CATO likes to pretend they are a libertarian organization but they've been nothing but a shill for the open-borders folks for the past couple of years.
Here is a Facebook status update from someone I know, who works the same area I used to work, only in the air. From an EMS chopper pilot. If I hear one more damn word against Border Patrol about this little girl that died, my head might pop off. Let me give y’all a dose of reality. I used to fly the Texas/Mexico border. My service area was 300 miles. People would ROUTINELY cross the border with sick/ injured people, and immediately call 911. The ground crews would call us (by their protocol) to fly critical patients that were illegals freshly on US soil. Why? Mexico has a pay as you go medical system. No money, no treatment. Example. Border patrol landed us within eyesight of the border for a pedi trauma patient mom had dragged across the border. Kid jumped into an empty swimming pool. In Mexico, she only had enough money to staple his head shut (no CT)Border Patrol ID’d a brain bleed by basic assessment, called us. Kid got a chopper ride, Level one trauma services, neurosurgeon. That crap happened on THE REG. Sometimes, it was for kids (14-18) that HAD BEEN SHOOTING AT BORDER PATROL AGENTS. Let me be clear. I ANSWERED CALLS FOR SERVICE FROM AGENTS THAT WERE TRYING TO SAVE PEOPLE THAT WERE ACTIVELY TRYING TO KILL THEM. They provided LZ security and first aid to save them, knowing they had been trying to kill them. Would you do that? Serious professionals. So now, people drag their kids for hundreds of miles with no food, water, shelter? Blame our LEO’s when they show up half dead? Why not blame EMS and ER? Doesn’t fit your agenda, that’s why! Demand entry into a country they are not a citizen of and have not applied to be? Get over yourself. Apply properly like millions have done. Take responsibility for YOUR actions and your families. I have personally lived with, trained with, worked with, flown with, and trusted my life to our Border Patrol agents. They do a job that involves helping the weak, lost, and EVEN the people that would KILL them with rocks if they could. Truly, one of the FINEST agencies I have worked with. They know local and federal laws, deal with the “anti check point” citizens they PROTECT, speak several languages, know how to cut sign and track like the best hunters I have ever known, understand SERE like Robin Sage graduates, and have more medical training and experience than any other agency except primary mission folks. Cool, focused, calm, responsive. Responding to assist flight teams working pedi codes, first on scene at mass causality MVA’s, or that guy I had hiking with over 400 bee stings, the agents getting stung protecting him. That was the norm, not the exception. Don’t even get me started on BORSTAR and BORTAC. You’d just have to see them. I dare any of my fire guys to do ropes and knots with them. So dialed in. High angle, long line, swift water, just name it. You wanna cry about family separation? If mom or dad commit a crime, they don’t get a pass because they have kids, just like American criminals. More importantly, our BP agents can spot a sex trafficker just like a nurse can spot a kidney stone. Separating kids from adult exploiters is the kindest thing possible. The reality is “daddy” is raping and selling that baby. But liberals want you to keep them together And turn them loose with no questions. The border problem is not our agents. It’s weak policy and weak physical security. Quit looking to bleeding heart liberal activists with no idea what the border is like, and corrupt politicians that scape goat our bad ass men and women. If you want to fix the border, ask the damn BP. They are the SME’s. Then, stop sending aid money to countries Carte Blanche. It should come with strings, like non corrupt, accessible healthcare and real security for citizens so they are not trying to bust our borders. Both compassionate for them, and good for us. Anyone blaming BP for this is just ignorant.
Cato is for open borders, but NO WELFARE for anybody. They also support total legalization of drugs, but if you are addicted and need help...tough. They don't support any kind of government-funded safety net or healthcare. I haven't dealt with them for a number of years, though, so that attitude may have changed. Originally, they didn't believe in Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, or any kind of welfare. You could make any decision you wanted, but if you have problems of any kind, you have to live with the consequences of your decisions. They would be perfectly willing to allow addicts and alcoholics to die in the gutter.
We’re a funny sort of people are we not? As long as something isn’t personal, doesn’t happen to one of our family or someone we have befriended, there is no need to worry. As long as I do not see any needles on the ground, there are no “hooked” hookers on my street and there are no real problems to be addressed. As long as my house doesn’t get robbed or my friend doesn’t get beaten up because he’s an American, why should I bother myself with trivial concerns? I mean, just because an American citizen needs a job but can’t even get a position washing dishes because all the restaurants use illegals, that not something to be alarmed with. And come on, American citizens can wait in line behind 10 or 20 illegals at both emergency rooms can’t they? In short, everything would just be a kumbaya life if nothing ever happens to us. Thing is, in my life, everything I listed above HAS happened to me or people I know. I lived in Nogales and my house was ransacked by illegals. I presently live on a street filled with women and men hooked on tar heroin which yes, comes across the Mexican border. I personally know roofers and painters and yes, dishwashers who cannot compete with the illegals. One legal migrant hires many illegal painters and roofers that work so cheap that very few Anglos can find a decent contract. There isn’t a week that goes by that a person isn’t killed or injured on the road by who? An illegal. Folks can look through rose colored glasses all day long and swear that there is nothing wrong but in my world, the glasses are coming off very quickly because in my world, it’s ALL personal. It’s true. Americans do commit crimes but by my way of thinking, why close our eyes to the crimes committed by those who were not supposed to be here to begin with? And what is wrong with a wall with gates? No matter where we go, or what we do, there is a line of people waiting for something. The bank or restaurant has walls, a door and a waiting line. The grocery store is a building with walls, a door and several waiting lines. The emergency room has a door and a waiting line and the voting area has a door and yes, another waiting line. Even our churches have a door and sometimes, a line.......... Why should our country not have a wall, doors and a waiting line?
Maybe steel is the wrong way to go...a portable acetylene cutting torch can melt through the vertical steel rods which make up the fence, leaving a space for people to pass through. Concrete would still be best, but the amount required would be the next largest order since the Hoover Dam! JUST BUILD IT! Hal
I have no love for the Cato Institute. I was merely looking for a verifiable statistic. Could have used many others; all report the same data. Just because a source may be one we mistrust prima facie doesn't mean there is no truth in something they research and/or report. Bobby, as usual, said something very wise: "Folks can look through rose colored glasses all day long and swear that there is nothing wrong but in my world, the glasses are coming off very quickly because in my world, it’s ALL personal. It’s true. Americans do commit crimes but by my way of thinking, why close our eyes to the crimes committed by those who were not supposed to be here to begin with?" That reminded me I had a friend whose husband was murdered right in front of her---she saw it through her living room window. There was only one murder that year in my community and that was the one. The killer had an arrest record that when placed on the floor stretched through 3 rooms. Always let off. Until. So on that rare occasion of a murder in a murder-less town my friend became a widow and her daughter lost her dad days after her high school graduation. It was personal.
That's why politicians often use anecdotes, and personal stories in their speeches. It apparently works. Problem is you can often find personal stories and anecdotes to support the opposite point of view, whatever the subject.
The idea of unchecked immigration is easily seen in what is happening in Europe. You can say all you want about people wanting a new life and that is what all the people who flooded into said and now there is a crises in Europe. Germany is even trying to pass a bill to pay immigrants to go back home. France can not afford to keep all those immigrants. England wants to get out of EU partly because of the immigrate invasion. Why would the US be so special that when they see what happens other locations but it will not happen here Ha Ha
If the slats are spaced enough to allow even 1 gram of cocaine or an opiate through, I want a solid wall.
Ive read that most drugs are smuggled in thru legal points of entry so wall won’t make a difference in that. Just thought I’d mention that...promised myself not to get involved in politics or religion on here..
When you open the borders, the second part won't be an option. That's a bit like saying that I am for eliminating government, but am not in favor of anarchy.