Obama and Immigration Reform.

From a Washington Post article, I've learned that the Obama campaign has purchased, among other Google keywords, "immigration reform". Type that particular keyword and Obama's ad appears at the top of your search results.

The ad reads, "Romney's Extreme Views" and "He'd separate immigrants from their families. Join us and fight back."

Click on the ad and you won't get any information on Romney's ideas on immigration reform, nor on Obama's ideas either, for that matter. What you will get is a plea from the Obama campaign for your email address. Of course, giving them your email address will only result in you receiving requests for money.

Clicking on the ad will, of course cost the Obama campaign money. How much? Who knows what they've paid Google for the privilege? Anyone clicking on the ad and not giving the campaign information or money will result in a loss for the campaign, however small that loss might be.

I suppose all's fair in love, war and politics, but I'd much rather receive authentic information about Romney's and Obama's plans on fixing the immigration debacle and not some cheap trick to get campaign funds.

Bloody Hands.

Consistent with their strong Christian values, the good sisters of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia pray that the tragic death of Sister Denise Mosier does not become "politicized and become an apparent forum for the illegal immigration agenda".

In a statement from August 3, 2010, the nuns ask that we "re-focus [our] attention on the consequences of drinking and driving, and on Christ’s command to forgive."

Of course, it is right and proper that we do that.

However, in two articles [Nun's death rallies anti-immigration forces and Forgiven enough] it is implied that by receiving the nun's forgiveness the young, illegal immigrant responsible for the death of Sister Mosier should escape deportation. There is nothing in the nuns' statement that would suggest that Carlos A. Martinelly-Montano, 23, should not "experience the consequences of his decisions through our justice system."

One women is dead and two more are in critical condition because of Martinelly-Montano's decision to get behind the wheel of an automobile after drinking heavily.

As Corey Stewart, chairman of Prince William County's Board of Supervisors points out, there is certainly more than enough blame to go around. Stewart issued a statement saying that President Barack Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and members of Congress "all have blood on their hands."

If convicted, this will not be Martinelly-Montano's first drunken driving conviction. There have been two before - one in 2007 and another in 2008. Had the authorities deported Martinelly-Montano after his first conviction (as they should have; he is here illegally, after all) Sister Mosier would be alive today.

Martinelly-Montano's family may very well believe that "He had a bad drinking problem, but he's a good man," but that belief really changes nothing. According to a Washington Post article,

"The family entered the United States illegally in 1996, when their oldest son was 8, they said, and spent more than a decade as undocumented immigrants. In 2007, the parents, their daughter and their oldest son got work permits from the Department of Homeland Security, they said, even though they had been in the country illegally. Anthony Guerrieri, a spokesman for the temporary employment agency that hired Martinelly-Montano in April, said in an e-mail that the suspect 'successfully cleared the . . . employment verification process and upon hire, was eligible for employment in the U.S.' "

The system is broken and innocent people are suffering and dying because of government officials bowing down to goddess of political correctness.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President. Here's Your Cake.

Thanks to Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona, I was able to send a "birthday cake" to the President.

Actually, I sent more than one (I have more than one email address, after all).
You can send one too by going to here.

Send in yours right away!!!!!!

happybirthdayfromaz.com.

This Is No Laughing Matter.

Here's another video from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Jo from Florida.

I received this in an email and I felt it was worth sharing.

Obama's Misplaced Priorities.

As expected, the Obama administration has filed a law suit against the State of Arizona over it's controversial new immigration law.
Obama has decided to carry through with the suit, in spite of the fact that a majority of Americans approve of Arizona's attempt to step in where Federal officials fear to go.

Four days ago, 21 members of rival drug gangs were killed in a massive gun battle 12 miles from the Arizona border. While this may be the worst case of violence erupting near the border between Mexico and Arizona in years, it certainly was not the first incident.There's no wonder why the good people of Arizona want the Federal government to secure the border.

An objective reading of Arizona's new legislation reveals the law to be no more "draconian" than current Federal regulations.

In 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon promised to use thousands of troops and federal police to control the drug related violence in his country. More than 23,000 people have been killed in Mexico by drug violence in the mean time. President Obama's response is certainly not comforting. More than 4,300 people have been murdered in recent years in Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas - including an assistant attorney general for the Mexican State of Chihuahua and one of her bodyguards just days ago.

Rather than increase troop levels in Afghanistan, Obama might do well to consider putting more "boots on the ground" on the United States/Mexico border.

Napolitano - Obama in Agreement over Border.

In a cnsnews.com article from April 29, 2010, it was reported that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that, the United States’ southwest border is “as secure now as it has ever been.”

Again, on June 28, 2010 she was reported as having said the same thing before an audience in Washington, D.C.. However, in the later article, she was quoted as saying,

“It’s 1,960 miles across that Southwest border. It’s some of the roughest, toughest geographical terrain in the world across that border. And so, the notion that you’re going to seal that border somehow is something that anybody who’s been involved in the actual doing of law enforcement--the front office work or the front line work of the law enforcement--would say, ‘You’re never going to totally seal that border.’”

The Homeland Security Secretary isn't the only one sending out mixed messages concerning the security of our border with Mexico. In his July 1, 2010 speech on comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama said,

"So the bottom line is this: The southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years. That doesn’t mean we don’t have more work to do. We have to do that work, but it’s important that we acknowledge the facts. Even as we are committed to doing what’s necessary to secure our borders, even without passage of the new law, there are those who argue that we should not move forward with any other elements of reform until we have fully sealed our borders. But our borders are just too vast for us to be able to solve the problem only with fences and border patrols. It won’t work. Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work."

And this, from the same speech,

"To begin with, our borders have been porous for decades. Obviously, the problem is greatest along our Southern border, but it’s not restricted to that part of the country. In fact, because we don’t do a very good job of tracking who comes in and out of the country as visitors, large numbers avoid immigration laws simply by overstaying their visas."

So, the bottom line is, as far as this administration is concerned ....... our border with Mexico will never be secure, but, hey, it's been this way for 20 or 30 years so what's the big deal?

To get an idea just how "porous" the United States border with Mexico is, take a look at the videos found on the secureborderintel.org website. There, you'll find several videos taken from cameras hidden along the border. Sadly, these videos aren't nearly as funny as the ones from the old Candid Camera T.V. series.

Immigration Reformation.

Unquestionably, the Immigration system in the United States is in desperate need of repair. Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and Conservatives all agree that "something must be done", but, sadly, just what that "something" is has yet to be agreed upon.

It certainly doesn't help matters when President Obama asserts that Republicans are being excessively partisan on the issue and that the Republican's insistence on "border security first" is actually delaying the reform the U.S. immigration system needs.

According to one CBS news report, (source)

"Obama also wants to create a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States; critics call that amnesty, which Obama denies because he would ensure that immigrants must first acknowledge that they had broken the law, pay fines and back taxes, perform community service and learn English. "

Admittedly, as President Obama notes, the United States cannot deport 11 million illegal immigrants; however, if we do not secure the border, that 11 million number will soon become 12...13.... 14 million.

With this blog, I will explore the issue of immigration ......both legal and illegal. Looking for answers, I hope that I won't be "excessively partisan" with my approach. I will (I hope) objectively look at the solutions proposed by both the Right and the Left as well as non-political groups -such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Being married to an immigrant, this issue is of particular interest to me. I would like to believe that my thoughts on this will be of interest to others as well.