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Hannity & Colmes HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Sean Hannity. America's war against terrorism means new policies will be explored, and that means some difficult decisions must be made. One important issue facing us as a nation is keeping our borders safe. Former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan proposes closing our borders with a two-year ban on immigration and says that immigrants without valid visas should be deported. He joins us tonight from Washington. Pat, good to see you. I don't think we're going to disagree like the last time, Pat. I think this may be a necessary idea until we can secure the borders in this country. PAT BUCHANAN, THE AMERICAN CAUSE: Look, we've got between eight- million and 11-million illegal aliens wandering around the United States, Sean. That is suicidal. It is suicidal to have a policy of open borders and mass immigration when we claim to be fighting a war on terrorism against a network that operates in 60 nations. So I think Tom Ridge has got a very tough job because the enemy is inside the gates. HANNITY: Are you saying specifically, Pat, just illegal immigrants or... BUCHANAN: No, what I would do -- we've got 30-million foreign born. We need time to assimilate and Americanize them. I would halt immigration, a moratorium, for two years. That doesn't mean zero. Maybe 250,000 instead of a million. But I would start moving all the illegal immigrants out of the United States starting with those who come from countries that harbor terrorists. HANNITY: Well, you'd start there, but I was going to ask -- from every country? Or specifically look at those countries that have harbored terrorists? I mean, how far do you go with that, Pat? Do you say, "No Saudi"... BUCHANAN: Look, if you broke in line and broke the law and broke into our country, you don't belong here. Now you've got 48 hours or a week to leave the United States of America. Sean, you talk on radio about this being a war of civilizations. Our civilization is at risk. But as soon as someone brings up issues like immigration, a lot of folks say, "Well, we've got to be progressive here." Now are we serious that it's a war or are we not? COLMES: Pat, as much as I agreed you last time you came on the show and argued with Sean -- now that was music to my ears -- we have a little disagreement here. Aren't you using the events of September 11 as cover for a policy you would like to have seen in effect any way? BUCHANAN: Well, I do believe that illegal immigration has been disastrous for this country. I think there are huge enclaves of people who really came here simply for jobs who have no loyalty to... COLMES: But you're using September 11 as an excuse now for something you'd be saying anyway and... BUCHANAN: It's not an excuse. COLMES: ... using the terrorist attack... BUCHANAN: No, no. I think it proves I was right, I believe. But let me say this. How do you look at our country? I look at America as our home. This is our national home. It's not a flop house. It's not some welfare office. It's not a job fair for trans-national corporations so they can hire the cheapest labor. It is our home. We invite guests here. We invite in folks to be members of our family. COLMES: Right, but you want to stop that. BUCHANAN: If you don't look at our country that way, if you just say, "Look, we need about a million new workers. Let's open our borders..." COLMES: Pat... BUCHANAN: As Ronald Reagan said, "A country that doesn't control its borders isn't a country anymore." COLMES: Pat, we're talking about two different things. Isn't border control different than immigration? Immigrants come here to settle permanently. Border patrol is a separate issue. BUCHANAN: Right. You've got a very good point. COLMES: Those who come here permanently -- the terrorists are not the people who immigrate to live here permanently, right? BUCHANAN: Very good point. The immigrants I would bring in are those who have waited in line for years, desperate to become Americans, who want to become part of the American family, not people who happen -- as Vicente Fox in Mexico says, "Well, they're going there to get the jobs other people won't take." He can't decide what our policy is. We decide. We want folks, Alan, who want to be Americans like you and me and love this country and learn its history... COLMES: And you want to close them all down. OK. We'll talk about it when we come back. BUCHANAN: No. And learn its history and its heroes and... HANNITY: All right. Should we have this moratorium on immigration? We'll continue on the other side of the break. Patrick J. Buchanan. Remember, by the way, log on to foxnews.com, and you, too, can become a Fox fan. More straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLMES: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. We now continue with Pat Buchanan. Pat Buchanan, you know, the Statue of Liberty stands, torch held high, in New York Harbor. You want to dismantle it and sell it for parts or send it back to France. I mean, you know... BUCHANAN: Oh, OK. Look... COLMES: ... this is... BUCHANAN: Alan... COLMES: Go ahead. BUCHANAN: Alan, from Cal Coolidge to John F. Kennedy, we had a moratorium on immigration. During that time, we had World War II, not a single act of sabotage or terrorism or assassination by foreign nationals against American citizens. There's an idea of security that goes along with freedom. We were not an unfree country from Coolidge and FDR and Eisenhower and Kennedy. We simply had a moratorium. Then we had a time of open immigration. Now we need a moratorium. COLMES: But, you know, there are other ways to go about this, and you, as I suggested, I think, are doing this using September 11th as cover. In New York City, for example, Mayor Giuliani, the outgoing mayor, has talked about acting on bench warrants. You might be able to find people who are here who have violations, which has not been done nationwide. Enforcing the laws we have might accomplish what we need to accomplish without an overreaction, shutting down the borders, which could hurt business, hurt NAFTA, hurt free trade, stop the inflow -- influx and out flux of people who have legitimate reasons to come here. BUCHANAN: Alan, you cannot fight a world war an terror and have open borders, mass immigration, or free trade. We heard the Taliban -- we heard it said they were going to poison those food packages we dropped. We import now one-third of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Either we're in a war on terror and it's serious or you just keep what's going on. There are already 11-million illegals in the United States, Alan. How many more do you need? COLMES: What you're talking about would raise shipping and transportation costs, undo many of the benefits we've gained from NAFTA. It would cost the nation money, and it would be very unAmerican -- it would be everything against what the Statue of Liberty stands for with the torch held high in New York Harbor. That's not what we're about in this country. BUCHANAN: You know, I believe in preserving the security and freedom of the American people, and I put that ahead of corporate profits from NAFTA. COLMES: But I'm asking you and I'm suggesting to you that by enforcing the laws that we have, we can accomplish the same goal without compromising what we are. BUCHANAN: All right. Explain to me then why your president did not accomplish those goals and half a million illegal aliens walked into the United States across our borders every single year of the 1990s. HANNITY: Hey, Pat... BUCHANAN: We're not doing it, Alan. HANNITY: Hey, Pat -- Pat... BUCHANAN: Yes. HANNITY: I really believe today the way the system is designed and our borders are wide open, Usama bin Laden's best friend today could get into this country fairly easily. BUCHANAN: Let me tell you, Sean. Any intelligence service, Chinese, any hostile country that doesn't have hundreds of agents, spies, and saboteurs in the United States given our open borders isn't doing its job. If we go to war against terrorist regimes all over the Middle East, as some folks suggest, this country's going to blow up with action. HANNITY: All right. So Pat Buchanan's proposal -- two-year -- two- and-a-half-year moratorium. BUCHANAN: Right. On legal immigration. HANNITY: Legal immigration. BUCHANAN: That doesn't mean zero. That doesn't mean zero. There are some obviously who can come in. Just cut it back to 250,000 and get to work expelling people that don't belong here. HANNITY: I agree, but you heard... BUCHANAN: Begin with people who commit crimes, come from terrorist countries, overstay their visas. HANNITY: Eight-million people. They told us last week they can't do it. They don't have the ability. And then they want to federalize these - - these guards, which is somewhat... BUCHANAN: Then what sense does it make to run around bombing Afghan kids that never did anything to us when the enemy is inside our gates? They killed them up at the Trade Center. They killed them down here at the Pentagon. You know, they didn't kill them in Afghanistan. We had to go over there to cut off the head, but the tentacles are in our country, Sean. HANNITY: We have -- the Northern Alliance, as Fox News has been reporting in our alert, down there has entered Kabul, and the Taliban forces are now leaving it. It appears this military effort's more successful by the hour, Pat. BUCHANAN: Well, it's a tremendous job by the American Air Force, if that was done. I cannot believe the Taliban would just abandon Kabul and retreat. That's astonishing... HANNITY: Well, that's -- we're -- Fox News is reporting Northern Alliance soldiers are now in the capital of Kabul and that -- the Taliban forces are moving out. COLMES: And Fox News will keep you posted. Pat, thank you very much. BUCHANAN: OK. COLMES: Nice to argue with you for a change. You agreed too much last time. BUCHANAN: Take it easy, Alan. COLMES: That's all the time we have left for tonight. Remember, for all news all day, watch the Fox News Channel. This is the network America trusts for fair and balanced news. Join us tomorrow night. More HANNITY & COLMES, 9:00 Eastern. And thank you for watching Fox News.
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