Thread: THE VIEW FROM A BORDER GOVERNOR

Governor of Arizona

The Myth of Amnesty

The Senate Immigration Bill vs. a Disastrous Status Quo

By Janet Napolitano

Sunday, June 10, 2007; B07

On the subject of immigration, my plea to Congress is loud and clear: You can't quit now. Last week the Senate was on the verge of addressing our broken immigration system. No, the compromise bill wasn't perfect. But our current system is a disaster. I implore lawmakers to go back to the table, iron out their differences and give us an immigration system that is enforceable, and the resources to enforce it.

Opponents of the Senate immigration bill -- those who really want to do nothing -- merely yelled "amnesty" in place of reasoned opposition. They were -- and are -- just plain wrong. Don't let them derail your efforts.

No one favors illegal immigration. But there are upwards of 12 million people illegally in this country -- people who work, who have settled their families and who have raised their children here. For 20 years our country has done basically nothing to enforce the 1986 legislation against either the employers who hired illegal immigrants or those who crossed our borders illegally to work for them. Accordingly, our current system is, effectively, silent amnesty.

If we have no comprehensive immigration reform this year, and if we do not deal rigorously and openly with those already here, silent amnesty will continue. As a border-state governor who has dealt with immigration issues more than any other governor I know of, I am certain that continued inaction by Congress -- silent amnesty -- is the worst of all worlds.

Consider what happens when we have an immigration system that is based on silent amnesty and that is unenforced and unenforceable. To look "tough," what little enforcement we have ends up being arbitrary and unfair. For example:

· A man in the United States illegally was pulled over in Phoenix and charged with driving under the influence. Immigration officers arrested him, his wife and their 19-year-old son, who were also here illegally. An aunt says that their 12-year-old daughter -- who is an American citizen -- cries every day for the family members who had to leave her behind. This is a fair immigration system?

· The Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency has sent several top-ranking students from Arizona State University to a camp in Eloy, Ariz., to await deportation to countries they have never lived in. The students have earned top marks, have never been in serious legal trouble and by all measures are primed to become productive members of our economy. This is a wise immigration policy?

· A team from an Arizona high school that has a high percentage of immigrant students went to Upstate New York in 2002 to compete in a science fair. After winning the top prize, the students crossed into Canada to see Niagara Falls -- and were stopped at the border when they tried to return. After nine hours of interrogation they were allowed back into the United States, but a years-long legal battle ensued over whether they should be deported. We spent precious law enforcement resources on these high school students rather than on combating putative terrorist threats or, indeed, on infectious tuberculosis carriers. This is good homeland security?

Don't label me soft on illegal immigration. As a U.S. attorney (predating the Gonzales Justice Department), I supervised the prosecution of more than 6,000 immigration felonies. I govern a state where, in 2005, there were 550,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants. I declared a state of emergency at our border that year, and I was the first governor in the nation to call for assistance from the National Guard. I have also established task forces on vehicle theft and the manufacture of fraudulent identification to complement federal law enforcement efforts.

State measures, however, will never substitute for federal legislation that addresses all aspects of immigration, from border security to employer sanctions to pathways to citizenship. It is fundamentally unfair and unrealistic to suggest that our system remain as it is and ignore the 12 million who ran the gantlet at the border and managed to find work in our country. It is not "amnesty" to require these individuals to earn the privilege of citizenship, as have the millions of immigrants who came before them. While illegal immigration is a crime, "amnesty" is a bumper sticker -- not a solution.

We need comprehensive reform, and we need it this year.

The writer, a Democrat, is governor of Arizona.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 99_pf.html

We need comprehensive reform, and we need it this year.

NO! We need to enforce our existing laws, and deport the 12 million to 30 million illegal aliens living in this country.

By Janet Napolitano

This lady is a fine example of what's wrong with this debate. She tries to act tough but is a bleeding heart liberal through and through.

This about says it all for me:

It is fundamentally unfair and unrealistic to suggest that our system remain as it is and ignore the 12 million who ran the gantlet at the border and managed to find work in our country.

Securing our border and enforcing our laws is not the status quo! You have to perform a function for a period of time before it can be considered the status quo. The status quo is an existing condition or state of affairs. We have yet to make a serious attempt at securing our borders and we certainly haven't done a diligent job of interior enforcement.

Hear! Hear! MW, Janet has been very out spoken on where she stands so this does not surprise me at all!! Yet another one who wants the cheap labor, how did she get elected? I would have never voted for this woman!!

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LETS ROLL!! you are the new patriots!

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Yes, I saw this I also wrote urging her to reconsider support of this travesty but when it comes right down to it, she's just another one who can no longer be trusted.

I think we Arizonans gave her benefit of the doubt and, to be fair, some of what she's done DOES have merit and should be dealt with as part of the big picture in fighting illegal immigration. But...and it's a huge "but"......after awhile we couldn't help but notice that it was probably all just to shut us up for 10 minutes while she panders to illegals and their supporters.

For instance, she was all for troops at the border and screaming the loudest when Bush decided to start sending them to Iraq, yet she vetoes everything that comes across her desk which would really put a stop to all of this once and for all. Then, when it's forced to go on the ballot and we overwhemingly vote it in, she spends considerable time and energy looking for reasons why it can't be implemented / enforced at all, or has to be changed (to the advantage of illegals, of course) because it's unconstitutional blah, blah, blah.

From where I'm sitting, this state is going down fast with no room in the lifeboats for non Mexican citizens and, quite frankly, we don't need any more of this kind of "help" from Janet.

to ALIPAC azwreath, and thanks for the input from someone from Arizona, hope your here to join in the fight with us, Looks like your realize its a tough fight and we need all the help we can get!!! Again welcome!!!

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

to ALIPAC azwreath, and thanks for the input from someone from Arizona, hope your here to join in the fight with us, Looks like your realize its a tough fight and we need all the help we can get!!! Again welcome!!!

Thanks for such a nice welcome!!! You bet I'm here to join the fight!! If not us, who?

azwreath, exactly!!! and your welcome!!

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

azwreath, exactly!!! and your welcome!!

It's okay to do away with the az and just call me wreath....I'm not big on formalities, lol.

Originally Posted by azwreath

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

azwreath, exactly!!! and your welcome!!

It's okay to do away with the az and just call me wreath....I'm not big on formalities, lol.

You got it and they call me most of the time "SOSAD"