Thread: Immigration is less of a lynchpin issue, says Janet Napolitano

Posted on September 17, 2012
By Raisa Camargo
VOXXI


A high-level official, Janet Napolitano, said the administration’s border enforcement strategy might lead to depoliticizing a possible path to other solutions on immigration.

Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was asked at a policy discussion whether it now makes sense to have a conversation on immigration reform considering the low level of migration flows into the United States.

Her response is that immigration reform is less of a “lynchpin issue or a red hot issue” in certain places of the country, while asserting that it’s still being debated in the presidential election. She clarified that the perception on immigration might be shifting.

“It’s a hard message to get out,” she said. “It’s a hard perception to change, but I think as that perception changes to match what is actually happening on the ground it does open the space to do some of these other initiatives that Alejandro Poire and I discussed today.”

She claimed that “illegal migration” into the United States hasn’t been this low since the 1970s. Several experts asserted that the border is more secure than ever indicating that for every agent, 20 migrants are held trying to cross.

Alejandro Poire, Mexico’s secretary of interior, joined Napolitano on the same day National Citizenship is celebrated and presidential Mitt Romney is expected to strengthen his commitment on legal immigration. The purpose of the discussion that took place at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C. was to reiterate the cooperation between the United States and Mexico.

Eventually, the discussion drifted to border security.

Lessening the drug violence

Napolitano’s assessment of securing the border has drawn backlash from those who believe millions are being invested on an interminable solution.

Experts such as Maureen Meyer of the Washington Office of Latin America, a non-profit think-tank of U.S.-Latin American relations, said although much progress has been made on enforcement, the human cost is equally trifling.

“They’re actually putting migrants at more risk,” Meyer told VOXXI.

This is equally true on both sides of the border, she asserted.

During the discussion, Mexico’s interior secretary Poire emphasized that the buildup along the border and the cooperation received by the United States has lessened the violence in Mexico including cities such as Tijuana and Juarez.

He pointed to different infrastructure strategies being implemented in Mexico that requires police officers to be thoroughly vetted. He cited that 150,000 local officers were approved through a systematic nationalized process.

“We’re working very hard to improve the social fabric in particular areas such as the border towns where we have seen crime actually made some of its damning effects thanks to the strategy and collaboration of the United States,” he said.

The homicide rate in Tijuana is probably 75 to 80 percent less than what is was three years ago, he claimed.

Migrants more at risk?

Meyer countered while that is true, there is no real consensus to substantiate the cause for reducing the violence. In addition, she cited that migrants who are being deported from the United States are becoming prey for criminal groups operating in those cities.

“I think that is something where we haven’t seen a very high level dialogue from both countries on how we can ensure that U.S. repatriation policies aren’t putting migrants on increased risk by deporting them to dangerous cities on the Mexican side of the border,” she said.

Death on the border is pretty steady, even though migration has dropped more individuals are placed in risky situations.

Yet, according to government officials, lessening the drug violence and economic improvement has an indirect effect on immigration flow into the United States. It also counters the image perception both administrations face.

Meyer stated it’s still not known whether the next Congress will take these measures into account and focus on immigration reform.

For now Napolitano offered a glimmer of hope. She agreed that shifting the strategy to focus not just on enforcement, but on strengthening the social fabric to lessen the violence in Mexico is credited to both governments and eventually will lead to more consensus.

“It’s much more controlled than what it was on its peak,” Napolitano said.

Immigration is less of a lynchpin issue, says Janet Napolitano

3 sources quoted in this 'article' and each one of them supports a form of AMNESTY for illegal aliens. Not one voice in this publication from those of us representing a majority of Americans on this issue that favor more enforcement instead of amnesty.

W