By Dr. Brian Babin, Republican nominee for CD-36
Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to see what is happening on our south texas border. Thousands of illegal immigrants, adolescents and children, many of whom are seriously ill, simply walking across the border and coming in at will every day. Our southern border has been virtually erased. This humanitarian and national security border crisis is a creation of President Barack Obama. As Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. federal government, it is his job to enforce the law.
He’s failing to do his job.
President Obama recently held a press conference in which he offered no new solutions, nor accepted any responsibility for this crisis. He offered no real substance on the issue, other than demanding House Republicans certify his previously lawless executive action of providing de-facto amnesty to some half a million illegal immigrants and dumping billions of dollars into the Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, only about $177 million out of the $3.7 billion the President has demanded Congress dole out would actually go to border security. All the while, as revealed by the Washington Post, that the President ignored warning bells from his own administration over a year ago of the impending immigrant crisis, yet did nothing.
The problem with the President’s current “solution” is that changing the law is not a sufficient answer to our problem. Current law requires and provides for a secure border if enforced. President Obama ignores and refuses to enforce the laws that are on the books – placing him in direct violation of his oath “to faithfully execute the laws of the United States of America”. We are a nation of laws Mr. President and your failure to carry out this duty is certainly worsening our problems.
If President Obama will not enforce the current border and immigration laws, he will not enforce a new one. To the president millions of illegal immigrants are merely pawns in a game to be used – as votes for bigger government for entitlement programs and for an ever-growing federal government. There is no other reason not to secure our border. A secure border results in a sovereign, secure and independent nation, and would lead us toward a legal immigration program that is fairer and safer for all Americans.
Our overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol, now has less than half of its personnel actually working to secure our border. Our overwhelmed communities, already struggling to provide basic city services, adequate law enforcement and emergency responders to legal residents are now being seriously challenged to find ways to accommodate even more people. Our schools are overwhelmed to a point that in some communities the public education of our children is completely compromised.
Most importantly, we must remember this crisis goes way beyond statistics. These are people, many of them innocent children who are herded like animals by human traffickers and accompanied by drug couriers and dealers who use the mass chaos of the border to commit heinous crimes. Moreover not all of the immigrants are helpless children or innocent people looking for work. It is chilling to imagine that criminal and terrorist organizations could be already promoting and exploiting this opportunity to attack our country.
What can be done? First, the President must begin enforcing our border laws and secure the border. Second, it’s time for congress to act as an equal branch of our federal government. The United States Congress has the power of the purse strings to provide, or not provide funding for the entire federal government. If the President or his agencies won’t do their duty, it’s incumbent upon congress to cut the funding for individuals and agencies that abuse or neglect the law in direct violation of their oaths of office. We cannot continue to tolerate the endangerment of American lives, national security, the squandering of hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and the loss of sovereignty of the greatest and most blessed nation on earth.
The negligence of the President of the United States has created humanitarian crisis. It is irresponsible for him to ask the American people to pay for his own dereliction of duty. And it is unconscionable that the leader of the free world would let the least among us be exploited and abused by the worst among us in his political games.
This is not a game, Mr. President. And it is time that Congress and the American people tell him we are not playing.
Brian Babin is the Republican Nominee for Congress, Texas District 36
Woodville, TX
Contact info for author;
Agreed we should secure the border, but I think we’d have a much easier time of doing that if we stopped exporting drug prohibition policies (and military equipment and aid money) to Mexico and Central America. The drug market could be above ground, regulated, and US-based, but we keep forcing this policy that has never showed signs of success. 60,000 Mexicans died from drug war related violence from 2006 to 2012. Another 20,000 are missing persons. Civil society can’t compete with drug profits in these poor countries. There is no success here.
Wannabe Congressman please tell me how you distinguish the legal from the illegal.
As to the possibility of terrorists you may want to look north as that is that their prefer entry point.
As to secure the border that is a Peter Pan tale, only border that one could say is secure lies to the west of California between South and North Korea. Not even Israel can claim secure borders.
Seriously ill persons do not travel thousands of miles the way they did, another Peter Pan tale.
I wonder how people can even begin to believe the stories that some people tell.
Manuel – please explain what actions Mexico would take if I simply walked across the border and took up residence without permission. How would they act if I then demanded that they provide schooling for my children – in English – and healthcare for my family.
There is not another country IN THE WORLD that simply allows people to wander in whenever they feel like it. Putting aside for the time being the issue of how to deal with the people who are already here, it is time to stop this insanity and close our border to undocumented trespassers.
To continue with a de-facto open border policy is to spit in the face of every single person who has invested their work, effort and treasure in order to come to the US to live and work legally.
As to the possibility of terrorists – their preferred entry point is the one that is easiest. Right now they can just get lost in the daily crowd coming north. There is ample evidence to suggest that is exactly what is happening.
Manuel, I wonder what you would say if the illegal aliens were from somewhere other than south of he border? But of course you are of the mind set that whatever your hispanic brothers and sisters want or do is OK with you.
Regarding the illnesses, there’s plenty of evidence that they are bringing in TB, scabies and bacterial pneumonia, but then again, to believe this would be an affront to your hispanic-ness. Sorry, the facts are what they are, not what you would like them to be.
Regarding terrorists through our southern border, perhaps you either aren’t aware or have forgotten but a few years ago, a member of the terrorist group El-Shabab (who was an illegal alien) smuggled hundred of his El-Shabab brothers into the US through the southern border, then there are the Iranians, Syrians, Jordanians, etc. from terrorist countries that the Border Patrol have caught and you might recall the “Ft. Dix Six”, the group that was planning on blowing up Ft. Dix – 3 of them were illegal aliens and came through he southern border. Not to mention the prayer rugs and Qurans that the border patrol have found on our southern border. These are just a few examples. Given more time, I can provide you with a plethora of this information.
IT’S ALL OBAMA’S FAULT, It’s All Obama’s Fault, it’s all …Obama’s… fault, it a ob fau.
Blaming it all on Obama isn’t clever dude…you are just spewing what the Hannity crowd eats for dinner. You need to come up with another line if you want to be a statesman.
Brian says, “I’ll give you anything, everything, if you want thing…”
..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBCctL88dRk
Dude! Like totally wow! I mean, like you totally used a Pink Floyd video to totally dis him! I mean, like you have the talking points from Huffpost totally down! I am SO impressed!
filmmaker, Far Out Dude! You’re channelling Syd Barrett (watch video).
Dems and most Repubs agree, Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation in order to substantially repair the border. The Tea Party wing of the House refuses to even allow a vote on the Senate’s bill. Why? Because they are afraid that Hispanics will take over the country. To the extent that this already is the case, bespeaks much about previous Presidents’ abilities or desires to control the border. The problem didn’t start with Obama. Also, some on the left refer to him as ‘Deporter in Chief’ because of the numbers of Hispanics he has sent back. Statements to the contrary are either ill informed or disingenuous. Here is my question Dr Babin: Will you support the Senate’s version of comprehensive immigration reform? Or, will you go along with the House Tea Party and not support it? Seems to me Congress bears most of the blame on this one, and that ain’t Obama’s fault.
As usual Loren you’re not taking your meds again (or possibly you’re taking too many – could go either way). First of all, why pass another immigration bill – our esteemed President doesn’t seem to care about enforcing to laws we have, what assurance do we have that he’ll enforce new laws? Even when they are the laws he asks for he often decides not to enforce them later (see Obamacare).
Second, why is it incumbent on the Republican to capitulate (warning big word here – get a dictionary) to the Democrats? The House has passed immigration reforms that Harry Reid (yes the walking corpse himself) refuses to even let the Senate debate. Why? Is he afraid that there are actually enough sane Democrats in the Senate that it might pass? That would put the President in the uncomfortable position of possibly being forced to sign a bill that he didn’t like! No, far better form Obama to rule Imperially with his “phone and a pen”. I will give you this – lack of reform (to the extent that it might be needed) is certainly not totally Obama’s fault – Hairy Reed is equally culpable (another big word!)
Third, you are correct that the problem didn’t start with Obama, unfortunately, he is the President today and it’s kind of tough to force previous presidents to come back to fix their failures. He’s the guy in charge – he’s the guy that has to fix the problem. And, in all fairness the problem has become far worse during this administration.
Fourth, he’s become “Deporter in Chief” because his administration has re-defined the term deportation. Now, when ICE stops a person at the border and turns him/her back, it counts as a deportation. That makes it far easier to raise your numbers so as to appear “tough and strict” actually, once an illegal actually gets into the US their chances of being deported are roughly equal to their chances of winning the lottery.
Finally, as for being scared of “hispanics taking over the country”. Hogwash. I (and most conservatives) care nothing about where you came from. We don’t care about your skin color, your religion, or your gender. It you are interested in coming here to live as an American, to pledge your allegiance to our country, to make common cause with the people who are already here, then great. I (and most Americans) totally agree with Emma Lazarus. But, we expect you to come in the daylight, legally. The way that immigrants have come for more than 200 years. My great grandparents came through Ellis Island – legally. They came, they learned the language, they earned their way. They asked for no handouts, even though (in a couple of cases) they came with little more than the clothes on their back.
So, please stop trying to make this about xenophobia (yet another big word – consider this your English lesson for the day) or racism. It’s not. It’s about respect for the rule of law and for the people who have played by the rules.
Now you can go back to your Pink Floyd record. Make sure you turn on the backlights before you fire up your hookah. Be mellow my friend.
I’m not taking my meds again? Dude, by the looks of things, you are the one that needs meds, possibly surgery(chortle, chortle). Firstly, you didn’t answer my question for Dr. Babin, Why not support a vote on the Senate’s bill on immigration reform. What are you guys afraid of? Secondly, as I pointed out, our ‘Deporter in Chief’ IS enforcing the laws. It’s true that there has been a surge of children from Central America recently. Are we not our brother’s temporary keeper? Passing the Senate’s immigration reform legislation would fix the 2008 loophole that these Hispanic and Mayan immigrants are walking through. Thirdly, capitulate to the Dems? Ha! I looked up capitulate in the dictionary, It is a BIG word alright! It means yield acquiesce, accede to, give in, or bend over.The Repubs in the House are the ones capitulating. They are bending over for the Tea Party extremists. Fourthly, let’s talk about my statement that the Tea Party extremists are afraid that the Hispanics will take over. The Republican Party is 89{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} white and 97{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the House districts in the 113th Congress had white majorities. 67 House Republicans won with Tea Party support. There is a difference between conservatives and Tea Party extremists. If history is a guide,this difference bodes ill for the Repubs in 2016, and possibly sooner. The GOP changed to include southern whites after Goldwater got trounced in ’64. That’s why Nixon got elected. If the House Republicans continue to allow the Tea Party extremists to control their immigration agenda, they will miss a golden opportunity with Latinos, Hispanics, Tejanos and Mayans.
Loren, the mantra of “if we don’t pass immigration reform, we’ll lose the hispanic vote” is getting really old and tired and is patently untrue. When Reagan signed IRCA into law in 1986, the Republicans got fewer hispanic votes in 1988 than they did in 1984. Whether you realize it or not, and apparently you don’t, there are a good many legal immigrants to this country (hispanic and otherwise) who are dead set against amnesty, or as you would call it “comprehensive immigration reform”. Regarding the “tea party extremists”, the tea party are the only patriots left in this country and the only group with any guts. The establishment GOP (what you call “conservatives”) has been capitulating for years all for the sake of getting more votes, which isn’t working and will only alienate more true conservatives.
Hey Janet, It’s all Obama’s fault is an old and tired excuse for Tea Party extremism disguised as patriotism. Go ahead and send all the illegals back. You Tea Partiers can cut your own yard, clean your own house, build your own roads and render your own chickens. But before you do you might want to read this:
Social Security, which provides retirement income to millions of elderly Americans, is largely stable – at least for now – thanks in part to the more than 3.1 million people who are working and paying taxes in the U.S. using fake or expired social security numbers. Every year, undocumented immigrants have collectively paid as much as $13 billion into the system while only receiving $1 billion in benefits in return.
The contributions are starting to add up. In total, undocumented workers have contributed more than $100 billion over the last decade while living in the shadows, says Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
“You could say legitimately that had we not received the contributions that we have had in the past from undocumented immigrants … that would of course diminish our ability to be paying benefits for as long as we now can,” Goss told msnbc.
In 2010, the agency estimated that as many as 2.7 million undocumented immigrants have social security numbers on the books – and are earning credit to their names for potential benefits in the future if ever granted legal status – either because they have temporary authorization to work, have overstayed their visa or obtained work by using fraudulent documents. Another 3.9 million other immigrants are estimated to be working in the U.S. but in the underground economy.
Since the 9/11 terror atacks, Goss says the SSA has cracked down on fake IDs, which were often obtained in the mid-1980s through fraudulent birth certificates. But there remains a significant amount of money contributed to the Social Security system by undocumented workers that continues to go unclaimed.
Those contributions are crucial as more and more of America’s baby boom generation reaches retirement age. The Social Security Trust Fund released its annual report last month finding that there are major causes for concern for the program down the road. Unless Congress reforms the system, the retirement trust funds will be depleted by 2033 and the revenue coming in will only be able to cover 77{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of benefits.
One of the solutions proposed to offset the diminishing funds has been comprehensive immigration reform. In a study commissioned by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican member of the Senate’s Gang of Eight architects for immigration reform, found that the legislation would have boosted GDP by 1.63{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} and created more than 3 million jobs.
Adriana Kugler, a former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama administration and a professor at Georgetown University, said lifting undocumented immigrants into the legitimate workforce would have a significant impact on Social Security’s long-term future.
“The net contribution over the next 30 to 40 years will be very crucial in alleviating the pressure on the system,” said Kugler. “That’s really key because it’s a time when a lot of people will be retiring.”
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made the same argument, saying that comprehensive immigration reform is vital to preserving the program.
“One of the ways we can save Social Security is to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Warren said speaking before the National Council for La Raza (NCLR) conference last month. “Bring more workers and bring more people out of the shadow economy and into the fully paid economy where everything is above the table.”
While hopes of immigration reform languish in Congress, President Obama is expected to take executive action by the end of the summer that could protect 5-8 million people from deportation. The actions under consideration could temporarily grant work permits to some undocumented immigrants, allowing them to get jobs and pay taxes.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/undocumented-workers-are-keeping-key-benefit-program-afloat
So go ahead and cut your own yard, Janet, but be sure to wear sunscreen, it’s mighty hot out there.
Gee Loren, I looked through both of my posts and didn’t see in either one that I wrote it was all Obama’s fault. Actually, this latest surge is, but this problem goes way back through Democrat & Republican administrations. The Democrats want the votes, on the Republican side, business wants cheap labor and then of course there’s individuals, like yourself who think nothing of hiring illegal aliens to do slave labor. For the record, I do my own yard work, clean my own house, I raised my own kids and have no problem finding American citizens or legal residents for construction projects. If you’re interested I’ll give you names & phone #s of landscape companies and contractors that are legal or American citizens.
Let me give you some other facts regarding illegal aliens.
24.9{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the federal prison population are illegal aliens – 34.9{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} are hispanic, 17.3{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} are from Mexico, 49.7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the sentences are for drugs, 15.7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} are for weapons (Bureau of Prisons, 6/28/14).
63{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of illegal aliens access one or more welfare programs
75{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of illegal aliens use fake social security numbers, usually from American citizens under the age of 13
Your data that illegal aliens pay in $13 billion and only take out $1 billion is skewed. It doesn’t account for the burden on our jails and prisons, the burden on our schools in the form of free school meals, ESL teachers, the burden on our medical system (in 2009, 60{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the hospitals in Los Angels were forced to close due to indigent illegal alien care. Spring Branch hospital was forced to close in large part because of illegal alien care and the cost to the Harris County Hospital District is over $200,000 each year in illegal alien care). They do pay property taxes in their rent, but when you have 8-10 illegal aliens living in a one-bedroom apartment, that’s not hardly a fair share.
With 50{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of illegal aliens having far less than a high school education, how much in taxes do they really pay. How about the illegal alien that has a small landscape company, construction company or maid service, or the guys that stand outside of Home Depot, do you really believe they pay taxes or will pay taxes when it’s a cash business or the checks are written to an individual?
Then there’s the crime issue. Contractors are putting 35{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} on top of their bids for “theft loss” and you might want to check out The Remembrance Project and read the stories and look at the pictures of American citizens and legal immigrants who have been murdered by illegal aliens, or perhaps the murder of innocent Americans doesn’t bother you.
Although most of the illegal population are hispanic, illegal immigration is not just a hispanic issue. Back a few years ago, a member of the terrorist group El-Shabab smuggled in hundreds of his fellow El-Shabab members. Remember the “Ft. Dix Six”, the group that was intent on blowing up Ft. Dix? Three of the group came through the southern border illegally. Border Patrol have found islamic pray rugs and quorans, or maybe it doesn’t bother you that terrorists are being smuggled into the US. There’s not enough space on this site to list all of the crimes attributed to illegal aliens.
If you think that they will become citizens if another amnesty is passed, you’re deluding yourself. when IRCA was signed into law in 1986 and 3 million illegal aliens suddenly became legal, only 35{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} became citizens. They are not interested in becoming citizens anymore than they are interested in assimilating into American society. There’s a huge push by groups like La Raza and other hispanic activists for hispanic immigrants (legal or illegal) to keep their language and culture and not assimilate.
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For you to quote “Mindless Socialists Being Conned” (msnbc) is a bit ludicrous to prove your point on anything.
Janet, . If you don’t think many folks are saying that it’s all Obama’s fault read Dr Babin’s guest column again . By the way, I would like the name of a landscape company that doesn’t hire workers born outside our borders. Also, prisons are becoming a for profit enterprise. Private companies lobby to keep sentencing guidelines from being changed in order to fill up prisons. Watch and learn: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/video.html. Now let’s talk about education. I taught HS Biology for eighteen years, and then wrote a book about it. If you are really interested in what it’s like to teach Hispanics(and others), read my book. It’s called My Second Period and it’s available on Amazon.
Loren, I’m no fan of Obama, far from it, and this latest surge can be directly laid at the feet of his administration, but this has been going since the Carter years. One of the landscape companies is Gadsden Services (Matt Weger) 832-236-1335, they only hire vets. There’s another landscape company and when I locate their number I’ll send it to you. I agree that the prisons are a for profit enterprise and so is illegal immigration. Construction companies like Marek Bros and other sub-contractors have gotten rich off the use of illegal aliens. Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson, Agri-Processors, corporate farms, hotels, etc. are no different. When Agri-Processors was raided several years ago and was forced to temporarily shut down, the illegal aliens were rounded up, the owners/managers went to jail and they were assessed. When they reopened, there were legal residents and citizens wrapped around the building waiting to apply for jobs. Regarding education, I know a couple of teachers that teach at heavy hispanic schools, like Milby and they’ve enlightened me as to what it’s like to teach hispanic kids, but I’m going to check out your book as well.
Janet, Thanks for the back and fourth, and for checking out my book. It is educational satire which you may or may not find funny. However, if you are an intelligent person with the ability to laugh at yourself and others, you will enjoy it. Take care