A 9/11 Family Member Confronts Sen. McCain [R-AZ] On Immigration Control

I first met Bruce DeCell in December 2002. Peter Brimelow and I had gathered in New York with stunned 9/11 family members. DeCell is a retired New York police officer whose son-in-law, Mark Petrocelli, was killed at the World Trade Center.

Incredulous at the extent of immigration abuses, the group would soon form 9/11 Families for a Secure America.

DeCell has more reason than most to rejoice that at the stunning victory of Proposition 200—the heroic attempt by grass-roots Arizona effort to stop illegal aliens from picking taxpayers’ pockets, voting in elections etc.

In one of life’s curious twists, DeCell had a chance October 20th encounter on a New York-bound Metroliner with one of Prop 200’s most vocal and powerful foes, Arizona Senator John McCain.

As DeCell recounted the incident to me, he had been in Washington DC to attend the House-Senate Conference Committee meeting to support the immigration provisions recommended by the 9/11 Commission and written into H.R. 10.

On his way home DeCell, to his great surprise, found himself sitting across from McCain, one of the driving forces behind S.2845—the Senate bill that attempted to strip most of the immigration safety measures from H. R. 10. (The stronger version eventually prevailed—another significant victory for immigration reform).

Eventually, DeCell introduced himself to McCain as a 9/11 FSA member. Sensing early where their conversation was headed, McCain cut DeCell off by insisting that H.R. 10 would never pass because it contained provisions not in the 9/11 Commission’s report.

"McCain’s eyes glazed over as soon as I mentioned H.R. 10," recalled DeCell.

But DeCell was not put off. He challenged McCain to compare the Commission’s report—which he had with him—with H.R. 10. McCain refused.

Again, DeCell pressed McCain. DeCell pointed out that that S.2845 does not address the need for tighter border security.

McCain insisted—"three or four times," according to DeCell—that the Senate version would provide ample security.

As for illegal aliens, McCain was adamant that they come only to work at jobs Americans will not take.

For emphasis, Mc Cain added that in his opinion OTM's (Other Than Mexicans) crossing into America from Mexico present no security threat.

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What have you done for your people today?

"9/11 Families For a Secure America????" Talk about politicizing 9/11.

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

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"Traffic is alot lighter on the EXTRA mile."

I really like McCain and he better get in front of this. If he doesn't want to be seen as weak on national security, he needs to support anything measure that would secure our borders.

Plus, it is right to do so. This country has established procedures for immigation and we should not make it easy for foreigners to circumvent those procedures. And we certainly shouldn't, as Bush has done, grant amnesty to those who did circumvent those procedures. Doing the wrong thing should not be rewarded.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

And what's more, the majority of the populace, all partisanship and ideological leanings aside, agree. That's a pretty hefty mandate for someone to do something.

How can we get it done?

It's clear that both major sides (Democan and Republicrat) are beholden on this issue to two groups: corporations (that love cheap, exploitable, unregulated labor) and social pressure groups (Hispanic militants, their political wings, and the often-liberal but sometimes-conservative clueless goofs that scream "RACISM!" or "XENOPHOBIA!" every time we mention actually, well, doing something about it).

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What have you done for your people today?

And the simple fact is that corporations and the PC crowd have a lot of power. More than the majority of Americans, actually. The fact is illegal aliens cost the taxpayers of America billions annually and we need to stem the tide. But we won't.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

the living room (illegal immigration and our basically fugged up immigration system). But, I think many Latinos who've been in this country for generations would actually support a crackdown on illegals.

Catz

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I'll get nicer when you get smarter.

Well, Latinos are a over-hyped minority. They are not significant in overall numbers (slightly more than blacks) and do not turn out the vote (%-wise) as well as whites.

Immigration reform could (and should) be a win for both the Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have a solid National Security/Nationalism issue. Democrats have a solid labor issue.

I suspect Bush's weak stance on immigration was a countermeasure to a flawed Democratic strategy. Democrats counted on the fact Latinos would vote for Bush in a block just like Blacks do.

We all know how effective Democratic strategy has been.

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The Science of Brute Force......