Obama bypasses Congress on illegals despite costs and human suffering
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 10:35AM 
Border Patrol agents conduct pat downs of migrants caught crossing the border illegally in the Imperial Valley Sector.[By Gerald L. Nino; US Customs and Border Protection]Although Congress has authority over immigration, top officials at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly issued a memo on Friday, said The Daily Caller, advising agents “need not enforce immigration laws if illegal immigrants are enrolled in an education center or if their relatives have volunteered for the US military.”
Despite numerous arrest reports that indicate broad human suffering caused by federal lapses in immigration enforcement and open border policy, President Barack Obama will likely continue to pander to advocacy organizations with an eye on drawing support for his reelection in 2012. Obama is aided and abetted by activist church groups in search of members (and donations), activist groups whose focus is racial identity politics and those who engage in illegal activities for profit.
Cornell University Law School provides a primer of sorts on immigration law, stating the basics: “Congress has complete authority over immigration. Presidential power does not extend beyond refugee policy.”
For a look at the human suffering aspect, consider these incidents reported by ICE in news releases issued over a period of a few days in June. Bear in mind these are the criminals who were actually caught:
*June 14, 2011: Six alleged members of an international alien smuggling scheme were charged in federal court on June 14. Defendants charged smuggled customers between $13,000 to more than $25,000. Many customers were young women who agreed to pay by working in strip clubs. Others were, said ICE, “urged” to consider prostitution to pay their debts. No specifics on how they were urged, but ICE said the defendants threatened to harm the girls’ family members and took title to property the customers owned in their home countries. The girls were also advised to falsely claim they needed asylum if caught.
*June 16, 2011: MS-13 gang member pleaded guilty for executing a 19 year old woman and her 2 year old son. Nine other gang members pleaded guilty to racketeering. MS-13 originated in El Salvador.
*June 16, 2011: Three men were convicted for conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens to work as prostitutes. One girl was a 13 year old child; another was 15. One girl was 18. The girls said they had worked as prostitutes in Mexico before coming to the U.S.
*June 14, 2011: 67 men and women were arrested over 5 days in an operation targeting foreign-born gang members. Two of those had been previously deported. Among the gangs were MS-13, Raza Unida, La Familia, Aryan Brotherhood, Tango Blast and Barrio Northside.
*June 17, 2011: The owner of a San-Diego university and chain of English language schools was charged with visa fraud, conspiring to defraud the federal government and making false statements about foreign students.
These are a few of the many cases American taxpayers bear expenses to investigate and prosecute.
Arizona sheriff Paul Babeu told CNS News the Obama administration’s National Guard troops “fall far short” of the numbers needed to secure the US border with Mexico. Babeu, named 2011 National Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriffs Association, told CNS there are only 520 guardsmen along Arizona’s 276 mile border area. CNS said Babeu told them, “In 2010, approximately 212,000 illegal aliens were seized in the Tucson sector of Arizona—or 47 percent of all illegal aliens taken into custody.”
No one knows how many enter the country undetected.
Advocacy organizations, the Obama administration and other activists politicize a national security and entitlements issue. What did it cost to detain, house and deport those 212,000 illegal aliens? What does it cost to maintain the numerous agencies in the federal government charged with managing the influx of foreign nationals?
Even advocacy groups have received federal money for their programs.
Every single entity in the country, from churches to politicians, promoting harboring and inviting foreign nationals into the country is complicit in the human suffering that obviously is ongoing on a rampant scale.
Babeu pointed out the contradiction in resources allotment. The federal government has 28,500 troops on the Korean border; troops on the US southern border total 1,200.
Meanwhile the Obama administration seems intent on undermining the power of Congress on immigration, despite heavy costs to the taxpayer and record unemployment challenging US citizens and legal immigrants and guest workers.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/June 21, 2011)
Related/Source Articles
White House loosens border rules for 2012 (The Daily Caller)
Immigration law: an overview (Cornell University Law Center)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement News (ICE/federal government)
Arizona sheriff: Why more troops at Korean border than US border? (CNS News)
The MS-13 Threat (FBI)
For more on immigration and national security at The US Report, visit our index page topics ‘Immigration’ and “US Security.’
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