Sleepless in Midland

The "I voted" sticker looks a little bit different this year

Yo vote'!

 

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2:22 PM 2/29/2020

Calling BS on Univision reporter who tells Trump to ban assault rifles

The headline says enough: Univision reporter Leon Krauze says President Trump must “ban assault weapons” if he really wants to help Mexico.

Mexico has very strict gun control laws, and yet firearms are the weapons of choice in growing murder epidemic in Mexico. And banning them in the U.S. would do nothing. As to the source of weaponry in Mexico, John Lott said this. (Bold added.):

So where do Mexican criminals get their guns? “Most cartels buy in bulk, and the weapons are coming from places like Nicaragua and other South American countries. Also Asia and some from the Middle East,” a Tijuana-based police authority who requested anonymity recently told Fox News.

According to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 70% of all criminally owned guns in Mexico come from the U.S., but these figures are based only on the limited number of guns Mexican authorities have seized, traced and submitted to the agency for checking. That’s a small subset of guns. For instance, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF in 2007-08, though it seized 29,000 guns during that time. Of those, 6,000 were successfully traced and 90% of those traceable weapons came from the U.S. Thus by one estimate only about 17.6% of the firearms Mexico collected in total could be traced back to America.

“These kinds of guns—the auto versions of these guns—they are not coming from El Paso,” Ed Head, a firearms instructor in Arizona who spent 24 years as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, told Fox News. “They are coming from other sources. They are brought in from Guatemala. They are brought in from places like China. They are being diverted from the military. But you don’t get these guns from the U.S.” 

Señor Krauze doesn't want the U.S. military in Mexico, that's obvious -- nationalism is a powerful force in every country. But if he is trying to persuade anyone not already devoted to the left, he could do better with a pure nationalism rationale rather than the miss-aimed anti-gun tact.

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4:12 PM 11/6/2019

Ghastly murders in Mexico -- reminder, they've got very tough gun control laws

As if we didn't need a reminder of how ruthless the Mexican cartels are and how useless Mexico's gun laws are, there's this: 9 Family Members, All U.S. Citizens, Die In Highway Attack In Mexico.

Three women and six children were killed in an attack on members of a fundamentalist Mormon family as they traveled in Mexico on Monday, Mexican officials say. All of those killed were U.S. citizens, and authorities say they might have been ambushed by gang members.

Horrific! The U.S. has a narco state just across the border where just last week a cartel out gunned police who tried to arrest a drug kingpin family member.

Memo to the anti-gun movement in the U.S. -- Mexico has very tough gun control laws. Fat lot of good they do for the law abiding citizens. It's trite but true, outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns.

The really sad part about this is that the appetite for drugs in the U.S. gives power to the cartels.

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3:16 PM 11/5/2019

American retirees in Mexico trusted banker -- big mistake

This is sad. But was it predictable?

American retirees in Mexico say their life savings vanished from a Mexican bank. Excerpt:

The Machirs sold their house in the U.S. and used the proceeds to begin building a new house in San Miguel de Allende. But their retirement dream turned into a nightmare in December 2018 when they suddenly found themselves unable to pay their contractors.

Their story may send a chill down the spines of the more than 1 million other U.S. citizens, many of them retirees, who live in Mexico. The life savings they had entrusted to their local banker of more than six years had all but disappeared. ...

NBC News spoke to nine American families who say Marcela Zavala Taylor, a former banker with Grupo Financiero Monex, had gained their trust only to disappear after they discovered money had gone missing from their personal accounts. These families, whose estimated losses total more than $7 million dollars, all say they were blindsided by what had happened.

Well, it's Mexico. No FDIC insurance there. And there was this:

Several of the people NBC News spoke to say getting their money back from Monex has been an uphill battle, especially when it comes to getting refunded for 100 percent of the amount they say was initially in their accounts.

Wells Fargo should open a bank in Mexico. Oh wait. Never mind.

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1:56 PM 9/29/2019

9th Circuit Court of Appeals fires a non-lethal shot at nationwide injunctions

The 9th circuit ruling in East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, et al, v. Barr, et al. narrows a lower court national injunction against a rule making anyone who crossed the southern border but who did not apply for protection in a third country through which the alien passed on the way to the U.S. ineligible for asylum in the U.S.

The lower court's injunction still applies within the 9th Circuit but not elsewhere.

While the Court of Appeals still maintains that nationwide injunctions are worthwhile in some instances, this isn't one of them. Dang. Complaints about nationwide injunctions keep piling up, and it's time something was done to eliminate them.

Bob Goodlatte introduced legislation last year that would stop them. But once the House became dominated by Democrats, that was the end of that.

We'll just have to hope some future congress and president can come together on the issue. Or else maybe the Supreme Court will do it. Until then we are stuck with them.

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3:21 PM 8/17/2019

Immigration isn't raising working population in relation to retirees

One of the main reason economists are in favor of increased immigration is because it means more consumers with a resulting boast to the economy. Furthermore, an aging population needs young workers to replace the retirees.

But a recent study produced by the Center for Immigration Studies concluded that immigration over the past almost three decades has not substantially increased the population of working age individuals in relation to the old timers. Here's their article on the topic: Can Immigration Solve the Problem of an Aging Society?:

This large and relatively young population of immigrants is a good test of the argument that immigration can solve the problem of an aging society. Our analysis shows that immigration over a 27-year period did add significantly to the working-age population, but it also increased the size of the dependent population (children and the elderly). As a result, it did not significantly increase the share of the population that is of working-age.

Add this into the mix: Immigrants Are Coming to America at Older Ages.

President Trump's suggestion that chain migration should be eliminated and a merit based immigration should be implemented is sounding very reasonable.

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3:22 PM 7/17/2019

honor system in asylum entry -- it depends on honesty

Last year there was news about how 82 out of 100 Medicaid recipients selected at random in Louisiana were found not to have qualified for all the benefits they received. But somehow the system was duped into believing that they did.  The border situation likely suffers from this same phenomenon.

Dishonesty among the new arrivals runs rampant, e.g., DNA tests reveal 30% of suspected fraudulent migrant families were unrelated. The asylum entry program could likely suffer the same fate experienced in Louisiana with the Medicaid recipients if those assigned to administer it aren't diligent.

With a backlog of more than 800,000 asylum claims the system is woefully behind, especially as federal judges rule that the asylum seekers cannot be categorically detained. Compounding the problem is that nearly 90% of those released in the U.S. don't show up for their hearings.

So now we learn that Rep. Veronica Escobar has sent staff into Mexico to coach asylum-seekers on how to game the program.

What is needed is some legislative reform, not legislators plotting to thwart the system. But with many politicians content with a huge overhanging issue ahead of an upcoming contentious election, it's easy to be pessimistic that anything meaningful will be done.

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2:58 PM 7/7/2019

Mexico and Central America are training students to be good Marxists according to Monica Showalter

Her article, titled How illegal aliens arrive here as ready-made Democrats, describes the educational system in Mexico and Central America and produces this startling conclusion:

It's not that its people are poorly educated, though that's a major issue, actually. It's that a good look at that system shows that pretty much the only education they receive at all is Marxist indoctrination. Combine that with sub-literacy, and the people who are the products of this system are as malleable as clay in the hands of leftist demagogues.

How very convenient for the leftist political parties there that produce such people. And how even more convenient for Democrats up north, waiting to welcome them as they flee.

There's a nagging theory hanging out there that the only reason Democrats are so favorable of illegal immigration is because those new arrivals will or could eventually become Democrat voters in the U.S. Ms. Showalter's article suggests there's a rational basis for believing that theory.

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3:14 PM 4/17/2019

The downside of shipping illegals to sanctuary cities

The Wall Street Journal contained an editorial highlighting the downside of President Trump's suggestion to send the illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities.

Here are some bullet points:

1. It would legitimize the theory that cities can defy Federal immigration law;
2. A larger population would strengthen already Democratic control of the region by potentially adding the number of representatives in Congress; and
3. It would potentially add to the number of Electoral College votes for areas that typically vote Democrat.

Although it's a clever way to show the hypocrisy of the whole concept of sanctuary cities, there are some potential problems which could ultimately outweigh the pleasure of a good comeuppance.

Many Democrats probably want increased immigration because they think the immigrants will eventually become Democrat voters. With that in mind, one has to wonder why the sanctuary city residents haven't already embraced the possible movement of the immigrants to their cities. Could it be that they aren't as foresighted as they would have us believe?

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1:34 PM 4/15/2019

Is assisting illegal immigration a protected religious freedom? Nope.

This case was an attempt to excuse crimes on the basis of religious freedom. The group of volunteers trying to help illegal immigrants was accused of trespassing into a wilderness area. One of their defenses is described by one of the lawyers in Tucson court cases could upend long-standing status quo for border aid:

Warren’s lawyers also asked Velasco to dismiss two human-smuggling counts, arguing he was acting according to his sincerely-held beliefs that his actions were protected by religious freedom.

Not so fast, counselor. 'No More Deaths' Volunteers Face Possible Jail Time For Aiding Migrants:

Volunteers who've been caught leaving water and food for migrants have gotten into big trouble. Four No More Deaths volunteers were convicted after leaving supplies in the Cabeza Prieta refuge. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco found them guilty of abandonment of property and of entering the refuge without a permit. They face sentencing on Friday.

Statement by #Cabeza9 defendants:

We may have been found guilty but the real crime is the government’s deliberate policy to use “death as a deterrent” at the US/Mexico border. The criminalization of those acting in solidarity is a classic example of the ramping up of an authoritarian regime.

Breaking the law to help others break the law -- isn't that trying to say two wrongs make a right? And would a border wall have deterred illegal immigration in the first place?

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3:49 PM 3/4/2019

Happy Texas Independence Day 3-2-2019

It's probably politically incorrect to display pride on Texas Independence Day. Tough luck, SWJ's.

The history of Texas was taught in state public schools at one time. Now there's probably a watered down version about a border dispute.

But that time in history was filled with tension for the residents of territory. And they had to flee for their lives until they had to take a stand and fight the good fight. After enduring some horribly atrocities, the Texans prevailed, and Texas became an independent nation.

Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Hooray for Texas, and happy Independence Day!

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2:48 PM 3/2/2019

Build the wall in the river

The issue of the Texas land owners resisting a wall on their border property is probably not the last barrier to building a wall that will come out. But to be sure, land owners do not like to part with even a small portion of their privately owned property.

Eminent domain is a legal government taking of a land owner's property. So here's a path around that: build the wall in the Rio Grande River. Yes, right in the water.

Offshore petroleum platforms survive in the Gulf of Mexico, so it shouldn't be too hard to sink pylons in a river bed and attach metal slats to them to form a long lasting physical barrier.

The adjacent land owners own the land underlying the river up to the Mexican border, which should be down the middle. But federal and state laws prevent the use by the landowner of the land under the water. So exercising eminent domain for the land under water shouldn't be that difficult.

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1:28 PM 2/19/2019

What's Beto's position on open borders? Does anyone need to ask?

It would be nice if MSM asked him, especially as Beto and Trump are scheduled to hold rallies in El Paso around the same time.

Thehill.com tells us this: O'Rourke to headline counter-Trump rally at border. To wit:

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) will headline a rally on Monday in El Paso at the same time that President Trump is set to hold a rally there.

O'Rourke will join rally-goers in El Paso to "show the country the reality of the border," according to a statement released by his office Friday.

“Beto O’Rourke will join with his city on Monday evening to show the country the reality of the border -- a vibrant, safe, binational community that proudly celebrates its culture, history, diversity and status as a city of immigrants,” the statement said.

To catch up on "the reality of the border," perhaps Beto should take a look at these two articles from sources generally not especially Trump friendly: Border Patrol catch 325 migrants, including 32 unaccompanied CHILDREN, who sneaked through unsecured Mexico barrier after group lit campfire to cope with freezing temperatures; and U.S. Border Patrol Overwhelmed by Large Groups of Migrant Families.

Meanwhile, Jim Clifton at the Gallop Chairman's Blog asks this: What If There Were 42 Million at the Border?, citing poll results about which "the Gallup analytics estimate is that 42 million want to come to the U.S."

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10:04 AM 2/10/2019

Mexican president decides to improve economy -- What took him so long?

Some years ago a friend who was sympathetic to illegal immigration remarked sarcastically that Americans who opposed illegal immigration would get their comeuppance when Mexico's economy lured American citizens there to get work. My response was that a better economy in Mexico was in everyone's best interest.

It might be hard to get a good economy in a socialist environment that's infused with criminal narco-gangs. But it's worth a try, and it's long overdue.

And what do you know? Obrador is actually trying to make that happen, at least in the Northern part of Mexico. From Reuters: Mexican president decrees tax cuts for U.S. border region:

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s new leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday decreed tax cuts for northern states that he says will help power economic growth and deter migration to the United States.

An executive order in the government’s official gazette granted lower rates for both value-added and income taxes in more than 40 municipalities bordering the United States, an area that has become a flashpoint over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies to deter immigrants, including building a wall.

Lopez Obrador’s tax cuts could reduce government tax income during 2019, when he will implement a budget that seeks to use spending cuts to help fund new social welfare and infrastructure projects.

At an event in Monterrey in the northern state of Nuevo Leon on Saturday, Lopez Obrador said the minimum wage in the northern strip of municipalities would rise to 177 pesos ($9.00), nearly double the national level, starting Jan. 1, and that fuel prices would be set on a par with U.S. prices.

“This is a very important project to boost investment and job creation,” Lopez Obrador told business leaders.

The decree seeks to give an edge to northern Mexican businesses, which compete with U.S.-based companies across the border.

It's in everyone's best interest that the Mexican economy could improve to the point that its citizens don't believe that have to escape the regime in order to prosper.

See also Jason Hopkins' article Mexican president fighting illegal immigration to US by cutting taxes, improving economy of own country. Alternate link: Mexican President Fighting Illegal Immigration To US By Lowering Taxes.

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3:01 PM 1/1/2019

Another migrant child dies -- Dems not letting tragedy go to waste

Democrats' position on a border wall could have an ulterior motive -- they prefer likelihood for confrontations between law enforcement and migrants at the border.

A little girl died after being taken in by authorities not long ago, and now we hear about another child who died after being taken into custody. Right on cue, Democrats are declaring it was the fault of the Trump administration. Here's this from nbcnews.com: Guatemalan boy, 8, dies in immigration custody after being diagnosed with a cold. Here are a few quotes from the article:

"The Administration’s policy of turning people away from legal ports of entry, otherwise known as metering, is putting families and children in great danger," [Joaquin] Castro said in a statement. ...

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a tweet Tuesday that the boy's death was "a horrific tragedy" and that CBP should be held accountable. The group called for the incoming Congress to investigate the Department of Homeland Security, which includes CBP.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the boy's death "deplorable." "What happened to 'One death is too many,' @SecNielsen? " she said, quoting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week following Jakelin's death.

Never let a crisis go to waste, as a famous man once said. He might have been thinking that they might even have to give a situation a nudge to get that crisis.

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3:29 PM 12/26/2018

How exactly does technology prevent trespassers from breaching a border?

Anyone who watched the talk shows last Sunday heard one of the left's talking points about Trump's proposed border wall. Namely, walls are ancient history and don't work now. What works is technology, after all, this is the 21st century.

But this deplorable blogger out here in flyover country is having difficulty conjuring up an image that completes the picture. How does technology actually stop someone, short of activating a weapon or a force field of some sort?

The only technology that would have any application would be surveillance systems -- video, sound detection, motion detection, etc. But a response to detected border breaches would require human involvement which would require more law enforcement on the ground.

But that, too, is expensive, and worse, it creates too many possibilities for conflict. Of course, a conflict might just be what the left wants. You know, never let a crisis go to waste, as the old saying goes.

Anyway, the ancient method of border walls works in other countries. And whether it would be a wall or some other physical barrier, it would work on the U.S. border. Like a lock on the front door, it won't stop every intruder, but it will stop most of them and might buy you time should one get through.

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2:10 PM 12/25/2018

Economists' claim of economic benefit of immigration raises questions

The other morning a university economics professor was interviewed on NPR and was asked whether or not immigrates contribute to the U.S. economy. Unsurprisingly, his answer was "Yes." (They neglected to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.)

The theory he espoused was that when unskilled immigrants take over jobs of unskilled Americans, that provides new opportunities for the Americans. His reasoning was that the Americans could then move up to management or sales jobs -- jobs that require fluency in the English language which the immigrants would lack.

That's probably true up to a point, but it also probably looks better on paper than it does in real life. Other observers have noted how difficult it was to get families to relocate out of the rust belt -- where their manufacturing jobs evaporated -- into areas where jobs were slightly more plentiful. Furthermore, the add-ons through chain migration are less likely to contribute much to the economy.

Contrast those workers with the high tech workers on the West Coast who found it too expensive to live there and exhibited much more mobility. But the skills they possessed were in demand, and that gave them more opportunities. But that scenario is the exception to the rule. People don't want to move, and uncertainty of employment at the new place isn't really an incentive.

In any event, an influx of low skilled workers who are ready to work for less than the prevailing wage wouldn't boost the economy that much when the workers who were displaced are not able to find a better job.

All that having been said, there is no doubt that the economy is on the upswing. And during a booming economy there are plenty of jobs to go around. But the current problem for an employer is finding a worker who is qualified to do the work. Transitioning those previously displaced workers to those new jobs would be a challenge.

P.S. One has to wonder if the professor would acknowledge that Donald Trump is largely responsible for the current boom.

Related: One Nation, Two Economies

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1:22 PM 10/25/2018

Contrast: Treatment of parents in U.S. and in countries South of border

This news story from Chicage is getting a lot of attention: Mom Investigated by Cops, Children's Services for Letting 8-Year-Old Walk Dog Alone.

Some observers call children like these, "free range kids," because their parents trust that whatever they learn from treks outdoors will far outweigh any risk to the child. But here's the thing I believe is noteworthy about this. While parents in the U.S. are expected to hoover like helicopters over their children at the risk of being hauled in as bad parents, parents South of the border release their kids to cartel members, smugglers, and coyotes to travel otherwise unaccompanied across the U.S. border.

The left is willing to ignore that particular bit of parental negligence and use the kids as pawns in an attack on those who want strong borders. And they are winning!

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1:53 PM 8/24/2018

The flip side of the AMLO win -- a better quality of immigrants to U.S.

The other day I noted that an AMLO win in Mexico might influence potential immigrants to stay in or go to Mexico for the free stuff resulting from the socialist system Mr. AMLO was expected to put in place.

Well, there's another side to that. Monica Showalter puts it in the form of a question, Will we get a better quality of illegal under Mexico's new president, AMLO? Excerpt:

Basically, his election signals a bid to grab back Mexico's underclass from the United States and shower them with benefits at home to keep himself popular.   ...

Taxes are likely to skyrocket.  Good jobs are likely to shrink.  And the people who will be hurt from that? Mexico's middle class, the hardworking, educated Mexicans who have jobs, pay taxes, and aren't going to like AMLO's skyrocketing taxes as he insults them with claims that they are "the rich" and need to be taxed a little more. 

The Venezuela and Cuba examples show that first it's the middle class who flee, then the lower middle class, and then the poor, after their home country has run out of other people's money.  Mexico, at the front of its new socialist administration, will likely have money from taxes and will drive out its middle classes first.  The poor, meanwhile, will likely stay put, at least until the Other People's Money runs out.

Net result: Immigrants and aliens from Mexico (who are declining in numbers here already due to Mexico's own population declines and rising incomes) will be less likely to want welfare here and more likely to want opportunity here.

Hmm. Very interesting. In the short term, this might be good for the U.S.  However, the lessons of Venezuela and Cuba tell us that in the long run we'll still need The Wall.

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12:40 PM 7/2/2018

If AMLO wins in Mexico they'll have their own socialist paradise ...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aka AMLO, tells his audiences what they want to hear, which makes him a typical politician. His propensity for socialism is troubling to those of us North of the border but shouldn't be all that surprising. Read about him at Who is AMLO? Meet Mexico’s presidential hopeful.

So any prospective immigrant to the U.S. seeking a socialist paradise, look no farther than Mexico.

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9:41 AM 7/1/2018

Cartels smuggle illegal aliens and keep border patrol busy while they sneak in drugs

While most of the Democrat media enterprise concentrates on any aspect of illegal immigration that could damage Trump's popularity, the cartel millionaires smile all the way to the banque.

Ben Domenech penned an eye opener titled The Migrant Crisis Is About More Than Just Kids. Mr. Domenech tells us how the cartels use murder to control the political process South of the border. Then there's this:

The Mexican cartels had to find a new funding source with the legalization of marijuana in the United States. The market for their poor quality pot dried up, and so they turned to human trafficking as an alternative source of funding. They locked down the Rio Grande, to the point that you must pay them to be ferried across or you risk being shot. The cartels use these migrants to flood the zone and clog up Border Patrol resources, functioning as human pawns to distract from their efforts to smuggle opioids and other drugs across.

It's only a matter of time before the open border crowd starts calling the detention centers "refugee camps."

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2:43 PM 6/22/2018

Democrats not letting the separated children crisis go to waste

There's little doubt that the issue of children being separated from their parents is a manufactured crisis. The new twist on Rahm Emanuel's old mantra is "never let a crisis go to waste, even if you have to lie and scheme to build up some legal issue into a crisis."

Chuck Schumer let the cat out of the bag with a remark a Republican bill which sought to alleviate the pressure. See Schumer rejects GOP proposal to address border crisis:

Asked if that meant Democrats would not support a bill backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to keep immigrant families together while seeking asylum on the U.S. border, Schumer said they want to keep the focus on Trump.

"They want to keep the focus on Trump." But of course. Where would they be without a boogieman?

So what happens if Trump caves to the pressure? Well, he did. Trump signs executive order to keep undocumented families together. Democrats will move onto another manufactured crisis in no time. Hey, there's always Russia.

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2:10 PM 6/20/2018

Voting with his feet -- expelled Venezuelan diplomat becomes illegal alien, wants green card

This is the AP news release: APNewsBreak: Expelled Venezuela diplomat stays in US. The meat:

Jarlet Sanchez, a career diplomat who had been serving as Venezuela’s deputy consul general in Houston, was declared persona non grata May 23 in retaliation for Maduro’s decision to kick out charge d’affaires Todd Robinson in the immediate aftermath of his re-election.

But a U.S. official and another individual familiar with the case said Sanchez has yet to depart. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.

Foreign diplomats in the U.S. who don’t abide by orders to leave can be forcibly expelled, according to longstanding legal opinion of the U.S. Justice Department.

But The Associated Press has learned that Sanchez is hoping to stay in the United States permanently by applying for a green card under an obscure provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act. That provision, known as Section 13, says that people who enter the U.S. as diplomats can apply for a change in their immigration status and, if it is granted, obtain permanent residency.

Overstaying one's welcome is a tradition among visitors.

Trump is probably not inclined to favor an open door to Venezuelans wanting refugee status. And it's certain the Obama administration wouldn't want to do anything that might imply socialism results in anything less than utopia. So it will be interesting to watch.

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1:09 PM 6/7/2018

Avoiding I.C.E. -- there's an app for that

There doesn't seem to be a shortage of deep pocket donors willing to shell out money to help thwart efforts to restrict illegal immigration or help illegals already in the U.S. to stay in the U.S.

And there's at least one app for help with that effort. From the Houston Chronicle: Undocumented immigrants turn to technology to avoid arrests:

The app, called Notifica, allows undocumented immigrants to activate a plan if they come in contact with immigration law enforcement authorities or find themselves at risk of being detained.

The users can previously prepare a set of automatic messages to alert - with one click - family members, lawyers, and others if they or someone they care about have an encounter with immigration enforcement authorities. The tool was developed last year and distributed on a small scale, and is now available for the public on Google and at Apple apps stores.

Judicial Watch digs up background on the funding. Here's their write-up: Soros-Funded Group Launches App to Help Illegal Aliens Avoid Feds. Excerpt:

The group behind the app is called United We Dream, which describes itself as the country’s largest immigrant youth-led community. The nonprofit has more than 400,000 members nationwide and claims to “embrace the common struggle of all people of color and stand up against racism, colonialism, colorism, and xenophobia.” Among its key projects is winning protections and rights for illegal immigrants, defending against deportation, obtaining education for illegal immigrants and acquiring “justice and liberation” for undocumented LGBT “immigrants and allies.” Illegal aliens encounter lots of discrimination, which creates a lot of fear, according to United We Dream. “We empower people to develop their leadership, their organizing skills, and to develop our own campaigns to fight for justice and dignity for immigrants and all people,” United We Dream states on its website, adding that this is achieved through immigrant youth-led campaigns at the local, state, and federal level.

United We Dream started as a project of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. Between 2008 and 2010, NILC received $206,453 in U.S. government grants, the records show. The project funded was for “immigration-related employment discrimination public education.” Headquartered in Los Angeles, NILC was established in 1979 and is dedicated to “defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.” The organization, which also has offices in Washington D.C. and Berkeley, California claims to have played a leadership role in spearheading Barack Obama’s amnesty program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which has shielded hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from deportation. “Ultimately, NILC’s goals are centered on promoting the full integration of all immigrants into U.S. society,” according to its website.

Both the NILC and its offshoot, United We Dream, get big bucks from Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF). In fact, both nonprofits list OSF as a key financial backer. In the United States Soros groups have pushed a radical agenda that includes promoting an open border with Mexico and fighting immigration enforcement efforts, fomenting racial disharmony by funding anti-capitalist black separationist organizations, financing the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups involved in the Ferguson Missouri riots, weakening the integrity of the nation’s electoral systems, opposing U.S. counterterrorism efforts and eroding 2nd Amendment protections. OSF has also funded a liberal think-tank headed by former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and the scandal-ridden activist group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), so corrupt that Congress banned it from receiving federal funding.

The U.S. is such a free country that those who want to create chaos and disharmony are free to do so without a worry.

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1:29 PM 5/3/2018

Illegal immigrant poster kids for Dems are student scholars. Illegal immigrant poster kids for Repubs are criminals

Watch Fox News for a couple of days and you'll see news about an illegal alien committing a horrific crime and maybe even gaining early release because of sanctuary city policies. But the Democrat Media complex ignore those stories and focus on stories that put Dreamers in a positive light. They feature, for example, DACA kids graduating with honors or illegal alien valedictorians. It's quite a contrast.

But that's what we get when identity politics is the dominant political driver.

Meanwhile, here's Mickey Kause's famous quote from Don’t buy all the PR-style hooey about ‘dreamers’:

The dreamers you read about have typically been carefully selected for their appeal. They’re valedictorians. They’re first responders. They’re curing diseases. They root for the Yankees. They want to serve in the Army. If dreamers are the poster children for the much larger undocumented population, these are the poster children for the poster children.

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1:09 PM 3/12/2018

Mexico doing the work Americans won't do -- collaboration between public and private entities to improve health care

You've heard the refrain: Illegal immigrants do the work Americans won't do. It was repeated so often it became laughable. But here's some interesting news from Mexico in Top health industry issues of Mexico: A whole-society approach to healthcare. Excerpt from the intro:

For decades, the Mexican healthcare systems has relied on government initiatives to spark change. Now it is opening up to consumer and private industry influence. Collaborations between public and private organizations may be the key to solving some of the system’s greatest challenges: universal health coverage, chronic disease management, affordability and value-based care. PwC Health Research Institute’s report highlights the forces that are expected to have the most impact on the healthcare industry in the coming year.

(Bold added.)

Many Democrats in the U.S. are clamoring for universal health coverage which seems to imply a Medicare or Medicaid type system regardless of the stifling of the innovation for which the United States is famous. So it's interesting to see at least one country acknowledging that problem while struggling to make such a thing work.

Obamacare has been a nightmare for many, and Trump probably would have signed anything to repeal or even to make simple improvements to the thing. But he's making some progress with his executive orders. It's unfortunate that the House and Senate couldn't come to terms, but maybe that will eventually change.

In any event, the report about the state of the Mexican healthcare system is enlightening. Download the PDF at this link: Top ten health industry issues of Mexico: A whole-society approach to healthcare.

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3:04 PM 10/16/2017

Economists contending that immigration boosts the economy conveniently omit illegals

The concept that immigration is good for a nation's economy is dogma among economists. It's hard to argue with the notion that skilled, hard working people immigrating into the U.S. would ultimately help the economy grow. But to get that result one would have to ignore the illegal immigrants.

It would be nice to have an immigration policy that only allowed in those people who could actually contribute to the economy. But there has been no such policy for years. However, there have been millions of illegal immigrants.

So it's interesting to see the results of a study on the cost of illegals to taxpayers. See The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers.

Introduction
A continually growing population of illegal aliens, along with the federal government’s ineffective efforts to secure our borders, present significant national security and public safety threats to the United States. They also have a severely negative impact on the nation’s taxpayers at the local, state, and national levels. Illegal immigration costs Americans billions of dollars each year. Illegal aliens are net consumers of taxpayer-funded services and the limited taxes paid by some segments of the illegal alien population are, in no way, significant enough to offset the growing financial burdens imposed on U.S. taxpayers by massive numbers of uninvited guests. This study examines the fiscal impact of illegal aliens as reflected in both federal and state budgets. ...

They calculated that during the period under study the income tax revenue from them was $18,968,857,700 which when subtracted from the total national cost of $134,863,455,364 yielded a net loss of $116 billion.

Read the article for the detailed breakdown. But the conclusion has to be that economists claiming the economic value of immigration have to ignore the illegals.

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1:00 PM 9/27/2017

Larry Summers on immigration -- Dems should listen to him

A portion of the excerpt reproduced below was published in the WSJ's "notable and quotable" column the other day. It is from Tyler Cowen interview with Larry Summers. The transcript can be found at Ep. 28: Larry Summers on Macroeconomics, Mentorship, and Avoiding Complacency. And here's the portion of the interview addressing immigration.

COWEN: The DREAM Act is in the news right now. What’s the best way to think about where the limits to immigration should be? You’ve spoken out in favor of renewing the DREAM Act or possibly doing more. What’s the margin at which we say, “No more”?

SUMMERS: I think, on the DREAM Act, because the people are here, they’ve invested their lives and we, as a country, made a commitment to them, I think it’s a no-brainer to find ways to enable them to stay. The right broad deal on immigration is yes, there should be immigration but at least my view is the idea of the melting pot, which has become unfashionable in many circles, is actually a good idea.

The understanding should be that if you immigrate to the United States you’re immigrating to the United States to become an American. That reflects acculturation, one crucial part of which is speaking English and understanding that you’re going to be learning English and that you’re going to be carrying on your life in English. If we had more acceptance of the idea that immigration was about becoming American, we would have more acceptance of higher levels of immigration than generate comfort right now.

But one does need to understand that any country should make policy in the interests of its current citizens. It would be in the interests of America’s current citizens to have more immigrants come for all sorts of economic reasons and many ways in which it would support the economy. But when the argument is framed in terms of broad obligation to humanity and so forth, it’s understandable that there’s some reluctance to accept that argument.

That makes perfect sense, and that's the way it was for many years. But identity politics became the game plan for Democrats. And now immigrants are encouraged to reject any notion of pride in America but instead agitate for a separate status as non-American.

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2:42 PM 9/25/2017

Drop in illegal immigration hurting local construction companies

News reports tell us that there has been a big drop in illegal immigration. The presumptions is that President Trump's highly public focus on the issue is deterring illegal crossings.

There has been a real practical effect -- companies that relied on illegals for labor are short staffed.

Case in point: Right here in Midland, Texas, it's hard to find a roofer. When the hurricane force wind hit this desert town in June there was a lot of damage to houses. The shingles on my tool shed were ripped off. An employee of Charles Terry Construction Company came out right away and provided an estimate along with a promise of repair within the next couple of days.

After three weeks I called to find out why they didn't perform as promised. The lady who took the call said someone would call in the following week to establish a time for the work. Two weeks later, still no call. If they would just explain their problem it would go a long way to alleviate the tension and satiate their customers. Instead, the poor ladies who answer the phone simply give false promises. Not a good way to run a business.

Hopefully, businesses in this bind can figure out a way to operate in the new environment of minimal illegal entries. The bracero program is supposed to have worked. Maybe it should be tried again.

Heads up, ICE -- Illegal immigrants coming to Austin to protest

This comes on the heels of horrifying news about ten illegal immigrants who died of heat exhaustion in a trailer in San Antonio the other day. You could honestly say that people are dying to get in. One has to admire the character of individuals who are willing to risk death for a better life. But it's a darn shame that residents of Mexico can't have that better life they seek in their home country.

FWIW, The county in which San Antonio is situated is not listed here as a "sanctuary county."

In any event, there's a notice posted online advertising what they call a "Mass sit-in" at the Texas state capitol. Notice posted here. Excerpt:

Immigrant Youth From Across The Country Come To Texas For First Undocumented Led Escalated Action Under The Trump Administration
Who: Undocumented youth, parents, and allies
What: Mass sit-in at Texas Attorney General’s Office, in the first and largest undocumented led direct action since Trump’s inauguration. 300 W 15th St, Austin, TX
When: Wednesday, July 26th 10:30 AM

Heads up, ICE

Travis County, where Austin is located, is listed as a sanctuary county.

By the way, in case anyone doesn't know this already, conservatives don't fear immigrants. They fear that immigrants, discouraged by political forces from assimilating, will attempt to import the type of government that created the situation they risked their lives to escape.

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1:33 PM 7/25/2017

UPDATED 11:03 AM 7/27/2017: Fifty showed up. 15 Arrested During DACA Lawsuit Protest at Texas AG’s Office. They were charged with blocking a highway. And this: "Breitbart Texas reached out to immigration officials to determine if any actions will be taken by the agency. Officials were not available for an immediate response."