Dallas News – by Todd J. Gillman
WASHINGTON — The government of Mexico took Gov. Rick Perry to task on Thursday for sending National Guard troops to the border.
In a terse statement issued by the embassy in Washington, Mexico said it “deeply rejects and condemns the deployment.”
And it accused the governor of taking the actions to further his political ambitions. Perry has been a frequent visitor to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as he prepares for a second presidential run, in 2016.
“Mexico underscores that it is irresponsible to manipulate border security for political reasons,” the statement said. “…The unilateral measure taken by the government of Texas is undoubtedly mistaken and does not contribute to the efforts in which our two countries are engaged to build a safe border and create a solution to the phenomenon of migration. The measure will not lead to greater understanding between our societies, and it stands in opposition to the values and principles by which Mexico and the United States govern our bilateral relationship.”
Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed offered this response:
“Our borders should not be open and vulnerable to exploitation by ruthless criminals. The governor is focused on ensuring drug cartels and other criminals don’t get a free pass into Texas and the rest of the nation because our borders are unsecured. We look forward to continuing to work with Mexico to address illegal immigration and the tragedy of unaccompanied minors.”
In late July, Perry ordered 1,000 guardsmen to the border to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety’s “Operation Strong Safety,” a border crackdown he says is necessary to compensate for federal inaction.
The guard members aren’t authorized to act as Border Patrol, but are deployed in support roles such as observation and tracking of illegal activity in the Rio Grande Valley. Perry has demanded a Guard deployment by President Obama for several years, but the administration has brushed aside the requests.
Critics of Perry’s move say the deployment is needless, because crime along the border is relatively low, and surge of Central American migrants over the last year — mostly unaccompanied children — has subsided and, in any case, those migrants were quickly turning themselves in.
It may be best to let them come here. As they are illegals we can then take them before a Judge and fine them. At the same time give them a special work permit. With a job they can pay the fine. Maybe $100,000 min for 1st offence there. Pay them min. wage or above. And let them keep $5 a day U.S. to live on. That is well above world poverty rate. We know how good our Goverment is at sniffing out a revapenny as well. They don’t like it they can leave on there own but understand the intrest on the fine will go up if there weekly payment is not met. Sound good to me here.