slideshow Recently in this space, we outlined some of the little-publicized objections to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s record on “immigration.”
It drew a lot of mail, mostly from Perry supporters who were miffed at reading inconvenient facts that made them ask themselves why they picked him as candidate in the first place. Granting instate tuition to illegals is only a small part of Perry’s problematic record.
We noted that Perry had dismissed any consideration of a state immigration enforcement law such as Arizona, Georgia and other states struggled to put in place; had proposed a bi-national health insurance program with Mexico (PerryCare?); has expressed his support for legalizing the fugitive illegals who have escaped capture at American borders (it’s not amnesty, it’s a guest worker plan!); and refused to use the power of his office for any E-Verify legislation in Texas. So what if that state has one of the highest number of illegals in the country?
To educate readers on the state of the state of Perry’s Texas, we included a quote from the Jacksonville, Ill., Courier-Journal: “Texas has the second-highest poverty rate among the 50 states, behind only Mississippi. It has the second-highest percentage of population without a high school diploma. Texas leads the nation in the percentage of people with no health insurance, over one quarter. It is tied with Mississippi for having the biggest percentage of workers paid at or below the minimum wage.”
Perry is still standing on a magical “jobs creation” in Texas myth. Let’s add to the facts with this from Mark Krikorian on National Review Online — “Jobs for Whom?” — citing a report from his Center for Immigration Studies. “Remember all those new jobs in Texas Gov. Perry keeps talking about? Would it surprise you to learn that the overwhelming majority went to newly arrived immigrants and not to Americans? Surprise! From 2007 to 2011, 81 percent of the job growth went to recently arrived foreign workers — about half legal, half illegal.” Krikorian writes.
“Nor did all this wonderful job creation for foreigners seem to benefit Americans indirectly — native-born Texans saw the same doubling of unemployment that Americans elsewhere experienced during the recession. So, to the extent Perry has anything to do with all this — and he’s the one boasting of his role in making it happen — his main accomplishment seems to have been to dissolve the workforce and elect a new one. Maybe this is what the plantation owners want, and certainly their immigrant laborers aren’t complaining, but what’s in it for the rest of us?"
With the recently released demands from the anti-American loons who are known as “Occupy Wall Street,” it seems a good time to add Perry’s most alarming but unreported position.
Like former Mexican president Vicente Fox, Perry, the would-be guardian of American security and sovereignty, has proclaimed his support for open borders more than once since becoming governor of Texas.
You read that correctly.
Astute readers may recall El Presidente Fox’s 2009 visit to Kennesaw State University and his day-long seminar on open borders and creating a “North American Community” similar to the one now foundering in Europe. Fox is not alone in that dream. Open borders is also one of the central demands of the no-longer amusing mob who are “occupying” Wall Street.
A Perry quote from a 2001 border summit taken from the Texas Office of the Governor Website: “President Fox’s vision for an open border is a vision I embrace, as long as we demonstrate the will to address the obstacles to it. An open border means poverty has given way to opportunity and Mexico’s citizens do not feel compelled to cross the border to find that opportunity” said Perry.
A one-time slip of good “sovereignty/security sense?” No. According to the Associated Press, in 2007, while he was in Mexico City for a trade mission, Perry said he would support a “free flow of individuals between these two countries who want to work and want to be an asset to our country and to Mexico.”
Open borders has long been the dream of the radical anti-enforcement left and corporate masters who call the shots in far too much of American politics. One example? In 1984, the Wall Street Journal put forth a front page demand for a five word amendment to the U.S. constitution: “There Shall Be Open Borders.”
Perry is rapidly dropping in public opinion, but leading in campaign fund raising.
Follow the money.
D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society which is actively opposed to open borders. On the Web: (http://www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org)
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - D A King Open borders high on Perry’s agenda