Democrats discover
border issue

Who would have thought that in 2005 Democrats would be pressuring Republicans to do something about illegal immigration?

I saw it coming months ago when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested it was time for tougher border enforcement.

TRENDING: Rand Paul warns GOP senators: Voting to convict Trump would cause mass exodus from party

I saw it again when Sen. Dianne Feinstein did the same.

But last week, when both New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (yes, that Bill Richardson, formerly of the Clinton administration) and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano declared states of emergency because of increasing violence along the border, the picture became a little clearer.

Democrats plan to run to the right of Republicans in 2006 and 2008 on illegal immigration. They plan to hijack an issue they understand resonates with the public. They plan to discover a genuine national security issue – perhaps the most important national security issue – and turn it into their own.

Richardson went so far as to plan a meeting with the Minutemen, who are regarded by President Bush as a bunch of "vigilantes." Richardson called them "patriots."

In California, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also facing pressure from the left.

None other than state Assembly leader Fabian Nunez told the governor his state needs to pressure the federal government to stop the drug running and illegal immigration. He demanded California, too, declare a state of emergency.

Schwarzenegger fell for the trap.

He said he doesn't think there is a crisis along the California border, but would continue to lobby for more federal money and more Border Patrol agents.

The rhetoric is strong from the Democrats. It is as if they just discovered millions of illegal aliens are crossing the Mexican border into this country.

"People are dying," said Nunez.

"It is very serious," said Richardson.

Advertisement - story continues below

It is an issue politicians don't want to touch. The Congress is talking about a lot of, in my judgment, irrelevant matters, compared to what people want them to deal with, which is health care, jobs and certainly, immigration. In my situation, I declared a state of emergency out of desperation. We weren't getting any federal assistance. The Congress is refusing to deal with immigration. And I had criminal activity relating to illegal immigration, drugs coming in, murders, kidnappings, mutilation of cattle. And we don't have any people, any law enforcement to take care of this.

Now, I couldn't be happier to see this issue, which I have called the most important one facing the United States, getting the attention it deserves from politicians.

But are the Democrats sincere?

I don't think so.

They are merely sniffing political opportunity.

And the border issue is the political wild card of the next three years. Mark my words. We are going to see some strange coalitions emerging out of desperation and expediency.

This issue may be at a crisis point today. But it has been with us for a long time. As a kid, I recall radio talk-show hosts warning about the dangers of illegal immigration back in the 1960s. They were right. They were ahead of their time. They saw what uncontrolled, illegal immigration into this country would mean. Though they probably could never have imagined how bad it would get.

Since then, of course, it has changed the character of our country. It has posed a national security threat. It has increased crime dramatically. It threatens to bankrupt our health-care system. It has caused critical overcrowding in our prisons. It has stolen jobs away from Americans, particularly young people and those at the bottom of the economic ladder.

All of this was predictable through the eight years of the Clinton administration and through all the years the Democrats controlled Congress. Of course, they did nothing but exacerbate the problems. But none of that will matter in the next two elections. The Democrats are going to position themselves as the solution to this crisis. And there isn't a thing the establishment Republicans can do about it except get out in front of the political tidal wave that is coming.

Will George W. Bush reverse course?

Will the Republican Congress recognize what's coming?

Will a maverick Republican like Rep. Tom Tancredo be able to ride this issue – his issue – to higher political office?

Do we actually have a chance of saving American from national disaster?

Can we bury, once and for all, any more talk about amnesty programs?

Will we stop providing incentives for more and more illegals to flood into our country?