Government restrictions on travel during a pandemic?

[kaseyb (Supermom!)]

Joseph Farah posits some excellent questions in this commentary: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47196

 

Between the lines Joseph Farah WND Exclusive Commentary

U.S. travel restrictions?

Posted: November 3, 2005

 

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

 

You probably heard the news that if the bird flu hits the United States, the government is planning to impose travel restrictions on citizens to fight the spread of the pandemic.

 

Now, I don't know exactly what that means.

 

Does it mean Americans will be stopped from traveling abroad? Does it mean Americans will be prevented from traveling from state to state? Does it mean Americans will be halted from traveling from city to city? Does it mean no more morning and evening traffic jams because commuting to and from work has become even more hazardous to our health?

 

I don't know. Nobody is really explaining what these "travel restrictions" might mean.

 

But it doesn't particularly bother me because I don't like to travel much. And, while some civil libertarians might be alarmed, as far as I'm concerned, the U.S. government meddles in many matters with far less constitutional justification than a looming pandemic that certainly threatens the general welfare of the population.

 

Yet, it occurred to me as I was pondering these potentially draconian travel restrictions: Why wait until the flu hits? At that point, it will be too late. Why not impose some travel restrictions right now to minimize the threat we face?

 

What do I have in mind?

 

I'll tell you what I have in mind.

 

Let's stop all illegal travel into the United States now.

 

Don't you think it makes sense that a government that is actually considering imposing widespread travel restrictions on law-abiding Americans should first do everything in its power to lessen the potential of this disease finding its way into this country from the massive – indeed unprecedented – wave of illegal alien traffic into this country from the southern border? Wouldn't that make sense? Isn't that just one more of many compelling vital national-security reasons for shutting down the border?

 

Now I couldn't help but notice that Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff said the other day that it's going to take some time to secure the border and slow the illegal alien traffic. He did admit it's a serious problem – out of control. But solutions take time, he said. These things just don't happen overnight, he explained. The problem was long in the making, and it's going to be long in the fixing, he suggested.

 

But then it occurred to me that it shouldn't take long to shut down the border at all. If the Mexican army were invading this country, I have a feeling we would figure out how to stop it in under 24 hours. Well, the truth is a Mexican army is invading this country – a Mexican army of unemployed laborers, criminals, terrorists and just plain people looking for a better way of life here in the land where dreams come true. All kinds of people are coming – nice people, bad people. But they all have one thing in common: They are coming illegally. They are breaking our laws. They are breaking into our country. They are invading.

 

While President Bush likes to rationalize the law-breaking by suggesting we need the cheap labor these folks represent, that's really a stretch for the silver lining under a very dark cloud. If someone breaks into my house, I'm not looking at him as a potential gardener or housekeeper – even though I need both. Instead, I'm looking at him as a potential recipient of some buckshot in the derriere.

 

Likewise, I don't leave my back door open hoping a potential gardener or housekeeper might just walk in.

 

That's exactly what we're doing with the border. Lots of gardeners and housekeepers are coming in, all right. But lots of MS-13 gang members, rapists, murderers and terrorists are coming in, too.

 

And here's the thing: If it is going to take us years and years to stop illegal entry across 2,000 miles of border with Mexico, how is it that the U.S. government plans to restrict the travel of American citizens across the entire country – from sea to shining sea and from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande – within hours of the bird flu hitting?

 

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[djmarch]

Go Girl!

[Freetobeme]

Quote:

Let's stop all illegal travel into the United States now.

Just the other day a teenaged boy was murdered by another teenage boy in a neighboring town. Guess what? The shooter was an illegal. Not too long ago a man killed his in-laws (MIL, FIL, BIL) and abducted his two kids. He had a history of abusing his wife and she had left him. He fled to Mexico. HE was an illegal. He's back now facing murder charges, but will only get life in prison since to extradite him, AZ had to promise no death penalty. I could list at least another dozen cases of crime by illegals around here. There was an article today with a chile farmer in AZ complaining about how he couldn't operate his farm without the illegals. No one will do the ag work it seems. Personally, I've seen quite a few folks who are collecting gov checks and/or food stamps who could stand to do a good day's work. They tried having inmates work in the fields but they apparently just stood there until the guards took them back to jail. How about a program that would require a certain amount of work before they had served their time?

[Guest Guest]

Personally, I've seen quite a few folks who are collecting gov checks and/or food stamps who could stand to do a good day's work. They tried having inmates work in the fields but they apparently just stood there until the guards took them back to jail. How about a program that would require a certain amount of work before they had served their time?

 

Amen!