| Illegal Immigration |
Illegal immigration has become one of the most ridiculous arguments I've heard in my lifetime. As a police
officer, you're going to listen to people everyday trying to convince you of things totally devoid of any logic. If
you extrapolate some of the goofy viewpoints you're going to hear to a macro level, you'll have all kinds of
comparisons to today's views on illegal immigration.
It will depend upon where you begin your police career as to how much exposure you'll have regarding illegal
immigration. However, since no one really knows how many people are residing in this country illegally, you
may encounter more illegals than you might imagine.
As an individual police officer, there's really not much you can do to affect whatever policies are in place within
your department regarding illegal aliens. Anytime any situations or circumstances involved with your law
enforcement duties become politicized, your best response is to take a step back and wait for direction. When
it comes to illegal immigration, you're looking at a totally politicized problem with little, to nothing, being done
to solve the problem.
Illegal immigration isn't unique by any means. There's a lot of people, and politicians, who throw up their
hands when faced with any number of social problems. Their solution is most often to make something legal if,
in their view, it's too much trouble to deal with the illegal issue. If these same people had everything their
way, every drug under the Sun would be legal...except tobacco, of course.
The most ridiculous part of the illegal immigration argument I've heard is the part where, "You can't kick out
eleven million people." The response to that is simple, you don't have to kick out eleven million people.
You'll learn very quickly that when you begin enforcing laws against a particular criminal activity, the activity
immediately begins to recede, and you'll be amazed just how quickly you'll be able to reduce that criminal
activity to a manageable level.
Here's another view of the smart people, "Most illegal immigrants are not criminals." Of course they're
criminals. Doesn't anyone know what illegal means? Oh, I know where they're coming from...they're just
displaying their compassionate side. Perhaps, when you earn some extra money, and you forget to pay income
tax on that money, they'll come to your defense as well when the IRS catches up to you. Okay, I'm being
sarcastic.
Let's assume that most illegal immigrants are not criminals when defining criminals who are dangerous to
one's life and limb. In that case, enforcing laws, already in place, against illegal immigration should have an
immediate and lasting effect. Police officers, for obvious reasons, have a better grasp of the effects law
enforcement have on people than those who know everything about everything. Law abiding people -- I love
the term law abiding -- break laws everyday. Sure, they're mostly minor violations that go ignored; until,
those violations begin to bother others. As soon as those violations are addressed with enforcement, the
violations cease. Traffic enforcement is a perfect and obvious example.
I know, "How can you compare traffic violations to illegal immigration?" Well, if most illegal immigrants
aren't criminals, that means they're law abiding people who, like every other law abiding person, will fall into
line with a little bit of law enforcement. I happen to believe that most illegals are not criminals in the true
sense of the word. But...just like every other law abiding person, they'll violate any law that they do not view
as morally reprehensible, or, more to the point, a law that is rarely enforced. The truth of this point is the act
of entering this country illegally.
The smart people are on a roll, "Physical barriers don't work." Again, of course physical barriers work.
People who say, "They'll just dig a tunnel under a fence" have obviously never had to dig a ditch. I like this
one, "If you build a thirty foot fence, they'll just use a thirty-one foot ladder." These people simply don't know
what they're talking about.
Physical barriers come in two forms...impregnable and really inconvenient. Forget about impregnable. As a
police officer, you'll see the effectiveness of the inconvenient barrier in the form of the gated community. A
gated community with a few sensors and a couple of security guards do wonders in keeping the criminals out
even if the community is situated within a high crime neighborhood. The robbers and burglars know that if
they're detected while trying to gain entry, you'll be called to deal with them. I'd love to know how many of the
high profile critics of a southern border fence themselves live in gated communities?
The real reason that real solutions to illegal immigration are yet to be applied is simply because the problem
hasn't yet reached an intolerable level. Sure, it's intolerable for a lot of people bearing the brunt of the
problem. At some point, the politicians and critics will move on to something else, and law enforcement will be
free to conduct law enforcement.
officer, you're going to listen to people everyday trying to convince you of things totally devoid of any logic. If
you extrapolate some of the goofy viewpoints you're going to hear to a macro level, you'll have all kinds of
comparisons to today's views on illegal immigration.
It will depend upon where you begin your police career as to how much exposure you'll have regarding illegal
immigration. However, since no one really knows how many people are residing in this country illegally, you
may encounter more illegals than you might imagine.
As an individual police officer, there's really not much you can do to affect whatever policies are in place within
your department regarding illegal aliens. Anytime any situations or circumstances involved with your law
enforcement duties become politicized, your best response is to take a step back and wait for direction. When
it comes to illegal immigration, you're looking at a totally politicized problem with little, to nothing, being done
to solve the problem.
Illegal immigration isn't unique by any means. There's a lot of people, and politicians, who throw up their
hands when faced with any number of social problems. Their solution is most often to make something legal if,
in their view, it's too much trouble to deal with the illegal issue. If these same people had everything their
way, every drug under the Sun would be legal...except tobacco, of course.
The most ridiculous part of the illegal immigration argument I've heard is the part where, "You can't kick out
eleven million people." The response to that is simple, you don't have to kick out eleven million people.
You'll learn very quickly that when you begin enforcing laws against a particular criminal activity, the activity
immediately begins to recede, and you'll be amazed just how quickly you'll be able to reduce that criminal
activity to a manageable level.
Here's another view of the smart people, "Most illegal immigrants are not criminals." Of course they're
criminals. Doesn't anyone know what illegal means? Oh, I know where they're coming from...they're just
displaying their compassionate side. Perhaps, when you earn some extra money, and you forget to pay income
tax on that money, they'll come to your defense as well when the IRS catches up to you. Okay, I'm being
sarcastic.
Let's assume that most illegal immigrants are not criminals when defining criminals who are dangerous to
one's life and limb. In that case, enforcing laws, already in place, against illegal immigration should have an
immediate and lasting effect. Police officers, for obvious reasons, have a better grasp of the effects law
enforcement have on people than those who know everything about everything. Law abiding people -- I love
the term law abiding -- break laws everyday. Sure, they're mostly minor violations that go ignored; until,
those violations begin to bother others. As soon as those violations are addressed with enforcement, the
violations cease. Traffic enforcement is a perfect and obvious example.
I know, "How can you compare traffic violations to illegal immigration?" Well, if most illegal immigrants
aren't criminals, that means they're law abiding people who, like every other law abiding person, will fall into
line with a little bit of law enforcement. I happen to believe that most illegals are not criminals in the true
sense of the word. But...just like every other law abiding person, they'll violate any law that they do not view
as morally reprehensible, or, more to the point, a law that is rarely enforced. The truth of this point is the act
of entering this country illegally.
The smart people are on a roll, "Physical barriers don't work." Again, of course physical barriers work.
People who say, "They'll just dig a tunnel under a fence" have obviously never had to dig a ditch. I like this
one, "If you build a thirty foot fence, they'll just use a thirty-one foot ladder." These people simply don't know
what they're talking about.
Physical barriers come in two forms...impregnable and really inconvenient. Forget about impregnable. As a
police officer, you'll see the effectiveness of the inconvenient barrier in the form of the gated community. A
gated community with a few sensors and a couple of security guards do wonders in keeping the criminals out
even if the community is situated within a high crime neighborhood. The robbers and burglars know that if
they're detected while trying to gain entry, you'll be called to deal with them. I'd love to know how many of the
high profile critics of a southern border fence themselves live in gated communities?
The real reason that real solutions to illegal immigration are yet to be applied is simply because the problem
hasn't yet reached an intolerable level. Sure, it's intolerable for a lot of people bearing the brunt of the
problem. At some point, the politicians and critics will move on to something else, and law enforcement will be
free to conduct law enforcement.
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| Copyright © 2006 - 2010 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
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| Illegal Immigration |
Protect
your files
your files
Protect
your identity
your identity
| Securing America's Southern Border |
When you listen to all the people who say that a fence simply won’t work to provide security on America’s
boarder with Mexico, they must be taking that wisdom from the fact that there is no market demand for fence
manufacturing and sales in the United States.
Wait a minute…
That statement isn’t factual at all…is it? Fences of all types appear just about everywhere; residential,
commercial, government properties and along highways. The types of fences are determined only by the
purposes they’re intended to achieve. When it comes to security, height and strength are the first
considerations.
When you become a police officer, there will be times when you’ll wish that fences weren’t so plentiful. You’ll
have to scale fences when in pursuit of suspects, and fences will hinder you when responding to burglar alarms
at residences and commercial establishments.
As a police officer, you’re going to be constantly confronted with people making absurd arguments to justify
their irrational or illegal behavior. There’s not any difference between those people and those who will try to
convince you that a boarder fence will do nothing to significantly enhance the security of the United States.
Fences and walls have been natural defensive responses by human beings from the very beginning to the
present.
The “fence won’t work” crowd is always looking for examples of people barriers that didn’t work. One good
example is the Maginot Line which France constructed between the World Wars to prevent Germany from
invading France. The Maginot Line was much more than just a people barrier; it was a massively fortified line
of defense to stop a German Army; until, the French military could be fully mobilized. As it turned out, the
French had plenty of time to mobilize at the outbreak of World War II before the German invasion. They even
had time to move their divisions, along with a British Expeditionary Force, into Belgium to meet the German
Army.
The French thought they had everything pretty well covered. The Maginot Line protected the south, and their
superior allied forces awaited the German onslaught through Belgium. However, the Maginot Line stopped at
the Ardennes Forest which the French believed to be a natural barrier. Of course, the Germans exploited the
French over confidence in nature by invading through the Ardennes Forest bypassing the Maginot Line and
trapping the allied armies in Belgium.
One can argue that the Maginot Line worked better than anyone would have anticipated by the simple fact that
the German Army completely avoided contact with the Line. The obvious flaw in the Maginot Line was that it
stopped at the Ardennes Forest, and the German Army confronted only a few under strength and ill equipped
French divisions when they invaded through the Ardennes.
Okay, let’s move 70 years ahead to 2010 and the border between the United States and Mexico. No one’s
advocating a Maginot Line type of barrier to control illegal immigration. One would think that is the case with
all the resistance to building any kind of fence to stem the flow of illegal entry into the United States.
While politicians would like to convince everyone that construction of a southern border fence would compare
to the expense and complexity of a Maginot Line, they completely ignore one fence from recent history that
had incredible success in denying people illegal entry. Actually, the word entry is not appropriate. This fence
denied people illegal exit.
This fence stretched for 858 miles across Germany separating East and West Germany. Americans have
incredibly short memories. If you’re young, and you have a college education, you’ve probably never even
heard of the Inner German Border. The Inner German Border Fence began construction in 1952, and it didn’t
come down until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 which was totally separate from the Inner German Border.
I visited the Inner German Border in 1984. It was hard to imagine that such a huge man made barrier could
enclose an entire country. You just had to put things into perspective. While the dual fence, with high steel
mushroom shaped observation towers, stretched as far as the eye could see was nothing short of intimidating, it
wasn’t any more complicated than constructing an interstate highway. I was particularly impressed by the
observation towers which stood about every thousand meters. The top of the towers had one way glass all
around. I learned that entry and exit from the towers was done by way of tunnels. In other words, I had no
idea if I was trading stares with an East German soldier or an empty piece of glass.
Now, the first thing that most politically correct opponents of an American southern border fence would
probably ask me is, “How can you suggest that a model used by a totalitarian regime like the former East
Germany be emulated by the United States?” I would have to point out that these same opponents think that
Communist economics are far superior to Capitalism. My question is, how can people embrace the ruinous
economics of Communism or Socialism [Communism light], and deny something the Communists got right for
the purpose intended? That purpose was denying people from crossing a border. The only obscene part of the
barrier was that it was used to imprison the citizens of a country instead of denying illegal entry into that
country. Nothing is impossible when it comes to absurd views, but I doubt than anyone could say that a secure
American southern border fence would imprison Americans.
In the interest of economy, I’d suggest that the blue prints for the Inner German Border Fence could be
obtained from German Archives. Then again, they could be in Moscow.
Seriously… there is no obstacle, other than politics and political corruption, preventing the United States
federal government from securing America’s border with Mexico.
boarder with Mexico, they must be taking that wisdom from the fact that there is no market demand for fence
manufacturing and sales in the United States.
Wait a minute…
That statement isn’t factual at all…is it? Fences of all types appear just about everywhere; residential,
commercial, government properties and along highways. The types of fences are determined only by the
purposes they’re intended to achieve. When it comes to security, height and strength are the first
considerations.
When you become a police officer, there will be times when you’ll wish that fences weren’t so plentiful. You’ll
have to scale fences when in pursuit of suspects, and fences will hinder you when responding to burglar alarms
at residences and commercial establishments.
As a police officer, you’re going to be constantly confronted with people making absurd arguments to justify
their irrational or illegal behavior. There’s not any difference between those people and those who will try to
convince you that a boarder fence will do nothing to significantly enhance the security of the United States.
Fences and walls have been natural defensive responses by human beings from the very beginning to the
present.
The “fence won’t work” crowd is always looking for examples of people barriers that didn’t work. One good
example is the Maginot Line which France constructed between the World Wars to prevent Germany from
invading France. The Maginot Line was much more than just a people barrier; it was a massively fortified line
of defense to stop a German Army; until, the French military could be fully mobilized. As it turned out, the
French had plenty of time to mobilize at the outbreak of World War II before the German invasion. They even
had time to move their divisions, along with a British Expeditionary Force, into Belgium to meet the German
Army.
The French thought they had everything pretty well covered. The Maginot Line protected the south, and their
superior allied forces awaited the German onslaught through Belgium. However, the Maginot Line stopped at
the Ardennes Forest which the French believed to be a natural barrier. Of course, the Germans exploited the
French over confidence in nature by invading through the Ardennes Forest bypassing the Maginot Line and
trapping the allied armies in Belgium.
One can argue that the Maginot Line worked better than anyone would have anticipated by the simple fact that
the German Army completely avoided contact with the Line. The obvious flaw in the Maginot Line was that it
stopped at the Ardennes Forest, and the German Army confronted only a few under strength and ill equipped
French divisions when they invaded through the Ardennes.
Okay, let’s move 70 years ahead to 2010 and the border between the United States and Mexico. No one’s
advocating a Maginot Line type of barrier to control illegal immigration. One would think that is the case with
all the resistance to building any kind of fence to stem the flow of illegal entry into the United States.
While politicians would like to convince everyone that construction of a southern border fence would compare
to the expense and complexity of a Maginot Line, they completely ignore one fence from recent history that
had incredible success in denying people illegal entry. Actually, the word entry is not appropriate. This fence
denied people illegal exit.
This fence stretched for 858 miles across Germany separating East and West Germany. Americans have
incredibly short memories. If you’re young, and you have a college education, you’ve probably never even
heard of the Inner German Border. The Inner German Border Fence began construction in 1952, and it didn’t
come down until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 which was totally separate from the Inner German Border.
I visited the Inner German Border in 1984. It was hard to imagine that such a huge man made barrier could
enclose an entire country. You just had to put things into perspective. While the dual fence, with high steel
mushroom shaped observation towers, stretched as far as the eye could see was nothing short of intimidating, it
wasn’t any more complicated than constructing an interstate highway. I was particularly impressed by the
observation towers which stood about every thousand meters. The top of the towers had one way glass all
around. I learned that entry and exit from the towers was done by way of tunnels. In other words, I had no
idea if I was trading stares with an East German soldier or an empty piece of glass.
Now, the first thing that most politically correct opponents of an American southern border fence would
probably ask me is, “How can you suggest that a model used by a totalitarian regime like the former East
Germany be emulated by the United States?” I would have to point out that these same opponents think that
Communist economics are far superior to Capitalism. My question is, how can people embrace the ruinous
economics of Communism or Socialism [Communism light], and deny something the Communists got right for
the purpose intended? That purpose was denying people from crossing a border. The only obscene part of the
barrier was that it was used to imprison the citizens of a country instead of denying illegal entry into that
country. Nothing is impossible when it comes to absurd views, but I doubt than anyone could say that a secure
American southern border fence would imprison Americans.
In the interest of economy, I’d suggest that the blue prints for the Inner German Border Fence could be
obtained from German Archives. Then again, they could be in Moscow.
Seriously… there is no obstacle, other than politics and political corruption, preventing the United States
federal government from securing America’s border with Mexico.
| Politicians and Bureaucrats |
Pick a number. Without exception, every opponent of border security repeats the same talking point, “We
can’t deport 12 million people,” or “We can’t deport 20 million people.”
What these self-indulgent pseudo intellectuals don’t understand, and what they will never understand, is the
effect of law enforcement on human behavior. If the government secures the borders, and police officers are
allowed to enforce state – and federal immigration – laws, illegal entry into the United States will, like any
other crime, transform from an unmanageable situation into a manageable one.
When you become a police officer, you will see how effective you can be when the politicians and bureaucrats
occasionally get on the same page and take criminal activity seriously. Unfortunately, way too many politicians
and bureaucrats have adopted the term “undocumented immigrant” or some other variation, but every
variation contains the word “undocumented” in place of “illegal.” You know it’s really bad when a police chief
utters the word “undocumented;” although, most police chiefs are, first and foremost, just politicians wearing
uniforms.
I once attended a meeting with representatives of health departments from Baltimore City and surrounding
jurisdictions. The topic was an alarming number of syphilis cases occurring as a result of men interacting with
one particular woman they’d met on a street corner. Almost immediately, I committed an unforgiveable
violation of political correctness by uttering the word, “prostitutes.” I was immediately corrected on my
incorrect reference to women who sell sex for money. “Lieutenant,” remarked one of the attendees, “we don’t
use that word; we refer to these women as CSWs.” In case you’re not familiar with this term, it’s an acronym
for “commercial sex workers.”
Of the four men infected by the… CSW in question, two of the men were cooperating with the health
departments’ efforts to locate the infected CSW. I guess this is where I came in; however, when I suggested
assigning one of my investigators to identify and locate the prosti… a… CSW, I was met with silence. Finally,
one of those present, a medical doctor, asked, “Ah, isn’t there something legal about that? I had committed
my second transgression during that meeting. I provided a simple and straight forward solution to their
problem. You’ll learn that when it comes to problem solving, politicians and bureaucrats don’t like simple
solutions. They prefer to have meetings and talk the problem to death. When a course of action is finally
implemented, it has to be sufficiently complicated and verbose so that the participants can claim individual and
collective credit for the implementation.
Implementation is what it’s all about. When you hear the politicians drone on about comprehensive
immigration reform, all they’re talking about is implementation. If the implementation consists only of
completing a fence and assigning troops and Border Patrol to police the fence, it simply isn’t complicated
enough. They won’t be able to spend enough money to pursue endless implementation to produce the illusion
that they’re actually accomplishing something. As a police officer, you’re going to see endless implementation
of crime fighting initiatives. You’ll rarely see results from any single initiative, because it will soon be
replaced by a new initiative. If this sounds confusing, it’s because it is confusing, and it’s designed to be that
way.
can’t deport 12 million people,” or “We can’t deport 20 million people.”
What these self-indulgent pseudo intellectuals don’t understand, and what they will never understand, is the
effect of law enforcement on human behavior. If the government secures the borders, and police officers are
allowed to enforce state – and federal immigration – laws, illegal entry into the United States will, like any
other crime, transform from an unmanageable situation into a manageable one.
When you become a police officer, you will see how effective you can be when the politicians and bureaucrats
occasionally get on the same page and take criminal activity seriously. Unfortunately, way too many politicians
and bureaucrats have adopted the term “undocumented immigrant” or some other variation, but every
variation contains the word “undocumented” in place of “illegal.” You know it’s really bad when a police chief
utters the word “undocumented;” although, most police chiefs are, first and foremost, just politicians wearing
uniforms.
I once attended a meeting with representatives of health departments from Baltimore City and surrounding
jurisdictions. The topic was an alarming number of syphilis cases occurring as a result of men interacting with
one particular woman they’d met on a street corner. Almost immediately, I committed an unforgiveable
violation of political correctness by uttering the word, “prostitutes.” I was immediately corrected on my
incorrect reference to women who sell sex for money. “Lieutenant,” remarked one of the attendees, “we don’t
use that word; we refer to these women as CSWs.” In case you’re not familiar with this term, it’s an acronym
for “commercial sex workers.”
Of the four men infected by the… CSW in question, two of the men were cooperating with the health
departments’ efforts to locate the infected CSW. I guess this is where I came in; however, when I suggested
assigning one of my investigators to identify and locate the prosti… a… CSW, I was met with silence. Finally,
one of those present, a medical doctor, asked, “Ah, isn’t there something legal about that? I had committed
my second transgression during that meeting. I provided a simple and straight forward solution to their
problem. You’ll learn that when it comes to problem solving, politicians and bureaucrats don’t like simple
solutions. They prefer to have meetings and talk the problem to death. When a course of action is finally
implemented, it has to be sufficiently complicated and verbose so that the participants can claim individual and
collective credit for the implementation.
Implementation is what it’s all about. When you hear the politicians drone on about comprehensive
immigration reform, all they’re talking about is implementation. If the implementation consists only of
completing a fence and assigning troops and Border Patrol to police the fence, it simply isn’t complicated
enough. They won’t be able to spend enough money to pursue endless implementation to produce the illusion
that they’re actually accomplishing something. As a police officer, you’re going to see endless implementation
of crime fighting initiatives. You’ll rarely see results from any single initiative, because it will soon be
replaced by a new initiative. If this sounds confusing, it’s because it is confusing, and it’s designed to be that
way.