Posted on 03/04/2006 1:04:23 PM PST by Icelander
Homeland Security secretary says security of nation depends on it
March 4, 2006 — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday stressed the importance of a guest worker program for the security of the nation during a visit to Brownsville.
“We are in the midst of a serious discussion about a guest worker program,” Chertoff said Friday at Alice Walker Hope Park, which is on the bank of the Rio Grande with a view of Gateway International Bridge. “Not as amnesty, not a reward, but a constructive mechanism to allow migrants in the U.S. to assume a strong labor demand.”
A mandatory identification card and background check would accompany any such program, Chertoff said, as part of a comprehensive plan to address border violence.
A guest worker program would allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to spend more time focusing on “dangerous” elements “we really worry about,” rather than on the many thousands of people who come to the country seeking work, Chertoff said.
Chertoff was accompanied by Mexican diplomats to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
Secretary of the Interior Carlos Abascal and Secretary of Public Safety Eduardo Medina Mora joined Chertoff to speak about the plan that aims to reduce border violence.
“Cooperation is what will allow us to resolve these issues,” Abascal said of the new agreement.
Abascal pointed to a 37 percent decrease in migrant deaths and a 27 percent decrease in illegal crossings along the Arizona-Sonora border as a shining example of binational agreements providing tangible results.
Two-thirds of all Mexican migrants cross through this region, said Pedro Espíndola Flores, the national director of the Mexican Border Patrol, Grupo Beta. Agreements between the two countries have reduced border violence and illegal activity along both sides of the border, Espíndola added.
There were fewer migrant deaths despite more crossings this year than in 2000, Espíndola said, and that is a prime example of a successful cooperation between law enforcement on both sides of the border.
Continued cooperation between the two countries will lead to new solutions to problems with border violence, Abascal said, but it would not “produce magic results.” Facing increasing violence by criminal and drug gangs requires a plan of action, Chertoff said. The recently signed memorandum of understanding will serve as the foundation for that plan, adding to the already budding relationship between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies.
In December 2005 the Border Patrol held an academy in Mexico to train officials there on search and rescue techniques. U.S. Customs officials also spent time training their Mexican counterparts with the aim to secure the border for the benefit of both sides, Chertoff said.
Well I'm certainly glad we invited those Mexican diplomats. We wouldn't want them to feel excluded from the festivities.
When will the Bush administration get it through their heads that we Don't need a guest workers program. If they implement this plan they are sure to sneak through an amnesty for the illegal aliens that are here already.
President Bush has mentioned this identification card for guest workers several times recently. How in the heck is that going to solve anything? Any illegal who does not have one is going to keep right on doing what they are doing now; masquerade as an American citizen. What a joke!
Until employers are forced to verify every employee's Social Security Number against a database, employers are going to keep on hiring them and making the pathetic claim that "we are not document experts; it looked like a real social security card to us".
The Bush plan will give the employers the best of both worlds! Guest workers and an abundant supply of illegals.
Shamnesty and the port deal, I guess Jorge Arbusto does not think national security should interfer with business.
What about people who easily go by three and four names????
How do you do a security check on aperson who uses fake names, no real identification, etcetc???
Call it what you will but its still breaking the law!Anybody who believes these people are coming here to work is lameheaded,besides it does'nt matter because they are not our responsibility to take care of.
NO guest worker program. We can't handle the illegals here now, how do they expect to handle the additional ones that arrive and insisit on SSN and benefits??????????
Our own citizens can't even get SSN benes.
More proof that Chertoff is on the way out the door.
They're now using him as cannon fodder...
The only thing that will get through to them is a big loss in November
What happens when the guest worker visa expires? Think they will march to the border along with family and belongings, ready and happy to return to Mexico or points south? This is another Bushtega/Karl delaying tactic until we are completely overrun with illegals. Bushtega and Karl, are selling out our America. Wake up and contact your elected officials before it is too late, although I think it may already be too late.
Yeah they think they can get away with anything they want because so far they have, but I think this one is going to bite them in the ass. At least I hope it does.
What about voting?
Clearly, Chertoff like Bush, are open border libertarians.
I am not against a guest worker program, but I want border security and interior enforcement first. A guest worker program won't stop illegal immigration. Anybody not accepted tru a guest worker program will simply enter accross the border illegally anyway.
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