Seems too good to be true. He’s going to enlist local law enforcement and state authorities, instead of just the federal government. Politico also reports President Bush will be unveiling new border enforcement measures and employer sanctions. The Secretary of Homeland Security (Chertoff) will be required to deliver an annual “State of the Border”, and Bush wants local law enforcement to detain illegals found in normal day-to-day law enforcement.
No. This isn’t a parody. He’s apparently trying to regain our trust an support.
The Bush administration on Friday will announce plans to enlist state and local law enforcement in cracking down on illegal immigrants, which previously was largely a federal function, according to congressional sources.
The administration is unveiling a series of tough border control and employer enforcement measures designed to make up for security provisions that failed when Congress rejected a broad rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws in June. The plans are scheduled to be announced at 10:30 a.m. by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez.
Details were provided to Capitol Hill on Thursday. As part of the new measures, the secretary of Homeland Security will deliver regular “State of the Border” reports beginning this fall.
In one of the most interesting revelations, the plans call for the administration to “train growing numbers of state and local law enforcement officers to identify and detain immigration offenders whom they encounter in the course of daily law enforcement,” according to a summary provided to The Politico by a congressional source.
“By this fall, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have quintupled the number of enforcement teams devoted to removing fugitive aliens (from 15 to 75 in less than three years),” the summary says.
The announcement is aimed at restoring President Bush’s credibility with conservatives who were dismayed that he pushed so hard for broad immigration reform, including a guest worker program for people now here illegally, before the border was more secure.
The DoD will also expand the list of international gangs automatically denied entry to the US. The administration will be adding new infrastructure on the border, as well as additional agents. We’re also going to crack down on employers:
Employers will face tough new scrutiny and requirements. “There are now 29 categories of documents that employers must accept to establish identity and work eligibility among their workers,” the summary says. “The Department of Homeland Security will reduce that number and weed out the most insecure.”
Fees for employers who knowingly hire illegals will rise by 25%. It will take less time to do background checks, with paperwork being converted into electronic form. All ports-of-entry will require passports or similar documents.
Now the downpart:
The Department of Labor will reform the H-2A agriculture worker program so farmers can readily hire legal temporary workers, while protecting their rights.
The Department of Labor will issue regulations streamlining the H-2B program for non-agricultural seasonal workers.
The Department of Homeland Security will extend, from one year to three, the length of the NAFTA-created TN visa for professional workers from Canada and Mexico, removing the administrative hassle of annual renewals for these talented workers.
Interesting.
11. August 2007 at 5:13 pm
Those illegals should be forced to leave . If some one wants to help them feel free BUT USE YOUR OWN MONEY !!!!!