Consulates have their legitimate functions, but Mexican consulates in the United States are utilized to subvert American immigration law . Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican official in charge of Mexican-U.S. relations has even called consulates “beachheads”.

The latest example was reported in the Associated Press article “Mexican Consulate Says Police Profiled Illegal Immigrants (sic)”(Associated Press January 30th, 2007 ).

Here’s what the article reported:

” The immigrants were picked up in Fort Worth, Weatherford, Marshall and Denton County…they were stopped for traffic violations, asked for immigration papers and handed over to federal officials for deportation.”

Sounds great to me. That’s the way things ought to work. But, surprise, surprise, Mexican diplomats were not pleased. According to Eduardo Rea, spokesman for the Dallas consulate, the detained Mexicans were – horrors – profiled !

And the meddling diplomat had the chutzpah to make a pronouncement on U.S. immigration law:

“Rea said it’s illegal for local law enforcement officials to ask for people’s immigration papers.”

Rea explained that

“The only ones who can determine immigration status are immigration officials.”

Nevertheless, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety defended the detention of 13 of the detainees :

“Jean Dark, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety in Tyler, said 13 immigrants (sic) were detained when state troopers pulled over two cars outside Marshall for minor traffic infractions. State troopers referred the group to immigration officials, she said. Dark said a state trooper can use information obtained during a traffic stop as probable cause to call immigration officials to the scene.”

Bravo for the Texas Department of Public Safety, you might express your appreciation at pio@txdps.state.tx.us or calling (512)424-2000.

And by the way, as I’ve reported before, here in Mexico, local police are not only allowed, but required to enforce Mexican immigration law. Read about it here.

Veteran VDARE readers are thoroughly familiar with the machinations of Sam Brownback (R-KS), the Senator representing the Refugee-Industrial Complex. He was recently tattled on here for injecting a “Widows and Orphans” clause into the late, unlamented S2611.

Audaciously mislabeled, like so much of what the Treason Lobby puts forth, Brownback’s contribution to S2611 would have changed asylum law so as to make a shouting match with one’s (presumably alive) husband a ticket for permanent U.S. residency. (Note that asylum used to, quaintly, be a rescue from political persecution in one’s home country.)

Well, Senator Sam is now running for president — but then, who isn’t? (Kansas readers will have to tell us if Tom Wicker’s great line — from his classic political novel Facing the Lions — about a presidential aspirant with delusions of grandeur applies to Brownback: ” … and him the kind that could f-ck up a two-car funeral.”)

Consequently, in just the last week, I’ve had two pieces of begging mail from Brownback’s campaign. I promptly used their postage-paid return envelopes to send the campaign some choice remarks about the senator’s epiphany that the clutch of Somali Bantu refugees he arranged for were a natural fit for Lewiston, Maine but somehow wouldn’t work so well in Wichita.

However, I just noticed that today’s solicitation has a listing of Brownback’s “Conservative Platform for America,” and “Immigration” makes his list! Admittedly, it’s fifth of five, behind “Life” (i.e. abortion), “Taxes”, “Spending”, and “Marriage” (i.e. the marriage amendment), but there it is.

He says “I support construction of a high-tech fence that secures our entire border. America must secure its borders and enforce the Rule of Law.”

Of course there’s plenty of room for weaseling in his words “high-tech fence.” Maybe he means a “virtual fence” consisting, say, of a fleet of UAVs that precisely tracks each illegal alien and builds up a data base on him against the unlikely eventuality the feds will ever try to arrest and deport him.

On the other hand “secure its borders” and “Rule of Law” both have nice rings to them.

So maybe the senator has had a brain transplant?

Washtech, the Seattle based technical union writes:

Last week President Bush called for an increase in the federal cap on H-1B visas, an issue he said he feels “strongly” about and wants to work with Congress to make happen. Read the story at ComputerWorld here: or see the offical text at (14th paragraph)

Last October, WashTech pointed out that since 1998, the law has required that an annual H1B visa report be issued to Congress. However, it has not been issued to Congress in more than three years. WashTech created a campaign to correct that, and after several elected officials contacted the Department of Homeland Security, they finally released two years of reports - but they are still over a year behind. This makes it even more ridiculous to suggest an increase in the number of H-1B visas to be issued, as President Bush is suggesting.

Looks like the GOP is working hard to once again lose the votes of college-educate white males–their traditional core constituency.