DEAN: BORDER TOP PRIORITY IF YOU BELIEVE THIS THEN MAYBE THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAN BUILD THE WALL FOR YOU TOO

In a laughable statement, DNC Chairman Howard Dean said that border control is the Dems’ highest priority.

“The first thing we want is tough border control,” he said. “We have to do a much better job on our borders than George Bush has done. And then we can go to the policy disagreements about how to get it done.”

That’s a laughable statement in light of Ted Kennedy’s amnesty legislation and the House Democrats thinking that illegal aliens shouldn’t be charged with felonies. Does that sound like a ‘get tough on illegals’ Democratic Party?

Before Dean got the DNC Chair, I didn’t think it was possible that anyone could make more assinine, bone-headed statements than Terry ‘The Punk’ McAuliffe. I was wrong. It’s like thinking that you’ve seen the ultimate fool only to find that someone’s built an even better fool. You don’t think it’s possible until you see it for yourself.

Republicans reacted with surprise to Mr. Dean’s announcement, which puts the DNC chief’s views at odds with those of many Democrats in Congress. “If Dean means what he says about border enforcement, that would put the Democrats somewhere to the right of President Bush on immigration,” said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican.

A spokesman for the Republican National Committee dismissed Mr. Dean’s “newfound commitment to border security” as “not believable.”

If Dean is a big border security advocate, why isn’t he telling Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer to allow debate on the House ‘enforcement only’ bill since it’s closer to his stated beliefs? The answer is simple: Dean shoots from the lip without thinking about the damage he’s doing to his party.

Democrats have suggested that this is their best chance in years to recapture control of Congress. Finessing the immigration issue will require Democrats to walk a tightrope between appealing to Hispanic voters and assuaging the Democrats’ strongest constituency, labor unions, many of whose rank-and-file members view illegal aliens as undermining wages and job security for U.S.-born workers.
“We don’t like guest-worker programs,” said Mr. Dean, a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. “I don’t like guest-worker programs. I think the president’s guest-worker program is essentially indentured servitude. It doesn’t help the immigrant, and it threatens wages.”

Ted Kennedy might put Dean in a hammer lock after hearing the part about Democrats not liking “guest-worker programs” since that’s a cornerstone of the McCain-Kennedy bill that was so widely hailed as the key to ending the immigration reform fight.

As for Democrats walking a tightrope between the unions while still appealing to Hispanic voters, good luck. That’s tricky at best for smart people. And the Deaniacs aren’t my idea of smart.

Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz yesterday responded scornfully to Mr. Dean’s immigration rhetoric.
“Someone should remind Howard Dean that it was [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [Nevada Democrat] who obstructed immigration reform, underscoring the fact that Democrats would rather manipulate the issue than reform it,” he said. “President Bush and Republicans in Congress have increased border-security funding by more than 65 percent, expanded the number of border agents by 30 percent and significantly upgraded technology on the border.”

I suspect that Mr. Rove will remind Democrats of that on a daily basis this fall. Democrats want to sound tough to Heartland voters but they won’t dare be tough because they’re worried about the Hispanic vote.

THE GAME OF CATCH AND RELEASE

By Michelle Malkin

See, I told you so. This morning I told you that the immigration raid dog-and-pony show would result in most of the illegal aliens arrested being released. The New York Times reports in tomorrow' edition (hat tip Thomas Galvin):

The arrests took place just days before the Senate reconvenes with immigration laws on its agenda. Earlier this month, the Senate faltered in its efforts to develop a proposal that would have given most illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens while intensifying border patrol and deportation efforts. And in recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters have demonstrated in response to a bill passed in the House in December that would speed deportations, tighten border security and criminalize illegal immigrants.

In the action on Wednesday, federal officials detained 1,187 illegal immigrants working in 26 states for IFCO Systems North America, a subsidiary of a company based in the Netherlands that supplies plastic containers and wood pallets used to ship a variety of goods, from fruit to computers.

Of the 1,187 detained workers, 275 have already been deported to Mexico. The rest are being processed for deportation, although many may be released on bond.

Released...never to be seen again.

***

Reader H. reports from Houston:

Local Houston News is reporting that they released the majority of the "undocumented" workers. The ICE agent that was speaking went out of his way to say that the were no politics involved. Heaven forbid they actually show backbone. You were right on the catch and release. Amazingly, these people were told to return to court on a later date based on their, get this, signature.

More from KHOU:

There was a crackdown Wednesday and dozens of illegal immigrants were arrested. Many of those same immigrants were released just hours laterIt was the last thing they, and their families, expected. "They are not criminals. All they're here for is to work for their family," said Mariz Gomez. And that's what they were doing making wooden pallets at two different locations when federal agents swooped in and took nearly 70 suspected undocumented workers to this federal detention center in north Houston.

"Just for them to come in here and to just throw them back to where they go. That's not right for them," said Gomez.

Families 11 News spoke with feared the men mostly from Central American countries would be deported.

But that was hardly the case.

Just five hours later Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents began releasing the undocumented workers.

"I was surprised by the quick release," said a man who asked that his face not be shown. Several others made the same request.

It is not clear why these immigrants were released so quickly but workers say it may be because the 950-bed facility was severely overcrowded.

The workers say they were told the facilities were full. Sources inside the facility say the same thing and that agents have been ordered to release immigrants as soon as possible.

Some of the workers say there were other problems Wednesday.

They said computers went down and agents had to scribble information, in one case, failing to write in a court date altogether.

The men we spoke with promised to show up for their immigration hearings, still finding it hard to believe they were released so soon.

Yup. Happens every day. Told you so.