If I were President...

The “grand bargain” bunch didn’t get away with their compromise. The way I see it, the bargain was votes for the politicians, cheap labor for some employers, and a sweet deal for the illegals. The rest of America was supposed to hold their noses and live with it.

We’ve learned some things about this illegal alien problem as a result of the Senate’s failure to pass reform. Here are a few lessons Washington should have learned:
1) You can’t bargain with promises, especially if they are old promises you should already be keeping.
2) In this Internet age, don’t criticize the people. Pres. Bush called the Minutemen “vigilantes” and told us it was un-American to be opposed to his bill. Sen. Lott attacked talk radio. Sorry fellas, we’re voters too, and nothing brings out the Silent Majority like name calling by our leaders.
3) The compromise gave away too much and yielded too little. Somehow, legalizing all of the aliens and only reducing the flow by 25% is not much of a compromise.
4) It did nothing to minimize the current local impact of the problem.
5) You can’t eliminate chain migration and still keep family unification.
6) We need to make strong statements in order to deter future illegal immigration.
7) We aren’t as dumb as we look.

If I were Bush, I’d send a message to the illegals: Go home on your own because it will no longer be business as usual.

I’d begin by releasing the Border Patrol Guards Campeon and Ramos.

I would then take advantage of all the illegals in custody in local jails around the country and get them on the list for deportation. (Yes, there will be a need for many more beds.)

I would propose emergency funding for more border fence and more border patrol agents. Maybe not $4.4 billion, but a sizeable amount.

I would tax remittances back to Mexico. A 10% tax would yield $2.3 billion a year.

I would challenge Congress to fix three significant magnets for border crossers:
1) Anchor baby citizenship.
2) Free emergency room care.
3) Free public education.

I would start putting the employers in jail.

I would get a handle on the visa overstayers. Both Chertoff and Ridge say it accounts for 40% of the illegal alien leakage. The US VISIT technology isn’t working. It’s time to do something else. The law is clear that if you are out of status on your visa, you are deportable. How about a little fear through selective enforcement?

I would fire Chertoff. He obviously doesn’t have the stomach to do what needs to be done.

Well, Bush lacks the political will to do any of these things. Aside from taxing remittances and the three magnets mentioned above, he already has the laws in place to do the rest.

So the third world will continue to invade until someone comes along who does. I believe it will take another terrorist attack on U S soil, traced to the Mexican border, to make it happen.