Apprehensions are down because the INS work force was diverted by 911. Not because illegal immigration subsided. Illegal immigration is now above pre 911 levels. Bush's January 9 pronouncement opened the flood gates, albeit an uninformed basis from the standpoint of the immigrant.
Bush's announcement created such a rush that within 6 weeks Ridge had to shore up the border patrol to fight the flood.
Did Bush do anything worse than his father or Clinton prior to 911? No. But that's not an excuse for his behavior. Prior to 911 there were symptoms appearing all over the southwestern US that the flood of illegal aliens was sapping the state infrastructures and Bush did nothing.
Post 911 Bush's posture has simply been inexcusable. He has singlehandedly done more, either through implied invitation or inaction that any other US president to accelerate illegal immigration in just 3 short years.
Other than the politically motivated raid on WalMart, there have been no "residential roundups", the most effective tool in our immigration arsenal, since 1987. This is the first program I would have expected a conservative president to reinstate post 911 if for nothing more than its domestic public relations value.
I am the INS work force. How was I diverted?
Illegal immigration is now above pre 911 levels.
No, it's still below 9/11 levels. In FY 2000, apprehensions were at 1.6 million. In FY 2001, apprehensions were down to 1.2 million and then 9/11 happened.
In FY 2002, apprehensions were down to 929,809 and in FY 2003 they drop another 3% to 905,065.
Sorry, but, fewwer folks were crossing in FY 2002 and 2003.
Bush's January 9 pronouncement opened the flood gates That has yet to be determined. January’s apprehensions were well below normal for this time of year, although, I agree that it will increase the numbers and this year, 2004, will be the first year we will see an increase since FY 2000.
Bush's announcement created such a rush that within 6 weeks Ridge had to shore up the border patrol to fight the flood.
Sorry, that program, “the Arizona Border Control Initiative” has been in the making for almost a year. Long before Bush’s proposal.
Did Bush do anything worse than his father or Clinton prior to 911? No. But that's not an excuse for his behavior. Prior to 911 there were symptoms appearing all over the southwestern US that the flood of illegal aliens was sapping the state infrastructures and Bush did nothing.
This is the culmination of almost 4 decades of bad immigration policy. The fault belongs to Ted Kennedy (for his 1965 immigration act) and every President that was in office after JFK.
Post 911 Bush's posture has simply been inexcusable. He has singlehandedly done more, either through implied invitation or inaction that any other US president to accelerate illegal immigration in just 3 short years.
Yes, Bush has failed on the immigration issue, but illegal immigration has not accelerated in the past 3 years. Sorry, but that is the truth. It was in decline from its peak in FY 2000. 9/11 actually helped that decline, but it will be short lived. Will apprehensions ever reach the 1.6 million mark set in FY 2000, I doubt it, but I will bet that they pass the 1 million mark in 2004.
Other than the politically motivated raid on WalMart, there have been no "residential roundups", the most effective tool in our immigration arsenal, since 1987. This is the first program I would have expected a conservative president to reinstate post 911 if for nothing more than its domestic public relations value.
WalMart was a “Worksite Enforcement” action, not a “Residential Roundup”. I can guaranty you will never see a residential roundup by ICE or CBP. Americans and probably you, would be highly upset if we started going door to door in your neiborhood.
And yes, “Worksite Enforcement” is severely lacking and it has been since Reagan, they have done more then just WalMart. They average about 75 each year. Just because it is not in the news, does not mean it is not happening.