot cheaper). Now the government's Border Patrol seeks to slap back at the citizens' border patrol. More than a dozen Border Patrol agents told the Washington Times that their bosses ordered them to suppress the number of illegal immigrants they arrest along the stretch of land monitored last month by The Minutemen. An uptick in arrests, observers theorize, would strengthen the perception of the success of last month's volunteer effort. "It was clear to everyone what was being said and why," an agent told the Washington Times. "The apprehensions were not to increase after the Minutemen volunteers left. It was as simple as that."

It was to be expected, I guess.

I knew their work along the border would work(now its back to old "liberal" times), thats one of the reasons why i didnt vote this election. Bush is a softee for border-jumpers. His brother is married to one and has a white/mexican nephew.

James: Is Mrs. Jeb Bush really a "border jumper"? She came here illegally?

This has nothing to do with the race of Bush's nephew; it has to do with Bush's ideology.

I think Bush is simply sympathetic with those who want to come to the United States and better their lives. I feel the same sympathy, but when you get down to it it is simply irresponsible to allow people to jump the border willy-nilly. I think we should definitly enforce imigration laws, but we should also facilitate the efforts of those who are legally trying to enter the US and better their lot in life as much as possible.

I wouldn’t say that we should shut immigration off completely but I don’t think our government should go out of its way to encourage it. Legal or illegal.

Don’t we have enough people in this country already?

If most people were truly honest with themselves, they would admit that we have plenty of humans here already and once you get by the guilt of admitting that more immigrants will not help our culture or society, you’d have to agree that entry into the U.S. should be severely restricted.

Yeah, I know, we are a nation of immigrants. But, times change and for these times, mass immigration is not a good thing.

I’m a Bush guy, but he is surely vote pandering to the immigrant population and has become a useful idiot for Mexico’s Fox.

If our country remains free and continues to offer the most opportunity and happiness in life, then we won't need to encourage immigration, it will happen on its own. A government is by nature a restrictive force, so turn it to its natural abilities and use it to enforce legal immigration. But I also agree that the process of legal immigration needs to be streamlined. I have friends with green cards - not naturalized citizens, mind you, just resident aliens - and it took years for them. To become a citizen is longer, and the process isn't stringent (which would be understandable) but just mind-numbingly time-consuming, as every little bureaucrat takes his turn at the application. Doug Adams knew what he was doing when he made the Vogons the big bad guys of Hitchhikers.

I wouldn’t say that we should shut immigration off completely but I don’t think our government should go out of its way to encourage it. Legal or illegal.

Don’t we have enough people in this country already?

If most people were truly honest with themselves, they would admit that we have plenty of humans here already and once you get by the guilt of admitting that more immigrants will not help our culture or society, you’d have to agree that entry into the U.S. should be severely restricted.

Yeah, I know, we are a nation of immigrants. But, times change and for these times, mass immigration is not a good thing.

I’m a Bush guy, but he is surely vote pandering to the immigrant population and has become a useful idiot for Mexico’s Fox.
Posted by Patrick at May 13, 2005 02:52 PM

Why shouldn't we encourage and facilitate legal immigration? Any other course of action is anathema to the spirit of free market capitalism and can only harm the National Wealth of the US. Moreover is the simple fact that any other course of action is monumentally hypocritical and morally questionable.

This isn't a "country of immigrants." I for one was born here.

Ben-T: “any other course of action is monumentally hypocritical and morally questionable”.

How do you figure? What about dropping the philosophical pretense and using some good gold common sense for a change! All thought and decisions can’t be held to achieve a higher intellectual and mora standard.

It’s simple: from the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, when America was building what is today the World’s Super Power, we had a fairly constant flow of legal immigrants. They learned the language, got educated, thrived in their new country and made it great while increasing the population.

Today, we have all of the human resource we need to continue to be a successful entity.

Illegal immigration should be shut off and anybody in this country illegally should not a get a pass to stay here for breaking the law in the first place. And legal immigration should be slowed to a trickle and strongly regulated.

In fact, I haven’t heard anybody make a valid argument for letting unlimited foreigners into this country in the first place. Advocates are all seem to be into this “we are the world” feel good crap.