If you were in front of me right now, I’d ask you to close your eyes, sit back and relax and listen to a list of wonderful fun things to do and then I’d ask you where do you think you are. But, since I’m not in front of you, you’ll have to keep your eyes open and read the list yourself, keeping in mind that all these things are FREE: dance classes, movie nights, art classes, cooking classes, tutoring and computer training, free and unmonitored phone service, free email access, bingo, arts and crafts, more variety in dining options, self-serve beverage stations, fresh vegetable bars, fresh carrot sticks, hanging plants, recreation in a natural setting and robust aerobic exercise.
Ok, so where do you think these things are available for free? When I first read the list, I thought I was on a cruise. I love cruising and most of these amenities are built into the price of the cruise.
Well, now that you’ve all come to your own conclusion where you are – think again – because I’ll bet big bucks that you didn’t come up with the right answer.
Hold on to your seats: These are the changes that our President, Mr. Obama, has ordered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Department to implement in their facilities to make life easier, more comfortable and pleasant for the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants (approx. 400,000) it detains annually.
And guess who’s paying for it. Yep, we are! If this doesn’t make your head explode, I don’t think anything will.
I came across an article in Friday’s American Thinker which said “Obama orders dance classes, movie nights, and bingo for illegal detainees.” It reported on a story in the Houston Chronicle.
According to the article in the Houston Chronicle, these changes are designed to soften the look of the facilities, present a friendlier environment, offer better entertainment, organize fun activities, and provide illegal immigrant detainees with free access to email and phone services, as well as better dining and training classes.
According to these articles, ICE has already raised concerns about the possible dangers of relaxing the restrictive environment in which detainees are held. ICE’s own report, as of September 9, 2009, states that 51% of the detained aliens were felons and 11% of the illegals had committed violent crimes.
And our President chooses to reward this type of behavior by providing these people with luxuries you and I have to pay for in our daily lives (unless, of course, you’re on a cruise).
Illegal immigrant advocates are jumping for joy over the WH’s latest move. Lory Rosenberg, policy and advocacy director of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights for Amnesty International was delighted with the promised improvements: “Many of these points are very important to changing the system from a penal system, which is inappropriate in an immigration context, to a civil detention system.”
This craziness has to be considered within the context of the recently-passed Arizona immigration law which President Obama called “misguided” and “irresponsible” even though, according to a recent Pew research poll, 73% of the American people agree with it. I believe it was a reasonable and sensible reaction to the federal government’s impotency and complete failure to deal with the problem. I find these changes proposed by Mr. Obama as misplaced compassion.
I’m sure you’ve seen the recent media circus in which President Obama stood beside Mexican President Felipe Calderon as he bashed Arizona and its people. And didn’t it make you proud when Calderon defamed America and members of Congress stood and cheered and shouted their approval?
Are these changes proposed by Mr. Obama just the first step in his plan for immigration reform? I hope not. I think Thomas Sowell was spot on in his “Random Thought,” recently published in the Jewish World Review regarding the issue. “In political rhetoric, ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ means amnesty up front and promises of border control later – promises that have not been kept in the past and are unlikely to be kept in the future. Anyone who is serious, as distinguished from political, knows that you have to control your own borders before you can even have an immigration policy that means anything in practice.” Movies, dance lessons, cooking classes and computer training sure sound like amnesty to me.
As a lawyer who’s actually studied the U.S. Constitution, I’m aware that the federal government has very limited powers, but you’d never know it by what’s happening in Washington these days. One of the few things entrusted to the federal government by our Constitution is the obligation to protect its citizens. For decades, the federal government has failed to secure our borders and now we’re providing those who have entered our country illegally with vegetable bars, bingo nights and email access.
Imagine if you were arrested in Mexico. I can guarantee you wouldn’t be dancing your way to the movies. According to the U.S. Consulate’s guide, depending on how long you were going to be incarcerated, you should consider making arrangements with friends or family to have money, food, and other necessities delivered to you. Many prisons supply only the very minimum of basic necessities. In others, prisoners may have to purchase their own food, clothing, bedding and even pay rent on their cell.
And here we are, trillions of dollars in debt, and we’re providing luxuries to people who have entered our country illegally that some our own citizenry can’t afford for themselves. So with all the new amenities President Obama has so generously offered, on our dime, of course, I don’t get why manis and pedis haven’t been included in the package. And if you do, God bless you.
