How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
Christian Science Monitor, 6 July 2006
Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America's southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.
President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents – less than one-tenth of today's force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.
. . . . . . .
General Swing's fast-moving campaign soon secured America's borders – an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.
Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today.
. . . . . . .
While Congress debates building a fence on the border, these veterans say other actions should have higher priority.
1. End the current practice of taking captured Mexican aliens to the border and releasing them. Instead, deport them deep into Mexico, where return to the US would be more costly.
2. Crack down hard on employers who hire illegals. Without jobs, the aliens won't come.
3. End “catch and release” for non-Mexican aliens. It is common for illegal migrants not from Mexico to be set free after their arrest if they promise to appear later before a judge. Few show up.
Read full article by John Dillin.
Phi Beta Iota: The two-party tyranny is the root means by which the US Government gives up its intelligence and integrity in favor of the 1%. State governments are equally corrupt — not the good people trapped in these bad systems, but the handful of corrupt politicians who are the best of the servant class (in the eyes of the 1%), and betray the public trust every single day. Latinos — whether illegal or legal — are not the problem. The problem is corrupt politicians and employers who willfully violate the law and get away with it because they are protected by corrupt politicians. It merits observation that in addition to the economic impact on the citizens of the USA, there is a also a slavery side-show — for lack of effective enforcement constrained by corrupt politicians, human trafficking and human slavery is very active in the USA today, with more slaves in chains today than at the beginning of the Civil War. Many of those slaves are Latino, enslaved on very large agricultural complexes from Florida to the West, housed and fed like dogs, and shot if they attempt to escape. In the context of the above leadership with integrity, the “wall” proposed by Donald Trump is utter bullshit — a pork project of no relevance to the challenge.
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