“U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the Mexico border Monday to trumpet increased enforcement as she campaigned for an overhaul of immigration laws. The former Arizona governor highlighted “incredible” spending on border enforcement, 40-year lows in “illegal immigration numbers” and relatively low violent crime rates in major border cities like San Diego and El Paso, Texas,” the Huffington Post<\/a> says.<\/p>\n “‘What we have seen now compared to 20 years ago is like the difference between a rocket ship and a horse and buggy,’ Napolitano said at a news conference after a helicopter tour.”<\/p>\n “President Barack Obama on Tuesday will continue efforts to build support for overhauling the nation\u2019s immigration system by meeting with labor leaders and business executives from companies such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Alcoa Inc. Mr. Obama will meet with labor and progressive leaders, representing the NAACP, the Center for American Progress and the AFL-CIO, and will separately confer with the executives,” the Wall Street Journal<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n “To hear Sen. Charles Schumer tell it, lawmakers crafting an immigration reform bill will focus on two big tasks. First, defining metrics that demonstrate that the border is secure, the New York Democrat explained at a Jan. 31 news conference. Second, defining exactly what the path to citizenship looks like and how it proceeds.’ For Schumer and some Senate colleagues, that is the short version of immigration reform: First, border security, and second, a path to citizenship,” the Washington Examiner<\/a> says.<\/p>\n “But immigration reform as envisioned by the so-called Gang of Eight is actually a three-step process. Schumer left out the first part: immediate legalization of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. In the statement of principles released by the gang on Jan. 28, legalization begins the process, followed by securing the border, and then, after an as-yet-undefined standard of border enforcement is met, a path to citizenship.”<\/p>\n “Illegal immigrants do break the law, but they break the law in the sense that everyone breaks the law. Think of traffic laws, which everyone breaks but which are also only enforced selectively\u2014largely against people suspected of committing drug crimes or other misdeeds. The law against illegal entry is (sort of) enforced at the border, but hardly at all against people once they arrive, except if they commit serious crimes, in which case they are sent to jail and then deported,” says Eric Posner at Slate<\/a>.<\/p>\n “[T]he odds of being punished for participating in the illegal immigration economy are something like the odds of being given a ticket for driving 56 mph in a 55 mph zone. Despite the federal system E-Verify, efforts to force employers to check the status of job applicants have mostly foundered because of their cost and the risk that lawful residents will be mistakenly deemed illegal (though this is in fact rare). Which is just to say that we are unwilling to incur the enforcement costs because we don\u2019t actually want to enforce.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Napolitano Says Border Very Secure “U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the Mexico border Monday to trumpet increased enforcement as she campaigned for an overhaul of immigration laws. The former Arizona governor highlighted “incredible” spending on border enforcement, 40-year lows in “illegal immigration numbers” and relatively low violent crime rates in major border cities<\/p>\nObama Amnesty Push Targets CEOs<\/h3>\n
Amnesty First, Enforcement Second May Derail Bills<\/h3>\n
A Good Explanation of Why Interior Enforcement and Field Searches are Important<\/h3>\n