Thursday, January 09, 2003
Immigration cutbacks proposed
By KEN NEWTON
kenn@npgco.com
The battle to safeguard the homeland starts with knowing who walks through the nation’s door, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves believes. In the congressional session that began Tuesday, he hopes to make border security a front-burner issue. And until the country gets its house in order regarding immigration, the congressman says, “we need to clamp it down to a trickle.”
Mr. Graves, a Tarkio Republican who represents Missouri’s 6th District, addresses the subject of immigration that has gained new attention since men from the Middle East used jetliners to attack New York and Washington 16 months ago.
Before that, immigration reform generally revolved around economic, demographic and social-service issues. Now, the problems strike right at the heart of securing Americans on their native soil.
“I know we’re a country that welcomes people with open arms, but we’re in a whole different world now, post-Sept. 11,” Mr. Graves says. “We’re not immune to terrorism.”
Some reforms came about with passage of the Patriot Act in October 2001 and Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act in May 2002. Creation of the Department of Homeland Security also brings resources to the fight.
But Mr. Graves wants to apply more pressure.
“To me, that’s our weakest link, our immigration policy,” the lawmaker says. “There are some out there I’m sure that think this is an awfully bold step, but personally I think we ought to seriously close down immigration in the United States until we get our policy set.”
Numbers indicate the task is daunting. America attracts people from elsewhere, and thousands of miles of border can accommodate them.
The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 47,731 people along the nation’s southwest boundary in November alone, the Immigration and Naturalization Service reports. That represents a 47 percent increase from the previous November. And those are just the people who got caught.
That’s just one compass point of the problem. Mr. Graves calls America’s boundary with Canada the “border of choice” for terrorists. Those who attacked on Sept. 11 came from the north.
At the time of the terrorists’ actions, America had about 965 Border Patrol agents overseeing a shared border with Canada that stretches over 4,000 miles, INS Commissioner James Ziglar testified before Congress.
And the increasing presence of foreign-born citizens is not unique to the nation’s fringes. Near the center of the country, the 11-county Kansas City metropolitan statistical area recorded 80,539 foreign-born residents in the 2000 census, up 125 percent from a decade earlier.
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, the Kansas Republican who co-authored the Enhanced Border Security measure with Sen. Ted Kennedy, told his colleagues last April that America must strike a delicate balance in dealing with this issue.
“We do not want terrorists to shut our nation’s doors to the people we want to visit,” he said. “At the same time, we must take intelligent measures to keep out the small fraction of people who mean us harm.”
Mr. Graves recognizes that his harder line might be regarded as strident, but he sees the caution as necessary and true to his constituents.
“I may have to go against people in my party. So be it,” the representative says. “That’s the way I feel about it, and I think that reflects my district.” 