Skating on Thin ICE: Illegal Immigration Problems Continue to Snowball
George Weissinger, Ph.D.

Some argue it’s impossible to locate and remove all the illegal aliens that are now residing so comfortably in the U.S. Others argue that DHS-ICE simply does not have sufficient manpower and resources to fulfill this task. These are the arguments of those who do not seek solutions to difficult problems, who give up when the going gets tough. Then there are the suits who similarly complain that special agents cannot filter all the complaints that come in, or that other priorities preclude dealing with the illegal alien problem. This is a convenient response in support of political pressure. The last time I checked, most individuals who were victims of illegal aliens and wanted to report such violations could not get through to an officer at DHS-ICE to even lodge a complaint. This is simply unacceptable. There should be an 800 number where citizens can report illegal aliens to a person at the end of the line who will deal with it responsibly.

I am not suggesting that ICE respond to every complaint. The legacy INS did not respond to every complaint, but we did respond to many. When the INS had the Area-Control Illegal Status Units in full swing, thousands of illegal aliens were located and apprehended. Most of these arrests were based on employment complaints received from the public. As I understand it, ICE maintains that its priorities include apprehending illegal aliens who are convicted criminals or terrorists (and, of course, now human traffickers). Although enforcing all immigration laws is part of the mandate, locating and apprehending the millions of illegal aliens now residing in the U.S. is not part of that priority. How is it that in 1977, the New York INS office located and apprehended over 10,000 illegal aliens, while that same office now run by DHS reportedly located only 3,632 in 2006?

The apprehensions continue to decrease since 2003, when they should be increasing. I realize that ICE is an investigative agency, and not a police agency. However, one of the “investigationsâ€