A reality check on immigration



By JANET NAPOLITANO | 10/5/11 12:19 PM EDT

Amid all the rhetoric surrounding the illegal immigration, it is often hard to keep track of the facts.

Those who like to debate this topic have simultaneously described the Obama administration’s policies as engaging in a mean-spirited effort to blindly deport record numbers of illegal immigrants or, alternatively, as comprehensive amnesty that ignores our responsibility to enforce the immigration laws.

Clearly, it’s time for a reality check.

As President Barack Obama and I both said in El Paso, Texas, earlier this year — and mayors, police chiefs, community leaders and an array of publications have noted since — security along the US - Mexico border is at an all-time high. Indeed, those who live and work there insist that it is safe and open for business.

Over the last two and a half years, the Obama Administration has committed unprecedented resources to border security. As a result, we have seen dramatic declines in illegal immigration and dramatic increases in seizures of illegal weapons, cash, drugs and contraband. This year, we will yet again see a historic drop in illegal crossings, and more and more contraband seized.

So any claim that this border is overrun or out of control is inconsistent with the facts.

We have also refined how we go about immigration enforcement in the nation’s interior. Our approach directs the limited resources we have been given to bolster commonsense priorities like public safety, border security and the integrity of the immigration system.

This approach has included adopting new policies — like a new process that ensures those enforcing immigration laws make appropriate use of their existing discretionary authorities. We also expanded the use and frequency of investigations and programs, like Secure Communities, that track down criminals and gang members on our streets and in our jails.

These efforts are producing results. We have achieved record levels of enforcement, over the past two years, even as we have moved to focus our efforts in line with our priorities.

In 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed more than 195,000 convicted criminals — more than had ever been previously removed and 81,000 more than ICE removed in FY 2008. For the first time in decades, 50 percent of the immigrants removed from our country had been convicted of a criminal offense.

We have achieved similar results with regard to illegal immigrants who meet other priorities. More than two-thirds of those we removed in 2010 were either recent border crossers or repeatedly violate our immigration laws.

This year, I expect removals will again be at historic levels. When we announce these year-end removal numbers, some will undoubtedly say that the Department of Homeland Security is doing its jobs too effectively.

What those critics ignore is that while the overall number of individuals removed will exceed prior years, the composition of that number will consist of more convicted criminals, recent border crossers and repeat immigration law violators than ever before.

There has never been, nor will there be in these tight fiscal times, sufficient resources to remove all those unlawfully in the country.

But we will continue to be smart and effective in how we enforce the laws on the books. We also aim to continue to urge Congress to amend and improve the laws in substantial and comprehensive ways.

That is our commitment to the American people, to the men and women of DHS who keep our country safe — and to our heritage as both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

Janet Napolitano is the secretary of Homeland Security.

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