A top immigration official responded to criticism of a program to remove dangerous illegal immigrants.
John Morton, an assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a letter to the New York Times that a new federal fingerprinting program has led to the identification of more than 11,000 arrested illegal immigrants “charged with or convicted of serious crimes like rape and murder.”
His letter was in response to a Times editorial last month calling for immigration reform and saying that it was wrong for Janet Napolitano, President Obama's homeland security secretary, to “boast” about the program known as Secure Communities. (The Mecklenburg County Sheriff will soon be using the program in conjunction with its 287(g) program.) The Times editorial board said Napolitano failed to point out that minor violators were also caught up in a program that is aimed at more serious offenders.
"Laws must be enforced, but doing it this way hurts the innocent, creating a short line from Hispanic to immigrant to illegal to criminal. Having brown skin, speaking Spanish, seeming nervous in the presence of flashing police lights — none of those things say anything about whether you are here illegally or not, are deport able or not. But any one of them can be enough to get you pulled over in jurisdictions across the country” -- The New York Times editorial board.
Obama says he wants a similar form of immigration reform that the Times editorial board calls for. Napolitano and Morton point out that reform is necessary, but not, as Morton wrote, “without also providing smart and effective enforcement tools.”The back and forth highlights the two public faces Obama is trying to present as he seeks to curry favor with opposing sides of the immigration debate.
To pass any immigration reform bill, Obama needs to convince citizens that 1.) it’s necessary and good for the country to allow law-abiding illegal immigrants a chance to earn legal status and 2.) that the government can actually control the borders and curb immigrant-related crime.
As can be seen by the Times editorial board, it's not going to be easy.
"President Obama has repeatedly assured 12 million illegal immigrants that he will fight to give them the chance to earn the right to stay. His administration should not undermine that noble effort by carelessly lending credibility to the view that the future citizens living and working among us are a class of criminals."
Photos: AP
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27 comments:
Well, maybe if there weren't already 12 MILLION ILLEGALS already here (often at the
aid and encouragement of the
"legals"), this wouldn't be
a problem.
You reap what you sow.
Illegal is illegal, they have already broken the law.
Major versus minor; you're arguing over semantics: they are ALL violators.
Try sneaking into and living in any other country illegally and see what happens.
Illegal Immigrants or Illegal Aliens?
Federal Laws are already in place which our Government ignores and under-staff's INS for Big Business PAC funds to drive down American worker / US Citizen wage's.
The Media say's over 60% of all American's are for some form of Immigration for the Illegal's that have already broken Federal Laws to be here.
I know about 200 people and not one is for Immigration and pretty much all of them are 100% against any form of Immigration.
Yes we exploited Latino's for cheap labor and profited from it but all of the costs are passed down to American Citizens.
Look up House Bill 1804, the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 - Oklahoma decided to enforce the Federal Laws on the State level (opposed by the Federal Government of course).
"Terrill, R-Moore, a fierce opponent of illegal immigration, said as many as 346 inmates in Oklahoma prisons ultimately could qualify for deportation under the law, which he said would save the state up to $7 million over the next few years.
"Terrill, R-Moore, a fierce opponent of illegal immigration, said as many as 346 inmates in Oklahoma prisons ultimately could qualify for deportation under the law, which he said would save the state up to $7 million over the next few years."
Google it - you will be amazed on some of the reported State Savings.
After doing so AZ, CO, UT and NM had to stiffen up their immigration laws due to the over-flow of Illegal ALIENS coming there from Oklahoma.
They are a burden to our society not to mention many have a totally different value system - I was in South America with work for just about a year - trust me or Google the house bill and read for yourself.
Don't expect Franco or The Observer to post this story (BTW - it's from the Washington Post, so the Observer has access to it. It's on the Latino birth rate).
Here's the link I mentioned in the previous post - to the Washington Post story. It didn't transmit the first time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/10/AR2009121002346.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline
"led to the identification of more than 11,000 arrested illegal immigrants “charged with or convicted of serious crimes like rape and murder"
___________________
The degree of pandering to the illegal aliens in this nation is disgusting.
Why on earth in these days and times are we worried about the feelings of lawbreakers and separating 'minor' from 'serious' lawbreakers?
votes? and future votes?
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"President Obama has repeatedly assured 12 million illegal immigrants that he will fight to give them the chance to earn the right to stay."
spending my money for that effort is anything but noble.
disgusting liberal politicians, caring more about an illegal alien population then its own citizens....
When a criminal CHOOSES to break the law, he/she has to bear the consequences, and unfortunately, so do some innocents closeby. That's life. In real life, not everybody gets a trophy at the end of the game.
Why do these people sneak across the border in the middle of the night as opposed to walking across at noon time?
Doesn't anyone on this blog ever read the articles before posting? The point of the article is that lack of comprehensive immigration reform has led to terrified buffoons lumping stereotypes together--the very first poster is the exact case in point. What did legal immigrants "sow"?
What did the millions (yes, millions) of non-immigrant Hispanics sow, except what all Americans sow plus disproportionately high casualty rates in every war in the 20th Century? (I grant, my ancestors saw relatively little action in the Civil War, once the Texans' dreams of treasonous glory died at Glorieta Pass.)
Stereotyping is used to create false group ideologies. It is essentially meaningless in the real world.
It is easy to say "deport them" on a bumper sticker. Comprehensive immigration reform requires real work.
If you are not up to the sort of adult conversation that the work requires, then get out of the way.
"Legal" immigration is fine and supported by and large by the legal residents of the U.S.
The rub here is that citizens of other countries that have entered our country in an illegal manner seem to think they should be allowed to stay and enjoy the same benefits as the lawful citizens and residents of our land. There's nothing at all wrong with their wanting to better themselves and their families, but they should do so in a legally prescribed and accepted manner. Not by entering illegally and then having the audacity to "demand" that they be not only allowed to stay, but welcomed with open arms.
Do it legally, or don't do it at all!!
ENFORCE THE DAMN LAW
Peregrino:
Excellent points, well thought out, needed for those willing to actually think about the true issue. Thanks for that.
I think Marvin missed your point, but I really appreciated it.
The pendulum has swung so far to the left that the return stroke to the right will be quite a backlash. With the wars, depression/recession, immigration and health care disputes the anger continues to rise. The comments to your articles reflect the dissatisfaction and hate growing in this country. Just continue to stir the pot, you must know what will happen.
e fools in Washington don't have a clue, about the consequence of calling for another Comprehensive Immigration Reform package. Has anybody really got any conceivable idea of the ramifications, once President Obama and his political troops whisper AMNESTY. It will be like the final Marconi radio SS (Save our Souls) urgent message from the sinking HMS Titanic? Those perpetrators who want to pass a bill of Immigration reform, are completely ignorant of the masses of humanity that will be pushing against the border fence. From the tip of South America to the huge continent of Asia, new peoples are already biding their time? It will not matter if E-Verify becomes a permanent fixture or even if Homeland Security fully empowers once again the uniformed police 287 (g) federal immigration detainment bill. Even a sudden surge in ICE raids or any enforcement matters will be completely obsolete, as millions more will be swarming the border barrier. It might as not exist, for all the good it will do against millions of destitute, sick, handicapped, pregnant, criminal and just illegal immigrants looking for a better life. Tell me who is going to stop this sudden surge in numbers, that will start moving towards the fence in Canada and the Southern border line. Then we have tourists and students who have arrived for years by aircraft, but never returned to their home country. People trying to cross the undermanned border will never end. Knowing that there is always a chance of another AMNESTY, those who cannot make it in their own country will keep on coming--and never STOP?
Has anybody with at least one brain cell in their head, considered that once somebody yells AMNESTY--everybody and their Grandmother are going to be slipping across the border or boarding a jet to come here. Neither the Border Patrol, National Guard or Jesus Christ himself are going to stop, the millions of destitute, uneducated, unskilled foreign labor and all the rest in this behemoth deluge? They will wait for the call to go out and just like the 1986 AMNESTY, they will appear with fraudulent documents, that indicates they have been here 5 years or more. Those 3 million people who were legitimized, turned into 5 million after the Simpson/Mazzoli bill was ratified? We already are subsidizing 20 to 30 million foreign national families, whose going to pay for the unknown number waiting just across the fence? Its going to be the unmentionable mass numbers, exiting from every far corner of the impoverished countries on this Earth to be departing for America. GOD HELP THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ITS SURVIVAL.
So get on the phone and demand as a voter for your lawmaker to vote for THE SAVE ACT (H.R. 3308) and be relentless. The number to call is 202-224-3121. Also bombard the House-Senate policy makers with 28 cent postcards, to stop the open border organizations from engineering another Path to citizenship or AMNESTY. Tell them to amend the 1986 Immigration Reform Act, not another facade that was a bloated with fraud. Understand that THE SAVE ACT will protect American jobs and remove illegal immigrants from working locations over time. Those who believe in America’s survival, without OVERPOPULATION as stated by the US Census bureau better read the facts, not the lies at NUMBERSUSA. Those who want details of corruption in WASHINGTON and state government go to JUDICIAL WATCH. For Overpopulation statistics, should go to CAPSWEB. Other sites of interest on Immigration enforcement is ALIPAC and AMERICAN PATROL.
Get some balls and enforce the law, Mr. President. It's as simple at that. Illegal is illegal, just like someone previous stated. If the law says you can't come into this country illegally, than there you go. Cut and dry. Hasta la vista.
I would like to make a question to all the anti-Immigrant bashers.
When the first relative of your family decided to move from Europe to America, 40, 60 or 100 years ago, Does she/he, had a visa....or just they brought a passport arriving in Ellis Island, where a friendly Immigration officer smiled while said Welcome to America? "If your house has crystal roof, do not throw rocks to the tile roof of your neighbor".
America is overcrowded as it is sow. I don't care of an illegal immigrants crime is major or minor THEY ARE ILLEGAL...PERIOD! We cannot build more land for those who are herre illegally! WHEN will this BS end? I am tired of paying for those who have never paid to be here! I am a hile female...who is NOW discriminated against. Just try being white and aksing for help these days..GOOD LUCK! It ain't gonna happen! Heck, NC does not even put your RACE on your DL now days if YOU are white???
Blame Bush since he allowed 10s of millions illegals in to "do jobs nobody else would do" building the millions of foreclosed homes in the great "American Dream" myth and now look what happened with the derivatives scheme and millions lying to get quick money.
Today we have 2.5 quadrillion in US toxic assets with no letup in sight.
All this after a rigged 911 to go to war and eliminate Islam.
Obama thinks he is crafty waiting until 2011 or 2012 to legalize these illegals so they can vote for him a 2nd term.
Too bad that wont happen after the DNC loses Congress in 2010 even though both Democrat and Republic parties suck.
It's time we stood up and took back AMERICA. I am sick and tired of being asked what language. This is American and if they want to be here they need to be legal....speak our language and be self-supporting. I do not want to support them. Would any country support us if we went to their country... He.. NO. The criminals are the ones coming here. If you are illegal you need to be deported IMMEDIATELY. Can we not protect our borders any better than we have???? I am sure you would be shot if you tried to enter their country illegal. Let's do the same for them. They are not scared of what we will do.
The latest word on my groups is that an amnesty bill is being submitted today by 'Slick Louie' Guttierez. Keep your eyes open for this, folks!
And for the record, the outrage expressed by American citizens is NOT connected to legal immigration. It's connected to the invasion of our country by millions of illegal aliens that have flooded our borders over the last 20 years. With an estimated 20 million (yes MILLION!) illegals in this country, you can be confident that a large portion of your tax dollars are being spent on welfare programs, free healthcare, free education, etc.
All we're demanding is that our laws be followed and to put an end to this invasion.
Here we go!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clarissa-martinez-de-castro/comprehensive-immigration_b_392621.html
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