Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry had his "chance" for the last Six Years !

Dallas Morning News Editorial

Perry's Chance: Governor can shape immigration debate

09:16 AM CST on Friday, February 10, 2006
Given recent events, it's understandable why Gov. Rick Perry rolled out Operation Rio Grande yesterday. Violence along the Texas/Mexico border is troubling – really troubling. Authorities recently found caches of high-powered weapons in Laredo. Drug-thugs firestormed their way into a Nuevo Laredo newspaper Monday night. Either the Mexican military, or drug gangs dressed in Mexican military uniforms, crossed over the Texas/Mexico border last month. And those are just the latest episodes.
So Mr. Perry wants to get state and local law enforcement officers working to keep drug gangs and possible terrorists from exploiting openings along the border. His Operation Rio Grande ideas include:
•Employing a state homeland security council to use intelligence information to back up officials along the border.
•Using the Department of Public Safety to deploy a "rapid response" team to troubled areas.
•Getting more manpower and equipment to sheriffs along the border.
We can go for that. But the state can deploy all the agents, guns and cameras it wants, and it still won't solve the border problems. As President Bush keeps saying, people are doing everything possible to get here for work. Until we as a nation deal with the economic realities driving immigration, border troubles won't end.
Here's where Mr. Perry can make a difference. A huge one. As a conservative, he can get Washington's attention if he starts to speak as loudly about the economic piece as the security dimension.
He has a perfect chance to do that today, when he addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. The governor's office says he's open to a program that allows more immigrants to qualify for work visas, as long as there is a fail-safe way to identify guest workers. So, make that a part of the speech. Challenge stakeholders to embrace both ends of the solution.
Conservatives are crucial because many in the House want only to build walls and add guns. By broadening his Operation Rio Grande, Rick Perry could help guide them to a real solution.
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-immigration_10edi.ART.State.Edition1.1184291c.html