Free Republic

When media elites at National Public Radio think the country's borders are too porous, it's clear that a consensus is emerging to tighten immigration enforcement. On Monday, NPR aired a segment on the federal immigration court in Harlingen, Texas, where 98 percent of the defendants never show up. The segment highlighted the court's role in the government's "other than Mexican" loophole, which allows the vast majority of non-Mexican nationals caught crossing our borders illegally to go free. Each morning, Federal Immigration Judge William Peterson presides over an empty courtroom, reads charges against people who aren't there and orders them to...

<p>Two years after the government promised to finally catch and expel thousands of foreigners who ignored deportation orders, gaps in immigration enforcement mean the number of fugitives is still growing.</p> <p>Today, the government’s best guess is that 400,000 immigrants have stayed in the United States despite judges’ orders to get out — more than enough to fill a city the size of Miami. Homeland Security officials concede that total is growing — likely by 40,000 a year — because far more people skip out on deportation orders each year than are caught by teams of federal agents hunting them.</p>

<p>Two years after the government promised to finally catch and expel thousands of foreigners who ignored deportation orders, gaps in immigration enforcement mean the number of fugitives is still growing.</p> <p>Today, the government’s best guess is that 400,000 immigrants have stayed in the United States despite judges’ orders to get out — more than enough to fill a city the size of Miami. Homeland Security officials concede that total is growing — likely by 40,000 a year — because far more people skip out on deportation orders each year than are caught by teams of federal agents hunting them.</p>

In a written statement to Human Events, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has conceded it cannot vouch for the accuracy of its claim that there are 314,000 immigration "absconders" in the United States. Absconders is the agency's term for illegal aliens who have been ordered deported by immigration judges but who remain in the country anyway. Statistics published by the Justice Department's Executive Office of Immigration Review, or EOIR, which is independent of the INS, suggest that the number is far higher than the INS has claimed. Indeed, they indicate it is likely there were about 425,000 new absconders just...

Agency Cannot Back Up Testimony By Commissioner ZiglarINS Lowballed Deportation EvadersBy Joseph A. D'Agostino In a written statement to Human Events, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has conceded it cannot vouch for the accuracy of its claim that there are 314,000 immigration "absconders" in the United States. Absconders is the agency’s term for illegal aliens who have been ordered deported by immigration judges but who remain in the country anyway.Statistics published by the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which is independent of the INS, suggest that the number is far higher than the INS has claimed....