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Surveying the political landscape (the vast majority of illegals had heard about Bush's amnesty plan and tried to enter because of it)By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 10, 2005

Just when you thought the Bush administration simply could not be more inept about protecting our border with Mexico, just-released results of a survey of illegal immigrants confirm it can.

Minutes after President George W. Bush announced his virtual amnesty program on Jan. 7, 2004, for the almost 11 million foreigners who have sneaked into America, experts on illegal immigration warned that more would try to crash the party for Mr. Bush's citizenship giveaway.

Bush disagreed. He was wrong, of course. That's according to his own survey.

The day after the speech, U.S. Immigration and Border Protection started a stealth six-month survey of illegals captured by the Border Patrol.

When the story became public shortly thereafter, surveying ceased. But when the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, asked to see the roughly 1,700 surveys, the Bush administration stonewalled.

If only Bush's stonewalling would continue along the southern border.

The Freedom of Information Act forced the release of about 800 surveys. They indicated the vast majority of illegals had heard about Bush's amnesty plan and tried to enter because of it.

Who says President Bush is not a moving speaker?

"Someone in the administration, but not necessarily the president, was watching this day to day and used our border security agency for political purpose," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. The former schoolteacher has been leading the crusade to stop illegal immigration.

That "someone" was hoping a survey would lead to empirical evidence that illegals were not entering because of the speech, Mr. Tancredo said.

"When the responses did not come back the way they had hoped, they quickly opted to end it and tried to cover it up," he said. "If there is another 9/11 and the terrorists came across illegally, the blood of the people killed will be on every member of Congress and the president," Tancredo had said in a published report.

Karl Rove, Bush's political guru, read it. Mr. Rove then warned him never to darken the White House's door, Tancredo said. "Rove reminds me of Rasputin."

Calls to the White House requesting comment from Rasp ... um, Rove, were not returned.

Tancredo soon will introduce a bill demanding the military be used to help the Border Patrol. It will include $10,000 first-offense fines for employers of illegals. Prison after that. There will be some sort of guest-worker program but no amnesty.

Tancredo also founded a political action committee, Team America, to support candidates willing to stop illegal immigration. Two endorsed by his PAC ran in Republican primaries against incumbents. The challengers lost. But it sent a message to the GOP.

I called U. S. Customs and Border Protection about the survey-gate results.

"They are making conclusions with minimal information," said spokesman Mario Villarreal. "There is misinformation."

So, what is the truth?

"I am not going to provide a conclusion," Mr. Villarreal said. "I am going to have to go now. I just received information that a Border Patrol agent has just been shot."

End of call.

I phoned later that afternoon about the agent's condition.

"It appears that it was not life-threatening," Villarreal said.

Was the shooting job-related?

"Absolutely," he said.

Dimitri Vassilaros can be reached at dvassilaros@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5637.