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.''
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By Michael Marizco
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PHOENIX - A massive crackdown against coyotes - people smugglers - needs to be sustained along with more high technology tools along the U.S.-Mexico border, Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday.
Ridge met with Arizona law enforcement officials in Phoenix to discuss the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's recent operation against people smugglers, then flew to Fort Huachuca for a presentation of the unmanned aerial drones the agency is preparing to deploy along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ridge said such technology could reduce illegal immigration and cut deaths among border-crossers. Many migrants die of heat exposure and in accidents while crossing the harsh Arizona desert. ...