Thread: Op-ED:New job, title mustn't alter Napolitano's border views

Our Opinion: New job, title mustn't alter Napolitano's border views

Napolitano hasn't shied from criticizing border, immigration woes under predecessor Michael Chertoff.


January 08, 2009, 3:43 p.m.
Tucson Citizen
letters@tucsoncitizen.com

Gov. Janet Napolitano appears set for a quick confirmation in the U.S. Senate, putting her on track to be secretary of Homeland Security within a few weeks.

But once Napolitano's ensconced in Washington, D.C., we hope she won't shy away from the tough language she leveled at her predecessor.

The topic in those previous exchanges was the border and illegal immigration - which soon will fall under Napolitano's purview.

It seems certain Napolitano will sail through the confirmation process. She met this week with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which will handle her confirmation hearing.

After meeting with Napolitano, Lieberman called her a "suberb" nominee and urged his colleagues to quickly approve her. That seems likely to happen before the end of January.

Napolitano is indeed well-suited to the position - largely because she has headed a border state. She also has a common-sense approach to immigration reform that balances stronger border security with the need for a guest worker program and a way to deal with the 12 million people in the country illegally.

And as governor, Napolitano has not been shy in expressing her anger and opposition to the federal government's inaction.

The Associated Press reported that Napolitano and current Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff frequently exchanged correspondence on border-related problems.

In August 2005, Napolitano wrote a letter that said agents in the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office refused to work with state and local law enforcement officials: "This bewildering resistance is a further example of ICE's inattention to Arizona."

She soon will supervise those agents she harshly criticized.

Napolitano also has sent several invoices to Washington requesting reimbursement for state-incurred charges for medical care, incarceration, law enforcement and other services for illegal immigrants. The bills, requesting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payment, have been ignored.

Napolitano has been a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform - a matter President-elect Obama has said is high on his agenda. We would like to see Obama charge Napolitano with being his point person on the issue.

And we hope Napolitano's immigration views expressed in Washington do not differ substantially from her immigration views expressed in Arizona.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/border/107148.php

Wow I guess our illegal immigration problems are over.

Any one want to buy a bridge?