Thread: House orders solid base line on border

House orders solid base line on border

Seeks new measurement for illegal immigration control


By Stephen Dinan/The Washington Times
May 30,2012

"We just can't change the rules if we don't like the results,"
said Rep. Candice S. Miller, Michigan Republican. (Associated Press)


When the Obama administration scrapped the old definition for measuring border security two years ago, it left the government without any way of measuring how much of the U.S.-Mexico border is under operational control.

On Wednesday, the House pushed back, approving a bill demanding that the Homeland Security Department come up with a good yardstick for measuring border security and produce a concrete plan to get the country closer to that goal.

The bill passed by voice vote and had the support of both Republican and Democratic leaders on homeland security issues, signaling a bipartisan desire for real data on whether the border is secure — a precondition both sides say is necessary before they can talk about legalizing illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

“We just can’t change the rules if we don’t like the results,” said Rep. Candice S. Miller, the Michigan Republican who sponsored Wednesday’s legislation prodding the administration.

Her bill orders Homeland Security to submit a plan within 180 days that would detail how to achieve control of the borders within five years.

Under the Bush administration, the government used a measure called “operational control,” which was defined as areas where the government could adequately detect and respond to illegal crossings.

At last check in 2011, Congress‘ auditors said the administration had just 44 percent of the border with Mexico under operational control, and just 2 percent of the Canadian border met that standard.

Lawmakers said the Obama administration stopped releasing operational control data in 2010. A year ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano announced that her department was working to come up with a new yardstick instead.

In the interim, it has been using apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the border as a measure, but all sides agree that has limitations. For example, nobody knows exactly how many people avoided capture and made it into the U.S., and it doesn’t account for those crossing only to drop off drugs.

A secure Southern border has become a key hurdle for President Obama’s push to legalize the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

The administration argues that it has made dramatic strides in security, but opponents point to the lack of total operational control as evidence that the situation is not resolved.

“Given that the Obama administration has given up reporting the level of operational control on the border, it’s no wonder Congress has to force them to come up with an approved plan to achieve it,” said Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who used to call for legalization but now says it must be put off while the country focuses on border security first.

Neither the Homeland Security Department nor Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the border strategy, replied to requests for comment Wednesday on either the legislation or on progress toward a new measure of security.

But in testimony to the House this month, Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said the old measures were part of the earlier strategy for a giant boost in manpower and infrastructure as the Border Patrol tried to build its capabilities.

Now with twice the personnel and armed with drones and other new technology, the Border Patrol says it’s ready to start looking at better measures — which it will call the Border Conditions Index — though what those are is still under development.

“The Border Conditions Index is a tool CBP created in response to requests by Congress for metrics to track and communicate conditions at the border,” Mr. Fisher said in a March letter to Rep. Darrell E. Issa, chairman of the House oversight committee. “In particular, the Border Conditions Index will be a measurement that attempts to combine various statistics and effects.”

He said the index was “currently undergoing peer review” but said it will try to measure the number of people who got away, as a key component.
Ms. Napolitano has also suggested it should measure border violence and the number of people deterred from trying to cross in the first place.
The index is supposed to be ready for use in fiscal year 2013, which begins in four months.

Frustration at the lack of a good measure spans both parties in Congress.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, approved of Wednesday’s bill, saying it was time to ask for a broad security strategy so Congress could see what kind of financial commitment it will take to get control of the borders.

The House bill also would require the administration to run its new Border Conditions Index by specialists at one of the government’s national laboratories to make sure the measures it chooses are acceptable.

Mrs. Miller said she is open to a new yardstick but that the administration needs to be upfront about what it will measure.

“What does a secure border look like to them? Of course I would think that an accountability matrix would use the miles of fence that have been built, all the various technologies, some of the aerial things — UAVs,” she said in an interview. “If that is what they’re going to be utilizing, then they need to explain it to the Congress.”

House orders solid base line on border - Washington Times

Her bill orders Homeland Security to submit a plan within 180 days that would detail how to achieve control of the borders within five years.

How weak is that!? Millions of illegal aliens running around inside America taking jobs, taxpayer resources, and sometimes American lives with thousands of illegal streaming into the US each night. It has gone on for years and the public has demanded action and the action we get is a bill that tells pro illegal alien amnesty supporter Janet Napolitano she has 180 days to give a plan to control the border in 5 years.

RIDICULOUS

America could take control of our southern border this week if we Congress and the President wanted to or if Congress was willing to do what it takes to.

W