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STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION NOW
2002 and Earlier News Items
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Support the "Social Security for Americans Only" Act
Ron Maxwell on Bush & Immigration WashTimes

200 Million Immigrants in 20 Years:
The Bush/Senate Immigration Plan Must be Defeated
Up to 6,000 temporary troops who won't patrol border,
Citizenship & amnesty for illegals, Millions more guest workers
Will Spanish be official & required language in U.S. in 20 years? Will CA, AZ and other states leave US to join Mexico?
Sen. Sessions: "The impact this bill will have over the next 20 years is monumental and has not been thought through."

Bush's 5/15/06 Immigration Speech Text
Troops won't actually patrol border
Sen. Martinez wants immigrants to run for President
U.S. of Mexico? 100-200 MILLION Immigrants in 20 years under Bush/Senate Plan!
Heritage Foundation - 193 Million New Immigrants Report
Sen. Sessions - 217 Million New Immigrants Report
Washington Times Article

Phyllis Schlafly discusses the real reason behind the push for massive immigration

Mexico's President Campaigns inside the US for Bush/Senate Amnesty/Citizenship/200 Million Immigrants Bill

Sen. Durban's Senate bill amendment: Ask permission from Mexico before building a border fence!

Sign The Petition to Congress - Stop Illegal Immigration Now!

EMERGENCY ACTION
The Senate has passed the Pro-Illegal Immigration Bill.  The House and Senate will each appoint members to a "Conference Committee" to negotiate the dramatic differences between the Bush/Senate citizenship/amnesty bill which will increase immigration by 200 million in just 20 years, and the tougher House enforcement-only bill.  Republicans in the House will now be under intense pressure to cave in to the White House and abandon closing the border in favor of inviting in 200 million immigrants.

Howard Phillips on the Battle to stop illegal imigration

Call (202-224-3121), visit, write, fax or E-Mail your Congressman and urge him to: Refuse to allow ANY parts of the dangerous Senate Bill to be part of a final bill.  The bill must be killed entirely if even one piece of the Senate bill is agreed to by the House.  The existing House bill, H.R. 4437, must be preserved and enacted.

More Action Items on Immigration


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #686, January 31, 2002

BUSH RENEWS PUSH TO PROVIDE SUBSIDIES TO NON-CITIZENS

Amy Goldstein writes (Washington Post, 1/10/02, p. A17) that "The Bush administration proposed yesterday that poor immigrants who have lived legally in the United States for at least five years be allowed to collect food stamps, restoring part of the safety net that was removed in a 1996 overhaul of the welfare system."

"WELFARE REFORM" WOULD BE UNDONE

"The proposal would cost $2.1 billion over the next decade and would eventually enable perhaps 363,000 additional people a month to qualify for the federal nutrition program that subsidizes the purchase of groceries, according to administration estimates. …"

WHY IS IT OK FOR BUSH TO TRADE FEDERAL $$$ FOR VOTES, BUT WRONG FOR ENRON TO BUY INFLUENCE?

"The White House’s plan represents a stark reversal from the posture of leading Republicans in the mid-1990s, who fought vigorously – and successfully – to make most immigrants ineligible for a variety of welfare benefits. The plan is an effort to appeal to minority voters, a constituency that the GOP considers crucial in several key congressional races this year and to the president’s reelection efforts in 2004. …

"Asked how the administration proposes to pay for such additional benefits at a time of reemerging federal budget deficits, the official replied: ‘I can’t say at this particular time.’

"Another administration aide said yesterday that the White House was not ready to discuss whether the president intends this year to try to make it easier for legal immigrants to qualify for additional forms of federal help, such as cash assistance under welfare or Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor. There are currently 18.4 million people getting food stamps. …"

BUSH’S BOONDOGGLES BIGGER THAN DASCHLE’S

"The administration’s plan would cost nearly twice as much as a Democratic proposal that is part of the farm bill being debated in the Senate. It would also restore benefits to more people. An aide to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said yesterday that the senator ‘would be very excited’ about the president’s version ‘if funding were available.’ "

363,000 NON-CITIZENS TO BENEFIT

Robert Pear adds (New York Times, 1/10/02, p. 1) that according to the White House "at least 363,000 people – legal immigrants who have not become citizens – would qualify for food stamps under the plan, to be included in the budget President Bush sends Congress in early February. …"

WAS CLINTON MORE CONSERVATIVE?

"The welfare bill passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 made noncitizens ineligible for food stamps and many other types of assistance financed with federal money. Supporters of the ban, mostly Republicans, argued that federal benefits drew immigrants to the United States and then discouraged them from working.

"Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas, expressed the intent of Congress in 1996 when he said, ‘Immigrants should come to the U.S. with their sleeves rolled up, ready to work, not with their hands out, ready to go on welfare.’ …"

FEDERALLY FUNDED APPARATCHIKS PRAISE BUSH

"Antihunger groups and Hispanic groups praised Mr. Bush’s proposal. ‘This is an enormous step forward, for which the president should be congratulated,’ said Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights group. ‘Mr. Bush did not speak out on this in the presidential campaign, and he had not done so since he assumed office.’

"As governor of Texas and as president, Mr. Bush has taken pride in his good relations with Hispanic Americans. Karl Rove, the president’s senior political adviser, said last year that capturing a bigger share of the Hispanic vote was ‘our mission and our goal’ and would require assiduous work by ‘all of us in every way.’

"Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, said he would fight the president’s food stamp proposal because it would ‘entice people to come to the United States to be on welfare.’

"Mr. Tancredo, chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, with 55 members in the House, said: ‘The president has chosen to steal a page out of the Democrats’ playbook. The Democrats have been enormously successful in buying votes through welfare. That’s all this is, a sop to a Democrat-leaning voter bloc, an attempt to expand our political base by including the Hispanic vote.’ …

"James D. Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center [a Federally funded cadre of Legal Services Corporation left-wingers] said, ‘It’s really positive that the administration wants to extend food stamp benefits to this group of legal immigrants.’ He said his group had been supporting a broader restoration of food stamps, as proposed by Senators Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana, and Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa. But Mr. Weill said, ‘Everybody is moving in the same direction, and we are delighted to see that.’ "


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #689, March 15, 2002

GOP LEADERSHIP IS UNITED BEHIND BUSH’S PUSH FOR AMNESTY AND AID FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

"House Republican leaders will attempt to slip through an unrecorded vote this evening to give amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, allowing them to remain legally in the United States. The amnesty measure will come before the representatives by way of a special arrangement between the White House and the House leadership. It will appear among a batch of uncontroversial bills that typically win pro forma approval without amendment or debate.

"House Majority leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican, said House approval ‘will send a message to the world that our country will continue to be a beacon to all who love freedom and the opportunity to live, work and raise a family.’ …"

REPUBLICANS WANT THEIR "FAIR SHARE" OF VOTES FROM HISPANIC IMMIGRANTS

"Opponents say the Bush administration is using stealth tactics to get its way. They say the Republican Party is trying to schmooze Hispanic voters and appease Mexican leaders.

"The legislation in question is called the Section 245i Extension Bill. It refers to a portion of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that eases the requirements for seeking immigration status and defines who may obtain it. …"

THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE RULES FOR LEGAL ENTRY WILL SUFFER

"The exemption will last for six months. It will be a boon to illegal workers because applying from abroad for legal U.S. residency – which can lead to citizenship – can take many months, and the result is not certain. Then, too, applicants sometimes wind up on a long waiting list.

"[Colorado Republican Rep. Tom] Tancredo says passing the 245i extension is ‘a slap in the face to all in the world who are waiting to come into the country legally. It tells those who waited and came to us legally that, "You all are a bunch of suckers. You should just have sneaked in. We will not trace you down. Stay under the radar screen, and we will give you amnesty." That’s the message this sends.’ "

NOTHING LEARNED FROM 9-11

"Responding to news of the impending vote, Dan Stein, head of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), wrote INS Commissioner James Ziglar, asking him to estimate the cost and burden on the service of changing the status of the illegal aliens who will apply for the exemption. FAIR lobbies for tighter immigration restrictions.

" ‘On the six-month anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, it is shocking to find that the nation’s leaders haven’t yet understood the lessons of that day,’ Mr. Stein said in a statement. ‘Granting amnesty to those who have broken our laws and about whom we know virtually nothing is playing games with national security. … To assume the INS is even remotely prepared or equipped to absorb the huge administrative burden of extending 245i is irresponsible. … Few if any federal agencies have a worse track record than the INS when it comes to mis-management, corruption, inefficiency, and ineptitude.’ " Source: August Gribbin, Washington Times, 3/12/02, pp. 1, A15

GOP HOUSE LEADERSHIP DELIVERS CRUCIAL VOTES FOR GWB’S AMNESTY PUTSCH

Juliet Eilperin reports (Washington Post, 3/13/02, p. A4) that "Overcoming resistance from within their ranks, House GOP leaders shepherded through legislation yesterday that would allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the United States while applying for permanent residency.

"Yesterday’s 275 to 137 vote marked a victory for President Bush, who had campaigned on the issue and pressed lawmakers to pass the bill before his meeting next week with Mexican President Vicente Fox. But debate on the measure – which was coupled with new visa-screening requirements to spot suspected terrorists – showed how last year’s terrorist attacks have hardened some Republicans’ opposition to more lenient immigration rules. …

"In a sense, the House vote was much closer than the margin suggests. The bill barely received the two-thirds majority it needed because it was included in the day’s ‘suspension calendar,’ generally reserved for noncontroversial matters. …"

AMNESTY MAKES IT HARDER TO IDENTIFY AND DEPORT TERRORISTS

"Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said it would undermine ‘this country’s ability to find and deport the terrorists among us.’ "


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #691, April 15, 2002

BUSH CONTINUES CLINTON SCHEME TO PROMOTE MULTILINGUALISM

"Why … does our government so often discourage, rather than encourage, immigrants from assimilating into our culture?

"On August 11, 2000, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13166, which requires federal agencies and any other entities that receive federal funds to make their programs and activities ‘accessible’ to non-English speaking persons. The order provides that entities that do not comply are guilty of discriminating on the basis of national origin in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

WHY DIDN’T DEFEAT OF CLINTON-GORE LEAD TO A NEW POLICY?

"Are you outraged yet? You probably assume that President Bush will just revoke this ill-conceived fiat and be done with it. But no. The order remains in full force and effect – so much so, that a pro-English advocacy group (and others who come within the order’s pernicious reach) is suing the Bush Administration to block its enforcement.

"What’s the big deal? Well, on Aug. 16, 2000, the Justice Department issued guidelines to implement the Executive Order, which require all federal agencies and fund recipients to provide immediate translation and interpretation services to any person who is not proficient in English. Then, on Aug. 30, 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services issued its own implementing guidelines."

DOCTORS MUST HIRE TRANSLATORS

"The HHS guidelines require medical providers subject to the order to provide, at no charge, Limited English Proficient patients, upon request, with translation services into any language. Otherwise, they’ll be subject to a national origin discrimination complaint. Don’t worry, if I were reading this, I wouldn’t believe me either. But, sadly, it’s true.

"Some medical doctors are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore. They’ve joined with Pro-English, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of English as our common language, to seek an injunction against enforcement of the Order and the HHS implementing guidelines.

"One of the plaintiffs, Dr. Anthony Bull, is a California anesthesiologist. He alleges that the government policies require him to provide translators inside operating rooms, and pre- and post-op areas – at his own expense. Another, Dr. Clifford Colwell, is head of the Musculoskeletal Center at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. His clinic already provides translators for some languages, but the oppressive federal rules would require translation in all languages." Source: David Limbaugh (author of Absolute Power: The Legacy of Corruption in the Clinton-Reno Justice Department), Human Events, 3/25/02, p. 15


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #692, April 30, 2002

REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR IS BAD POLICY

Cal Thomas writes (Washington Times, 3/27/02, p. A15) that "President Bush told a United Nations conference on global development in Monterrey, Mexico … that Americans have an obligation to ‘share our wealth’ with poor nations. He proposed a 50 percent increase in foreign aid. He thinks more aid should be in the form of grants, not loans. He would also forgive much of the current Third World debt. The president said new aid would only go to nations that reform their governments, economies and human-rights practices."

12 MILLION AMNESTIES CARRIES A HIGH PRICE

"Mr. Bush also announced his support for a Senate bill that would grant amnesty to 200,000 more illegal Mexican immigrants as part of an ‘incremental’ approach that could lead to amnesty for as many as 12 million people. That’s the number of people from all countries the Immigration and Naturalization Service believes have broken our immigration laws."

BUSH FORGIVES, BUT YOU PAY

"Let me see if I have this straight. Individuals can violate our immigration laws and get amnesty. Nations can refuse to repay the debts they owe (many, in fact, do pay) and be forgiven. And not only forgiven but they can get more money. And not only more money but grants, not loans, so they never have to worry about repaying us or any institution supported by the American taxpayer. As Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff says, ‘What a country.’ …"

FOREIGN AID DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

"Even the liberal Brookings Institution now concedes that foreign aid does not work. Brookings scholars Michael O’Hanlon and Carol Graham studied the effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid and concluded in 1997 that, ‘Countries getting more aid do worse macroeconomically, on average, than those getting less.’ The reason, according to a study of 96 countries by Peter Boone of the London School of Economics, is because virtually none of the money is invested. All such aid does, says Mr. Boone, is increase consumption and expand the size of government without any benefits to the poor. …"

A $78 BILLION BILL FOR 1986 AMNESTY

"According to INS figures, the 1986 amnesty transformed 2.7 [million] illegal aliens into legal residents, permanently adding millions of poor to our society. After 10 years in the United States, the average amnestied illegal alien had only a seventh-grade education and an annual salary of less than $9,000, $500 of which was sent to his or her homeland, the INS notes. According to the Center for Immigration Studies (available at www.fairus.org), after 10 years, the direct and indirect costs of services and benefits for such ex-illegal aliens, minus their tax contributions, is over $78 billion."

THE MELTING POT IS FULL OF POISON

"Increasingly, thanks to our public schools, children of illegal immigrants do not become Americanized by learning and embracing the history, language and ways of this country. Instead, too many are taught that America is a bad place and that capitalism is a bad system, though their parents came here presumably because our system is far better than the one they left."


GOP’S TANCREDO BLASTS GWB’S OPEN-BORDER POLICY AS THREAT TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

"President Bush is the leading obstacle to controlling illegal immigration in this country and his ‘open door’ border policy is a threat to national security, the Republican chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus said yesterday.

"Rep. Tom Tancredo told editors and reporters in a luncheon meeting at The Washington Times that Mr. Bush is out of step with the majority of Americans who want immigration reform and that his ‘altruistic views’ on the subject were an open invitation to new terrorist attacks."

THE BLOOD WILL BE ON HIS HANDS

" ‘What we have not done is to protect our borders, ignoring our own national security,’ the Colorado congressman said. ‘The president is not on our side. He believes in open borders.

" ‘Unless we do something significant to control our borders, we’re going to have another event with someone waltzing across the borders. Then the blood of the people killed will be on this administration and this Congress,’ he said. …"

PROSPECT OF HISPANIC VOTES DOES NOT JUSTIFY DANGEROUS IMMIGRATION POLICY

"The two-term congressman said the Bush administration had developed aggressive strategies to court Hispanic voters. He said the administration pushed a recent amnesty bill now pending in Congress in an effort to win over those voters and to prop up the government of Mexican President Vicente Fox.

" ‘Closed borders, open borders. I used to think it was Karl Rove [the White House political strategist] and his outreach to Hispanics,’ Mr. Tancredo said. ‘But no, it’s Mr. Bush. He’s driving the issue himself. He believes in open borders. ‘He made promises to Fox and wants to keep Fox in power,’ he said."

ATZLAN ADVANCED

"The House, under active pressure from Mr. Bush to reach out to Hispanics, narrowly approved a bill March 12 that would grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. The bill would allow some illegal aliens who have overstayed their entry visas or entered the country illegally to apply for legal status. …

"Mr. Tancredo said that during a recent meeting with top Mexican officials, he was told that Mexico does not view the Southwest United States and northern Mexico as two countries, but as ‘one region.’ " Source: Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, 4/19/02, p. 1


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #693, May 15, 2002

GOP HOUSE AND DEM SENATE PORK UP $100 BILLION IN AGRICULTURE SUBSIDY– BUSH WILL NOT USE VETO

"Senate and House members agreed today on a farm bill costing more than $100 billion over six years that will raise subsidy payments to the country’s biggest grain and cotton farmers, a nearly complete reversal of Congress’s attempt six years ago to wean farmers of all subsidies."

$17 BILLION FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS

"At the same time, the measure finances some of the most significant conservation and environmental programs in recent years, with $17 billion dedicated over the next decade to preserve farmland, save wetlands and improve water quality and soil conservation on working farms."

MORE FOOD STAMPS FOR NON-CITIZENS

"It is also one of the major pieces of social welfare legislation before Congress this year, increasing food stamps for working families and children and restoring the right of legal immigrants to receive them.

"Months of election-year jockeying produced a bill that seeks to satisfy every region and segment of the country. Lawmakers from farm states in the Midwest and South won the largest subsidies for cotton, rice, wheat, corn and soybeans. Legislators from the Northeast won a new $1.3 billion national program to replace the defunct dairy compact. The conservation programs will help densely populated states hoping to control urban sprawl. And for cities and rural areas, the increase in the food stamps and nutrition program will begin to redress the losses from the 1996 welfare overhaul…."

AGRIBUSINESS IS THE BIG BENEFICIARY

"The last major piece of legislation, the 1996 Freedom to Farm Law, tried to eliminate subsidies and let the market dictate prices and production levels. But farmers and agribusiness, which represents 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, convinced Congress to pass annual emergency payments raising subsidies to a record $20 billion last year."

SMALL FARMERS SOLD OUT – TO BE BOUGHT OUT

"The compromise announced today represents a rejection, as well, of a movement to limit the size of payments to farmers. During the year-long debate, lawmakers complained of multimillion-dollar payments to some of the country’s biggest farmers, who were buying out the small family farms the program was originally intended to save.

"Spurred by a Web site that revealed how hundreds of farmers and absentee landlords received millions of dollars in subsidy payments since the last farm bill, the Senate version included a limit of $275,000 per farmer. But negotiators over the past month dropped that limit. The final compromise includes a limit of $360,000 but with enough exceptions to make it a symbolic compromise. …"

TAXPAYERS SKEWERED

"From the consumer’s point of view, the increase will have little effect on supermarket prices. …

" ‘The impact is on the taxpayer,’ said Keith Collins, chief economist for the Agriculture Department. …"

GWB CONGRATULATES CONGRESS FOR ITS UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMPLICITY

"The Bush administration congratulated the lawmakers today for reaching a compromise and promised to work with Congress to carry out the bill in time for the 2002 crop. … But the administration had been silent on most issues throughout the debate, except for a strong appeal to reinstate food stamps for legal immigrants. …"

PEANUT FARMERS (JIMMY?) GET BIG BUCKS

"The bill also includes a new $3 billion subsidy for peanut farmers as well as a $1 billion buyout program of the old peanut price support system." Source: Elizabeth Becker, The New York Times, 4/27/02, pp. 1, A11


PERSECUTOR OF ELIAN GONZALEZ PROMOTED BY BUSH AND ASHCROFT

According to a news advisory released April 11 in Miami, "Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, took the sworn testimony of Robert Wallis today, wherein the former Miami INS director revealed that he was selected for promotion to Regional INS Director and transferred to Texas in April 2001, under the Bush Administration and Attorney General John Ashcroft."

ROBERT WALLIS SHOULD BE FIRED, NOT REWARDED

"Wallis admitted, under examination by Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman, that the ‘proudest moment of his life’ was captured in an Associated Press photograph of INS Supervisory Special Agent Gwenn Reed holding a shotgun to the head of a prone and ‘spread-eagle’ protestor – Mario Miranda – during the illegal INS raid to return young Elian Gonzalez to Communist Cuba. Mr. Miranda is a retired Miami police officer and was responsible for safety and security around the Gonzalez home. Wallis’ testimony came during a Merit Systems Protection Board hearing for INS whistleblower and Judicial Watch client Rick Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez ‘blew the whistle’ on anti-Cuban and anti-Hispanic bigotry in the Miami INS office, as well as INS supervisors’ orders to destroy all documents and computer records concerning the Elian Gonzalez saga. Earlier testimony from INS attorney Diana Alvarez confirmed that the orders to destroy documents and records came from INS Commissioner Doris Meissner. …

" ‘It is shocking that rather than take steps to clean out the Miami office of anti-Cuban and Hispanic prejudice, that instead Ashcroft and his Bush administration rewarded, with a promotion, the district director responsible for the prejudice. This shows insensitivity to the rights of Hispanics,’ stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman."

U.S. ISLAM IS WELL-CONNECTED TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Glenn Simpson writes (Wall Street Journal, 4/18/02, p. A4) that "Two weeks after his agents raided the offices of several Islamic charities and businesses suspected of financing terrorism, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill met with two politically connected Muslim activists, one a long-time Bush family associate, who each had a tie to the targeted groups.

"The April 4 luncheon with Mr. O’Neill was convened to allow Muslim-Americans to voice complaints about the March 20 raid on the International Institute for Islamic Thought and 19 related entities that operate out of offices at 555 Grove St. in Herndon, Va., a Washington suburb.

"Among the Muslim leaders attending was Talat Othman, a longtime associate and supporter of President Bush’s family who gave a benediction at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in August 2000. Mr. Othman went to the Treasury representing the Arab-American Business and Professional Association. But he also serves on the board of Amana Mutual Funds Trust, an investment firm founded by M. Yacqub Mirza, the Northern Virginia businessman who set up most of the entities targeted by the Treasury and whose tax records were sought in the raid."

ISLAMIC INSTITUTE CO-FOUNDED BY SAFFURI AND NORQUIST

"Also at the meeting was Khaled Saffuri, head of the Islamic Institute [a Republican-leaning political group that received a $20,000 contribution from the Safa Trust. Saffuri met with Treasury Secretary O’Neill to complain about the raid.], a group he co-founded with GOP activist Grover Norquist to organize conservative Muslims. The institute has accepted $20,000 in contributions from another Grove Street entity suspected of terrorist connections, the Safa Trust, as earlier reported by Newsweek. Asked for comment, Mr. Norquist, a board member of the institute, confirmed the donation. Mr. Saffuri couldn’t be reached. …"

WAR ON TERROR ABROAD – SUPPORT FOR ISLAM AT HOME

"The case also highlights conflicts between the Bush administration’s domestic political goals and its war on terror. GOP officials began courting the U.S. Muslim community intensely in the late 1990s, seeking to add that ethnic bloc to the party’s political base. But when the war on terror was launched in September, the Bush administration retreated from some positions Republicans had taken to gain the Muslim support, including opposition to the use of secret evidence in immigration cases, and began mass immigration-violator roundups within Muslim communities. …"

MEETING WITH PAUL O’NEILL PRESERVED POLITICAL ALLIANCE

"The Islamic Institute declared itself pleased with the encounter. ‘The meeting was constructive, and the leaders expressed their concerns to Secretary O’Neill regarding the insensitive actions of Treasury agents during the raids against the Muslim American organizations, and concerns of the community that civil-rights violations occurred,’ the Islamic Institute said on its Web site. ‘Secretary O’Neill promised that these concerns would be investigated.’ "

SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS FOR SPECIAL FRIENDS

"Bruce Zagaris, an asset-forfeiture lawyer who represents clients in similar cases, said a meeting between Treasury officials and anyone who might be associated with an entity under investigation is very unusual. ‘It’s virtually impossible [to arrange such a meeting], especially with the Treasury secretary,’ Mr. Zagaris said. ‘It’s very difficult to even get phone calls returned.’ …"

EVIDENCE PROMPTED ACTION

"Two nonprofits affiliated with Mr. Mirza and named in the search warrant, the SAAR Foundation Inc. and the Heritage Education Trust Inc., held large blocks of shares in Amana’s mutual funds in 1997, according to SEC records. The SEC documents and other records detailing connections between Mr. Othman and the Islamic Institute and the raided groups were compiled by the National Security News Service, a Washington based nonprofit research group."

BUSH CONNECTIONS ARE LONG-STANDING

"Mr. Othman has ties to the Bush family going back to the 1980s, when he served with George W. Bush on the board of a Texas petroleum firm, Harken Oil & Gas Inc. Mr. Othman has visited the White House during the administrations of both President Bush and his father George H.W. Bush. Mr. Othman also is a longtime campaign donor who gives to both parties but tends to favor Republicans, giving more than $10,000 during the past decade to GOP groups and supporting the presidential bids of both Bushes."

MONEY TALKS

"Mr. Othman also is on the board of Mr. Saffuri’s Islamic Institute, the GOP-leaning group that received $20,000 from the SAFA Trust, one of the raid’s targets. The president of the Safa Trust, Jamal Barzinji, is a former business associate of Switzerland-based investor Youssef Nada, whose assets were frozen last fall after the Treasury designated him a person suspected of giving aid to terrorists. A naturalized American, Mr. Barzinji serves as an officer of at least three other Virginia groups listed in the search warrant. [Nancy] Luque [a lawyer for Mr. Mirza, his enterprises and his partners], who also represents Mr. Barzinji, denied that he supports terrorists."

LOBBYIST LINKS

"Mr. Barzinji and his Herndon business partners also are active political givers, donating about $40,000 to federal candidates since 1990. He also is listed in federal records as a client of the lobbying firm Janus-Merritt Strategies LLC, which formerly employed Mr. Norquist, the GOP activist who co-founded the Islamic Institute. The firm received $40,000 in 2000 lobbying for human rights and foreign-policy issues, records show. Mr. Norquist didn’t work on the account, according to Ms. Luque and Janus-Merrit."

MUSLIM INFLUENCE WITH GOP GREATER THAN EVER

"In a speech last fall to the Organization of Islamic Conference in Doha, Qatar, Mr. Barzinji boasted of the U.S. Muslim community’s rising political influence. ‘At this time, the president and his administration are continually seeking the counsel and input of American Muslim leaders,’ Mr. Barzinji said. ‘At no other time has the Muslim community in America been more effective in relation to the processes of American government.’ "


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #694, May 31, 2002

BUSH’S "SUPERNAFTA" THREATENS U.S. LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE

"Coming down the Fast Track which is about to be approved by Congress is a treaty that would effectively merge the United States with all of Latin America. The treaty, drafted by Bill Clinton and embraced by President George W. Bush, is a multinational monstrosity called the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Actually, a more accurate label should be ‘Super NAFTA’."

"FAST TRACK" PAVES THE WAY FOR 30 LOW-WAGE COUNTRIES TO MERGE INTO WESTERN HEMISPHERE "COMMON MARKET"

"It will multiply exponentially all the problems created or exacerbated by the North American Free Trade Agreement. Indeed, by adding over 30 more countries to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico single-market trade pool the FTAA will, over time, blend the United States into a narco-republic in the image of so much of Latin America. …"

NAFTA HAS BEEN HARMFUL TO USA

"Here are just some of the escalating tragedies visited upon our country since January 1994 when NAFTA took effect:

  1. Millions of American jobs and thousands of industrial plants transferred from the United States to Mexico and Canada.
  2. Tens of thousands of our hard-working family farmers driven from their land by food imports and the excruciating pressures they have placed on domestic farm prices.
  3. In the year 2000 alone 372,000 people in the U.S. suffered food poisoning, 20,000 of them were hospitalized, and at least 5,000 died. A Congressional hearing established that 80 per cent of all food-poisoning cases and deaths were traced to imported food. (ACCT’s newsletter broke this story.)
  4. Illegal drugs, 80 per cent of them coming from or through Mexico, have destroyed the lives of countless American school children.
  5. The crime that accompanies the drug trade has U.S. prisons bursting their walls from over-crowding and our neighborhoods, towns and large parts of many cities transformed into No-Go zones for our citizens.
  6. Illegal aliens, many of them Mexican farmers forced to abandon their small farms because of NAFTA, have invaded the United States by the millions. (One estimate claims 11 million!)
  7. The corruption that pervades so much of Latin America has come creeping north and today infests some of our own courts, police [departments], and even our once-proud Customs system.
  8. The collapse of the Mexican peso two years after NAFTA was approved by Congress caused a $50 Billion illegal raid on the U.S. Treasury to bail out Mexico and set the precedent for an even larger rescue of Asian economies.
  9. Largely because of the huge demands of illegal and legal immigrants for welfare and free health care, every state in the union now faces bankruptcy and is taking thousands of communities down with them.
  10. The Clinton boom years, which boasted that NAFTA was its greatest ‘accomplishment,’ is today revealed as the creation of a hollowed-out economy riddled with corporate corruption that has left millions of Americans ‘downsized’ out of our most productive jobs in manufacturing and other sectors."

OTHER COUNTRIES BENEFIT AT EXPENSE OF U.S. WORKERS

"The propagandists for the Free Trade Area of the Americas will tell you how wonderful it is that trade with Mexico and Canada has soared so high under NAFTA. And, of course, how much more it will grow with FTAA.

"Yet they never mention that before NAFTA the U.S. was running up trade surpluses with Mexico and keeping fairly even in our Canadian two-way trade. Just as soon as NAFTA descended upon us we began to suffer huge deficits with both those countries and they have grown larger every year since."

U.S. TRADE DEFICIT SOARED UNDER NAFTA – $53 BILLION CANADA/$30 BILLION MEXICO

"In 2001 our two NAFTA ‘partners’ shipped an amazing total of nearly $350 Billion in goods into our country – $217 Billion from Canada and almost $132 Billion from Mexico. The combined U.S. trade deficit with both was a staggering [$83,189,800,000] – $53,265,900,000 with Canada and $29,923,900,000 with Mexico.

"Thus our NAFTA trade deficit was more than No.1 Communist China took out of our financial hide – $83,045,700,000. But there was a big, big difference in the total value of the goods Canada and Mexico sent us – $350 Billion – and the $102,280,500,000 shipped from China.

"Indeed the trade input from CanMex was starting to approach three-times the goods influx from Japan and was a third more than the whopping $220,031,100,000 we absorbed from all 15 countries of the European Union!"

JOBS DOWN – TAX REVENUE DOWN – WELFARE UP

"Lost in all these mind-bending statistics is the terrible toll the overall $426 Billion goods-only trade deficit for 2001 – and the trillions more over the last three decades – have taken out of incomes of American workers, their families and communities, the smashed budgets of all 50 states, the federal budget which tops $2.1 Trillion in FY2003.

"No one ever tells you, but the trade deficit is the No.1 contributor to the red ink side of the federal budget. When a factory closes, the company that owned it no longer pays taxes on it. The workers go on the dole or extended ‘trade adjustment assistance.’

"Needless to say, the downsized workers can no longer pay taxes, so government revenues are reduced even more. Trade deficits produce a vicious cycle and they are tightening the noose around the financial well being of millions of Americans – and their government. …"

U.S. STANDARD OF LIVING HAS DECLINED

"Small wonder that at the end of the run-away stock market boom of the 1990s the real after-tax income of the middle 60 per cent of our population was lower than in 1977! In addition, many of these people had seen a significant decline in their net worth due to increased debt." Source: William J. Gill, President, Americans for Trade Defense (ACCT, 216 Georgetown Court, 3220 N Street N.W., Washington, DC 20007)


LePEN WAS POLITICALLY INCORRECT

French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen has said " ‘Massive immigration has only just begun. It is the biggest problem facing France, Europe and probably the world. We risk being submerged.’

"Such frankness strikes a chord with voters concerned about crime. France is in the midst of a crime wave, perpetrated mostly by unemployed, unassimilated young immigrants. Half of all inmates in French prisons are Muslims. …

" ‘My beliefs are simple … I believe in the nation and the family,’ he told Britain’s Spectator magazine this week. ‘Society must have certain fundamental values or else there can be no personal development. I see all this in constant decline.’ His party, the National Front, blames politics as usual for the ‘decadence’ afflicting France.

"The National Front would: End taxes on income and inheritance. Bring back the death penalty. Build cells for 200,000 prisoners. Deport foreigners convicted of a crime. Revise France’s role in the European Union. Boost trade protection.

"The National Front opposes hate-speech laws that keep people from talking candidly about immigration and other issues. It also wouldn’t let homosexuals adopt children." Source: Brian Mitchell, Investor’s Business Daily, 5/2/02, p. A18

LePEN FAVORED FRENCH REPUBLICANISM OVER EUROPEAN TYRANNY

Nathalie Schuck reported (Associated Press, USA Today, 4/25/02, p. 7A) that French presidential candidate Jean-Marie "Le Pen, 73, has long been a member of the 626-seat European Parliament but has always defended national interests and attacked most of the founding principles of the 15-nation EU.

"During his presidential campaign, he has said he would renounce treaties that bind France to the [U]nion and restore the French franc at the expense of the continent’s joint currency, the [E]uro, which was introduced in January. He said the EU had robbed France of its independence to act.

"If elected president, Le Pen said, he would hold a referendum on getting France out of the EU."


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #696, June 30, 2002

BUSH PUSHES TED KENNEDY’S VERSION OF AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIEN HIGH SCHOOL GRADS

Phyllis Schlafly writes (Washington Times, 6/22/02, p. A14) concerning immigration that "Now we hear there is another way aliens are able to remain in our country. They sneak over our borders illegally, or illegally overstay their visas, and then become legal by exploiting a now-expired loophole known as 245(i), the section in a 1994 federal law that allows an illegal alien to apply for a green card, stay permanently in the United States, and subsequently apply for citizenship."

CRIME PAYS UNDER GOP

"This amnesty loophole allowed aliens who broke our laws to pay a $1,000 fine and go to the head of the line in front of prospective immigrants who complied with our laws. U.S. law states that aliens must apply in their own countries to get permission to immigrate to the United States."

ONE MILLION ILLEGALS NOW LEGAL UNDER 245(i)

"A million of these ‘loophole aliens’ have become legal residents since the law was passed. In 2000, these ‘loophole aliens’ were 28.3 percent of new legal residents, in 1999 they were 25.4 percent, and in 1998 they were 29.4 percent. …

"Loophole 245(i) expired in April 2001, but the open-borders lobby led by Sen. Ted Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, has been hard at work to get it renewed. With the active support of the Bush administration plus scheduling chicanery by the House leadership, renewal passed the House by one vote on March 12.

"On May 14, President George W. Bush said, ‘I wanted a temporary extension of 245(i) … I intend to work with Congress to see if we can’t get that done here pretty quick.’ …"

TERRORISTS ELIGIBLE

"Section 245(i) applies to those who sneaked across our border, intentionally overstayed a temporary visa, violated the terms of their visa, or entered the United States as an aircraft worker or ship crewman. It even applies to aliens who are deportable under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)(B), which includes any alien who ‘engages in any terrorist activity.’ "


ORRIN HATCH’S TAXPAYER-SUBSIDIZED AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

"This morning the full Senate Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote a bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens who graduate from high school or college. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the ‘Dream Act,’ that would allow all 50 states to subsidize tuition for illegal aliens at state universities. FAIR Executive Director Dan Stein called the Dream Act, ‘A nightmare for students who play by the rules and taxpayers everywhere.’

"Under Hatch’s legislation, illegal aliens under the age of 21, who have resided in the United States for at least five years, would be allowed to attend public universities in their state of residence at the subsidized in-state tuition rate. In addition, under a substitute offered by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), legal residency is all but assured for illegal aliens if they graduate from high school or have even a remote chance of getting a GED."

$11,000 PER YEAR PER ILLEGAL

"In states like California, Hatch’s action would amount to an $11,000-a-year subsidy per amnestied student. ‘The Dream Act is bad fiscal policy, bad immigration policy and aside from that, it has never had a single hearing before the subcommittee or committee’ said Stein. …

" ‘With the cost of a college education skyrocketing, slots at state-subsidized universities are becoming the only hope of a higher education for many American families,’ observed Stein. ‘Now we have a prominent member of Congress trying to jam through legislation that will give illegal aliens the same chance at these seats as citizens who play by the rules.’ The legislation is clearly unfair to out-of-state citizens and out-of-state legal aliens who will be forced to pay full tuition while those who broke our laws are granted a substantial benefit." Source: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) press release, 6/20/02


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #702, September 30, 2002

MEXICO WANTS AMERICA BACK

Roger McGrath writes (Chronicles, August 2002, p. 13) that "For several years, Charles Truxillo, a professor at the University of New Mexico, has been proclaiming that the American Southwest will – and should – be reconquered by Mexico through massive immigration. Most politicians and media have either ignored Truxillo or tried to characterize him as an isolated extremist, claiming that most Mexican immigrants have no political agenda and cross the border only to find work."

ILLEGAL ALIENS vs. "ILLEGAL" OCCUPIERS

"A Zogby International poll, however, conducted in Mexico at the end of May, suggests that Truxillo’s views reflect those of the majority of Mexicans. A startling 58 percent of Mexicans claimed ‘that the territory of the U.S. Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico’ and an equally startling 57 percent thought that they ‘should have the right to enter the United States without U.S. permission.’ Welcome to the mainstream, Professor Truxillo."

SOUTHWEST BELONGS TO USA DeJURE AND DeFACTO

"The Southwest has been formally a part of the United States since 1848, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, and informally since 1846, when the region was occupied by American troops. That’s more than 150 years. How long was it Mexican? All of 26 years. Before that, it was Spanish, and before that, it was turf contested by dozens of tribes of American Indians. Moreover, Spain (and, later, Mexico) occupied less than one percent of the vast region.

"California, the part of the Southwest that Mexicans have entered illegally in greater numbers than any other, was never more than nominally Mexican. Spain did not colonize California until 1769 and only did so then because she feared Russian encroachment if the area were left unoccupied. By the mid-1770’s, colonization had meant nothing more than a couple of presidios and five missions. By the end of the Spanish period, the number of presidios had increased to four and the number of missions, to 21."

45 MEXICAN CONSULATES IN U.S. WORK TO "LEGALIZE" ILLEGAL ALIENS INSIDE U.S.

"If you are among those still skeptical that America is losing its sovereignty, please read this….

"The 45 consulates of the government of Mexico located in what was once our country are dishing out official cards called matriculas consulares to thousands of Mexicans who have entered the U.S. illegally in order to give them ‘legal identification’ status."

500,000 DOCUMENTS FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED

"Some 500,000 of these cards have been issued, not just at the consulates, but at large meetings in churches, union halls, and other venues. And that’s just since the first of this year, though the program didn’t shift into high gear until after the 9/11 terrorist attacks when IDs for illegals from other sources became more difficult to get, at least briefly."

200 U.S. POLICE DEPTS. ACCEPT MEXICAN CERTIFICATION

"Mary Beth Sheridan revealed the matriculas consulares scam in a well-documented article in The Washington Post on July 26. ‘In recent months,’ she wrote, ‘the cards have been recognized as official identification by nearly 200 U.S. police departments in such cities as Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, according to the Mexican Embassy [in Washington]. Dozens of banks and city governments accept them….’

"Although issued by the Mexican government, Miss Sheridan points out the cards have ‘quietly emerged as a key U.S. document for a huge group of illegal immigrants.’ "

MEXICO HELPS LAWBREAKERS FLOUT U.S. LAW

" ‘Supporters say the cards help hardworking immigrants who must present an official ID for basic necessities,’ Miss Sheridan writes. She adds that ‘Critics, however, say the Mexican government is trying to issue credentials for its citizens here, undermining the U.S. identification system and aiding lawbreakers.’ "

WELLS FARGO, CITIBANK, AND BANK OF AMERICA ARE ACCOMPLICES

"The big banks are among the biggest backers of increasing distribution of matriculas consulares. Wells Fargo, urged on by the police department in Austin, Texas, opened 35,000 new accounts for illegals in a few months when they flashed their consulate cards, which cost them $29 each. Citibank and Bank of America recently began to accept them too. Source: William J. Gill, American Coalition for Competitive Trade (ACCT), August 2002


GOP FEARS SUPPORT FOR OFFICIAL ENGLISH WOULD LOSE HISPANIC VOTES

"Voters are embracing the anti-bilingual-education initiative on the November ballot in Colorado and Massachusetts. The question is, why won’t Republicans?

"Fearful of alienating Hispanic voters, Colorado Republicans are ducking the issue or coming out against it." Source: Valerie Richardson, Washington Times, 9/30/02, p. 1


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #703, October 15, 2002

VOTING RIGHTS ACT REQUIRES 335 U.S. JURISDICTIONS IN 30 STATES TO PRINT FOREIGN LANGUAGE BALLOTS

"Montgomery County must offer ballots in Spanish in this year’s elections under a federal law intended to safeguard the voting rights of the growing number of U.S. citizens who speak limited English, Department of Justice officials announced yesterday.

"More than 335 jurisdictions in 30 states will have to follow the language-access provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which requires voting board to print ballots, signs, registration forms and informational brochures in an additional language if they have large shares of voting-age citizens who do not speak English well. …"

AMERICA’S TOWER OF BABEL SHOULD BE OVERTHROWN

" ‘People who are perfectly capable of reading the names on the ballot [in English] may need help in reading the explanation of a question on the ballot about a bond issue,’ said Charles Kamasaki, senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza. ‘Those things are not necessarily easy to figure out in English.’

"Mark Kirkorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration, criticized the ballot requirement as part of a trend of offering more government services for those whose English is limited, which ‘just highlights the reason we need one language in the first place.’

" ‘We are going to end up with an increasingly large amount of languages that small jurisdictions are going to start dealing with,’ he said. ‘There is only so much of that that is economical or feasible.’ …

"Immigrant advocates said the translation requirement is an important first step – and not just for Latinos. Glenn Magpantay, of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, noted that more than 15 jurisdictions will be required to expand Asian Americans’ access.

" ‘Nationally, it’s a big win,’ he said. ‘For some communities in the country, the right to vote got a lot closer." Source: Nurith Aizenman and D’Vera Cohn, Washington Post, 7/27/02, p. B5


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #705, November 15, 2002

IRS AIDS ILLEGAL ALIENS

"While Americans anxiously avoid the attention of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that agency is providing cover to 9 million illegal aliens in the United States. By providing illegal aliens with a government-issued identity number, used in lieu of a Social Security number, the IRS is subverting the immigration law, undermining national security, and thwarting efforts by other federal agencies to cooperate in homeland security efforts.

"These are among the conclusions of ‘Giving Cover to Illegal Aliens: IRS Tax ID Numbers Subvert Immigration Law,’ a new report by Ms. Marti Dinerstein, president of Immigration Matters, a public-policy analysis firm in New York, and a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies."

ACCESS TO DRIVERS LICENSES AND BANK ACCOUNTS

"Dinerstein found that the IRS decided in 1996 to treat illegal immigrants as ‘resident aliens’ based on their ‘substantial presence’ in the U.S., thus rendering them eligible for the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). The ITIN is intended as a substitute to the Social Security number for tax purposes only, but it has turned into an official identity number used by illegal aliens to open bank accounts and, in some instance, obtain drivers licenses."

TERRORISTS BENEFIT FROM AVAILABILITY OF ID’s

"The 9/11 hijackers benefitted from a flourishing market in fraudulent documents catering to America’s record-high illegal-alien population by easily acquiring real or fake driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers. Now an agency of the federal government is broadening access by illegal aliens to documents that aid in laundering their residency status. In 1999, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration noted this contradiction, saying that the IRS policy of issuing ITINs to illegal aliens ‘seems counter-productive to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) mission to identify and prevent unlawful entry.’

"The IRS policy, Dinerstein contends, also runs counter to the Social Security Administration’s recent efforts to stem unlawful use of Social Security numbers (SSN). That agency has taken steps to limit the purposes for which an SSN can be issued and to better validate the underlying ‘breeder’ documents presented to obtain an SSN. This past summer the agency mailed out more than 750,000 letters to employers of approximately 7 million workers whose names did not match the SSN provided.

" ‘The IRS is giving cover to illegal aliens by pretending that the ITIN is solely for tax purposes, when in actuality it is commonly used to establish official identity,’ Dinerstein said. ‘This policy also violates the USA Patriot Act by withholding information from the INS and the Social Security Administration about the fraudulent activity of illegal aliens,’ she added." Source: The Center for Immigration Studies (www.cis.org/articles/2002back1202.html), 11/18/02


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #706, November 30, 2002

GOP GOVERNORS BACK BUSH ON AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS

Ralph Hallow writes from Dana Point, California (Washington Times, 11/25/02, p. A4) that "Republican governors over the weekend defended President Bush’s immigration policies, arguing that he isn’t proposing amnesty, as critics claim, for Mexicans and others who entered the United States illegally.

"Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, the newly elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association [RGA], disputed the critics’ interpretation of Mr. Bush’s policy. …

"The Washington Times reported last week that Tony Garza, new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said the Bush administration will renew its push for what critics say amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens who have established a stable employment history in the country. …

"The Bush policy was aimed in part at helping Republicans gain Hispanic votes. And RGA members meeting here were reminded by Bush administration representatives and others that Hispanics constitute the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. electorate. The Republican Party must gain a growing share of the Hispanic vote in order to survive.

"But September 11 dealt the Bush immigration policy a setback, as concerns mounted over the threat that foreign terrorists were seeping through America’s porous borders."


BUSH OPENS U.S. BORDERS TO MEXICAN TRUCKING

"The Bush administration yesterday opened the way for Mexican companies to begin hauling cargo and passengers throughout the United States."

SHOULD NAFTA OVERRIDE DUTY TO DEFEND AMERICA?

"The move fulfills U.S. obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement and will allow Mexican-based truck and bus service into the lower 48 states as soon as one month from now.

"Congress in 1982 said the United States no longer would accept applications from Mexican-based operators to work outside of a narrow commercial zone along the border. Under NAFTA, signed in 1992, the United States was supposed to drop the moratorium in phases between 1995 and 2000 but held back, citing safety concerns."

EVEN CLINTON DID NOT COMPLY WITH NAFTA OPEN BORDERS POLICY

" ‘By modifying the moratorium, President Bush has made good on his commitment to open the border to international trucking and cross-border regular-route bus service,’ Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a statement. …

"Mr. Bush’s decision allows the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to start processing the 130 applications received from Mexican companies that want to operate in the United States. …

"The trucking issue was a sore spot in U.S.-Mexico trade relations. The Clinton administration, which signed NAFTA into law, held off on implementing the regulations because of safety concerns as well as pressure from Congress and unions.

"In 2001, about 4.3 million crossings were made from Mexico to the United States, with about 53,000 of those made by Mexican trucks, the department said." Source: Jeffrey Sparshot, The Washington Times, 11/28/02, p. C11

GWB YIELDS TO VICENTE FOX

"Mr. Bush acted just a day after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met with President Vicente Fox in Mexico, where the two men discussed immigration and other issues that have been sore points between their countries."

FEWER JOBS FOR AMERICAN TRUCKERS

"Mr. Bush’s move had been opposed by the Teamsters union, which cited safety concerns but certainly worried that the presence of relatively low-paid Mexican drivers would mean fewer jobs for American truckers. Many consumer and environmental groups had also opposed the Mexican trucks, asserting that they polluted more than American trucks and that their drivers had less training and less strenuous safety requirements to meet than American drivers. …"

TRUCK INSPECTIONS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN

"A total of 4.3 million trucks entered the United States from Mexico last year for travel within the 20-mile-wide commercial zone. The Department of Transportation, which even with its expanded number of inspectors will check only a fraction of incoming trucks, ordered 34 percent of checked trucks taken out of service last year. That was down from 44 percent in 1997 but was nonetheless far above the 24 percent of American trucks taken out of service for violations in 2000." Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 11/28/02, pp. 1, A27


UNDER BUSH PLAN, REGIONAL CITIZENSHIP WOULD REPLACE NATIONAL IDENTITY AND LOYALTY

One of the most dangerous schemes put forward by the Bush administration is the President’s plan for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Lest there be any doubt about its purpose to copy the regional government scheme developed within the European Union, one need only examine a report in The New York Times of Sunday, November 24 (p. 4) which points out that "In an important step toward regional integration, the six member nations of the South American common market have approved a plan that will allow their 250 million people to live and work in any other member country and be granted the same rights as the citizens of those nations.

" ‘This is an historic advance,’ Paulo de Tarso Ramos Ribeiro, the Brazilian minister of justice, said in an interview here. ‘The free movement of people has always been linked to our agenda of economic development, but first we had to overcome a certain natural hesitation at so great an opening-up.’ "

UNDER MERCOSUR, ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS WILL BE "LEGALIZED" AND MADE ELIGIBLE FOR WELFARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS – – TO BE SUBSIDIZED BY TAXPAYERS FROM THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRIES

"Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay were the founders and are full members of the common market, known as Mercosur, which with a combined gross product of more than $1 trillion is the world’s third-largest trade group. Bolivia and Chile joined later and are associate members.

"The immediate beneficiaries of the accord, signed by the interior or justice ministers of the six countries earlier this month, are the estimated 2.5 million people from member countries who are living as illegal immigrants in neighboring nations. Once the agreement goes into effect, they will be able to apply immediately for amnesty that will permit them to remain where they are without fear of deportation. …

"The accord also foresees, however, that ‘the nationals of one member state who wish to reside in the territory of another member state shall be able to obtain legal residence’ there almost unconditionally. To qualify for an initial two-year residency, an applicant must merely show proof of birth in another Mercosur country and not have a criminal record."

ILLEGAL ALIENS WILL BE IN COMPETITION WITH LOCAL CITIZENS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, JOBS, AND SOCIAL SERVICES

"Once permanent residency has been approved, the agreement says immigrants will enjoy ‘the same conditions as nationals of the receiving country.’ In practical terms, that means citizens of one Mercosur country will be able to work, study, open bank accounts, use social services, invest and buy real estate in any of the other countries just as if they were citizens. …

" ‘I have always maintained that Mercosur is a fundamentally political undertaking and thus cannot be understood simply as a customs union,’ Ricardo Lagos, the president of Chile, said in an interview earlier this year. ‘The starting point for our entire foreign policy is Mercosur, and so we have to strengthen Mercosur in whatever ways we can.’

"Mr. Ribeiro said the sweeping nature of the accord would require the six countries to eventually coordinate their social security and health systems so that as people moved around, they would not lose welfare benefits. A common passport, much like that of the European Community, would also be ‘a natural consequence,’ he added, though not immediately.

" ‘This is not the end of a process, but the start,’ he said. ‘There are going to be operational difficulties, of course, but we don’t believe there is any turning back.’ "


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #707, December 15, 2002

GOP INTENTIONALLY SIDESTEPS IMMIGRATION ISSUE

Phyllis Schlafly points out (Human Events, 8/19/02, p. 9) that "The Republican National Committee’s mail-order fundraisers often contain a comprehensive multiple-choice survey so that prospective donors can give their opinions on topics of national importance. One issue, however, is conspicuously missing from the list: border security/immigration.

"The omission isn’t an oversight; it’s a deliberate policy. The National Republican Congressional Committee has been advising its candidates not to mention this issue in their speeches or campaign literature.

"The shyness of the Republican Party and the Bush Administration about immigration explains their deafening silence on Rep. George Gekas’s (R.-Pa.) bill (HR 5013) called Securing America’s Future through Enforcement Reform (SAFER). It’s completely in accord with public opinion polls showing that the big majority of the American people want government to reduce the number of legal immigrants, to stop the irresponsible issuance of visas, to deport illegal aliens, and to use U.S. troops to guard our borders (instead of the borders of Eastern Europe). …

"Title II, called Screening Aliens Seeking Admission, would tighten up the visa program in order to reduce the risk of aliens using fraudulent passports, require in-person interviews before issuing all visas, and bar any alien who is a member of a terrorist group or supports terrorism. Most people don’t understand why this isn’t already the law.

"Title III, called Tracking Aliens Present in the United States, would establish a comprehensive entry-exit control system with registration and fingerprinting (which INS has promised for years but never implemented). At least 40% of illegal aliens (including several 9/11 terrorists) are visa overstayers.

"Title IV, called Removing Alien Terrorists, Criminals, and Human Rights Violators, would authorize INS to deport any alien who was inadmissible in the first place or who we have grounds to believe may be a terrorist. This title would reverse several court decisions that accord unreasonable ‘rights’ to terrorists claiming asylum, and would prevent the courts from releasing criminal aliens into the community.

"Title V, called Enhancing Enforcement of the Immigration and [Naturalization] Act in the Interior, would protect Social Security cards against counterfeiting and fraudulent use. This title would increase the number of INS investigators, as repeatedly requested by INS, and double the number of INS detention beds.

"Title VI would eliminate excessive review and dilatory and abusive tactics by aliens in deportation proceedings. It would also exclude aliens who knowingly make a false asylum application.

"Title VII would clean up the problem of voting by illegal aliens. It would require verification of citizenship for voters and applicants."

TED KENNEDY’S "DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT PROGRAM" MUST BE REPEALED

"Title VIII, called Reforming Legal Immigration, would repeal the infamous Diversity Immigrant Program which admits 50,000 immigrants a year, mostly from the Third World including countries that sponsor terrorism, and which helped the Fourth of July LAX murderer win U.S. residency. It would reform the abuses in the refugee program and in the extended-family visa program, and reduce the number of legal immigrants by 20%."


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #708, December 31, 2002

WILL BUSH MAKE MEXICAN CITIZENS ELIGIBLE FOR U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY?

"Pushed by the Mexican government, the Bush administration is working on a Social Security accord that would put tens of thousands of Mexicans onto the Social Security roster and send hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits south of the border.

"White House and Mexican government officials say discussions on an agreement to align the Social Security systems of the two countries are informal and preliminary. But excerpts from an internal Social Security Administration memo obtained this month say the agreement ‘is expected to move forward at an accelerated pace,’ with the support of both governments, and could be in force by next October. …"

ANOTHER BILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE TO PANDER FOR HISPANIC VOTES

"Extrapolating from U.S. and Mexican government statistics, the accord could cost $720 million a year within five years of implementation. One independent estimate put the total at $1 billion a year – a large sum, but a trifle compared with the $372 billion in Social Security benefits currently being paid to 46.4 million recipients.

"Mexican President Vicente Fox has been pushing President Bush to sign a Social Security agreement with Mexico as something of a consolation prize to make up for Bush’s failure to pursue promised immigration reforms, according to Latino lobbyists close to the Fox administration. Mexican officials began pressing the White House hard at meetings that preceded the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Los Cabos, Mexico, in October. …"

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY WOULD BE WEAKENED

"Concern is rising on Capitol Hill – and even among some White House economic aides – that any agreement on Social Security could add a new burden to the benefits system, just as the baby-boom generation is preparing to retire. House Ways and Means Committee staff members are meeting today with Social Security officials to hash out projected costs for such an agreement."

162,000 MEXICAN BENEFICIARIES?

" ‘We are concerned about the sheer magnitude of the agreement,’ said a House Republican aide who is an expert on Social Security. About 94,000 beneficiaries living abroad have been brought into the system by the 20 existing international agreements. A Mexican agreement alone could bring in 162,000 in the first five years." Source: Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post, 12/19/02, p. A1


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #669, May 15, 2001

VICENTE FOX HAS A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA AND THE USA

Milt Shefter writes (Investor’s Business Daily, 4/2/01, p. A22) that "Mexican President Vicente Fox, addressing California’s Legislature March 21, felt free to suggest another way for California to subsidize Mexico’s economy."

MEXICAN PRESIDENT WANTS BEAR STATE TAXPAYERS TO MORE GENEROUSLY SUBSIDIZE ILLEGAL ALIEN EDUCATION

"Fox called for California to grant lower in-state tuition rates to ‘nondocumented’ Mexicans living in California."

SIX MILLION ILLEGALS IN CALIFORNIA ALONE

" ‘Nondocumented immigrant’ is a politically correct euphemism for illegal alien – one who has entered this country illegally or has not been granted any official status. Of California’s 34 million-person population, about 12 million are ethnic Mexicans. It is estimated that over half are either here illegally or got here that way.

"It is for this 6 million that Fox wants even more entitlements. ‘They have not only made (California’s) current prosperity possible,’ he claims, ‘but through their traditions and customs, they have also given greater vitality to the rich and diverse culture of California.’ "

FREE MEDICAL CARE, FREE EDUCATION, FREE HOUSING, WELFARE, AND FOOD STAMPS

"Merely a cursory review of the economics of illegal aliens would dispute Fox’s contention. Yes, these workers may accept labor at lower rates and without the perks of others – a boon to employers. But guess who gets stuck with the bill for the inevitable costs of their arrival? The taxpayers of California.

"Illegal aliens have access to free medical care to such an extent that taxpayers had to bail out the Los Angeles County’s hospital losses. California and the U.S. government grant these illegal aliens welfare, free education (K-12), housing assistance and food stamps. ..."

BILINGUAL EDUCATION, SPANISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS, DUAL LANGUAGE FORMS BOOST OUR TAXES

"What illegal aliens do not spend here is sent back to relatives in Mexico. Perhaps this is what Fox really means by the economic prosperity that follows upon illegal immigration. ...

"In itself, this attitude is certainly reasonable. But it ceases to be charming and reasonable when it is accompanied by the shrill insistence that California taxpayers must pay for bilingual education, Spanish-speaking teachers and staff and dual-language printed government forms. Does Fox have any idea how much that costs the U.S. taxpayer?

"Fox did not allude to Proposition 187, the initiative passed by the voters of California to limit public services for undocumented immigrants. He didn’t have to. He had California Gov. Gray Davis by his side. Davis, recall, acted as judge, not as a government official, in refusing to allow the proposition to be enacted (or even go to the U.S. Supreme Court for vetting.)"

WHY SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR MEXICAN ILLEGALS?

"Here are some questions for Mr. Fox: Why should Mexico’s illegal aliens get better treatment than other foreign students? Members from other nationalities have immigrated legally to this country, learned the language, become taxpaying citizens and enhanced our cultural diversity without the entitlements Fox seeks. …"

FRIENDSHIP SHOULD BE A TWO-WAY STREET

"Meanwhile, California is trying to solve Mexico’s air pollution and wastewater treatment problems across the border with the state’s emission-measurement-and-control equipment and technology (and at California’s cost).

"Yet Fox waltzed around the request to help California out with its energy crisis. He isn’t interested in selling California more than the current commitment of 50 megawatts of electric power. According to a Los Angeles Times report, ‘He dimmed hopes of significant increases any time soon.’ Such energy sales, Fox said, ‘would not come at the expense of his own nation’s needs.’ "


GWB WANTS TO RENEW CLINTON POLICY ON ILLEGAL ALIENS

Joseph D’Agostino reports (Human Events, 5/14/01, p. 5) that "President Bush is asking Congress to revive an expired law that would grant amnesty to foreigners who came to [the] United States on temporary visas – such as tourist, work or student visas – and then stayed here to become illegal immigrants."FOUR STRIKES AND YOU’RE IN

"The extension the President is asking for would offer a fourth chance to aliens who first overstayed their visas, then failed to take advantage of an initial amnesty, then failed to take advantage of a four-month extension of that amnesty that ended on April 30. "

IF THEY CAN’T OBEY THE LAW, CHANGE THE LAW

"The provision, the 245(i) program, was set to expire last year when President Clinton successfully lobbied Congress to extend it into this year. … "In a May 1 letter to the congressional leadership, Bush said that there were 200,000 people eligible to take advantage of 245(i) who failed to do so by the extended deadline. ‘It remains in our national interest to legitimize those resident immigrants eligible for legal status, and to welcome them as full participants in our society,’ he wrote."

DOES BUSH ENVISAGE 500,000 MORE HISPANIC REPUBLICANS?

" ‘According to agency estimates, there are more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants in the country who are eligible to become legal permanent residents, primarily because of their family relationship with a citizen or legal permanent resident,’ wrote Bush. ‘However, the law generally requires them to go back to their home country to obtain a visa, and once they do so, they are barred from returning to the United States for up to 10 years.

" ‘Many choose to risk remaining here illegally rather than to be separated from their families for those many years,’ said Bush. ‘I encourage the Congress to consider whether there was adequate time for persons eligible under section 245(i) to apply for adjustment of status before the filing deadline expired yesterday. Information indicates an estimated 200,000 were eligible to file but did not meet the deadline.’ Bush did not specify how long the new extension should last. …"

SPECIAL TREATMENTOF SIX MILLION ILLEGALS DISCRIMINATES AGAINST LAW-ABIDING IMMIGRANTS

"Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform said, ‘Besides rewarding illegal behavior, Section 245(i) would allow illegal aliens to circumvent the re-entry bar established by Congress in 1996 that ties an alien’s ability to legally reside in the U.S. to their willingness to obey the law. With six million illegal aliens currently in the U.S., Congress should not cut any deals which could further undermine immigration law enforcement.’ "


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #676, August 31, 2001

"OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?"

On July 21, on CNN’s Capital Gang, Grover Norquist was "Newsmaker of the Week". Here follows a portion of the interview.

GROVER SAYS DUBYA IS A TEN – DISCOUNTS "PROFESSIONAL WHINERS"

AL HUNT: "Rate the first six months of the George Bush presidency for conservatives, on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most conservative."

GROVER NORQUIST: "Oh dear. Close to 10. I mean, he’s just been extremely good on both the issues, but in working with the center-right coalition. … There’ll always be professional whiners in any movement. But if you look at the bulk of the movement, we’re much more mature than 10 or 20 years ago…."

HUNT: "Some say that the political right was so turned off by the Clinton years that this president now has

a lot more leeway, say, than his father had."

NORQUIST: "No, that’s silly. If you look at how George W. Bush governs and how he campaigned, the reason the center-right coalition has a great deal of affection and respect and admiration for him and they’re willing to work with him on a lot of issues is that they view him as a conviction politician, in the same way that Thatcher and Reagan were. He has the vision thing. …"

HUNT: "You’ve been very pleased with this administration, as you have made clear. Is there any disappointment first six months?

NORQUIST: "Oh dear. Not that I can think of. … The most important fight in the next three months for the next 50 years is getting the trade promotion authority passed so that we can go a hemisphere-wide free trade zone. I think moving on immigration reform is something that some people may not have expected Bush to do. I certainly did. I think he is from the majority of the Republican that is pro-immigration and supportive of immigrant rights."

THE LOVE AFFAIR WILL CONTINUE

MARK SHIELDS: "Al Hunt, do you see any future rupture in the love affair between Grover Norquist and George W. Bush?"

HUNT: "Mark, first let me say, progressives would love to have their own version of Grover Norquist. He is really quite a good strategist and quite a good coalition builder of his coalition. But I doubt there’s going to be a rupture. I think Grover’s very comfortable where he is now. He’s at the table. I think Bush clearly has more leeway with conservatives. That’s a Clinton backlash. …"

SHIELDS: "Margaret?"

MARGARET CARLSON: "He’s one happy fella. He just loves being at the table. And, you know, hey, nice to see, he’s not a bad guy. He’s practical, as Kate says, and he sticks with these financial issues, the ones so dear to Bob’s heart, and he focuses. …"

ROBERT NOVAK: "[H]e’s really in the mainstream of conservative Republicanism right now. … this isn’t the old right wing by any means."


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #677, September 15, 2001

RACIAL MARXISM SPAWNED ANTI-U.S. TERRORISM

Paul Craig Roberts writes (Investors Business Daily, 9/14/01, p. 16) that "Frantz Fanon predicted that an oppressed Third World would overthrow its first world oppressors. His book, ‘The Wretched of the Earth,’ has six editions in Arabic and helped inculcate hatred of whites in people of color. The book also helped inculcate self-hate among whites. ... In his introduction to Fanon's book, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre advocated shooting Europeans as a means of ‘killing two birds with one stone.’ ...

"For three decades, students all over America have been taught antipathy to their own country and sympathy for Third World countries that they cannot locate on a map. … Critical race theorists, critical legal theorists, feminists, deconstructionists, multi-culturalists and other ‘ists’ have reconstructed Marxism in race and gender terms.

"Professors teach that races and genders have opposed and irreconcilable interests, just as Marx taught that workers and capitalists could not be reconciled. …"

LEST WE FORGET: U.S. IS A HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS

"President Bush said in his Tuesday address that the U.S. will treat countries that provide havens to terrorists the same as terrorists. Apparently, Bush is unaware that the U.S. is the haven of choice for terrorist groups. In January 2000, counterterrorism expert Steven Emerson told the House Judiciary Committee that the U.S. and Canada are havens for the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Lebanese Hizbullah, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, the Egyptian Al Gamat and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida group."

UNCONSTITUTIONAL QUOTAS AND UNWISE IMMIGRATION BENEFIT TERRORISTS

"A foolish or criminal immigration policy and unconstitutional racial quotas have enabled terrorist cells to hide themselves in religious and civil rights organizations. Terrorists may go to Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa for training, but they live in, and raise money in, the U.S. and Canada. …"

FBI/CIA EMASCULATED BY FRANK CHURCH AND JIMMY CARTER

"Sen. Frank Church D-Idaho, emasculated the CIA in the mid-1970’s when the American political left rushed to the defense of Fidel Castro. The FBI got so much grief for spying on Martin Luther King for his communist connections that the bureau has shied away from infiltrating another minority group. Instead, the FBI has followed a politically correct strategy of focusing on white supremacist groups.

"Arabs and Muslims are ‘protected minorities,’ Under U.S. civil rights laws, it is illegal to racially profile and infiltrate protected minorities because of skin color or creed. The U.S. is in an unenviable position. It cannot tell one domestic Arab or Muslim from another. … Civil rights laws and sheer numbers of Muslim immigrants work against our ability to root out the fifth columns organized on our territory."


ONLY 46 OF 435 OPPOSE RECORD HIGH FOREIGN AID

"On July 24, the House passed, by a 381-to-46 vote [Roll Call no. 266], the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (HR 2506) that calls for spending $15.2 billion in fiscal year 2002. This represents an increase of $304 million over the fiscal 2001 appropriation. …

"The bill allocates $487 million for HIV/AIDS (Bush had requested $369 million) and would give $120 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)."

TRICK, NO TREAT: AIDS, CONDOMS, AND UNICEF

"The appropriation provides $358 million in ‘reproductive health assistance’ (i.e., family planning, contraceptives) in the Child Survival and Health Programs fund, fulfilling President Bush’s request. According to the House Appropriations Committee, the total funding in the bill for reproductive health assistance is $425 million, unchanged from last year. …"

BIG BUCKS FOR EGYPT, ISRAEL, EX-USSR, AND WORLD BANK

"The bill further provides $2.04 billion in military aid for Israel and $720 million for economic assistance to Israel. Egypt is to receive $1.3 billion in military aid and $655 million in economic assistance. Aid for states of the former Soviet Union is set at $768 million and the International Fund for Ireland is funded at $25 million, $5.4 million more than President Bush’s request. The bill would give $224 million for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HPIC). The Agency for International Development would get $3.36 billion, the Peace Corps $275 million, the World Bank group $896 million and the International Development Association $803 million. …

"Various peacekeeping missions would receive $135 million, which the President had requested. The bill also provides $200 million for international disaster assistance." Source: Human Events, 8/6/01, p. 23

46 CONGRESSMEN VOTE "NO"

The 35 Republicans voting against H.R. 2506 were: Barr (Ga.), Collins (Ga.), Combest (Tex.), Cubin (Wyo.), Cunningham (Calif.), Duncan (Tenn.), Everett (Ala.), Flake (Ariz.), Goodlatte (Va.), Hansen (Utah), Hayes (N.C.), Hefley (Colo.), Herger (Calif.), Hilleary (Tenn.), Hostettler (Ind.), Jenkins (Tenn.), Jones (N.C.), Kerns (Ind.), Lucas (Okla.) McInnis (Colo.), Otter (Idaho), Paul (Tex.), Petri (Wisc.), Pombo (Calif.), Rohrabacher (Calif.), Royce (Calif.), Ryun (Kans.), Schaffer (Colo.), Sensenbrenner (Wisc.), Stearns (Fla.), Tancredo (Colo.), Taylor (N.C.), Toomey (Pa.), Watkins (Okla.), and Weldon (Fla.).

Ten Democrats voted against the bill: Berry (Ark.) , Condit (Calif.), Hall (Tex.), Kaptur (Ohio), Phelps (Ill.), Rahall (W.Va.), Roemer (Ind.), Stark (Calif.), Tanner (Tenn.), and Taylor (Miss.). Virginia Independent Goode, also voted against the bill.


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #679, October 15, 2001

BUSH SHOULD RECONSIDER HIS "OPEN BORDERS" IMMIGRATION POLICY

Sam Francis writes (The Wanderer, 10/4/01, p. 5) that for the mammoth underground network of foreign terrorists, supporters, and collaborators which may already exist in this country "the ease with which the terrorists entered, and the bloodshed they have already perpetrated and may perpetrate in the future, the American people have to thank the open-borders lobby – politicians who push for more immigration and fewer restrictions on entry, ideologues who insist that national borders and identities are obsolete, and Big Business, which demands a never-ending flow of cheap labor at the expense of American workers and the security of its own country."

SCREENING PLAN SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED

"The FBI reports that at least 15 of the 19 hijackers entered the United States on business or tourist visas. Their entry might have been halted had a computerized screening system of border crossers been in operation. Under the system, foreign criminals, terrorists, and violators of visa laws would have been instantly detected. The system was mandated by Congress after suspected Palestinian terrorists, who had been issued visas without background checks, were arrested in New York in 1996 with bomb-making equipment.

"But the system wasn’t in operation. Because of action by one of the chief open-borders advocates, former Sen. (now Energy Secretary) Spencer Abraham, the screening system was never established. Abraham, an advocate of virtually unrestricted immigration, claimed it would cause traffic congestion at the Mexican border!

" ‘I’m pleased that the budget negotiators agreed with us that we cannot allow our border to be turned into one big parking lot,’ Abraham, then the chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, said at the time in 1998. Had the screening system been in place, some or all of the terrorists might have been nabbed, and information on them might have led to the others. Some 5,000 Americans or more might still be alive today. You can thank Abraham and his cronies that they’re not."

WHY NOT ENFORCE VISA RESTRICTIONS?

"Other terrorists seem to have entered on visas that were legal enough but to have overstayed them after the visas expired. Virtually nothing is done today to apprehend or control aliens whose visas have expired; they constitute a vast subterranean subculture within American society.

"As for the borders themselves, both the Mexican and Canadian borders were closed immediately after the attacks – perhaps the greatest case of locking the barn door after the horse escapes in history. Of course, both the Mexican government and many open-borders ideologues have long claimed the borders can’t be shut, that they’re just too long and too many people cross over. The closing of both of them again exposes the falsehoods on which the open borders claims are based."


IT’S NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO MONITOR NON-CITIZENS

According to Linda Chavez (Washington Times, 10/4/01, p. A18), "Most of the terrorists who attacked on Sept. 11 entered the United States with valid temporary or student visas, just as millions of foreign visitors do each year. But once they passed immigration control at their port of entry, the terrorists could disappear, unmonitored, into American society. In 1996, Congress passed legislation requiring that all U.S. entries and exits be recorded, but the law was shelved last year. It’s time to reactivate and enhance it.

"Anyone who has traveled outside the United States knows that other countries are not nearly so blasé when it comes to foreign travelers. When you check into a hotel in most countries abroad, you’re asked to relinquish your passport temporarily so that local or national authorities can be notified of your presence. If you move hotels or travel to another city, you go through the same process in each place. But once a foreign visitor passes immigration control in the United States, he or she is free to travel where he or she chooses without any monitoring. Our only line of defense has been to require employers to check employees’ eligibility to work once they are hired and to maintain their own records, which are never submitted to any government authority.

"Congress should immediately enact legislation requiring all aliens in the United States to register with the government once a year and to notify the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) whenever they change their address. We used to require aliens to register at a U.S. post office each January but abandoned the requirement in the 1980s. Coupled with a tracking system to monitor entries and exits from the United States, such a system could provide law enforcement with an important tool in the fight against terrorism – but only if it is properly implemented and integrated. …

"No commercial driver’s license or pilot’s license should be issued without proof of U.S. citizenship or a security check to ensure that noncitizens are in the country legally and not on any law enforcement watch lists.

"No doubt some will chafe at the suggestion that aliens should be treated differently from U.S. citizens. But living the United States is a privilege, not a right, for noncitizens. Law-abiding aliens have nothing to fear. Their safety – indeed, that of everyone who lives or travels in the United States – will be enhanced once these security measures are enacted."


PROOF OF VALID RESIDENCE SHOULD BE REQUIRED

Georgie Anne Geyer writes (Washington Times, 9/28/01, p. A22) that "It has now been revealed that one major reason four of the hijackers were able to move around this country with such apparent ease in the weeks before the Pentagon crash was the fact that they had valid Virginia driver’s licenses. How very curious.

"As it turns out, they were not American citizens. They didn’t even live in Virginia. But our generally sloppy bureaucrats and avid pro-immigration multiculturalists have been busy-busy making this a country ‘open’ to everyone. They had put through a law in Virginia that allows people to get driver’s licenses without providing passports or leases to verify their identity and residence.

"And Virginia is ‘strict.’ In such states as California, you don’t have to speak English, and driving tests are given in multiple languages, although the traffic signs are not. Virginia state officials say they will change these rules. It’s a little late, of course. They weren’t about to change them in August, when an Arlington notary public was convicted of immigration fraud for helping thousands of out-of-state illegal immigrants obtain those same Virginia driver’s licenses that facilitated the terrorists."


DON’T SHOOT DOWN DOMESTIC AIRCRAFT – LET U.S. PILOTS CARRY WEAPONS

Paul Craig Roberts writes that "The Bush administration has ruled that the U.S. Air Force can shoot down hijacked airliners to prevent their use as weapons against buildings, but airline pilots are not permitted to carry pistols.

"The FAA reasons that a terrorist might take a gun away from a pilot. To avoid this risk, the FAA risks allowing terrorists to take the airliner away from the pilot, as happened four times on Sept. 11.

"To avoid losing more buildings and thousands of lives, the Air Force will blow the hijacked plane out of the sky. Anything to keep down the risk of arming pilots.

"I wonder if this makes any more sense to the police than it does to me. The police can’t shoot a fleeing felon, but it is OK to shoot a runaway airliner.

"After three weeks of flag-waving, let’s make an honest assessment of our government’s ability to protect us from terrorists. Many airline pilots were trained in the military and have better firearm skills than air marshals Moreover, there are frangible bullets that will stop a person without threatening the structural integrity of the airliner.

"The gun-control lobby prefers hijacked airliners to any role for self-protection. But why weren’t pilots issued stun guns or pulse-wave Myotrons? The latter gadget is the size of a small cell phone and makes the slightest flight attendant more powerful than the largest ruffian. A 1-second jolt incapacitates the attacker without doing him permanent damage."

DO NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING ALIENS PROVIDE GENUINE AIRPORT SECURITY?

"Instead, the FAA relied on ‘airport security’ operated by noncitizens. Every time I pass through ‘security,’ I marvel at the incongruity of an FBI-vetted presidential appointee being checked out by Middle Easterners who can’t speak English. Where is the security when Arabs are servicing airliners and loading the baggage? What risks are we taking when 80 percent or more of Dulles International Airport’s security [personnel] are not citizens of the United States? The proportion is just as high at JFK, LaGuardia, Cleveland, Atlanta – name your airport." (Washington Times, 10/5/01, p. A19)


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #680, October 31, 2001

PROHIBIT, PROTECT, AND PUNISH: TIME TO DEFEND OUR BORDERS

Phyllis Schlafly prescribes practical action against terrorism: "• We must immediately close our borders to all illegal aliens and deport those who are in the United States, including the millions who are illegally in this country on expired visas. It is a default of duty that our government hasn’t made this a regular practice, and there is no time to delay in starting now. …

"• We must increase the Border Patrol to any extent necessary to keep guards on duty 24 hours a day at all crossing points and provide military backup as needed. The Constitution, Article IV, Section 4, states: ‘The United States…shall protect each of the States against invasion.

"• We must completely overhaul visa procedures to require full disclosure about the applicant’s identity, employment, destination, health, travel plans and U.S. guarantors.

"• We should require all legal aliens to carry an ID card with fingerprints, report their residence and travels, and enter the information on a database to track their travels in this country and flag the date of their visa expiration.

"• No visas of any kind should be issued to countries of suspected terrorists or countries that refuse to repudiate terrorists, and the State Department, which is responsible for the lax issuance of visas, must be monitored. Our government should keep a database of all illegal aliens who are deported and make them ineligible for reentry.

"• We should put a moratorium on the granting of all student and worker visas until a system is in place to track the aliens in this country and assure that they report to the educational institution or corporation claimed as the reason for entry.

"• We should forbid colleges and universities that receive federal funding from giving free tuition, student loans or in-state tuition rates to aliens. We have too many American students who need this type of assistance.

"• All airport security personnel, as well as pilots, should be required to be U.S. citizens.

"• The safety instructions given to flight crews to be passive and cooperative with hijackers should be rescinded immediately and replaced with instructions and training in how to overpower and outmaneuver hijackers.

"• The mug shots of the 22 most wanted terrorists, plus the 19 hijackers, all fit an identifiable profile. The airlines should be given legal immunity for refusing to board anyone they think may pose a danger.

"• States should repeal laws that allow illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses and the states that are currently toying with this bad idea should deep-six it. Driver’s licenses should be issued only to citizens and legal residents who can pass the driver’s test in English.

"• We should put a moratorium on all immigration for at least a year. We certainly should not admit any refugees from the current conflict as there is no way to know the good guys from the potential bad guys.

"• We should review naturalizations of the past five years to detect fraud or criminal records as a basis for revocation of citizenship. Revoke the citizenship of any naturalized citizen who violates the oath to renounce allegiance to another country by asserting dual citizenship or holding public office in a foreign country.

"• We should not use terrorism as an excuse to promote measures that simply increase the power and budget of Big Government or place more controls over the actions of law-abiding Americans. The law must make a clear distinction between citizens and aliens.

"Encourage your member of Congress to introduce legislation to achieve any of these goals or to support the bills already in the hopper. Current bills worthy of support include Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond’s bill to require foreigners to carry ID cards, New Hampshire Republican Sen. Bob Smith’s bill to allow airline pilots to carry guns and Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo’s bill to put a one-year moratorium on immigration." (Washington Times, 10/20/01, p. A12)


"OPEN BORDERS" IMMIGRATION POLICY PLACES AMERICA AT RISK

John J. Miller writes (National Review, 10/15/01, p. 41) that "On the day hijackers slammed their jumbo jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on a measure the pro-immigration lobby has wanted for years. It’s called ‘245(i),’ and it would have let illegal aliens adjust their status without leaving the United States. In other words, people living in this country in violation of its immigration laws would be able, when eligible, to pick up green cards at their local INS office – as opposed to having to travel abroad to seek them at consular offices. This is another example of how official Washington winks at illegal immigration, and it would have won easy approval but for the emergency evacuation of the House Chamber."

BUSH PLAN FOR ILLEGAL ALIEN AMNESTY DIED ON 9-11

"A lot changed on September 11. The 245(i) provision may still pass – it’s pretty popular among politicians because there’s a specific constituency for it – but there won’t be any more talk about a broad amnesty for illegal aliens. (Opponents probably wouldn’t hesitate to point out that one of the men responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing became a legal resident because of the last amnesty, in 1986.)

"To the extent that the amnesty measure survives at all, it will downshift into a guest-worker program for agriculture, whose advocates feel compelled to speak in terms of what they call ‘food security.’ …"

STATE DEPARTMENT PRACTICES FACILITATE RISKY ENTRIES

"One of the most obvious ways to improve border security is to increase the size of the Border Patrol. Congress has doubled the number of agents since the mid 1990s, but has ignored what may be considered America’s adjunct Border patrol: the State Department’s consular corps in U.S. embassies. These are the people responsible for issuing tourist, student, and immigrant visas – and they represent a portal many foreigners must pass through before they even set foot on American soil. Roughly half of all illegal aliens got into the U.S. not by swimming across the Rio Grande in the black of night, but by entering with valid visas and then staying past their expiration dates. According to authorities, at least 16 of the 19 hijackers came into the U.S. with legal visas. …"

WE NEED TO TRACK FOREIGNERS FAST

"Nearly half a billion foreigners enter the U.S. each year, and the most stringent demand many of them will face is filling out a form asking where they’re headed; the forms are then shipped off to storage, where they probably won’t ever be seen again. What the country needs is a high-tech method of tracking foreigners as they enter and leave. Right now, the federal government doesn’t even know how many people are in the country with expired visas, let alone who they are or where they live. Five years ago, Congress passed a law to create such a monitoring system, but last year it essentially reversed its decision. This effort now should be revived, and the system it creates should have robust, real-time capabilities. When foreigners come to the U.S., the government ought to open a file on them using biometric technology, such as digital thumbprints. This will confound people who try to enter with false identification (which at least some of the hijackers seem to have done) and also overcome technical problems such as the uncertain spelling of names (‘Is that Osama with an "O" or Usama with a "U," Mr. bin Laden?’)."

SECURITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY

"This is in some ways a dicey proposition: More hoops at the Canadian border will cause longer lines at the Windsor Tunnel, which will hurt commerce. Yet it might also be possible to accommodate frequent travelers with something like the speed-pass lanes on toll roads. …

"Congress will definitely want to improve federal supervision of the roughly half-million people who are in the U.S. on student visas. It’s not clear whether the hijackers had such visas, though it’s reasonable to assume that at least a few of them obtained vocational-training permits called ‘M visas’ that would have allowed them to enroll at aviation academies. In 1996, Congress passed a law that would have allowed instant access to information on student visa holders – but now, five years later, the program still hasn’t been fully implemented because of opposition from universities and foreign-student organizations. Congress should demand that it move online rapidly – surely before the current 2003 deadline – so that the government can keep better tabs not only on who attends flight school but also who switches majors from literature to nuclear engineering.

"There are plenty of other necessary steps. The FBI must do a better job of sharing its counterterrorism information with the INS. The bureaucratic culture of the INS itself must change to appreciate its role in fighting terrorism. The Canadians, too, must tighten their own admission procedures: There’s a reason why so many terrorists, including five of the September 11 hijackers, enter Canada before attempting to come here."


MANY ALIENS NO LONGER ASSIMILATE

Sam Francis points out (The Wanderer, 10/11/01, p. 5) that "It is all very well for public leaders to assure us that most Arab Americans and Muslims are loyal and law-abiding. There’s [no] doubt that’s true. It’s also true that most Arabs and Muslims outside America are not terrorists. But the larger truth that Americans need to grasp is that by allowing a vast subculture of non-Western immigrants to emerge within our own society, we have permitted the creation of an alternative social structure in which terrorists can move virtually undetected. …

"The claim of the open-borders lobby – that non-Americans and non-Westerners can immigrate to this country and overnight become part of our nation and our civilization simply by assenting to a ‘creed,’ an ‘idea,’ or a ‘proposition’ – has now been shattered.

"We can bomb Afghanistan and every Arab or Muslim country in the world all we want; we can suspend the Bill of Rights and turn the CIA into a reasonable facsimile of Murder Incorporated; we can wage war abroad until we drop from exhaustion. But until we control our own borders and know that a significant ethnic minority within our own population is not, at best, alien to and, at worst, a sworn enemy of our own people and civilization, we should have no illusions that we are going to win any war against terrorism."


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #682, November 30, 2001

KING GEORGE?

Dana Milbank writes (Washington Post, 11/20/01, p. 1) that "The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan have dramatically accelerated a push by the Bush administration to strengthen presidential powers, giving President Bush a dominance over American government exceeding that of other post-Watergate presidents and rivaling even Franklin D. Roosevelt’s command.

"On a wide variety of fronts, the administration has moved to seize power that it has shared with other branches of government. In foreign policy, Bush announced vast cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal but resisted putting the cuts in a treaty – thereby averting a Senate ratification vote. In domestic policy, the administration proposed reorganizing the Immigration and Naturalization Service without the congressional action lawmakers sought. And in legal policy, the administration seized the judiciary’s power as Bush signed an order allowing terrorists to be tried in military tribunals.

"Those actions, all taken last week, build on earlier Bush efforts to augment White House power, including initiative to limit intelligence briefings to members of Congress, take new spending authority from the legislature, and expand the executive branch’s power to monitor and detain those it suspects of terrorism. …"

UNBOUND FROM THE CHAINS OF THE CONSTITUTION

" ‘The power President Bush is wielding today is truly breathtaking,’ said Tim Lynch, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the libertarian Cato Institute. ‘A single individual is going to decide whether the war is expanded to Iraq. A single individual is going to decide how much privacy American citizens are going to retain.’ …

"Even before Sept. 11, the Bush administration has been looking for ways to reassert presidential prerogatives, particularly in its relationship to Congress – which some in the administration believe grew too powerful during the Clinton and Reagan years and first Bush administration. …"

BUSH, RIDGE, AND ASHCROFT LIMIT ACCOUNTABILITY

"Bush has opposed Congress granting statutory authority to Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, which has allowed Ridge to refuse congressional requests for him to testify. Bush’s Justice Department decided, without the usual waiting period for public comment, that it could listen in on lawyer-client conversations if Attorney General John D. Ashcroft believes it necessary to prevent terrorism; he could do so even if people have not been charged and even in the absence of a court order.

"That move followed congressional approval of the USA Patriot Act, which makes it easier for the government to monitor, search, detain or deport suspects and gives the Justice Department more power to detain immigrants without charges. Also this month, the government stopped saying how many people it has detained related to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"In the counterterrorism campaign overseas, Bush ordered sensitive intelligence briefings to be limited to eight of the 535 members of Congress, leading lawmakers to complain Bush had violated the 1947 National Security Act. …

"Congress gave the administration $40 billion to spend in response to the attacks with few strings attached. Even so, lawmakers have complained that the administration has not provided, as required, information on how it is spending the money."


GOP SPLIT ON OUTREACH TO ISLAM

Hanna Rosin and Thomas Edsall write (Washington Post, 11/18/01, p. A25) that "A split is emerging between two wings of the Republican Party – libertarians who consider Muslims the party’s greatest immigrant asset and conservatives who conceive of the war exactly the way Bush tries to avoid, as a cosmic one between Islam and the West."

WEYRICH AND LIND CHARACTERIZE MUSLIMS AS "FIFTH COLUMN"

"The emerging spokesmen for the latter group are Paul Weyrich and William S. Lind of the Free Congress Foundation. ‘There is no such thing as peaceful Islam,’ Lind said. ‘Islamics cannot fit into an America in which the first loyalty is to the American Constitution. They should be encouraged to leave. They are a fifth column in this country.’ "

NORQUIST HAILS MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR BUSH AND GOP

"On the opposite side are people such as Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist calls Muslims ‘natural conservatives.’ After the election, Norquist wrote an article in the American Spectator headlined: ‘George W. Bush was elected president of the United States of America because of the Muslim vote.’In 1998, Norquist co-founded the Islamic Institute with lobbyist Khaled Saffurri.

"Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was chosen by the White House to attend a prayer service with the president, said at a Washington rally last year that ‘we are all supporters of Hamas.’ Saffurri once worked for him when Alamoudi was president of the American Muslim Council."


Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues and Strategy Bulletin #684, December 31, 2001

IT’S PAST TIME TO NEUTRALIZE NUCLEAR TERRORISM

Dr. Joseph Douglass, a Trustee of The Conservative Caucus Foundation, and Sam Cohen, conceptor of the neutron warhead, argue that: Biological terrorism is no longer theoretical. … The problem of nuclear terrorism differs only in that none have yet been exploded. … Do they exist? Yes. They range in weight from roughly 30 pounds to 150 pounds. Heavier, larger weapons exist, but do not seem needed from a terrorist perspective."

30-150 LB. "SUITCASE BOMBS" COULD DO MORE DAMAGE THAN HIROSHIMA WARHEADS

"Warheads in the above weight range could have yields as low as 50 tons (high explosive equivalent) to tens of kilotons, several times the size of the first nuclear weapons that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The most available warheads and easiest to manage would be in the 100 ton to 1 or 2 kiloton range. Insofar as size is concerned, an implosion nuclear warhead could be as small as a soccer ball and weigh less than 50 pounds. …"

BACKPACK OR CARRY-ON LUGGAGE COULD KILL MANY MORE THAN DIED ON 9/11

"Because of their very low weight and small size, terrorist delivery presents few problems. The warheads described above could be carried in a backpack, canvas travel bag, or small wheeled carry-on suitcase. Because these are all common, none would be suspect. Who would think to question any individual carrying or wheeling such a container in a subway, in the middle of any city, or leaving a parked car or garage. Because of the destructive nature of these warheads, they need not be placed in a targeted building…."

IF THE BLAST DOESN’T GET YOU, THE RADIATION COULD

"There are three different destructive effects: the blast wave, the thermal radiation, and the prompt nuclear radiation. The most significant effect from a psychological point-of-view would be the prompt radiation or, if burst on the surface, the extensive accompanying radioactive fallout.

"From a military perspective, even the smallest of these warheads, say 50 to 100 tons, would be more than enough to disable an aircraft carrier just because of the radiation, if only a terrorist in a fast ‘cigarette’ boat such as those used by drug smugglers could get reasonably close, say a few hundred yards.

"For the urban terrorist, one of these could [certainly] topple the Sears Tower if [it] were resting next to the building. It would be more than adequate to [take out] San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge or New York’s George Washington bridge, which are the types of targets they were designed to destroy. …"

RUSSIA IS THE PROBABLE SOURCE

"There have been many claims or rumors that terrorists have at least three and possibly as many as 100 plus. The source of these warheads is uniformly regarded as Russia – an unfortunate result of the confusion and economic strife following the breakup of the Soviet Union. No responsible official would deny the above possibility.

"Moreover, there are others who could provide warheads to a terrorist group or camouflage their own operatives to mimic a suspect terrorist group. Such countries are South Africa, Israel, China, India, Pakistan and, of course, France, Britain, and the United States. Also, there are countries that might relish the opportunity to use a U.S. city as a test-bed for a newly-developed warhead, countries like Iraq or North Korea.

"For a decade now, there has been a constant barrage of concerns, fueled by informal comments by Russian officials, that some Russian nuclear weapons are missing and that representatives of terrorist organizations may have purchased these weapons from Russian organized crime groups. This may be. It also may be deliberate subterfuge. …

"Once the image of nuclear theft or underground organized crime sale of a weapon to a terrorist group is solidified in the Western mind, which is the situation we face today, the Russians are free to provide a warhead through their military intelligence units to a terrorist group to explode in a U.S. city with minimal risk of disclosure."

PINPOINTING RESPONSIBILITY COULD BE DIFFICULT

"If four warheads detonated within an hour of each other in four major U.S. cities tomorrow, who would be blamed? In such a case, there would be no evidence left for the FBI to sift through. No one would dare suggest the Russians or Chinese. The same possibility exists for other countries or terrorist groups who have a few nuclear warheads to spare and who might relish the opportunity to see them go off in a U.S. city if they could avoid being caught. …"

CUBA COULD BE THE CONDUIT

"It is only in the past week that the realities – in the case if anthrax bioterrorism – have begun to ‘sink in.’ These are: 1) we are tremendously vulnerable, 2) no serious thought has been given to the problem of defending our country (virtually 99.9 percent of what little attention there has been has been focused on the defense of military forces), 3) although there has been a full three weeks or more of anthrax attacks, there is no evident knowledge of where the anthrax came from or who has been responsible for its dissemination, and 4) we can not fight back even if we wanted to because we do not know who to blame. Indeed, there is no indication that any attention is even being directed towards the countries that because of capability and past practices should be most suspect – Russia, China, and Cuba – or any search for related data.

"Exactly the same likely would be the case if one (or more) suitcase nuclear weapons were to go off in the middle of one or more U.S. cities. We would have no one to blame and there is no indication of serious efforts to collect related data. At precisely the time when intelligence towards Russia should have been intensified, it was drastically cut back."

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN URGENTLY NEEDED

"There also are several defensive actions that should have been undertaken. The most obvious action is to crack down hard on illegal immigrants and those with citizenship acquired over the past decade who provided false information on their citizenship papers. …"

SENSORS COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE

"[S]ensors could be used to help counter the ‘suitcase’ nuclear weapon problem. If they were part of the equipment on police cars and mail delivery vehicles, who knows what might be detected. The former Russian military intelligence officer, Col. Stanislav Lunev, wrote that, in his opinion, the Russian spetsnaz forces already had suitcase nuclear warheads in the United States. There are other estimates that are even higher. If there is a stockpile of nuclear warheads already in the United States, there should be radiation signatures that are detectable."

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