White House Press Flap and the New Deportation Policy

Yesterday, Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro got caught up in an unpleasant exchange with President Obama during the president's announcement of a new policy on deportations. He attempted to ask a hostile question before the president finished speaking. (DC is linked on this site, and I use it frequently as a source for postings.)

Below is a DC clip showing Munro explaining his version of the incident.





Before I comment on the announced policy of not deporting illegal aliens who were brought here as small children by their parents, let me say a few words about yesterday's incident.

Yes, it is a breach of the protocol for an impudent reporter to interrupt the president while he is still speaking. Furthermore, lest I be inconsistent, let me add that I detect a bit of an accent in Munro's speech. I am going to guess that he is a Canadian. Therefore, let me say that I resent it when some arrogant foreigner comes to our hallowed shores and acts in a disrespectful manner toward our president, whomever he may be. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if Munro were expelled from the White House press corps and deported back to Canada. If he is now a naturalized US citizen, I suggest that his citizenship be revoked, and then he be deported. If I can say it about Richard Wolffe (2 "ffs"), Anna Wintour, and Martin Bashir, then I must be consistent and say it about Munro. Otherwise, I will have some wise guy like Siarlys Jenkins pointing out my hypocrisy.

Now let's talk about the issue at hand.

Today, we have some 12 million illegal aliens in our country. The largest number comes from Mexico, which, for all you UC Santa Cruz Community Studies majors,  is our southern neighbor. Most of the illicit drugs that enter this country come in through Mexico. We have massive bloodshed occurring on our southern border. Phoenix is the kidnap capital of the US. We have Hispanic gangs roaming our big cities. Many of their members are the children of illegal immigrants-even though the parents themselves may be decent, hard-working people. And yet, the only solution our present administration, our president and our feckless director of Homeland Security can come up with is this- we will not deport the so-called "Dreamers".

In addition, we are being told that this policy will affect some 800,000 people. C'mon.

First of all, I would argue that these people are not being targeted for deportation in the first place. We neither have the resources nor the time to go after these people. In fact, some of their leaders have gone public. One was just interviewed on TV by CNN's Fredricka Whitfield. Secondly, while surely there are many who have grown up in the US and are working or going to school, perhaps, including college, there are also many who have become gang members as well. In fact, this is a group that is quite susceptible to becoming gang members. They come here poor and get plopped into  some big school district like LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) and find themselves sitting in a classroom listening to a language they don't understand. Assimilation comes slower than through normal, legal immigration.

As usual, the administration is putting the cart before the horse. You can talk about  the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration reform all you want, but the first step is to stop the bleeding at the border-both literally and figuratively. The border must be secured, if not to stop illegal immigration, then surely to stop the flow of drugs and keep the slaughter on the Mexican side of the border as Mexico City figures out what to do about it. If we can accomplish that, then we can have a serious discussion about the 12 million or so, non-criminal illegals we have. Deporting 12 million people is not possible. We have to find a way that is doable and humane. Let's remember that the ultimate bad guy in all this is Mexico-a country that pretends to be poor in spite of all its natural resources, but refuses to treat its own people fairly, let alone provide a decent education and jobs. Their only resource is to come here. Most are not criminals, but some are, and we must be able to find them and get them out of here as quickly and expeditiously as possible. As for the "Dreamers", if they are all they say they are, we can find a solution. However, to make them a priority is absurd. The first step is securing the border, which this and previous administrations have refused to do.

Here is the order of priority:

Secure the border. If the Border Patrol is not enough, add the National Guard and then the active duty military if necessary.

Employer sanctions with all the E-verify that is required.

Punish sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE. Set up task forces with ICE and local cops to identify and deport known illegal alien gang members.

Return offenders should be prosecuted.

Once we secure the border and go after the criminal elements with the illegal alien communities, then we can have a serious discussion of what to do about the ones who are here only to work. If the situation is truly under control, then I am sure we can get bi-partisan agreement on treating millions of people in a humane and practical manner. Yes, there are some who are here through no fault of their own, but it is not we who created this problem. It is their parents-and ultimately, Mexico that created the issue to begin with.

If all that wasn't enough, MSNBC and Elija Cummings (D-MD)  think the incident yesterday was all about racism-not against Hispanics or Mexicans, rather against blacks because Obama is the only president ever to be treated in this manner, blah blah blah...