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(February 5, 2007):                                                                          FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION

National Border Patrol Council - Local 1613 Responds to President Bush’s Comments about Immigration

San Diego, CA – President Bush formally notified the World of his intent to continue providing safe haven to terrorists and criminals by asking Congress to “resolve the status” of the illegal aliens who violated immigration laws instead of directing the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws in the interior.  The National Border Patrol Council – Local 1613 strongly disagrees with this message and urges Congress to properly address the “problem” and deny terrorists the opportunity to exploit the lack of immigration enforcement in the interior of the country. 

On January 23, 2007, during the State of the Union, President Bush said the following about immigration:

Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America -- with laws that are fair and borders that are secure. When laws and borders are routinely violated, this harms the interests of our country. To secure our border, we're doubling the size of the Border Patrol, and funding new infrastructure and technology.

Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border -- and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result, they won't have to try to sneak in, and that will leave Border Agents free to chase down drug smugglers and criminals and terrorists. We'll enforce our immigration laws at the work site and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers, so there's no excuse left for violating the law.

We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals. We need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country without animosity and without amnesty.  Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate, so that you can pass, and I can sign, comprehensive immigration reform into law.

As of this writing, 100% of Border Patrol Agents polled felt that President Bush’s comments about a temporary worker program “encouraged” illegal immigration.  The only way a temporary worker program will take pressure off the border is if the number of temporary worker permits is equal to or greater than the number of people who wish to come to the United States to work.  Based on current numbers[1], there will always be far too many people who will have “to try to sneak in” to the country because there will never be enough temporary worker permits.

If President Bush actually intends to “leave Border Patrol Agents free to chase down drug smugglers, criminals, and terrorists", then the obvious solution is to target the problem instead of treating a symptom.  The “problem” is U.S. employers who hire illegal aliens and the “symptom” is illegal immigration.  We recognize there are those who argue the problem stems from a lack of opportunities in other countries and we agree with that assertion.  However, the problem of U.S. employers violating immigration laws is within our control and should be our first approach to taking pressure off the border and reducing the number of illegal aliens residing within the United States.  

Therefore, rather than encourage illegal immigration by announcing some measly sanction or form of amnesty for illegal aliens who currently reside in the United States, President Bush should announce a plan similar to the one outlined below.  This announcement will undoubtedly take pressure off the border since previous announcements concerning "amnesty" added pressure to the border.  The plan the Union proposes is as follows:

1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall be the Agency responsible for the detection and apprehension of terrorists in the country, as they were before 9/11.  Components of the Legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service which were moved into the Department of Homeland Security and had their missions shifted to terrorism should return to their primary missions, which were Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Detecting terrorists, just like detecting drugs, will occur during the course of fulfilling their primary mission.

2. Abolish the National Border Patrol Strategy and reallocate a portion of the resources to the interior of the country.  Using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents and Border Patrol Agents, the new strategy will place a priority on targeting employers who hire illegal aliens.  These operations shall include day labor sites, illegal alien encampments, and locations where illegal aliens typically congregate on city streets throughout the country.

3. Create a counterfeit-proof Social Security card with a photo and fingerprint of the individual, and a magnetic strip on the back which contains employment eligibility information to be issued to U.S. citizens and immigrants who have been approved to work in the United States.

4. Provide a service for employers to verify if a person is eligible to work in the United States. This service should include a device for reading the magnetic strip on the new Social Security card and a toll-free number for businesses to call to verify eligibility.  The toll-free number should be staffed by employees from the Social Security Administration with support from Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

5. Employers who violate Immigration laws will receive one warning.  Thereafter, they will be subject to a table of increasing fines, with imprisonment at the top of the table for repeat offenders.  This shall include contractors who willingly violate immigration and tax laws by hiring and paying cash to illegal aliens who stand on city streets, day-labor sites, and at Home Depot parking lots throughout the United States.

6. Fines collected from employers will be used to provide the service used by employers to check the eligibility of workers.  Additionally, a portion of the fines collected will go to a fund to assist families of law enforcement officers who are killed in the line of duty by illegal aliens and families of law enforcement officers who are killed in the line of duty while protecting the United States borders.

7. This plan must be implemented nationally or illegal aliens will only be displaced to other parts of the country, much like the National Border Patrol Strategy, which only displaces illegal aliens to the ports of entry and unpopulated areas of the border.

8. Any new temporary worker permits should only be available to those who have not violated U.S. immigration laws and who are not currently residing within the United States illegally.

9. Finally, the United States must cut-off all benefits to illegal aliens to guarantee illegal aliens will return to their country of origin.

Benefits of this plan:

1. Employers will realize they are no longer free to hire illegal aliens; people will no longer “have to try to sneak in” to the United States to find work that does not exist; and the myth that the United States will have to deport millions of people will be proven false because an overwhelmingly majority of illegal aliens will voluntarily leave to find work in another country.

2. This plan will eliminate most of the taxpayer money which is currently wasted on detention and transportation of illegal aliens when illegal aliens voluntarily leave the country in search of work.  It will also save the taxpayers millions of dollars in the proposed construction of fences and/or walls along the border.

3. The unemployment rate will decrease because U.S. employers will be forced to hire U.S. citizens and immigrants who are legally in the United States and eligible for work.

4. Since this plan focuses on eliminating the magnet that draws people to the United States, it will undoubtedly take pressure off the border and “leave Border [Patrol] Agents free to chase down drug smugglers and criminals and terrorists” who are attempting to enter the country illegally.

5. The FBI, DEA, ATF, and police officers will have an easier job of identifying terrorists, criminals, and drug smugglers who are residing in the United States since they will no longer be able to blend in with the enormous illegal alien population that currently resides within the United States.

On September 11, 2001, during an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, President Bush said, "And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism."  Until Republicans and Democrats stop focusing on the symptoms and start concentrating on the problem, the United States will continue to be a nation that provides safe haven to terrorists, and the Department of Homeland Security’s threat level will remain at “Elevated” (yellow) to signify there is a “significant risk of terrorist attacks”.   With all this rhetoric about “terrorism”, does it make any sense for the United States to continue to ignore this problem, knowing full-well the terrorists can and will exploit it in the future to cause further harm to the United States? 

For further information, contact Chris Bauder at 800-620-1613 ext. 80.