Border Security

Dan Rodricks wrote an excellent article about immigrants in the U.S., both legal and illegal, and their contribution to the U.S. economy ("Pro-immigrant is pro-business," Oct. 16). What has been overlooked is the fact that our southern border is now more secure than it has been for the last 10 years. We have far more border patrols enforcing the law at our borders, far fewer illegal immigrants are coming through and many more are being deported every day. Now all we need is a sane and compassionate reform of our immigration and naturalization laws.

Immigration reform advocates, including a leading voice from Maryland, pressed President Obama on Tuesday for a pathway to citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, calling a bipartisan proposal under consideration in the U.S. Senate "unfair and not acceptable. " A group of eight senators -- including four Republicans and four Democrats -- unveiled the broad outlines of a plan last month that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain permanent residency and eventual citizenship only after tougher border restrictions are in place, a requirement for many Republicans.

WASHINGTON -- A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals a critical U.S. border security gap: the security checkpoints themselves. Six years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and five months after the Department of Homeland Security tightened inspection procedures, some border officers fail "to recognize the threat associated with dangerous people and goods entering the country," concluded the GAO report, which is due to be released today . The report - with the most sensitive details omitted for security reasons - is the latest in a series of recent audits that also found gaping holes between border checkpoints and criticized the department's tests of new nuclear detection equipment designed for border crossings.

As the election-year debate over illegal immigration heats up, Maryland National Guard members are preparing to deploy to Texas to help monitor the U.S.-Mexican border. Two crews from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade will take high-tech helicopters to the southern tip of Texas in June to provide aerial surveillance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the ground, Guard officials said Wednesday. They will watch for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers — "basically, people crossing the border without authorization," said Lt. Col. Michael Whelan, commander of the 1-224th Aviation Security and Support Battalion.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's long journey to immigration reform comes to a crucial test today. When he entered the White House in January 2001, Bush declared his intention to forge a tighter relationship with the rest of the Americas. As Texas governor, he had privately repudiated the anti-illegal-immigrant politics of fellow Republican Gov. Pete Wilson of California. He joined with his friend, Mexican President Vicente Fox, in promoting plans for providing visas to Mexican laborers.

CARLSBAD, Calif. - This city's old secrets live in the canyons. The Latino migrant workers who pick fruit and vegetables in this oceanside city used to reside quietly in temporary, ramshackle huts during the warm months, and many would disappear south of the border during the winter. In either case, few people paid attention to them. But the city tore down the huts this year because, officials say, waste from the workers' encampment was washing into a lagoon and polluting it. The men were forced to find other housing, and many settled in hastily built tents in roadside canyons, setting off a racially tinged argument about workers' rights.

As the election-year debate over illegal immigration heats up, Maryland National Guard members are preparing to deploy to Texas to help monitor the U.S.-Mexican border. Two crews from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade will take high-tech helicopters to the southern tip of Texas in June to provide aerial surveillance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the ground, Guard officials said Wednesday. They will watch for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers — "basically, people crossing the border without authorization," said Lt. Col. Michael Whelan, commander of the 1-224th Aviation Security and Support Battalion.

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of nationwide hearings that could determine the fate of his immigration bill, President Bush is signaling a new willingness to negotiate with House Republicans in an effort to revise the stalled legislation before Election Day. Republicans inside and outside the White House say Bush, who has long insisted on comprehensive reform, is now open to a so-called "enforcement-first" approach that would put new border security programs in...

The bipartisan immigration bill approved in the Senate last week will strengthen border security, create a guest-worker program allowing 200,000 immigrants a year to work legally in the U.S., and establish a path for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living here to gain legal resident status and - eventually - citizenship. It addresses the concerns of proponents of border security and supporters of liberalized immigration. Passage of the proposal, which hews closely to measures sought by the White House, marks the beginning of what is sure to be a long and contentious process.

The scandal revealed by news reports of "Operation Fast and Furious," during which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed more than 2,000 automatic weapons and other guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartel members, is a disgrace to the department and a gross violation of our border security. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder should resign his post as head of theJustice Department. What needs to be investigated now is what did President Obama know about this operation and when did he know it?

The scandal revealed by news reports of "Operation Fast and Furious," during which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed more than 2,000 automatic weapons and other guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartel members, is a disgrace to the department and a gross violation of our border security. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder should resign his post as head of theJustice Department. What needs to be investigated now is what did President Obama know about this operation and when did he know it?

Rep. Frank Kratovil went to Washington promising to put his constituents above his party, and he's accomplished that. On the biggest issues of the last two years, he has voted with Democrats when he believed that has been the right thing for his constituents, and he has voted with Republicans when he's thought that was the right thing to do. He has stood up for the environment and economic development in his district and against bank bailouts, the federal...

Dan Rodricks wrote an excellent article about immigrants in the U.S., both legal and illegal, and their contribution to the U.S. economy ("Pro-immigrant is pro-business," Oct. 16). What has been overlooked is the fact that our southern border is now more secure than it has been for the last 10 years. We have far more border patrols enforcing the law at our borders, far fewer illegal immigrants are coming through and many more are being deported every day. Now all we need is a sane and compassionate reform of our immigration and naturalization laws.

The only compelling reason for the United States to be in Afghanistan is to prevent a sanctuary for radical Muslim terrorists. Given that we can't find Osama nine years after the 9/11 attacks, I dare say that eliminating training centers for terrorists in the Middle East will never be a realistic solution to the problem. Nor will it be possible for us to prevent nine dirt bags from gathering in a cave in Pakistan plotting our demise. Like it or not there is broad support for anti-West terrorism in many Middle East nations, Afghanistan being just one of them.

Obama and the Democrats have demonized Arizona and played the race card for enacting a law that mirrors the U.S. law to protect their citizens against illegals. President Obama said on TV to a large audience that if you're in Arizona, look Latino, and bring your family to an ice cream parlor, you could risk being arrested. This is false, and this scenario could not be used against anyone. The Democratic aim is to frighten citizens and increase the Democratic base with Latinos.

It's about time one of the states acted to bring attention to the complete failure of the federal government to secure our borders. I just wish that Maryland and a dozen other states would pass similar laws to convince the Washington politicians that the folks are serious. Instead we get a dose of indignant cries for "respect," even though the foreign nationals who cross over our virtually unprotected borders show no respect for the citizens of our country. In Arizona there are about a half-million foreign nationals and 5 million U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.

THE WHITE House's courting of congressional lawmakers to gain support for President Bush's immigration reform plan is a good strategy for renewing interest in an important administration policy goal. Mr. Bush, who could use some legislative success right now, should take advantage of the growing momentum for immigration reform in the Senate by working more closely with key lawmakers such as Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John McCain, who have introduced legislation containing many of the president's proposals, including a guest worker program.

Immigration reform advocates, including a leading voice from Maryland, pressed President Obama on Tuesday for a pathway to citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, calling a bipartisan proposal under consideration in the U.S. Senate "unfair and not acceptable. " A group of eight senators -- including four Republicans and four Democrats -- unveiled the broad outlines of a plan last month that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain permanent residency and eventual citizenship only after tougher border restrictions are in place, a requirement for many Republicans.

WASHINGTON -- A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals a critical U.S. border security gap: the security checkpoints themselves. Six years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and five months after the Department of Homeland Security tightened inspection procedures, some border officers fail "to recognize the threat associated with dangerous people and goods entering the country," concluded the GAO report, which is due to be released today . The report - with the most sensitive details omitted for security reasons - is the latest in a series of recent audits that also found gaping holes between border checkpoints and criticized the department's tests of new nuclear detection equipment designed for border crossings.

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of the Senate immigration bill rebuffed all but one of the most serious challenges to the legislation yesterday, setting up a critical vote today that could decide the fate of the most ambitious attempt to overhaul immigration laws in two decades. In a series of votes steadily interrupted by Republicans intent on stalling the proceedings, lawmakers rejected amendments aimed at gutting two key features of the bill: one provision that would allow illegal immigrants to seek legal status and another that would shift the basis for future immigration from an emphasis on immigrants with family ties to those with needed skills and education.