President’s Message: Securing Our Borders
On April 23, 2010 Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law and since then has been under siege by the unhinged left and the Obama administration. The interesting thing about this law is that it pretty much mirrors federal law in that is already on the books or in other words, it merely makes state crime what is already federal crime. And 70% of Arizona’s citizens support this law. What really amazed me was having Mexican president Felipe Calderón tell the American people during his May 19, 2010 visit to the White House that “We will retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration so that people who work and provide things to this nation will be treated as criminals. And we oppose firmly the SB 1070 Arizona law [as] … discriminatory.” What a hypocrite! Has anyone had the nerve to ask him what happens when one enters Mexico illegally? It makes what happens to illegals caught here look like a “walk in the park.”
We must secure the borders of this country. It is incumbent upon the federal government to know who has entered this country, why they are here, how long they plan to stay and to be sure that they leave when they are supposed to. This is crucial as not everyone illegally entering our country is here to work. Many are hardened criminals and many are terrorists disguised as Mexican immigrants. They are here to destroy us!
In addition to the very real threat of terrorists entering our country there is also the cost associated with all the illegals who jam our emergency rooms, over-crowd our schools and fill our prisons. And while they do spend money here, their income is largely untaxed and is one of Mexico’s “cash cows” as much of this money is sent to other family members in Mexico. And don’t even get me started on having to translate everything, including the ballot, into other languages! If the federal government enforced the laws we have now and secured our borders, it would certainly be a start in taking our country back.
On another note, on Memorial Day I watched the PBS special “Memorial Day 2010″ broadcast from the Washington Mall. Gary Sinise and Joe Montega were the hosts and the event was beautifully done and very moving. As night fell the Capitol was shown as a backdrop to the huge crowd and even though I’ve seen it many times, it seemed to be glowing and almost surreal. I thought about the many to have fought and died to preserve our freedom and I was suddenly very sad to think of what is now going on in those hallowed halls. We have strayed so far from what our founding fathers envisioned for our nation and it breaks my heart to see how we have trampled the Constitution and dishonored those who fought so valiantly to bring this nation to life. While I am encouraged by what the awakening of so many Americans, I am fearful that we will not have the “true grit” to see this through and will drift back into the malaise that got us here in the first place. And in that case, those who have fought and died for our freedom will truly have died in vain. We must not let this happen. I truly hope that on Memorial Day 2011 the fires of freedom will be burning brightly and a new day will have dawned in this great land.
Catherine Gibb