We're not enforcing immigration laws


A new study helps show just how bad the situation is
Remember when I said that a major part of the immigration problem was the Federal government's failure to enforce existing law?

According to the Washington Times, I was ahead of the curve on that one too. I need to be careful or I will get a swelled head.

A little-noticed study by the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center says 45 percent of America's illegal alien population -- 4.5 million to 6 million -- carried legally issued border crossing cards for short-term visits or business and tourist visas for longer but temporary stays.

Ultimately, they became what the government refers to as "overstayers," hiding in plain sight, working, sending their children to school and using health care services.

"Although Congress authorized several initiatives to track foreign visitors following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and then again after the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government currently has no means of determining whether all the foreign nationals admitted for temporary stays actually leave the country," said the center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group.

The influx continues to stream into America unchecked despite efforts by President Bush to send 6,000 National Guard troops to better secure border areas between the ports of entry, where Congress will spend $1.2 billion to hire and station more U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Michael Cutler, a retired U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior agent, said the government is spending billions to secure the border but has "failed miserably" at interior enforcement.

"We are not doing enough to make sure these people leave the country when they are supposed to and that impacts significantly on national security," he said. "Remember, all of the 19 al Qaeda hijackers who slammed jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon entered the country legally.

"There is no high-tech solution to the problem. We have to hire personnel to go out and arrest these people," he said, noting that the government has only about 3,000 agents nationwide to enforce immigration laws in the nation's interior. "We are supposed to be dealing with this issue, but five years after the attacks, we're not doing enough."

For all the talk about the illegal immigration, no one in government is willing to look at anything more than a show solution.

I wish someone could tell me why we target doctors for dispensing "too much" medication or treating patients outside the Medicare system, but we can't be bothered to enforce our own immigration laws.

And since those laws were enacted by Congress, why doesn't Congress simply repeal the laws?

The answer is as obvious as it is two-faced. On the one hand, politicos want it to look like they are "getting tough." On the other hand, they want to appear sympathetic to millions of potential voters.

As for me, I want to know why some Mexican illegals get rights and privileges beyond that of American citizens.

And I think that a lot of politicos should be recalled.

Think about it. Even if the FedGovs got serious about actually enforcing the immigration laws, it would take a much bigger staff to deal with the illegals. A staff perhaps three hundred times bigger, along with a bigger budget. And that is assuming the current efficiency levels could be maintained.

How did this get so bad?

Draconian laws and decades of ignoring the problem.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - June 20, 2006 at 04:23 AM  Tag


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