On last night’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash, Pima County Democratic Party Latino Caucus Chairman Vince Rabago and Inside Tucson Business Editor Mark B. Evans joined me to talk about the latest collapse of immigration reform in the House of Representatives; the latest legislation targeting undocumented immigrants at the Arizona Legislature; a legislative effort to undermine public libraries and other special taxing jurisdictions; Sen. Gail Griffin’s decision to abandon a bill that would allow Green Valley and Sahuarita to leave Pima County and become part of Santa Cruz County; Gov. Jan Brewer’s big win in court over GOP lawmakers who wanted to overturn her Medicaid expansion; and Attorney General Tom Horne’s ongoing legal troubles.
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2014.
I am guessing when Vince Rabago says the “business community” supports “immigration reform” it is a euphemism for corporations want legal cheap labor to increase profits and leave millions of Americans still out of work.
First, secure the border. Second, start fining companies that hire illegal workers and put CEOs and business owners in prison for immigration violations. If we say the head of KB homes in handcuffs or the CEO of Tyson Chicken behind bars, maybe the rest of the “business community” will take notice. Sadly, I know with how corrupt both parties are in Washington, they will never do this.
After we get serious about enforcing our immigration laws and securing the border, we can start talking about the millions of illegal aliens living in this country.
We do not need “immigration reform”, we need our elected officials to uphold their oaths of office and enforce the immigration laws of this nation. Our elected officials need to grow a set of balls and realize that granting amnesty to a specific group who have chosen to break our laws and refuse to assimilate into our culture will not fix the so called problem. Secure the border, stop catering to criminals, and force them to use the legal immigration system to become citizens of this country. If those elected officials refuse to hear the voices of American citizens then they should be removed and charged with aiding and abetting criminal activity. This nation cannot afford to continue to allow the wanton breaking of our laws.
It’s true that Mexico’s economy is on the rebound – especially in Sonora.
If you want proof, drive to the border, take a brief stroll through a totally stagnant, increasingly shabby downtown Nogales, AZ, before crossing the line into Nogales, Sonora.
Where you will see new cobble-stoned courtyards with attractive plantings, three new beautifully engineered and colorful vehicle overpasses over the railroad, (there is only one overpass in all of Santa Cruz County!), new paving on many of El-Centro’s streets, new sidewalks, and re-furbished stores.
What’s interesting about all these stunning improvements is that there are very few tourists crossing over due to the misplaced media-fomented hysteria about whether Mexico is a safe place to visit.
It is, especially Nogales, Sonora.
While you won’t see many of your fellow Americans there, you will see and feel a new and bustling energy there due to a clearly improving local and regional economy.
Which puts “our” side of the border to shame.
Rio Rican,
That is great Nogales, SON seems to have a recovery. However, 2012 was the first year that the Mexican side of Nogales had a drop in murders. In the six months from December 2009 to May 2010 there were a 149 murders in Nogales. There were 471 homicides in Sonora, Mex that has a population of 2.6 million people. That compared to the 358 homicides in Arizona that has a population of 6.5 million. The date still shows Mexico has A LOT of improvement when it comes to safety and security.
You can “feel” all you want about the energy in Nogales, Mex. However, it is still riddled with cartel violence, especially just outside of the city. Plus, maybe Mexico should be using this recovery to help their people find jobs, so they do not feel the need to break US immigration law, rather than building new courtyards.
Unless, Mexico’s rebound is felt all across the economic spectrum in Mexico and Mexico secures their southern border to prevent people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, and other Central/South American countries to travel up towards the US border this does nothing to help our country secure our border.
Secure the border, fine/incarcerate business owners that hire illegal aliens, and then we can talk about the millions of illegal aliens living in the US. That is the only solution that will help our country’s illegal immigration problem.
This perception that if we enforce our immigration laws, that it will hurt our relationship with LEGAL immigrant/non-immigrants coming from Mexico is false. SB 1070 and our Federal Immigration Laws should be enforced.
Not “seems to have a recovery,” Mike. But you don’t have to take my word for it. You could find out for yourself.
If you do visit, may I suggest that you stroll south on Obregon to a small plaza near an elementary school? It’s only about a ten-minute walk from the border.
Try to make it around noon which is recess time. Then, take a seat at one of the tables run by a man who makes the best caldo mariscos you’ve likely ever enjoyed. (At only 25 pesos – $1.90US – for a huge bowl served up with steaming corn tortillas.)
You’ll may also enjoy the sounds of merry kids at play in the adjoining school yard.
To me, that seems like a lot more fun than sitting in front of a computer to search for irrelevant and meaningless stats.
I still stand by if this recovery was so great, we would not have thousands of Mexicans a day illegally crossing our borders. But you do not have to take my word for it, just talk to the local ranchers west and east of Nogales. I also put any improvement inside the city on the results of the Border Patrol slowing down the illegal crossers inside city limits to a crawl compared to a few years ago. That forces the cartels to move into the desert and that also moves the violence.
Plus none of this matters in terms for us securing our border. We still have thousands of illegal aliens from countries south of Mexico. Mexico is not doing anything, but robbing, raping and killing them on their side of the border.
Guessing you don’t like Mexico (and Mexicans) all that much?
Irony is that you make some good points. But they are “colored” (so to speak) by what seems to me to be contempt and hatred.
Sad…
No, I do not have any problem with Mexicans or Mexico. Why are you making this a issue about their skin color? I just stated which nationalities are illegal crossing the US/Mexico Border. Every nation has a border and most use their law enforcement or military to secure it. Wanting our border secure with a foreign country that is a focal point for thousands of people to cross into this country without proper inspection has nothing to with their apparent skin color. Plus where I started with this issue was the fact the Democrats are getting in bed with the Chamber of Commerce to push for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens that will give corporations legal cheap labor. That again has nothing to do with race and basically looking out for the millions of legal residents and citizens (whatever skin color they have) that are out of work.
The border on both sides is a place of violence, especially on the south side of the border. Securing our border and taking away the incentive for people to illegally cross (ie punishing companies that hire illegal aliens), are two major components to stopping that violence.
Really? “The border on both sides is a place of violence…”
That news to me, because I live less than 15 minutes from the border in one of the safest counties in all of the US. Never even lock my doors.
Where do you live, Mike?
I live in Tucson. The crime rate might be low, but that does not account for the violence that is happening in the mountains around you. Just across Rio Rico on the west side of I-19 is Peck Canyon where rip crews and smuggling organizations assault, rob, rape, and murder illegal aliens crossing in the desert. That canyon is where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed trying to stop these rip crews. This violence rarely gets reported to law enforcement.
This violence is not just in Peck Canyon, but in the Santa Rita’s, Patagonia’s, and up towards Sierra Vista. This violence follows the smuggling routes all the way up to I-10. It even spills over to US citizens and residents just up the road from you. This month there has been a rash of burglaries and assaults in the Rail X estates close the Patagonia.
Since the increase presence of law enforcement in the populated areas between Nogales and Tucson, you probably will not see the violence in Rio Rico. The Border Patrol, Santa Cruz, and other agencies really try to keep the populated areas safe and that pushes the illegal traffic (and violence) into the forests and deserts.
I guess you live in one of the newer housing developments that has turned Rio Rico from a trailer park to a suburb of Nogales. You need walk around the trails in the forest around you. But hey, you can just keep your head in the sand and not care about the violence around you.
Back to my original statement. This push for amnesty will only hurt our economy by pushing down our already stagnant wages. Reagan already helped corporations by his war on unions and giving them millions of cheap legal labor. It is sad the DNC is supporting this issue to help corporations continue to lower the bar in terms of wages.