Wake Up, America! An Interview With Mark Edwards

Wake Up, America! An Interview With Mark Edwards

Steve Farrell
Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005

The inaugural celebration is past and gone, and so is the honeymoon between the president and conservative Republicans who wanted ‘Anyone but Kerry for President' and who now have to settle back down to the harsh reality that THEIR winning candidate isn't as conservative as they had hoped.

One bone of contention has to do with immigration policy, something the administration needs to pay better attention to, unless the desire is to split the party.

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It's just a bit odd, for starters, that the tough-on-terrorism, tough-on-homeland-security, ‘America First' Bush administration is simultaneously pro-illegal immigration, pro-amnesty, pro-open borders under such sovereignty-destroying international agencies as NAFTA and the soon-to-be-pushed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

It all equals more crime, more welfare, more prisons, more taxes, more terrorists, more danger, more disrespect for America and her laws – and one heck of a lot of unhappy Americans who voted for George W. Bush, who already feel betrayed by a president who has quickly cut and run from some of his conservative campaign rhetoric.

Popular talk show host Mark Edwards, the founder of Wake Up America Foundation, is one of them. As we spoke on the phone Tuesday evening, he summed up his passion for the issue in these words: "It's a sad day in American when the law makers side with law breakers, AGAINST the law-abiding citizens."

He's got a point. And he tells a tale of Border Patrol agents who regularly inform him about being ordered to look the other way on too many occasions, and of skilled construction workers, and other workers, who are out of work thanks to illegals working off the books (tax free). His blood has reached the boiling point.

And who can blame him? Many of you who live in cities and towns where the illegal immigration population is high are just as angry and alarmed.

The good news is Mark's foundation (WakeUpAmericaFoundation.com) has a working plan that I think rising passions on this issue in this country will soon insure has a hearing in Congress, at least in principle, if not in specifics.

After outlining the heavy costs of illegal immigration in jobs lost, taxes imposed, crimes committed, communities rendered unsafe, housing rendered unhealthy, social traditions undermined, politics and politicians pushed further to the left, the foundation hits upon a thought-provoking plan of action.

In summary, here it is:

Direct the IRS to stop all underground businesses that are thriving tax-free by hiring illegal aliens.

Slap a $10,000 fine (per illegal alien) on employers caught hiring illegal aliens, with a prison sentence for repeat offenses (fines included).

Set a six-month deadline for all illegals to leave the country voluntarily or be deported.

Give these same deported individuals the opportunity to return legally, as documented workers, for a maximum of three years to fill bona fide vacant jobs where there is no available, willing, qualified American citizen available to accept the said job at a prevailing wage.

Make employers who want these foreign documented workers, not the taxpayers, assume the costs, such as health insurance (to 100 percent), and forget about workers' compensation.

To further to insure that these workers have no claim upon the public largesse, these documented workers ought to pay no taxes, no Social Security, no payroll taxes of any kind.

If the worker brings along his family, first, children born in the U.S. will not be citizens (a loophole that gets illegals into the public booty), and second, the employer must pay an impact fee for each child entered in American schools (much the same as the U.S. government pays for all children of military or civil service employees).

In the interest of national security, documented workers who drive must bring with them a valid driver's license issued in the worker's country of origin.

In the interest of public safety and the rule of law, failure to maintain auto insurance, possession of false IDs and commission of crimes will be cause for immediate deportation, with all legal costs paid by the deportee.

In the interest of national security, ID laws across the country must be tightened up.

Illegal aliens arrested and/or serving jail time will be released only to ‘proper authorities' for immediate deportation and banned from re-entry.

Employers ought to be required to confirm prospective employees' identity, citizenship or valid immigration status, in an ‘immediate real-time basis' – a system much like one in effect by law enforcement in many states whereby driving records and outstanding warrants are quickly checked during traffic stops.

Our border with Mexico ought to be immediately secured, using the military, if necessary, to supplement existing Border Enforcement officers. Arrest powers will remain with civil authorities.

State, county and city law enforcement agencies must be given the authority to ascertain the immigration status of any individual, and detain and incarcerate suspected illegal aliens for immediate deportation.

English needs to be the national language, and immigration ought to be curtailed for five years.

There are some good, practical ideas in this declaration. It's all about upholding the rule of law and private property, and facing squarely social, political, economic and national security realities.

"Wake Up, America!" Mark Edwards shouts several times per night. For those who feel similarly aroused about the illegal immigration invasion, I hope they'll join their voice with his.

Contact Steve

NewsMax pundit Steve Farrell is associate professor of political economy at George Wythe College, press agent for Defend Marriage (a project of United Families International), and the author of the highly praised, inspirational novel, "Dark Rose" (available at amazon.com).

For you West Coast night owls, try and catch Steve on Mark Edwards' "Wake Up America!" talk radio show on 50,000-Watt KDWN, 720 AM, 10 p.m. to midnight, Monday Nights; or on the Internet at AmericanVoiceRadio.com (preferred access at WakeUpAmericaFoundation.com

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