Posted by
Grampus on Thursday, October 05, 2006 3:17:37 PM
The much bally-hooed border fence legislation passed recently is just another unfunded mandate. Estimates of the cost of such a project run upwards to $ 9.4 billion. It is a fence that will never be built and rightly so. We already have laws against illegal immigration, we just need to put the steps in place to enforce them...such as FAIR's proposal as defined below and the costs are offset by savings. This makes much more sense to me...am I missing something?
Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by
Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United
States who:
- Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time
or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or
- Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers;
or
- Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by
a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful
concealment of a material fact;
has committed a federal crime.
Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment
for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years
in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion
of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal
sanctions or nature of the offense.
Also see the following...........
Each year the Border Patrol is making more
than a million apprehensions of persons who flagrantly violate
our nation's laws by unlawfully crossing U.S. borders to work
and to receive public assistance, usually with the aid of fraudulent
documents. Such entry is a misdemeanor, and if repeated becomes
punishable as a felony. Over four million illegal immigrants
live in the United States--some estimate over five million--and,
this does not include the nearly three million aliens amnestied
under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
BORDER PATROL: NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT
The problems along the southern border are severe, yet manageable.
However, simply stacking Border Patrol agents at the border is
only a partial solution. Illegal immigration cannot be controlled
solely at the border. About half of the illegal alien population
is comprised of visa overstayers--people who entered the country
legally, but became illegal aliens by their failure to leave
the U.S. upon expiration of their visa. Once entry occurs, there
is little chance of detection and virtually no chance of deportation,
except for convicted criminals.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
"TEN STEPS TO ENDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION"
We need a comprehensive program, as set out in FAIR's publication
Ten Steps to Controlling Illegal Immigration. Curtailing
unlawful migration means ensuring that persons who enter illegally
or overstay their lawful status will not be able to obtain employment,
public assistance benefits, public education, public housing,
or any other social benefit without detection. The three major
components of immigration control--deterrence, apprehension and
removal-- need to be strengthened by Congress and the Executive
Branch if effective control is ever to be reestablished. Controlling
illegal immigration requires a balanced approach with a full
range of enforcement improvements that go far beyond the border.
These include many procedural reforms, beefed up investigation
capacity, asylum reform, documents improvements, major improvements
in INS detention and deportation procedures, limitations on judicial
review, improved intelligence capacity, much better state/federal
cooperation and added resources.
WHAT ABOUT THE COSTS?
As the saying goes, "There is no free lunch." Effective
control and management of the laws against illegal immigration
require adequate resources. But, the costs will be more than
offset by savings to states, counties, communities, and school
districts across the nation.Grampus