Obama issues Dream Act (Amnesty) by executive order... press ignores!

The total length of Israel's fence is 470 miles long. The US currently has 643 miles of border fence. The "primary fence" portions of our fence are about 20 feet tall- twice as high as the diagram of the fence in Israel you posted. I actually went on a tour of it a few months ago. It's pretty intimidating. Supposedly you can ram a semi truck into it at 40 miles per hour and it will bounce right off.

As you can imagine, the costs of social services provided to undocumented immigrants is a political football. Up until the issue blew up in the last couple years, everybody agreed they absorbed around $26 billion/year in social services, but paid around $16 billion/year in taxes, for a net drain of $10 billion/year. That is probably still about right. You hear much, much, higher estimates from highly politicized sources... Some pundits cite a number of $383 billion, but that number is totally ludicrous. Factcheck.org completely debunked it.

I've heard estimates from rational sources of up to $40 billion/year. For all I know, it could be that high, but I suspect the $10 billion/year is more accurate.

The cost of building a fence is complicated. Actually just building the lowest end type of fence, which is basically just a regular chain link fence, is pretty low. A couple/few billion. But, that is also completely useless. There are parts of the border so remote that it takes an agent several hours to get there, but it only takes like 4 seconds to get through a chain link fence.

Building "primary fence", which is the intense one, is estimated to cost $49 billion for every 700 miles, so that would be about $150 billion for the whole length. But, that is only a tiny fraction of the real cost. An unmanned fence, even the intense one, is still useless. A person can get over or cut through even the intense fence with a blowtorch in just a few minutes. So, for it to really be effective you would need to station say a border patrol agent every mile or so along the fence 24x7. So, that would require something like 24,000 more border agents on the border. That would mean roughly doubling the budget of border patrol.

The border patrol isn't pushing for the fence, they're pushing for more agents instead. $150 billion worth of agents and trucks and drones and helicopters and whatnot would do a whole lot more than a fence that just ties people up for a few minutes. When I was doing the border patrol tour the agents I talked to generally agreed that what the fence was useful for was basically ultra high traffic areas or places where the border crosses very close to roads or neighborhoods that an illegal immigrant could hide in and disappear. At least in the sector I was in, they said all those types of areas have fence now, so all they are asking for is more agents.

But, to come back full circle, how much more than $40 billion/year does it make sense to spend to try to solve a problem that almost certainly costs us less than $40 billion/year?

Definitely. Regardless of the reason though, I don't see it as being sensible to blow a ton of money and get all worked up over a problem that is shrinking on it's own. We've got more pressing issues.

My point is that the whole "the border isn't secure" hysteria is just a slogan. It doesn't mean anything specific. When people hear that they get some kind of image in their head as if the president has a switch on his desk that he can flip from "open" to "secure" and all of a sudden nobody will get in... In reality border security is about a huge network of programs and resources at the border, in the US, in Mexico, etc. Success is measured in terms of slightly reduced numbers of undocumented immigrants over the course of years. We are seeing those successes, but the people picturing the switch on the president's desk are still mad because they think he is like refusing to flip the magic switch or something...

Under president Obama we have been deporting more people each year than ever in US history.
The number of undocumented immigrants in the US has been falling since 2008.
Obama has dramatically increased the enforcement against employers that hire undocumented immigrants.

In short, there is no magic switch on the president's desk. No sane president would spend the ridiculous amounts of money required to set up an intensive fence along the entire border and staff it around the clock with border patrol agents. We'd end up spending $100 billion/year just to save maybe $10 billion/year in social services. What the president can do is what he is doing- deportations carefully targeted on the highest priority people, heavy focus on employers of undocumented immigrants and create a guest worker program with relatively strict requirements to fill in the gap left behind without collapsing the economy. So, when it looks like he's doing everything that can realistically be done, and doing it well, when people scream about him "refusing to secure the border", you just have to scratch your head and wonder what exactly they're trying to say.

 

They(politicians) would secure our border but you have to ask yourself what is more of a priority.....OUR borders OR Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc...not to mention all the bases we have scattered all across the world? If you polled the citizenry/voters/taxpayers which they would prefer....taking care of our affairs at home versus policing the world I am willing to bet they would choose the former. Then again....most are too lazy to get off the couch and vote or become more informed by doing their own research. I bet if asked most people would tell you there is a difference between Obama and who he replaced. Other than the rhetoric and the Nobel peace prize I can't for the life of me see what it is.

 

As long as internationalist, socialist Democrats and spineless RINO Republicans infest our government, NOTHING will change. The Welfare State is here and every indigent bum, whether "home-grown" or illegal alien, will become a voting citizen, and it's just a matter of time.... That vote by every opportunistic parasite is what keeps these socialist traitors in power.

 

Here we are a week later and still no recognition of this incredible order by the mainstream media.

 

I've lost track? How many times was the Dream Act turned back? 5 times? 6 maybe.

Your media has been completely purchased, and is dead for all intent and purpose, as a defense mechanism on behalf of your country.

You have an malevolent emperor to deal with, and it can't wait til 2012 to address him.

 

Your post is 100% on.

Here is the best part, check the link I had up from the O.P. Suddenly, even it is down.

 

I finally found this story on a great blog.

http://conpats.blogspot.com/2011/06/conservative-patriot-exclusive-obama.html

Now, we got the story wrong. It is not an "executive order", but it is a signed memo directive from the Obama Administration lackeys in ICE. This is the executive branch of government's purview.

The site deserves credit: www.conservativepatriot.org

 

Please, no Kook Blogs.

Mods, please delete this thread or change the title. The thread title is a misleading lie.

Thanks in advance.

 

Quoted for all the wing nuts that have you on ignore because they are afraid to debate you.

 

Did you have a problem when your Conservative god Ronald did the same thing?

I would guess, no, you didn't.

 

www.conservativepatriot.org

That blog has more credibility than the DailyKos and MediaMatters combined.

The thread title is wrong, but it is very close.

However you slice it, the Dream Act was basically pushed through by the Obama Administration, the legislature was ignored, and the media refused to report it.

 

Enjoy the Kool-Aid while you can. It is quickly souring..

 

One way to win re-election. Flood the country with obama voters who want to suck the govenment dry and steal our tax dollars and benifits that ONLY LEGAL citicens deserve to have.

 

Pregnant or nursing well isn't that how most come here in the first place?

 

That is the plan.... bring in the new Democratic voters.



The poor citizens of all races here don't know how screwed they truly are.

 

Immigrants can't vote. And illegal immigrants will never be able to vote.

 

Are you telling me we allow Illegals in our Military?!?!?!?!?

You have got to be kidding me!

 

And would you like the gov't just blow that money on a nice party in Las Vegas? The gov't is already blowing that money only thing is its not blowing it in the right places.

 

Yes!!!! Ubama is running out of SUGAR SWEET PROMISES!!!!!

 

Why is that bill? All they have to do is register and cast a ballot. They do all the time in California. I can get a mail in registration form on line, fill it out and include....

It's naive to believe anyone willing to commit a Felony by providing false identification to get a job wouldn't do this to vote.

 

You cant be serious???

See, the primary responsibility of the President is to enforce the law.

Congress writes the laws, the Supreme court makes sure theyre legal, and the president enforces the laws..... just not in this case, because its more convenient and he'll get votes if he denies his responsibility....

Hes an Oath Breaker....

 

Bull Crap

Anyone can vote if they register with Acorn and dont need an ID at the voting booth...

Leftys have made sure of it....

 

Spot on BVWC! You can't even walk in the front door at the DOJ without showing photo ID.

 

Do you want me to quote Bush? How did we end up calling them "undocumented" in the first place...?

 

No offense and with all due respect, there is a difference between a law and an executive order. He has every right to create an executive order which addresses how a rule will be administered...which is what he has done. The law has not changed. Only how the rules are applied.

I could go into the times Bush and Clinton did it, too, but I doubt you care. Well...maybe Clinton.