Because a virtual fence will lead to virtual enforcement -- if there is any enforcement at all.

Technical and management troubles have caused the government's effort to secure a portion of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border with a chain of surveillance towers to fall behind schedule, jeopardizing the success of a costly project meant to showcase the Bush administration's tougher stance on immigration enforcement.

A $20 million pilot program to safeguard a 28-mile stretch of rough, mesquite-dotted terrain that straddles a smuggling corridor south of Tucson was supposed to be operational in June but now is expected to be delayed until the end of the year, according to the officials at the Department of Homeland Security who are overseeing it.

Ground radar and cameras that were to identify illegal border crossers so that armed patrols could be dispatched to capture them have had trouble distinguishing people and vehicles from cows and bushes. The sensors are also confused by moisture, the officials said.

Here's an idea -- brick and mortar for a real wall. It may seem to be rather old school, but it is demonstrated to work.

Posted by: Greg at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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They don't want illegals either.

Fleeing stepped-up sweeps by the American authorities, illegal immigrants to the United States, mostly Mexican, are arriving in growing numbers at the foot of the bridge in this Canadian border town seeking refugee status.

Still more immigrants, mostly Mexicans living illegally in Florida, have begun trying to make their way past AmericaÂ’s northern border at other locations, the majority of them flying into the airport in Toronto, Canadian officials said Thursday.

So, will the fuzzy-minded liberals/socialists in Canada eventually decide they must take in all of the illegals? Or will they instead insist on deporting them home?

And if they decide to keep them, are they prepared to absorb all 12-20 million who are already violating America's immigration laws and who American citizens want out?

Posted by: Greg at 03:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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New York is upset that Medicaid is no longer allowing chemo for illegals.

The federal government has told New York State health officials that chemotherapy, which had been covered for illegal immigrants under a government-financed program for emergency medical care, does not qualify for coverage. The decision sets the stage for a battle between the state and federal governments over how medical emergencies are defined.

The change comes amid a fierce national debate on providing medical care to immigrants, with New York State officials and critics saying this latest move is one more indication of the Bush administrationÂ’s efforts to exclude the uninsured from public health services.

State officials in New York and other states have found themselves caught in the middle. The New York dispute, focusing on illegal immigrants with cancer — a marginal group of unknown size among the more than 500,000 people living in New York illegally — has become a flash point for health officials and advocates for immigrants in recent weeks.

Under a limited provision of Medicaid, the national health program for the poor, the federal government permits emergency coverage for illegal immigrants and other noncitizens. But the Bush administration has been more closely scrutinizing and increasingly denying state claims for federal payment for some emergency services, Medicaid experts said.

Last month, federal officials, concluding an audit that began in 2004 and was not challenged by the state until now, told New York State that they would no longer provide matching funds for chemotherapy under the emergency program. Yesterday, state officials sent a letter to the federal Medicaid agency protesting the change, saying that doctors, not the federal government, should determine when chemotherapy is needed.

The problem with that argument is not, of course, that th federal government is defining what is needed. Rather, it is defining what is "emergency" care, and determining whether or not medical care is entitled to reimbursement from federal funds. And since long-term chemotherapy is chronic, rather than emergency, care, it clearly is not covered under the limited exception to the law that is intended to provide critical care in the case of an immediate medical crisis.

If an illegal immigrant needs chemo, let him or her return to the country of origin and receive the health care there under whatever medical program their home country has. And if the home country has no such program, explain to me again why I, as an American taxpayer, should provide it for a persona who is in this country in violation of our nation's laws.

However, if the state of New York disagrees, it may opt to spend its own tax dollars for the non-emergency treatment of border-jumpers. Similarly, private charities can step in and cover the cost. But the demand for illegal reimbursements for medical care for illegal aliens is unacceptable.

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Posted by: Greg at 01:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know, since San Francisco canÂ’t secede from the United States.

After all, they have established their own economic, defense and foreign policies, and have abrogated the First Amendment by condemning Christianity and subsidizing Islam.

Now they want to establish their own immigration policy, and force folks to accept their immigration papers.

San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano is drafting legislation to create a city identification card for immigrants unable to get traditional ID cards, a move likely to anger advocates of tougher immigration enforcement.

The cards would be accepted by all city agencies and organizations that receive city funding. Ammiano plans to introduce the legislation within a couple of weeks. He also is trying to persuade financial institutions to allow residents to use the cards to open accounts.

"There is a large community who contribute, and there are not a lot of safeguards around their (immigration) status, their piece of mind and their ability to participate," Ammiano said, adding that the card would be available to all people living in San Francisco regardless of their immigration status.

San Francisco could be the first large American city to have such a card. New Haven, Conn., has such a program, and New York City is considering one.

Ammiano said the impetus for the city cards came from the immigrant community, which asked for his help. Illegal immigrants who are victims or witnesses of crime often do not report the incident because they have no identification and fear deportation. Identification also is needed for many services, such as city health care.

San Francisco already has a sanctuary policy for immigrants, which means no city agency, including the police, will assist the federal government to deport people. So-called sanctuary cities have become a major issue among Republican presidential candidates.

It seems clear that there is a fundamental incompatibility between the policies of San Francisco and those of the United States. Rather than force them to be a part of a nation they so clearly hate, we simply need to put up a border fence around San Francisco and recognize their sovereignty and independence.

Oh, yeah – and then close the border there, too.

Posted by: Greg at 09:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another outrage that will allow for increased illegal immigration -- and perhaps terrorism.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Texas have been ordered to abbreviate national security checks at one of the nation"s busiest ports of entry to speed up travel between the United States and Mexico, according to official documents and multiple interviews with agents.

An Aug. 16 memorandum from CBP El Paso field office Director Luis Garcia directs agents to limit inspections of vehicle and pedestrian border crossers as wait times escalate. The document, obtained by The Washington Times, sets new guidelines that border inspectors say undermine efforts to prevent terrorists and other criminals from entering the United States.

The memo says:

• If wait time is 45 minutes or less, officers are required to query all drivers and passengers older than 18 and ensure that the license plate is correct.

• If wait time is 45 to 60 minutes, customs officers are to query only the driver and 50 percent of the passengers. Also, the officers are not to conduct compartment checks and density-meter readings used to find contraband.

• If wait time is 60 to 120 minutes or more — the average wait at the numerous crossings — they are to query only the driver and ensure that the license plate is correct.

"At 30 to 40 minutes of 'wait time,' we were querying the driver only at the request of our supervisors," said an El Paso customs agent, who spoke with The Washington Times this month on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

"Basically, we were only running the documents of the driver every fifth vehicle, so everyone else was coming in without being checked to the same standards. Even if you stick with the letter of this memo, it still falls short for national security purposes."

I suppose, of course that this is necessary to ensure that all the illegally enrolled Mexican kids in El Paso schools and all the illegally employed local workers are not late. it wouldn't due to inconvenience those who break the law, even if it does make American citizens less safe.

Posted by: Greg at 10:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Absolutely shocking.

The Social Security Administration cannot start sending out letters to employers next week that carry with them more serious penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Ruling on a lawsuit by the nation's largest federation of labor unions against the U.S. government, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the so-called "no-match" letters from going out as planned starting Tuesday.

The AFL-CIO lawsuit, filed this week, claims that new Department of Homeland Security rules outlined in accompanying letters threaten to violate workers' rights and unfairly burden employers. Chesney said the court needs "breathing room" before making any decision on the legality of new penalties aimed at cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants.

She set the next hearing on the matter for Oct. 1.

Excuse me -- you are required to have a valid SSN to work. Such letters have been sent for years, but employers have ignored them. How is making the penalty stiffer a violation of anyone's right -- except the right of illegal aliens to work illegally, and the right of employers to break the law by employing them?

Posted by: Greg at 04:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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