Obama's Border Enforcement Deceit

In his State of the Union speech two weeks ago, President Obama claimed that he would strengthen border security. Oh really? I might not be as wise as Mr. Obama, but I’m not sure how removing $319 million in border security funding increases our nation’s security.  Indeed, I’m pretty certain that decreasing our border security funding by nearly one-third of a billion dollars in one year will make the United States less secure.

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While Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano enjoys boasting of how her agency is securing our nation’s border with Mexico, the truth of the matter is that it remains porous and inadequately defended.  How do we know? We at NumbersUSA have many friends in the Border Patrol. We inspect the U.S.-Mexican border on fact-finding trips. We talk to the agents. The Border Patrol needs more resources, not less.

What good can come from downplaying the security of our southern border while terrorist, drug, and human trafficking continues to plague the border? Only one reason comes to mind: to make it easier to pass a massive amnesty for 12 – 20 million illegal aliens in 2010.  I know, I know — nobody can be so sick and twisted as to put the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans in jeopardy just to legalize 12 million illegal aliens.  Unfortunately, it seems such individuals are running rampant in the Obama administration’s immigration policy division.

Had enough? Ready to DO something about the weakoning of border security? Send a FREE FAX directly to Obama protesting the border budget cuts! 

During the amnesty battle of 2007, the American people made their opinion loud and clear: “No amnesties for illegal aliens while our borders are unsecured!” The so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act failed to gain Congressional support, even though it had the support of President Bush and a large swathe of Congressional Democrats and Republicans.

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Even attempts to pass smaller, but still damaging, amnesties have been shot down as inadequate solutions of addressing our continuing problems with immigration, simply because they didn’t go far enough to keep illegal aliens from crossing our borders.
So how does the Obama administration address this problem? By falsely claiming that our borders are now secure and that the decrease in crossings by illegal aliens is proof of this.

“[A]pprehensions of illegal aliens at the border have dropped to their lowest levels in decades, signaling reduced traffic flows and fewer attempts to illegally enter the United States.”

–Testimony of Secretary Napolitano before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, December 9, 2009 

Sadly, a great deal of evidence points in the opposite direction.  It’s true that arrests of illegal aliens along our southern border have decreased. America’s lousy job market deters illegal aliens more than DHS’s border enforcement.

In 2009, when Secretary Napolitano spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she sounded satisfied and even boastful:
“Our efforts are achieving their desired results at the border. . . . In short, the security of our southwest border has been transformed.”

–Testimony of Secretary Napolitano before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, December 9, 2009

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Really?  The Department of Homeland Security only claims to have “effective control” of 697 of 1,969 miles of our southern border with Mexico. Only 35% of this border is “effectively controlled” and maintained by the government agency charged with protecting the nation. Yet, for some reason, the very person in charge of the Department seems to think this 35% control is good enough and that her job is done and dusted.  I think Miss Napolitano may want to reevaluate the targets she has set for DHS, because in my book, 35% is not a passing grade.

Obviously, this doesn’t come close to being good enough. And it doesn’t even take into account our northern border with Canada, which is nearly 4 times longer than our border with Mexico.  All told, only 894 miles of our land and sea borders are “effectively” secured.  The United States has 8,607 miles of land and sea borders, meaning that DHS only controls about one out of every ten miles.  And, apparently, President Obama and Secretary Napolitano believe DHS needs less money.

For the upcoming fiscal year, Secretary Napolitano asked Congress for $11.6 million less in funding for “border security between ports of entry” and for $225.8 million less in funding for “border fencing, infrastructure, and technology.” And the President himself is not free from blame.  The president’s newly proposed 2011 budget would reduce the number of Border Patrol agents along the southern border by 180, and cut funding for the virtual fenc — a system of cameras, radar and sensors placed on towers — by $226 million.

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The President and his administration constantly claim that our immigration system is broken and in need of fixing. If they want to get a head start on correcting the problem, they should forget about granting massive amnesties to illegal aliens and take the necessary measures needed to fix our broken borders instead.

Had enough? Ready to DO something about the weakoning of border security? Send a FREE FAX directly to Obama protesting the border budget cuts! 

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