READERS UPBRAID ME -- Napolitano Has Vehement Critics For Her Lack Of Vigorous Enforcement In Arizona
I am surprised at your lack of strong conviction against the proposed Nappy appointment. I live in Phoenix, so I know what damage this typically pandering Lib "gal" has done to this state. We knew how to go after McCain, and rightfully so on this issue, so this muted message (Thursday's blog) is terrible.
-- Alan of Arizona
Whew! I'm getting more blistered than usual by readers because of my blog yesterday.
Many readers are "convicting" me for my lack of strong conviction in saying Pres-Elect Obama could have done worse in choosing Arizona Gov. Napolitano to head up Homeland Security.
Read some of their comments under that blog, and I'm sure more to come at the bottom of this blog.
There is no question that Napolitano established herself as the enemy of most Arizonans who wanted vigorous enforcement against illegal immigration. And you can read about many of her transgressions in the comments section.
I'll be happy to mostly defend my view on Napolitano further down. But first, this .....
TELL OBAMA TEAM WHAT YOU THINK OF NAPOLITANO
Don't stop with telling me what you think. Write directly to the Obama transition team right now about what you think of Gov. Napolitano as the person overseeing enforcement of our immigration laws.
Obama has an immigration page that allows the public to submit ideas about immigration.
http://change.gov/agenda/immigration_agenda/
Click on the SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS link inside the blue box. Then fill in at least the required personal information and your comments. Today, I would suggest you talk primarily about Napolitano.
Yes, I see that a number of you are saying that sending any information to Obama is a wasted effort because of his strong support for virtually open borders. But that was Pres. Bush's position, too. You all hammered him for years. Finally a year ago, he allowed DHS to engage in the strongest immigration enforcement this country has seen since Pres. Eisenhower in the 1950s. Speak up. You never know what political miracles may happen.
I also have read from others of you that you are actually afraid that if you give Pres-Elect Obama your email address something bad will happen to you. Please! Stop the paranoia and become an American again. If you are afraid to send your opinion to the President of the United States, you obviously have given up.
A flurry of postings on Obama's website WILL be noticed. They will be unlikely to stop the nomination but they very well can influence how carefully Napolitano and Obama try to avoid instituting radical ideas.
NAPOLITANO'S TRIAL BY FIRE CAN HELP US
When I said yesterday (picked up by the New York Times) that Obama could have done worse than Napolitano, I was mainly thinking of people he could have picked who have had no experience with immigration and who might blindly follow an open-borders agenda set by ideologues in the White House.
I still believe that it is very important that Napolitano has been through one political fire after another over immigration.
She has been scorched repeatedly when she stood up for the unscruplous Arizona businesses that hire illegal aliens. She constantly tried to survive while straddling the fence between pro-enforcement voters and the anti-enforcement business lobbyists.
This experience should provide some good advice for Obama. I hope she will tell the White House ideologues that they do NOT want to find out how hot the reaction may be across America if he begins to push an amnesty, or begins to push for more H-1B tech workers, or push for higher importation of foreign workers in general.
I hope her experience suggests to her that negating the new enforcement inside DHS could make her a household name across America -- and not at all in a good way.
I know that some people are rooting for Obama to make big mistakes. I am not.
I am rooting for Obama and Napolitano (if she becomes DHS head) to make smart decisions that very well may be different than their gut wishes. It is our job as mobilized citizens to help these leaders avoid costly mistakes that further erode the American attributes we hold most dear and that might result in millions of additional unemployed Americans.
This afternoon, this is what I wrote about my immigration dreams on the Obama website:
ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSAAmerican workers (both native-born and immigrants) are losing their jobs by the tens and hundreds of thousands every month. It is time to stop nearly all importing of foreign workers.
Work with Rep. Shuler to pass the SAVE Act to mandate verification of all new hires to keep illegal foreign workers out of jobs.
Work with Congress to put a moratorium on Chain Migration of non-nuclear family. There can be no excuse for bringing in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers through these categories while millions of Americans are looking for jobs and can't find them. Furthermore, the Chain Migration immigrants are allowed in without any regard to their skills, education or whether any employer actually needs or wants them.
Ending Chain Migration and mandating E-Verify would be your fastest, cheapest and most effective jobs program.