More than 1700 people this year have been killed in gun battles between the police and drug cartels just on the other side of the border. Moreover, the 'war' on drugs in the US has put a big crimp in homegrown meth labs in the US so - - a great deal of meth now comes from Mexico.

The people who equate immigration 'reform' with simply having no laws or border controls at all are being naive and dull.

In peacetime, all borders leak. We want peacetime, rather than machine guns on the Mexican-US border. I live right on the US-Canadian border. The next house south of me is in Canada.

I do NOT want James T. Kirk and soldiers and such in my yard, protecting me. Things are okay. If we did not have all our resources and all our attention and money going to Iraq, we could take a rational position vis-a-vis Mexico.

"Secure Borders!" is a simple-minded slogan. We should be in Mexico, as business partners and good neighbors, working together to improve the Mexican economy and business and law enforcement, rather than in Iraq, bombing them back to the Stone Age. We should be welcoming them, and they should welcome us.

Hell, we got more Texans, New Mexicans, Arizonians, and "Prune Pickers" (CA people), headin' to Mexico for that $2 a gal. gas than illegals sneakin' across the border. The US gas guzzlers are now supportin' the Mexican government and Pemex. I say we need more Pemex refineries and gas stations along the border which will be good for all the southern border economies. More jobs for everyone; cheap beer/tequila bars; more gun stores for MS13 and their buddies; more Hummer outlets; more doctors and hospitals; and maybe some more tourists...trying to get out of Mexico into Texas. The military advisors (soldiers) have always been assigned to the FBI-JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) units, especially along the borders, because, they have neat stuff...helicopters, AWACs, satellite imaging, and some CIA contacts that civilian law enforcement doesn't. It's a team effort to keep everyone safe...not just the politicians and their donors.

I got to go feed my chicks...