Reality Check 101

The Fourth of July has no meaning without borders; nor does Cinco de Mayo or any other national commemoration of independence or identity. Borders preserve the “we” of a people. Without territorial integrity, celebrations of independence or victories against impossible odds are just hollow emotional entertainment.

Integrity is as important for borders as it is with people. For people, integrity means being who one says they are and doing what they say. Borders, in order to preserve, protect and have any meaning, must also be what they are designed to be and have the integrity to do what they claim to be.

Claims of integrity for the United States’ southwest border are naïve if not dishonest. According to the Department of Homeland Security, only 700 miles of that nearly 2,000-mile border is “effectively controlled”. That lack of control negatively impacts every resident of the border states along with the rest of the country.

In mid June a hearing was held to examine the case for creating a Southwest Border Region Water Task Force. Why? As recently as May, the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas was foiled in an attempt to blow up the Falcon Dam along the Rio Grande. Texans almost got caught in the cross-fire of a drug turf war between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel.

Just last month, while many Americans were demonizing Arizona’s legal attempt at self-defense, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu revealed that the state no longer controls a wide corridor from the Mexican border to the outskirts of Phoenix. The federal government has now installed signs in the area effectively advising U.S. citizens to stay out of U.S. territory for their safety.

How does a national border maintain integrity? Unfortunately, in America, it depends on the integrity of the men and women serving in Washington D.C. So far, “unfortunate” is the most generous description available.

When President Obama presented his last budget, he proposed a reduction of Border Patrol agents and a reduction in the Secure Border Initiative. Under his leadership, “no-match” Social Security letters to employers has ended. Since he has been at the helm, deportations have dropped by 60%. Somewhere along the line, Homeland Security (fast becoming a misnomer) signed a deal with the Department of Interior to pay $50 million out of their strapped immigration enforcement budget for supposed environmental damage from building the border fence.

According to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, during a face-to-face in the Oval Office, the president made it clear that securing the border ran second to securing amnesty-laden comprehensive immigration reform. Within days of Kyl’s revelation, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano reinforced that stand by also dismissing the notion of security before comprehensive reform.

Most recently, your federal government began using your money to fund an ad campaign by the Labor Department offering free help to illegal immigrants experiencing so-called unfair wages. Rumors have even surfaced lately that the White House is toying with the idea of amnesty by executive order.

All of this demonstrates an unbelievable level of devotion by power brokers in Washington to border security-light. To that end, they are apparently willing to sacrifice border integrity by sacrificing their own integrity. By claiming, as Napolitano has, that the border is as secure “as it has ever been” and by mouthing strong words but using political intrigue to do the opposite, the Obama administration and decision-makers in Congress testify to a shocking lack of commitment to our nation’s well-being.

Despite her failures, America has been and still is the greatest nation in the world but we are losing her one mile at a time.