Posted on 01/25/2005 8:30:24 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) plans to ask Congress to spend more to crack down on undocumented workers and arrest and deport illegal immigrants. But he wants to fund only a fraction of the new Border Patrol agents called for in a bill he signed last year.
Bush's budget plan will call for spending $23 million, nearly five times the current level, on work site investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a government official familiar with the spending plan told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The money would be used to conduct audits on employers, investigate violations and prepare cases.
The administration also wants to increase spending for detentions and deportations of immigrants to $1.2 billion, 18 percent more than in fiscal year 2005, the official said. In addition to paying for more staff, the money would go to apprehending fugitives and providing alternatives to detention for low-risk illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy declined to comment on the numbers because the 2006 budget has not been released. He warned figures can change up until it is actually sent to Congress.
Bush plans to ask lawmakers to increase the Border Patrol by 210 agents. The intelligence overhaul law he signed last year authorizes, but does not pay for, the department to hire 2,000 agents a year for five years.
That would nearly double the number of agents guarding U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada to almost 21,000 and would be the largest buildup of border guards in the nation's history.
Outgoing Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, who oversees transportation and border security, has said paying for the 2,000 agents would require a substantial investment from Congress.
"It appears, perhaps, the administration is looking a bit more comprehensively on immigration enforcement. For too long we have focused only on the border, and many people have indeed been calling for renewed attention to the hiring of undocumented workers because that is the primary draw," said Deborah Meyers, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that tends to favor immigration.
Meyers said Bush's proposals on Border Patrol agents are a recognition of the difficulty the government would face recruiting and training such a high number of agents.
Bush also has proposed a temporary worker program open to immigrants illegally in the country and foreigners abroad.
Bush is expected to submit his budget early next month. Congress is not obligated to implement the president's budget but can use it as a guide.
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On the Net:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement: http://www.ice.gov/
Customs and Border Protection: http://www.cbp.gov
I'm always looking to learn more.
From the responses so far it looks like there is no support for Dubya's proposal to increase funding to stop illegal immigration. Dubya can not win the support of the fringe right by doing what they demand so what is the point in trying.
Shoot, give me a badge and a convoy of paddy wagons and I could round up 100's.
Most of whom would be young men and families who think living in our slum is several steps up from living in Mexico.
Whatever Hillery is, she ain't stupid.
I think pollyanna would be more appropriate than patriciaruth
They're both right about illegal immigration, except hitlery is just mouthing the words on something that W is out of sync on with his base.
hitlery would do zip to stop it, and everything to encourage more, same as her husband did for 8 years.
They're both right about illegal immigration, except hitlery is just mouthing the words on something that W is out of sync on with his base.
hitlery would do zip to stop it, and everything to encourage more, same as her husband did for 8 years.
I'll believe it when I see it.
ping
Oh he's series now...
A person here on a student visa or a tourist visa who then works illegally would be a legal immigrant and an undocumented worker. A person who comes here illegally to deal drugs or retire or is a child who does not work would be an illegal immigrant but not an undocumented worker.
I believe Hillary may be saying the things you want to hear about immigration.
For too long we have focused only on the border. Ms Meyers is out of place in the logic-free zone (Washington, P.C.)
As of a couple of years ago there were some 9.5 million W-2 earnings statements for one tax year (2002) in the SSA's Earnings Suspense File of phony / stolen, etc. SSN's. If I remember correctly there were more than 650,000 employers associated with the W-2s.
The SSA had a policy of sending employer "no match" and employee "no match" letters to employers and employees respectively. Nothing threatening, just asking for help. The SSA had tried everything to make the SSN-name match the Master Earnings File.
Hyphenated critters and screaming mobs in the immigrant rigths industry went ballistic.
Below is a reference to a report on why the SSA is unfa-a-a-a-a-air.
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION’S NO-MATCH LETTER PROGRAM: IMPLICATIONS FOR IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND WORKERS’ RIGHTS, November 2003, by Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore of the UIC Center for Urban Economic Development.
www.uic.edu/cuppa/uicued/Publications/EXECSMRY/ssanomatchexesumm.htm
It's going to be damn near impossible to enforce immigration laws even if Washington, P.C. had the will.
Appease me ,Appease me
..Meanwhile, we maintain active military bases in Japan, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and a dozen other nations where we have no vital U.S. defense concerns.
$23 million is a mere pittance to what it costs to maintain troops and miltary bases in areas of the world where we have no vital U.S. security concerns, and are no longer are needed.
Take those troops, and reappropriate that money, to where our national defense is weakest: on our own southern border.
I'm having a hard time taking this President series anymore regarding the oath he took, once again.
I believe that an initial large contengent would be needed to stop this cold. Then enforcement of the laws already on our books would do the rest. Later on the amount of troops needed, would be reduced as it became appearent the gig was up. That 50' tall cement wall idea is just fine by me. In fact it's essential.
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