"What does Cinco de Mayo mean to me? I don't need the reminder, but Cinco de Mayo reminds me of 9-11. It reminds me of America's immigration policies that threaten our form of constitutional government, policies that threaten American culture and our most treasured political traditions. It reminds me of third world cesspools spreading to America. The Rodney King rioters and looters weren't mostly blacks; they were mostly Hispanics. The corruption of American politics from unassimilated Mexicans streaming through our porous borders for half a century has undermined US security. There is the real meaning of Cinco de Mayo."
Jon Dougherty begins the twelfth and final chapter of his new book, Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured US-Mexican Border, with that stunning quote from international affairs consultant Rex Osgood.
And everything Dougherty writes leading up to Chapter 12 painstakingly proves how totally the US government has failed Americans—by refusing to provide even token resistance to the unabated flow of illegal aliens.
Dougherty's book (soon to be a motion picture!) evolves from his direct experiences at the border. Illegals presents a comprehensive overview of how conditions on the US-Mexico border have rapidly deteriorated to what they are today: a sieve of desperate humanity headed north with the encouragement of Mexico and with only token resistance from our federal government.
In 1997, in response to mounting violence on American soil perpetrated by Mexico-based assailants against U.S. law enforcement officers and soldiers, US Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said on the floor of Congress: "There have been more firefights on the border in recent weeks than there have been in Bosnia."
Dougherty, who documents his story with his own photos, reports that according to Border Patrol agents in Arizona, arrests of both Mexican military and police are frequent.
But not surprisingly, given the favorable disposition of the Bush Administration toward Mexico, the invaders are usually released back to Mexico, with their weapons, within twelve hours of capture.
Illegals also deals with the growing financial burden illegal immigration imposes on California, Arizona and Texas.
Ironically, the former Governor of Texas, George W. Bush, screamed as loudly as anyone when funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistant Program didn't cover Texas' costs.
Said then-Governor Bush in 1995: "If the federal government cannot do its job of enforcing borders…then it owes the states monies to pay for its failures."
Maybe Bush should spend more time re-reading his old quotes.
After completing his book, Dougherty anticipated that the crisis at the border, if unchecked, would continue to deteriorate. And that is exactly what has happened.
According to Glenn Spencer of American Border Patrol, during the first three weeks of March, at least seven separate violent incidents have occurred. Among them are shootouts with Border Patrol agents, a shooting and killing of a special agent, a kidnapping and an AK 47 attack on a rancher occurred.
Contributing to the Wild-West atmosphere is an increased flow of migrants willing to do anything to elude capture. The Associated Press reported that as of March 31 2004, illegal immigration is up 25% or 535,000 illegal aliens compared with the similar period last year. [Illegal immigration from Mexico to U.S. surges April 27th, 2004 By Olga R. Rodriguez]
But Kathy McKee, Director of Protect Arizona Now tells me that two different Border Patrol sources say between 8,000-10,000 aliens cross the Tucson Sector every twelve hours.
That, calculates McKee, is 20,000 aliens a day—the equivalent of a new Arizona every eleven months.
From Cochise County, another hot spot for illegal alien traffic, Cynthia Kolb and her husband Ed shared how they cope with illegal aliens trespassers. In an interview Cynthia explained what it is like:
"Living on the border has put us on high alert 24/7. The refusal of our elected officials to uphold the U.S Constitution and protect us from invasion has forced many men and women to purchase firearms and learn to use them.
"When I get dressed in the morning, I put on my holster and .38 S&W to protect my six-year-old daughter and myself. I have a concealed weapon carry permit. We were trained to know when and how to use our weapons. I would not hesitate to send anyone to meet their maker if they choose to put my life or the lives of my family in great fear of bodily harm.
"Husbands do not want their wives to be without a gun. And we moms are resentful that we must carry them.
"I am so angry that I cannot walk out our front door of our home or open our gate without it. Yet I am grateful to live in Arizona where we have the legal right to open carry our guns."
To see the conditions the Kolb family and their neighbors endure, go to: the Desert Visions website, and view the slide shows.[Send supportive Email to the Kolbs.]
When I spoke to Dougherty about his book, he said:
"In the months since I traveled throughout border regions in California, Arizona and Texas while researching Illegals, not much has changed. The U.S.-Mexico border is still porous. It is still dangerous. And the government is still doing too little to defend it. One thing that has changed, perhaps, is the level of frustration felt by Americans who live along the border and beyond. It has increased."
And in America's frustration, comes the good news. According to Protect Arizona Now's McKee:
"I'll be shocked if George Bush carries this state. It was his to lose, and boy has he lost it. And he really needs to take McCain, Flake, and Kolbe down the tubes with him. They respect Arizonans' opinions as much as Arizonans respect them, which is pretty much nada."
Everything has a price.
For George W. Bush, whose White House has spent the last three years actually making the entire illegal immigration fiasco worse, the price may be the same one thousands of American workers have paid: illegal immigration may cost him his job.
Joe Guzzardi [email him], an instructor in English at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.
