Early next year, the Senate will consider the various flavors of "comprehensive" immigration "reform", all of which are more or less amnesty schemes.

According to Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) in "Frist broadens Senate debate on border security":

"We're going to start with border security, but in the same time we're on the floor we're going to build on that and extend that to the enforcement issues and the issues of more comprehensive reform, and give guest-worker [plans] full consideration."

The interview he did with Hannity and Colmes reveals that semantics plays as large a role in this "debate" as ever.

...illegal immigrants have to be stopped, and they can be placed through a legal channel, which we need to develop and specify, and give them incentives to go through that legal channel... But there's a right way and a wrong way. And we're going to define that right way, and then we're going to enforce those laws... What we need to do is define legal and illegal, then enforce those laws aggressively...

Those terms are already defined, and politicians don't enforce them. If we redefine those terms, will politicians then suddenly enforce the new laws? Since politicians currently do what small but powerful pressure groups want and don't do what their constituents want, it would appear that those terms would have to be defined to satisfy those pressure groups. What we really need is political reform that would replace the current leaders with politicians who'll do what U.S. citizens want them to do instead of playing word games.

See also Frist's breathless "Breaking News On Border Security" in which he solicits comments on his blog. Instead, I'd suggest sending FAXes to him and other Senators suggesting they spend their time on enforcing our current laws rather than just trying to sell us a bill of goods.

"We are moving to end the old ‘Catch And Release’ style of border enforcement, increasing removals by tens of thousands a year."—Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 18.

Secretary Chertoff’s co-opting of the term "Catch And Release" is more evidence that the Bush Administration has no interest in enforcing immigration laws away from the borderlands. It’s really only interested in its "Temporary Worker Program" a.k.a amnesty. Thus Chertoff also said:

"The comprehensive approach we have taken to removal can be applied more broadly to other aspects of border and interior enforcement. In that sense, what we are doing in our removal efforts is simply a down payment on our overall border enforcement initiative, which we are designing as a complement to the President’s Temporary Worker Program."

And here’s what I think is the underlying reason why America’s immigration law enforcement is in shambles, with its deportation system remaining inexplicably paralyzed by federal litigation and rigged in favor of relief from removal.

Internationalists in the Bush and Clinton Administrations have decided to confine immigration enforcement only to the U.S. borderlands…until there’s no enforcement at all, because the U.S., Mexico and Canada will have been merged into one unit behind a new "North American security perimeter."

This shared Canada-U.S-Mexico "security perimeter" is exactly what the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America has in mind for America someday.

And wouldn’t you know . . . DHS Secretary Chertoff himself is a signer of the SPP’s report to leaders [PDF report] on the New "North American" Order for Security and Prosperity Partnership.

And the SPP just so happens to be a dead ringer for step numero uno toward goals outlined in the Building a North American Community report [PDF] by the ubiquitous Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

The CFR's Building a North American Community report was signed without dissent by the former chief immigration law enforcement officer of the U.S.—the Clinton Administration’s Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner—Doris M. Meissner.

Read the reports side by side for yourself [SPP report] [CFR report] and find out what the internationalist cabal has planned for America.

So who cares if there’s no interior immigration law enforcement in the United States, as long as there’s a "North American security perimeter" in the works for what former California Governor Gray Davis called the "magnificent region" that a merged U.S. and Mexico would comprise?

This may sound shocking—but remember, the same sort of elite consensus hornswoggled the historic nations of Europe into the "European Union."

And after all, under the Chertoff-Meissner plan, aren’t we all North Americans now?

Read the full story in my latest column on VDARE.com.

The Bush administration seems to be conducting an offensive to get "comprehensive" immigration "reform", including a "Temporary Worker Program". That's the new term for their "guest" worker program.

To see what this looks like at ground-level, check out the guest list at today's Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Fixing a Broken System confab from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It features First Data (owners of Western Union), Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods... More on that here.

And, DHS head Michael Chertoff testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. You should take news coverage of this with a huge grain of salt.

First, from Drudge, come these headlines in red:

HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF: EXPEL ALL ILLEGALS... 'Our goal is to return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions'...

Those headlines and the first two paragraphs of the AFP article Drudge references are wrong. Read Chertoff's prepared remarks here: dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=45&content=4890

He wasn't referring to deporting all illegal aliens. He was in fact only referring to those OTMs ("Other than Mexicans") caught at the border. Most of them are given a notice to appear and released into the U.S. and never heard from again. He pledged to end that "catch and release" by adding new detention space.

And:

The Cabinet officials emphasized that the president strongly opposed an amnesty for illegal aliens, and Chertoff agreed with Kennedy that trying to deport all illegal immigrants would not be possible. "It would take billions and billions and billions of dollars to do it," Chertoff said.

Shades of Asa Hutchinson. And, from his prepared remarks:

Ending illegal immigration means both tough enforcement and action to reduce the very demand that draws illegal migrants into the country. Therefore, our strategy of reforming our immigration system is a three-pillar, comprehensive approach that focuses on controlling the border, building a robust interior enforcement program, and establishing a Temporary Worker Program.

That's the new word for their "guest" worker program. A question: what happens when those "temporary" workers have U.S. citizen children? Does anyone in their right mind think that we would be able to deport mixed families if they don't want to return?

Can't you just imagine Sen. Teddy Kennedy joining with Rep. Nancy Pelosi to propose an "adjustment" of their status allowing these millions of formerly "temporary" workers to stay here permanently?

Isn't anyone who would call them "Temporary" workers just lying to you?

Please attempt to counter Bush's offensive with one of your own: contact your representatives and tell them just to enforce the laws.

10/17/05 - “How Can I Tell My Children I Won’t Be Home For Christmas Because I’m Working An Important Job For Our Country?”—Another Federal Whistleblower Writes VDARE.COM

Policies have consequences. And as long as the United States continues to have an immigration non-enforcement system for letting illegal aliens into the country – not to mention handing-out employment authorization, countless benefits, and legal status – rather than actually deporting anyone, more and more Americans inevitably will get wise to the sinister charade.

Another consequence of the paralysis of federal immigration law enforcement is the exacting toll it is having on federal officers who must labor in a world of supposed “law enforcement” turned upside down. Of all the countless patriotic Americans currently devoting themselves to fighting immigration anarchy, the most courageous of all sounding the alarm are the federal employees themselves.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of government employees out there who have the knowledge of what is going on, but yet do next to nothing to stop this madness. So the courage of one more fine American speaking the truth at great personal risk is cause for celebration.

I received one such courageous e-mail from a VDARE.com reader last week, with a plea for help. As the reader is a self-identified federal employee, I provide the following disclaimer:

“The opinions expressed on this page do not in any way represent the official position of the DOJ, EOIR, BIA, DHS, CBP, ICE, CIS or any other branch of the United States government . . . but maybe they will someday.”

The reader asks: “[p]lease help us and convince the politicians that they must change their policies and begin enforcing the immigration laws of the United States. I want to do my job – please give me a reason to do it to the best of my abilities.”

The frustrations expressed by the reader are based on the same inherently flawed, sabotaged or unenforced immigration laws and procedures that I have been identifying chapter-and-verse, including most notably the ultimate reason for being of the illegal alien “Catch and Release” program itself – the astonishingly unknown Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Immigration Court system of hearings and appeals within the U.S. Department of Justice.

In figuring out what’s wrong with federal immigration law enforcement, all roads lead to the EOIR.

The EOIR is the reason why illegal aliens freshly apprehended near the border are released to the streets in droves – to supposedly wait for their “hearing.” And unless the aliens are being summarily removed, the EOIR Immigration Court system [of perpetual litigation] is the reason why they’re being detained for any length of time at all!

The EOIR is the reason why the Treason Lobby and their fellow travelers in the federal immigration bureaucracy do NOT want summary removal provisions – like Immigration Act Section 235(b) – fully up and running across the country . . . because their “clients” would then not be able to use the EOIR as a gateway to endless federal court litigation. The Treason Lobby and its handmaidens in the private immigration bar actually want their clients to be in EOIR removal proceedings . . . (ironically) so they can remain in the United States.

And since federal officers have to keep releasing illegal aliens and criminal alien residents time and time again for this charade – so the aliens can supposedly voluntarily show up one day for an EOIR Immigration Court hearing – that just might help to explain why federal employees seek greener pastures in the private sector.

The tragedy here – another unintended consequence of the failure of federal immigration law enforcement – is that the federal government desperately needs American patriots like the VDARE.com reader on the force, rather than the sycophants and lackeys who invariably flock to and thrive in the federal bureaucracy.

Please consider the extraordinary report from a VDARE.com reader featured in my latest column:

• 10/17/05 - “How Can I Tell My Children I Won’t Be Home For Christmas Because I’m Working An Important Job For Our Country?”—Another Federal Whistleblower Writes VDARE.COM

Also in the Juan Mann Archive on VDARE.com:

• 05/09/05 - Raft Man of the Rio Grande

• 09/06/04 - Another VDARE.COM Whistleblower Says Customs Crippling Border Enforcement

• 04/04/05 - Coyotes Change Tactics—Co-opt Border Patrol

Seemingly wherever they go the Minuteman Project is met by violent, far-left protesters who have rather curious interpretations of the First Amendment. The latest example comes from Chicago, where five protesters were arrested for assaulting cops outside a MMP meeting in Arlington Heights.

The Tribune:

...About 120 police officers with riot gear and police dogs were summoned from other suburbs to restore order.

The protesters arrested were part of a group that included dozens who identified themselves as members of socialist, anarchist and anti-war groups...

But Arlington Heights Police Sgt. Richard Marcinkowski said some Minutemen participants escalated the situation by coming outside to debate protestors.

"We had two unreasonable factions," Marcinkowski said, "and we got caught in the middle."

A second counter-protest of about 300 immigrant advocates also materialized and briefly joined the first protest of leftist activists.

Police said the second group, organized by the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois, had nothing to do with the violence or disruptions...

The Sun-Times report doesn't go in to the ideologies of the protesters.

There are several links about this here, and pictures are here. A sample from the last link:

It didn't take too long before protesters decided the resistance to this group needed to be more spirited. Some youth started dancing in front of the entranceway making it difficult for the Minutemen to pass in an out. There were drums and chants. Then officials of the conference started getting, well annoyed would be one way to put it. But we were also annoyed that we have to live in a world where such groups like this exist.

At a certain point people turned from dancing to being more determined to stop the Minutemen from entering this conference or letting this conference just go down. Protesters linked arms as the police tried to drag people away. And Minutemen organizers were trying to argue down the protestors and failing. The police tried to push, pull and pry the protesters form this entrance way but failed. A great cheer went up as the protesters stood firm and blocked the way.

UPDATE: There are pictures and a report from one of the MMP volunteers here. And, note that the World Can't Wait folks appear to be active in other areas; see this.

UPDATE 2: I should have seen this coming. One of the spokeswomen and "initiators" of World Can't Wait is Sunsara Taylor, who's also a supporter of the... Revolutionary Communist Party. As pointed out at DK, their domain name is registered to Clark Kissinger, another "initiator" of WCW. Among many other highlights of his resume (dissident.info) is this: "Supported Bob Avakian's work to build a real communist party in the U.S." For a link to something MMP-specific, see rwor.org/a/019/debra-sweet-world-cant-wait.htm . Everyone should ask the Sun-Times why they didn't discuss this in their article.

Hm:

A leading Republican Party committeeman has joined the Minuteman border patrol, bringing new credibility to a group of volunteers labeled as "vigilantes” by President Bush.

Dr. Michael Vickers, the veterinarian who first identified the strain of anthrax later implicated in the killing of five people in 2001, said he joined the Minutemen because federal and state officials have failed to seriously address illegal immigration, the Washington Times reports.

"Over the past five years, the illegal-alien traffic has been horrendous,” said Vickers, who owns a ranch in south Texas.

---

Dr. Vickers - who is a longtime supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry - said he was "very disappointed" by President Bush's characterization of the Minutemen as vigilantes.
"I have supported every Republican from dogcatcher to president, and I am disappointed that the party can't see or doesn't understand the magnitude of this problem," he told the Times.

"The response by Congress and the White House has been anemic.”

Indeed. Dr. Vickers' take is mainstream in the GOP; the Bush administration's is far outside the mainstream. Which goes along way to explaining why the "trust me" strategy vis a vis Harriet Miers isn't working out.

Vickers warned: "The threat of terrorism is real and with the hordes of people coming across this border every day, there's no guarantee that many of them are not terrorists looking to bring harm to the United States.”

Dr. Vickers has found documents, letters and money on his ranch from a number of countries, including Sudan and China.

After all these years, the path of least resistance for terrorists to enter the USA remains open. It's a colossal and preventable disaster waiting to happen.

A VDARE.com reader points out that Florida state representative David Rivera (R-Miami) introduced a bill in the legislature in 2004 that "would punish Cuban Refugees who traveled back to Cuba by cutting off access to Medicaid, Food stamps and housing assistance."

Rivera’s bill was predictably condemned by the Treason Lobby’s fellow-travelers in Cuba as "a half-baked scheme."

Given the magnet of immigration benefit fraud and the accompanying corruption of the refugee and asylum system, why would a newly-minted lawful permanent resident (former refugee or asylee) immediately travel back to the country from which he or she supposedly fled because of "persecution"?

Answer: to arrange for more family members to come to the United States, of course!—under the family-chain immigrant petitioning made possible by the 1965 Immigration Act.

• Abolition of the special preferences of the Cuban Adjustment Act.

• Revocation of status and benefits to 'refugees' who travel back-and-forth to their native countries.

Maybe these are ideas whose time has come?

Find out the full story in my latest column on VDARE.com

• 10/10/05 - Cubans Overrunning Florida Keys. Guess Who's Paying For It?

Also from the Juan Mann archive:

• 04/05/04—South Florida Confidential: Upper Keys Times Blows The Whistle On Refugee Scam

• 04/12/04—VDARE.COM Reader Reveals More Refugee Benefit Fraud

A.E. Smith has a first-hand report, with photos.

As previously discussed, illegal aliens are being allowed to take Katrina rebuilding jobs.

Since that time, Senator Harry Reid supported amnesty for illegal aliens, and in his speech he specifically referenced those Hispanic immigrants who are "living in the shadows." The only problem is that he was refering to those illegal aliens in Biloxi who are taking jobs that could and should go to those Americans who were affected by the storm. Linda Chavez said something similar.

And, Gregory Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Times went even further, predicting that "La Nueva Orleans" would become like Los Angeles.

From the other side, Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA) came out against Vicente Fox' offer to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Just recently, the WSJ reported on an immigration raid of a Red Cross shelter in Long Beach, MS. It includes this:

undocumented workers are likely to be a major part of the massive cleanup and rebuilding, competing for jobs against some non-Hispanics thrown out of work by the hurricanes.

And, a CSM article contains this:

At a time when Latino immigrants are expected to form a big part of the Gulf Coast reconstruction labor pool, the Department of Homeland Security has temporarily suspended sanctioning employers who hire workers unable to prove their citizenship, essentially allowing contractors to hire undocumented workers.

Perhaps most worrisome of all, Customs and Border Protection seems to have established a new policy to allow in relief workers from other countries. Steven Gregory of KFI AM 640 Los Angeles has obtained a copy of an internal memo which he described on the air earlier today. The memo sounds very similar to something that was already published here, although some of the language of the new memo doesn't appear in that version. The memo seems to give CBP personnel the ability to invite in anyone who says they're here to do rebuilding work.

KFI confirmed the memo, and discussed this with a CBP spokeswoman.

UPDATE: Steven Gregory says that what's at the last link is the same memo that he has; apparently my 'finds' at that page for phrases said over the air were in error.

And, the Dallas Morning News reports on an angry townhall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6 in "Businesses lash out at FEMA". NO businesses are concerned about no-bid contracts going to out of state firms, while local businesses are shut out.

Buried near the end of the article by Karen Brooks comes this:

...In a passionate speech that brought the crowd to a standing ovation, [mayor Ray Nagin] criticized the no-bid contracts awarded by FEMA in the days after the hurricane and demanded that the nation's big recovery contractors hire local workers at decent wages...

He added that businesses are probably wondering how the city can "make sure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers."

He apparently was referring to the hiring of immigrant workers at low wages. Calls to Mr. Nagin's spokeswoman, Sally Foreman, to clarify the remark were not returned Thursday...

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I take that last bit to be an attempt by the DMN to play PC Police and imply that Nagin's remarks were, as they say, "insensitive". I was unable to get in touch with either Brooks or Foreman to get more information but if I do I'll update this post.

UPDATE 2: The AP offers a report that the Houston Chronicle titles "Hispanics doing much of the cleanup in New Orleans". As you can imagine, they're actually referring to illegal aliens. The AP starts out with a few stock paragraphs about them doing the dirty jobs Americans won't do. Then, it describes the very unsafe conditions under which they're working, even giving the name of one of the companies involved. What they describe is what happens when our "leaders" support illegal immigration, and this whole matter should be a major scandal. Please contact your representatives as well as the media and suggest they push this issue.