The Immigration Problem, The November Elections and Representative F. James Senseless

“James Sensenbrenner, the leading House Republican voice on immigration policy, likened those who employ illegal immigrants to "the 19th-century slave masters" that "we had to fight a civil war to get rid of." For that historical analogy to add up, you'd have to believe that Africans voluntarily sought to immigrate to America to be slaves. Whether Mr. Sensenbrenner is out to insult African-Americans or is merely a fool is a distinction without a difference in this volatile political climate.

-- Frank Rich, New York Times


Damn, things are gettin' tough on the illegal immigration scene! Clearly, it’s time for wedge issue politics. So, bring on the illegals. The Republican’s are worried about the midterm elections; their poll numbers are either at rock bottom or so damned close it’s not worth arguing about. And, although they made a desperate attempted to beat up on the gays in the Senate recently, the political polls indicate that they haven’t made much headway. Indeed, after a two day effort to float the gay marriage issue in Senate debates, the measures fell far short of the votes need for passage. So, in this election year, it looks like the Mexicans who have come and continue to come across that southern border are going to have a political target on their back.

If the current gubernatorial race in Arizona serves as any kind of a barometer, the campaign leading to the November elections will be rough. Jennifer Talhelm, an AP writer, has recently reported that former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater’s nephew, Don Goldwater, a candidate for governor, has essentially called for concentration camps to house illegal aliens. He stated at an anti-immigration rally in April, “‘Build us that wall — now!’. . . referring to a proposal to add 700 miles of fences along the U.S.-Mexico border. He promised then that if elected, he would put illegal immigrants in a tent city on the border and use their labor to build the wall” (Associated Press, June 23, 2006). Although a couple more main stream Republicans have rebuked Goldwater’s tactics, calling on Arizona voters to reject him as unfit for office, the fact is his April remarks have been a staple of his continuing campaign.

Don’t start worrying just yet; over in the House, Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, seems to have a pretty good handle on the immigration issue. He’ll straighten things out. Rep. F. James Senseless, is the House member from Wisconsin who wrote that Draconian House immigration bill that would class illegals as felons destined for deportation, all 11 to 12 million of ‘em. And, be aware, any of you bleed’n hearts out there who just might be disposed to lend a helping hand to some poor hapless soul in need, be careful! Under the terms of the House Bill old Senseless wrote, you give aid and comfort to an illegal, and you’ve just translated yourself into a felon. Yep, a felon! I guess that’s why the Catholic Bishops have strongly opposed the House Bill; the spirit of the Good Samaritan is not entirely dead, just close to it.

Yeah, but don’t worry. . .this good old USA is a nation of laws and is not governed by some muddle headed, Good Samaritans’ Christian impulse to be a law breakin’ do gooder. Nope! Old Senseless is not about to be deterred by a bunch of effete, sniveling, bleeding hearts! He appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press this past Sunday (21 May) and made it quite clear that he didn’t intend to let anybody turn his simplistic black and white world view into something complicated; we can’t allow ourselves to be confused by mere facts. You just can't make do with that Valentines Day kinda lovey, dovey crap. Old Senseless’s bifocal vision comprehends black and white and that’s it. And he doesn’t care what any old body says; it’s just the gross illegality of the invasion from the south that’s got him worried, and don't you know, some of 'em might just be terrorists!

Nebraska’s Senator Hagel appeared on the same program with Senseless and did make an effort to add a little color to the immigration picture Senseless sketched. Sen. Hagel noted, for example, that over half of the private firefighters based in the Pacific Northwest and contracted by state and federal governments to fight forest fires are immigrants, mostly from Mexico. And an untold number of them (most of them) are working here illegally. In fact, the inspector general for the US Forest Service presented those findings in a report issued last week. Sen. Hagel also stated, what is obvious to all but the mentally impaired, that at the present time many large sectors of the US economy, agriculture, forestry, building construction, road construction, meat packing, apparel just to name a few, are heavily dependent upon the immigrant work force. And finally, Senator Hagel noted what most people don’t know and therefore don’t think about: a large chunk of the Social Security Trust Fund Reserves ( more than 400 billion dollars, according to the figure Rep. Senseless himself used during his Meet the Press appearance) has been paid in by illegals who use fraudulent numbers and will therefore never collect a penny in return. But as Senseless put it, “that 400 Billion is ours; they were working illegally when that 400 billion was deducted from their pay checks. We get to keep it.”

Old F. James is one tough SOB.. He didn’t give an inch. “This is a nation of laws,” he snarled repeatedly. “They are all law breakers. They have no right to that money.” Just keep in mind, this is the same sensitive soul who voted against every penney spent to help the poor folks in New Orleans after Katrina's devastation; I guess he figured the Nation wouldn't be able to afford such a move, what with all the rich guy tax cuts he'd voted for and has voted for since Katrina struck. Mind you now, F. James knows the value of money; he’s the heir to millions from the Kimberly Clark Corp. It’s a little unfair to expect Senseless to understand the problems and concerns of poor people be they illegal or otherwise.

Well anyway, with F. James Senseless on the job, I don't think we're going to have to worry; he's in an ass kickin' mood and intends to take care of all the illegal crap comin' across our southern border. We must secure that southern border, and remember, as he so often says, this is a nation of laws and the illegals are all law breakers.
Interestingly enough Rep. Senseless takes great exception to the language in the rather punitive provisions of the Senate bill, including stiff fines, that, when satisfied, would put all illegals who’ve been in this country for more than four years on track to become citizens. In Rep. Senseless’s world the law grants them an amnesty, and we’re not going to grant these law breakers an amnesty. Now, it does strike me as rather odd that one would have to pay some rather stiff fines and suffer the indignities of a few other punitive measures in the Senate bill before receiving the “pardon” or amnesty that Senseless opposes. However, it does not strike me as odd that one would offer an amnesty (or pardon) to an illegal. . .I frankly can’t think of any non transgressor who would need or even want an amnesty.

But on this matter of language purity--the need to call a spade a spade, and amnesty an amnesty-- old Senseless himself plays loosely with the language. For example, he goes to great lengths to make the point that he’s not against immigration or immigrants per se, no! He’s simply against illegals, that is, the illegality behind their deeds; they should be required to immigrate legally; they should not be jumped to the head of the immigration line, ahead of all those folks who have followed the letter of the law. What Rep. Senseless doesn’t tell you, until he’s pushed to come clean, is that the line of legals waiting patiently is from 16 to 20 years long. Actually, the system simply does not work; twenty year patience is a hard commodity to find. White Europeans come and go from this country freely, without visas; brown skinned South Americans don’t get Green Cards and getting a visa is a crap shoot. For Latin Americans the system simply does not work. The best hope Latinos have is marriage to a US Citizen or taking a chance in the immigration lottery and praying; about 55,000 immigrants from all over the world receive an odds-based entry each year.

Unfortunately Rep. Senseless and many of his like minded supporters purposefully use linguistic code words like “illegal” and “legal” to conceal basic racist sentiments. As sociologist Gonzalo Santos of California State University At Bakersfield has said, “People talk about immigration as if race doesn’t matter, saying ‘No, I don’t have anything against immigrants or Mexicans, it’s just the illegal part of it I don’t like’” (Erin Texeira, Associated Press 5 June 2006). And as Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has tracked hate crimes for decades said of hate groups, they “consistently try and exploit any public discussion that has some kind of racial angle, and immigration has worked for hate groups in America better than any issue in years.” (Erin Texeira, Associated Press 5 June 2006).

Rep. Senseless has never raised his voice in opposition to the outsourcing of jobs by the thousands to India, China, Mexico, all points foreign, not even a sound. There are 45 to 50 million people living in this country without health insurance, have you ever heard Rep. Senseless raise his voice to champion their cause?

But, I’ll tell you what, if ever one of those Arab terrorists ever gets it into his head that he (or she) can survive the 125 degree heat down along that long southern border, and slip into this country; well, I guess I’ll just have to be the first to give old Rep. Senseless a little credit for being prescient. In the mean time, don’t you think we should be a little more concerned about securing our northern border. Everyday thousands of uninspected trucks roll into this country. And hey, in case you haven’t noticed, there are a few terrorist sympathizers up there in Canada, and they have made efforts to get into this country. Oh yes, there's also the ports issue; well, when the politicians get done salutin’ the flag, bashin' the gays and kickin' up the immigration dust maybe we get on to something that does matter.

Ever on the watch for polecats,

Davy Crockett
"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of others, never as a means only but always equally as an end."
--Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)