Bush wrong on immigration

President Bush has criticized the Minuteman Project. On this issue, he is wrong.

President Bush yesterday said he opposes a civilian project to monitor illegal aliens crossing the border, characterizing them as "vigilantes."

He said he would pressure Congress to further loosen immigration law.

More than 1,000 people — including 30 pilots and their private planes — have volunteered for the Minuteman Project, beginning next month along the Arizona-Mexico border. Civilians will monitor the movement of illegal aliens for the month of April and report them to the Border Patrol.

First, the Minuteman Project is not composed of "vigilantes." The website dictionary.com defines vigilante as "[o]ne who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands." The Minutemen have explicitely stated that they will not "take the law into their own hands," but are to observe and report what they observe to the proper authorities.

Second, President Bush is wrong to "further loosen immigration law." We need to solve the problem of illegal immigrants in our country first. Only then might it be proper to consider whether or not to "further loosen immigration law."

Third, the President should do like he promised and add 2,000 agents to the Border Patrol. We need them. Last December, he signed intelligence overhaul legislation which would have added 2,000 Border Patrol agents; however,

The president's 2006 budget allows enough money to add only 210 agents for the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.

Only a measley 210 agents, when the legislation called for an additional 2,000, and most of those 210 additional agents would be deployed to the Canadian border! Give me a break!

Also, see "Is Vicente Fox a hypocrite?" "Illegal Population Surges," and "Illegals flood Los Angeles hospitals."