Legislative nativists gettting clever in their dotage

Posted by Craig McDermott

missed this during my perusal of strikers earlier this week, but it was brought to my attention in an email forwarded from Humane Borders Phoenix.

There was a striker to HB2162 heard and approved in Senate Appropriations on Tuesday to create a "Border Security Commission."

After my initial scan of the text of the striker, I was left with the impression that is was just election-year winger posturing, repugnant but ultimately harmless.

Turns out first impressions can be wrong. Woefully wrong.

From the text of the striker (emphasis mine) –

5. Recommend the establishment of twelve forward operating bases along the United States-Mexico border beginning east of an Indian reservation that is adjacent to the United States-Mexico border and continuing to the Arizona–New Mexico state line and urge the federal government and the state of New Mexico to add additional forward operating bases along the United States-Mexico border that is located in the state of New Mexico.

{snip}

A. Of the monies appropriated to the department of public safety for the gang and
immigration intelligence team enforcement mission in fiscal year 2010-2011, the sum of $200,000 shall be distributed to the Cochise county sheriff's office for border security, including the costs of equipment related to a pilot program to dispatch a volunteer security force to the United States-Mexico border.

Let's see…

Not only do they want to militarize the border, they are appropriating money from DPS to fund a group of amateur vigilantes, and they are doing it in a way that avoids the openness and scrutiny (such as it is) of the real budget process.

Something tells me that sine die won't come soon enough.