Congressional candidate Travis Grantham has spent his whole life hearing about border issues, but says when he hopped on a helicopter and took an aerial view of the U.S.-Mexico border last week it really opened his eyes to how big the problem is.
“We hear in the media and from all the talking heads that there is a fence,” Grantham said. “They are correct, there is a fence and it’s a 12-foot-high fence that goes for miles and miles but then it just ends and you can literally walk right down to the end of it. That’s something you don’t see when you travel to a border town and see the fence there.”
Grantham was offered the ride from a friend and supporter, Doug Fulton. They left from his home and flew from Douglas, Ariz. to Sierra Vista, Ariz. along the border on April 11. Grantham says seeing the border from such a broad prospective gives him a little more information to go off of as he faces border issues in the coming election. He plans to return to the border later in the month to speak with those guarding it on the ground.
The problems at the border are not lost on any of the candidates for Congressional District 9. While each is in favor of immigration reform, the steps to accomplishing that are complicated.
Andrei Cherny
Andrei Cherny has dealt with immigration issues as an assistant attorney general, according to his campaign spokesman Seth Scott.
“We’re glad other candidates are beginning to educate themselves about immigration and border security issues, but these are issues Andrei has been dealing with for a long time,” Scott said. “One of the things we have to do is deal with people who are here. There must be a comprehensive and enforceable solution to our nation’s illegal immigration problem.
As a prosecutor Andrei has taken on human traffickers. He understands the security issues.”
Cherny’s campaign says building a 12-foot fence to secure the border is unrealistic and won’t solve the problem.
Vernon Parker
Vernon Parker says he spent some time down at the border while running for Congressional District 3 in 2010. Parker said he supports building a secure fence as it’s something that seems to have worked for California and Texas.
“I look at the border not just as a national security issue, because of terrorists that could walk across the border without being checked, but more importantly to me I’ve seen so many lives destroyed because of illegal drug activity,” Parker said. “We have to do something to protect our children from illegal drugs coming into this country. I’m a real advocate of doing what we can to make sure the border is safe and secure.”
Parker said while he supports building a fence he also believes more action is necessary. The right technology should be employed and the immigration system needs reform so that those who want to enter legally can do that.
Wendy Rogers
Wendy Rogers is retired from a 20-year active duty U.S. Air Force career and has a master’s degree in national security studies. Rogers said she believes there is a real risk of a terrorist bringing a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon across the border, and so to her it’s a matter of national security to secure the border.
“The federal government has to step up and protect our country,” Rogers said. “This current administration has woefully fallen short in securing the border. You have to secure the border. It is absolutely doable, it is feasible, but it is not being done. Until you change the current administration in terms of how the federal government views this issue, we’ve got a problem.”
Leah Campos Schandlbauer
Leah Campos Schandlbauer has a similar point of view as a former intelligence officer.
“It’s a very real threat that we should be cognizant of,” Campos Schandlbauer said. “I’m in favor of employing heavy measures. I don’t think there’s one silver bullet that will solve our border security issues… I think some sort of comprehensive approach to security should be applied. I don’t agree that if you put up a fence or use sensors the problem is solved. I think you have to apply a healthy menu of different options and work from there.”
Once the borders are secure, Schandlbauer says we need to focus on immigration reform, especially creating a better guest worker visa program.
Schandlbauer said as an Arizona Congresswoman it would only make sense to make the border a priority.
David Schapira
“I think we have failed for too long, especially the politicians on the other side of the aisle,” Schapira said. “Their views on this are so myopic. I think it’s important for us to look at the broad spectrum of issues we face when it comes to immigration. It’s not just about securing the border. Of course border security is an important component to national immigration reform, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done at a federal level besides just cracking down on border security.”
Schapira said he is in favor of comprehensive immigration reform beginning with bringing those who are already in the U.S. out of the shadows and creating a stronger guest worker program.
While he’s willing to roll up his sleeves and get to work on comprehensive immigration reform, Schapira said his No. 1 priority will always be education.
Martin Sepulveda
Former Chandler city councilman, veteran and commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Martin Sepulveda said he doesn’t need to take a trip to the border to understand there’s a big problem with the fence and with immigration in general. He said though he would modify McCain and Kyl’s 10-point border security plan from 2010 he believes there are some good ideas there that should be revisited.
“The first part of fixing immigration is securing the border, not just in Mexico but our northern border as well,” Sepulveda said. “I think until we do that I don’t know how credible a discussion can be.”
Kyrsten Sinema
Sinema has led a legislative delegation tour on the border and visited with members of the border patrol many times. She supports a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that would increase border security, create a market-based solution and settle the status of undocumented workers already here.
“For far too long, the federal government has failed us when it comes to immigration,” Sinema said in a statement. “Arizona, and our nation, needs a comprehensive solution on immigration that works for workers, employers and our security.”
Sinema has fought for tougher penalties against landlords of drop houses, but she has also spent time fighting Arizona bills that she says went too far, like a bill that would not recognize “birthright” citizenship.
Contact writer: (480) 898-7914 or ahurtado@ahwatukee.com
Brittanicus posted at 7:57 pm on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION GROWTH
It is Forty years after a multi-year bi-partisan government commission recommended slowing U.S. population growth and eventually stabilizing it. Americans still would like to see it happen, according to poll results to be released this weekend at the 2012 Earth Day Dallas festival. In the past three decades we have had a population explosion, caused by the arrival of millions of 40 percent of illegal aliens by overstaying expired temporary visas and even as many numbers crossing our sovereign border without permission. The misgivings shown by Americans today are similar to what Americans indicated in a national poll by “The Commission on Population Growth and the American Future,” which was created just before the first Earth Day (1970) and issued its closing report in spring of 1972.
Leaders from labor, business, civil rights and environmental activists, religion and academic contributed to the report. In 1972 a poll found 57% of Americans believed U.S. population growth was environmentally harmful, with 66% disapproved of adding another 100 million people, 56% said government should try to do something to slow down population growth, 57% said people should limit the size of their families even though they can afford a large number of children and 50% said the number of immigrants should be reduced, with only 3% saying the numbers should increase.
The Census data show that our population would be stabilizing at around 250 million if the American people had controlled things, given that their average family size has been at a zero-population-growth level ever since 1972,”
The new poll found only 10% of U.S. voters approve the current rate of growth that the Census Bureau states will double U.S. population from 313 million today to over 600 million by the end of the century. Of course not too many people believe the official number of 11.million foreigners who have illegally settled here. Very few organizations trust this numbers and think a more logic figure would be around 20 million and up.
In today's polls 68% of voters said immigration should be reduced in order to slow U.S. population growth; 19% prefer to keep immigration the same and let it double the U.S. population; 4% prefer increasing immigration so that population would more than double this century. Even Hispanic voters and other minority were similar to all other voters in their opposition to high population growth and in preference for a stabilizing population size.
Illegal Immigrants who are constantly pouring across our borders and entering America as international tourists are adding to this population growth. Because of this uncontrolled travesty, our energy supplies are under constant strain as is our health care system, public education and a the erosion of our once admired freeways and highways. Underground our sewer systems, is crumbling, with some pipelines over 50 years old. 30 years of indifferent administrations have allowed this incompetency to flourish and now our grandchildren are facing a 16 Trillion dollar deficit. Unquestionably we need an ultra strong Congress, which must dismiss incumbents that are not doing their job. Not just the do-nothing law makers in Washington, but hard core leftists, Democrats, Republicans and the state Governors, Mayors, and all those involved in pampering illegal aliens at the state, county and local elected officials. These people who are filling their pockets with campaign contributions are sole to blame and ignorance for the Sanctuary City ordinances, the Chain Migration adding to even larger population and other regulations such as making the public pay for Dream Act children and any new secret visa’s for people, that is really just another Comprehensive Immigration Reform known as Amnesty.
As for the controversial issue of the ‘DREAM ACT’ for granting a quick passage of illegal alien’s children will not be Fair? Thousands of people wait patiently for years, sometimes as much as 10 years to receive an entry visa.
One of the greatest menaces to our immigration laws is the ‘unfunded mandates’ forced on every taxpayer by the U.S. courts. All 50 states are held accountable to pay for the large populations of illegal aliens, where taxes are taken to pay for their medical health, children’s schooling and under the birthright citizen law, allocating food stamps, low income housing and numerous other benefits that citizens are denied. Many welfare programs have been crippled because of females who arrive here illegally by any means, with an unborn child can apply for natal care and other subsidies. The fact that our borders are still not secured, that women are able to enter here pregnant, in the years that followed we have children of illegal aliens smothering our public schools. In 20 years the populace of foreigners coming here are directly affecting any chance of slowing population growth through each prior and post administration are responsible for not enforcing immigration laws and not the absconder from their own country? And still over a million new imported legal immigrants are allowed to come here. What are these so called legislators thinking, when they are cutting off welfare for U.S. born American or resident aliens?
The U.S. public are generous and passionate and the biggest philanthropist in the world. But we cannot continue to fight distant wars and take in every desperate pauper from any corner of the world. We must stop printing money and make a giant effort to remove illegal aliens by ATTRITION BY ENFORCEMENT.
This America is the land of opportunity, but only if you come here with permission and a work visa. For farmers and agricultural communities, there must be a well regulated system of arrival and departure, not the mess provided now. In furtherance special visas should be expedited for top professionals in Science, Engineering and a whole range of high technology, given us the brain power for a futuristic U.S, but we must spend the money to check on females who are carrying an unborn infant, with new detection systems at entry ports, as 400.000 arrivals are ready to conceive annually and apply for welfare. Just calculate the uncompensated cost to hospitals that have to pay for this delivery? By the Congress just amending the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (H.R.140) the country could discontinue this billion dollar soaking of individual states?
Then just as viable and with a high success rate is the introduction of Verify (H.R. 2885) – Chairman Lamar Smith's 'Legal Workforce Act'. Every worker hired would be eligible, if they are not flagged by the employers hook-up to the Social Security and Homeland Security databases. Those declined can fortunately travel to the SSA to get clearance for their new job. Foreign illegal workers would not go to any government agency anyway. Marco Rubio may be providing a less tough immigration enforcement ideology to Romney, but it could mean a loss of votes? Mitt Romney already stated that unauthorized workers would “self Deport” when employment cannot be located. Businesses owners and management that don’t follow the law could lose business licenses, profits, be fined and even end in a prison cell.
The best hope with have is to elect TEA PARTY leaders who have a different approach to every issue, who believe in the free competitive business enterprise, self reliance on our own abundance of oil, natural gas and clean coal. Huge deposits await us that are so plentiful, we can supply it to Europe and other friendly countries.