Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell says he’ll support President Bush’s call to put thousands of National Guard troops along the Mexican border. The president proposed the tougher enforcement as part of a larger immigration-reform package. But Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines, says he supports the border patrol for different reasons.
The first responsibility in this time of terrorism, Boswell says, is to deal with the safety of our country and its citizens and make sure the borders are secure. “If we don’t have border patrol people that are adequate to do the job,” he says we ought to put troops down there, at least for the interim, to make sure there’s protection.
As for immigration reform, Boswell says it’s unrealistic to propose trying to deport up to twelve-million illegal immigrants. If people have been here for a number of years and have done a good job and pay their taxes, take care of their families and show up to work, he says there’s some merit to the Senate proposal to have them pay a fine, make them acknowledge they’ve done something illegal, “and then move on.”
“Somehow, we’ve got to get a grip on this,” Boswell says. He notes the proposal to round up and deport all illegal immigrants may cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 200-Billion dollars. “Now, where’s that going to come from?” He says the solution has to be addressed, and discussed out in the open so all Americans can understand what’s going on. He says we should be honest about the issue, “put some common sense into it, and do what’s right.”