by James Glaser
August 2, 2002

Right after the attack of September 11 just about every law enforcement person in America was on high alert, looking for potential terrorists. With more than 8,000,000 illegal aliens all around this country, one would have thought that some of those law enforcement people would have bumped into some of those, that were breaking our law, by being here.

Did the word go out not to touch these illegals? Do too many of them work for large corporations? Is there too much money being made by the rich and powerful off of a work force that can't complain? Does America want our homeland secure or just kind of secure?

People will tell you that these illegal people are such an asset to America and we need them to fill all of these jobs Americans don't want. Americans don't want those jobs because of the low pay and the conditions that they would have to work under. When several million people can work at substandard wages, then someone at the top can make more money. That is why it is now reported that the average CEO makes 451 times what the average worker makes.

Minimum wage now nets you about ten thousand dollars a year. I know those in Washington will tell you that only students and retired people work those jobs, but that is because those people are out of touch and no one would expect a Senator or Representative to know a minimum wage worker let alone live near one.

In Northern Minnesota there are thousands of people that work at or very near minimum wage and raise their family on that. Hey, and we don't have very much crime at all. Honest people, working honest jobs, for low pay.

These millions of jobs, will stay at these low wages as long as Washington allows millions of illegal people to come to America. These people think these low wage jobs are high paying jobs. I can accept those that follow the law and come here with the approval of our laws. We as a country have set up quotas that allow the amount of people to come, that America can absorb with out the chaos millions bring with them.

Just like Terrorism, Homeland Security needs a definition that we can all agree on. Not just the rich should be secure, but also all of the millions of Americans that are working for a hourly wage. Everyone expects that their wages will increase with the cost of living. That is why those in Congress are going to vote themselves a wage increase this year. Congress will then be making fifteen times what those at the bottom make.

So when you think about the security of our homeland, think about this, "Low pay, low morale, and confusion over who will ultimately be the boss of the US Border Patrol have prompted hundreds of agents to quit." Says Diane Smith, in a report on agents leaving the border patrol. T.J. Bonner, President of the 9,000 members of the National Border Patrol Council, the union for Border Patrol Agents said, "One out of every four or five people are walking out the door."

The new Air Marshal program offers Border Patrol Agents an immediate raise of $20,000 a year. The INS needs to hire 10,000 people by the end of September to fill the vacant Border Patrol, special agents, and support positions. This is just part of the chaos that the new Department of Homeland Security will cause

Bonner predicted that within the first year of creation of the Homeland Security Department, the government will easily lose half the people in the Border Patrol. This new legislation would move the US Border Patrol to the Homeland Security and remove some of the protections currently given to civil service employees. So that begs the question, Does America really want Homeland Security or is this just another administration plan to keep citizens focus off the real problems that we as a country have?

If America keeps looking at terrorism and security, those in Washington can sit on their bottoms and do nothing about the cost of drugs for our seniors, social security, and the increasing cost of government. In fact with deficit spending, George Bush will be able to start all sorts of new programs, right up to the time he gets his second term. Keep their eyes averted from domestic policy, should be his motto.

As long as America has porous borders, America will not have security. That is because along with the millions of people crossing those borders into America, terrorists can walk with them. As long as those in power want to make the billions of dollars those low paying jobs make them, America will be awash with those seeking a better life here and we will not do anything to help their homelands. Imagine what the money spent on this War on Terrorism and on Homeland Security could do for those countries that are pouring their people into America.