Possible to Curb Illegal Immigration

For years, people have been saying it is not possible to curb illegal immigration, and that we just have to find a way to bring those who enter the country illegally into the fold. I've never bought that argument. It now looks like it is indeed possible to enforce the immigration laws of our country:

As the Border Patrol has ramped up staffing and erected dozens of miles of fencing and vehicle barriers along the Mexican border, the number of illegal aliens caught in the El Paso sector has shrunk from 122,000 in fiscal year 2006 to 75,000 in fiscal year 2007 to 30,000 in fiscal 2008, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero said.

Other factors deterring illegal crossings are the economic slump in the United States, which has reduced employment opportunities, and a zero-tolerance policy under which nearly all illegal aliens who are caught are prosecuted in federal court. In the past, the vast majority of Mexican illegal immigrants were simply returned to their home country.

As the son of a Hispanic immigrant, I'm all for immigration. But, it has to be legal immigration. Right now, this topic is taking a backseat to the economy, but when it comes back around remember, that it is possible to enforce our laws.

Criminals Now Have Safe Haven in New Mexico

If you're in the country illegally, you are breaking the law. If you're breaking the law you are acting criminally. If you're acting criminally, you should expect the police to come knocking (subscription) at your door.

Until now.

The chief federal judge in New Mexico has ordered the Otero County Sheriff's Department to halt communitywide raids in poor Chaparral neighborhoods conducted solely to find illegal immigrants.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit said the raids illegally targeted low-income Latino residents and were carried out using Operation Stonegarden funds earmarked for anti-terrorism activities.

The preliminary injunction ordered by Chief Judge Martha Vázquez is virtually unprecedented nationally, at least at this stage of proceedings, attorneys familiar with immigration cases say.

Vázquez entered the order Friday in favor of the Border Network for Human Rights, which filed suit on behalf of more than a dozen alleged victims of the raids, including three children.

Albuquerque lawyer William Slease, who represents Otero County, said he does not comment on pending litigation, but defendants in court documents deny they are acting illegally.

Plaintiffs' attorney Briana Stone, director of the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, said the order marks a milestone. "The judge's decision confirms that within our borders, everyone has the constitutional rights to be safe in our homes and free from discrimination elsewhere," she said. "Hopefully this ruling will ease some of the fears that residents of Chaparral have had since Operation Stonegarden began."

The only residents in Chaparral who should have been fearful are the illegal residents of Chaparral. Someone please explain to me how rounding up law breakers is discrimination? Judges should not be creating new rules of law, but that is exactly what Chief Judge Martha Vázquez has just done.

Bring Back the Carrot

Not too long ago there was a news article that pointed out that Arizona's policy of cracking down, and cracking down hard, on employers was having a positive impact on reducing the number of illegal immigrants working in the state:

Two months after Arizona enacted a law punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants, the law is already achieving one of its goals: Scores of immigrants are fleeing to other states or back to their Latin American homelands.

Gaby Espinoza, who has been unemployed since November, is among those affected. She gave up looking for a job because of the law and may have to return to Mexico.

Now, it looks like certain special interest business groups are on the verge of successfully reversing the progress that has been made:

Business groups succeeded in getting the bill to narrow the employees to whom the law applies and to create protections for employers who make good-faith efforts to follow the rules. Even so, they don't think the state should have its own employer sanctions because they said cracking down on illegal hirings is the responsibility of the federal government.

The original law, which took effect in January, was intended to lessen the economic incentive for foreign workers to sneak into Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point along the nation's southern border. An estimated one in 10 workers in Arizona is an illegal immigrant.

Personally, I think the state should hold strong and continue to back a policy that was making a difference. To argue that this is a federal government problem is ridiculous. Too many businesses are willing to look the other way in order to pad their bottom line, and that's not just not right.

Open Border Alert

Uh oh, it looks like New Mexico's border is about to be reopened for rampant crossing:

The original plan was to have the National Guard watch the border until 6,000 new agents could be properly trained.

Border patrol officials said that won’t happen until December, but state officials said that’s not stopping the feds from pulling the plug early.

State officials said the feds are not saying what’s behind the early withdrawal of guard troops from across the country.

The state said the withdrawal leaves the New Mexico border vulnerable.

"We'll create a window where the smugglers and the cartels and the border criminals may try and take advantage of," said Tim Manning of New Mexico Homeland Security.

Homeland security said heavy patrols and new fencing in Arizona and Texas means there will be a funneling effect of immigrants and smugglers into New Mexico.

Not good, not good at all.

Getting to the Illegal Immigration Bottom Line

Based on what is going on in Arizona, it looks like making inroads in turning back the tide of illegal immigration is not as difficult as everyone would like us to believe (Hat tip: The Westerner):

Parents are pulling students out of school. Construction workers are abandoning their jobs. Families are hastily moving out of apartments.

Two months after Arizona enacted a law punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants, the law is already achieving one of its goals: Scores of immigrants are fleeing to other states or back to their Latin American homelands.

Gaby Espinoza, who has been unemployed since November, is among those affected. She gave up looking for a job because of the law and may have to return to Mexico.

Espinoza's husband works here legally, but the law means that employers must ask her for papers, and she faces the daily fear of being deported.

"There's no work over there in Mexico," said Espinoza, who has three U.S.-born children. "People there live so poorly. Here, my kids have health insurance and Medicare. Over there, there's nothing."

If Ms. Espinoza has been unemployed since November, then apparently there is no work over here either. Interesting to note that the draw for Ms. Espinoza is not the promise of a better life if you work hard, but the ability to take advantage of government entitlement programs like Medicare.

Now, anyone want to talk about why we have a health care crisis?

Employer Sanctions Coupled with Union Sanctions

Severe employer sanctions for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants is part of the solution for enforcing the immigration laws currently on the books. It seems we also should consider severe sanctions against certain unions (subscription):

Immigrant-rights advocates are giving a key piece of advice to help illegal immigrants avoid deportation — remain silent.

The advice is being given out at monthly forums organized by at least three pro-immigrant community groups. The forums, which attract hundreds, are held to tell immigrants what the laws are, what their rights are and to combat racial profiling.

Immigrants who attend are given pamphlets called, "En boca cerrada, no entran moscas," a popular Spanish phrase that means "Flies can't enter a closed mouth."

"Silence is the most important right. Remain silent," says the four-page pamphlet, which is published by Somos America, Radio Campesina and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

The pamphlet says that under law, it's the job of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prove that someone is not legally in the country. The pamphlet includes a card that can be handed over in case of arrest by an immigration officer.

Well, if the UFCW wants to play this game, then I've got a simple proposal to put forth. Any union that knowingly recruits an illegal immigrant for membership should face the same level of sanctions as any employer that knowingly employs an illegal immigrant. Unions should also have to complete an I-9 for all members.

It's All in the Spin

Thanks to Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico provides illegal immigrants an opportunity to get a driver's license. So, the Karina Acosta situation in Roswell is kind of ridiculous:

The school-based police officer, Charlie Corn, stopped Roswell High School senior Karina Acosta at the school for a parking violation in late November and then learned she was not carrying a driver's license, Balderston said. Corn could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Acosta told the officer she could produce the driver's license and he allowed her several days to do so, Balderston said. Balderston said Corn felt he was being lenient.

When Acosta did not produce a driver's license, the officer had Acosta pulled from class.

In the course of trying to confirm Acosta's identity, the officer learned the student was an illegal immigrant and subsequently contacted immigration authorities, Balderston said.

Now, here is the thing. The Journal and other news outlets who covered this story are pandering (or making their bias VERY clear) to all of the amnesty/immigration reform activists by making the headline read "Pregnant Roswell Student Deported." This is just another fine example of reframing the facts to play on our natural human compassion.

However, if you read the facts, you realize that the headline is misleading. The facts as outlined in the the article are simple:

1) The young woman, after all she is 18, is in the country illegally.
2) The young woman is breaking the law by driving without a driver's license. [Speculation on my part: she also doesn't have car insurance].
3) The young woman shows complete disregard of authority and the law by failing to produce a driver's license despite being given several days reprieve to do so.
4) As a result of items two and three, it surfaces that the young woman is in the country illegally, and she gets deported.

Based on the facts, there are several alternate headlines that would have been more apropos:

• Disregard for Authority Results in Deportation
• Officer Gives Woman a Chance to Avoid Deportation
• Driving Without License Results in Deportation
• Notice to Illegals: Break the Law Get Deported
• Officer Enforces Law Without Bias
  

I could go on, but it's time to go to work.

Illegal is Still Illegal

There is no doubt that Mayté García sounds like an impressive young woman, and it is not her fault that she was brought into the the country illegally at the age of six. However, this still isn't right:

The first person to question Democratic candidates at the Heartland Presidential Forum on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, is scheduled to be a 22-year-old undocumented [read:illegal] immigrant from Santa Fe.

Mayté García, a volunteer and board member of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, an immigrants-rights organization, said she will ask the candidates what they plan to do about immigration reform in their first hundred days in office. She said she has a speech prepared but hasn't decided how to word the question.

"I want (the candidates) to know there is a broken immigration system for families such as mine," García said.

Ms. García's problem is simple. Her mother broke the law and entered the country illegally. Lax enforcement of the law allowed her family to stay and grow roots, and now she says our immigration system is broken.

What's broken is a system that allowed Ms. García to stay in the country for 16 years illegally. What's worse is that they are going to put her on a national stage in an attempt to manipulate the conversation. Just because she is a good person, does not mean that the laws of the land should be discarded because they are inconvenient for an individual. If we were to do this in every case, anarchy would ensue.

Ms. García has had a unique opportunity. She has taken full advantage of the opportunity. If she really wants to make a difference, her efforts should be focused on solving the problem at its source in Mexico. Take what she has learned back to Mexico and become an activist there to improve living conditions, so that people don't have to leave their homes in order to get a chance at a better life.

Ask the big political donors on both sides of the aisle who support amnesty to focus their financial resources in the countries that are bleeding people in search of a better life in the U.S. It is ridiculous to think that people can only live good fulfilling lives if they are lived in the U.S.

Illegals Impact on Tight Elections

The State of New Mexico has issued an estimated 30,000 drivers licenses to foreign nationals - a large number of which we can assume are illegal immigrants. These licenses can be used as identification to allow these folks to vote.

The State Republican Party has been in a legal war with Governor Bill Richardson's administration over the right to inspect those public records in order to compare them against the voting rolls to ensure that only those eligible to vote are in fact registered to vote. They're losing the battle on what appears to me to be a partisan legal decision (subscription):

District Judge Valerie Mackie Huling of Albuquerque ruled recently that state and federal anti-stalking laws trumped public records arguments and the GOP's attempt to make sure non-citizens aren't voting.

So, why am I saying this has the appearance of partisanship?

Robert Johnson, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said in an interview prior to his death earlier this month that he was puzzled by the ruling because "the state argued that these records are sacrosanct.

"These records are not locked away," Johnson said. "There are at least two data collection companies that offer access to these records to a wide range of entities willing to pay for it."

The State won't allow the GOP to use the public information to verify the integrity of our voter rolls, but they'll turn a profit by selling it to a third party who can in turn resell it again. There is something seriously wrong with this logic - some may even find it unethical.

Political Backpedaling

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz is in a very uncomfortable position:

"Don't ask, don't tell" policy on illegals doesn't apply to criminal investigations.

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said in a Tuesday news conference that police are not to ask about a person's immigration status and will not enforce federal immigration laws.

But that doesn't mean police can't arrest an illegal immigrant or inquire about a person's immigration status in a criminal investigation, according to this morning's Albuquerque Journal .

"Any officer investigating criminal activity is allowed to inquire about immigration status and take any action necessary," said Schultz, who said there is a lot of confusion about APD policy regarding illegal immigrants.

Schultz said false information is circulating that criminals will not be asked their immigration status, the Journal reported.

Hmm, I wonder what the cause of that confusion is:

Some police officers told News 13 that the change could prevent some serious criminals who are illegal immigrants from being deported.

The policy, a copy of which was obtained by News 13, states, "Officers shall not inquire or seek proof of a person's immigration status, even if an arrest is made for a non-immigration criminal investigation."

Schultz said the policy is being misinterpreted.

"The intent that's there was never to prohibit officers from conducting a criminal investigation, and, during the course of that criminal investigation, determining the immigrant status of the person that they're dealing with," he said. "So, we need to clarify that."

Sorry Chief Schultz, but clarification is not the problem. The policy language is very clear. What you need and the City of Albuquerque need to do is let police officers enforce the law. Illegal immigrants are illegal.

Now to be fair, Chief Schultz is operating in a politcal environment in New Mexico that is full of mixed messages when it comes to immigration.

Illegal Immigrants Get Free Education

You might remember that two years ago, Governor Richardson declared a State of Emergency at the border. What you might not realize is that about the same time, the Governor let legislation pass that lets out of state illegal immigrants get a free ride at New Mexico colleges and Universities:

Poudre High School counselor Isabel Thacker found a way around that, and this fall will be the second year that some of the high school’s undocumented students will participate in a program that allows them to attend college at the University of New Mexico - many without paying for tuition and books.

“A bill passed in New Mexico in 2005 prohibited the state from denying education benefits based in immigration status,” said Terry Babbitt, director of admissions for the University of New Mexico. “We have to offer state financial aid to any student, regardless of their immigration status,” he said. New Mexico’s state financial aid, however, is intended for residents. Despite the apparent obstacle, a loophole in UNM’s residency requirements was discovered that allows the undocumented students from Fort Collins, CO to receive in-state tuition in New Mexico as well as an institutional scholarship that covers completely the cost of their tuition.

Got to love it. It is now cheaper to go to college in New Mexico if you are an illegal immigrant than if you are an American student paying in-state or out of state tuition - that's just wrong.