The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimated that there were 7 million illegal aliens residing in the United States in January 2000. According to INS, 69% of this unauthorized immigrant population was from Mexico. (USINS, 2003) However, the top 15 sending countries accounted for 89% of the total illegal alien population and included Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Honduras, China, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Brazil, Haiti, India, Peru, Korea, and Canada. This means that a significant number of illegal aliens entered the United States through other than the Mexico-US border and that they fall under the jurisdiction of the investigations section (interior enforcement), not the Border Patrol. These statistics further indicate that the illegal alien problem is both a border and an interior enforcement problem. More importantly, the interior problem seems to be far greater than the border problem. However, the INS never placed much emphasis on interior enforcement. As a matter of fact, there is very little interior enforcement of the immigration laws going on. Interior enforcement lags behind all other functions of the agency and the INS clearly prioritized the Border Patrol function.
The sheer number of apprehensions along the Mexico-U.S. border often lures the observer to accept them as representative of the illegal alien problem. In 2002, the INS apprehended 1,062,279 deportable aliens in the United States and 94% of those apprehensions were from Mexico.
Near the beginning of this year, President Bush was quoted as saying the United States needs an immigration system "that serves the American economy and reflects the American dream". Bush said the new legal status would allow illegal immigrants to travel back to their home countries, without the fear they would not be allowed to return to the United States, and he said it would also help keep immigrants from being abused or exploited.
"This new system will be more compassionate. Decent, hardworking people will now be protected by labor laws, with the right to change jobs, earn fair wages and enjoy the same working conditions that the law requires for American workers," he said.
"Temporary workers will be able to establish their identities by obtaining the legal documents that we all take for granted. And they will be able to talk openly to authorities to report crimes when they're harmed without the fear of being deported," he said. Bush's new proposal also seeks to increase the number of "green cards" that are issued to people wanting to migrate to the United States. At present, about 140,000 are issued each year.
Just last month (May), the Federal government authorized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to set up a system for reimbursement to health care providers who provide emergency care for illegal aliens. Hospitals typically provide emergency health care to anyone who arrives, and are being stuck with increasing costs to injured or ailing illegals. Not all Americans agree with Bush's reasoning. Some in Washington are concerned that Bush's drive is to increase his Latino support for the Republican party. While many legal citizens in this country are on a waiting list for health care provision or are offered no health care at all, aliens who have broken federal law by illegally entering the country are now being offered jobs AND paid emergency health care. Since the U.S. border patrol has been unable to stop the inflow of illegals, supporters of the new programs believe that the country must set up some kind of system to deal with them. Randel Johnson, a chamber vice president who deals with immigration issues, said Tuesday that a resolution of the problem is necessary.
"The reality of it is we are not going to deport all these people," Johnson said. "So we have to come up with something to deal with the situation. Or we can continue to put our head in the sand."
But U.S. Rep. Thomas Tancredo, R-Colorado, sits firmly on the other side of this fence. "People who are here illegally -- they need to be deported," Tancredo said. "People who hire them need to be fined. If they keep doing it, they need to be sent to jail. It's against the law."
According to the numbers on the Center for Immigration Studies website, in the time it took you to read this article, another 2 illegals made it across the border?..to the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Free Health Care Providers.
Tom Clouser is a 38 year old farmer in Pennsylvania. In addition to farming, he and his father publish a monthly 16-page newspaper called "Trees 'n' Turf", which targets subjects of interest to those in land use industries and activities. View their website at http://www.clouserfarm.net
move in cleaning service Mundelein ..De-classification of official documents have been a routine practice in... Read More
Every conflict has its economic moments and dimensions. The current... Read More
"Had there not been outsourcing and utilization of cheaper resources... Read More
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), one of the most... Read More
It appears the Feds are suing Elliot Spitzer over his... Read More
There is a lot of debate about who made the... Read More
Due to the bizarre weather patterns this winter California got... Read More
If a farmer plants the same crop three seasons in... Read More
I would like to pose a question. I am unsure... Read More
With the recent threats from Bin Laden and Al Queda... Read More
Policemen in many US cities are taking their new authority... Read More
The end of another election once again brings into focus... Read More
Recently I met a man in a coffee shop, a... Read More
Last Summer the Federal Trade Commission came out with a... Read More
A War on Terrorism? Conventional war being brought on an... Read More
The blogosphere has been jumping around the story like crazy... Read More
In an effort to assist our political leadership it would... Read More
Environmentalists say GM Seeds are bad for the environment, dangerous... Read More
The Jihad against the Western World will continue. It will... Read More
The newest pebble reactors are easy to build and manage... Read More
Those of us hundreds of miles from ground zero sat... Read More
Recently the FTC, Federal Trade Commission put forth a report... Read More
Amnesty International comments on the proposal that has been laid... Read More
There are many mines around the world, which are owned... Read More
We presently have adequate sniffer devices in this country to... Read More
insured cleaning company Highland Park ..Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Lafayette in 1823 that... Read More
Often we see protests at the sites of global leader... Read More
As global warming continues to escalate the concerns of today's... Read More
Why are intelligent people so afraid of the idea that... Read More
Mexico the country of Salsa, Tortillas and Corruption; I first... Read More
IN A DAY AND AGE where one voice screaming among... Read More
"It is the duty of every citizen according to his... Read More
If slavery has not worked well, then cloning if it... Read More
Let the reader be reminded, that this document we are... Read More
US Steel prices have cost franchisees in my company and... Read More
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American... Read More
Mexican has tariffs on goods, which come into its country... Read More
Heavens, what are we up against? It seems these days... Read More
As you know Delta Airlines is close to bankruptcy. Their... Read More
For years we've suffered under recession, prompting us to ask,... Read More
Many Americans have children, fathers, mothers, grandparents, other family members... Read More
This, of course, is a political decision. There is no... Read More
As I read the papers and watch the news day... Read More
You say, you want to help the Palestinians, but most... Read More
Veterans Affairs Employees using government credit cards on personal items?... Read More
All countries have specific things that are abundant in the... Read More
How can any human being today, anywhere in this world,... Read More
City Governments is their quest for; "quality of life" often... Read More
Rational, sober, logical citizens wonder what exactly the terrorists want.... Read More
For the business community 9-11 changed everything. In our company,... Read More
Political |