Who picks up the check for the wall?

Before the race-baiters and social justifiers rail against the concept of a protected border, be reminded that Congress passed legislation authorizing building the "wall" back in 2006. What average Americans decried was the fact that they didn't bother to fund it. Funding the wall that is already approved is a central issue in this election cycle, not the concept of erecting one along our southern border. Just because President Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted that Mexico will not pay for the border wall does not mean that his country will not, in effect, do so.

For some mysterious reason, the howling Left seems to believe that the USA will simply deliver a bill to Mexico for services rendered and that our neighbor will deny payment. Liberally speaking, that's sensible due to the fact that most progressive democrats receive checks from the government (for providing nothing) and, as a general rule of thumb, ignore invoices (from others providing something). It's called "welfare" and "credit," neither of which, in this case, is earned. Conveniently forgotten is the fact that Mexico receives financial aid from the United States to the tune of some $300 million annually, not including the billions delivered for the M√©rida Initiative. That can be curtailed, withheld or simply cut-off, which was proposed in 2014 by Texas Congressman Randy Weber (R) in order to pressure Mexico to make an effort to control illegal border crossing. The question is how much of a success, or failure, has been the Mérida Initiative that was put in motion the same year Congress approved the border wall. By most accounts, the corruption of Mexico's law enforcement is endemic and the initiative has done more to fund the illicit connection between Mexican police and the drug cartels. Money that could have bolstered border security has been flushed down the drain instead. However, freezing financial aid is not the only avenue that can be taken to compel Mexico to take action to curb illegal immigration, gunrunning and drug trafficking from their states to ours. Mexican drug cartels launder cash through assets, $8.7 billion of which was seized by the Justice Department in 2015. Currently, these forfeitures are dropped into administrative slush funds that fund illegal operations like the ill-conceived "Fast and Furious" firearms tracking scheme that provided the cartels with more guns. These funds can be allocated for wall construction, which, as noted above, has already been authorized by Congress, putting the money to good purpose.

According to the GAO, $25 billion in cash is transferred annually from the United States to Mexico by individuals, the majority of remittances sent by illegal immigrants. This amount surpassed Mexico's legitimately earned oil revenues of $23.4 billion in 2015. For this reason, Senator David Vitter proposed legislation in February of this year, the Remittance Status Verification Act, to redirect illegally wired (laundered) money toward improving border security. These measures alone would more than fund the building of the border wall, hiring thousands more border agents and cover the cost of deportation of the criminal element that has infiltrated the illegal immigrant population. Aside from liberals claiming that securing our borders is an act of racism, their other argument is the one that implementing such measures is not plausible due to cost. In fact, taking no action is already breaking our economy by overloading prisons (prompting President Obama to release murderers and drug traffickers), collapsing Medicaid and Social Security under the strain of illegal recipients, and straining public schools with the burden of alien children.

Mexico has done nothing to stem the tide of illegals swarming the border. Rather, its government has provided temporary housing for African entrants-in-waiting (under a secret pact with the Obama administration), and even maps of where to cross the border and receive services in the United States. What must be reversed is Obama's detrimental policy of forcing Border Patrol and ICE, and strong-arming law enforcement and the judiciary to act, themselves, as scofflaws to the point of aiding and harboring illegals. It is incumbent on American representatives--local, state and federal--to take every action possible to safeguard the United States from an invasion of "refugees," unaccompanied children, violent criminals and even well-meaning job seekers who enter illegally. There are laws in place to effectively handle all immigration and everyone must come through proper channels that honor those laws or not come at all.

A. Dru Kristenev——Bio and Archives

Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.

ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.

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