Happy Independence Day, Murrieta, California

It's not Independence Day in Murrieta, California. The hitherto unknown Murrieta, California made the national news Monday. It accomplished a feat that no one else has – Not President Obama, who says he wants to, not Congress, not governors, not talk radio. The citizens of Murrieta turned back a convoy of three busses carrying 140 undocumented children and family members. These immigrants display the spirit of our ancestors. They’ve trekked a thousand miles, often walking, through mountains and deserts, surviving disease and criminal attacks, to seek a new life in America. They are following the path of predecessors, crossing the Rio Grande River into Texas. As Neal Diamond would say “They’re coming to America.” They’re flooding the Texan border from Central America. 52,000 this year alone, mainly unescorted minors. President Carter had the Mariel Boatlift from April 15 to October 31, 1980; 125,00 – mainly criminals. It reinforced the belief in his incompetence. President Obama has the Children’s Crusade. President Obama wants immigration reform on his terms - amnesty for those currently here, and no border security. If the Republicans in Congress won’t give it to him, then he will maintain open borders. The word went out to Latin America that the children could come and stay. They will not be deported. They are coming to America. Their mothers and fathers want them out of the squalor and poverty, gang violence, drug trafficking, and lack of hope in Central America. They want a better life for their sons and daughters, as have five centuries of parents before them. They are coming to America, just like Neal Diamond’s wonderful grandmother a century earlier. They are coming to America as pawns in President Obama’s political battle with the Republicans. Murrieta is a fast growing city in Southwest Riverside Country. The 2000 Census showed 44,282 residents, but it more than doubled to 103,466 in the 2010 Census. Murrieta is ranked the safest city in Riverside County. Freeways make it possible for the hardworking citizens of Murrieta to commute to San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino. This part of California is conservative and solidly Republican. The Border Patrol cannot handle the onslaught of the children. We first heard about it a month ago when Arizona complained about the children being dropped off at the Phoenix bus depot. We viewed it as just another example of Chicago Rules, punishing Arizona for SB 1070, the 2010 anti-illegal immigration bill. Phoenix was but the first. The Border Patrol in Texas is so overwhelmed by the children that it has to send them to Border Patrol offices elsewhere to be processed, including medical screening. They can’t or won’t send them back. That can’t handle them all, so they do a quick health check, ask a few questions, and then put them on charter flights elsewhere in the country: Arizona, New York, and now California. Rumors spread of disease and criminals among the immigrants. The President asks for $2 billion from Congress to send them back, but the Republicans don’t trust him. The primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, attributed to anti-immigrant bias, stiffens their spine, or at least, desire for reelection. Dozens, if not hundreds, of flag waving citizens blocked the entrance into the Border Patrol processing facility in Murrieta. The busses turned back, for now. Another flight into San Diego is expected today. A thousand showed up at the City Council meeting Wednesday night. Mayor Alan Long said he would keep a tight accounting of the city’s expenditures and then send it to President Obama, to a round of applause. He also said, to another round of applause, that he does not expect the federal government to pay it. Mayor Long said: “Murrieta expects our government to enforce our laws, including the deporting of illegal immigrants caught crossing our border, not disperse them into our community.” Once the Border Patrol releases the immigrants, with promises to report to an ICE Office within 15 days, the federal government no longer pays their room, board, and medical expenses (In theory, they are not entitled to ObamaCare). The states, local communities, NGOs and private citizens will have to bear the burden. Future flights are expected to bring the immigrants to Boulevard, Cameo, El Centro, El Cajon, Chula Vista, and San Clemente. Anti-immigrant furor peaked in 1994 with a 59%-41% passage of Proposition 187, an anti-illegal immigrant measure. It was quickly held unconstitutional. The closing of the border at San Diego slowed the influx into Southern California. President Obama’s Children Crusade may rekindle memories. President Obama is scheduled to be in Texas next month for fundraising. He is not scheduled to go to border – no fundraising there. Plus the photo op would probably be bad. You know President Obama is serious about a problem when he drops a fundraiser, cancels a golf match, or postpones a vacation. He’s not serious.