Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Little Bo-peep and immigration enforcement


Do you remember the nursery rhyme about the lost sheep?
“Leave them alone, and they’ll [go] home,
wagging their tails behind them.”

Before discussing how that applies to illegal aliens, let me provide a little background. 

Were you aware that in January of 2004 the Bush administration conducted a survey of the people the Border Patrol caught crossing into the United States?  Well, they never published the report, but Judicial Watch (after an 18-month battle over freedom of information) was able to get some of the survey results.  The analysis concluded:
• 45% crossed illegally based on rumors of a Bush administration amnesty.
     • 63% received Mexican government or media information supporting the notion of a Bush administration amnesty.
     • 64% previously entered the United States illegally.
     • 80% desired to apply for amnesty.
     • 66% desired to petition for family members to join them in the U.S.

Point #1: When politicians talk about a “guest worker program,” desperate people in the Third World respond.

Source link (a 17-page pdf report):

The GWB efforts at amnesty were somewhat cyclical, resembling a roller coaster.  As a candidate and up to August 2001, he was pushing for amnesty.  9/11 changed all that and he was rather shy about immigration reform for a few years.  (Who wouldn’t?  The terrorists played our lack of immigration enforcement like a fiddle to get themselves into position.  Be it expired visas, drivers licenses, college student verification or local law enforcement cross-checks, we failed to detect people who should not have been here.)

But Bush was back on the stump in January 2004, an election year.  And he pushed hard as an advocate for illegal aliens.  He would continue that push until he realized that the American voter would not tolerate amnesty without showing some control of the existing situation. 

And so Bush began enforcing the law.  He began building the fence.  He stepped up worksite raids.  He found more detention beds.  He started cooperating with local police (287g).  He threw money at visa control.  He talked about the virtual fence.  He went out of his way to show he was serious.

The result of his stepped-up enforcement was a reversal of the flow at the border.  Illegal aliens were going home.
Source link:

Point #2: When we enforce the law, even on a small scale, illegal aliens return home.

Now, back to Bo-peep.  “Leave them alone…”  What does that mean?  Well, we’ve all heard the politicians lumping illegal aliens in with noble immigrants.  And they love to defend things like the DREAM Act and in-state tuition.

The political rhetoric of “Hard workers wanting to make a better life for themselves,” or “Doing jobs Americans won’t do,” or “Wanting to pursue the American Dream,” only encourages illegal aliens to come here and stay here.

Leave those hackneyed phrases alone and they will get the idea that there isn’t an amnesty program around the next corner.  Instead, talk about enforcing the law and the word will spread.  We need to send this message to illegal aliens: Americans have wised up to the scam and we’re going home.  Or better yet, we’re not even going to try to sneak in.

We have the tools to enforce the law.

SAVE could be used by social service agencies (the ones crying that they don’t have enough resources with all these budget cuts) to screen for unlawful presence.  Our welfare reform legislation of 1996 was both tough and powerful.  Let’s use it!

Local law enforcement can and should be screening the people they are booking and identifying to ICE the illegal aliens who cross their path.  LESC is the database for screening.  287G and Secure Communities can be used to build the partnership.

E-Verify can help to dry up the jobs illegal aliens are taking.  Also, audits and No-Match letters need to be implemented.

Obama is not helping when he talks about giving green cards to illegal aliens on the deportation list.  These are the fugitives, like his uncle Omar and aunt Zeituni, who were ordered deported and failed to appear for departure.  Now he wants to review them all and reward the nonviolent ones with work permits.  Wrong message, Mr. President.

Governor Perry is wrong to offer them in-state tuition.

Governor Huntsman is wrong to offer them work permits.

Strong signals of interior enforcement will result in self-deportation.  Let’s give that a try, shall we?

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