News accounts of the bargaining among the Gang of 8 Senators working on draft legislation for a new amnesty have highlighted the issue of border security. The GOP Senators \u2013 notably Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) \u2013 are said to be insisting on border security before illegal aliens \u2013 who would already have legal status by the amnesty \u2013 become eligible to receive \u2018green cards\u2019 (legal permanent residence) and move further along the \u201cpath to citizenship.\u201d The accounts note a rift between the GOP members who want an objective finding that the borders are secure \u2013 perhaps by a commission of border officials \u2013 and the Democrats who characterize the border as already sufficiently secure and want the finding of that fact to come from the administration \u2013 namely Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano.<\/p>\n
Border security is important not only because its absence allows the entry of illegal aliens, but also because it allows smuggling of narcotics and other illicit material, and because it allows the entry of individuals who pose a threat to our national security. <\/p>\n
But secure borders is only one of three related issues. Not all illegal aliens enter illegally across the border. A significant share of the illegal alien population \u2013 estimated at one-third to half \u2013 enter the country with permission and stay illegally. They enter with visas or in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Having a system to identify illegal overstayers is not just about persons illegally taking jobs, it is also about national security. The laws requiring a comprehensive electronic entry-exit control system arose in response to the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and again with the September 11, 2001 attacks. The terrorists had entered with visas and some of them had stayed illegally in the United States as they planned and executed their attacks. <\/p>\n
Efforts to establish greater border security, such as completing the border fencing mandated by Congress will do nothing to correct the problem of the overstayers. <\/p>\n