Posted on 05/17/2008 12:09:16 PM PDT by 3AngelaD
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has issued two waivers of laws hindering barrier construction and security improvements on the border with Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already built 309 miles of border obstacles, and these waivers will facilitate improvements on about 500 miles of border infrastructure. One waiver addresses environmental and land management laws that applied to about 470 miles across four border states; the other addresses a 22-mile levee-border project in Hidalgo, Texas. The waivers were issued on April 1, 2008, and will become effective upon their publication in the Federal Register.
These DHS efforts reflect longstanding recommendations by The Heritage Foundation. Border infrastructure is an important part of the effort to interdict illegal crossings, and that interdiction is vital to restoring the integrity of America's borders and immigration laws. With these waivers, the Secretary shows that he is following through on the George W. Bush Administration's commitment to make border security, protecting the homeland, and enforcing immigration laws a top priority. Congress should fully support these efforts.
More needs to be done to achieve border security, which cannot be fully accomplished until all components of an effective national policy are in place. The Administration must vigorously enforce immigration laws in the workplace, and Congress must provide for temporary worker programs and visa reforms to get employers the workers they need.
During the 2007 immigration debate, Heritage experts traveled to the U.S.–Mexico border to gain a firsthand understanding of the situation. They met with the various stakeholders in the border communities, including men and women from local law enforcement, local businesses, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, state and local governments, and Mexico.
Heritage's experts found a broken border, ravaged by transnational crime including drug smuggling and human trafficking. Despite this, they also found that cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies could make a difference. In Texas, for example, Operation Rio Grande reduced crime in border counties by 60 percent. The Heritage experts concluded that enhancing security and community policing in the border areas was essential.
Progress at the border has been stalled repeatedly stalled because some barrier projects are complicated by environmental and land-use disputes. Some advocacy groups, communities, and individual land owners have used endless litigation to thwart the Administration's efforts. Congress therefore gave the DHS Secretary the authority to waive federal laws in order to expedite border security improvements.
The litigation that DHS faced while trying to implement a congressional mandate to secure the border is an example of what could have happened if the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348) had been enacted. The bill combined an amnesty "first" with the promise of enforcement "after." That enforcement would have met with legal obstacles similar to the ones faced by the other DHS efforts.
Existing congressional mandates and appropriations for enforcement at the border are sufficient to accomplish the task. Congress has appropriated funds to implement border security measures, and DHS has demonstrated the commitment to follow through. More must be done to finish the job. Congress and the Administration should do the following:
Increase internal enforcement of immigration. Congress should fully fund programs under the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security program, which facilitates federal, state, and local cooperation on immigration enforcement. Congress should also mandate Social Security "no-match" data sharing with the Department of Homeland Security so that the DHS can prosecute employers that intentionally hire workers who are not lawfully present in the United States. Significantly increase legal opportunities for employers to get the workers they need. This may be accomplished through the reform and expansion of existing visa worker programs and through "pilot projects" to develop new programs. These programs should be flexible and adaptable to market needs and should provide adequate levels of security and ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.
There is no need for a massive comprehensive immigration and border security effort by the Congress. However, additional measures are needed to restore the integrity of America's borders and immigration laws.
Already been posted here a couple of times.
Still, good news is often worth repeating.
Should be posted every hour to counter the Mike Savage demagogue crowd. Sadly there are those who read posts on here by looneys savaging Bush, Chertoff and McCain and believe them. Not every poster on FR is playing with a full deck.
All the true Conservatives and real Americans are opposed to guest workers, but Heritage is advocating guest workers.
I am totally opposed to aliens who are allowed to sneak into this country and then live openly ... marching in the streets and daring us to speak against them, harming our communities and community services like schools and hospitals. I am further opposed to anyone who wants to (once again) grant these flaunters of the law citizenship and a pathway for 40-60 million of their closest relatives to joint them.
Hopefully that clears up any misunderstandings.
The problem is that ‘their’ idea of a guest worker does not mirror most peoples. To me a guest worker stays through the harvest and goes home and does not bring his/her entire family with them. A guest worker does not stay for 3-5 years.
If the dems capture the presidency and expand their control of congress, they will probably abandon their compromise with McCain and replace all the temporary visas with permanent visas.
Or if McCain is elected with a Democrat Congress they will just make the 30-40 million legal period.
So what’s the diff?
bfl
I'll be very generous and even grant that a guest worker could stay for 2 years or so because transportation every year or twice a year is prohibitively expensive. I would even go so far as to say a spouse and a couple of children could come along if they pay their own way for everything, because it is compassionate to keep families together, especially if they are working hard to try and better themselves. But for years on end, soaking up the generous services that we insist on giving for unlimited periods of time ... NO.
Must also state that I am not in favor of expanded guest worker provisions unless and until the free flow of illegals, as well as drugs and guns, is halted on our borders.
In 2006, the cut-off date was three tiered.
Those here longer than ten years.
Those who had come prior to Jan 4, 2004 but had been here less than ten years.
Those that arrived after Jan 4, 2004.
In 2007(dems in control) it was divided into two groups. Pre Jan 1, 2007 and post Jan 1, 2007.
As for McCain as president, he will do what Reagan did. Sign what Congress sends him.
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