I'd vote for that. By the way, are you are "real conservative"?
LOS ANGELES [Dec 2003] — Environmentalists in California are trying to block a federal plan to build a new security fence to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States from Mexico.When Ashcroft issued a regulation to deputize local LEOs to enforce immigration law, the LEOs balked and the ACLU came to their defense:The 14-mile fence would accompany an existing 40-mile fence that has been credited with causing a massive drop in illegal border crossings since its construction in 1993.
Supporters of the fence say that the increasing number of terrorists who are at large means the United States must be even more vigilant at its borders.
But environmentalists argue that the construction of a fence would disrupt the local ecosystem, cause erosion problems and damage the area where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tijuana River (search), now inhabited by rare birds and insects.
The dispute could pit the California Coastal Commission (search) against the will of the White House, which has the authority to overrule the state body, but could find itself in a legal fight.
WASHINGTON [Aug 2002]- The Department of Justice -- through a regulation that goes into effect today - has gained the authority to deputize local and state police to enforce complex immigration laws, a move that the American Civil Liberties Union said is a sure-fire way to reduce immigrants' willingness to cooperate with authorities in the fight against terrorism. "Enforcing immigration law is a full-time and highly technical matter and should not be the part-time obligation of our already overburdened state and local police," said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Immigrants are not going to be overly thrilled about cooperating with police if they fear arrest for minor immigration violations."To Bush's credit, he is working on the immigration problem:The regulation that goes into effect today was initially conceived in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act but was never put into effect. Attorney General John Ashcroft, however, has been all too willing to use immigration law as a pretext to target particular communities, the ACLU said.
Not surprisingly, even local and state police departments are wary about what federal deputizations will mean for their overstretched budgets. State police in Arizona and the local department in San Jose, California, have both made it clear that they will not participate in any immigration law enforcement.
Of ultimate concern to the ACLU and other groups is the broad language used in granting Ashcroft the authority to deputize local or state police for immigration duty. The provision grants the Attorney General authority only in an "immigration emergency" but does little to clarify exactly what such an emergency would entail. Under the current language, the Attorney General would have a free hand to use the new authority in an abusive, discriminatory and unconstitutional manner.
"In the atmosphere of heightened suspicion created by September 11, the Administration should be fostering ties to the immigrant community in America, not erecting walls of mistrust by threatening deportation every time a law-abiding non-citizen wants to report illegal activity," Edgar added.
Then you have state and local laws that are a block to enforcement:
(Washington, DC - August 26, 2003) Two years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, conflicting state policies have become a weak link in the immigration-related dimensions of U.S. national security, finds a new FAIR report.
State of Insecurity: How State and Local Immigration Policies are Undermining Homeland Security shows that, despite the federal government's increased push to tie immigration enforcement to national security, states continue to adopt policies that fly in the face of federal immigration law.
More info on this at:
Homeland Security Launches Operation Ice Storm [to combat smugglers]
Blueprint for Immigration Reform
Border Patrol has increased from a strength of 9,788 on September 11, 2001 to 10,835 on December 1, 2003. Between ports of entry on the northern border, the size of the Border Patrol has tripled to more than 1,000 agents. In addition, the Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity.
The Bush Administration's Operation Tarmac was launched to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals.
President Bush announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested.
This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
Fair and Secure Immigration Reform Fact Sheet
There is also pending legislation to require hospitals to turn illegals over to immigration officials within two hours of providing treatment.
An older post of mine lays out other initiatives
I'll pardon your atrocious grammar if you'll give me a definition of a "real" conservative.