HispanicVista Columnists

Bill O’Reilly Spins History

By Raoul Lowery Contreras

April 1, 2005

Radio and television commentator Bill O’Reilly has radio and cable television shows that are hard-hitting, generally interesting and issue-timely. When possible I watch his Fox News program and listen to his radio show. Generally, I agree with O’Reilly, something that doesn’t happen when I listen to fringe radio talkers. Example, widely known conservative lesbian talker Tammy Bruce calling the President of Mexico a "pig." O’Reilly would never say such a thing.

There is one issue, however, that O’Reilly totally implodes with and on. It involves the border with Mexico and those who cross it illegally to come to work in the United States. Example, his on-going attempt to gather "hundreds of thousands" or, perhaps, "a million" petition signatures to get the President’s attention on the subject of the border.

First, let’s see where O’Reilly and I agree:

Illegal immigration is a problem—we both agree. At guest worker program is essential—we both agree. The ability of an employer to determine who and where he should hire for the betterment of his company, his service or products should not be impaired as to do so would interfere with the free market—we both agree. Free enterprise is paramount, trumped only by national security—we both agree.

Here are some disagreements:

The states can do something about the illegal alien problem—we disagree because it is strictly a federal problem as per the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8); only Congress can tackle and solve the problem. There is an illegal alien crime wave—we disagree and I have the data on my side, O’Reilly doesn’t. He proposes that by flooding the border with the National Guard the entire illegal alien problem can be solved-- we disagree because the Guard is not trained to be a police force and, most importantly, it has been tried before, a fact he ignores.

On crime, O’Reilly constantly refers to anecdotes and false statistics his staff gives him that do not stand up to scrutiny. If there is an illegal alien crime problem, and Southern California is at the heart of the illegal alien population, why is crime in Southern California down to 1967 levels when the number of illegal aliens was tiny compared to today? For months and years O’Reilly claimed that 25 percent of California’s prison population was comprised of illegal aliens when, in fact, it was and is less than 12 percent, with over half in prison for property crimes, not violent crimes as O’Reilly claimed.

On state action on illegal immigrants, O’Reilly needs to understand the Constitution and what it says. Article 1, Section 8 states that "Congress shall have the power…To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization." Giving the states any power to even identify illegals will turn loose the "dogs of war" in our local police agencies and they will corrupt and destroy the civil rights of every Hispanic/Latino looking person in the country. The entire country will look like 1950s Texas, a state and state of mind that subjugated and segregated Mexicans to a degree not suffered even by Texas Blacks.

On a National Guard deployment to the border, it has been done before. California Republican Governors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson both deployed California National Guard troops to the border for 16-years where they backed up the federal Border Patrol by sweeping floors, driving trucks and manning observation posts along the border. During their deployment, millions of illegals walked by them into the United States. The Guard was prohibited from arresting anyone, from having any contact with illegals without a federal officer present. Why, because that’s the law, the federal law, which is the only law applicable on the border.

For O’Reilly’s sake, here is an actual incident experienced by this writer while crossing back into the United States through the San Diego/Tijuana port of entry from a visit to Mexico. A United States Immigration Officer manned the entry booth and questioned me as to my citizenship and reason for visiting Mexico. He cleared me and waved me into the United States.

Twenty feet into the United States, a National Guard corporal stopped my car and ordered me into a Secondary Inspection area. I asked why. He responded because he ordered me to. I told him a federal immigration officer cleared me. He told me it didn’t matter, to pull into the inspection area for a search. My response: Screw you!

The assignment of National Guard troops to the border has never worked and never will. The number of illegal aliens skyrocketed under the noses of ill-prepared National Guardsmen while the civil rights of people like me were violated. Bill O’Reilly should know that because it is history, not spin.

Contreras’ newest book – THE ILLEGAL ALIEN: A DAGGER INTO THE HEART OF AMERICA - Is available at www.amazon.com, www.floricantopress.com and www.barnesandnoble.com  -- Contact at: sdraoul@att.net