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“Americans and illegal aliens are in the same boat together. Both aspire to the ‘American Dream’ but are mere survivors of dysfunctional governments and corporate greed.” — Rusty Childress
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Sonoran News November 14 – 20, 2007
Fed up with illegal immigration
Rusty Childress
President, Childress Kia
Phoenix
Illegal alien Ricardo Espinoza-Valdez was recently accused of “upskirting.” This is just one more example of a long list of reasons citizen taxpayers are fed up with illegal immigration.
Illegal aliens are causing a strain on medical services, one of the reasons why medical costs are skyrocketing.
Illegal aliens who are paid “under the table” do not contribute to helping finance our infrastructure. Cities are growing, but there is less money from the government, both state and federal, to support the programs we depend on to make our highways, housing, medical and emergency services better because they are not receiving as much tax money from these under-the-table paychecks. I know that they pay sales tax on the items they purchase, but this is only a portion of taxes that all legal workers pay. If the United States did not have to support an estimated 12 million illegal people in this country, we would save millions, if not billions, of dollars.
Many have said that the illegal aliens are doing the work that legal Americans would not do. What did we do before we had this huge influx of illegals? Who picked the crops, maintained the landscape, built some houses and cleaned the hotels? Who did all the less-skilled but necessary jobs to keep America going? Could the answer be the legal immigrants and Americans? Of course the root of this problem is not the people crossing the borders in search of a better life. The problem is the employers who are undermining the American economy. They hire illegal aliens so that they can keep costs down, don’t pay into workers’ comp or payroll taxes. This gives employers more money for themselves and their shareholders, and brings wage averages down for the legal workers. These employers who are themselves acting illegally need to be prosecuted and fined or incarcerated for their crimes. If we only did business with the employers who hire legal workers, there would be no reason for 12 million illegal aliens to stay in the U.S. today.
I fully support the American dream, for both those born here and those born abroad. If they want to come here to pursue the American dream, they need to prove that they will be lawobeying and productive citizens. This starts with standing in line, filling out the paperwork, learning our history, and learning our language, just like we would have to do in every other country around the world.
And for god sakes, no upskirters allowed!
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Immigration system isn’t broken
Nov. 16, 2007 12:00 AM
Regarding “It’s more than fences” (Editorial, Nov. 9):
The editorial suggests that we need to do much more to stop illegal immigration than simply sealing the border.
But waiting until the E-Verify system is completely fixed, then creating a temporary worker program, and finding a way to legalize all the “unauthorized workers” who live here today isn’t the answer “we the people” favor either.
In fact, that plan sounds more like surrender, and goes against the desire of the majority of Americans to have the rule of law prevail over “economic realities.”
The immigration system is not broken, it simply is not being enforced. Comprehensive border security and interior enforcement, including workplace enforcement, can work and shows respect for the will of the people over that of squeaky wheel special-interest groups.
What we need is less talk and more action. We need leaders who are willing to lead. We need to remember that our Constitution was put into place to protect the citizen taxpayers that believe in it, and was not constructed to aid scofflaw employers who exploit cheap labor.
Most of all, we need to keep in mind that democracy is not a spectator sport and that it cannot be wholly delegated to our elected officials.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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From the Kia dealer/activist himself: Regarding The Bird’s column (”Bigot Bash,” Stephen Lemons, April 19; also see “Ready Racist,” The Bird, April 26), United for a Sovereign America believes in the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, including free speech, as colorful as some attendees’ speech may be from time to time.
Calling Janet Napolitano “Crappy Nappy” (as you did) is a prerogative afforded by the First Amendment and, besides, everyone knows who they’re talking about.
We believe in the rule of law, an immigration policy that is orderly, legal, and brings those who wish to become Americans and who have something to contribute to this country, rather than preferences given by means of this free-for-all for the uneducated, illiterate, unskilled, non-English-speaking foreign nationals streaming across our southern border without a care in the world about breaking our laws.
Your determination that those exercising free speech are racist and/or xenophobic is apparently based on the fact that you don’t agree politically, prefer socialism, communism, anarchy and/or illegality to the rule of law.
The rule of law is not racist, it’s practical.
Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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Kyl must not surrender to the amnesty agenda
May. 12, 2007 12:00 AM
There is no reward for breaking the law, just consequences – unless Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl breaks his campaign promises on interior enforcement of immigration laws and instead surrenders to the amnesty agenda currently before Congress.
Kyl now plays an integral role in crafting an amnesty plan, in concert with the Bush administration, but does so at the risk of a tremendous backlash.
President Bush’s approval ratings are at historic lows and Democrats control Congress. Republican support for amnesty, in an effort to appease a lame-duck president and provide political cover to a slim and tenuous Democratic majority, will only help to cement that majority and further destroy the remaining vestiges of loyalty within the grassroots activists comprising the heart and soul of the Republican party.
Amnesty will not secure the borders or end illegal immigration; it has the opposite effect. Grassroots America will not remain silent nor will it consent to this surrender of American sovereignty.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer is founder of the anti-illegal-immigration group United for a Sovereign America.
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DOWNLOAD the Dec. 21, 2006 (1 hour, 18 minutes, 26.9 Meg) airing of “Outside the Box with PatriotWatchdog.” Rusty Childress, Founder & State Director, United For A Sovereign America (USA), ImmigrationBuzz.com, & Arizona FIRE Coalition State Director
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Freedom Riders defending middle class
Dec. 16, 2006 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1216satlets4-161.html
The Arizona Republic has confused the American Freedom Riders’ burning desire for secure borders and interior enforcement with a temper tantrum on illegal immigration (”Immigration temper tantrum,” Editorial, Dec. 9).
Certainly, if you are not angry about this issue, you are ambivalent about enforcement of federal immigration laws, as are the greedy, law-breaking employers that we target with our efforts.
Employers who are breaking the law with impunity are the ones we are educating, in the hopes they will obey our laws.
We do the jobs our dysfunctional government refuses to do by attempting to deter exploitative and felonious employers from hiring illegal aliens.
We distribute SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) fliers and post offenders on www.wehirealiens.com.
The magic of the AFR is that as bikers we have no pretense about being politically correct. We cannot be silenced by mischaracterizations or easily intimidated out of defending the rule of law and the right of free speech.
We are not anti-immigrant.
However we are profoundly anti-illegal immigration, down to our biker bones, and not one rationalization will detract us from our zero-tolerance of this unbearable burden to hard-working taxpayers.
Contrary to the opinion of The Arizona Republic, the solution is to enforce our existing federal immigration laws. They are unambiguous and worded to serve the best interest of American citizens and legal immigrants.
Common sense alone makes it clear that America faces disastrous economic, social and cultural consequences from a continued invasion of illegal aliens on a massive scale.
At this rate, middle-class America stands to be decimated.
Until federal government officials accept their constitutional responsibility to enforce our laws, the AFR will continue to actively and visibly bring attention to the illegal scam being perpetrated on our nation. We will not stand for open borders!
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
– Danny Smith, Sonoita
The writers are co-founders of the American Freedom Riders.
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Illegal aliens must be detained
Jul. 30, 2006
Detain, don’t deport, illegal aliens. This is the only deterrent to the epidemic of lawlessness we face today with illegal immigration.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has this right and proves this to be true every day. There must be consequences to bad behavior or you will only encourage it in the future.
Law enforcement officers must detain every illegal alien that they come in contact with in the course of their normal duties because it is the law, no matter what columnist Richard Ruelas asserts.
Most importantly, remove all sanctuary policies. Political correctness has no business interfering with law-enforcement activities.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://sonorannews.com/LettersToEd.html#Letter4
May 24 – 30, 2006
Bush�s Troops on the border
By Rusty Childress, Father of Prop 200, Minuteman
As American taxpayers feared, President Bush used his pledge to use the National Guard on the border as just another way to sell the overall open borders agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
For more than two years, Bush has promised not only that he would not support an “amnesty” but that he was opposed to giving citizenship to illegal aliens and that they would have to eventually go home.
What he has done now cannot be explained away.
Either he was deliberately misleading the American people for years, or he has radically changed his mind, in which case he should have said so and explained why he no longer feels he should honor his promises.
I am deeply offended by what appears to be this White House’s belief that most Americans are too dumb or too distracted to notice that he has made this switch — and by the President’s apparent belief that Americans will be so excited by his troops on the border that they won’t mind rewarding 10 million or so illegal aliens with citizenship.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0413breakout134.html
OK, D.C., how can this be?
Apr. 13, 2006
A travesty is being forced upon the American people.
The political elitists in their D.C. ivory towers again go against the will of the people and support an amnesty of even greater proportions than in the past. Why does the interests of Mexico and corporate America continue to override the poll results of American citizens on immigration?
This is the United States, where the laws are supposed to be followed and the elected officials are supposed to legislate the will of the people – by the people, for the people. Why are the lawmakers siding with lawbreakers? Why are “willing workers” and “willing employers” so willing to break immigration law?
Our law enforcement personnel are already outmanned, outgunned, outfunded . . . and yet the people in D.C. continue to make their jobs even more dangerous. Opening up more amnesty plans will only encourage this illegal invasion. Why continually promote the double standard, that non-citizens can break the law, and encourage further bad behavior?
Washington, D.C., how can this be? And when will enough be enough?
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
Founder and state coordinator of United for A Sovereign America (USA)
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1226monlets268.html
‘Jobs magnet’ still key to border ills
Dec. 26, 2005 12:00 AM
The first sentence in “I-9 form back in spotlight” (Republic, Dec. 19) says, “It won’t stop illegal immigration.” This sounds more like commentary than news but it is factually correct.
As an employer, my experience dictates that there is no governmental review of I-9 forms, making it both an ineffective abatement for hiring unauthorized workers and ripe for fraud.
A more comprehensive and practical approach to illegal immigration was passed recently by the U.S. House. House Resolution 4437 addresses the hiring of unauthorized workers through mandatory employment verifications.
Uniform and mandatory employment verification is the linchpin to demagnetize the jobs magnet. It encourages self-deportation through natural attrition and holds employers accountable, rather than allowing them to circumvent the law.
Ultimately, by taking away the employer migration “carrot” there will be no need for the government’s deportation “stick.”
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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10-20-05
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1020immig-letters20.html
Punish employers
The Arizona Republic series on illegal immigration, “The Immigration Equation,” continues to promote the snake oil of a so-called guest-worker visa program that serves to reward those who have broken our laws with legal residence.
Let’s get down to brass tacks! A recent CNN poll showed 87 percent of Americans want illegal immigration stopped. It is critical to distinguish the reform that the public seeks from the deceptive package of measures that the immigration lobby is peddling.
Overwhelming and irrefutable facts show illegal and massive unrestricted immigration harm our country. We face gridlocked and air-polluted cities, environmental degradation, crime, health care problems and education nightmares.
We must deal with this immigration quandary in favor of American citizens and all immigrants who play by the rule of law. We cannot allow America to become the doormat for illegality from an endless line exploding out of the Third World.
Employers who knowingly employ unauthorized workers are the magnets that attract illegal entry into the U.S. These employers are complicit in the illegal alien cartel activity of smuggling, trafficking, harboring and employing. And they must be punished. We must reform the current system by enforcing employer sanctions and fully punishing employers who break the laws of this country. These punishments will be fines, jailing for repeat offenders, and loss of corporate charters. We must demand illegal alien employers be handcuffed, prosecuted and suffer “hard time.”
-Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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East Valley Trib
June 20 2005 East Valley Opinion
Any end in sight?
The new Pew Hispanic Center study shows that there are 10.8 million foreigners residing in the U.S. today. Certain special interest groups believe that this population of unskilled, unauthorized, uninsured, uneducated, unlawful, unlicensed and underprivileged is still insufficient and are pushing for border “reforms.”
This is programing code for a true open border system where big business will be put in charge of immigration policy similar to ordering from a labor “to go” menu.
But like a computer virus, when non-citizen border hackers get through the firewall we call an international border, it�s impossible to develop intrusion prevention since internal enforcement is virtually nonexistent.
With no natural constraints and no middle ground, is there any end to this vulnerability of our sovereignty in sight?
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0604satlets042.html
Shrinking illegal population is key
Jun. 4, 2005 12:00 AM
The Kyl-Cornyn bill is on the right track to address illegal immigration, and it is the only approach that can actually work: Shrink the illegal population through consistent, across-the-board enforcement of the immigration law.
By deterring the settlement of new illegals, by increasing deportations to the extent possible, and, most importantly, by increasing the number of illegals already here who give up and deport themselves, the United States can bring about an annual decrease in the illegal-alien population, rather than allowing it to continually increase.
The point, in other words, is not merely to curtail illegal immigration, but rather to bring about a steady reduction in the total number of illegal immigrants who are living in the United States. The result would be a shrinking of the illegal population to a manageable nuisance, rather than today’s looming crisis.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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East Valley Trib
May 13, 2005
Immigration laws like Mexico�s vetoed here
Did Gov. Janet Napolitano notice that in Mexico acceptable IDs do not include the Matricula Consular Card before she vetoed the bill outlawing the use of these cards in Arizona? And why do Hispanic and Latino “immigrant advocacy” groups, as well as our governor, protest, boycott, and demand that the mostly Mexican illegal aliens here in Arizona be entitled to receive a driver�s license, when in Mexico illegal aliens are denied that right?
Does the governor know that the official language in Mexico is Spanish, unlike Arizona, which provides a bilingual form of government? In Mexico, for example, you have no choice but to speak, read and write in Spanish if you want to get a driver�s license.
Why has Napolitano continually vetoed laws for Arizona that Mexico already uses to prevent lawlessness in its society?
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0416satlet3-162.html
Another scapegoat for the politicians
Apr. 16, 2005 12:00 AM
Illegal aliens apprehended daily on the border last year: 1,600.
Illegal aliens illegally residing in U.S. eligible for deportation: 10 million.
Illegal aliens’ yearly cost to Arizona taxpayers for education, medical care and incarceration: $1.3 billion.
One front-page story on illegal immigration political scapegoat? Priceless
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0402satlets023.html
Editorial name-calling ridiculous
Apr. 2, 2005 12:00 AM
Regarding “Polarized proof” (Editorial, Friday):
The Republic Editorial Board describes the volunteers in the Minuteman Project as a “bunch of good old boys with guns,” “goofy guys” and infers that they may be “White supremacists.”
I guess it takes one to know one.
The board seems to believe that there is only an imaginary border, not an international one, and that lawlessness should be rewarded with legal status.
Not only is that illogical, irrational and ridiculous, but you have resorted to name-calling, which is the worst form of argument. But at least you’re predictable.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer was a leader in the Protect Arizona Now initiative.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1125thurlets254.html
Guest-worker plan is wrong signal
Nov. 25, 2004
An open letter to President Bush:
After being narrowly returned to office, why are you signaling that you will once again push Congress to enact an outrageous amnesty/guest-worker proposal?
Your re-election was not a mandate to reward illegal immigrants and auction off American jobs to the lowest bidder. Announcing this ill-advised plan will touch off yet another surge in illegal immigration and further compromise homeland security.
You cannot have amnesty and unlimited guest workers and preserve a solid middle class.
You are proving to be the best president that President Vicente Fox has ever had, and the worst to all those who voted for Proposition 200.
Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer was a leading proponent of Proposition 200, the Protect Arizona Now initiative.
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11/21/04 Ahwatukee Foothills News, [email protected]
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:
Only one week after being narrowly returned to office, why are you signaling that you will once again push Congress to enact an outrageous amnesty/guest worker proposal?
� Your re-election was not a mandate to reward illegal immigrants and auction off American jobs to the lowest bidder.
� Announcing this ill-advised plan will touch off yet another surge in illegal immigration and further compromise homeland security.
� Granting amnesty to millions of people with only minimal background checks jeopardizes homeland security.
� You cannot have amnesty and unlimited guest workers and preserve a solid middle class.
Already you have all the Kerry supporters are saying “I told you so!”
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http://epaper.aztrib.com/Default/Skins/EVT/Client.asp?skin=EVT&Daily=EVT
East Valley Tribune
People defeated the open-borders Goliath
Proposition 200 is a national signal of voter frustration and passed overwhelmingly despite persistent and monumental opposition from power elites and big money interests.
Nearly all of the top political leaders of both parties, the state�s newspapers and business, religious and union communities vigorously opposed this ballot measure, while spending more than a million dollars to defeat it.
But Arizonans are fed up with the tide of illegal immigration and liked the proposition�s requirement that state officials no longer provide non-emergency services to illegal aliens and that they ensure that illegal aliens don�t vote.
The Wall Street Journal and other open-borders advocates set up the Arizona vote as a kind of bellweather for the nation and warned of dire consequences if Proposition 200 passed.
This David and Goliath battle between the rule of law and anarchy was as sweet as it gets.
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1030satlets3-302.html
McCain is dead wrong on the measure
Oct. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
Regarding “Prop. 200 less than worthless to Arizona” (My Turn, Opinions, Sunday):
Sen. John McCain complains that Proposition 200 will both do nothing and be some sort of a Greek tragedy all at the same time. He can’t have it both ways!
McCain and his ilk are simply dead wrong on Proposition 200. It was never meant to stop illegal immigration. It was designed to protect taxpayers by mitigating the fraud resulting from this problem. By having to prove eligibility you can begin to transition from an honor system to actually enforcing state laws, thus reducing the financial burden on taxpayers while protecting the integrity of our electoral system.
Enforcing existing laws has always been the intent of this initiative. Backers would like to see federal immigration laws enforced. However, the only laws that can be affected in the initiative process are those governed by the state.
The system needs reform because political correctness is getting in the way of law enforcement. McCain’s obfuscation of changing the immigration status of the “undocumented” to “guests” has never stopped a single person from crossing our border and never will. Allowing “temporary workers” to stay permanently does not even begin to address the problem. It is a historical fact that worker visas and amnesties perpetuate migration because they serve to reward those who break the law.
That’s the real tragedy here, not Proposition 200.
Rusty Childress,
Phoenix
The writer is among the leading proponents of Proposition 200.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0920monlets203.html
Greed fuels Prop. 200 opposition
Sept. 20, 2004 12:00 AM
The passage of Proposition 200 will be the first step on the road to real enforcement of our immigration laws by putting the national spotlight on the demand by voters for immigration control and that these laws be faithfully executed, not ignored.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce does not agree. This anarchist cheap labor lobby pays below legal wages and wants to continue burdening the rest of society with obscene social costs. They oppose Proposition 200 not out of compassion, but greed.
Why is it wrong to want to protect the integrity of our electoral system, and what is wrong with verifying eligibility for taxpayer-funded benefits? Will the Arizona Chamber of Commerce please answer these questions for us?
-Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer is a leading proponent of Proposition 200.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0628monlets281.html
Prosecuting employers won’t fix border woes
Jun. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Business columnist Jon Talton’s column on Thursday, “Human trafficking takes untold toll in Arizona,” clearly states that we need to “prosecute the employers” to solve the problem of illegal immigration.
He left out only one thing: Illegal aliens already here must be deported.
Alien trespassers live and work here in violation of the law. No, illegal aliens do not contribute to the economy, at least not to most people’s economies. The only people who gain are those who hire them.
Illegals depress wages for Americans on the lowest economic rungs. The rest of us pay taxes in the billions to support the health, education and welfare needs of illegals, beyond whatever the illegals might pay in taxes.
The essential, simple fact is that the government needs to enforce its own laws. Remove the safety valve of illegal immigration, keep those who are desperate enough to flee their country in their country, and those countries will be forced to change. As it is, nobody wins with illegal immigration, except those who hire illegal aliens, and the oligarchies in the home countries of illegal aliens.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0527thurlets276.html
Rewards for lawlessness not right
May. 27, 2004 12:00 AM
I am not surprised and generally not offended by the generic liberal bias of O. Ricardo Pimentel. It has become his trademark.
The use of this bias to denigrate, demonize and undermine the efforts of the Protect Arizona Now initiative, however, does offend me (”Coming soon, a REAL disaster film!,” Opinions, Tuesday).
He is the one who “can’t handle the truth” about illegal immigration. He says PAN is an “anti-immigrant initiative.” It is anti-fraud and seeks enforcement of existing voting and welfare laws.
Pimentel thinks PAN is aimed at Latinos – also fictional. There is no proof of this either.
He puts forth the idea that illegal immigration is somehow essential to our economy and calls for “earned legalization.” Why is lawlessness essential to this nation? Why reward bad behavior by giving amnesty to criminal trespassers?
Pimentel supports the “Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement Act” while I give two thumbs up to the “Clear Act.”
Maybe A Day Without a Mexican, even without Jack Nicholson, will set us both straight. See you at the movies, Ricardo.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0319frilet192.html
Mexico’s cooperation is still absent
Mar. 19, 2004 12:00 AM
The “Arizona Border Control (ABC) Initiative” was launched to deter terrorist activities and reduce migrant deaths in the desert and cross-border illegal trafficking of people and drugs.
The Republic complained in an editorial Wednesday that this initiative is only a “border starter kit,” and that a guest-worker program is also needed. Not exactly.
Before we create yet another worker visa program we must deport the 400,000 criminal alien absconders who have been ordered deported; send President Fox a $100 billion invoice for the yearly cost of having 10 percent of his population here in the U.S.; require Mexico to extradite criminals now under their protection; and place the Mexican military at our mutual border.
A little old-fashioned quid pro quo-type cooperation would go a long way to address this issue.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0110satlet3-105.htm
Power, greed driving this policy
Jan. 10, 2004 12:00 AM
Guest-worker programs invariably increase illegal immigration since they create welcoming cultural enclaves of foreign nationals into which the “illegals” promptly vanish.
Amnesties also encourage illegal immigration by sending the message that if an “undocumented worker” makes it over the border, he will eventually be granted legal status.
History has taught us such reforms will increase legal and illegal immigration massively, and this underworld will be an ideal environment for terrorists.
Those who employ illegal labor, at lower wages than Americans would accept, will benefit greatly. The corollary, however, is that some Americans lose out: low-paid workers, often minority Americans and legal immigrants, who must lose their jobs or accept lower wages to compete with the new arrivals.
If this is somehow about political benefits, it makes even less sense. Not from the voters in general to be sure – every poll shows that about two-thirds of the American people want less immigration rather than more.
It seems that power and greed are sending us directly to the dark side. May the force be with us.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer is treasurer of Protect Arizona Now.Power, greed driving this policy
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EV Tribune
1/8/04
�Reforms� will only draw more illegals
Guest-worker programs invariably increase illegal immigration since they create welcoming cultural enclaves of foreign nationals into which the “illegals” promptly vanish without a trace. Amnesties also encourage illegal immigration by sending the message that if an “undocumented worker” makes it over the border, he will eventually be granted legal status.
As history has taught us, such reforms will be to increase legal and illegal immigration massively, and this underworld will be an ideal environment for terrorists.
Those who employ illegal labor at lower wages than Americans would accept, will benefit greatly. The corollary, however, is that some Americans lose out: low-paid workers, often minority Americans and legal immigrants, who must lose their jobs or accept lower wages to compete with the new arrivals.
If this is somehow about political benefits, it makes even less sense. Not from the voters in general to be sure –every poll shows that about two-thirds of the American people want less immigration rather than more.
It seems that power and greed are sending us directly to the dark side. May the force be with us.
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1227satlet1-272.html
Another misstep on immigration
Dec. 27, 2003 12:00 AM
President Bush now proposes to give illegal aliens legal status, but this will do nothing to improve our national security.
In fact, it would take years and years to do background checks on the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens who could be eligible for amnesty. An illegal alien who was amnestied in 1986, after all, later masterminded the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.
Any guest-worker program leading to legal status for illegal aliens is an amnesty and threatens homeland security by encouraging more illegal immigration. Every time an elected official talks about the possibility of granting amnesty to illegal aliens, it says to would-be illegal aliens that they had better get into the United States while the getting is good.
Bush’s program would reward people who have cheated the system with permanent residence. This country is based on the rule of law; it should not be manipulated by people who have cheated their way to the front of the line.
The current recovery from economic recession is unique in post-World War II recoveries in that it comes without any benefit for American workers – just more offshore job outsourcing, low-paying jobs and an accompanying decline in the nation’s standard of living. This new guest-worker program may match any willing employer with any willing worker, but for American workers this means being displaced by cheap foreign labor and declining wages and working conditions for those fortunate enough to find or keep a job.
Rusty Childress, Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1212frilets122.html
Limit Social Security to U.S.
Dec. 12, 2003
A proposal that would allow millions of Mexicans to return home and still collect U.S. Social Security benefits sends the wrong message.
It not only rewards millions of invading “undocumented workers” for breaking immigration laws, it also drains a predicted $650 million in benefits out of Social Security by 2050. Now add that to the $15 billion in money transfers each year to Mexico.
We already have a failed IRS policy that gives illegal aliens over $200 million a year called the ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). This program was started to encourage illegal aliens to pay taxes without any possibility of prosecution or deportation.
Criminal aliens have figured out that they can walk into any IRS office and file for an ITIN using false documents and, once given the ITIN, they can file false tax returns and even false child tax credits and the IRS policy is to do nothing about it. IRS employees are not allowed to report suspected identity theft or fraud to the investigative arm of the agency.
The same policy and system will be created with this new Social Security policy. Criminal aliens will walk into any Social Security office and present what appears to be valid documentation to allow them to collect money. No employee will be allowed to report suspected fraud, and no one will investigate identity theft and fraud.
– Rusty Childress, Phoenix
The writer is treasurer of Protect Arizona Now.
### Tribune
Legalized aliens
won�t go home
Sen. John McCain, Reps. Jake Flake and Jim Kolbe, all R-Ariz., are pushing for massive amnesties for illegal aliens while 18 million Americans cannot find full-time jobs.
Knowing that the truth would not sell well, they parked the Straight Talk Express bus and rented the Obfuscation Bicycle that allows them to peddle illogical whoppers. They claim their chief aim is to stop the death of illegal aliens trying to cross our borders in the desert.
They would allow all 9 million illegal aliens in this country to apply for a work permit and a few years later to get a green card and become permanent residents.
The bill would also allow any worker in the world to apply to a U.S. business and ask for a job. Although the bill seems to provide a little bit of incentive for jobs to go first to American workers, any foreign worker who can get a job by mail would be allowed to enter the U.S. and once here to apply to
remain permanently.
These Arizona obfuscators call this a guest worker program, but these guests would never go home.
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1031frilets318.html
Why doesn’t Congress get it?
Oct. 31, 2003 12:00 AM
When and why does the “rule of law” that binds the United States into an integrated society get ignored, first, and then thwarted by those in Congress who make the laws?
Our federal government is considering a bill allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. The Dream Act, which allows illegal aliens in-state tuition, is a bad dream being propelled by Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah.
Ironically, he took an oath to serve American citizens: “To defend and protect from enemies both foreign and domestic.”
When is it time for Sen. Hatch and Congress to understand that illegal does not mean legal? That U.S. taxpayer dollars are meant for U.S. citizens? Why does the federal government, already $550 billion in the red this year, feel legal citizens should subsidize additional education for aliens who are here illegally?
It isn’t their money they are giving away; it belongs to U.S. taxpayers.
– Rusty Childress
Phoenix
The writer is treasurer of Protect Arizona Now
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East Valley Tribune 10-25-03
Legalized aliens won�t go home
Sen. John McCain, Reps. Jake Flake and Jim Kolbe, all R-Ariz., are pushing for massive amnesties for illegal aliens while 18 million Americans cannot find full-time jobs.
Knowing that the truth would not sell well, they parked the Straight Talk Express bus and rented the Obfuscation Bicycle that allows them to peddle illogical whoppers. They claim their chief aim is to stop the death of illegal aliens trying to cross our borders in the desert.
They would allow all 9 million illegal aliens in this country to apply for a work permit and a few years later to get a green card and become permanent residents.
The bill would also allow any worker in the world to apply to a U.S. business and ask for a job. Although the bill seems to provide a little bit of incentive for jobs to go first to American workers, any foreign worker who can get a job by mail would be allowed to enter the U.S. and once here to apply to
remain permanently.
These Arizona obfuscators call this a guest worker program, but these guests would never go home.
RUSTY CHILDRESS
PHOENIX
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0929monlets296.html
So it’s just a policy matter . . .
Sept. 29, 2003 12:00 AM
Let’s see if I understand how the world works lately.
If you smoke three packs a day for 40 years and die of lung cancer, your family blames the tobacco company.
If your grandchildren are brats without manners, you blame television.
If your friend is shot by a madman, you blame the gun manufacturer.
If an illegal alien dies in the desert, The Republic blames flawed immigration policy.
-Rusty Childress
Phoenix
The writer is treasurer of Protect Arizona Now.
###
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0816satlets163.html
Strengthen the borders first
Aug. 16, 2003 12:00 AM
Republic editorial writer Linda Valdez states that “business needs and wants” 6 million to 10 million illegal immigrants to transform into “guest workers” with the recently introduced McCain-Kolbe-Flake legislation (”Immigration plan stirs up storm,” Opinions, Monday).
Valdez forgets that citizenship is always a privilege, never a right, and cannot simply be earned by being here, no matter what a chamber of commerce or National Council of La Raza claims.
Guest-worker status collapses the distinction between legal and illegal, and even though Valdez sees this proposal as humane, it does nothing to address our country’s porous borders. The point we must keep in mind is that no matter what terminology is used, having these “workers” here is fiscally irresponsible.
Illegal immigration is at the root of Arizona’s economic problems. It’s also an issue that politicians are afraid to touch. But we cannot ignore it. It depresses wages, taxes our schools and health-care systems, increases the burden on our criminal justice system and even increases the incidence of fraud.
Bureau of Immigration and Customs enforcement officials estimate that two-thirds of the immigrant population enters the country using fraudulent identification papers, motivated mainly by the availability of work in the United States.
We must first strengthen our borders before transforming illegal aliens into guest workers. If not, there will continue to be a needless loss of life answering America’s “Help Wanted” call.
Rusty Childress
Phoenix
The writer is treasurer of Protect Arizona Now.
###
East Valley Tribune AZ
Letters
http://epaper.aztrib.com/Default/Skins/EVT/Client.asp?skin=EVT&Daily=EVT
August 12 2003
CONTACT Mail: Tribune Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1547, Mesa, AZ 85211; or P.O. Box 1150, Scottsdale, AZ 85252. Email: [email protected] Fax: (480) 898-6362 or in Scottsdale: (480) 970-2360 Call: Bob Schuster at (480) 898-6507 or cartoonist Mike Ritter at (480) 898-6425.
–
Guest-worker plan puts cart before horse
The recently proposed guest-worker program will not improve national security and is fiscally irresponsible.
Illegal immigration is at the root of Arizona�s economic problems. It�s also an issue that politicians are afraid to touch. But we cannot ignore it.
It depresses wages, taxes our schools and health care systems, increases the burden on our criminal justice system, even increases the incidence of fraud.
Arizona attracts its share of America�s illegal immigrants not just because we are a border state but because of the taxpayer subsidized incentives to come here: hiring halls, police sanctuary policies, lowcost higher education, acceptance of foreign identification cards, the possibility of a driver�s license and the like.
As a rule, illegal migrants don�t have health insurance, use emergency rooms for routine medical care and don�t have money to pay their bills. Arizona�s hospitals incur $1.4 billion a year in uncompensated care. Many hospitals have been forced to close.
Our city, county and state jails and prisons are overcrowded because of the large number of incarcerated illegal immigrants. In the federal system, about 16 percent of inmates are illegal immigrants costing the state $84.3 million. We cannot build prisons fast enough to hold them, and it forces the early release of criminals into society.
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials estimate that two-thirds of the immigrant population enters the country using fraudulent identification papers, motivated mainly by the availability of work in the United States.
We must first strengthen our borders before we invite illegal aliens to become guest workers, otherwise we put the cart before the horse.
RUSTY CHILDRESS
TREASURER
PROTECT ARIZONA NOW
PHOENIX
###
BORDER-JUMPERS USE US AS DOORMAT
July 12, 2003
I am too willing to offend illegal aliens and their allies to ever become a politician.
It is politically incorrect to demand that we militarize our open borders and deport illegal aliens, and it is also my constitutional right. In my view, it is insane to tolerate mass unskilled immigration and open border policies.
This is not a thinly veiled attack on non-citizens, I am declaring war against anyone who enters our country through the back door. Doing so is anti-American and disrespectful to our rule of law. It is entirely unfair to legal immigrants playing by the rules to let illegals use Arizona as a doormat.
Arizona is a magnet for a massive inflow of border jumpers by attracting and harboring them, which is leading to catastrophic consequences. Drug traffickers, terrorists and criminal vagrant trespassers are easily cashing in on our government�s complacency and denial. There is blood on their hands for incentivizing illegals to cross the desert to take advantage of our so-called �free country.�
September 11 was a wake-up call and our government is the sleeping giant. America is the most powerful nation on earth yet we fail to protect our own borders. The fact is that this nation is not one bit more secure because of these artificial borders than we were on 9/11. Ronald Reagan said �a nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.� Certainly, our borders are not the only ones worth protecting but they are the only ones we have an unfettered right to.
It is Government�s duty to protect us against all attackers, not to sweep national security under the carpet. However, lax immigration law is killing Americans like slain Park Ranger Kris Eggle and many officers from a multitude of agencies. Blame Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Agencies for that, not the front-line officers who are more than willing to do their job.
What corrupt special interest groups have we caved into on this issue? Mexico is clearly exporting poverty to stimulate their economy, helping line the pockets of druglords and coyotes while focusing on recolonization of the southwest, as if they have a right to it. We must either open the border or protect it, but we cannot continue to straddle the fence to placate the wishes of a Mexican Government.
Is this about protecting the cheap labor supply that is stealing jobs from Americans? There is more than enough labor from millions of people in third world countries waiting in line to immigrate here legally, and from those on welfare who are waiting to work. At least naturalized citizens assimilate into our culture by speaking english, by valuing our education system and our laws.
Are we actually afraid that our economy will collapse without illegals? Ha! I say that deporting millions illegal aliens will solve our nations unemployment problem, ultimately preserving the quality of life for American citizens who deserve these jobs in the first place. Deportation also serves to mitigate urban sprawl and the depletion of our natural resources.
Are we determined to have history repeat itself by implementing amnesty or another failed guest worker program? These do nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration, they even make it worse. The only thing palatable about these programs, including the use of Matricular Consular cards, is that it clearly registers and identifies illegals to be deported.
I declare that I am not willing to render foolish the dreams and sacrifices of our forefathers in the name of political correctness. I say, patriotism is NOT a sin.
###
CENTER ARTICLE BIASED
June 28, 2003
Yvonne Wingett’s story on the City’s Labor Center meeting is just another example of the Republics biased reporting for which there is no excuse.
The real story here was that the city disrespected the wishes of the taxpaying citizens who attended the meeting, over the invading illegal aliens that didn’t. Several disgusted residents submitted photographs showing criminal activity that was a direct result of the center. Illegal use of shopping carts and signs, begging, loitering, jay walking, littering, trespassing, and off hours operations of the center to name a few.
Testimony indicated that the center caused a significant increase in vehicular and pedestrian traffic, a downgrading of property values, that it was materially detrimental to people residing and working in the vicinity, to adjacent property, to the neighborhood and to the public welfare in general.
The center has created more problems that it has solved, but the city in an effort to look good, and avoid looking bad, remains determined.
Rusty Childress
Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0616monlet164.html
Protecting the U.S.
Jun. 16, 2003 12:00 AM
In his letter Wednesday (”Let immigrants go to work”), Cletis Harry Beeglehe wonders why people are hostile to the illegal aliens looking to earn a livelihood.
First he should consider that it is a criminal offense to cross the border, seek employment, drive uninsured without a license, apply for state benefits and for the employer to hire an illegal.
Second, our open borders are porous enough to invite terrorists and drug traffickers, and the border is rapidly becoming an enormous trash dump.
The environmental damage of the invasion from human fecal material, new roads and trails, wildfires, hundreds of abandoned vehicles, water bottles, clothing, clandestine airstrips, graffiti, and diseases negatively affects our fragile desert soil, water supplies and habitats for endangered species.
Perhaps he can understand the need to protect the environment of this nation by putting the military on the border to augment our Border Patrol and our Forest Service personnel.
This is the only solution that would stop the degradation of the land, the invasion, and the hostility toward illegal aliens.
Rusty Childress
Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0505monlet054.html
Border reform won’t fix it
May. 5, 2003
O. Ricardo Pimentel’s recent column “Mean, useless bills target migrants,” inferring that requesting a voter to show an I.D. somehow violates their civil rights (House Bill 2345), and that denying lawbreakers (migrants) the privilege of a free education and health care is unnecessary, is subject to debate.
His biased viewpoint shows a total disrespect for the laws of the United States and is as un-American as it gets. Public opinion is unfortunately being created and maintained by this one-sided liberal brainwashing that he calls journalism.
Please publish one unimpeachably honest article reporting the impact of this alien invasion to the taxpayers of this state, showing how this criminal back-door approach to “cheap labor” is actually far from cheap.
Illegal immigrants are an economic burden to society. They are filling up our jails, prisons, universities, welfare lines, hospitals and K-12 schools, all at taxpayers’ expense.
They drive down wages, create urban sprawl and drive away good businesses, and their sales tax revenues. As a result, state revenues have decreased and the budget has exploded, spelling economic disaster.
Immigration reform will only make matters worse. Laws against hiring the undocumented must simply be enforced, and we must fortify our borders with National Guard and military while using the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to deport all 20 million existing lawbreakers before we too become the Third World country the migrants are running from.
Rusty Childress
Phoenix
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0322satlet4-221.html
Illegal arrivals draining Arizona
Mar. 22, 2003 12:00 AM
Illegal migrants dilute the necessary resources that are dedicated for those individuals who play by the rules.
The system of public welfare in Arizona is modeled to include a population of steady birth rate, migration from other states and legal immigration from other countries. The system is “healthy” when the model maintains its integrity. Much of Arizona’s budget woes are due to corruption in the system caused by lawbreakers who locate here illegally.
The system has become overwhelmed by massive illegal entry into Arizona. The uncontrolled addition of illegal immigrants has ruptured the model for which the system was designed.
Education, health services, welfare, public safety, the judicial and correctional systems were not designed for, nor are they able to keep pace with, the demands placed on them. Contrary to liberal thinking, it is not due to a lack of funding increases by the Legislature.
Logical thinking dictates that the more Arizona offers in benefits, the more people will find their way here. Simply put, we will never catch up. There is not enough money in all of Arizona to finance the social ills of every country south of our border.
There are some difficult decisions that have to be made for the survival of the systems put in place to protect and educate our legally residing population:
We must patrol the border with our own force of trained professionals. The federal government’s shunting of its responsibility in this area has necessitated this course of action. The cost to implement and manage this endeavor is vastly overshadowed by the cost-saving benefit of fewer individuals in the system.
Tax increases will destroy our already fragile economy. In order to balance the budgets of this and future years, we must not burden the legal population of this state with tax increases designed to benefit the “illegal” population.
My hope is that conservative lawmakers will not shirk from that promise, nor shy away from making decisions that will protect the “American Dream” for future generations of Arizonans.
Mean-spirited and cold-hearted? No, just patriotic and law-abiding!
– Rusty Childress
Phoenix
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