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Jewish World Review Jan. 22, 2003 / 19 Shevat, 5763

Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham
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Consumer Reports


Playing (and losing) Homeland Security politics


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Hoping for an edge against President George W. Bush, Democratic hopeful Joe Lieberman told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee last week: "I must say that the administration's homeland security efforts thus far have left much to be desired." The occasion was the confirmation hearing of Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, and Lieberman unloaded for the cameras: "Almost every independent assessment that I have seen says that in almost every way, America is as vulnerable today to terrorist attack as we were on September 11th."

That may be a useful way to score political points among an uneasy public, but there is little indication that Senator Lieberman, his party, or most Republicans, for that matter, will take homeland security seriously enough to reexamine our immigration policy. Today the INS reports that it is still unable to find 300,000 illegals who are subject to deportation. Our borders remain so porous that in places like Arizona, citizens are taking enforcement upon themselves, patrolling lands on horseback and in Jeeps. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration is still mulling ways to give Mexico (and many U.S. businesses) what it wants - amnesty for millions who entered the U.S. illegally.

Those who question the amnesty proposal are branded "anti-immigrant." Those who suggest that we institute a temporary moratorium on immigration from nations with terrorist ties are labeled "xenophobic."

Lieberman, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, could cite nothing positive that the Bush Administration has done to protect the homeland. Yet given his deep concern about securing the homeland, Lieberman might have voiced support to the new government practice of registering visitors from 25 nations with links to terror. Congress passed this legislation, long overdue, in an attempt to account for tens of thousands of visitors in the U.S. who hail here from the world's most dangerous nations. The practice has been in place throughout Europe for decades, but that has not stopped "immigrant rights groups" and the mainstream media from complaining.

For the past few weeks, The Washington Post "news department" has featured tear-jerker stories about men from the Middle East and South Asia who are subject to the post-September 11 requirement that male temporary visa holders ages 16 and older from 25 designated countries register with the INS by certain dates. (This was passed as part of the USA Patriot Act.) Here's how a January 20th front-page story on the registration requirement begins: "Mohammed's relatives filed somberly into his sister-in-law's cramped living room…they had come to help the 38 -year-old limousine driver make a grim choice: obey a government order requiring men from countries deemed terrorist havens to register with the immigration authorities-and risk being swiftly deported for overstaying his tourist visa three years ago - or defy that command and potentially doom his pending effort to secure a green card." (Mohammed, along with thousands like him across the country, decided to continue to break the law and not register.)

In December, a coalition of Arab American groups filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft, to prevent the government from detaining those caught violating the terms of their visas pursuant to the registration deadlines. How did we get to a place where enforcing our immigration laws, policing our borders, has become something to be ashamed of, or something to avoid altogether? If Lieberman is serious about challenging the Bush Administration, he would ask these questions, rather than repeating vague charges about lapses in our homeland security. But of course asking such questions means incurring the wrath of Muslim-American organizations or groups like La Raza, the most powerful Hispanic lobby in the US.

Joe Lieberman knows that most Americans still prefer Republicans' handling of foreign policy and national security, so he's cleverly trying to position himself as the wise man on domestic security. Yet until the Democrats muster the courage to buck their own special interest fringe on issues like border policy and immigration enforcement, their criticism of the Bush homeland security policy will ring hollow. (Memo to John Edwards: Since you are the candidate for "the regular people," remember that regular people favor tougher enforcement of our immigration laws.)

UN Idiocy Watch: A diplomat from Libya was overwhelmingly voted to preside at the March 17-April 25 session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, against the strong protest of the US. The vote was 33-3, with 17 countries abstaining. The vote was secret, but our so-called friends in France were thought to be among the abstainers. Libya has an atrocious human rights record, remains under suspended U.N. sanctions stemming from the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, and is on the State Department list of countries that support terrorism. Heck, why stop with the Human Rights Commission? Gadafi for UN Secretary General!

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JWR contributor Laura Ingraham is the host of a radio show syndicated nationally by Westwood One Radio Network and the author of "The Hillary Trap: Looking for Power in All the Wrong Places". Comment by clicking here.

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12/17/02: Who is the better leader: Gore or Lott?
12/10/02: Who, more than anyone else, is actively advancing the cause of civil liberties around the world?
12/04/02: 'Tis the season to hope for the worst
11/27/02: The Federal P.C. Police Versus Small Business Owners (Cont'd)
11/19/02: Bipartisan moves to reward illegals
11/13/02: Eminem, a rebel? You gotta be kidding!
11/05/02: In defense of low turnout
10/30/02: Hell, no they won't go!
10/22/02: Where are the moderate Muslims?
10/15/02: California dreaming, cont'd
10/08/02: Slick Willie's running
10/01/02: Euro-worries about wall flower status
09/26/02: How lucky we are that the Straight Talk Express drove off the cliff!
09/18/02: What Jackson and Sharpton know about conservatives
09/12/02: The Today Show v. guns
08/27/02: Bush not attending the UN-sponsored "bash Amerika" conference!?
08/20/02: The NEA: Let the anti-American indoctrination begin!
08/13/02: Bubba's revenge
08/07/02: Bilingual bust continues its drag on our schools
07/30/02: Dems love for big lawyers=big opportunity
07/23/02: No time for vacation
07/16/02: Is Homeland Security all wet?
06/25/02: The firing season has arrived
06/18/02: Picking the next chief
06/11/02: Intelligence coup, with much more to do
06/07/02: The Bush administration's foul ball
05/30/02: Post-feminism in the aftermath of 9-11
05/23/02: The press gunning for Ashcroft
05/19/02: El Jefe basks in Carter's Light
05/15/02: Former presidents who don't understand the word "former"
05/07/02: Ozzy deified, many mortified, drugs glorified?
05/01/02: Bush: "California here I come ... sort of"
04/27/02: The good news about conservatives versus Bush
04/17/02: While the cat's away....
04/09/02: Preview of 2004: See how Dick runs!
01/29/02: A kinder, gentler human-rights violator?
11/27/01: Military tribunals provide streamlined justice
09/07/01: Scariest animal wears pants
08/17/01: Depressed after seeing uncut version of Apocalypse Now --- and for good reason
07/20/01: The other, maybe more important, news
06/22/01: Washington's pro-Bono worship is unnerving
06/01/01: Burying conservatism
05/17/01: Ashcroft's abuse of power

© 2002, Laura Ingraham