Toldja

A very long time ago (Aug. 20, 2004) I wrote a letter (behind a firewall, sorry!) to the San Diego Union-Tribune about immigration and the U.S. border policies as they affect us in San Diego County. Here's a clip:

The article's focus on illegal immigrants as the "trespassers" ignores the real issue behind illegal immigration in San Diego: In pursuit of a nebulous, unattainable security, the Border Patrol has made a Soviet-style police state out of rural San Diego, and many residents I know are furious at being asked for their "papers" by uniformed, federal trespassers who ignore the civil rights of Americans along with the human rights of their immigrant "prey."

But there is hope. History has shown us that those who aspire to freedom will find it, no matter how high the wall or how ruthless its guards, in Berlin or in Jacumba.

In the fall of 2010 we have candidate Joe Miller, running for the U.S. Senate in the state of Alaska, telling his future constituents about his philosophy of national borders:

"East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow. Now, obviously, other things were involved. We have the capacity to, as a great nation, secure the border. If East Germany could, we could."

The Tea Party-backed candidate, who is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, explained that he once served at the Fulda Gap, a point on the former East-West German border. East Germany's border troops were given orders to shoot anyone trying to flee East Germany.

Some things just never get old, I guess; but I'm sure getting sick of this crap.

Images courtesy of Thinkquest and The Border Angels