Thread: Senate Immigration Bill Not Needed for Law Enforcement

June 15, 2007
Senate Immigration Bill Not Needed for Law Enforcement
by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

There already exist on the books numerous laws that, if enforced in a targeted manner, would discourage illegal immigration and the employment of undocumented labor, as well as send the signal that such activities will no longer be overlooked. Recent actions by the Administration prove that reasonable enforcement measures (well short of massive deportations) can reduce the number of illegal border crossings. In addition, Congress can take a number of modest actions that would strengthen enforcement, both at the border and in the workplace.

None of these measures require the kind of comprehensive legislation that was recently proposed in the Senate. The recently revived Senate immigration reform bill, which would grant immediate legal status to the 12 million or more people that are unlawfully present in the United States, would work at cross purposes with enforcement efforts: encouraging more illegal immigration; overburdening federal agencies; and complicating the task of upholding the rule of law.

Current Enforcement Efforts
Supporters of the Senate bill have propagated the myth that the bill is necessary to enhance border security and enforce immigration laws in the workplace. That claim is patently false. Virtually all of the useful security provisions in the draft legislation, including building barriers at the border and hiring more border patrols, were authorized in previous legislation (like the Secure Fence Act of 2006) and funded by Congress.

Indeed, the government is already using these tools. Formal removals (in which a judge orders an alien to leave) jumped from 178,000 in 2001 to 232,000 in 2006—a 30 percent increase. Last year, enforcement agents intercepted and turned back about 900,000 aliens attempting to cross the U.S–Mexico border. The Department of Homeland Security has already ended the controversial policy of “catch and release,â€

Great article!!!!