S.D.U.T. Editorial: Failed leadership

Allegations of Border Patrol arrest quotas part of systemic collapse
2:00 a.m. February 8, 2009

Critics of America's broken immigration system have sometimes made the observation that the U.S. Border Patrol is engaged in a nonstop game of hide and seek.

This isn't to say that what those brave men and women do every day to keep this country safe and protect our border isn't serious business. It is. What the critics are talking about is the apparent folly of rounding up and arresting and deporting tens of thousands of people every year, only to have many of them come back into the country through the revolving door of illegal immigration. In fact, some agents report arresting the same individual twice or three times in an eight-hour shift. That sort of thing will chip away at one's idealism.

Those who insist that the Border Patrol isn't playing games probably weren't pleased to learn of allegations by agents in Southern California that they were given arrest quotas and threatened with punishment if they failed to meet them. Agents at the Riverside substation say they were ordered to arrest at least 150 suspected illegal immigrants in January or risk a shift change.

The Border Patrol is investigating the charge. And while no one has been suspended or accused of any specific wrongdoing, officials with the agency have made it clear that these kinds of threats will not be tolerated.

That much is good to hear. Quotas are wrong and cynical, and they certainly have no place in the high-stakes world of law enforcement. But that might be the only good to come out of this bizarre story. For those of us who believe nothing will repair the current immigration system short of a comprehensive reform plan that blends together stricter enforcement, guest workers, a smoother path for legal immigrants, a tamper-proof ID card for workers and earned legalization for some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, stories such as these illustrate just how systemic is our failure to protect our border.

What is unfolding in Riverside is a relatively minor story that points to a major problem – one that needs fixing sooner rather than later. This isn't a game. It's a test of leadership that many have failed.

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