Feds are the problem, not the cure, on illegal immigration

by D.A. King, Marietta Daily Journal, December 8, 2004

Question: What was one of the first things that the 9/11 murderers did when they were allowed to enter our nation?

Answer: Obtain a driver's license - the universally accepted identifier in our country.

Between them, the 19 America-hating highjackers had no difficulty in collecting sixty-three driver's licenses, from several states, including Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. At present, 11 states issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

That is important to note in light of the recent Congressional fight over the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (the "Intel Bill") - a piece of legislation that came out of the U.S. House as HR 10, which had taken recommendations from the summer's 9/11 Commission study.

One of those recommendations was that the federal government standardize the requirements for each of our 50 states for the issuance of a driver's license.

There was a provision in the bill that would have banned the issuance of a drivers' license to people who reside in America illegally. It was a provision that would have made our national standards for a driver's license nearly as secure as those of Mexico's and greatly increased our internal security.

It was a provision that would have made life much more complicated for what Georgia state Sen. Sam Zamarippa estimates to be the more than 20 million illegal aliens in our nation.

However, it was a provision that would have made it more difficult for the president to operate the ongoing illegal labor auction that benefits the corporations that contribute millions of dollars to both political parties.

The horror of the events of 9/11 should have changed our national security and border enforcement practices forever. It did not. Since then, illegal immigration has increased and in the year 2003, two states, New Mexico and Maryland, actually passed laws allowing illegals to obtain a driver's license.

Against strong and constant opposition, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R- Wis.), led a heroic but futile fight to keep the provision in the bill that was aimed at overhauling our internal security.

From where did the opposition come? Who would publicly oppose an effort to deny illegal aliens the document that we use to board a plane, purchase explosives and weapons, wire money and generally blend into mainstream America?

Here is a quote from U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) regarding the driver's license provision that she helped kill - "These were highly controversial and divisive provisions, many of which were opposed by the administration."

The president of the United States led the fight to remove the provision that would deny driver's licenses to illegal aliens in the United States.

An action alert from The National Council of The Race (aka "La Raza"), an organization devoted to assisting illegal aliens and one that works tirelessly to obtain for them the rights of citizens, calls the provision "ill-conceived, anti-immigrant and anti-civil liberty."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), a leader in the fight to secure American borders and enforce our immigration laws, is quoted as saying, "Securing the borders is a philosophical problem for the president. He is an 'open borders' guy, and that's just it."

It is difficult to guess in which camp the largest sigh of relief was heard when the final vote was made in the U.S. Senate: the boardrooms of corporate America, the offices of the vast illegal alien lobby, or the White House.

As someone who has regular contact with Georgia state legislators, I hope that I can remain polite and respectful the next time one of them attempts to dodge the hard decisions that must be made on a state level regarding the illegal immigration crisis in Georgia by dismissing it with the remark that "illegal immigration is a federal problem."

As was demonstrated on the Intel Bill, the federal government is the problem.

For this angry American, securing our republic is not "controversial" or "divisive."

What would our grandfathers say? What will our children say?

D.A. King is a resident of Marietta and founder of The American Resistance Foundation, a nationwide coalition of citizens that actively opposes illegal immigration.

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