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HispanicVista
EDITORIAL
In the altar of National Security Democracy Erodes
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EDITORIAL
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- April 10, 2008
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In the altar of National Security Democracy Erodes
An article written February 21, 2005, by Patrick Osio, Editor of Hispanic Vista, sounded the alarm*that on the Real ID ACT HR 418, Congressman Duncan Hunter had inserted a clause providing the Secretary of Homeland Security with the legal right to wave off any state or federal laws and denying usage of any court to attempt to overturn the secretary’s decision. All that is needed to trigger off this clause is for the secretary to declare the decision is based on “National Security” grounds. Presto, wave all environmental, and property rights, and any other legal hurdles any, and we mean any, project so deemed can avoid legal scrutiny not just the “fence” along the US-Mexico border.
It is now coming to pass. Hunter’s words, “We need to get this done, and we need to do it for security reasons…” resonates loud and clear. Hunter was able to sell this due to his insistence that illegal immigrants are a national security threat liking them to Al Qaeda terrorists bent of destruction of life and property.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff used the power given to him to bypass environmental hurdles and private property rights to speed the construction of the 670 miles of fence along the border.
Now we begin to hear from editorial from around the country:
The San Diego Union-Tribune: “Beware of public officials who hide behind alarmist rhetoric to justify acts of bureaucratic heavy-handedness.
This whole episode is bizarre… we're doing all this to defend our territorial sovereignty and illustrate that rules are to be followed. So naturally, the first chance it gets, the government tramples the sovereignty of individuals who oppose fencing on their property and brushes aside the rules.”
Arizona Republic: "With the stroke of his pen, he overturns 36 laws - some of which have been protecting our resources and our health for more than a century - in an area stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean." …The fence, which won't stop illegal immigration, is a high-cost PR stunt that makes defense contractors salivate.
Boston Globe: The southern border fence intended to keep out illegal immigrants is no longer just wasteful and stupid. Now it is harmful as well.
Dallas Morning News: “…the land chosen for the federal right-of-way is provoking additional skepticism. The fence will divide the University of Texas campus in Brownsville, for example, but it bypasses border property owned by individuals with close White House ties.
El Paso Times: “But on top of that, Chertoff waived a law that required a final report on the impact the fence would have on the U.S.-Mexico border environment. That means even if the feds find that there would be some catastrophic impact from the border fence, they wouldn't be required to tell anyone. That is both absurd and dangerous.”
Houston Chronicle: The waiver was initially promoted by congressional supporters as a limited exception designed to give federal officials flexibility in speeding the completion of a segment of fencing across environmentally sensitive wetlands near San Diego. Unfortunately, as with so many other instances in which the Bush administration has asserted the right to ignore laws it found inconvenient, the waiver now is being used as an all-purpose bludgeon to flatten dozens of environmental and property rights statutes.” –
Lompoc Record: “So, our federal government decides to thumb its nose at local rules and laws, essentially telling states and private property owners that, no, they really don't have any rights when it comes to government expediency”
Lufkin Daily News: “The government's willingness to run roughshod over its own laws in order to address a panic stirred more by hyperbolic demagogues than by facts is another example of the ways that Americans are allowing hard-fought gains in everything from personal privacy to environmental protection to be eroded by fear.”
San Antonio Express-News: “Border mayors, however, should not be surprised by the latest move; federal officials have shown a monumental arrogance toward the pleas of border communities.”
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “The spokesman for the Sierra Club in Texas responded that the waivers “pulled the carpet out from under the community participation.” We can't help but feel that that was precisely the point of these waivers: Back off, America. This land ain't your land.”
- Tucson Citizen: “Chertoff's decision to waive 36 federal laws is an outrage, as is his callous disregard of entire communities in southern Arizona and elsewhere along the border. Congress gave him permission in 2005 to waive federal laws, and Congress now needs to revoke that atrociously flawed authority.”
- *Oh yes, Congressman Duncan Hunter is that disingenuous.
- http://www.hispanicvista.com/HVC/Columnist/posiojr/022105osio.htm