Fixing Our Broken Immigration System

Drafters of Alabamas immigration law and the states attorney general claim that while the law is intended to drive immigrants from the state, it is not meant to stop children from going to school. When in fact the law is designed to test a supreme court law, which actually makes it unconstitutional to deny anyone access to public education.

With reports that crops in Alabama are rotting on the vine, and the state failing to get even criminals to pick the crops, comedian Stephen Colbert weighs in.

Also concerning crops rotting on the vines, a New York Times editorial explores the complex issues of labor shortages and harsh anti-immigration laws through the prism of Congressional legislation designed to provide farmers with more worker visas.

Finally New facts regarding the Fast and Furious program reveal that President Bush's Operation Gunrunner did not work with Mexico's government, as had been previously reported.

New York Times - Critics See Chilling Effect of Alabama Immigration Law by Cambell Robertson 10/27/2011    “No child will be denied an education based on unlawful status,” the state attorney general, Luther Strange, argued in a court filing. Meanwhile a circuit judge has struck down another provision of the law.

Colbert on Alabama: With reports that crops in Alabama are rotting on the vine, and the state failing to get even criminals to pick the crops, comedian Stephen Colbert weighs in. You can watch the video here, and be sure to read this report, referenced in Colbert's skit, on Georgia's own crop problem as a result of their own home grown anti-immigrant law.

New York Times - Editorial - So Much For the Nativists  10/26/2011 A well-designed agricultural guest worker program is not a bad idea. Even when unemployment is above 9 percent, Americans don’t want to stoop in the fields anymore.

Arizona Daily Star - No Evidence of Mexico's Cooperation with ATF in Tucson  For context on this developing story please see here, here and here. What a growing body of evidence shows is that in an effort to track guns from the U.S. into Mexico it became common practice to float guns across the border.

At a hearing yesterday Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made her case that the administrations border enforcement policies are working. Meanwhile the new acting director of the ATF pledges to continue to crack down on the sales of U.S. guns to members of the Mexican cartels. Finally Texas Rep Charlie Gonzales, Chairmen of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus lambasted Republican presidential candidate for his comments on erecting an electrified fence which would kill immigrants attempting to enter the country. 

San Antonio Express News - Napolitano Defends Border Enforcement by Gary Martin 10/26/2011
“For the first time, we now have Predator unmanned aircraft system coverage along the Southwest border from the California-Arizona to the Texas Gulf Coast,” Napolitano said.

The Courier News - ATF boss unfazed by gun probe by Frank Main 10/26/2011
"There was firearms trafficking going on from the United States to Mexico before this case went awry,” Jones said. “And there will be going forward. Our job as a law enforcement agency is to do the best job we can to disrupt and dismantle organizations and individuals who are engaged in that business. And that’s not going to stop.”

CNN - Hispanic Caucus Chairman Rips Cain Border Fence Joke by Deidra Walsh 10/17/2011
"Words have consequences, both in shaping ideas and inspiring actions. Whether or not he made his comments in jest, Mr. Cain's words show a lack of understanding of the immigration issues our country is facing and a staggering lack of sensitivity," Gonzalez said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry goes on the O'reilly Factor and takes a brow beating over the DREAM Act.  New Visa documents show that Florida Senator Marco Rubio's family left Cuba for economic reasons and not as refugees. Jorge G. Castaneda weighs in on the Republican boycott of the Univision debate noting that  the move is as much about the GOP's Hispanic problem as it is Senator Rubio's tenuous standing as a national conservative Hispanic figure. The Obama Administration was in court with gun sellers from the Southwest border region over a federal requirement that merchants report when customers buy multiple high powered rifles.

Fox News - The O'Reilly Factor - Rick Perry Discusses His Flat Tax Plan, Immigration, Romney  10/25/2011

Governor Perry: "We could either kick these individuals to the curb and then pick up the cost of what it was going to be at that particular point in time because the federal government requires us to give them education, to give them the health care. We made the decision in Texas and this is a straight up state issue that people of the state of Texas and it passed out of 181 votes, only four dissenting votes that we wanted taxpayers, not tax wasters. And that's the reason that Texas did this. And I realized this is a strict state-by-state issue and I respect other states as they make the decision.

St. Petersburg Times - Documents give shape to Marco Rubio's family history but raise new questions by Alex Leary 10/26/2011

"But the visa documents cast clearer divisions between his parents, who came for economic reasons, and the Cubans who scrambled to leave their homeland but thought they could soon return. And the documents come to light amid new discrepancies since Rubio's time line came under scrutiny last week."

Los Angeles Times - Opinion - A Republican debate derailed By Jorge G. Castanada 10/25/2011

 "Consequently, Republican candidates who view Rubio as a ticket to Latino votes could be in for a rude shock. Yes, his backing might be a good first step toward securing the nomination. But to the extent that the candidates are seen as having cast their lot with Rubio, they could be hindered in reaching out to other Latinos. Those of us from abroad who have supported comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. are saddened by such splits and fights among the Latino community."

The Associated Press - U.S. defends gun sale reporting requirement; sellers object  10/25/2011

"The Justice Department responded to a lawsuit seeking to block the two-month-old requirement by asking a judge to uphold its legality, arguing the measure could help stop the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels. It requires sellers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives information about purchasers who buy two or more semi-automatic rifles greater than .22 caliber within five days."

The United States deepens its involvement in the battle against organized crime in Mexico.  Simon shares his belief that the Obama Administration's immigration law enforcement will promote future broader reform. As the GOP presidential candidate race continues, Romney and Perry continue to squabble over whose immigration policies most benefited immigrants. As the GOP boycott a Univision debate Simon warns that this may further damage the parties standing with the Hispanic community.

New York Times  - U.S. Agencies Infiltrating Drug Cartels Across Mexico by Ginger Thompson 10/24/2011  American efforts in Mexico have been credited with "breaking up several of their largest cartels into smaller — and presumably less dangerous — crime groups."

National Journal - White House Immigration Message: We're Tough by Fawn Johnson 10/18/2011 "The administration’s goal is to belie accusations from critics that the United States border is out of control, an argument that helped kill major immigration legislation in 2007. Simon Rosenberg, president of the NDN strategy group, is one of a several political operatives pushing for a broad immigration fix to point out that the White House, at the time under President Bush, too easily conceded the point."

Washington Post (Blog) - Illegal Immigration Spat Continues  by Jennifer Rubin 10/24/2011 Rick Perry's campaign has begun floating the story that "Romneycare" benefits immigrants who are in the country illegally, while Romney  vehemently denies such allegations and continues to attack Perry for passing a state version of the DREAM Act.

Real Clear Politics - GOP Debate Boycott Centers on Univision, Rubio by Erin  Mcpike 10/25/2011 “Antagonizing Univision is a very risky strategy for the Republicans,” said Simon Rosenberg, the president of NDN (the New Democratic Network, a progressive think tank). “It’s sort of like NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox combined in the Spanish world.” And he added that generating antipathy “will damage the Republicans’ ability to reach Hispanic voters.

Kristian Ramos appeared on Fox News to debate immigration and the recent GOP debate and border security.

This week Congressman Adam Schiff released a statement on the Fast and The Furious program lambasting his Republican colleagues for their politically motivated attacks on Attorney General Eric Holder. Simon went on Fox News to discuss the merit of the subpoena, and finally John King of CNN refutes the notion that the Attorney General knew any more about the Fast and Furious program then Congress did.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) - Schiff Statement on Operation Fast and Furious - 19/10/2011  "The politically motivated attacks on Attorney General Eric Holder need to come to an end. They are a meritless distraction from the important work of the Department of Justice, and the many men and women who work every day to make America safer."

Simon Rosenberg on Live with Megyn Kelly on Fox News - 19/10/2011  Simon goes head to head with Megyn Kelly, defending the Attorney General and pushing back on the notion that Fast and Furious is a new program germane to the Obama Administration. In the segment Simon notes that President George W. Bush had a similar program and once the current administration realized there was a problem they shut it down.

CNN - John King USA - The Truth on Fast and Furious  -  17/10/2011 CNN anchor John King  rejects the Republican analysis that Attorney General Holder was purposely misleading Congress on the Fast and the Furious scandal. “The truth is,” King concluded, “it’s a stretch– and a huge stretch to say anything beyond that.”

The Immigration issue has emerged as a defining one in the GOP presidential primary race. As such the last Republican debate was immigration heavy. Mitt Romney’s campaign advertisements have focused heavily on the issue. As such the GOP focus on immigration has begun to alienate Hispanic voters. 

Also among the primary candidates a renewed call for a border fence between the United States and Mexico raises some eyebrows.  

In other news, the media examines the legitimacy of the GOP subpoena of Attorney General Eric Holder on ATF’s Fast and Furious program.

GOP Debate

Fort-Worth Star Telegram – Perry, Romney take the gloves off during fierce GOP debate by  Dave Montgomery and Anna M. Tinsley 10/18/2011 “Perry, eager to rebound from a dive in the polls, attacked Romney as a hypocrite on immigration, accusing him of hiring illegal workers on his property.”

New York Times – Some Cheer Border Fence as Others Ponder the Cost by Julia Preston 10/19/2011 “Proposals for an imposing border fence have drawn cheers at Republican rallies. Border security appears to be an area where some Republican candidates are ready to set aside their priority on fiscal discipline…  Based on what studies do exist, the analysts say that building and maintaining a fence through the remote or hostile terrain along the border would run into billions of dollars, with no documented impact on diminishing illegal crossings. “

New York Times – Comments on Immigration Alienate Some Hispanic’s by Trip Gabriel 10/19/2011 “The discussion of creating electrified fences from sea to sea is neither prudent nor helpful,” said Ryan Call, chairman of the Republican Party of Colorado, where Hispanics cast 13 percent of votes in 2008 and helped President Obama flip the state to blue. “They’re throwing red meat around in an attempt to mollify a particular aspect of the Republican base.”

NPR – Immigration Debate Intensifies In GOP Race by Associated Press 10/20/2011 “Obama campaign manager Jim Messina seized on the issue Wednesday.”Romney’s been taking hard-right positions on the campaign trail on immigration. He didn’t object to having undocumented workers working for him because it’s illegal; he objected because he thought it would hurt his political career,” Messina said.”

Romney Immigration Campaign Advertisements (Presented Without Comment)

“The Facts”

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“Illegal Immigration Takes Guts”

“Thank You Governor Perry”

John King - CNN - Fast and Furious Fact Check

Given the overwhelming evidence that the Administration has made the border safer, and the immigration system better, today’s hearing on border safety highlighted the ways in which alarmists are presenting anecdotal evidence as fact, and what verifiable statistics actually show to be occurring along our border.

The basis of this hearing was a report which sought to focus issues faced by border communities, who are purported to be facing a Narco-Terrorist threat to the United States from cartels in Mexico. Over the course of this hearing the overwhelming anecdotal unsubstantiated evidence was tempered by repeated admissions that the real violence had been relegated to the Mexican side of the border.

Much of the testimony regarding border violence focused on anecdotal reports.  In fact much of the written testimony steered clear of citing any statistics indicating that the the American border was violent. Any actual statistics regarding violence along the border focused almost entirely on the state of Texas as a whole.  Any actual statistics cited from the witnesses invariably highlighted the violence in Mexico.  So if anything the hearing reinforced the Administration's basic argument that the border is safer today than in year's past, and that despite the violence in Mexico there has been little spillover of it into the US.

What the facts show is a drop in violence along the border:  The FBI report on Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime shows that nationally, including border states, all four categories of violent crime declined overall compared to 2008, robbery, 8.1 percent; murder, 7.2 percent; aggravated assault, 4.2 percent; and forcible rape, 3.1 percent. Violent crime declined 4.0 percent in metropolitan counties. The same report shows that in Texas, violent crime rates declined,by 3.5 percent to 123,668 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2009.  From 2009 to 2010 in the 4 Texas border states, El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville and McAllen all saw drops in violent crime.

Additionally questions were raised about what constituted a border community. The report itself purports to deal with the “border counties,” yet much of the testimony dealt with issues that were faced by cities far away from the border. The Majority members of the committee tried repeatedly to include places like Austin, TX which is 233 miles from the border, as part of the communities in the southern part of the state.  Austin has a much higher level of violence than border communities, which are experiencing record low levels of criminal violence.

On this point, while the testimony of the majority witnesses only occasionally cited verifiable statistics on crime, when they did, their analysis was based upon statistics which were related to the flow of drugs into the United States and not actual violence along the border. Most of these references, were to a GAO report which highlighted a rise in seizures of narcotics entering the United States. Which to these ears sounds like a success of the border patrol more then anything else.

In regards to any dead bodies found on the Texas border, Michael Vickers, a vocal border alarmist and witness before the committee, recounted grisly tales of finding dead bodies on the border.  He admitted that the bodies were immigrants trying to avoid the Border Patrol.  From his written testimony:

Most unsettling are the dead bodies showing up on the ranches. 51 Illegal aliens’ deaths have occurred so far this year with another 31 reported still missing and nearly 500 total deaths since October 2004.  Some are murdered but at least all are a result criminal homicides.

In his testimony Vickers main complaint regarding the dead immigrant bodies accumulating in his his communitty, was the monetary cost of disposing of them.

For their part the generals responsible for writing the report repeatedly acknowledged that the relationship between the United States and Mexico was critical to the future of both countries. General McCaffery was adamant that that the flow of guns south of the border was having a terrible effect on Mexico.  

Given what the two generals had seen in crafting their report they made three main recommendations: more money for resources for the border, more support for Mexican Authorities in Mexico,  and finally reform of our broken immigration system which would give Mexican migrants protection from being taken advantage of by American businesses and cartels alike.