Posted on 03/19/2002 3:55:11 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner James Ziglar refused Tuesday to answer a question about whether Democrats and Republicans alike lack enthusiasm for vigorous pursuit of illegal aliens. Further, he said he opposed blanket amnesty.
"You’re not going to get me into that trap,” Ziglar said in response to a question submitted by NewsMax.com at a luncheon of the National Press Club.
The question, as read to the commissioner by club President John Aubuchon, who by tradition takes the written questions in advance, was as follows:
"Is it not a fact that your job in dealing with illegal aliens is complicated by the lack of enthusiasm on the part of many in both parties for doing anything about it or strict enforcement of immigration laws and exclusion of illegal aliens?”
A six-minute pause preceded Ziglar’s statement about not being caught in a "trap.”
Having spent the better part of 40 minutes discussing what he saw as "inaccuracies” and "distortions” in last week’s coverage of the award of two visas sent to the Venice, Fla., flight school that had trained two Sept. 11 terrorists, he was understandably wary of saying anything that would put his agency at the center of yet another firestorm.
He then proceeded to estimate that 7 million illegal aliens are in the U.S., and told his audience "the magnitude of the problem of finding those people and deporting them is quite significant, as you can imagine.”
With only about 2,000 investigators, half of whom are probing terrorism, "you have to prioritize what you’re doing on interior enforcement,” Ziglar explained.
After all, he added, when you have "nasty people” (read terrorists) it is not possible to track down every illegal alien.
One written question asking if there is a link between porous borders and terrorism was not read to the guest because of time constraints. The requirements of the C-SPAN broadcast mandated an on-time exit.
"Human smuggling rings not only bring in people from Mexico and other places who want two work in the United States,” the commissioner explained, "they also bring in some pretty nasty people. And we have focused our resources on doing that.”
Of course, what was not addressed was whether some illegals entering the country who may seem harmless at first also turn out to be "nasty people.” The 19 hijackers seemed harmless until those planes rammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they originally entered the country through a process that was perfectly legal.
Also ignored was whether bipartisan reluctance over the years to provide more resources to tighten border security stemmed in part from the fact that Democrats see illegal aliens as supporters of their party while Republicans fear that such enforcement would turn the Hispanic vote against them.
Aubuchon followed up, reading a question, "With the big increase in the Defense Department budget, why can’t the INS get all of the funds it needs to do its job?”
The INS has been the beneficiary "of an enormous amount of congressional largesse since September 11,” Ziglar replied. The $1 billion increase in the budget went for such items as technology, more patrol agents, more inspectors, more investigators and intelligence people.
But alas, "The fact is that even if the Congress threw another billion dollars at us today, the question is how quickly [we could hire, train, and deploy the people and deploy the technology.]” Right now the INS needs to absorb the money Congress has just given it, he said.
Libertarian Views
Several questioners at the luncheon wanted to know Ziglar’s own philosophy on immigration. The veteran of Wall Street and Capitol Hill acknowledged he is a libertarian, but that it does not follow, as some have surmised, that he "embraces open borders” or "publicly championed rewarding illegal immigrants with amnesty.”
The commissioner replied he is a libertarian who "also supports the rule of law and the enforcement of laws.”
While refraining from trying to discern the questioner’s definition of "open borders,” Ziglar emphasized, "A sovereign nation has the right to determine who it wants to come in and who it doesn’t want to come in.”
Just to put a fine point on it, the INS boss added that "a sovereign nation has the right to defend its borders at whatever cost it wants to pay.”
"I have not supported amnesty,” said the commissioner who stressed he was enthusiastically committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.
Whether the political powers that be fully share his enthusiasm for such enforcement is, of course, a matter beyond Commissioner Ziglar’s control.
As for the embarrassment of the visas mailed out six months after the terrorists struck, the INS honcho blamed much of it on a series of rules and procedures involving several entities, including outside contractors. No one, he seemed to believe, was to blame.
Deliver pizzas to all the illegal aliens who have plenty of money for pizzas but no money for medical or rent bills!!
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