10/3/07: Going to new lengths for callous disregard of human life – even for the Bush administration – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff responded to concerns that the planned 670 mile long security fence along the US-Mexico border would cause damage to the environment by saying the following in a telephone interview this past Monday:
Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I’ve seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas. And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment. (“Chertoff: Border fence good for environment”, Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press, 10/2/07.)
First off, immigrants who cross the US-Mexico border in search of work are now forced, by the deliberate policy of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol, to cross in the most dangerous areas. The number of deaths of those trying to cross has been rising as a result. New laws have even made it illegal to leave out drinking water for immigrants. Chertoff, as head of Homeland Security, is fully aware that immigrants are dying trying to cross the border. Yet he decides to blame immigrants crossing the border for leaving waste behind.
Secondly, how dare anyone from the Bush administration talk about degrading the environment when they are the ones who have refused to acknowledge global warming, distorted and suppressed scientific research into its causes, and refused to do anything significant to solve the problem?
If Chertoff’s utter disregard for the lives of the tens of thousands of Black people left to die in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit wasn’t enough to convince you this man cares nothing about people’s lives, then his quote above should.