Borders Two

In the 30’s Germany’s Jewish population was less than 1% of the total population of the country and Jews were blamed for all of Germany’s problems that lead to Hitler’s “Final Solution”.  In reality, Germany’s problems, economic and otherwise were directly linked to the settlement of WWI and the punishment the Allies thought Germany deserved. Hitler used Germany’s problems caused by the war to rise to power and we all know how that ended.

Now in the US, immigrants, legal and illegal, are being blamed and hammered daily for our problems, economic and otherwise. A popular and powerful Iowa radio talk show host proposed that all illegals after given a warning of 60 days to leave would become “property of the state” and would be put to work. The audience loved it. Apparently chattel slavery is popular in Iowa.

Yesterday a Republican presidential candidate said it might be a good idea to deploy armed drones along the border of the US and Mexico. Dr. Ben Carson thinks there is a military solution to the illegal immigration problem. Border state wedding parties beware. The constitution be damned.

We have almost 2,000 miles of border with Mexico, 1200 of it is in Texas. At the moment, in Texas there is 110 miles of fence, eventually about 670 miles will be fenced. No, there will never be a continuous fence along our Southern border, no matter what Trump and other Republicans say.

The most effective border fence ever built was the fence between East and West Germany during the cold war. It consisted of multiple fences of barbed wire, mine fields, towers with machine guns, thousands of guards with dogs patrolling 24/7. You know why it was so effective? The standing order was shoot to kill. Are we ready for that? Some of us apparently are.

There is a lot of talk about “birth right citizenship” contained in the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution. Birth right citizenship has been settled law in the US for almost 150 years, it was written to insure the rights of recently freed slaves and their children. When it was debated, a senator brought up Chinese citizenship, the answer was “Yes.” Chinese born in the US were citizens. End of story. There is no way, the 14^th Amendment is going to be changed. It requires ¾ of the states voting to change it. Politicians in a state like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada or California would be cutting their political throats to back it. Backing the change would destroy not only the politicians, but their party as well. The issue can be demagogued, but it’s not going to happen.

Here’s why:

If it was possible to change the 14^th Amendment and eliminate birthright citizenship, how would the change be implemented? Would current families be grandfathered into the system or would all families be purged. For example if Grandpa Lopez slipped across the border 50 years ago, got a job, got married, bought a house, he and Grandma Lopez had 4 kids who are by law citizens, those kids got married had kids would the entire family be illegal? Or would it only apply to Jose Gonzalez and his wife and two kids, (US citizens) who’ve only been here for 5-10-20 years? How far back would the law reach? There are families here who were illegal 4 generations ago, maybe longer.

The logistics of deportation would be a nightmare, if you put 50 illegals on a bus at the border and sent them back across the border, and you sent a bus every 10 minutes, 24/7 it would take more than 7 years to deport everyone. The next time you hear a politician yelling about a fence. Shut off the TV and vote for somebody who has a clue. And keep in mind Hispanics aren't the only illegals.

Thanks.