Bush and the Republican Party have never let a few laws get in the way of their accomplishing their political goals. It looks like they still feel that way. And make no mistake about it, the building of the fence along our southern border is pure politics.
No one who is knowledgeable about illegal immigration believes the fence will stop, or even slow down the migration of undocumented workers into this country. The fence is being built to appease the racist base of the Republican Party.
The modern Republican Party achieved their majority largely due to racist reaction to Democrats passing the Civil Rights laws of the mid-sixties. They understand that America still has problems with racism, and now they're wanting to save their party by trying to appeal to these same racist views -- only this time it's aimed at the brown people who cross our southern border to feed their families.
This time, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff has brushed aside environmental laws to complete building a section of the political fence in Arizona (and threatens to do the same in Texas if those laws get in his way here). The Republicans will build their fence regardless of what it does to the environment.
In Arizona, a federal judge had stopped the building of the fence. She said the government had not fully explored the impact of the fence upon the area's environment. But Chertoff was not about to wait for an environmental study. This fence is too important to his Republican bosses.
It's pretty obvious that the fence will harm the border environment here in Texas if it is built. We can expect Chertoff and his cronies to show the same indifference to our environment that he is showing toward the environment in Arizona.
Now Chertoff is not breaking any laws by brushing aside environmental laws and concerns. That's because the Republican Congress foresaw the legal problems, and gave him the authority to ignore environmental laws back in 2005.
It looks like it's time for Democrats to revisit that 2005 law -- that is, if they can find the backbone to do so.
This is why it is so important that we make sure tha tour elected officials hear from us. Waiving all laws to maintain the rule of law is twisted logic, but the norm for this administration and so far the Democrats have done little to take back the Real ID Act blank check. Candidates Clinton and Obama voted for the Secure Fence Act, and have yet to come out against the construction of the wall. Unless they can be persuaded to change their stance a change in administration may have no impact on whether or not walls tear through more of our borderlands. This despite the fact that the Border Patrol says that for the $46 billion that a wall will cost it will only slow down a crosser by a few minutes. Go to www.notexasborderwall.com for more information, then contact your Senators and Representatives and tell them that we should not be waiving our nation's laws to build the border wall.
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