Napolitano Claims Southern Border Is More Secure than Ever
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano used a trip to El Paso, Texas, as an opportunity to claim that the border with Mexico is “better now than it ever has been.” Napolitano’s assertion is just the latest effort on the part of the Obama administration to convince the American people that they take border enforcement seriously. Convincing the public that they are enforcing our immigration laws — in spite of all evidence to the contrary — is seen as a necessary precondition for promoting the administration’s political objective of a sweeping illegal alien amnesty.
Secretary Napolitano cited a decline in the number of border apprehensions as evidence that her department’s efforts are discouraging people from crossing illegally. She also pointed to statistics that indicate that violent crime rates along the Southwest border have remained flat or decreased in recent years as evidence that the border does not pose a security risk. However, DHS’s own reports indicate that less than half of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border is under “operational control,” and virtually none of the Canadian border or our coastlines.
Napolitano’s claim that the border is more secure than ever drew a sharp rebuke from Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. Dever, whose county straddles the border, stated flatly, “I’ve been here for 60 years, and I’m telling you that’s not true.” The sheriff also charges that DHS is cooking the books on border apprehensions by ordering the Border Patrol to arrest fewer illegal entrants.
Dever’s skepticism is shared by other experts. Mark Hanna, CEO of a Phoenix-based technology integration and security company agrees that DHS’s methodology for measuring border security is flawed. “It is a very dangerous condition for the secretary of Homeland Security to be using incomplete data to form such a conclusion, and then repeatedly announce these conclusions as fact,” Hanna said.
FAIR has also repeatedly questioned administration claims about all aspects of immigration enforcement. In assessing Secretary Napolitano’s claim it is important to take several other factors into consideration. First, the border has never been effectively controlled, so “better now than it ever has been” is a very relative measurement of border security. The mandate of DHS is to implement border security measures that are commensurate with the threats faced by our nation. DHS’s own admission that much of the border remains beyond its control indicates that they are falling well short of this goal. The gaping holes that remain in our border security capability are confirmed by a new report from the Government Accountability Office released in late March.
Second, the threat posed by the ongoing lack of border security is not limited to the border region. The border region is a gateway to the rest of the United States that is exploited by foreign criminals and potential terrorists. Examples of criminal activity by illegal aliens (many of whom entered illegally across the Southwest border) can be documented in all parts of the country. Illegal aliens often move beyond the immediate vicinity of the border because the Border Patrol’s authority to stop and detain people does not extend beyond the border region.
While making misleading claims about their efforts to secure the border, the Obama administration’s policies actually encourage people to attempt to enter the United States illegally. The virtual cessation of meaningful worksite enforcement, unilateral dismissing of deportation cases, and promotion of amnesty for illegal aliens all work against border security.
April 2011
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano used a trip to El Paso, Texas, as an opportunity to claim that the border with Mexico is “better now than it ever has been.” Napolitano’s assertion is just the latest effort on the part of the Obama administration to convince the American people that they take border enforcement seriously. Convincing the public that they are enforcing our immigration laws — in spite of all evidence to the contrary — is seen as a necessary precondition for promoting the administration’s political objective of a sweeping illegal alien amnesty.
Secretary Napolitano cited a decline in the number of border apprehensions as evidence that her department’s efforts are discouraging people from crossing illegally. She also pointed to statistics that indicate that violent crime rates along the Southwest border have remained flat or decreased in recent years as evidence that the border does not pose a security risk. However, DHS’s own reports indicate that less than half of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border is under “operational control,” and virtually none of the Canadian border or our coastlines.
Napolitano’s claim that the border is more secure than ever drew a sharp rebuke from Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. Dever, whose county straddles the border, stated flatly, “I’ve been here for 60 years, and I’m telling you that’s not true.” The sheriff also charges that DHS is cooking the books on border apprehensions by ordering the Border Patrol to arrest fewer illegal entrants.
Dever’s skepticism is shared by other experts. Mark Hanna, CEO of a Phoenix-based technology integration and security company agrees that DHS’s methodology for measuring border security is flawed. “It is a very dangerous condition for the secretary of Homeland Security to be using incomplete data to form such a conclusion, and then repeatedly announce these conclusions as fact,” Hanna said.
FAIR has also repeatedly questioned administration claims about all aspects of immigration enforcement. In assessing Secretary Napolitano’s claim it is important to take several other factors into consideration. First, the border has never been effectively controlled, so “better now than it ever has been” is a very relative measurement of border security. The mandate of DHS is to implement border security measures that are commensurate with the threats faced by our nation. DHS’s own admission that much of the border remains beyond its control indicates that they are falling well short of this goal. The gaping holes that remain in our border security capability are confirmed by a new report from the Government Accountability Office released in late March.
Second, the threat posed by the ongoing lack of border security is not limited to the border region. The border region is a gateway to the rest of the United States that is exploited by foreign criminals and potential terrorists. Examples of criminal activity by illegal aliens (many of whom entered illegally across the Southwest border) can be documented in all parts of the country. Illegal aliens often move beyond the immediate vicinity of the border because the Border Patrol’s authority to stop and detain people does not extend beyond the border region.
While making misleading claims about their efforts to secure the border, the Obama administration’s policies actually encourage people to attempt to enter the United States illegally. The virtual cessation of meaningful worksite enforcement, unilateral dismissing of deportation cases, and promotion of amnesty for illegal aliens all work against border security.
April 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment