That's an easy one. The Open border types are holding secure borders [including a process to track and deport visa overstays] hostage to comprehensive immigration reform. They don't want secure borders, which is why they [WH and Dems] have dragged their feet in eforcing our existing laws [Secure Fence Act of 2006 and the 1996 US Visit act] and just pay lip service to real border enforcement. If you hold a separate debate on how to handle the 12 to 20 million illegals already here, the first thing you need are reliable data. How can you make good public policy without knowing the scope of the problem and its impact? In 1986, the USG estimated that 1 million would apply for amnesty. The number turned out to be three million.
Absolutely. Bad data leads to bad decisions. But there appears to be an effort to obfuscate the data - on the actual number of illegals, on the actual content of the failed legislation, on the provisions of legislation already on the books, etc. Why is that?
It has to be at least 40 million illegals here based on ERs, social services, law enforcement pickups and the sheer number (multiply please), of the couple of plants they show bust with stolen SSNs (huge percentage btw). On my block alone, it has to be hundreds... one block. I’m talking mostly Mexican, Somalis, Ecuadorians, Salvadorians, you name it... i’m in NYC, it’s bad... and I was stationed in the SW years ago and it was unreal re: closing hospitals, prisons, enforcement. Here, they did door to door census last time... how did the results come out, they need another box to check.
You’re right, one bill at a time... never ‘comprehensive’.
Remember they’ve fudged each time on previous immigration legislation. Not enough money, manpower... blah. The exit program was said to have glitches and would be too expensive, Chertoff himself said the environuts hold them up over cacti (yep), not to mention the constant cutting and dumbing down on what should have started not on 9-12-2001, but way before. Do we really want CAIR and Ft. Dix six (as well as Dearbornistan), relatives brought in? I would love for all to read on all the hijackers/jihadis that had expired visas that attacked or attempted to attack our country chronologically. Steyn did a good job on it. The fact Atta was sent another card 6 months after 9-11 and the system is STILL not computerized and is backlogged now... should be common sense that this should be done ASAP.
The border HAS to be shut down.
We HAVE to know who’s in this country illegal, those here on expired visas have to be found, and we have to stop letting people from certain countries come here period (including tourist, student visas), sure ID can be faked and folks can fly in from other countries, but it cuts down the odds here on the ground.