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Ranchers.net

Commentary: Focus on border enforcement, not wall

Web Posted: 12/27/2006 07:26 PM CST

Gov. Rick Perry


A famous poet once wrote that "good fences make good neighbors." However, this author did not have to deal with the realities of homeland security, where a wall is only as strong as it is fortified by law enforcement personnel.

Building a wall along the entire Texas-Mexico border would not only be cost-prohibitive, it would create a false sense of security. And unless the federal government is willing to put enforcement personnel all along such a barrier — something it has refused to do along a border without fencing — it would be no more successful at keeping illegal immigrants out of Texas than the Rio Grande.

Strategic fencing in high-population areas makes sense. But I would like to see the federal government invest in increased border security operations such as Operation Rio Grande rather than a 1,200-mile wall.

With joint law enforcement operations, we have managed to reduce crime in areas patrolled by border sheriffs by up to 60 percent during surge operations. With fixed wing and rotary assets in the air, more law enforcement boots on the ground and a stronger boat patrol presence, we have virtually shut down drug and human smuggling activity during intensive operations. The success of these operations is the reason I will ask the Legislature for $100 million to secure our border.

As I have said repeatedly, you can't have homeland security without border security, and there is no sense in reforming immigration laws if we cannot enforce them. And I have said equally as often that immigration reform without border security is meaningless.

Divisive language is not constructive or useful. We cannot be a nation that is anti-immigrant because we are a nation of immigrants. In fact, foreign-born citizens are some of the strongest supporters of tougher border security. Clearly, something has to be done because hospitals, schools and other service providers are being flooded with illegal immigrants at a great cost to taxpayers.

But neither amnesty nor mass deportation is the answer. The first unfairly rewards those who broke our laws, and the latter is not only unrealistic and unenforceable, but it would devastate our economy.

That's why I support a guest worker program that takes undocumented workers off the black market and legitimizes their economic contributions without providing them citizenship status.

I would rather know who is crossing our border legally to work instead of not knowing who is crossing our border illegally to work. A guest worker program that provides foreign workers with an ID removes the incentive for millions of people to illegally enter our country. It also adds those workers to our tax base, generates revenue for needed social services and can be done without providing citizenship.

Along with millions of Americans, I think it is wrong to reward those who broke our laws with citizenship ahead of those who have followed the law and are waiting to enter this country legally. And like millions of Americans, I do not support amnesty.

With a more secure border and a reasonable guest worker program, we can allow guest workers to help build our economy without offering citizenship. Many don't even want to become citizens — they just want to provide for their families back home.

We just finished an election where the Washington politicians gave us a lot of rhetoric on immigration, but no real solutions. We need Washington to be part of the solution. For us, it is not just a subject of intense debate, it directly impacts how we live.

I promise I will use reason and fact, not emotion and fear, to help us resolve this issue in a spirit of unity. We need to work toward solutions, not slogans. We need immigration reform that doesn't compromise our security and security that doesn't compromise our economy.

And I believe we can accomplish all of this with a guest worker program and real security measures that utilize our law enforcement tools to help secure our border.



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