Border fence

[hermit]

Local News Officials say OK to border fence BY JONATHAN ATHENS, STAFF WRITER Published on: July 20, 2005 Federal authorities on Tuesday said the largest vehicle barrier project in the nation, concrete-reinforced steel beams stretching 123 miles along the Arizona-Mexico border, will move forward. The purpose, they say, is to stop commercial alien smugglers, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants from driving vehicles across the Mexico border into the U.S. east of San Luis, Ariz. to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument south of Ajo. Yuma sector U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Joe Brigman said: "Not only will it enhance our ability to gain greater control of the border, but it is a proactive effort to protect the environment, habitat and (protect) against the ravages of narcotics and alien smuggling vehicles." Three years ago, U.S. park ranger Kris Eggle was killed in a shootout with Mexican drug smugglers who crossed the border in a vehicle into Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Eggle’s killing "vividly demonstrated" the need for such a barrier there, according to a 2003 news release from the National Park Service. This August, construction crews are tentatively slated to begin building a 37-mile portion of the vehicle barriers from just east of San Luis, Ariz. at Avenue C to the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, said Yuma Sector Facilities Manager Frank Geary. Starting in November, crews are to begin building a 56-mile stretch of vehicle barriers to run from the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, Geary said. When these two portions are completed and linked to barriers along a 30-mile stretch in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, they will form "the largest continuous physical barrier along the border in the nation," Geary said. The barriers consists of steel beams planted five feet deep into a concrete base underground, Geary said. The beams, filled with concrete and steel bars, alternate in height — 5 feet and 7 feet tall — so as to prevent someone from placing a makeshift ramp on top of them and driving over the barriers, Geary said. The vehicle barriers in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument are slated for completion in March 2006, however, a completion date for the other two portions has yet to be determined, Geary said. Engineering crews from the U.S. military will construct the barriers, Geary went on to say, adding they may be called to other missions and so it is not possible to set a firm completion date. Federal authorities are holding an informal open house to provide information to the public about the planned vehicle barriers along the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The open house will be held between 4 p.m. -8 p.m. on Thursday at the Ramada Inn Chilton Conference Center, 300 E. 32nd Street.

[Backstop]

WOW!

I'm truly shocked that this is going to be built. WAY COOL!

Engineering crews from the U.S. military will construct the barriers...

How about them apples, eh?

It is a start - we need many many more miles of fence. Although I would like to see it higher than 7'.

Awaiting Vincente Fox's tirade...

[Ryan Ruck]

Fence?

We don't need no steenking fence!

We just need to follow the Israelis' lead!!

[hermit]

Fence?




We don't need no steenking fence!

We just need to follow the Israelis' lead!!

Your right, but until big business wanting cheap labor, and politicions wanting the latino votes, it's not going to happen. Maybe when we have another terror attack, the people might raise enough rukus to get something done, but of course it's too late then

[American Patriot]

Now, that's a wall.

[Brian Baldwin]

I've said for a long time we need to follow Israel's lead on this. Set up IR sensing remote control .50 cals in every tower and have continous fly-overs by UAV's that can communicate with the tower guns and vice versa. Set up regular outposts of National Guard occupied com shacks and you'll have a secure border. Field mice won't dare cross.

Brian

[Backstop]

Maybe when we have another terror attack, the people might raise enough rukus to get something done, but of course it's too late then

All repeated for the umpeenth time.

This is my one conspiracy theory: why .gov will not close the borders. I truly have a difficult time accepting .gov and industry will let our country be destroyed or seriously impaired - will jeopardize our safety - just for cheap labor and votes.

Are we not worth so much more?

It just doesn't make sense to me.

If the known threats of Al Qaeda (AQ) et al trying to cross the borders, the known fact AQ tried to buy nukes (I do believe they have them), the interception of persons from terrorist nations crossing our borders, etc ad nauseaum doesn't make .gov close the borders, then I firmly believe .gov never will.

We will become a global nation with porous or non-existent borders - or be destroyed in the process.

[Backstop]

And now, here's something you'll really enjoy.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/...2047-2623r.htm

Mexican mercenaries expand base into U.S.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 1, 2005

A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000 bounties for the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has expanded its base of operations into the United States to protect loads of cocaine and marijuana being brought into America by Mexican smugglers, authorities said.

The deserters, known as the "Zetas," trained in the United States as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an army of followers, many of whom are believed to be operating in Texas, Arizona, California and Florida.

Working mainly for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most dangerous drug-trafficking organizations, as many as 200 Zeta members are thought to be involved, including former Mexican federal, state and local police. They are suspected in more than 90 deaths of rival gang members and others, including police officers, in the past two years in a violent drug war to control U.S. smuggling routes.

The organization's hub, law-enforcement authorities said, is Nuevo Laredo, a border city of 300,000 across from Laredo, Texas. It is the most active port-of-entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, with more than 6,000 trucks crossing daily into Texas, carrying about 40 percent of Mexico's total exports.

Authorities said the Zetas control the city despite efforts by Mexican President Vicente Fox to restore order. He sent hundreds of Mexican troops and federal agents to the city in March to set up highway checkpoints and conduct raids on suspected Zeta locations.

Despite the presence of law enforcement, more than 100 killings have occurred in the city since Jan. 1, including that of former Police Chief Alejandro Dominguez, 52, gunned down June 8, just seven hours after he was sworn in. The city's new chief, Omar Pimentel, 37, escaped death during a drive-by shooting on his first day, although one of his bodyguards was killed.

Authorities said the Zetas operate over a wide area of the U.S.-Mexico border and are suspected in at least three drug-related slayings in the Dallas area. They said as many as 10 Zeta members are operating inside Texas as Gulf Cartel assassins, seeking to protect nearly $10 million in daily drug transactions.

In March, the Justice Department said the Zetas were involved "in multiple assaults and are believed to have hired criminal gangs" in the Dallas area for contract killings. The department said the organization was spreading from Texas to California and Florida and was establishing drug-trafficking routes it was willing to protect "at any cost."

Just last month, the department issued a new warning to law-enforcement authorities in Arizona and California, urging them to be on the lookout for Zeta members. An intelligence bulletin said a search for new drug-smuggling routes in the two states by the organization could bring new violence to the areas.

The number of assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents along the 260 miles of U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona known as the Tucson sector has increased dramatically this year, including a May 30 shooting near Nogales, Ariz., in which two agents were seriously wounded during an ambush a mile north of the border.

Their assailants were dressed in black commando-type clothing, used high-powered weapons and hand-held radios to point out the agents' location, and withdrew from the area using military-style cover and concealment tactics to escape back into Mexico.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada in Nogales said his investigators found commando clothing, food, water and other "sophisticated equipment" at the ambush site.

Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been 196 assaults on Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector, including 24 shootings. During the same period last year, 92 assaults were reported, with five shootings. The sector is the busiest alien- and drug-trafficking corridor in the country.

U.S. intelligence officials have described the Zetas as an expanding gang of mercenaries with intimate knowledge of Mexican drug-trafficking methods and routes. Strategic Forecasting Inc., a security consulting firm that often works with the State and Defense departments, said in a recent report the Zetas had maintained "connections to the Mexican law-enforcement establishment" to gain unfettered access throughout the southern border.

Many of the Zeta leaders belonged to an elite anti-drug paratroop and intelligence battalion known as the Special Air Mobile Force Group, who deserted in 1991 and aligned themselves with drug traffickers.

[Ryan Ruck]

All repeated for the umpeenth time.

This is my one conspiracy theory: why .gov will not close the borders. I truly have a difficult time accepting .gov and industry will let our country be destroyed or seriously impaired - will jeopardize our safety - just for cheap labor and votes.

Are we not worth so much more?

It just doesn't make sense to me.

I think that in addition to the voter/Democrat and labor/Republican aspects to "looking the other way" when it comes to illegal immigration, a lot of people miss the elephant in the room…

That elephant is Socialist Security.

If it were not for the illegals providing false SSNs and paying into the Socialist Security system and, not being able to legally collect it, the whole Ponzi scheme would likely collapse. You are reaching a point where you have more people taking from Socialist Security than you have putting in and with the increasing age of the "Baby Boomers" it is quickly getting worse. Once you reach the point where too many are taking and not enough are contributing, the scheme collapses. Illegals are the crutch that is prolonging this problem and keeping it out of the public spotlight for as long as possible.

You see, if Socialist Security were to collapse, this would cause quite a bit of anger among the population (especially the seniors) and result in a lot of office holders loosing their jobs. Thus, the politicians ignore illegal immigration, the illegals keep the money flowing into the Socialist Security system, the "old folks" keep getting their monthly government check (for now), the bureaucrats get to keep their cushy $150k+/year government jobs, and everybody is happy!

In the end, these bureaucrats are simply selling out their country for "pieces of silver". There is certainly nothing far-fetched about that concept. In fact, during the Cold War, a study was done to determining what the biggest motivating factor was for individuals to become Soviet agents. While sex, job advancement, and political belief were big reasons, the largest was, you guessed it, money.

This situation isn't so different. It's a shame we don't treat these politicians the same as we treaded Soviet agents.

[Backstop]

Out-freaking-standing!!

You know, it's kinda funny that immigrant rights groups fear 'amateur' volunteers.

It just might be that some of the volunteers are better trained than the Border Patrol.

Yep, I'll volunteer should this pass.

www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081205.1A.border_bill.1cf6fadf.html

Rights groups fearful of vigilante militias

Web Posted: 08/12/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Gary Martin


Express-News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A controversial proposal to create civilian militias to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border was greeted with criticism Thursday by immigrant rights groups that said the amateur force of volunteers could lead to vigilantism.

Republican lawmakers in the House, led by Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, filed a bill last month that would use $6.8 billion in homeland security funds to train the militias, which would serve under the command of border state governors.

Militia members would operate as sworn peace officers and be allowed to carry arms, make arrests and "use any means and any force authorized by state law to prevent individuals from unlawfully entering" the country.

"I think this is borne of a frustration that the federal government is unable or unwilling to secure the borders," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, one of 47 lawmakers who co-sponsored the Border Protection Corps Act.

Smith said the militias would "supplement the efforts that are already in existence, but to do so in a way that is official."

The proposal was criticized by border state Democrats, who said they're concerned the volunteer forces actually would hamper border enforcement.

Immigration and Hispanic rights groups complained the measure could exacerbate lawlessness on an already volatile and violent border.

"It creates and legitimizes vigilantes who want to take the law into their own hands," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research for the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino rights group.

The organization and other minority rights groups are particularly concerned U.S. citizens also could be targeted.

"It puts a bull's-eye on anybody who looks or sounds foreign, or has an Asian or Hispanic surname," Waslin said.

Recent reports and studies estimate 11 million immigrants are in this country illegally.

In the first eight months of this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2004, more than 800,000 Mexicans and 98,000 people from other countries have been caught trying to enter this country without documentation along the U.S.-Mexico, according to David Aguilar, U.S. Border Patrol chief.

President Bush has asked Congress to take up immigration reform when it returns from its August recess.

His top priorities include improving border enforcement and creating a guest-worker program that offers legal channels for those seeking work in the United States.

While there is strong opposition in the House to guest-worker proposals, two bills filed in the Senate would create such plans.

A bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass, which has bipartisan support in the Senate and among immigrant rights groups, would allow undocumented workers in this country to enroll in a guest-worker program after paying fines and penalties for entering the country illegally.

Other legislation by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would create a guest-worker program, but it would not provide a path for undocumented immigrants to attain legal status. It also has a strong border enforcement component.

A recent CBS poll showed 63 percent of Americans are opposed to granting work permits to immigrants. That opposition spans party and ideological differences, the poll showed.

However, a poll earlier this year by an immigration advocacy group found strong support for immigration reform that includes tougher enforcement and a guest-worker plan.

"Our polling has shown that 75 percent of Americans favor a program that would turn the illegal flow into a legal flow to regain control of our borders," said Christina DeConcini, director of policy at the National Immigration Forum.

"The frustration behind it is very legitimate and very real, but this is not the solution to it," DeConcini said of the Culberson bill.

"This is a federal law enforcement responsibility, and that is where it belongs. This kind of plan is inviting civilians to take the law into their own hands and vigilantism," she said.

Culberson said his bill provides the means to do what federal authorities cannot: stem the "flood of illegal immigrants pouring across our southern border."

He said criminal gangs and drug smugglers also are crossing the border "in growing numbers, and lawlessness in the area around Nuevo Laredo has grown so severe, their chief of police was shot dead."

Unspent federal funds in the Homeland Security Department's budget for first responders would be used to equip and train the volunteers, who would be screened for criminal background and convictions.

The bill has the backing of San Antonio's two Republican congressmen, Smith and Rep. Henry Bonilla, whose congressional district sweeps from Laredo to El Paso.

"It's a legitimate way for citizens to help secure the borders," said Smith, a member of the House judiciary panel's subcommittee on immigration.

[Ryan Ruck]

It just might be that some of the volunteers are better trained than the Border Patrol.

Of that I have no doubt considering this:

U.S. Agent Accused Of Aiding Illegals

By Jerry Seper
The Washington Times
August 10, 2005

A U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of being an illegal alien and smuggling other illegals into the United States faces a bail hearing today in federal court in San Diego.

Oscar Antonio Ortiz, 28, a Mexican citizen born in Tijuana, is charged with using a fraudulent birth certificate to obtain a job with the agency in 2001 and alien smuggling. The numbered certificate claimed he was born in Chicago, although authorities have since discovered it belonged to a man born a month earlier.

Mr. Ortiz, who was assigned at the agency's El Cajon field station 35 miles east of San Diego, pleaded not guilty to the felony charges during a hearing Friday. He was ordered held until today's bail review before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia.

Law-enforcement authorities said Mr. Ortiz and another unidentified Border Patrol agent became the targets of an undercover investigation after they were overheard on intercepted telephone conversations discussing on "many occasions" the smuggling of migrants into the United States through a border area near Tecate, which they patrolled.

Transcripts from the intercepted calls show the unidentified agent told a family member in May that he and Mr. Ortiz smuggled several dozen people into the country and had been paid fees ranging from $300 to $2,000 a person.

The intercepted calls, authorities said, came during an investigation by the North County Regional Gang Task Force in San Diego into a suspected drug ring.

Mr. Ortiz was arrested Thursday in Escondido, Calif., by agents from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and placed on administrative leave.

Assisting in the arrest were Escondido police, the North County gang unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

"Any agent who defies the Border Patrol's motto of 'Honor First' and chooses to violate the trust of the citizens they swore to protect will be held accountable," Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar in Washington said. "There is no place in the Border Patrol for behavior that tarnishes and discredits the badge we proudly wear."

Mr. Ortiz's attorney, Stephen White, was not available yesterday for comment. If convicted, Mr. Ortiz could face up to 13 years in prison.

Border Patrol officials declined to discuss the case, although Assistant U.S. Attorney Alana Wong in San Diego told Judge Battaglia during Friday's hearing that Mr. Ortiz has resigned from the agency. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Ortiz should remain in jail until his case is decided.

Federal prosecutors have not identified the second agent or said whether that agent also faces charges. Authorities said the second agent also had been placed on administrative leave.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents all 11,000 nonsupervisory Border Patrol agents, called the arrest "embarrassing," but described Mr. Ortiz and the unidentified second agent as "rogue agents."

"The overwhelming majority of the agents are out there risking their lives, enforcing immigration laws, doing a daunting and largely thankless task," said Mr. Bonner, a 28-year veteran of the agency.

Mr. Bonner said the FBI used to conduct background investigations on all Border Patrol applicants, but the job has since been turned over to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Currently, he said, some background checks are not being completed until the agents have been in the field for months.

"It's a two-minute phone call to verify whether the number (on the birth certificate) matches the name," Mr. Bonner said. "Any rookie who is trained in immigration law could have figured that out."

OPM officials in Washington referred inquiries on the background checks to a voice mailbox that was full. A second call was referred to an OPM office in Pennsylvania, where a spokeswoman directed further inquiries to the same voice mailbox.

You've got to admit that the situation is pretty bad when you have actual Border Patrol agents that are illegal aliens!

[Backstop]

This is really getting interesting.

One big concern is the Dems are stepping up and doing something. If the Reps - specifically President Bush - don't do something RIGHT FREAKING NOW, I'm concerned the balance of power may shift the next election.

Illegal immigration is a much, much bigger issue than the media portrays.

www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/national/17border.html?pagewanted=print

August 17, 2005
Citing Violence, 2 Border States Declare a Crisis
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

DEMING, N.M., Aug. 16 - Citing a surge of smuggling and violence along the border, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico have issued state of emergency declarations in recent days, faulting the American and Mexican authorities and freeing up federal and state money to strengthen local law enforcement efforts.

"Both federal governments let us down - there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency," Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat seeking re-election next year, said in a telephone interview Tuesday, a day after declaring a state of emergency in four border counties. Ms. Napolitano said that "ranchers are at their wits' end" with smuggled immigrants who damage their property and livestock.

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat who is also seeking re-election and who may make a bid for the White House in 2008, issued an emergency declaration on Friday, after touring this turbulent border region where a police chief reported being shot at last week.

"This is an act of desperation," Mr. Richardson said in a separate phone interview, adding that border problems had gone beyond illegal immigration to violent crime. He said the action would provide resources "until Congress and the feds deal with this issue," but added, "it is not a political move - I never mentioned the Bush administration."

The actions by the two states followed a series of violent episodes, including the killing of a New Mexico woman who was shot in the head by a Mexican police officer outside Ciudad Juárez on July 30 and the crash of a Hummer, which was trying to outrun Border Patrol agents, that killed four illegal immigrants in March. Chief Clare May of the three-member police department in Columbus, N.M., said that on Aug. 9, two bullets whizzed over his head while he was checking out abandoned cars.

Arizona remains the busiest illegal gateway along the Southwest border, and scores of illegal immigrants are found dead of exposure in its deserts each year.

The two governors said their actions would make available $1.75 million in New Mexico and $1.5 million in Arizona for extra sheriff's deputies and other officers, and for overtime costs and more equipment. No federal approval is required.

Luis Barker, deputy chief of the Border Patrol, interviewed by phone during a visit to El Paso on Tuesday, said of the states' actions, "I don't think it should be taken as criticism."

Mr. Barker said that federal agents were working closely with their state counterparts and that arrests were down in Arizona, signifying successes. "If there is coordination," he said, "I would think it would be very helpful."

In Mexico on Tuesday, President Vicente Fox, visiting the state of Sonora across the border from Arizona, urged United States officials to do more than sound alarms about the crime plaguing both sides of the border and to work with Mexican authorities on solutions. Mr. Fox called the crime problem a "shared responsibility for both governments."

"Instead of each of us working on our own sides," he said, "we must work together. That's the only way to win."

"There is organized crime here," Mr. Fox said, "and there is organized crime there. On this side and that side, there is drug consumption. The only solution is to work together."

Gerónimo Gutiérrez, an under secretary in the Foreign Ministry, was meeting with Bush administration officials in Washington and reiterating Mexico's commitment to a "safe and prosperous border."

"There's a real perception in the United States about internal security," Mr. Gutiérrez said.

"But people here are also underestimating what both federal governments are doing to fight crime on the border.

Mr. Richardson said that he was "acting out of frustration" but that his emergency declaration should not be taken as criticism of the Border Patrol. "I'm criticizing the entire federal structure on immigration," he said. "The Border Patrol is doing a good job."

Mr. Barker, of the Border Patrol, said the agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, had added 305 agents since last October to its 12 stations from West Texas and El Paso to the Arizona border, bringing the force there to 1,226. "It's a work in progress," he said.

Allen Weh, chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the party commended Mr. Richardson "for coming around to the concerns we've had for a long time."

But Mr. Weh, a retired colonel who served in Iraq and Vietnam, said, "Of course there's political motives in the governor's actions." He said Mr. Richardson was concerned with trying to hold onto his traditional Democratic base "and position himself in the center."

Mr. Richardson said he was motivated solely by concerns for public safety. He said he was not worried about alienating Hispanics, one of his prime constituencies. "I have the most migrant-friendly state," he said, citing a policy of issuing driver's licenses without regard to immigration status.

As for an eye on the White House, he said: "I am running for re-election as governor of New Mexico. I have enough problems."

In Arizona, Republicans also suggested that Ms. Napolitano's motives might be political.

"The governor clearly is very good at reading polls," State Representative Russell Pearce said, according to The Arizona Republic. "It's a start, but much more has to be done."

In July, Ms. Napolitano organized a meeting of about 100 law enforcement supervisors to discuss border smuggling and violence. Last week she wrote to Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, saying she was "increasingly disappointed by red tape" at the department.

Ms. Napolitano said she had seen no improvement in border security. "I will do anything I have to to get Washington's attention to this matter," she said.

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican running for re-election next year, was not currently considering a state of emergency, said a spokesman, Robert Black. "The governor has said that we'll continue to make the case that there can be no homeland security without border security, and the federal government needs to make a greater commitment both in resources and manpower along the Texas-Mexico border."

But Mr. Black said nothing had been ruled out.

Ginger Thompson contributed reporting from Mexico City for this article.

[Brian Baldwin]

I watched an interview between Bill O'Rielly and the Governor of N.M. the other night. I think Bill just about has him convinced about the need to send troops to the border. And on the same program last night they discussed how Arnold of Cal is now being put under fire as to needing to follow Arizona and N.M. Could be .gov won't have any fricken choice in the matter. Exciting!

Brian

[Ryan Ruck]

I watched an interview between Bill O'Rielly and the Governor of N.M. the other night. I think Bill just about has him convinced about the need to send troops to the border. And on the same program last night they discussed how Arnold of Cal is now being put under fire as to needing to follow Arizona and N.M. Could be .gov won't have any fricken choice in the matter. Exciting!

Brian

I had heard that California is considering making a new state police division. Essentially a State Border Patrol to supplement the federal border patrol.

With this increase in awareness for border security (especially if it keeps getting stronger), I suspect that we will see an increase in tensions at first from the illegals and their apologists (i.e. the near riot at Baldwin Park, CA) that we are somehow keeping them from their own "Manifest Destiny". Then we will see the pro-"Borders, Language, Culture" group have to respond to the increased militancy.

The bed we have made will not be comfortable to sleep in…

[Backstop]

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.3622.IH:

Border Protection Corps Act (Introduced in House)

HR 3622 IH

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3622

To authorize the Governor of a State to organize and call into service a militia of able-bodied and eligible citizens to help prevent individuals from unlawfully crossing an international border and entering the United States anywhere other than a port of entry, to appropriate funds to support this service, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 29, 2005

Mr. CULBERSON (for himself, Mr. AKIN, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CARTER, Mrs. CUBIN, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HALL, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HERGER, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POE, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. WAMP, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, and Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To authorize the Governor of a State to organize and call into service a militia of able-bodied and eligible citizens to help prevent individuals from unlawfully crossing an international border and entering the United States anywhere other than a port of entry, to appropriate funds to support this service, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Border Protection Corps Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) Federal authorities do not have sufficient manpower or resources to patrol and defend the international borders of the United States to prevent individuals from entering the United States illegally.

(2) An ever-increasing number of heavily armed and dangerous criminals, violent gang members, and drug smugglers are entering the United States illegally over our international borders.

(3) Federal and State law enforcement authorities have identified an alarming increase in the number of foreign nationals from countries with known connections to terrorist organizations who are hiding among this crowd of dangerous illegal immigrants, and camouflaging themselves among an immense and rapidly growing number of foreign nationals who are entering the United States illegally in search of work.

(4) The United States is at war with terrorist criminal organizations and individuals from foreign nations who are fanatically committed to the destruction of the United States, who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability and willingness to hide their true identities and their evil purposes, and who will enter and move about the United States illegally and use sneak attacks and any criminal means or method available to them to cause the mass destruction of human life in the United States.

(5) The history of the United States from the first days of the American Revolution is filled with innumerable examples of honorable and invaluable service by citizen volunteers, organized into well-regulated local militias, who have ably defended the frontiers and borders of the United States whenever and wherever Federal military or law enforcement authorities were unable or unwilling to do so.

(6) The uniquely devious, criminal, cowardly, and fanatically determined nature of the terrorist criminal organizations and individuals that have declared war on the people of the United States compel the Congress to invoke its constitutional authority to authorize all able-bodied and eligible United States citizens to serve in a militia in defense of our international borders under the direct command and control of the Governors of the border States.

(7) Therefore, in light of these facts, in response to the continuing threat of these terrorist criminal organizations to carry out future attacks on the people of the United States similar to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and in order to quickly supplement the inadequate manpower and resources now deployed by the Federal Government in defense of our international borders, it is necessary to invoke congressional authority under article 1, section 8, of the Constitution, to call forth `the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union', to provide authorization and funding for `organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia', and to assist the States with statutory guidance and funding to provide for the common defense of the lives, liberty, and domestic tranquility of the people of the United States.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

(a) In General- The Governor of a State on an international border of the United States is authorized to establish and command a militia, to be known as the `Border Protection Corps' for the State. The Border Protection Corps for a State shall include only United States citizens with no criminal history and no history of mental illness. Such militia shall be called into service by the Governor of the State for the purpose of patrolling and defending the international border of the State with Canada or Mexico, in order to prevent individuals from crossing the international border and entering the United States at any location other than an authorized port of entry. The members of the militia shall work in cooperation with State and local law enforcement officials, as directed by the Governor, and with the United States Border Patrol. All members of the militia shall take an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States and of the State, in a form to be prescribed by the State, and shall have the right to keep and bear arms.

(b) Limited by State Law- All United States citizens called into service by the Governor of a State under subsection (a) are authorized to use any means and any force authorized by State law to prevent individuals from unlawfully entering the United States at any location other than a port of entry, and to take into custody individuals who have so entered the United States. The Governor of a State is authorized to call eligible United States citizens into service in the militia, and to equip, train, discipline, and otherwise control the operation of such militia forces in defense of the international borders of the United States under such terms, conditions, and requirements as are contained in the laws and constitution of the State.

(c) Disposition of Detained Individuals- All individuals taken into custody under subsection (b) shall be promptly delivered to a Federal law enforcement authority. A Federal law enforcement authority may not release any individual so detained in the United States. All such individuals shall be removed to the country from which they entered the United States, but only after Federal law enforcement authorities are fully satisfied that each individual so removed is not a violent or dangerous criminal, a terrorist, or a potential terrorist, in which case that individual shall be prosecuted in the United States to the fullest extent provided by law.

SEC. 4. FUNDING.

(a) In General- Any State whose Governor calls forth eligible United States citizens into service in a militia to patrol and defend the international borders of the United States in accordance with section 3 shall be promptly reimbursed by the Secretary of Homeland Security for funds expended by the State in accordance with such section to pay the following costs:

(1) Costs of calling up eligible United States citizens to serve in the militia.

2) Costs of equipping, training, disciplining, and otherwise controlling the operation of the militia, as well as the costs of paying overtime to State and local law enforcement and corrections officers engaged in duties relating to activities authorized by this Act.

(3) Costs of detaining, housing, and transporting individuals who unlawfully enter the United States at a location other than a port of entry and are taken into custody by the militia.

(b) Account- Reimbursement under subsection (a) shall be made from funds deposited into a separate account in the Treasury of the United States entitled the `Border Protection Corps Establishment and Operation Account'. All deposits into the Border Protection Corps Establishment and Operation Account shall remain available until expended to the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out subsection (a).

(c) Transfer of Unexpended Homeland Security Funds- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer and deposit into the Border Protection Corps Establishment and Operation Account any funds that--

(1) were appropriated by a provision of law making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for a fiscal year;

(2) were made available until expended by such provision of law; and

(3) have remained unexpended for a period of 2 years or more.

SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO NATIONAL GUARD AND OTHER AUTHORIZED DEFENSE FORCES.

A Border Protection Corps established under this Act shall be considered a defense force authorized by section 109(c) of title 32, United States Code.

SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall promptly issue regulations governing the distribution of funds under section 4 of this Act for all reasonable and necessary costs and other expenses incurred by a State and the Border Protection Corps under this Act, and providing uniform standards which the United States Border Patrol, Homeland Security forces and all other federal law enforcement authorities shall follow to implement the requirements of this Act. The provisions of this Act shall take effect immediately upon enactment, and the promulgation of any such regulations are not a necessary precondition to the immediate deployment of the Border Protection Corps by the Governor of a State, or to the work of local and state law enforcement authorities or corrections officers as authorized by the Act. Any reasonable and necessary expense or cost authorized by this Act incurred by the State or the Border Protection Corps prior to the promulgation of such regulations are eligible for reimbursement under the terms and conditions of this Act.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

For purposes of this Act, the term `State' means any of the several States of the United States that borders Canada or Mexico.

There's an extra '(' hanging all by itself in Sec. 4. FUNDING (a) (1); when I removed it, the format was destroyed.

So there it sits.

(Ryan's Note: Not anymore! )

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Hiya Ryan,

I found these great pics of artists work on the Israeli Security Wall. I wouldn't be surprised to see copies of these being sold on the Net soon. Some pretty good work here.

[Ryan Ruck]

Joey,
It doesn't look like the pics came through...

If you can't get it to work, just save the pics and e-mail them to me at rruck@adelphia.net and I'll host them to post here.