PrintTwo birds…one stone
While driving through El Paso recently, I heard a caller to a talk—radio program laughingly suggest that we should embed Army recruiters within the frontline ranks of the Border Patrol so that they could sign up illegal immigrants and thus eliminate the Army's current recruiting deficits. I laughed, as did the host of the show, and said to my wife, 'Hey, that's not a bad idea.' As I continued driving eastward across the desert expanse of West Texas, I began to think more seriously about what the ramifications of such a policy might be. When we went through the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sierra Blanca, I told my wife, 'You know, that fellow was joking but in fact, he may truly be onto something.'
Think about it, folks. We have a serious illegal immigration problem on our southern border. We also have a problem recruiting troops for the combat arms sectors in our military, all while we have this steady flow of stalwart young men sneaking into our country seeking a better way of life. From the benefit of six years active duty in the 101st and 82d Airborne Divisions, I know that Hispanics volunteer in disproportionate numbers for hazardous duty such as jumping out of airplanes and special operations. American Hispanics have a long and honorable tradition of serving in the Marine Corps with multiple generations having been Leathernecks. These volunteers have a warrior instinct that serves our nation well, as exemplified by Special Forces Medal of Honor winner, Roy Benavides, a native of my own South Texas.
So why don't we put this warrior ethic to work for us? Let's follow the jesting suggestion of the caller to the radio show and put some our sharpest, most impressive, Hispanic Army and Marine Corps non—coms in Border Patrol stations to interview physically fit illegal immigrants picked up by Border Patrol agents. Let those hapless young illegals see what determined Hispanic men can become in this country.
