10,000 US troops to be sent to Mexican border
In an attempt to shore up a conservative base that is deserting him in droves, George Bush last night announced that he is to use as many as 6,000 national guard troops along the 2,000-mile frontier as part of a $1.9bn programme to seal off America's border.
You've got to admire the casual way Rove suggests a possible linkage between immigration and terrorism. The concept of Mexican suicide bombers is new to me but, no doubt to Bush's base, it carries some kind of resonance.The tough talk on border security was intended to reassure conservatives who have agitated for harsher treatment of illegal immigrants. But Mr Bush faced a delicate balancing act, reeling in his conservative base while not alienating the increasingly important Hispanic voting bloc. "We will fix the problems created by illegal immigration and we will deliver a system that is secure, orderly and fair," Mr Bush said.
Earlier yesterday Karl Rove, the White House adviser, reached out to both constituencies. In a speech to a conservative thinktank, he said: "We have got a border that is so porous, who knows whether that is simply an illegal immigrant looking to get a job in a landscaping company, or somebody who wants to do something worse?" But he went on to say a guest worker programme was a necessity.
"They're foreign. Vaguely brown. Yep, that's a terrorist."
Bush went on:
"America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a reasoned and respectful tone," Mr. Bush said in his address, carried by all of the major broadcast and cable news networks. "We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone's fears or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain."
Perhaps he should have explained that point better to Karl Rove who was busily inferring that they may be here for darker reasons than fleeing poverty.
It would appear, that with November elections promising to deliver a hammer blow to Bush and the Republicans, Rove has identified immigration as one area where they may have some advantage over the Democrats.
We can expect to hear more of this and subjects such as gay marriage as November approaches.
And it would be only the most cynical who could accuse Bush of "exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain."
Include me in that number.
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