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GOP Criticisms Disputed By Data Saying Crime, Border Crossings Have Dropped
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/arizona-immigration-law-border-crossings_n_1625956.html
Arizona Immigration Law: GOP Criticisms Disputed By Data Saying Crime, Border Crossings Have Dropped
WASHINGTON -- Illegal immigration has fallen precipitously and border enforcement is at an all-time high, but that's hard to tell from statements Republicans blasted out Monday after the Supreme Court struck down much of Arizona's immigration law.
The court upheld the right of local law enforcers to stop and question people's immigration status based on their appearance, but threw out three provisions of the law that made it a crime to be in the United States without documentation.
Many Republicans hammered the White House for fighting the now-unconstitutional law, saying it distracted from securing the border.
“Illegal immigration is one of the biggest crises facing our nation," said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.). "Given the Obama administration’s refusal to secure our borders, it is of paramount importance that states be able to address the issue in their local communities.”
"The Arizona law was born out of the state’s frustration with the burdens that illegal immigration and continued drug smuggling impose on its schools, hospitals, criminal justice system and fragile desert environment, and an administration that chooses to set enforcement policies based on a political agenda, not the laws as written by Congress," said Arizona Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain in a joint statement. "We will continue our efforts on behalf of the citizens of Arizona to secure our southern border."
"It's time for the federal government to step up to its constitutional responsibility to secure our borders," said former GOP White House contender Rick Santorum.
“Throughout the past three years, President Obama and his administration have ignored our immigration laws and have encouraged more illegal immigration by their actions," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). "President Obama has abused his executive branch authority to allow potentially millions of illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S."
But statistics on illegal immigration and border enforcement tell a different tale.
According to the most recent year-end reports from Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol apprehensions fell to 340,252 in 2011 -- a 53 percent drop since 2008, when nearly 724,000 border-crossers were nabbed.
At the same time, the number of border agents hit a high of 21,444, according to CBP. Most agents -- 18,500 -- now are on the Southwest border. There were about 10,000 agents total in 2004.
Even with fewer targets, patrols in the Southwest dramatically boosted the amounts of drugs, guns and cash seized over the last three years compared to 2006 through 2008. Seventy-four percent more money, 41 percent more drugs, and 159 percent more weapons, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
And, in spite of the crime allegations, DHS said that according to 2010 FBI reports, violent crimes in the Southwest border states dropped by an average of 40 percent in the last two decades. Since 2008, crime rates have fallen in each Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
Part of the reason for that progress is funding for border security, which Congress has consistently boosted, most recently in 2010, passing a bill by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that sent $600 million to border enforcement.
Another factor driving down illegal immigration is the poor economy. Migration from Mexico has recently reversed, with more Mexican immigrants leaving the United States. Record deportations under Obama, whose administration shipped nearly 400,000 undocumented immigrants out of the country last year including many with criminal records, also is a factor.
Arizona Immigration Law: GOP Criticisms Disputed By Data Saying Crime, Border Crossings Have Dropped
WASHINGTON -- Illegal immigration has fallen precipitously and border enforcement is at an all-time high, but that's hard to tell from statements Republicans blasted out Monday after the Supreme Court struck down much of Arizona's immigration law.
The court upheld the right of local law enforcers to stop and question people's immigration status based on their appearance, but threw out three provisions of the law that made it a crime to be in the United States without documentation.
Many Republicans hammered the White House for fighting the now-unconstitutional law, saying it distracted from securing the border.
“Illegal immigration is one of the biggest crises facing our nation," said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.). "Given the Obama administration’s refusal to secure our borders, it is of paramount importance that states be able to address the issue in their local communities.”
"The Arizona law was born out of the state’s frustration with the burdens that illegal immigration and continued drug smuggling impose on its schools, hospitals, criminal justice system and fragile desert environment, and an administration that chooses to set enforcement policies based on a political agenda, not the laws as written by Congress," said Arizona Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain in a joint statement. "We will continue our efforts on behalf of the citizens of Arizona to secure our southern border."
"It's time for the federal government to step up to its constitutional responsibility to secure our borders," said former GOP White House contender Rick Santorum.
“Throughout the past three years, President Obama and his administration have ignored our immigration laws and have encouraged more illegal immigration by their actions," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). "President Obama has abused his executive branch authority to allow potentially millions of illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S."
But statistics on illegal immigration and border enforcement tell a different tale.
According to the most recent year-end reports from Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol apprehensions fell to 340,252 in 2011 -- a 53 percent drop since 2008, when nearly 724,000 border-crossers were nabbed.
At the same time, the number of border agents hit a high of 21,444, according to CBP. Most agents -- 18,500 -- now are on the Southwest border. There were about 10,000 agents total in 2004.
Even with fewer targets, patrols in the Southwest dramatically boosted the amounts of drugs, guns and cash seized over the last three years compared to 2006 through 2008. Seventy-four percent more money, 41 percent more drugs, and 159 percent more weapons, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
And, in spite of the crime allegations, DHS said that according to 2010 FBI reports, violent crimes in the Southwest border states dropped by an average of 40 percent in the last two decades. Since 2008, crime rates have fallen in each Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
Part of the reason for that progress is funding for border security, which Congress has consistently boosted, most recently in 2010, passing a bill by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that sent $600 million to border enforcement.
Another factor driving down illegal immigration is the poor economy. Migration from Mexico has recently reversed, with more Mexican immigrants leaving the United States. Record deportations under Obama, whose administration shipped nearly 400,000 undocumented immigrants out of the country last year including many with criminal records, also is a factor.
I have no problem with someone being expected to show an id when stopped for driving either. Has this not always been the case for all drivers? If someone has to call 911 for help or go to and ER somewhere, do they have to show papers? If sitting or standing on the side of the road and you LOOK hispanic, can they stop and ask for your papers based on what you look like? I think it is these questions that need answers. Not being expected to show a ID if your driving. I think what this does is if your stopped for say a tail light being out, they can ask for not only a drivers license but make you show your proof of citizenship as well? Is tht not the question? What am I missing.
Checking ones identity is the problem though. There are enough people here legally that think having their ID checked or anyone else's ID checked is somehow a violation of their rights....
I know a gal who is Irish on her dad's side of the family and Native American/Hispanic on the other side. She throws a fit every single time she gets pulled over for a traffic violation and the law asks for her ID.
I'm so white you can't really trace my roots.... the very first thing a cop wants when they pull me over is my ID. I do not have a problem with this.......
I know a gal who is Irish on her dad's side of the family and Native American/Hispanic on the other side. She throws a fit every single time she gets pulled over for a traffic violation and the law asks for her ID.
I'm so white you can't really trace my roots.... the very first thing a cop wants when they pull me over is my ID. I do not have a problem with this.......
I think all this can be avoided by Congress getting off they butts and addressing the situation after all these long years of doing nothing. It was my understanding that they always did have the right to ask for ones identity even before this mess started.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I was talking about. Have to wonder why all of a sudden the seven agreements "weren't working" any longer. Sounds rather vindictive to me.
I don't see the big deal with checking immigration status. I recently had my driver's license renewed and I had to "prove" that I'm a citizen of the U.S. (via birth certificate, marriage license, passport etc). My driver's license now sports a yellow star designating me as a citizen, and whenever anyone looks at my license, they know I've been through the "process". If those of us born here, have to go through this process, why shouldn't an immigrant - legal or otherwise?
I don't see the big deal with checking immigration status. I recently had my driver's license renewed and I had to "prove" that I'm a citizen of the U.S. (via birth certificate, marriage license, passport etc). My driver's license now sports a yellow star designating me as a citizen, and whenever anyone looks at my license, they know I've been through the "process". If those of us born here, have to go through this process, why shouldn't an immigrant - legal or otherwise?
I dont know if this leans either way, but here is the gist of what you speak of. I think.
The Obama administration said Monday it is suspending existing agreements with Arizona police over enforcement of federal immigration laws, and said it has issued a directive telling federal authorities to decline many of the calls reporting illegal immigrants that the Homeland Security Department may get from Arizona police.
Administration officials, speaking on condition they not be named, told reporters they expect to see an increase in the number of calls they get from Arizona police — but that won’t change President Obama’s decision to limit whom the government actually tries to detain and deport.
“We will not be issuing detainers on individuals unless they clearly meet our defined priorities,” one official said in a telephone briefing.
The official said that despite the increased number of calls, which presumably means more illegal immigrants being reported, the Homeland Security Department is unlikely to detain a significantly higher number of people and won’t be boosting personnel to handle the new calls.
“We do not plan on putting additional staff on the ground in Arizona,” the official said.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Arizona may not impose its own penalties for immigration violations, but it said state and local police could check the legal status of those they have reasonable suspicion to believe are in the country illegally.
That means police statewide can immediately begin calling to check immigration status — but federal officials are likely to reject most of those calls.
Federal officials said they’ll still perform the checks as required by law but will respond only when someone has a felony conviction on his or her record. Absent that, ICE will tell the local police to release the person.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the court’s decision frees police up to perform immigration checks. In anticipation of the ruling, she issued an executive order calling for guidance to be issued to every police department on how to fairly carry out the law.
“We will move forward, instructing law enforcement to begin practicing what the United States Supreme Court has upheld,” she said.
But the Obama administration is under pressure from immigrant-rights groups to cut down on the number of people it is deporting and has taken a number of steps to try to limit deportations of rank-and-file illegal immigrants and focus instead on those with criminal records or repeated immigration violations.
Last week, Mr. Obama said he would halt deportations for most illegal immigrants under 30 who were brought here as children.
On Monday the administration officials also said they are ending the seven 287(g) task force agreements with Arizona law enforcement officials, which proactively had granted some local police the powers to enforce immigration laws.
The task forces, named for the section of law that allows them, have proved popular among many localities but have been a political headache for the Obama administration, with immigrant-rights groups saying they led to abuses.
On Monday the administration officials said they had concluded the seven agreements they had signed with various departments in Arizona weren’t working and took the Supreme Court’s ruling as a chance to scrap them.
The Obama administration said Monday it is suspending existing agreements with Arizona police over enforcement of federal immigration laws, and said it has issued a directive telling federal authorities to decline many of the calls reporting illegal immigrants that the Homeland Security Department may get from Arizona police.
Administration officials, speaking on condition they not be named, told reporters they expect to see an increase in the number of calls they get from Arizona police — but that won’t change President Obama’s decision to limit whom the government actually tries to detain and deport.
“We will not be issuing detainers on individuals unless they clearly meet our defined priorities,” one official said in a telephone briefing.
The official said that despite the increased number of calls, which presumably means more illegal immigrants being reported, the Homeland Security Department is unlikely to detain a significantly higher number of people and won’t be boosting personnel to handle the new calls.
“We do not plan on putting additional staff on the ground in Arizona,” the official said.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Arizona may not impose its own penalties for immigration violations, but it said state and local police could check the legal status of those they have reasonable suspicion to believe are in the country illegally.
That means police statewide can immediately begin calling to check immigration status — but federal officials are likely to reject most of those calls.
Federal officials said they’ll still perform the checks as required by law but will respond only when someone has a felony conviction on his or her record. Absent that, ICE will tell the local police to release the person.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the court’s decision frees police up to perform immigration checks. In anticipation of the ruling, she issued an executive order calling for guidance to be issued to every police department on how to fairly carry out the law.
“We will move forward, instructing law enforcement to begin practicing what the United States Supreme Court has upheld,” she said.
But the Obama administration is under pressure from immigrant-rights groups to cut down on the number of people it is deporting and has taken a number of steps to try to limit deportations of rank-and-file illegal immigrants and focus instead on those with criminal records or repeated immigration violations.
Last week, Mr. Obama said he would halt deportations for most illegal immigrants under 30 who were brought here as children.
On Monday the administration officials also said they are ending the seven 287(g) task force agreements with Arizona law enforcement officials, which proactively had granted some local police the powers to enforce immigration laws.
The task forces, named for the section of law that allows them, have proved popular among many localities but have been a political headache for the Obama administration, with immigrant-rights groups saying they led to abuses.
On Monday the administration officials said they had concluded the seven agreements they had signed with various departments in Arizona weren’t working and took the Supreme Court’s ruling as a chance to scrap them.
I haven't been able to substantiate it, yet, but I saw a news article that said the Obama administration has removed whatever teeth Arizona’s law had remaining when the DHS declared that they were rescinding an agreement (287G), in which feds deputize local officials to make immigration-based arrests.
From what I read, this means that even if the police do catch someone who is here illegally, they can't do anything about it.
Has anyone heard about this?
From what I read, this means that even if the police do catch someone who is here illegally, they can't do anything about it.
Has anyone heard about this?
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