Statesman: U.S. Lawmaker Calls for Government-Supported Volunteer Group
By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Frustrated by a government that seems unable to stanch the flow of illegal immigrants, a Houston Republican has introduced legislation creating a civilian volunteer militia to patrol the nation's borders, armed with arrest power, guns and the approval to use "any force necessary."
Commanded by Gov. Rick Perry and other border-state governors, the Border Protection Corps would add another line of defense against terrorists, smugglers and gangs eager to prey upon the United States, U.S. Rep. John Culberson said.
Critics accused Culberson of fueling anti-immigrant attitudes with an impractical and potentially dangerous idea, but the three-term congressman said national security trumps all other concerns.
"My constituents and I are just flat fed up, and we need action immediately to prevent terrorists and other criminals from crossing over to the United States," Culberson said.
Filed shortly before Congress began its August recess and endorsed by three Austin-area GOP colleagues, Culberson's legislation reflects a change in the immigration debate, one that focuses on domestic security instead of the economic and social repercussions of a large, undocumented work force.
The Border Protection Corps Act also highlights disagreements among Republicans, who have filed almost 20 often-competing immigration bills this year in an uncommon lack of cohesion for a party that holds the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress.
Still, the focus on national security allows cultural conservatives and law-and-order Republicans to drive the debate, strengthening the hand of those seeking a tougher response to illegal immigration, said James Hollifield, director of the John Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University.
"That has changed significantly, if not radically, since the end of Cold War. In the 1960s to the 1980s, if you wanted to reform immigration policy, you needed a coalition of civil rights Democrats and Wall Street Republicans," Hollifield said. "Now the whole immigration debate is tangled up with a national security debate."
Critics dismiss national security concerns as a smokescreen hiding racist or anti-immigrant attitudes, and civil rights groups and several Democrats have labeled Culberson's militia idea as unworkable.
"The border is way too dangerous to leave it to amateurs," said U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in the McAllen and El Paso sectors.
"The atmosphere it would create, the potential for violating people's civil rights, the fact that these individuals . . . may not understand the culture, the areas, the overall challenge that they're facing — I don't think it's anything you want to even entertain at this point," he said.
Reyes advocates hiring more Border Patrol agents, who are trained in the complexities of immigration law and required to speak Spanish, stipulations not included in the militia bill.
But Culberson said desperate times require desperate measures, such as creating a volunteer patrol inspired by the controversial Minuteman Project, which is seeking to expand into Texas after sending volunteers into the Arizona desert to deter illegal border crossings.
"If they haven't already entered the country, terrorists will enter the country and hurt us far worse than they did on September 11, with simultaneous attacks on U.S. cities," Culberson said. "And they will mock us as they announce to the world that they simply walked over our southern border, and we allowed them to do it."
The U.S. Constitution, under Section 8 of Article 1, authorizes Congress to call up a militia "to execute the laws of the Union" and authorize money to arm and train its members.
Culberson said the program would tap $6.8 billion in unspent Department of Homeland Security first-responder grants. However, agency spokesman Steven Llanes, said, that money has been allocated to the states. "It's not sitting here in Washington, D.C.," he said.
Members of a border militia would be sanctioned and financed by the federal government and allowed to arrest and detain suspected illegal aliens in states bordering Mexico and Canada, Culberson said.
Volunteers would have to be U.S. citizens and have no criminal record or history of mental illness. The rest — training, equipment, compensation for travel and lodging — would be left to each governor's office.
"I'm absolutely confident that you would see tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Americans step up and help on a part-time or full-time basis," Culberson said. "There are 237,000-plus concealed carry permit holders in Texas. I can only imagine how many thousands of retired or part-time law enforcement and military personnel would be ready, willing and able to help."
Though critics dismiss Culberson's numbers as unrealistic, 47 Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors, including U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul of Austin, John Carter of Round Rock and Lamar Smith of San Antonio, whose district includes most of downtown Austin.
"There is a growing concern in America over how porous the borders are," Smith said. "Clearly, there is a need for this. Clearly, the government is unable or unwilling to devote the personnel and resources necessary to secure the borders."
Perry, who thinks that border security is a federal, not a state, responsibility, issued a lukewarm statement on Culberson's bill (HR 3622).
"I welcome federal efforts to protect our borders from illegal immigration and threats from terrorists," Perry said. "Regardless of the mechanism, the federal government must provide a stronger presence along the border."
Perry's lack of enthusiasm won't help the bill's future, already made difficult by the GOP's lack of consensus on immigration. Still, Culberson said he has received "a very strong, positive response, and I am going to use every legislative and political power at my disposal to pass this into law."
Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, called Culberson's approach irrespons- ible.
"These are elected officials who wish to foment anti-immigrant sentiment to further their own electoral goals. This is not good public policy. This is strictly political fodder," he said.
"I wish the people would wake up one morning and go to the grocery store and imagine 60 percent of the produce gone. If our borders were actually shut, which never has happened and never will happen, the reality is, our economy and our way of life would come to a halt," Harrell said.
Culberson denied harboring any motivation other than securing the nation's borders.
"The FBI director testified, under oath, that individuals from countries with al Qaeda connections are assuming false Hispanic identities and entering the United States by hiding among the flood of illegal aliens coming across our border," Culberson said.
"The situation along the border is nearly out of control, and we have a long and honorable tradition in Texas of citizens stepping up to fill the breach," he said.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Frustrated by a government that seems unable to stanch the flow of illegal immigrants, a Houston Republican has introduced legislation creating a civilian volunteer militia to patrol the nation's borders, armed with arrest power, guns and the approval to use "any force necessary."
Commanded by Gov. Rick Perry and other border-state governors, the Border Protection Corps would add another line of defense against terrorists, smugglers and gangs eager to prey upon the United States, U.S. Rep. John Culberson said.
Critics accused Culberson of fueling anti-immigrant attitudes with an impractical and potentially dangerous idea, but the three-term congressman said national security trumps all other concerns.
"My constituents and I are just flat fed up, and we need action immediately to prevent terrorists and other criminals from crossing over to the United States," Culberson said.
Filed shortly before Congress began its August recess and endorsed by three Austin-area GOP colleagues, Culberson's legislation reflects a change in the immigration debate, one that focuses on domestic security instead of the economic and social repercussions of a large, undocumented work force.
The Border Protection Corps Act also highlights disagreements among Republicans, who have filed almost 20 often-competing immigration bills this year in an uncommon lack of cohesion for a party that holds the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress.
Still, the focus on national security allows cultural conservatives and law-and-order Republicans to drive the debate, strengthening the hand of those seeking a tougher response to illegal immigration, said James Hollifield, director of the John Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University.
"That has changed significantly, if not radically, since the end of Cold War. In the 1960s to the 1980s, if you wanted to reform immigration policy, you needed a coalition of civil rights Democrats and Wall Street Republicans," Hollifield said. "Now the whole immigration debate is tangled up with a national security debate."
Critics dismiss national security concerns as a smokescreen hiding racist or anti-immigrant attitudes, and civil rights groups and several Democrats have labeled Culberson's militia idea as unworkable.
"The border is way too dangerous to leave it to amateurs," said U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in the McAllen and El Paso sectors.
"The atmosphere it would create, the potential for violating people's civil rights, the fact that these individuals . . . may not understand the culture, the areas, the overall challenge that they're facing — I don't think it's anything you want to even entertain at this point," he said.
Reyes advocates hiring more Border Patrol agents, who are trained in the complexities of immigration law and required to speak Spanish, stipulations not included in the militia bill.
But Culberson said desperate times require desperate measures, such as creating a volunteer patrol inspired by the controversial Minuteman Project, which is seeking to expand into Texas after sending volunteers into the Arizona desert to deter illegal border crossings.
"If they haven't already entered the country, terrorists will enter the country and hurt us far worse than they did on September 11, with simultaneous attacks on U.S. cities," Culberson said. "And they will mock us as they announce to the world that they simply walked over our southern border, and we allowed them to do it."
The U.S. Constitution, under Section 8 of Article 1, authorizes Congress to call up a militia "to execute the laws of the Union" and authorize money to arm and train its members.
Culberson said the program would tap $6.8 billion in unspent Department of Homeland Security first-responder grants. However, agency spokesman Steven Llanes, said, that money has been allocated to the states. "It's not sitting here in Washington, D.C.," he said.
Members of a border militia would be sanctioned and financed by the federal government and allowed to arrest and detain suspected illegal aliens in states bordering Mexico and Canada, Culberson said.
Volunteers would have to be U.S. citizens and have no criminal record or history of mental illness. The rest — training, equipment, compensation for travel and lodging — would be left to each governor's office.
"I'm absolutely confident that you would see tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Americans step up and help on a part-time or full-time basis," Culberson said. "There are 237,000-plus concealed carry permit holders in Texas. I can only imagine how many thousands of retired or part-time law enforcement and military personnel would be ready, willing and able to help."
Though critics dismiss Culberson's numbers as unrealistic, 47 Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors, including U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul of Austin, John Carter of Round Rock and Lamar Smith of San Antonio, whose district includes most of downtown Austin.
"There is a growing concern in America over how porous the borders are," Smith said. "Clearly, there is a need for this. Clearly, the government is unable or unwilling to devote the personnel and resources necessary to secure the borders."
Perry, who thinks that border security is a federal, not a state, responsibility, issued a lukewarm statement on Culberson's bill (HR 3622).
"I welcome federal efforts to protect our borders from illegal immigration and threats from terrorists," Perry said. "Regardless of the mechanism, the federal government must provide a stronger presence along the border."
Perry's lack of enthusiasm won't help the bill's future, already made difficult by the GOP's lack of consensus on immigration. Still, Culberson said he has received "a very strong, positive response, and I am going to use every legislative and political power at my disposal to pass this into law."
Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, called Culberson's approach irrespons- ible.
"These are elected officials who wish to foment anti-immigrant sentiment to further their own electoral goals. This is not good public policy. This is strictly political fodder," he said.
"I wish the people would wake up one morning and go to the grocery store and imagine 60 percent of the produce gone. If our borders were actually shut, which never has happened and never will happen, the reality is, our economy and our way of life would come to a halt," Harrell said.
Culberson denied harboring any motivation other than securing the nation's borders.
"The FBI director testified, under oath, that individuals from countries with al Qaeda connections are assuming false Hispanic identities and entering the United States by hiding among the flood of illegal aliens coming across our border," Culberson said.
"The situation along the border is nearly out of control, and we have a long and honorable tradition in Texas of citizens stepping up to fill the breach," he said.
posted by Tejano Insider at 11:26 AM
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