Al Martinez on the Illegal Alien Issues

LA Times columnist Al Martinez has a big heart, and he has again weighed in on the illegal alien issue. Today’s column, Taking sides on border issue, is illustrative of Mr. Martinez’s soft voice. Mr. Martinez writes,

That civilian army of minutemen calls itself Friends of the Border Patrol. They marched down, symbolically anyhow, to San Diego, expecting hundreds to join them in an organization that began forming months ago. Only about 40 showed up.

What they had intended, said their leader, Andy Ramirez, was to patrol the imaginary line between California and Mexico to observe and report illegal aliens crossing into the U.S. Some would be packing guns but only, one presumes, for show.

Their plan was foiled by the small numbers who showed up and by the presence of a counter-group that called itself the Border Angels.

Through the words of “Rico,” a pseudonym for an illegal alien, Martinez supports his thesis that the presence of armed citizens on the border between the U.S. and Mexico is an invitation to violence.

And then there's Rico. He's distressed by the potential for real trouble that looms in their confrontation. Guns aren't usually carried as symbols of reconciliation.

Interestingly, to date I don’t know of any violence perpetrated upon the illegal aliens during any of the citizen border observer group gatherings. But, when the counter-demonstration folks show up there are problems.

Its adherents gathered to protest the civilian border-watchers, a confrontation that ended up in a scuffle and an arrest. Later, hundreds of anti-vigilantes marched through Calexico, claiming victory.

Mr. Martinez insists upon calling the civilian border patrol folks “vigilantes.” A vigilante by definition is outside the law and takes the law into his own hands. That is not being done by citizen border patrol folks. They are not enforcing the law. They are simply reporting suspected immigration law violators to the appropriate U.S. authorities. To characterize them as vigilantes is intellectually dishonest. And yes, Pres. Bush was intellectually dishonest when he used the term.

Mr. Martinez writes,

Unable or unwilling to create a movement that would seek compromise instead of confrontation, the civilian vigilantes run the risk of stirring dormant hatreds against any of those from south of the border, and like an albatross at sea, it will return to haunt us all.

As to stirring up dormant hatreds, I doubt it. Haters are not dormant. It is not in their nature. They are here regardless of whether or not some citizen stands on the border and makes reports to the U.S. Border Patrol. And, a good number of those haters can be found in the ranks of the neo-Hispanic nationalists intent on “returning” California to the fold of some mythical indigenous native American nation.

Rico, it turns out, is a highly motivated person, and he has taken advantage of our educational system to make himself a highly productive individual. As a matter of fact, he is probably more highly productive than most American citizens.

Rico taught himself English, enrolled in school, earned straight A's and won the praise of teachers and counselors.

…he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, did volunteer work to help other Latino kids learn English, donated his time to a program that offered free tax assistance to low-income residents, joined in founding a charter school to foster the notion of pride in all ethnic/racial groups and is thinking about going for a PhD in architecture and urban planning to help the poor obtain dignifying and affordable housing.

Now Mr. Martinez, why did you have to take this cheap jab?

…and he's one hell of a lot smarter than probably 99% of the people who want to keep him out.

But, the real issues have nothing to do with Rico’s smartness and his positive accomplishments. For every one Rico there are thousands of uneducated illegal workers just getting by and living on the margins of this society, sucking-up and clogging-up public resources. Far worse are the illegal aliens engaging in significant criminal activity. The jails and prisons are becoming overrun with illegal aliens. A case in point: recently Ventura County, CA, law enforcement arrested 23 aliens for a massive commercial burglary ring. I wrote in my blog, Welcome to America, Now Please Rip Us Off,

…the burglars have plagued the Southwestern U.S. for 3 ½ years. The task force arrested 23 people and recovered 25,700 pieces of stolen property worth 3 ½ million dollars and $200,000 in cash. A total of 215 victims were identified. For the most part, the victims of the thefts were landscaping and construction companies. A number of those companies went out of business as a result of the thefts.

At the time that I wrote the blog, it was known that every single arrested suspect is an alien. Twenty two of the 23 arrested aliens are from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. I now have been advised that they are all illegal aliens.

Mr. Martinez concludes,

It's a shame that they all can't be as wise and gentle as Rico.

Mr. Martinez is referring to the civilian border patrol folks. But, I counter that it is a shame that all of the illegal aliens can’t be as wise, gentle and productive as Rico. If they were, I’d be standing on the border directing them northward. At the same time, I’d be directing our non-productive, parasitic citizens southward. Nothing wrong with exporting the dregs of our society to someone else’s country. It’s been done to us. Hey, this just came to me; Here’s a great idea. How about an exchange program with our neighbors to the south? For every worker that they send us, we’ll send them one or more of our HAVE NOT parasitic citizens. We can start by emptying out the Astrodome.