Water in the Hole!

The flood continues and our leaders seem capable of nothing but excuses. Here's something you may not know:

According to a RoperASW poll, the majority of Americans favor reductions in immigration levels, severe penalties for using false identification, and more involvement at the state and local level to help locate and deport illegal aliens.

What's incredible is that this poll was taken more than three years ago, long before the pro-immigrant rallies forced the media to report on the issue, at least a little. News of the prevailing opinion can only surprise a member of the majority because it is never mentioned. Not the polls. Not the results. You have to be a sinning racist xenophobe to even be curious.

It was in fact only because I stumbled on the following claim in the November Playboy that I became aware just how clear and consistent public opinion is on immigration.

Three quarters of PLAYBOY readers think illegals should be deported, only slightly lower than the national rate.

I had never heard of such results before, and I'm not exactly uninterested in the subject. The news media grows ever more obsessed with polls, except apparently when it comes to immigration. Thankfully the internet and its search engines are not run by the government or mass media. Yet.

Most legislators either lay low or pass new immigration laws they have no will to enforce. Some do both. No new federal laws are required to immediately stop the flow of illegal immigration. Man the border. Build a wall. If you're in Congress try working more than 50 days a year. Your job is to represent your constituents and uphold your oath:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

If you have misgivings, or feel oppressed to be placed in the unthinkable moral dilemma of having to choose sides (Allah forbid), then you should bow out of the job right now. The oath is meant to weed out the weak-willed. Well, that and to ensnare traitors who would harm the country from the inside.

Social servants, for example, who should be looking for ways to detect illegals and make it harder for them to stay, not easier. Their treason is less overt and perhaps even unconscious but it does as much damage as the example set by Azzam the American. Plenty of Azzam's buddies have already come to the US and overstayed their visas. We can be sure they really appreciate how concerned we are for the comfort and convenience of illegals aliens.

Federal Reserve Helps Illegal Immigrants
October 11, 2006

As the immigration debate heats up, the U.S. Government agency that serves as the nation’s central bank has quietly created a program that provides low-cost banking services to illegal immigrants.

To facilitate the process for immigrants sending money home, the Federal Reserve graciously created “Directo a Mexico,” which enables remittances to be transferred through the agency’s own automated clearinghouse linked directly to Mexico’s central bank (Banco de Mexico).

Since we're so desperate to encourage even more illegal immigration let's make sure everyone knows just how easy it is to come over, drop a baby (for free), and go on food stamps.

Food-Stamp Program Finally Speaks Their Language
By Jennifer Delson, Times Staff Writer
October 13, 2006

Though it goes against the conventional wisdom of anti-illegal immigration supporters, those who enroll the poor in the federal food stamp program say they've struggled for years to get immigrant Latino families signed up.

Now a Spanish-language news report and television ad campaign have spurred thousands of immigrants in Orange County over the last several weeks to contact a nonprofit organization that offers a Spanish-language class called "Food Stamps in Four Hours."

. . .

The Orange County strategy has been lauded throughout the state as a way to reach immigrants who are reluctant to get help from the government.

"They won't come on their own," said Jerry Sanders, food bank manager of the nonprofit Community Action Partnership of Orange County in Garden Grove. "They come from countries where they think the government isn't to be trusted. They figure there's a catch to free food."

Advocates say immigrants, if here illegally, are also worried about being deported if they apply for food stamps. Or they fear jeopardizing a pending application for residency or citizenship. Illegal immigrants can apply on behalf of their minor children here legally.

Other immigrants say they were simply embarrassed.

"The Mexican man is macho. He doesn't want to come to this country and beg," said Alfonso Chavez, the Community Action Partnership's outreach coordinator. "I tell them this is a program that will help the children. The kids are American-born, and they have a right to this program."

Wonderful. We've got so much money we can blow some getting the word out that we're giving it away.

Aliso Viejo resident Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project, which fights illegal immigration, said the Orange County program encouraged illegal immigration.

These immigrants and their children "should only be given life-saving medical care," Gilchrist said.

"If we encourage illegal alien families to come forward and exploit the … system, aren't we encouraging more illegal immigration? We have to cut these benefits off."

Thank Allah for the Minutemen.

If you live in the US you may not think such incentives are a big deal. Don't neglect the coupled impact of clear and supportive pro-immigrant messages coming from official sources. The government is saying in effect that the situtation for illegals is going to change. It's going to continue to get better.

In Mexico they're calling their coyotes.

And Canadians are revolted at the idea they'll soon be flooded with Americans. Thanks to johkiter for the link.