Since Fred Thompson officially entered the presidential playoffs, I have been fascinated by some of the criticisms of him by the media, and even by some Conservatives. You know the main card played against Thompson has been the lazy card. Lazy? No, Thompson is laid back; he is not a rah-rah kind of person. Frankly, I enjoy that about him. I have worked with many rah-rah types and many laid-back types as well. Give me the steady, calm, laid back person any day.

Another criticism of Thompson has been that he has offered no specifics on any of his ideas. Well, we can lay that fallacy to rest now my friends. This past week Fred Thompson laid out his plans for securing the border. This is clearly one of the most important issues facing America and its next president. A look now, at the Thompson plan for getting illegal immigration under control.

The first point addressed in the Thompson plan is amnesty, or as, Thompson says, NO AMNESTY! Thompson nails the essence of why we should not even consider amnesty.

Amnesty undermines U.S. law and policy, rewards bad behavior, and is unfair to the millions of immigrants who follow the law and are awaiting legal entry into the United States.

There you go, simple and accurate, no baloney, no dancing around with verbal gymnastics or political correctness. This is the essence of Conservatism my friends. Amnesty is wrong; therefore, we must not consider it.

The second major point of Thompson’s plan is attrition through enforcement. Reduce the number of illegal aliens through increased enforcement against unauthorized alien workers and their employers. Without illegal employment opportunities available, fewer illegal aliens will attempt to enter the country, and many of those illegally in the country now likely will return home. Self-deportation can also be maximized by stepping up the enforcement levels of other existing immigration laws. This course of action offers a reasonable alternative to the false choices currently proposed to deal with the 12 million or more aliens already in the U.S. illegally: either arrest and deport them all, or give them all amnesty.

Again, Thompson goes straight to the most essential point of the debate. Enforcing laws works, it is the quickest way to begin to face up to our illegal immigration crisis. Illegal immigrants are drawn here by jobs. If we work seriously to remove that attraction, the problem will, in part, begin to correct itself. Instead of falling into the tired old rhetoric of choosing mass deportations or blanket amnesty Thompson chooses to lead on this issue. Moreover, he does so with simple, common sense approaches. That is what America needs common sense leadership, not talking points.

To help with the attrition through enforcement approach, Thompson lays out plans to give our country the tools to achieve that goal.

Doubling ICE agents handling interior enforcement, increasing the Border Patrol to at least 25,000 agents, and increasing detention space to incarcerate illegal aliens we arrest rather than letting them go with a promise to show up later for legal proceedings against them.

Adding resources for the Department of Justice to prosecute alien smugglers, people involved in trafficking in false identification documents, and previously deported felons.

Maximizing efforts to prosecute and convict members of criminal alien gangs, such as MS-13 and affiliated gangs. These gangs have brought unusual levels of violence to more than 30 U.S. states and have also become very active in drug smuggling, gun smuggling, and alien smuggling.

Once again, my friends we do not see rhetoric here, we see a clear vision on how to fix the problem with an eye to protecting America first. Thompson is looking at our interests first instead of paying lip service to it. In this plan, Thompson illustrates his faith in America, and in the nation’s ability to address the problem. As he has said, it is not a matter of “can” it is a matter of “will”.

Now on to perhaps the most promising portion of Thompson’s plan. Addressing “Sanctuary Cities”, those cities which refuse to follow federal laws regarding illegal immigration.

End Sanctuary Cities by cutting off discretionary federal grant funds as appropriate to any community that, by law, ordinance, executive order, or other formal policy directs its public officials not to comply with the provisions of 8 USC 1373 and 8 USC 1644, which prohibit any state or local government from restricting in any way communications with the Department of Homeland

Security regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of an alien in the United States.

Deny discretionary Federal education grants as appropriate to public universities that violate federal law by offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens without also offering identical benefits to United States citizens, regardless of whether or not they live in the state, as required by 8 USC 1623.

Deny discretionary Federal grants as appropriate to states and local governments that violate federal law by offering public benefits to illegal aliens, as prohibited by 8 USC 1621(a).

Can I get an amen? This is exactly the correct approach in dealing with cities that thumb their noses at our federal laws and our national sovereignty! Ultimately, the immigration debate comes down to one crucial question. Are we to be a sovereign nation or not? Clearly, Fred Thompson grasps this point. Instead of trying to appease the race mongers and cheap labor addicts Thompson is, again, looking at what is best for this nation.

This issue is not racial; it is about law, order, and America’s sovereignty. Conservatives see this, and by golly all those Conservatives who have been looking for a leader that also understands better look at Fred Thompson. There is a lot more to Thompson’s plan and it is all very promising. Anyone questioning my endorsement of Thompson should check out the entire plan at Thompson’s campaign site. http://www.fred08.com/virtual/Immigration.aspx