Don Goldwater, nephew of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, caused an international stir this week when EFE, a Mexican news service, quoted him as saying he wanted to hold undocumented immigrants in camps to use them "as labor in the construction of a wall and to clean the areas of the Arizona desert that they're polluting."
The article described Goldwater's plan as a "concentration camp" for migrants.
No matter where you stand on the issue of immigration, you must admit that Goldwater went way too far. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) were quick to condemned the Arizona gubernatorial candidate's statement and Kolbe even called for an outright "rejection of his candidacy."
When questioned about his statement, Goldwater insisted that it was taken out of context. But DailyKos reminds us that this isn't the first time that "he's shot his mouth off in such a manner":
Goldwater made a similar comment at an April anti-immigration rally.
"Build us that wall--now!" Goldwater said, referring to a proposal to add 700 miles of fences along the U.S.-Mexico border. He promised then that if elected, he would put illegal immigrants in a tent city on the border and use their labor to build the wall.
The immigation debate has gotten out of control--like so many other issues. It is time for a serious and fair debate about this important issue.
Haliluja! A man with common sense in Washington! Praise GOD! I totally support his advice. These criminals should build the wall to keep them out! joodi
This is not a Congressman or anyone "in Washington." He is a candidate for governor in Arizona. By making those "criminals" build that wall, you would be cheating thousands of Americans out of a job.
Made one mistake. He should have stood in Berlin and made the statememt as a true commie pinko that he is.
He should have stood in Berlin and made the statememt as a true commie pinko that he is.
I think, if you bothered to look, the Berlin Wall was built to keep folks in.
Furhter, if I'm not mistaken, Germany controls their border.
ThatGayConservative,
It is perfectly OK to be homosexual.
Also, although I don't share that mindset, it is perfectly legitimate to have conservative beliefs.
Now explain me how do you manage to do both at the same time. That really blows my mind.
Mongo
www.itsnofun.com
I do not believe that immigrants are as bad as so many people seem to think. Yes, some commit crimes, but that will happen in any group of people you find. There would be crime in the U.S. with or without immigrants.
They occupy a lot of jobs that wouldn't be readily occupied by Americans if the immigrants weren't here.
Many of them come for better futures. Can we really not allow them to try to realize their dreams?
I do not believe that immigrants are as bad as so many people seem to think. Yes, some commit crimes, but that will happen in any group of people you find. There would be crime in the U.S. with or without immigrants.
Nobody's saying that they ALL commit crimes. Of course there would be crime in the U.S. with or without them, but how much crime is the question.
How about strains elsewhere?
Folks are always saying that we need more money for healthcare, right? The other day there was a story in the Houston Chronicle which reported that Harris County tax payers paid around $100 Million for the treatment of illegals in 2005. Just imagine where that money were spent on legal residents.
Folks are always saying that we need more money for education. How much money are we spending on educating illegals? What if we were spending that on legal students instead?
Ya know libs keep whining about how we should worry about our own problems instead of the problems of others, but you don't see any of them actually wanting to do it.
EFE is not a Mexican News Agency, is from Spain.
I'm just quoting CBS.
So what are we East Germany now?
--Mike
As usual, Pay no attention to what he actually said. Just pay attention to what the media THOUGHT he said. And of course the ignorant wet their panties.
Link
EFE News canceded later that no one in their office contacted Goldwater. Goldwater's plan is voluntary and not forced. Its not a very good one either and many are quick to criticize it. Maybe instead, they could come up with something original themselves but then those ideas would be criticised the same way and why risk sticking your neck out, right? A wall is truely a waste of funds but many very dumb Americans will disagree. A wall for this purpose would need to be extensively guarded and maintained. Periodically, it will need to be checked for holes by those still crossing the border. These checks will need to be conducted by foot. It is merely a political selling point. UAV have been proposed to patrol the border 24/7 which is probably the best idea I have heard so far.
Now onto something progressive.
Why doesn't the US work with Mexico to create more jobs in Mexico? Companies continue to out-source labor to Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and China but do not see any cost benefit to creating jobs in Latin countries? Instead of building a stupid wall the US needs to close the gap between Mexico's HDI and the US. There are many politcal issues to overcome but no one is even thinking about them. First off we could provide US companies thinking about outsourcing to Asia countries importation insentives if they moved their operations to Mexico instead. Everyone forgets the reason why millions of Mexicans cross the border every year illegally. To find a job.
Because at this point in time it is more politically expedient to score easy points by bashing immigrants.
They are a defenseless constituency, and what better way to achieve a cheap badge of patriot and "concerned"?
Working with Mexico, controlling outsourcing, are things that seem too convoluted and distant. The offensive symbol of a wall, though ineffective, gives certain kind of people an immediate satisfaction.
Mongo
www.itsnofun.com