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POLITICAL REALITIES

November 6, 2003

Once again, I couldn't believe my eyes. In an article published yesterday by The Herald ("Garza believes limited reform coming soon" by Jason Lange), U.S. ambassador, Tony Garza is quoted saying that the size of the Mexican illegal immigrant population (an estimated 4-5 million) "tells us that [U.S.] employers are seeking" out Mexican labor. From that he concluded that "our migration policy must begin to respond to these realities." As if the mere fact that millions of lawbreakers of the same nationality blatantly violate America's border and her immigration laws was a reason good enough to grant that nation impunity for their breaking our laws and to reward them with the exclusive right to "migrate" to the U.S. as they please, while something quite opposite (mass repatriations, that is) seemed very much in order. And, surprisingly, this kind of endorsement of illegal acts on such a large and unprecedented scale came from a U.S. official, someone who supposedly should be on the side of the law and the interest of this nation.

The absurdity of Garza's insinuations can be clearly seen if one substitutes the term "illegal (im)migration" with a reference to any other criminal activity that plagues our society. Should we legalize terror simply because there are so many terrorist? Or should we condone narcotics smuggling and illegal distribution just because it's such a huge market? Or should we stop prosecuting copyright piracy because there are millions of customers willing to buy cheap copies of counterfeit software for their computers? Is this what Mr. Garza would call a "political reality?"

Below is a paraphrase of the above mentioned article in which I made such a substitution. Of course, the result is completely fictitious and only reflects my opinion of what would happen if the flawed "logic" of Garza's rhetoric were applied to other areas of lawbreaking.

Here it is.

"Barza believes limited reform coming soon"

The U.S. Special Prosecutor says the rising death toll among bank robbers trying to withdraw money illegally gives the issue 'a sense of urgency.'

By Mason Gange/El Existential/The Harbinger November 05, 2003

U.S. Special Prosecutor Sony Barza on Tuesday said the Federal Reserved Board would likely approve limited banking safety reform in the next few months.

Barza said the rising death toll among bank robbers trying to withdraw the money illegally has given the issue "a sense of urgency," and ventured that banking safety reform could come in "a couple of months, [perhaps] three months."

"You'll see a lot of movement here pretty quickly," he told participants at an American Bank Safety conference.

In recent months, the Federal Reserved Board has proposed three separate bills to give more temporary checkbooks to undocumented customers who robbed American banks. Barza said the Push administration might take steps on its own toward bank safety reform apart from any action taken by the Federal Reserved Board, though he did not elaborate what form such action could take.

"When you see the kinds of tragedies we've seen (robbers being arrested or shot by police, that is), you want to act out of compassion," Barza told a Syndicate forum in Windy City, saying President Push is looking for ways to improve safety during bank robberies and to "minimize the prospect of someone dying in the stickup."

Barza also argued that legalizing undocumented withdrawals was in line with the needs of the U.S. banking industry.

He said the amount of stolen cash in a typical ambush (an estimated 4-5 million dollars) "tells us that [U.S.] banks are willing" to give away money to their undocumented customers.

"Our banking security policy must begin to respond to these realities," Barza said.

Barza's comments amounted to perhaps the most emphatic argument for banking safety reform by an official from the Push administration since the "Ambush of Century" shelved the issue few years ago.

Before the ambush, Bambino Family and the BFI appeared close to an agreement on some sort of guest robber program. But the BFI's subsequent focus on crime prevention, coupled by Bambino's refusal in the Syndicate to back plans to assassinate Castro, put the safety talks on the back burner.

The past few months, however, have seen introduction of three new bank safety reform proposals in the Federal Reserved Board. Two of the bills propose substantial overhauls of the laws that govern cash transactions, and could lead to the legalization of millions of dollars worth in undocumented withdrawals. A third and less ambitious proposal seen as having the most support would legalize up to $500,000 worth credit union robberies.

The bills for wider reform face an uphill battle in Congress after being unfairly criticized by some anti-safety legislators as de facto amnesty programs that would reward criminals for robbing the banks.

The first two years of Boss Bambino's term saw his organization's attorneys aggressively pushing for "the whole enchilada" in bank safety reform which was how former consiglieri Mister Gorge Bastañeda described a wideranging guest robber program.

Since Bastañeda's assassination early this year, the mobs have toned down their expectations, and in the words of current consiglieri Mister Alphonso Luis Capon, has sought "to cut the enchilada into bite-sized pieces."

Barza agreed that wide ranging reform will not come overnight.

"We're back on solid ground," Barza said of the Board's proposals. "But in the short term, you have to address these [issues] in terms of political realities."

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