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That's a fascinating graph. Where did you get it?

From that graph, it appears sanctions started going down a long time before Bush came into power. From 1997 to 2000 they went from 778 to 180. That's huge, but it's all during the Clinton years.

Not that it excuses Bush's treasonous dereliction of duty. Clinton's failures in no way excuse Bush's, which were even worse. Just three prosecutions in 2004! You've got to be kidding. But it makes me wonder whether there was something else going on here, not merely Dubya's indifference. There's got to be something behind that trend that began circa 1998 and continued into the Bush years. Was there some court decision that made it more difficult to prosecute employers? Was it some executive order that Clinton put in place that Dubya didn't rescind? Inquiring minds want to know.

That image is found here.

Additional info, here:

Eleven to twelve million illegal immigrants currently reside in the United States thanks to this Administration's failure to secure our borders. The Bush Administration has refused to enforce the laws we have on the books and clearly did not make border security or immigration reform a priority until an election year. Last year, President Bush chose to only fund 210 extra Border Patrol agents after Congress authorized an additional 10,000 agents over five years. In addition, audits of employers who use illegals has declined from 8,000 under the Clinton Administration to 2,200 in 2003. In 2004, only THREE employers were fined for hiring illegal labor. This was down from 1999, when 417 businesses were fined. This failure is inexcusable. ...While the Bush Administration has neglected its duties, states and local government have borne the costs of cracking down on illegal immigration. This year, the President even proposed eliminating the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) which helps overburdened local municipalities deal with the costs of incarcerating illegals who commit crimes.

For up to 2003, here's a pdf file for the source:

Source: Dept. of Homeland Security, 2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics [pdf file],
September 2004. Table 39.(1997-2003)

There's also this article, The Declining Enforcement of Employer Sanctions , put out by Migration Information. I don't know who they are, what their agenda is, etc., but from a quick persusal, it speaks to "competing missions" since 1990's. Perhaps you can make heads or tails out of it...comparing it to the pdf file I posted to you....if you do that (lol), I'd be interested in your thoughts.

What happened is when Reagan’s amnesty passed, tough legislation on future illegals was enacted. [that’s why Reagans amnesty passed without all the hoopla] The problem is no administration has had the fortitude to enforce those laws as they are believed to be too harsh by the bleeding hearts. Reagan’s amnesty package was supposed to solve the problems of illegals in this country and allow no more in. President Bush chose to do zero enforcement until he was forced to- that is why we have reached the tipping point.

This prior experience is exactly why those of us that live on the border and have watched all this are so hard headed about the issue. We want it to really get fixed- no more promises, no more open borders- and it is why amnesty is now such a dirty word.