Ridge: Give illegal entrants 'status'

Ridge: Give illegal entrants 'status' A top Bush administration official suggests at a town hall meeting in Miami that illegal immigrants should be granted limited legal status. BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ mrvasquez@herald.com

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday that he believes the vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States are not a threat to national security and should be given ``some kind of legal status.''

Ridge's comments came during a town hall meeting at Miami Dade College in response to a question from the audience about whether offering amnesty to illegal immigrants might make them easier to track and make the country safer.

While saying any changes in immigration laws would have to be approved by Congress, Ridge said he believed there was growing momentum to change the way the nation dealt with illegal immigrants.

''I'm not saying make them citizens,'' Ridge said. ``They violated our laws to get here. You don't reward that kind of conduct.''

Ridge provided no further explanation about how granting illegal immigrants limited legal status would work and what rights such a status would carry. A telephone call to a spokesperson for Ridge seeking further comment was not returned.

But the remarks by a key member of President Bush's cabinet suggests a shift in tone toward illegal immigrants.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration placed greater emphasis on protecting the nation's borders, enacting measures to thwart terrorists.

Efforts in Washington at reforming immigration policy essentially were put on hold. And immigrant advocates have said they perceive many of the Bush administration's national security measures to be anti-immigrant.

''I had no idea the [Bush administration] was seriously considering it,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

Little said most antiterrorist initiatives adopted by the Bush administration jeopardize national security by making illegal immigrants distrustful of authorities.

Those supporting stricter U.S. immigration policy criticized Ridge's comments. Dan Stein, executive director of the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, said granting illegal immigrants additional rights would encourage more to head for U.S. borders.

''What security objective is accomplished by encouraging further lawbreaking?'' Stein asked. `

Stein said he believed that some illegal immigrants given limited legal status would provide authorities false biographical information.

The issue of granting illegal immigrants certain rights has proven volatile. Former California Gov. Gray Davis, citing post-Sept. 11 security concerns, vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses. A year later, facing a tough recall campaign, Davis signed a bill with fewer security safeguards. Some voters viewed Davis's turnabout as a political ploy to please the Democratic Party's Latino wing and the controversy contributed to Davis' defeat.

In responding to the recent White House's TRIAL BALLOON to Conservatives on this one, we need to accompany our organized outcry with such articles as this one from Northern Virginia/D.C. suburbs (this week):

Gangs threat: 'Extreme' By Jon Echtenkamp 12/09/2003

Northern Virginians can expect a rising tide of violent crimes committed by street gangs that have established "a major hub" in this area, as more gang members – possibly numbering in the thousands – may flock here from Central America, according to a recently issued FBI report. The report specifically focuses on the rise of the most notorious of the gangs known to operate in this area, Mara Salvatrucha 13, or MS-13. The gang, with roots in El Salvador and Los Angeles, established a foothold in this region in the early 1990s and has been responsible for untold violent crimes over the years. The FBI estimates that some 3,000 MS-13 members and 30 MS-13 cliques are operating in the Washington, D.C., area, primarily in the prosperous Northern Virginia suburbs. "The greater Washington, D.C., area, and specifically northern Virginia, is now a major hub of MS-13 gang activity," the report says. "Violent crime associated with continued expansion of MS-13 is most predictable." The report serves as a wake-up call, even as federal, state and local law enforcement officials are implementing a broad array of programs to combat the rapid growth of gangs here. In language that is all the more startling because it comes from the FBI, the report notes that MS-13 groups "pose a serious threat in the United States and abroad due to their propensity for extreme random acts of violence and involvement in myriad criminal activities." Those crimes include shootings, rape, armed robberies, theft, car theft, drug dealing, and assaults with bats, knives, machetes or other weapons, the report says.

"Dear Mr. Ridge, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Rove: Does your "amnesty" include these thousands of illegal aliens who are no more than domestic terror paramilitaries now, operating in your neighbors' backyards and streets and schoolyards in suburban Washington D.C.?"

It of course helps to live in a gated community with 24/7 security, in a Washington D.C. suburb, with a police escort and darked limousine windows on the way home from Capitol Hill or one of the Departments, so that one does not have to contend with rising CENTRAL AMERICAN ILLEGAL ALIEN (Mara Salvatrucha13, MS18, etc.) violent crime rising in the D.C. suburbs. They can just leave that to loyal subjects, the blue collar and middle class areas in DC and environs to worry about.

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