I got it! They don't get it

I knew I loved the Aussies, an enthusiasm reinforced when I learned of their recent move against Indonesian poachers who are pretty bold in scoring some valuable catches in Australian waters.

Note: It's illegal.

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If they're caught, they face fines, jail and seizure of boats and equipment. Despite that, according to a BBC report, some 20 boats and 200 crewmembers were intercepted in northern Australian waters earlier this year.

Not happy, Australia wanted to make it clear they want it stopped.

How?

By burning boats!

Sorry, there's no compassion here for the bad guys. Not to put too fine a point on it, I think it's just perfect! Good for them! I can't imagine any other people on earth who would, and could, pull it off!

Authorities burned five Indonesian boats in Darwin harbor, part of a 9-day operation.

The Fisheries minister, Ian MacDonald, said he wanted the images of the fires to be seen across Indonesia, calling it a "public execution" of the boats, telling the thieves that poaching in Australian waters won't be tolerated.

He probably wasn't too happy that the boats were carrying what is described as "sophisticated navigation and communication equipment." Clearly, these were not just poor fisherman on a venture to better themselves. No report on who masterminded the schemes.

How I wish the U.S. government would import some of that moxie and chutzpah from Down Under. Just think what we could accomplish on our borders in terms of putting an end to the invasion by illegals, going on right under our nose.

Dream on.

But after all I've written about the whole illegal-border problem, the reality of what's going on didn't hit me clearly until recently.

Scanning the TV dial one evening, I came across a hearing held by the House Appropriation Committee's sub-committee on Homeland Security on July 12 with Chairman Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar and Leonard Kovensky, acting deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were the two officials making statements concerning border problems and how they're handled.

It was the usual litany of statistics concerning the huge increase in illegals, the number of people who got over the border and disappeared as well as those apprehended and how they were handled.

Nothing I hadn't heard before, but as I listened it dawned on me that the biggest problem is that these people, and most of the members on the panel questioning them, just don't get it.

If Bill Clinton quibbled about the definition of "is," it became clear that the Border Patrol, Homeland Security and many politicians have lost sight of exactly what should be going on at the border.

Silly me. I thought the job of the Border Patrol was to patrol the border with the intent of keep illegals out.

Wrong.

After listening to the testimony and most of the questioning by the committee politicians, I realized they don't see the job that way. They see it as dealing with the procedures and the illegals after the apprehension.

Keeping the people out is not on their agenda.

How did we lose the idea of prevention?

For example, there was a description of the administrative procedures for formal removal. It takes time – upward of 90 days – if it goes beyond 180 days, the law requires they be released. If they're not criminals, there is no mandated detention.

If they are detained, but there's no space to house them either in custody or in hotels, they must be released immediately on their own recognizance. Only about 15 percent show up for the hearing – if they're finally ordered to go back, 85 percent disappear.

Can we send them home? Yes, if the home country issues travel documents. Not all agree, but for those who do, the United States pays for it and handles the travel.

If they're flown from the United States to Mexico City, it's voluntary on the part of illegals. There are two flights from Tucson with a capacity of 300 each. The idea being they won't walk back across the border from Nogales.

At least not until they get there from Mexico City.

They're not all Mexicans – they were currently dealing with illegals from countries such as India, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia – plus 45,000 illegal Chinese about to be released because 180 days had passed. Would anyone track them? It's not the job of the Border Patrol. It wasn't known if anyone is doing it. Local law enforcement is told they aren't able to help.

The main concern of the Border Patrol seems to be their need for "resources," for example, more manpower and the problem of getting the personnel, handling the training, and getting them in the field.

It takes time and money. We were told the Border Patrol is limited in what it can do because they need more beds and other resources for the illegals.

There's concern the public isn't being told the danger to personnel on the border, for example, the shooting of two officers at Nogales was ignored by the media. But there was no request for police or military assistance.

Some questions by the panel were legalistic and naive. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., asked: how the non-Mexicans were sorted, about the validity of their identification, do our databases check out, what is the sorting process, and do we see their passports?

Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., was interested in the costs of renting beds, of the cost of a biometric database, the numbers of people going through the system and the illegal return rate.

Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, was more practical, wanting to know if military help is necessary. He said the military can enforce the law at the borders – they're trained to fight, but also to build roads and fences as well as enhancing the work of the Border Patrol. He was concerned that a lot of money is spent and the results aren't good. He said illegal immigration is the biggest subject at town meetings in his home district.

But Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., was my hero that night. He gets it!

"We're arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, he said," adding that this issue "should receive the most urgent attention" and the whole situation should be completely re-evaluated and redone.

"To even pretend we're getting the job done – to even pretend we have control over our borders – is absolutely and utterly ridiculous."

Mr. Berry, meet Mr. MacDonald. What's your plan?