More from Obama’s Immigration Speech
I downloaded a transcript of President Obama’s immigration speech yesterday at American University in Washington, D.C. You can read it in its entirety here.
But as I was reading it, a couple of more passages grabbed my attention. Here’s the first one:
Into this breach, states like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands. Given the levels of frustration across the country, this is understandable. But it is also ill conceived. And it’s not just that the law Arizona passed is divisive -– although it has fanned the flames of an already contentious debate. Laws like Arizona’s put huge pressures on local law enforcement to enforce rules that ultimately are unenforceable. It puts pressure on already hard-strapped state and local budgets. It makes it difficult for people here illegally to report crimes -– driving a wedge between communities and law enforcement, making our streets more dangerous and the jobs of our police officers more difficult. (Emphasis mine.)
This is curious, as S.B. 1070 is modeled after the federal law. Does Obama think the federal law is unenforceable as well? That’s what this passage would lead you to think. And for the record, if the federal government would do its job to secure our borders, the states wouldn’t have to step in and fill the void, putting pressure “on already hard-strapped state and local budgets”.
The final sentence in that passage just irks me to no end. It also irks me that Obama said, when referring to the illegal immigrants in this country, “The overwhelming majority of these men and women are simply seeking a better life for themselves and their children.” Here’s you some statistics (and this is from 2006):
- 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
- 83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens.
- 86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens.
- 75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.
- 24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
- 40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
- 48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
- 29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually.
- 53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.
- 50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border.
- 71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes”.
- 47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens.
- 63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens
- 66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66%, 98% are illegal aliens.
- BIRTH STATISTICS 380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the U.S. in 2005 to illegal alien parents, making 380,000 babies automatically U.S.citizens.
- 97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayers.
- 66% plus of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
Continuing his denigration of Arizona, Obama said, “These laws also have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound.” Again, this is a blatant lie. The law absolutely prohibits profiling. Law enforcement officers can only ask for papers if the person in question is already in the process of committing a crime.
President Obama does go on and say that blanket amnesty would be “unwise and unfair”, but also that mass deportations of 11 million people is impossible. On those points, I agree. But then, he says this:
But our borders are just too vast for us to be able to solve the problem only with fences and border patrols. It won’t work. Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work.
Did he say, “No we can’t”? What ever happened to “Yes We Can”? The laws are there, Mr. President, to stem the tide of illegal immigration. It’s time for the federal government to step up and do their job and enforce the laws that are already on the books, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel.
The Gulf Oil Spill – A Photo Post
These pictures were taken by a co-worker on Horn Island, one of Mississippi’s beautiful barrier islands. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Click on the link to bring the pictures up in a viewer. Warning: A couple of the images are a little graphic.
It looks as though the Mississippi state waters are now seriously threatened by the oil spill. According to NOAA, prevailing winds seem to be pushing the oil more toward the barrier islands than before, and some slicks have already moved into the Mississippi Sound:
A large patch of oil oozed into Mississippi Sound, the fertile waters between the barrier islands and mainland of a state that has mostly been spared.
The news came as a cap collecting oil from the well was back in place after a deep-sea robot bumped it and engineers concerned about escaping gas removed it for about 10 hours Wednesday.
This is terrible news, considering that the shrimping and fishing that could be done was in state waters, and now even that ecosystem is seriously threatened.
Here’s the latest slick forecast from NOAA:
