Thread: Chertoff Vows to Ratchet Up Immigration Enforcement

Chertoff vows to ratchet up immigration enforcement



Associated Press - August 8, 2007 10:24 AM ET

BOSTON (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff tells a national gathering of state lawmakers that he'll ratchet up enforcement of immigration laws.

He's says that's what's needed without the comprehensive immigration reform law recently killed in Congress.

Chertoff says the failure of the bill has forced his agency to do what it can with the tools it has.

Cherfoff was speaking today at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston.

Advocates for immigrants have criticized some immigration law enforcement, including raids on workplaces, such as a recent raid in New Bedford.

Chertoff said such enforcement has been "tough" because it requires disrupting families.

But he said his agency has an obligation to enforce the law.


http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/ ... 5&nav=F2DO

I swear that man looks like a crack addict!

I swear that man looks like a crack addict!

I don't really get this. Why wasn't he doing anything before? Why is he now 'ratcheting' up? Or talking about it?

What other 'tools' does he need?

Just go after the big employers and the little ones will get the message. The illegals will go home, many of them will, taking their anchor babies with them. Maybe then we can smoke out all the violent criminals since they can't hide among the others.

I'm distrustful but hoping they are going to truly do something because their backs are against the wall to prove their doing their jobs.

Chertoff laments failure of immigration reform
By Ken Maguire, Associated Press Writer | August 8, 2007

BOSTON --Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a national gathering of state lawmakers Wednesday that he would ratchet up enforcement of immigration laws, including at the workplace, in lieu of comprehensive immigration reform.

Chertoff, speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures, lamented the failure of a bill that would have paved the way for millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens. That bill, supported by President Bush but opposed by conservative Republicans and some Democrats, failed on the Senate floor.

"We shouldn't have a patchwork of laws. We should be doing a comprehensive federal solution, but we haven't got that thing done," he said. "What I can tell you is we will certainly use every enforcement tool that we have, and every resource that we have available, to tackle the problem."

Chertoff, both in his speech and in a brief interview with The Associated Press, did not offer specifics of what he called "tool sharpening."

"We are currently looking at all of the tools that we have, without congressional action," he told The AP. "We're going to see where we can sharpen some of those tools up. We're going to throw everything that we have on the federal side into this issue of trying to address our immigration problem."

But on Friday, Homeland Security officials said they expect to soon announce new rules requiring employers to fire workers with questionable Social Security numbers. Employers would be notified when a worker's name or Social Security number is flagged by the Social Security Administration.

Employers who don't comply could face fines of $250 to $10,000 per illegal worker and incident.

Advocates for immigrants have been critical of enforcement, including raids on workplaces, saying they result in the separation of families.

"It's been tough sometimes because it's required disrupting families, and that's always an unpleasant thing to do, but we have an obligation to enforce the law," Chertoff said.

Vermont Rep. Linda Martin opposes workplace crackdowns in her state. She said Vermont farmers rely on foreign workers, most of whom are illegal, she said.

"We'd like to make it legal, and the farmers do, too," said Martin, Democrat who represents Lamoille County, near Stowe. "There are farms that are actually selling out because they cannot find help. They're not finding the average American wanting to work on a farm."

But Maryland Rep. Steven Schuh supported Chertoff's efforts.

"Employers who break the law and hire illegal laborers should be subject to enforcement action," said Schuh, a Republican from Anne Arundel County who said the top complaint from his constituents is illegal workers.

Chertoff also addressed the federal government's Real ID Act of 2005, which sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.

Several states, including Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming, have balked at the requirements.

Chertoff said states opposed to Real ID do so at their own risk. Driver's licenses that fall short of the law's standards can't be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building.

"This is not a mandate. A state doesn't have to do this," he said. "But we've been very clear and the law is very clear, if the state doesn't have at the end of the day, the end of the deadline, Real ID compliant licenses, then that state cannot expect that those licenses will be accepted for federal purposes."

That state's residents would then have to rely on other forms of identification, such as a passport or military ID, he said.

"I recognize that may not seem like much of a choice," Chertoff said, but added the deadline for states to comply was extended to December 2009, with all citizens required to have the licenses by 2013.

In addition to concerns about infringing on privacy rights, many states have complained that the federal government has not funded the Real ID initiative.

"If the federal government thinks that's a good idea, they ought to send us the money to do that," said Minnesota Sen. Thomas Bakk, a Democrat from Cook, near the border with Canada.

Bakk said he's more concerned with another federal mandate -- requiring passports to enter the United States by land from Canada. Homeland Security says starting next year travelers need passports to enter the United States by land from Canada and Mexico.

"Most people where I live probably don't have (a passport)," he said. "People who want to historically just go across the river to go fishing haven't had them. It's another $100 inconvenience."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermon ... on_reform/

Oh ha! Was this the results of the meeting with Graham?

Chertoff was the front man for the Bush administration on the Senate AMNESTY Bill.

Now, we are supposed to believe he is going to get tough? I doubt it. This is probably just more bull shit like the Wall and the Guard on the Border.

W

Wouldn't you all like to know how Chertoff really feels?

He probably wakes up and calls his boss to see how he's suppose to talk and act that day.

He will go down with Bush. Just wait until the first bomb goes off in the United States. That will be a sad day when we can blame this on open borders and on a President who is supposed to protect us and our Constitution.