Thread: NYT Ed.: Enforcement Gone Bad-Dream on!

February 22, 2009
Editorial
Enforcement Gone Bad
The failures of the immigration system are many and severe, but the main problem is not that the country is catching too few undocumented immigrants. It is catching too many. Since the early 1990s, you could write the federal government’s immigration strategy on a cardboard sign: Deport Them All.

A report last week from the Pew Hispanic Center laid bare some striking results of that campaign. It found that Latinos now make up 40 percent of those sentenced in federal courts, even though they are only about 13 percent of the adult population. They accounted for one-third of federal prison inmates in 2007.

The numbers might suggest we are besieged by immigrant criminals. But of all the noncitizen Latinos sentenced last year, the vast majority — 81 percent — were convicted for unlawfully entering or remaining in the country, neither of which is a criminal offense.

The country is filling the federal courts and prisons with nonviolent offenders. It is diverting immense law-enforcement resources from pursuing serious criminals — violent thugs, financial scammers — to an immense, self-defeating campaign to hunt down ... workers.

The Pew report follows news this month that even as a federal program to hunt immigrant fugitives saw its budget soar — to $218 million last year from $9 million in 2003 — its mission went astray. According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, of the 72,000 people arrested through last February, 73 percent had no criminal record. Border Patrol agents in California and Maryland, meanwhile, tell of pressure to arrest workers at day-labor corners and convenience stores to meet quotas.

The country needs to control its borders. It needs to rebuild an effective immigration system and thwart employers who cheat it. It needs to bring the undocumented forward and make citizen taxpayers of them.

For all the billions spent on fences, raids, patrols and prisons, the number of illegal immigrants has steadily grown to about 12 million last year from four million in 1992. So has the need to overhaul the many parts of a festering, broken system: to clear out backlogs in legal immigration, to rescue families from limbo, to throw sunlight on the shadow economy, to deter unlawful hiring, to replace chaos with lawfulness and order. All those priorities have languished in the deportation era.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/op..._r=1&th&emc=th

It needs to bring the undocumented forward and make citizen taxpayers of them.

It needs to send illegals HOME with their anchor babies!!!

Originally Posted by vortex

The numbers might suggest we are besieged by immigrant criminals. But of all the noncitizen Latinos sentenced last year, the vast majority — 81 percent — were convicted for unlawfully entering or remaining in the country, neither of which is a criminal offense.

If its not a crime, then why are they in prison for unlawfully entering or failure to leave the country????

This is why the NYT is losing money

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Originally Posted by vortex

The numbers might suggest we are besieged by immigrant criminals. But of all the noncitizen Latinos sentenced last year, the vast majority — 81 percent — were convicted for unlawfully entering or remaining in the country, neither of which is a criminal offense.

If its not a crime, then why are they in prison for unlawfully entering or failure to leave the country????

This is why the NYT is losing money

Exactly. The one bright star in this economic collapse is that the New York Times might go out of business.

James, why would we want to keep them if they didn't keep their word and their honor and leave when they should have.

They are making a mockery of US stupidity!!! And feel sorry for me, what about my kids.


Oh boo hoo. Send them all back!!

The country needs to control its borders. It needs to rebuild an effective immigration system and thwart employers who cheat it. It needs to bring the undocumented forward and make citizen taxpayers of them.

So the ones who jump thru hoops to emigrate legally will be punished? What's the point of having laws if we're going to reward lawbreakers? Lousy argument man, all illegals MUST be deported. No rewards for them.

To clarify, I did not write any of this, but actually barfed when I read it.
I don't understand why anyone illegally entering this country is not a criminal offender, as they are committing fraud (probably in more ways than one.) Try that with an insurance company and you get chained to the wall with leg irons in a prison cell.
Sorry, but the I just came here to better my life argument for this invasion is not washing. They came here with what I call criminal intent to pop out babies, get free medical care in emegency rooms, get food stamps and welfare, plus take away the jobs that any American will do just to feed their families. We don't need additional pressure on our resources nor our economy, but I suppose the editorial board offices have no idea what is going on in the city or state to cause serious financial crises. And they have the nerve to pontificate.
Comments can be sent to: letters@nytimes.com.

For all the billions spent on fences, raids, patrols and prisons, the number of illegal immigrants has steadily grown to about 12 million last year from four million in 1992.

They've basically just started doing it after years of doing nothing. The fence still isn't built, and no one was allowed to take the action needed to fix this when it would have been easier. Even now it's not nearly enough so until they get things going, 100% full force, I'm not going to raise the white flag and claim they beat us.

Duplicate

Original: http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-147142.html