For Release 8 a.m. PDT, August 22, 2011
Contact: Kent Lundgren, Chairman
Phone (509) 961-7001
Email nafbpo@nafbpo.org
http://www.nafbpo.org
Press Release
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers calls for new immigration policy to be rescinded.
Group says that policy will encourage further illegal immigration and damage
respect for law by foreigners; says President has abandoned duty to law.
The administration announced last week that it would implement a new policy that
will permit hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to remain in the United States
despite being in deportation proceedings already. This policy is clearly designed to
sidestep congressional authority to regulate immigration. It should cause great
concern amongst Americans who demand a secure border and desire only fair,
even-handed enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.
In a letter to selected senators, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of
Homeland Security, cited public safety and clogged immigration court dockets as
justification for the new policy. She asserts that DHS resources “must continue to be
focused on our highest priorities” in order to avoid having resources diverted away
from “individuals who pose a threat to public safety.”
Americans should understand that the policy has just granted amnesty in fact to
approximately 300,000 illegal aliens already in deportation proceedings. The new
policy means that they will be permitted to stay in the United States without fear of
removal and will be given employment authorization valid for the foreseeable future.
Past experience tells us that ultimately they will be given permanent residence and
then citizenship. The policy promises similar haven to millions more. Those who are
arrested in coming years will have a legitimate claim to this benefit if their “only” crime
was entering the United States illegally or overstaying their visa. Thus, the incentive
for following our nation’s legal immigration process has been effectively removed.
Aliens in deportation proceedings did not get there by happenstance. They have
already had their circumstances individually reviewed by an officer who is trained and
legally empowered to determine alienage. This official determined they were here in
violation of the law with no apparent legal right to remain in the United States. After
examining all factors, a deportation hearing before an Immigration Judge was
determined to be in the best interest of the United States.
The administration would have the public believe that illegal aliens who pose a threat
to public safety must wait in line behind those with lesser criminal records: that is
absurd. The administration has the authority to move aliens deemed to be threats to
an immediate hearing. If they were sincerely concerned about enforcing the law the
immigration court backlog would have prompted a request for more Immigration
Judges and resources to speed the process. Instead, the administration has made a
transparent play for ethnic votes, thereby showing once more its contempt for law
and the Constitutional requirement that the President see that the laws be faithfully
executed.
This autocratic, misguided policy sends a clear message to foreigners contemplating
an illegal entry—the agency charged with removing them does not intend to do so.
History tells us that an increase in illegal immigration occurs any time our politicians
even discuss a change in policy or law that makes it easier for illegal aliens to enter
or remain in the United States. This policy will reverse the hard-fought gains in
border security that have been accomplished at such a high cost. It also defies what
the majority of Americans have made clear they want, and what has Congress has
called for: a secure border and control of illegal immigration.
NAFBPO therefore demands that it be rescinded immediately. If the Obama
administration chooses not to do so, we urge Congress to act quickly to rein in this
failure of constitutional duty and limit its negative impacts upon the country.
