Tough New ICE Policy

From the Houston Chronicle [SARCASM ALERT! the well-known defender of the rule of law, at least where illegal immigration is concerned] comes this story about a new plan working in ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — sort of the real-world answer to literary agencies with cool names such as S.H.I.E.L.D.].

What is this marvelous new program the federal border enforcement will be implementing?  Outsourcing their own jobs …to illegals.

Rather than risk getting caught, turn yourselves in.

That’s the latest government strategy in its ongoing effort to dramatically reduce the nation’s ballooning population of illegal immigrants.

Scheduled to be unveiled next week, it was announced Sunday by Julie Myers, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an interview with a Spanish-language television network.

Myers told the network that “Operation Scheduled Departure” will allow illegal immigrants without criminal records a chance to literally “self-deport” by turning themselves in to her agents.

She said the idea derived from a common complaint voiced by immigrant detainees: If given the opportunity, they’d rather just go home than be holed up in immigration prisons.

Under the new program, those still walking free will have the chance to walk into ICE offices, be processed and get a few weeks to arrange their affairs, pack their belongings and ship out of the country without being detained.

“The program basically gives an opportunity to those seeking an organized way to self-deport,” Myers told Univisión anchor Jorge Ramos.

China’s chinaview.cn has the real silver lining here:

People who register for the program will be given 90 days to get their affairs in order and arrange to leave the United States. Those who request financial assistance for a ticket to a distant nation will receive it, and once they leave they are banned from returning to the United States, even legally, for 20 years. [Emphasis mine]

HuffPo has more.  I think it’s interesting that Ms Myers chose, last Sunday, to break this on Univision.  Only.

Oh, and the name of the program just kills.  One might expect something along the lines of “Operation ‘Don’t Let the Door Hit You’” or even “GTFO” [I'll leave it to your fevered little minds to decipher that one], but no, the pantywaist program has a pantywaist name.  Probably its name is commensurate with the strength of its bite.

This is obviously a way for the Johnny Windsock campaign to flex some muscle [via an assist from George the Younger], show how tough on illegal immigration Republicans really can be.  And thereby not hemorrhage votes to Baldwin or Barr.

See here for a discussion of why “registration” [or catch-and-release] is a doomed philosophy.

Reflections on Independence

Last month, we drove from Mudville over to Podunkville to watch the Independence Day Parade. [I say that sort of tongue-in-cheek; I'll explain later] We planned out our routine late the night before, down to the minute, and promptly overslept and screwed up the whole plan. I tell ya, when your children out-number you [two toddlers and an infant], every movement is a battle. [and as we all know, the first thing to be lost in battle is the plan]

Anyway, we all pile out of the house around the time we had planned to be lining up for the parade. While my Lovely Bride ducked into the quilting store to ask a few questions, I staked out a rare spot in the crowd: one with a reasonable view, and [more importantly on a clear, Texas day with the temp at over 90° at 1000] shade. The local denizens seemed reasonably well-behaved, and the children docile.

That all changed, really at the playing of the National Anthem. [which, I must admit, I was torn as to whether I should come to attention for it — but decided to, because it really doesn't matter that, as would soon be revealed, my fellow travelers were there to worship at the altar of the State — to me it serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made in our secession from our English oppressors] Since we were near the end of the ≈ 2 miles parade route, we had a little wait after the Anthem.

Soon enough, we were treated to a series of “floats” [in quotes because, in small-town Texas, the offerings tend toward pickups towing flatbed trailers with everyone piled on hay bales, not actual floats] consisting of sweaty people with no more candy to throw, [what had to be] pre-pubescent cheerleaders and other hoochies pimping themselves for their Daddys’ auto dealerships [SARCASM ALERT! you just gotta love it — and I know I do, as a father to three girls — when people tart up their teenage daughters and set them to waving from the back of a truck or convertible], and Shriners on tiny little Corvettes.

And fire trucks. Lots and lots of fire trucks.

Did I mention the lead-in was the Marines ROTC from the Podunkville High School? Soon followed by droves and droves of old veterans [and others] driving surplus Army vehicles — jeeps, trucks, vintage tracked transports — even a real, live Army colonel, fresh from two tours in Afghanistan. The intent was obvious: get everyone riled up for “our boys” and reinforce the fallacy that the military [and, by extension, the administration] is the country.

The cheering for the American Legionnaires, VFW Hall Regulars, and, finally, the “local hero,” combined with the display of [honestly, pretty pathetic] military hardware made me anxious.

What makes people so ready to believe whatever tripe the government throws at them? It has been proven over and over again how Bush lied his way into a war with Iraq, how our actions there are completely unjustified, immoral, and have nothing — nothing — to do with national security. But the time-worn refrain of “we have to fight them over there so we don’t end up fighting them over here” leaps immediately to people’s lips, even the ones who seem otherwise intelligent.

A friend of this forum once ventured that this is due [on the part of Ulster Scots, anyway] to a racial proclivity for leader-worship. I imagine that’s not far wrong.

But followers [even Christians™, farmer, if you're reading] should be aware as much of 1 Samuel 8 as they too often are of the the misapplication of Romans 13. Too many churches have become so enamored of their “place at the table” with the current government [and, honestly, this stretches back a few decades... when is the last time Billy Graham didn't have direct access to the President?] that they rubber stamp whatever administrative or legislative travesty out of fear, one can only hope, of losing said access. [The less palatable alternative — that they're actively complicit in the policies — is one I'd rather not consider]

In fact, Chuck Baldwin [Constitution Party presidential candidate, and author of the "misapplication" link above] is the only Southern Baptist pastor I’ve heard criticize the heinous crimes against liberty and humanity perpetrated by George the Younger since September 11th. Why aren’t more believers standing against this war on the lost? [because, in the final analysis, all that matters — or should matter, to the church leadership — about the Iraq insurgency is that every day, sinners are dying without the Lord in their lives] Why aren’t more church leaders standing up against the abrogation of the rights protected by our Constitution, rights given us by God?

The only answer I can see: because killing Muslims and protecting a pagan democracy is more important.