CircleTheWagons.net

By Nick Dial

The moon is non- existent. The darkness is so dense one could feel claustrophobic as it closes in around them. Sgt. Henderson checks his watch, 0315 hours. His surroundings look surreal as he peers through his night vision cope. The landscape around him is alive with the eerie green hue of his night vision. The locusts are busy at work, making a droning ambient noise that reminds the rest of the world of their presence. Sgt. Henderson checks his watch again. “Three more hours, and then I can go home,” he thinks to himself. Suddenly the locust stop and the surrounding area is cast over with an unsettling calm. Just as Sgt. Henderson thinks how odd, an unmistakable sound arrives; engines. Sgt. Henderson continues to peer through his night vision scope when he sees them. Two pickup trucks driving in tandem, the trucks are blacked out and hard to see with the naked eye. Sgt. Henderson calls in an order over the radio. Suddenly vehicles move up and block the path of the two trucks as armed operatives advance. The operatives surround the trucks yelling orders to exit. The occupants exit the truck with their hands in the air, they are quickly zip tied and secured. Inside the trucks Sgt. Henderson and his team find Ak-47’s, water, maps, bails of marijuana, and what appears to be a storage container about 4 feet by 5 feet in size.  Upon opening the container, they are horrified as they see the interface of a sophisticated nuclear device. The only identity of its origin is text which appears to be Russian.

Does this sound like a page from a war novel? In reality these kinds of raids take place every month along the south border of the United States and Mexico. So far, there has not been a nuclear device discovered, but this is a very threatening possibility that needs close attention. There have been Terrorist operatives apprehended on the northern border, but the border on the north is more controlled then the south. While we have a better idea of what is coming across the United States northern border, the United States southern border still remains a “no man’s land.” Many arguments have been made in favor of illegal immigration, but the facts behind illegal immigration need to be closely examined. Illegal immigration is a direct threat to the safety, health, and economic security of every legal American resident.

In a post 9/11 world, radical ideology and terrorist threat has become a reality in our daily life. With financing to back their agenda, and modern technology coming to the front lines on terrorist behalf, this issue must be looked at thoroughly. In testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on February 16^th, 2008 Admiral James Loy, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security testified:  “Several al-Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons” (Lansbaum, 2008). James Loy also stated, “The convergence of terrorist threats, a nuclear weapon black-market, a porous national border and escalating illegal immigration is finally attracting the attention the growing crisis deserves. Unfortunately, the attention is being paid by terrorists, not by the U.S. government.” After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was reported that 85 of 135 small Nuclear weapons were missing. It would not take much effort for terrorists to successfully insert sleeper cell operatives into this country. There is a very large network of human trafficking rings set up to help achieve such a task. With threats such as this, time is of the essence. According to research originating from Pepperdine University, the Mexican Government has openly printed manuals promoting and explaining how to illegally enter the United States. Analysts at Pepperdine state the following; “The Mexican government’s recent publication of a comic-book style pamphlet on how to safely cross the border is a direct affront to the country’s relationship with the United States”(M. Overbeck, 2008). President Vincente Fox, former president of Mexico regarded illegal immigrants as “heroes” for having left Mexico into the United States, and then sending money back to support the Mexican economy. With an undermining southern neighbor promoting illegal immigration, Al-Qaeda has had half the work done for them. A door has been provided; they only need to literally walk through.

Terrorist threats due to open borders are obvious but one threat of illegal immigration many may have not considered is health security. Health security is also an issue of the utmost importance. With a thriving community and people interacting with each other, personal hygiene and disease control is a top priority. Great achievements have been made in this country eradicating once common diseases such as tuberculosis.  This feat, however, is at threat of being set back generations through an uncontrolled influx of host that carry disease across the border. With legal entry, immigrants must undergo a thorough medical examination to ensure no threatening disease is released into the United States. Illegal immigration by-passes this process leaving the residents of the country completely at the mercy of what communicable diseases the illegal brings into the country. Dr. Laurence Nickey, director of the El Paso health district, states the following; “Contagious diseases that are generally considered to have been controlled in the United States are readily evident along the border … The incidence of tuberculosis in El Paso County is twice that of the U.S. rate. Leprosy, which is considered by most Americans to be a disease of the Third World, is readily evident along the U.S.-Mexico border” (L. Nickey, 2008). Dysentery along the border is also several times that of the United States (2008).  Because of this issue, the reality of major health epidemic is very real. “Super Bugs” a strain of bacteria which do not respond to antibiotics are becoming more prevalent. It is crucial that possible health disasters, which were mostly something of the past in the United States, do not come back into commonality.

Once an illegal immigrant crosses into the United States, U.S. taxpayers and private hospitals pick up the tab for ill and diseased illegal aliens.  Because the influx of illegal aliens, many hospitals and facilities along the Border States are being forced to close their doors. It’s only a matter of time before the problem migrates to the rest of the country. Los Angeles County supervisor Michael D. Antonovich states “What is unseen is their [illegal aliens’] free medical care that has degraded and closed some of America’s finest emergency medical facilities, and caused hospital bankruptcies: 84 California hospitals are closing their doors” (Antonovich, 2008).  This is mainly due to uninsured illegal immigrants seeking medical attention at hospitals for everyday things that would normally be addressed by a family doctor. At a hospital, by law the hospital must treat a patient, and cannot turn anyone away. According to Federation for illegal immigration reform “Immigrants are often uninsured and underinsured. Forty-three percent of non-citizens under 65 have no health insurance. That means there are 9.4 million uninsured immigrants, a majority of whom are in the country illegally, constituting 15 percent of the total uninsured in the nation in the mid-1990s  The cost of the medical care of these uninsured immigrants is passed onto the taxpayer, and strains the financial stability of the health care community” (2008). This issue is one that is bleeding community’s dry of all medical financing. The counties are literally going bankrupt.

The effect of Illegal immigration on the economy is another impact many do not fully understand. Economic security is the bloodline to maintain a standard American lifestyle. More and more jobs which were traditionally held by U.S. citizens, such as construction, are being snatched up by illegal immigrants. People are losing their jobs due to the inability to compete in the market. According to Immigrationcounters.com, a site that actively updates various effects of illegal immigration, the number of skilled jobs taken by illegal immigrants to date is 10,667,935 (2008). These jobs normally would be held by American citizens with fair wages and coverage such as workers compensation. Due to the ability of an employer to pick up workers for far less, these jobs for Americans are almost lost completely.  Many argue that illegal immigrants take the jobs that Americans do not want. It has been found however that when illegal immigrants are removed from those jobs, many Americans get in line to take their place. For example, ICE agents seized 595 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally. Several workers, who did not identify themselves, said they were working and trying to keep the plant operational in the wake of the sudden loss of co-workers (Kemp, 2008). Hundreds of job applicants lined up, eager to take advantage of the sudden job openings at the plant located in Jones County, where the unemployment rate is 6.3 percent (Kemp, 2008). Law maker Terril states “There is no job that an American citizen is unwilling to do,” he says. “They’re just not willing to do it at the wage rates that are being paid to illegal aliens,” (Terril, 2008). As the facts above show, the notion that illegal immigrants do the “jobs Americans don’t want” just is not true. The opposite has been the outcome, jobs open up and Americans want them.

The threats to the United States and her citizens due to illegal immigration are real and grave. This country must wake up before it is to the alarm of a health epidemic, an economic employment crisis, or a smuggled nuclear weapon detonating in a major city. US citizens must stand up and demand action.  The policies of the past 30 years have done nothing to solve this growing issue. Times have changed, and so have the dangers associated with the times. Our southern border has become an interstate of corruption, danger, disease, drugs, oppression, and legal employment depression. It is time to bring in the big stick…..with a mop attached.

References

Landsbaum, M (2007). Al-qauda’s illegal immigration threat. Retrieved 09/01/2008, from

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=AEB39FF3-E0E8-4E1D-8353-BE0D004E2785

(2008). Federation for American Immigration reform (2008). Retrieved September 1, 2008, Web site:

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters64bf

Immigration counters.com. (2008). Retrieved September 2, 2008, from Immigration counters.com Web site:

http://www.immigrationcounters.com/

Kemp, E (2008). Applicants line up to fill jobs open after plant raid. Retrieved 09/02/2008, from

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20080827&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=808270366&Ref=AR

Overbeck, M (2008). Guide promotes illegal immigration, Retrieved 09/29/2008, from

http://graphic.pepperdine.edu/perspectives/2005/2005-01-13-border.htm