 |
 |
 |
||
|
||||
|
November 23, 2005
ELECTION 2006 'Dawn' of a political movementU.S. HOUSE CANDIDATE DAWN GIBBONS SPEAKS IN PAHRUMP
By GINA B. GOOD
Gibbons, who is already familiar with the workings of the Nevada State Legislature, wants to represent the new Old West in the U.S. House of Representatives. During an interview at the Pahrump Valley Times, Gibbons - a Republican - said the most important issue at this time for Nevada and the United States is national security. "The security of our nation is directly tied in with the immigration issue," she said. "Illegal immigration is rampant and dangerous. Undocumented aliens in our hospitals and schools drain our social services. Millions of dollars are spent each year in Nevada serving undocumented aliens." However, the candidate said the cost isn't her biggest concern. "The government has failed to do their job to protect us," she said. "It is estimated that this year alone, 4,000 undocumented aliens from countries of interest, like Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, will enter the U.S.," Gibbons said. "It is incumbent upon every one of us, as American citizens, to stay on watch because those terrorists are in our midst. Don't forget that most of the terrorists were in Las Vegas just days before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks." Several months ago, Gibbons traveled to the small town of Douglas, Ariz., located on the Mexican border. She visited the busy border crossing to personally check out the situation. According to Gibbons, one million illegal aliens were apprehended at the Douglas border from January to July of this year. "During that time, the border patrol picked up 120,000 aliens who were designated as OTM (Other Than Mexican)," said Gibson. "Those are people from Algeria or Guatemala or wherever. When the agents detain other than Mexican, those people can't be sent back to Mexico because that's not their country of origin." According to Gibbons, the federal government does not fund the border patrol sufficiently to have housing facilities to hold OTM aliens until such time as they can be deported to their various countries of origin. "Basically, the OTM illegal aliens are issued a summons to appear in federal court in 90 days," said the candidate. "The undocumented aliens call that summons their 'diploma' and use it to go anywhere they want. Eighty-five percent of the people never show up for their court date." Gibbons explained another border situation: "When the border patrol finds an illegal alien who is ill, they take that person to the hospital." A hospital in Sierra Vista - a community a few miles from Douglas, with about the same population as Pahrump - is their destination. "Last year that tiny hospital spent $600,000 treating illegal aliens," Gibbons said. "It's not that the border patrol does not have the resources to do more than drop illegal aliens off at the hospital. When the people are treated, they walk out with all their prescription drugs in hand and go on their way," she said. Gibbons noted that many border agents work alone. "When an agent sees 100 people coming toward his location, he doesn't know if there is a terrorist in the group." To those who claim undocumented workers from Mexico help the U.S. economy by working at menial jobs that Americans refuse to take, Gibbons explained that legal work exchange programs already exist and that others could be established if needed. Gibbons also visited the Republican Women's monthly meeting as well as spoke at the Pahrump Senior Center. |
|
