The Democrats’ message: illegal aliens from Mexico, Si, jihadists from Guantanamo, No

Yesterday, the Democrats gave a standing ovation to the president of Mexico when he declared before a joint session of Congress that “I strongly disagree” with Arizona’s anti-illegal alien law and said that it would cause “racial profiling.” The Democrats thus showed their solidarity with a foreign government which, while ruthlessly excluding illegal immigrants from its country and punishing them with long prison sentences if they are caught, has been systematically seeking the subversion of our country via the mass influx of illegal and legal immigrants. I wonder if the Democrats think that the video clip of them applauding the Mexican president will help them in the congressional elections this year.

Yet, even as the Democrats effectively showed their support for illegal immigration, they voted unanimously in the House Armed Services Committee for a law that would bar President Obama from creating a detention center for terrorists inside the United States, thus stopping for the foreseeable future Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo. The measure said that the committee wants to see “a thorough and comprehensive plan that outlines the merits, costs, and risks associated with utilizing such a facility. No such plan has been presented to date. The bill prohibits the use of any funds for this purpose.”

Here is the story on the committee vote from the New York Times:

House Panel Rejects a Plan to Shift Detainees to Illinois
By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON—The House Armed Services Committee has dealt a blow to President Obama’s hopes to shutter the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by unanimously approving legislation that would prohibit creating a detention center inside the United States.

The administration had asked Congress to approve about $350 million to buy and renovate a nearly empty prison in Thomson, Ill. The White House plan was to empty Guantanamo and transfer its detainees to Illinois—including 48 who would be held without trial as wartime prisoners.

But late Wednesday, the House committee unanimously approved a defense bill for 2011 that bans spending money to build or modify any facility inside the United States to house Guantanamo detainees, according to a summary of the bill.

It says the committee wants to see “a thorough and comprehensive plan that outlines the merits, costs, and risks associated with utilizing such a facility. No such plan has been presented to date. The bill prohibits the use of any funds for this purpose.”

The bill also requires Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to produce a report for Congress that “adequately justifies” any proposal for such a facility in the future, suggesting that lawmakers could reverse course.

It was already clear that the Guantanamo prison would not be closed until 2011 at the earliest. With the committee’s stance, the prospects of closing it receded still further.

Mr. Obama had declared he would close the prison within a year of taking office. The administration argues that Guantanamo is a symbol used for terrorism recruitment, so closing it would enhance national security.

But many Republicans have maintained that Guantanamo should stay open, arguing that the Thomson plan would waste money and create a national-security risk. Some libertarians also oppose institutionalizing indefinite detentions without trial on domestic soil.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 21, 2010 12:45 PM | Send