Published: October 30, 2006 05:14 pm      

Caleb's Corner: Illegal immigration still a problem

I remember Pat Buchanan railing against illegal immigration at the Republican Party’s Convention in 1992.

Liberals seethed with anger.

Guess what? Illegal immigration is still an issue.

Poll after poll reflect it. Conversations with Oklahoma politicians confirm it.

When will Washington get it? I don’t know the answer, but I do know it’s only going to get worse until something is done.

In other words, Republican fat cats who want access to cheap labor and Democrats who want access to easy votes will have to face the music eventually.

Many Oklahoma Democrats are even getting in on the action, including Poteau state Sen. Kenneth Corn and local state House candidates Lee Roy Tucker and Scott Inman. All have expressed concerns about the effects of illegal immigration on the state’s finances and want to do something about it.

Largely as an election-year ploy, Congress recently passed a law that is supposed to provide up to 700 miles of border fence. That’s a nice first start, but something that should’ve been done back in ‘92 when Buchanan was talking about sealing the border.

Now comes the revelation that maybe only half of the 700-mile fence will be built due to the use of technology for a “virtual fence” and the creation of access roads along the border. Maybe in five years we’ll have the beginnings of a fence on our southern border.

The latest I heard is a federal government contract with Boeing for development of sensors, cameras, and other equipment. The three-year contract is estimated to be worth over $2 billion.

Now comes the news that the federal government has been using our tax dollars to successfully prosecute two Border Patrol agents for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler in the butt.

On Oct. 19, a federal judge in Texas sentenced agents Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean to 11 and 12 years in prison because they shot smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila while he was evading arrest.

The smuggler was given immunity for 743 pounds of marijuana found in a van he was driving near Fabens, Texas. Aldrete-Davila is now suing the federal government for a cool $5 million.

Three jurors have apparently signed statements saying they were pressured into a guilty verdict for Ramos and Compean. Not that it matters.

"This thing stinks to high heaven," said T.J. Bonner, president of the border agents’ union, the National Border Patrol Council, as reported in the Washington Times. "I am outraged and at a loss to explain why there were so many irregularities in this case. The only thing that is clear is that the prosecutors pointed their guns at the wrong guys, the good guys, and they let the bad guy walk. Now they want to send these agents to prison for doing their job. That offends me, and I believe most Americans would agree," he said.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- no conservative she -- has called on Penn. Sen. Arlen Spector, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to hold a hearing on the case. Feinstein also sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking that he personally review the case.

"It appears that the facts do not add up or justify the length of the sentences for these agents, let alone their conviction on multiple counts," Feinstein said. "Border agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders. Undue prosecution of Border Patrol Agents could have a chilling effect on their ability to carry out their duties.”

Concern over the lack of border control was one reason I voted for Buchanan in 1992’s Republican presidential primary.

It’s taken 14 years, but Democrats seem to be finally warming up to the issue. It’s about time.

Somewhere, Aldrete-Davila must be laughing his butt off.

Supporters of Ramos and Compean have set up a Web site, www.justicefortheborderpatrol.com, to raise public support and funds for the agents and their families.