Well, the Texas Left has again demanded that Governor Rick Perry suspend the First Amendment to the US Constitution, insofar as it applies to those who object to the invasion of the United States by undocumented border-jumping criminals. This is the second such demand in the last month.

State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and a group of Texas lawmakers attempted to pass a resolution insisting thet the governor prevent the Minutemen from monitoring the Texas-Mexico border for invading border-jumpers, as they did in Arizona this spring. The basis for the demand that the Constitutional right of Americans to peaceably assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances be abridged was that allowing the exercise of those rights could "impede the traffic and negatively affect both tourism and trade along the border."

Governor Perry responded appropriately, though he failed to give support to the Minutemen as I had hoped he would.

"I fully understand and can appreciate the frustration that many Texans and others across the nation have with illegal immigration, its potential impact on our national security and the unacceptable burden it is placing on taxpayers, and state and local criminal-justice, education and health care systems," Mr. Perry said in a statement.

"The federal government can and must do more to close the border to illegal immigration," the two-term Republican said. "Until that happens, these kinds of citizen-initiated efforts likely will be the result. If you want to send the Minutemen home, I urge you to make sure we have enough federal agents on the border to secure it."

Mr. Perry, who said 1.4 million illegal aliens live in Texas, warned that the "continued flow of a significant number of undocumented immigrants into the United States is not acceptable, especially in the post-September 11 era."

It is interesting to note that not one actual violation of the law was committed by any member of the Minutemen in Arizona, and the one reported case of a violation of the group's rules resulted in the expulsion of the violator for calling the group into disrepute. This stands in stark contrast to the acts of violence committed by pro-border-jumping activists, who have engaged in violence in violation of the civil rights of Minutemen organizers and other opponents of open borders. That should make it clear that it isn't the Minutemen who need to be disinvited by government officials, but rather their opponents who should be asked to stay home.

Posted by: Greg at 04:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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