Immigration is a hotly debated issue in America today. Well, it was supposed to be, at least. A civil discourse on the rationale of borders between Dr. Yaron Brook (Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute), a noted "open borders advocate" and Mr. Carl Braun (Executive Director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California), a proponent of strong border security, had been scheduled for tonight, for the students and faculty at the University of California Los Angeles.

Instead, the event was cancelled because the University Administration cited budgetary reasons for having to pay police overtime but private sources said there was quite a controversy amongst school administrators between those that wanted the event to proceed and those that wanted to do anything to prevent the Minuteman Leader from sharing his views on the topic.

The University Police and Minuteman Leadership were notified Monday morning of a disruption planned on campus, by the Students for A Democratic Society (SDS) and of threats appearing on an anarchist website, The site was one of several calling for protests stating "Admission is free, so let’s do what they did at Columbia and shut it down! Hate speech is not free speech. No hate speech at UCLA."

Apparently the open border advocates will infringe upon our constitutional rights to free speech because they are worried that we will educate college students about the criminal elements that enter our country illegally while they simultaneously threaten our personal security.

Arthur Lechtholz-Zey, Chief Executive Officer of Club Logic, the on campus student organization hosting tonight's event, stated:


If UCLA truly cared about intellectual discourse, about the free expression of ideas, about scholarly debate, they would have made an effort to make the event move forward. Instead, they put up obstacle after obstacle.


While some voices are calling for a more open approach to amnesty... I mean, immigration, MCDC continues to advocate tightly sealed borders and enforced immigration policies; University administrations should ensure that free speech and honest debate regarding such an important topic is not void from their campus.

President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address this evening encouraged Congress to pass amnesty legislation under the guise of “comprehensive immigration reform.” Ignoring calls to improve our national security by funding the fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and to increase funds for border patrol personnel, the President continued on a path to provide amnesty for illegal aliens already residing in our country.

The President and Congress must do their duty under the U.S. Constitution to enforce existing immigration laws and to protect public safety rather than promote illegal activity. The President’s speech should be very concerning to us as it appears evident that he and Congress will, once again, neglect to secure our borders first.

We the people can no longer tolerate our federal government's refusal to secure our borders and protect our public safety. So while the Minutemen continue to volunteer their time to build a security fence through private donations obtained from thousands of citizens nationally along the U.S.-Mexico border, we must continue to organize efforts to increase pressure on Washington lawmakers so that the national security interests of our country are not jeopardized, like they were in 1986, by permitting amnesty.

Let me tell you about the current State of our Union.  Currently we have 20+ million illegal aliens inside our borders wreaking havoc not only in the streets, but in our schools, hospitals and courts. Everyday when these criminals (you see, they came here ILLEGALLY) benefit from certain services that belong to American citizens, they commit another crime -- theft.

Americans are forced to pay billions of dollars every year in the form of taxes, higher health care costs, higher education costs, and higher law enforcement costs for a group of foreigners who have absolutely no right to that money. Yet they take it anyway.

Citizens of this great Union foot the bill for children walking across the border in broad daylight to attend school in the United States.

Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985, hospitals are obligated to treat the uninsured without reimbursement.  The only difference between a citizen and an illegal is the hospital has a way to seek reimbursement from a citizen where they have no recourse against the illegal.

Cases on illegal immigration are heard in our courts every day. Increased numbers of law enforcement officers are necessary to keep up with the escalating crime rate that accompanies rapid population growth. It is unfair to ask tax payers to fund the increase of local law enforcement if the President and Congress do not do the same for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Overcrowding of schools; increased poverty; illegals voting in federal elections; illegal immigration affects each and every part of our daily lives.

We urge the President to address illegal immigration during his State of the Union Address and to call for Congress to fund the fence they voted for last year, to increase overall funding for border security, and enforce current immigration laws, ending the thievery taking place in our Union every day.

Outside of a Des Moines conference center today, the Iowa Chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps demonstrated outrage over the proposed plan to build a North American Super Highway sponsored by the North American SuperCorridor Coalition.

On NASCO's website you will find a map of this "Super Highway" running right through the heart of Iowa -- the heartland of our nation. With the only proposed border checkpoint in, get this, KANSAS CITY, MO. !!! Isn't Missouri in the MIDDLE of the country?!? How is that a border checkpoint?

With the Iowa caucus just 12 months away, and the state's own Governor running for President in 2008, each and every Presidential hopeful better come ready to answer to Iowans just what they plan to do about this "Super Highway" which, if completed, would be a direct threat to not only Iowa, but to our national security and sovereignty by allowing for the illegal movement of people and goods into the U.S. -- not to mention all the not-so-goods -- you know, drugs, weapons, illegal aliens...