More border security is unlikely to appease immigration hardliners

[Ed Barrow]

President Barack Obama on Tuesday is expected to announce $500 million in supplemental funds for border security enforcement and deployment of up to 1,200 National Guard troops along the Mexican border of four Southwestern states. It is a raw political gesture to appease the anti-immigration zealotry that recently spawned Arizona’s new law requiring law enforcement officials to check for citizenship or immigration documents “where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully in the United States.” It seems that some people think that desperate times call for desperate measures. But Mr. Obama should be savvier than to hope that this blatant ploy will move a pending immigration bill onto Congress’ front burner. The politics of desperation are no antidote to the complicated problems of illegal immigration, nor will they stop the flow of illegal drugs orchestrated by warring cartels in Mexico and Latin America. So far this year, the cartels have been blamed for 2,000 drug-related murders in Mexico alone.

America has a sad history of scapegoating immigrants in tough times without targeting the root causes of the problem. Most illegal immigration is economically driven. Drug smuggling is a distinct, violent challenge caused more by demand than supply. It’s long been documented that most of America’s undocumented aliens didn’t swim the Rio Grande or cross the desert in the dead of night. Most of them entered legally — as students, workers and tourists — and never went home. Fences, radar, drones and National Guardsmen have no relevance to them.

Here are some other facts that defy immigration alarmists:

• U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that violent crime in Arizona for 2008 was the lowest since 1971, even as its population grew. U.S. border towns have remarkably low crime rates even while their Mexican counterparts battle escalating violent crime.

• Illegal immigration into the United States has been declining since 2005; it fell even faster as jobs evaporated because of the national recession, the Pew Hispanic Center reported.

• Arizona’s economy has tanked. The state legislature has cut more than $1 billion this year as it grapples with a projected $2.6 billion deficit for 2011. Unemployment is 9.5 percent, and it ranks second in the country for the highest home foreclosure rate. There’s no reason to go there if you’re looking a job.

• Deportations and Homeland Security Department funds for border enforcement have increased under the Obama administration.

...

Arizona-law acolytes insist on measures that would encourage racial profiling and cast suspicion on potentially innocent people. Mr. Obama’s ploy is unlikely to appease them. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (HR 4321) has been dormant in Congress since December. It’s the solution for Arizona. Gov. Jan Brewer and her supporters should follow their own advice: Read the bill.


http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-platform/published-editorials/2010/05/more-border-security-is-unlikely-to-appease-immigration-hardliners/

[EFerrari]

1. Rep. Raul Grijalva told Amy Goodman that we already have 30K

troops at the border (I don't remember if he meant border patrol or other) so 1200 is merely political symbolism.